connecting God, life and us

NOAHABRAHAM

MOSESDANIELDAVID

JESUS

JOHN McCARTHYthe risk/adventure/challenge issue

...pluck o’ the Irish

Production Manager Rob Hare

Assistant EditorHenry Cavender

Graphic DesignKris LannenDavid Renyardwww.davidjdesigns.me.uk

PhotographyDavid RenyardMark Wankel

Websiteswww.lyfe.org.ukwww.biblesociety.org.ukwww.christiansurfers.co.ukwww.tubestation.orgwww.switch-valdisere.org

SURF

introduc-tion

Surf lyfe (Life Your Faith Encounters) is about connecting you, the surfer, with your own life-shaper, God. It’s about meeting with your buddies on the beach, on the slopes, in the pub, café, après-ski, wherever, to discover what our shaper has to say about our everyday world.

As surfers and boardriders of all kinds, the lifestyle we all enjoy can be one of danger, adventure, challenge, and of taking big risks. Over the following pages you’ll find six key people who encounter God in different ways, each one willing to take a risk and step into their own unique adventure.

Each Bible encounter has a section called local knowledge which will give you some helpfulbackground, and off the lip offers relevant fact,

wit, wisdom or worldview from or about some of the big names and influences in surf culture.

As your lyfe crew meets, it is helpful to follow this simple pattern :

• Read – read the passage to yourself, slow it down, soak it up.• Reflect – talk about it, share your feelings and what you got from reading.• Respond – talk about how to respond and agree on practical action.

We hope you enjoy meeting together in this way, and we pray that you will hear God drawing you into a deeper encounter with him. And remember…the ultimate ride does exist, you just have to know where to look.

The LORD saw how bad the people on earth were and that everything they thought and planned was evil.

He was very sorry that he had made them, and he said, “I’ll destroy every living creature on earth! I’ll wipe out people, animals, birds, and reptiles. I’m sorry I ever made them.” But the LORD was pleased with Noah, and this is the story about him. Noah was the only peson who lived right and obeyed God.

He had three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

God knew that everyone was terribly cruel and violent. So he told Noah:

Cruelty and violence have spread everywhere. Now I’m going to destroy the whole earth and all its people. Get some good timber and build a boat. Put rooms in it and cover it with tar inside and out. Make it one hundred and thirty-three metres long, twenty-two metres wide, and thirteen metres high. Build a roof on the boat and leave a space of about forty-four centimetres between the roof and the sides. Make the boat three storeys high and put a door on one side.

I’m going to send a flood that will destroy everything that breathes! Nothing will be left alive. But I solemnly promise that you, your wife, your sons, and your daugters-in-law will be kept safe in the boat.

Bring into the boat with you a male and a female of every kind of animal and bird, as well as a male and a female of every reptile. I don’t want them to be destroyed. Store up enough food both for yourself and for them. Noah did everything the LORD told him to do.

GENESIS 6. 5-22

Noah’s life is shaped by two great floods – the flood of evil and the flood of water. Noah was the only person left of his generation who still followed God completely.

God calls Noah to build a huge boat – in the middle of the desert, hundreds of miles from any water! This is no dinghy, the boat is calculated to be the size of one and a half football pitches and four storeys high. During the building of the boat, Noah is humiliated by the taunts of others, yet he trusts God completely despite the discomfort.

Like us, Noah wasn’t perfect (he once had a few too many beers and ended up lying naked outside his tent – (see Genesis 9. 20). However, for a lifetime he walked step by step in faith and loved God wholeheartedly.

God makes a promise (covenant) with Noah to keep his family safe. A covenant like this was a binding commitment and was grounded in the relationship rather than law (check out another covenant in Genesis 8. 21-29 which incorporates all creation).

