Dry July

There's a movement in Australia called 'Dry July' challenging men to give up alcohol and redirect the finances to charity over the month of July. Some mates of mine who don't struggle with alcohol have chosen to give up sugar, certain foods, even reading the paper to redirect that time!

I am going to give up waves. But I am not going to stay 'dry'. Rather than give up surfing for July (which would serve no purpose when I am in a surf mission), I am simply going to give up catching waves but still go surfing the same. The time and focus normally spent catching waves will be spent catching conversations instead.

Remember Jesus saying to some of his early disciples who were fishermen, "Come follow me and I will make you fishers of men." He was saying, "Instead of catching fish, you will catch men from now on!" I often say in Christian Surfers I am more concerned with catching men than catching waves...but it doesn't always look like that! Often I look just like everyone else hustling in the lineup, viewing others as object to out-manoeuvre, self-absorbed. Hey, not saying theres anything wrong with a quiet reflective surf to get your head together, but you know the other kind.

Maybe you are just the same? Dry July is a challenge to reflect on this, to test how surrendered our surfing really is to God and to build relationships. Want to join me? 

Ok, it's out there now, there's a heap of local surfers in my town now saying, "Great BD, more waves for us!"