Category: faith

Just a follow up

So a few days ago I made what started as an “angry-ish” post. Although I don’t think anyone actually read it, I’m still both happy and in awe of the power of prayer. It never ceases to amaze me what happens when you have an honest conversation with God. Over the last few days Pope Francis has publicly come out against abortion, and has called on all the bishops to crackdown on any priest or member of the Catholic Church involved in sexual crimes. Keep praying and remember to Live the Faith. God bless.

Surfing and scripture

I feel like I’ve written this a hundred times before. Maybe I have, or maybe it’s just a conversation that’s been going on in my head for so long it just seems that way. Regardless, I suppose the short version is that I’m a bit disillusioned and disappointed with the church at this moment. Now before anyone begins to walk away or immediately start making remarks please understand the difference between the church, and, The Church. The Church. The true Church was and is brought to all of us through Christ. It is through this Church that Jesus guides us to the Father and gave us the gift of the Holy Spirit. The fact is, the struggles I’m having have only strengthened my Faith and inspired me to not only live the faith, but to hopefully embolden others to do the same.

Quick backstory

Born and raised a Roman Catholic, I always viewed that as the only church. But like most kids during high-school, I went through a rebellious phase and distanced myself from the church. Then, my junior year, I was having a conversation with a few friends about scary books and authors, Steven King’s “The Stand” specifically, when one of my friends said if I really wanted to read something “scary”, read the Book of Revelation and handed me a travel sized New Testament. I sat down and read it straight through, and unlike any fictional story Steven King could write, nothing is as frightening as reading the words of Jesus telling us about the apocalypse. I can still remember the feeling of self disappointment, I mean after all I’m a Catholic, how did I not know this. It was shortly after that I started carrying my own copy of the New Testament in my bag at all times. It’s a habit the continues to this very day, except now I also carry a complete Bible with me courtesy of Christian Surfers.

Over the years I can’t even count how many times I’ve read and reread Books and passages. Good times, tough times, for inspiration, or guidance the Word has become my go-to. One of the most amazing things about the Bible is that it truly is alive. Like I said I’ve read and reread it so many times, and each time I’ve picked up something new from it, or quite literally just opened it and found exactly what I needed to hear at that moment.

Which leads me to where I’m at today.

When Lent began 60+ days ago I made it a point to read a little more everyday, and initially it had a calming effect. But as I became more immersed in the scripture I started to truly notice how much we’ve strayed from the truth. Seeing my faults and of those around me almost seemed ok at first. I mean I’ve adopted the phrase “I’m a work in progress” to the point of it practically being a mantra, but as days turned to weeks it became less amusing. Witnessing some of the people whom I’ve always thought to be true Catholics, myself included, speak and act so at odds of how we portray and view ourselves to be was heartbreaking. Unfortunately it didn’t end there. Every week there were under publicized news stories of attacks on Christians and churches. In places like Nigeria, Egypt, Ethiopia, France, China and of course Sri Lanka, all with little or no response from the Vatican. No response from anyone. Why? Is it not politically correct to want all innocent life to be safe? Then I read how the Pope agreed to allow China to choose the bishops within their borders, a move that essentially split the church there in two. A public version that is government controlled, and an underground one that is literally hunted on a daily basis…again a situation that the Vatican deafens us with its silence. Did I miss the chapter in the Bible that told us how Peter let Rome choose church leaders? Then while in Morocco, Pope Francis told parishioners to not proselytize, that simply living as christians was enough. I understand that it is safer to keep silent, but was it any less safe for Jesus or the Apostles? Haven’t we all been charged with the duty to try to bring as many people to Christ that we can? Once again, it feels too politically driven. Then there’s the thing that no one wants to speak of…the allegations brought against many priests. For the record, I don’t believe that all the accused are guilty. But what I will say is with that much smoke there has to be some fire, and if even one is guilty and the church protects them, from the Pope on down there must be accountability. Again I’m deafened by silence. The more troubling things seemed, the deeper I dove into scripture, which only amplified the issues. As I sit here now thinking, it almost amuses me that the breaking point for me actually happened a few months ago before anything else. After working in one of my parish’s ministry’s for about ten years my wife and I had to take a break because of health reasons. A few months back she had gotten ill, and it still wasn’t under control…unfortunately it still isn’t…I don’t know if it was church politics, fear of change, or just peoples true colors coming out, but we were abandoned to our faces and insulted behind it backs. The final moment was when our pastor told us he thought it would be best if we weren’t around for a while…let me just say when you’re going through something and you’re left in the wind by not only your friends, but your priest as well…that was a whole new level of heartbreak. I mean the word catholic, by definition means “all embracing” or “all welcoming” and the church defines it as meaning “universal”. So when you’re essentially told your not welcome it makes you think about where you are. So I started looking at all the churches that are Christian. Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Coptic, Protestant, Methodist, Episcopal…my head was really spinning. All I could think was, ”is this universal?” When you read the history of them, it mostly comes down to the vanity of man that caused the rifts, and still causes them to this day. The devil must smile, while Jesus cries at what we’ve done. At what we are doing. In Revelation Jesus speaks of the seven churches, of which only two are deemed worthy of Him. Smyrna, who suffers for Christ, and Philadelphia, that loves. As I read and reread those passages I started to think that He wasn’t really talking about churches, He’s talking about us. We are the Church, not some buildings somewhere. We have to be ready and willing to love unconditionally and to suffer for Him. And by suffering I don’t necessarily mean on the biblical scale, simply holding true to your beliefs when they aren’t popular to the rest of the world counts. Being courageous enough to not only live, but to speak your faith.

Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love. -1 Corinthians 13:13

…And to love. It’s both the easiest and the most difficult thing we are taught to do. Remembering to not only love others like Christ did, but to also find solace and strength in His love for us when fear overcomes us is something that seems almost out of reach. But then I think of Jesus. He was betrayed, denied, beaten, and crucified, and still felt nothing but love and forgiveness for them all, and while in the midst of all that He even welcomed one of the criminals he was being crucified with to heaven because the man asked…so what’s my excuse?

And so it begins.

Have any of you ever surfed? The actual act of surfing really isn’t all that difficult. But to truly surf, or to be a surfer, is a discipline that almost has to be a way of life…at least on the water. Patience, resilience, focus, and strength are traits that come to mind. All of which are necessary to achieve the “glide”…that moment when you and the wave are one. But there’s a lot of work involved and you don’t always get there, but that doesn’t stop you from climbing back up onto the board to try again. And you do it because for a soul surfer, words haven’t been created yet to describe the feeling of the glide…That’s how I feel about my Faith. I can use those same traits when describing what it takes to follow Christ in this world, and quite similarly there’s a lot of work and we don’t always walk the right path. But it’s that desire of being worthy of His love, being worthy of heaven that drives us to keep trying. When you’re surfing there’s a moment. It’s a flash of an instant when you’re paddling your heart out to match the speed of the wave, and suddenly you feel it grab your board. Like some invisible hand that says “ I got you”. It’s that moment, that lasts for less than a second, when you haven’t popped up yet but you can just start to get the sense of oneness with the wave. Your mind is moving at lightening speed because you know how easy it is to fall but the want for that joy is stronger than any fear. That’s where I am right now with my faith. It’s funny actually, the more I think and write about all this the less disillusioned I feel. The stronger my faith is. The greater is my need to make a change. Sometimes, something that at first glance can seem almost insignificant changes your entire perspective. Looking back over what Ive been writing I noticed a verse in the picture…