Japanese Surfer, Motomitsu Watanabe, died surfing big Pipeline in January 2009. East Coast pro, Noah Snyder, who’d paddled for and missed the last wave, saw the whole thing: “As I raced to get under the wave, he was grabbing for his rail, trying to get over the ledge. Then the wave got real ugly and he got lip launched out into the flats while still holding his rail, and as I went through the wave there was a loud noise like he might have hit his board. When I ducked the next wave I got sucked over back onto the reef; where he would have been, but his board was broken and I didn’t see him anywhere.” Jesse Hines, fellow East coast pro, added, “Noah, Will, Matt Beacham and I came a couple of days later and prayed with his parents for him and them, we know it could have been any of us.”

(Surfing Magazine)

LOCAL KNOWLEDGE

the lip

off

ROCKThe location is Polzeath, England; a coastal village The Times described as “The

Thumping heart of cool Cornwall”, steeped in surf culture and holding a consistent

beach break which, if the conditions are right, can hold everything but the very

biggest swells with relative ease. Traditionally a longboard Mecca, the wave

variety at Polzeath and surrounding breaks gives opportunity for every kind of

surfer, making it a consistently popular destination for travellers and giving the

hardcore local crew every reason to stay.

This story begins in 2002 in the beachside chapel Tubestation now calls home. With declining use it faced closure and commercial sale – to a tycoon or investor with the bucks to turn it into yet more soulless holiday homes. But then a vision was born, one which continues to unfold today. The vision startedwith a rescue mission and the compulsion to give the site back to the community it once served – back to the surfers. Tubestation opened late summer ’07. It has been set up as an insane hang out, with all the gear. Water temps can reach a numbing 8 degrees in winter here, so although you might have got changed on the beach you won’t want to hang around for long afterwards in freezing easterlies. Slope over to the Tube though and, with the hot outdoor shower and “come in and drip on the floor bro” policy, first impressions are of instant warmth. The hot chocolates are frothy, the coffees look as good as they taste and the sweet crepes hit your sweet spot.Grab a laptop from the bar and check the forecast, warm up some more with a round of golf on the Wii or a skate on the infamously sick indoor mini-ramp, than fall asleep on a bean bag to the gentle sounds of September Sessions playing on the big screens or some laid back tunes from one of the day-time DJs and sessionists. The vibe is one of freedom and creativity. Further development, all by the in-house crew of surfers and creatives, means that Summer 2009 will see two new big outdoor sun-decks ready to rock, providing a solid-ground alternative to the hammocks that rock gently between the palms, and soul surf company Nineplus are opening a shop here with skate brand Rise Worldwide to help pump some funds into the venue.

There’s a deeper element too. Being a totally faith-based with a healthy love your neighbour attitude coursing through it’s veins, it adds an extra dimension to the every-day material stuff. It warms the soul. The old church still meets here, but its been brought to life by a healthy indigenous surf community which somehow makes sense of the yawning divide between surf culture and faith culture. This makes for a seamless and fluid transition between the two. After all, who hasn’t sat out back and been blown away by the wonder of it all?

WWW.TUBESTATION.ORG

TUBESTATIONREADY

TO

The LORD said to Abram: Leave your country, your family, and your relatives and go to the land that I will show you. I will bless you and make your descendants into a great nation. You will become famous and be a blessing to others. I will bless anyone who blesses you, but I will put a curse on anyone who puts a curse on you.

Abram was seventy-five years old when the LORD told him to leave the city of Haran. He obeyed and left with his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, and all the possessions and slaves they had got while in Haran.

When they came to the land of Canaan, Abram went as far as the sacred tree of Moreh in a place called Shechem. The Canaanites were still living in the land at that time, but the LORD appeared to Abram and promised, “I will give this land to your family for ever.” Abram then built an altar there for the LORD.

Abram travelled to the hill country east of Bethel and camped between Bethel and Ai, where he built another altar and worshipped the LORD. Later, Abram started out towards the Southern Desert

genesis 12. 1-9

What’s in a name? Hawaiian surfing legend and “father of modern day surfing” Duke Kahanamoku inherited the name Duke from his father. Duke Senior was named after Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh who was visiting Hawaii at the time of his birth in 1869. Duke was sometimes referred to as the Big Kahuna, but he rejected this name because it had connotations linked with ancient Hawaiian sorcery and magic.

off the lip

LOCAL KNOWLEDGEAbram’s name is changed to Abraham (Genesis 17. 3). Abraham means ‘father of many’.

