Living Water by Chandler Brownlee

Image: Logan Mills

Believe it or not, I grew up going to church, youth camps, mission trips and never knew the Lord. I don’t blame the churches I attended, I just had the wrong understanding of Christianity, and I was too busy buying 3lbs of marijuana in Jamaica on a mission trip or getting sent home from another church camp for other illegal behaviors. 

This all changed one weekend at the age of 21. I was still the same rebellious surf/skate punk, but this time I was in a different setting on a surf trip, and a friend shared about their relationship with God, and how that personal relationship is made possible by grace, mercy, love, and forgiveness that Jesus provides vs. me trying to earn it or just thinking my good outweighed my bad. The Christian message was freeing and so simple, I knew I had to share it with surfers and skaters who were being reached by traditional church methods in the 90’s.   

This led me on a journey where I found Christian Surfers and learned how to share my faith in a culturally relevant and biblical way with my surf tribe. Britt Merrick from Channel Island Surfboards shared this easy formula at the 2001 CSUS National Conference in Malibu, CA, and I want to pass it along to you! When you know how to share your faith, then God will begin to bring people into your life that want to know Him. Are you ready?

The Four R’s

1. RECOGNIZE that you are a sinner. 

Romans 3:23 “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”

2. REALIZE that Jesus died for your sins. 

Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us”

3. REPENT for your sins.
Acts 3:19 “Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord”

4. RECEIVE Jesus as your Lord and Savior.
John 1:12 “Yet to all who received Him, to those who believe His name, He gave the right to become children of God.