Wakeboard Church

The Life and Times of Wakeboard Church

wbcadmin — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 00:21:03 +0000

I’m excited about 2008 for Wakeboard Church. First of all, my prayer is that Matthew 14:33 would ring true for everybody that joins us this year. “That all those who are in the boats would worship Him, saying Truly He is the Son of God!”

The details are getting worked out, but the biggest thing on the roster for us this year is Wakeboard Church Camp. I grew up going to a camp at Lake Murray (which is why I have a soft spot for that lake) where I learned to barefoot, and did a lot of kneeboarding. There were two really cool aspects of doing that camp all those years. 1. We got to get away from it all and really hone in on what God wanted to do in our lives. 2. We got to get away and wakeboard at an epic location away from the crowds. I want those two things to be true for Wakeboard Church camp as well.

I’ve got a definate on a special guest coming, I promise you wont be disapointed. For those of you who attend Thursday nights at my house you know who I’m talking about. As I get more of the logistics locked down (ie. location, other guests, cost, boats, food, loding) i’ll be making “official” announcements. Until then, if you really really want to know, email me, or call me.

Another cool thing coming up is the launch of our new forum based site. We’ve been talking about this for a long time, and I think it’s finally going to happen. The idea is to have a place where we can discuss scripture, find rides, and talk about what God is doing in our lives in a place that we can do that freely. This will also be a resource for people outside the Dallas area that are interested in staring Wakeboard Church chapters…especially if they don’t have a local forum of their own.

One of the things that will be on the website will be some interviews from a few of the top pros that we have all grown to know and love through the years. It’s been pretty cool to be able to get into the lives of these riders for a bit, so I hope you take the time to read those interviews once the new site is up and running.

As always, pray for what God is doing on the water (and off the water) in our lives, and the lives of those around us.

Ride On

-Alf Evans

New Years…something

wbcadmin — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 03:14:12 +0000

So for Christmas I got an MP3 player (yay Aunt Casi!) and my wife got an iPod. A good friend of mine told me that we’d need at least 8 gig of memory to keep ourselves interested, but I realized that we’re the kind of people that really chew on an artist or a musical genre for awhile. So with that said us needed 6,000 songs give or take a hundred was un-needed. To fill up the sum of our 5 gig of music that both mp3 players have I had to go back to some of our old CDs. In that process I found a band that I listen to from time to time, but I haven’t just listened to their albums over and over in a long time. That band is Five Iron Frenzy. Sometimes I think I’m really passionate about the deep things of God, and then sometimes I think I’m way synical about the shallow things of church. I feel that sentiment from Reese Roper (lead singer and song writer for FIF) through much of their music. I thought it fitting this year that for new years this song was playing over the loud speaker at a retreat that I was at right before midnight on the 31st of Dec.

New Years Eve by Five Iron Frenzy

It’s New Years Eve and I’m full of empty promises,
I half pretend to keep this time, just like last year.
The band is loud and I’m wandering the shadows,
wishing I was never here.
I persevere.
A crowded room, these whitewashed tombs,
they raise their glasses high, they kiss the past goodbye.

This New Years Eve, I’m waiting for tomorrow.
My heart is on my sleeve,
and yes I still believe, this New Years Eve,
will turn out better than before,
I’m holding on, still holding out,
until they close the door… on me.

It’s New Years Eve and I feel my insecurities,
are haunting me like ghosts, this sinking quicksand.
And then with thunderous praise and lofty adoration,
a second passes by, yet nothing changes.
I hate my skin, this grave I’m standing in.
Another change of years, and I wish I wasn’t here.

A year goes by and I’m staring at my watch again,
and I dig deep this time,
for something greater than I’ve ever been,
life to ancient wineskins.
And I was blind but now I see.

This New Years Eve, something must change me inside,
I’m crooked and misguided, and tired of being tired.
This New Years Eve, I’m waiting for tomorrow.
My heart is on my sleeve, and yes I still believe, in You.

I love this song. Have you ever stuck with a new years resolution? Ever? I don’t think I have either. At this point I don’t even give them a thought. I think a few things about the whole concept: Why wait until a moment to change the things that you know you need to change? Isn’t now the best time to do that? James 4:17 says: “Therefore, to one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin. Second of all, I can’t remember ever really changing anything myself. I’ve got a friend that stopped smoking cold turkey, that was pretty cool. I still don’t remember anything that I really changed. The only changes I ever can put a finger on in my life…well that finger gets pointed back to God. Everything good that has ever happened in my life has come from my Father in heaven. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold new things have come.”

If you’re reading this and have already failed miserably at holding your end of the new years resolution bargain down…rest easy. You never had a chance. Allow the God that is good to change your life. He made you anyway, he can change you.

Cosmic Christmas

wbcadmin — Sat, 22 Dec 2007 21:19:19 +0000

This is an exerpt from from a book we read each year at our house with friends and family present. In the midst of this season that is supposed to draw us to Jesus, it seems to do an awfully good job of pulling us away. Enjoy the words of Max Lucado from Cosmic Christmas, and think about the reason why we do what we do…all year long.