Abraham was a wealthy livestock owner. God calls him to a new adventure at the age of 75 years, to leave the security of the city and travel to a new and unknown land. His obedience will affect the history of the world and lead to a new nation being born.

God initiates another covenant, this time with Abraham. Abraham who is currently without a son becomes the Founding Father of the Jewish nation. Some 2000 years later, Jesus is born (fulfilling the promise made to Abraham) from the same family line as Abraham (see Matthew chapter 1).

to be a christian presence and witness in the uk

surfing community

Surfers are a group of people who rarely see the inside of a church and most churches have very little contact with surfers, yet those of us who surf know that there is a spiritual dimension to riding waves. Our aim is simply to share our faith with surfers and the surfing community, and to see lives impacted through a relationship with Jesus.

We are not a church, but our members represent the wide range of different churches to which they belong. It is our main objective to bridge the gap between the beach community and the church. We are clear that we are not Christians because of anything we might have done, or because we go to church, or that we may have been baptised at an early age. We became Christians simply because we recognised that we messed up our lives and asked Jesus to come and take control of our lives and surfing.

Christian Surfers is very active in all areas of the surf industry, serving at top level contests in the UK and Europe. We provide refreshments and help with the running of contests.

We also organise and run surf and skate contests throughout the year that aim to serve the community and open an opportunity to share the gospel.

We are also active on a local level, having members and groups all around the UK who are active in their local surf scenes, being that presence and witness for Jesus to the surfers they share the waves with.

It all about surfers reaching surfers through building relationships.

Find out more at:www.christiansurfers.co.uk

to be a christian presence and witness in the uk

surfing community

CHRISTIANSURFERS

UK

off

local knowledge

“I can’t remember riding my first wave, but I

remember seeing my first surfboard. I was five

or six and it was lying across the street in Danny

Candler’s front yard, fin-up. I recall thinking it

looked cool, sleek - like a shark. That was my

awakening - my “burning bush moment” - when

God first spoke to me and said: “Go. Surf.”

(Matt Walker, Surfing magazine)

Moses was born into privilege and lived his early years as an Egyptian prince. Eventually he was forced out of Egypt because he murdered an Egyptian he found brutalizing his own people. Now he is a shepherd, tending sheep and learning how to survive in the desert. God is preparing Moses for the huge challenge of leadership ahead. Moses will eventually lead the Jews out of Egypt and across the desert.

Mount Sinai was the place where Moses would later receive the ten commandments from God. (see Exodus 20).

The Egyptians had many gods, Moses wanted to know God’s name so that the Hebrew people would know who had sent him. God calls himself ‘I Am’ – a name which describes his eternal power and unchangeable character. Yahweh, the ‘personal’ name for God often translated as ‘Jehovah’ is derived from the Hebrew word for ‘I am’. Jesus would later use ‘I am’ to refer to himself. (see John 8. 58).

the

LIP

One day, Moses was taking care of the sheep and goats of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian, and Moses decided to lead them across the desert to Sinai, the holy mountain. There an angel of the LORD appeared to him from a burning bush. Moses saw that the bush was on fire, but it was not burning up.

“This is strange!” he said to himself. “I’ll go over and see why the bush isn’t burning up.” When the LORD saw Moses coming near the bush, he called him by name, and Moses answered, “Here I am.”

God replied, “Don’t come any closer. Take off your sandals — the ground where you are standing is holy. I am the God who was worshipped by your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” Moses was afraid to look at God, and so he hid his face.

The LORD said:

“I have seen how my people are suffering as slaves in Egypt, and I have heard them beg for my help because of the way they are being ill-treated. I feel sorry for them, and I have come down to rescue them from the Egyptians.”