Now I say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it. – Mathew 16:18

All Christian churches are joined together by this verse whether they want to or not. We are bound to each other by this, for as much as the Bible is alive it is also stone. It can’t be rewritten to suit people’s needs or views. I am a Roman Catholic. As such I will always be welcoming to all, and will strive for unity amongst Christians. The duty we’ve been charged with is a difficult one. When you look at the Apostles, they literally walked with Christ and still had differences, so to think that we’d be different now is just foolish. But our goal, like them, is the same. To bring people to the Father through the Son (John 14:6), to love without condition, and above all to love God. Seems simple enough, but we tend to let the world creep in and alter our focus…our perspective…our desire. In John 2:15 Jesus said “Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you.” When He says “this world” He’s talking about the material world we live in, not the people. God loves the world, He loves it so much He sent His only begotten son (John3:16). That doesn’t mean you can’t have or want nice things. What father doesn’t want the best for his children? It’s when the want for those things becomes the only thing. When you will turn your back…or worse…on someone in order to achieve those things. When the desire for worldly things or power makes you turn your back on God, that’s when it’s bad.

Out of all the Apostles I’ve always felt a connection to Peter. Like Peter, my Faith is fierce. But also like Peter, as much as the fire I have for the Lord burns within me, I am fallible. There are two stories in particular that show us not only Peter as a person I can identify with, but also why Jesus chose him to be “the rock”.

Mathew 14:22-33 is awesome on so many levels. First of all as a surfer how could I not be drawn to the fact that Jesus is the original surfer. I mean the swells were tossing the Apostle’s boat around and Jesus just comes strolling out there on the waves and is like ,”hey what’s up?” Now I know that’s not a direct quote, but you get the idea. He’s the original soul surfer. Here’s the moment you see the fierce faith I mentioned earlier…In the midst of all that chaos Peter says to Jesus “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.” And just like that he jumps out and starts walking towards Jesus…walking on the waves…Bam! Guess who just became surfer number two? A man who was so intensely focused on Christ he was able to do something extraordinary. But the real lesson for me was after a few moments when Peter let the distractions of the world take his eyes off Jesus he started to sink and he cried out for help. If a man who was literally walking on water with Jesus can loose his focus, I think it’s understandable that I…we… can as well. Here Peter showed us both the weakness we share being mortal, and level of potential within us is.

The next lesson is from Galatians, and it’s an interaction between Peter, Jesus’s chosen pope, and Paul, arguably the last chosen apostle. The cliff note version is that Peter was starting to succumb to peer pressure from within the church, and was treating the christians that were formerly jews better than the converts who were gentiles. Paul, who in my opinion had become the advocate not only for the gentiles but for the Word in general, called Peter out in it. Again here’s where we see Peters greatness. Stop for a moment and think how you’d react if someone questioned your actions in front of your peers…even if I knew I was wrong, my gut reaction would be to go on the defensive. I’m sure most of us would, but not Peter. He thought it through and did what was right, not popular. The two of them would go on to teach together in Rome until they were martyred. Once more we see the brilliance of Christ’s choice of not only a man who, like all of us is fallible as a role model, but is also so faith filled he is able to always remain humble enough to place God’s will over his own.

Which brings me back to our Pope. Although the choosing process has changed from Peter to now, I have to believe that some level of divine influence remains. As such, to hold Pope Francis to a higher standard than Peter is unfair, but I hope that he has a “Paul” to help him see the truth. At the same time it’s up to all of us to help him, and each other, see as well. In John 14:12 Jesus told tells us that we “will do the same works I have done, and even greater works” , which was a bit intense when I read it. But when I see it now I realize that Christ’s ministry only lasted a little over three years… but our time to spread the word, God willing, will be much longer. And given a longer time on earth means our opportunity to suffer and love is greater…but so is our openings for sin and weakness.

As always I will be pray for us all. Stay vigilant, and live the Faith. God bless.

On the edge.