So this is He. Immanuel. So this is God’s gift. A Savior. He shall save His people from their sins. “Worthy is the Lamb,” I whispered, as I knelt before my God. My heart was full. I turned to Mary as she cradled her child and I spoke. It didn’t matter that she couldn’t hear me. The stars could. All of nature could. And most of all, my King could.

“Do you know who you hold, Mary? You secure the Author of grace.He who is ageless is now moments old. He who is limitless is now suckling your milk. He who strides upon the stars, now has legs too weak to walk; the hands which held the oceans are now an infant’s fist. To Him who has never asked a question, you will teach the name of the wind. The Source of language will learn words from you. He who has never stumbled, you will carry. He who has never hugered, you will feed. The King of creation is in your arms.”

“What manner of love is this?” Michael whispered, and again we were covered with silence. A blanket of awe. Finally, Michael again opened his mouth, this time to sing. He began quietly, pausing between the words.

“Glory,

glory,

glory to God in the hightest.”

One by one we joined. “Glory, glory, glory to God in the highest.”

Gradually the chorus grew louder and faster: “Glory, glory, to God in the higest. Glory, glory to God in the highest. Glory, glory to God in the highest.”

Our praise rose into the realms of the universe. In the most distant galaxy the dust on the oldest star danced with our praise. In the depths of the ocean, the water rippled with adoration. The tiniest microbe turned, the mightiest constellation spun, all of nature joined with us as we worshiped Immanuel, the God who had become flesh.

Crazy Idea

wbcadmin — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 21:14:28 +0000

I had this crazy idea. I can’t do it this year, but it might be fun to attempt it next year. Lets call it “Board all the time”.The idea is to wakeboard everyday for a year. Jan 1 to Dec 31st. Crazy huh? In some places that would be possible, but in Dallas it wont be as comfortable as others. On the other hand, Dallas has just the right mixture of elements where it’s doable, and a bit of a challenge. Email me your thoughts on it. alf88@juno.com

Life and times of Wakeboard Church

wbcadmin — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 21:12:15 +0000

What a rocking season of our lives right now. I’m not just talking about Christmas either. Yes, I still call it Christmas. God is tweaking and moving and working in our lives in cool little ways. There’s way too much talk about here now (What I started to write about it has turned into a novel), but I would love to share it with you personally if you just can’t wait to hear what is going on. I prayer through all of this is that I hope you are being directed and lead by the Holy Spirit in this season of your life. Notice I didn’t say this season meaning Christmas. I said this season in your life. We’re all going through different things in our relationship with God. That could mean anything from not having a relationship with God, to being a “veteran”. In any case my challenge is that you would test the limits of your intellect and comfort zones listen to that voice inside you and trust what God is doing. We have been lately, and it’s the most radical, amazing ride we’ve ever been on in our lives. I pray that everybody gets to experience life like this at least one moment in their life. Listen to Him, wait for Him, trust Him. Ride On. -Alf

Some pics leftover from the year

wbcadmin — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 14:06:00 +0000

These are a few pics that I don’t think were ever uploaded. Enjoy as you wish you could go out and ride.

Sure a little hero worship. Erik would have nothing of it. As humble a guy as I’ve ever met.

I call this picture presence…cause thats what it feels like.

The vandal, grabbing longer than most, and floating longer than most.

Gizmo’s SAN. We’re watching the Vandal ride.

Thursday Night Wakeboard Church

wbcadmin — Sat, 15 Dec 2007 18:10:06 +0000

I was going through some old posts looking at the history of what God has done with Wakeboard Church. It’s been an amazing ride and I’m excited about what God is going to do through us in the future.

The posts that I was reading made me miss our Thursday night outings on the water. There’s something electric about the entire process. It’s awesome! Everybody scurrying to drop a boat in the water and get the first set. I truly miss the “on” season. All that said, it was fun Thursday night to have Jake Sonnevelt whoop our tails all night long at Wakeboarding Unleashed on the XBOX. Mind you, none of us had played the game in a while, and based off of Jenn’s eagerness to have the first game against me I thought she would dominate all night long. Alas, Jake beat us off the water too. Good on ya Jake.

It was fun times had by all.

Whether you are praying for Wakeboard Church, being involved by coming to events or just reading this post…thank you for being a part.

Ride On.

-Alf Evans.

