CATCH THE THIRD WAVE

Jn.6:19 – The disciples had rowed about halfway across the lake when all of a sudden they caught sight of Jesus walking on top of the waves, coming toward them. The disciples panicked, but Jesus called out to them, “Don’t be afraid. You know who I am.”

Parris and I recently took a short trip to the beach in Pensacola. We went in for a swim in the ocean and suddenly realized how rough the water was. I was brought back in a moment to my teen years at the beach in New Jersey where I spent one summer working at the beach and learning how to surf. Just as I was wandering back to those long ago teen aged memories Parris cried out, “Look over there, someone is surfing”. Before you knew it there was not one but three surfers catching waves at Pensacola Beach. These guys were obviously experienced as they caught wave after wave for some really nice rides, “Cowabunga, dude !!!”

While I watched these guys surf my mind wandered back to that surfing summer long ago when I was learning the ins and outs of surfing. One of the keys to a successful ride was to watch the waves come in and pick the right one to catch. In order to do that you had to watch the waves as they formed, they often came in sets of three and many times the third wave was the best wave.

All of this was swirling around in my head as I was swam in the surf and watched the surfers when it struck me, ‘the third wave is the best and it is about to come in’. What am I talking about? In my Christian experience I have joyfully been caught up in two waves of the Holy Spirit. The first one was the Jesus People Movement. Parris and I were converted by Jesus People sent here from California, the first four years of our Christian walk was at a Jesus Community in California. We grew in Christ and saw many people come to the Lord. That movement birthed our ministry.

The second wave crashed on us in 1994. It was an outpouring that I refer to as the River. It effected churches all around the world returning Christians to their first love and the power of Pentecost. This wave hit our church in August of 1994, we have never been the same. My life is still being impacted today by these two powerful waves of the Holy Spirit.

I feel like a surfer now, scanning the horizon waiting for that third wave. I gladly hop on the waves that are all around at any given time but I think the big one is yet to come. If you pay attention you can feel the undertow of the coming wave. Get ready, something historic is in the air.