EXODUS 3. 1-14I will bring my people out of Egypt into a country where there is good land, rich with milk and honey. I will give them the land where the Canaanites,Hitites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites now live. My people have begged for my help, and I have seen how cruel the Egyptians are to them. Now go to the king! I am sending you to lead my people out of his country.

But Moses said, “Who am I to go to the king and lead your people out of Egypt?”

God replied, “I will be with you. And you will know that I am the one who sent you, when you worship me on this mountain after you have led my people out of Egypt.”

Moses answered, “I will tell the people of Israel that the God their ancestors worshipped has sent me to them. But what should I say, if they ask me your name?”

God said to Moses:

“I am the eternal God. So tell them that the LORD, whose name is “I Am”, has sent you. This is my name for ever, and it is the name that people must use from now on. “

Straight away, Jesus made his disciples get into a boat and start back across the lake.But he stayed until he had sent the crowds away. Then he went up on a mountain where he could be alone and pray. Later that evening, he was still there. By this time the boat was a long way from the shore. It was going against the wind and was being tossed around by the waves. A little while before morning, Jesus came walking on the water towards his disciples. When they saw him, they thought he was a ghost. They were terrified and started screaming. At once, Jesus said to them, “Don’t worry! I am Jesus. Don’t be afraid.” Peter replied, “Lord, if it is really you, tell me to come to you on the water.” “Come on!” Jesus said. Peter then got out of the boat and started walking on the water towards him. But when Peter saw how strong the wind was, he was afraid and started sinking. “Save me, Lord!” he shouted. Straight away, Jesus reached out his hand. He helped Peter up and said, “You don’t have much faith. Why do you doubt?” When Jesus and Peter got into the boat, the wind died down. The men in the boat worshipped Jesus and said, “You really are the Son of God!”

MATTHEW 14. 22–32

OFF LIP T

HE

“You gotta believe in something. You have to play a hand in life. If you don’t believe in anything then you’re folding. I believe in Jesus Christ. Putting my faith in Jesus gives me the understanding to have hope in a messed-up world.”

(CJ Hobgood, 2001 WCT Champion)

LOCAL KNOWLEDGE

The surge of popular opinion was rising in Pal-estine. The people wanted to make Jesus king by force. They were on the edge of a revolution. Je-sus quickly sent his disciples off across the lake to make their escape.

There are two explanations for Jesus walking on the water. Either he, by a miracle, actually walked on the water – or, seeing the boat in trouble, came down from the mountain and came walk-ing through the surf to meet them as the boat was blown ashore. The theological point is that Jesus was acting as God – who ‘rides on the storms’. (see Psalm 29. 3,10; Psalm 77. 16-19 - especially verse 19 - and Isaiah 43. 2).

(A third possibility is that he might have been standing on a longboard or a paddle board, but this is unlikely because, as everyone knows, Jesus was a shortboarder!)

Peter was a man who often acted on impulse with-out thinking it through. He sometimes failed, but his heart was always in the right place.

Switch Church in Val d’Isere, France, was set up 5 seasons ago by snowboarder Tanja Lannen (above) who, through her involvement with Christian Surfers, was inspired to provide a Christian community in Val for the skiers and snowboarders doing seasons, as well as looking to share the love of Jesus and the relevance of His message to the crew that livefor dropping cliffs and riding steep and deep pow...

Tanja, now Mrs Perch, met her ski instruc-tor husband Andreas (below right) on her first pioneering season back in Val and together they now lead a team of up to 15.

They hook up every Thursday night at Andreas and Tanja’s for house church and on Sundays they’re church from 10am—12pm at Val d’isere’s newest and for sure raddest bar and riders hang-out, the VSPOT.

To me Christianity is not about ‘religious’ beliefs but about being challenged and challenging others. It is about faith in a living and breath-ing Christ. He is interested in not just me, but everyone! It is about being around the people we love, with no agenda but to love and serve them, being community and being relational.