I love this sport

wbcadmin — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 19:49:11 +0000

My friend Jamie laughs at me just about every time we are out on the boat because in some facet, I’ll express those words. Much like the different contexts the word “dude” can be used, “I love this sport” can also be used in several different situations. For example: Defiance Set – The wind is horrible. The sun is not out. The air temperature is less than desirable. You’re on a new wake, and a new board. Every possible factor into the equation that we called wakeboarding is off. The regulars don’t even dream of coming out on a day like today. The walley’s think you’re nuts. What do you say? (With an amusement in your own audacity)”I love this sport.”New Trick Set – It happened to me this year a couple of times. One set in particular. I hardly ever ride on Sundays cause I’m at church. I like to go to the early service because if I go to the second service I feel like the day is too short. This particular Sunday the kids were with the Kelly (my wife) and out of town. Jamie says, “Dude, lets ride.” Easy choice. I can get a few sets in and go to the second service. This day was important because we had been pushing progression so much lately that it was almost taking the fun out of riding. So this day we made a point to relax, have chill music on the boat, not stress about how well we rode and have fun. The fact that only one ramp on the lake was open and we pretty much had the lake to ourselves was nice too. I think I’ll remember that day for a long time. The water was really high, and there was debris all over the lake. There were little piles of fire ants floating in the lake and we’d ride over them and imagine it being armageddon for that particular nest of ants. We rode in long strait lines. One line was about 5 miles long, almost the length of Grapevine lake. I remember riding just trying to link tricks as I felt them. No pressure. When I fell, it was fun and relaxing. When I got tired, I’d just try a trick that I didn’t think I could do to fall so I could rest. One of those tricks happened to be a switch roll attempt. That attempt happened to be my first switch roll. I gave the rock fist to Jamie in the boat, and said out loud in a normal voice, “I love this sport.” Walley’d – It’s Saturday morning in the middle of the summer. You got up early thinking you would beat the walley’s out. You drive to the best spot on the water and lo and behold…there’s an I/O pulling a tube in big figure eights right in the line. Understanding this is better than chores or fishing…or tubing for that matter you say, “I love this sport.”Thrown the wall – This is when the walley can’t handle the 3K of ballast you put in the boat and hates driving over your wake competing for the line. He drives to another place on the lake. You victoriously say to those in the boat, “I love this sport!” There are countless scenarios where I have verbalized that. In the middle of thunder storms, getting towed in by a fisherman, having the most epic set in the history of the sport, these are all reasons why we love what we do. Enjoy your off season. Enjoy your love for the sport. Ride on.-Alf

The Weight of It All

wbcadmin — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 03:47:33 +0000

Or should I say, “the glory of it all”? In either case it’s exciting to be in the middle of what God is doing.

I remember a few years ago my boat left us stranded in the middle of the lake. It has only done that once actually. Every single time I’ve had my boat in the water it has made it’s way back home under it’s own power. Except this time. It was fun…we were wakeboarding and then the boat died. Not a huge deal cause it had done that before. So we made some sandwiches and hung out for a while. In the meantime a pretty cool line of storms were showing up on the horizon. That’s no problem cause they were a ways off and they wouldn’t have been there for a few hours…so we thought.

After an hour or so we decided that just hanging out was not the wisest course of action and that it was time to paddle the boat back to the dock. That wasn’t a huge deal because the dock was in sight and a relatively easy row. The storm hit us when we were just a few hundred meters from the dock. Once it hit us we just couldn’t fight it’s power. We tried, believe me we tried. All we could do was just let the storm take us where it wanted. That just happened to be into a cove where we would nearly be struck by lightning, and where we would find help from the fire department. It was an adventure.

During this experience there were different people that were on the boat. There were people that made sandwiches for others. There were those who barked out orders to fix the situation. There were those that complained, and have never been on a boat since I think. There were those who were pretty relaxed through the whole deal, smiling as each moment dealt it’s hand.

I wonder how the disciples felt while Jesus slept during the storm. I mean ultimately God sent the storm that frightened them so much in the first place, so logic would dictate that it was in God’s plan, and ultimately so that they could learn a valuable truth about Jesus. Maybe one of the reasons we have that account in scripture is just so we have the story to give God glory for.

In my life I’m about to go through a storm. I’m watching the horizon and seeing the clouds get darker…and I’m excited about it. I really am. I have days where I’m pretty nervous about what is ahead, but there are other days where I’m honored to be on the boat with Jesus. I mean really…think about it. I could be on the shore where it’s safe. I could be next to a camp fire with some fish and some bread. Instead I get to be next to Jesus. Any minute now He’s going to get up and calm the wind and the waves and it’s going to be pretty cool. The clouds will part, the sun rays will come through the clouds and it’ll be one of the more memorable moments of my entire life. But for now, I’m okay with taking a nap in the boat as we get tossed next to Jesus. For now I’m going to appreciate the size of the waves and the strength of the wind. I know that He is in control. Even the wind and the waves obey Him.

Pray for the storm that you are in, and for those around you that are in storms as well. To God be the glory for the storms in our lives!

Ride On

Alf

Give Thanks

wbcadmin — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 16:35:00 +0000

We throw that around pretty easily each year. I know I do, “Happy Thankgiving”, “Happy Thanksgiving”.

We truly have so much to be thankful for. The kids that we have. The little miracles that they are. Having jobs to go to that put good food on the table. Maybe we don’t even eat on a table, and we’re drive thru people. Thank God for cars, for this country we live in. Thank God for your health.

This one sounds a bit superficial compared to the rest, but I do thank God that we get to wakeboard as much as we do. This is a luxury that we take for granted. This should not be so. The next time you’re out, think about the blessing it is to strap on a board, fill up the sacs, and ride to your hearts content.

1 Thes 5:16-18