Not really sure where to begin…Over the last several months I’ve been following the atrocities taking place in Nigeria against Christians, praying for some sort of world response, any kind of a response. Unfortunately there has been none. Then yesterday…Easter morning… we hear that somewhere around 300 people, mostly Christians, were murdered by islamic terrorist’s in bombings at Churches and hotels in Sri Lanka. As a man, my gut reaction is revenge, as a Christian I know that’s not what I’m supposed to do but trying to maintain a “Christ-like” outlook is getting more and more difficult. It was when I was talking to my son, listening to the anger in his voice, that I came to the realization that this is exactly what the devil wants. All it took was a day of terror to replace joy and happiness with fear and anger. In one move the Christians there were killed and maimed, churches destroyed, and lives changed forever. Here, instead of celebrating the resurrection, people were suddenly looking over their shoulders in mass, talking of revenge, or ignoring that it even happened. All of which simply divides us. In this overly PC world we now reside in, not wanting to insult or stereotype anyone, attacks against Christians are allowed to happen with little response. When former high level political figures refer to the victims as “Easter worshipper’s” and not Christians it speaks volumes to either the fear of retribution or the disregard for the lives of Christian’s. All of which makes the devil smile. It’s in moments like these we have to turn to Jesus. We have to remember that He had the power to stop the torture he was receiving, but he didn’t. He had the power to step off the cross at any time he wanted, but He didn’t. And He absolutely had the power to destroy everyone who had done Him harm, but He didn’t. All He did was forgive them. Forgiveness and love. We are not Christ, but we have to try to be. Like I said in the beginning of this rant, maintaining a “Christ-like” outlook is going to be tough, almost impossible, but I have to try. We have to try. Because if we don’t then the devil has already won. Believe me when I say this will not be easy, especially when the powers that be, Vatican and other wise, seem unable or unwilling to say or do anything. But I refuse to let my human emotions deter me from the Divine Mission we all have been given. I pray you all will join with me in continuing to live the Faith. God Bless.

When the Spirit speaks



16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate,[a] who will never leave you. 17 He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive him, because it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognize him. But you know him, because he lives with you now and later will be in you.

-John 14:16-17

This is probably going to sound odd but I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the Holy Spirit. The truth of the matter is I never really gave it much thought. I’d bless myself muttering “Father-Son-Holy Spirit” while doing the hand motions, all the while picturing this bearded old gentleman as the Father, and seeing the image of the Akiane Kramarik painting as Christ, but never really had a vision in my head of the Holy Spirit. I suppose I would have gone with the image of the flame over the Apostles heads if I was ever asked…not that the Holy Spirit is such a popular conversation topic. But after reading Corinthian’s one and two again recently, the way I view the Holy Spirit has changed. On a side note, it never ceases to amaze how I can read the Bible over and over and still see it from a slightly different perspective and receive new guidance and information from it. Awesome. Now for the sake of knowledge, clarity, and speed the simplest way I can explain the Holy Spirit is to say that the Spirit is the presence of God within us. Additionally, and here’s the part that most people struggle to understand, like the Father and Christ the Spirit is a person. Throughout the Bible there are references of the Spirit getting angry, making decisions, and giving guidance just like the other two.

Here’s the moment I lose some of you.

It seems lately that the Spirit has been in overdrive within me, and this kind of inspiration is something that can only be ignored for so long. Now right now I figure some of you think the idea of the Holy Spirit is crazy in and of itself, but to say that it speaks to us…well that takes it to a new level. Then there are some of you who feel that the idea of me ignoring it is crazy…who am I to ignore God. Finally, there is the few that I hope are intrigued by what I’m saying, either by curiosity or maybe they too have felt the same calling.

The calling.