SWITCH CHURCH

KAT / SWITCH TEAM

Daniel heard about the law, but when he returned home, he went upstairs and prayed in front of the window that faced Jerusalem. In the same way that he had always done, he knelt down in prayer three times a day, giving thanks to God. The men who had spoken to the king watched Daniel and saw him praying to his God for help. They went back to the king and said, “Didn’t you make a law that forbids anyone to pray to any god or human except you for the next thirty days? And doesn’t the law say that everyone who disobeys it will be thrown into a pit of lions?” “Yes, that’s the law I made,” the king agreed. “And just like all written laws of the Medes and Persians, it cannot be changed.” The men then told the king, “That Jew named Daniel, who was brought here as a captive, refuses to obey you or the law that you ordered to be written. And he still prays to his god three times a day.” The king was really upset to hear about this, and for the rest of the day he tried to think how he could save Daniel. At sunset the men returned and said, “Your Majesty, remember that no written law of the Medes and Persians can be changed, not even by the king.”

So Darius ordered Daniel to be brought out and thrown into a pit of lions. But he said to Daniel, “You have been faithful to your God, and I pray that he will rescue you.” A stone was rolled over the pit, and it was sealed. Then Darius and his officials stamped the seal to show that no one should let Daniel out. All night long the king could not sleep. He did not eat anything, and he would not let anyone come in to entertain him. At daybreak the king got up and ran to the pit. He was anxious and shouted, “Daniel, you were faithful and served your God. Was he able to save you from the lions?” Daniel answered, “Your Majesty, I hope you live for ever! My God knew that I was innocent, and he sent an angel to keep the lions from eating me. Your Majesty, I have never done anything to hurt you.” The king was relieved to hear Daniel’s voice, and he gave orders for him to be taken out of the pit. Daniel’s faith in his God had kept him from being harmed.

DANIEL 6. 10-23

Daniel was a Jew who had been deported from Jerusalem to Babylon where he had risen to become a leading official in Nebuchadnezzar’s court. When Darius seized power on Nebuchadnezzar’s death, Daniel was chosen to be one of three top officials. He always acted with complete integrity.Out of jealousy, other officials wanted to trap Daniel and have him removed. They slyly arranged for Darius to enact a law. The people were forced to worship the king alone and forbidden to pray to any other deity for a month. The scheme was set up by Daniel’s jealous colleagues in order to trap him. It worked! They force Darius to apply the penalty for disobedience and Daniel is thrown into the pit of lions as punishment.Daniel is aged around 90 years old. Surviving the night with lions, he proves himself to be a man of integrity and of God’s ability to protect his servant.

LOCAL KNOWLEDGE

OFF THE LI “I have travelled around the world and seen many different cultures and religions. Every time I go surfing I say, “God is with me and God will protect me.” Even if it’s big and heavy or I see a shark or something, I think this and it gives me peace.”

(Clay Marzo, pro surfer, Surfing magazine)

P

Goliath came towards David, walking behind the soldier who was carrying his shield. When Goliath saw that David was just a healthy, good-looking boy, he made fun of him. “Do you think I’m a dog?” Goliath asked. “Is that why you’ve come after me with a stick?” He cursed David in the name of the Philistine gods and shouted, “Come on! When I’m finished with you, I’ll feed you to the birds and wild animals!”

David answered: “You’ve come out to fight me with a sword and a spear and a dagger. But I’ve come out to fight you in the name of the LORD All-Powerful. He is the God of Israel’s army, and you have insulted him too!” Today the LORD will help me defeat you. I’ll knock you down and cut off your head, and I’ll feed the bodies of the other Philistine soldiers to the birds and wild animals. Then the whole world will know that Israel has a real God. Everybody here will see that the LORD doesn’t need swords or spears to save his people. The LORD always wins his battles, and he will help us defeat you. When Goliath started forward, David ran towards him. He put a stone in his sling and swung the sling around by its straps. When he let go of one strap, the stone flew out and hit Goliath on the forehead. It cracked his skull, and he fell face down on the ground. David defeated Goliath with a sling and a stone. He killed him with-out even using a sword. David ran over and pulled out Goliath’s sword. Then he used it to cut off Goliath’s head. When the Philistines saw what had happened to their hero, they started running away. But the soldiers of Israel and Judah let out a battle cry and went after them as far as Gath and Ekron. The bodies of the Philistines were scattered all along the road from Shaaraim to Gath and Ekron. When the Israelite army returned from chasing the Philistines, they took what they wanted from the enemy camp. David took Goliath’s head to Jerusalem, but he kept Goliath’s weapons in his own tent.

1 SAMUEL 17. 41-54

“One of surfing’s fundamental lessons is humility – out there, just a tiny speck in a whole bunch of cosmic forces…” (Dr Bron Taylor, Surfing Into Spirituality)

“God’s Spirit is not one of timidity but of boldness and power.” (Jim Rippey, pro snowboarder)

One of the best known stories in the Bible – it was mismatch of the century! Goliath is believed to be 9’ 6” tall and David was a little shepherd boy. It was the custom of the day for opposing armies to each choose a champion to fight each other. The winner won victory for his side. Although this was often gruesome, it saved further unnecessary bloodshed.Saul was king of the nation, but by now he was deteriorating mentally as well as morally. Saul had abdicated his role as ‘champion’ for the nation. All of his soldiers are terrified by Goliath and refuse to accept his challenge. So, after some discussion, Saul, in desperation, allows David to fight Goliath on behalf of Israel.David uses a sling and stone to kill Goliath. The single stone, cracking Goliath on the forehead, is no fluke. David learnt this skill as a shepherd apprentice, fending off lions and other wild animals from the sheep he had to protect. Goliath is dead and the Philistines are defeated.

LOCAL KNOWLEDGE

With John’s search for waves came another search - a search for truth. “I had just turned 30, was surfing the world and started looking for answers like, ‘what is the truth?’ I read lots about yoga and eastern religions and then found myself reading a book on world religions. I found all of them interest-ing but when I read about Jesus I saw there was something unique in what he did and who he claimed to be. He was rooted in history, not just a theory. I started reading Christian books and finally bought a Bible. I went to Indonesia for a month and read the Gospels... I left a believer...”

Even though John believed, he didn’t get the full picture and 30 years of living took some unpacking! However, he says God is so patient. “It took another year and a half of making mistakes before I finally came to the stage where the only option was a complete surrender to God. I opened my eyes to see that the

plan he has for my life is so much greater than the plan I was trying to direct.The amazing intimacy we have as God’s children was all possible through the sacrifice Jesus made on the cross that allowed my sins to be forgiven. Having spent so long getting here, there is no going back to the way I used to live. My new life trusting Jesus is so much richer than anything the world can offer me.”

John’s final advice to his fellow surf-ers is “I guess it’s all about turning to God and saying, ‘God I want to know the truth . If it’s true you have an awe-some plan for my life, help me to find it, please direct and give me the courage to follow you.’ My favourite Bible verse is Jeremiah 29. 11, “For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord. They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. In those days when you pray, I will listen. If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me.”

John started surfing at the age of 10 and had to give up each winter as he had no wetsuit! By 13 he had his wetsuit and headed for a professional surfing life. “Surfing has given me such an amazing path, meeting surfers and riding their waves from every part of the world over the past twenty years. Surfing is an amazing barrier breaker.”

SURF

Living the Lyfelyfe is a new way of engaging with the Bible. It’s about meeting with your friends in a public place (coffee shop/pub/restaurant), to connect God, you and everyday life. It’s about encountering the Bible with your heart and mind, in a fresh and vital way.

Using material downloaded from a dedicated website, groups follow a three-step process of engaging with a particular biblical text. By reading, reflecting and then responding to what they’ve encountered, the group approaches the Bible afresh. So far, over 2,000 people have registered on the lyfe website and discussion groups have been springing up across the country.

Kris Lannen, a Christian from Cornwall, says: ‘I feel that lyfe encourages people to take Bible discussion into a public arena, it adds an element of risk. As a Christian who also enjoys surfing, this is an element within my spiritual journey that I particularly appreciate.’

www.lyfe.org.uk