Regardless of where you fit I hope you’ll hear me out, and maybe even start a discussion. Over the next few weeks there’s a lot of things I have to talk about. Topics like the pope, evangelizing, finding time for fitness, defending the faith, and surf wax (not fully sure how that fits in but who am I to judge!) just to name a few, but I digress. As a self proclaimed work in progress I guess I never truly felt worthy of some kind of divine intervention. But that’s what this is. In the midst of the chaos of life I’m overcome with peace and clarity, and suddenly the way I view the world changes. We always hear things about how we have to be the change we want to see or something along those lines, well I feel I have to be the change. There are too many good people straying from the life that Christ wants us to lead. We’re letting too many people try to alter what Jesus taught us, and what we know is right in our hearts. We’re letting the noise of the world drown out the Word that is inside of us all. Like sheep who can’t hear the shepherd, we’re straying away. The brilliance and Gods plan for us is that the Trinity is there to guide us. Understand we’re no better or worse than those who came before us. The Father spoke to Moses, but that didn’t stop the Israelites from praying to false idols, Christ was literally betrayed, denied, and sacrificed by people who he loved, and finally we were given the Holy Spirit as our final guide. So like Moses and then the Apostles were able to guide their people back, so it now falls on us to do the same. I think…no I know the reason I’ve held back from writing this was fear of response. Fear of how I might be viewed. But the idea of someone not doing something scares me more. I hope you’ll walk with me through this, and please don’t hesitate to say or ask me anything. And remember to always live the faith. God bless.

Surf wax…it’s a start

I love the outdoors. Whether it’s surfing, camping, or just sitting outside soaking up rays I love it. Accordingly, I am a huge proponent of protecting the environment…replace. reuse.recycle…A seemingly simple mantra to live by, but as simple as it sounds not enough people do it. I truly believe if everyone did something, even the smallest thing, it would make a great difference. As a surfer I feel even more responsible for protecting the oceans and all it’s life so it was a bit shocking to me to find out seemingly little negative things can make a big difference too. I never thought about what is actually in surf wax until I was reading an article about all the products that are made with petrochemicals. I’ll admit at times I have an almost superiority complex about things regarding people’s actions towards the environment, so it definitely knocked me down a few pegs learning that surf wax is not only NON-biodegradable but also is known to be toxic for the local sea life…which led me to this decision. As trivial as it seems to most of the people I know, I decided to make 100% organic surfboard wax. Like I said every little bit makes a difference. Eventually I want it to be made using all local resources but until I figure out a replacement for coconut oil I’ll have to bring that in. Last weekend I tapped a couple of trees for the resin and the beeswax is from a farm here on the Island. There’s a couple of other ingredients I’m working with, but they’re from here as well. There’s so many “recipes” out there but they all seem like you have to tweak them to suit the waters you surf in so hopefully my extra ingredients work. I pride myself in my ability to figure things out so it may take a try or two but I know it’s going to work. Here’s just a couple of pic’s if my homemade taps…more pictures to follow. Remember to live the faith, God bless

Instincts vs Faith

I was reading today about Christians being persecuted and murdered in Africa and the Middle East, and it was like getting punched the stomach. As I kept reading my thoughts, in the natural fight or flee mentality, raced with questions as to why they don’t fight back. That’s when I realized there is a misconception among many Christians today that I feel is driven by human nature. When we look at what’s going on in the world that we, as Christians, must deal with and face on a daily basis, our instinct is to fight. My instinct is to fight. But our trust and faith is not supposed to be in our instincts it’s supposed to be in God. Responses like anger, apprehension, rage, and fear are more common than ones like love, patience, trust, and faith. As much as we want to fight we have to remember the war is over, it ended the moment Christ died for us, and the moment He returned our purpose, like His, became to save. Through out the Bible Jesus tells us that this isn’t going to be easy…

“And all nations will hate you because you are my followers. But everyone who endures to the end will be saved”

-Mathew 10:22

We have to remember that after being beaten, tortured, and crucified Jesus’s heart was still filled with nothing but love. Even as I say that now, I struggle with fully understanding it, while at the same time knowing I need to have love like that. But once again, that’s me viewing the actions of God with the eyes of a man as opposed to trying to see my actions with His eyes. In the end I know I have to be patient not only with myself but with everyone around me because we’re all struggling with something and as much as I think I know what is best, I have to Trust God’s plan above anything I can come up with. And it’s having that kind of faith, a true blind faith where we see and live using the eyes of our heart, that we can be the people that Christ wants us to be. That we need to be. I’ll leave you with this…try to find joy in all you do and live the faith. God bless