Preparing for the Wave

By Pastor Ben Miller

Recently, I reminded our Church Planting Cohort that ministry is like surfing.* When we think about surfing, we typically think about the exciting part – riding the wave. But most of the time in surfing is spent preparing to ride the wave. You get your surfboard waxed up, put it in the water, and paddle. You paddle, and paddle, and paddle. Then, when you get to the place where the waves are breaking, you wait. You wait, and wait, and wait. Then, when just the right wave comes along, you stand up on your board and enjoy the ride. But the average ride of a wave is twenty seconds. Then you start the whole process all over again.

That’s ministry.

In ministry, you pray, you prepare, you share, you develop others, you teach. And when the Lord gives the wave – perhaps a wave of new converts, or the wave of planting a new church – you are ready to ride it. That’s what we are doing in our church planting cohort all year long.

Right now, this group of thirteen men is putting in the work of praying, studying, and developing. Right now, we are working through a module that we’ve called “The Church and Church Planting.” During the week, they each watch a seminary-level lecture on one aspect of “The Doctrine of the Church,” using a resource from the 9Marks organization. They also read about a figure from church history who demonstrated great boldness for the sake of multiplying disciples and churches from the book Trial and Triumph by Richard Hannula, and they read an article or “White Paper” from the Great Commission Collective. Then, when we gather, we spend time in prayer, discuss their homework, and go through material from the Great Commission Collective’s Multiply material, which focuses on planting churches.

The result is some incredible discussions about what the church is and how churches are multiplied. These are not just conversations – the Lord is shaping our hearts and our outlook to see what he is doing to multiply disciples and churches among all nations.

Would you pray for these men who are giving a great amount of time and attention to their preparation for ministry? Pray that God would use every ounce of their sacrifice and effort to advance his kingdom purposes. Pray for them to care well for their families as they devote themselves to this work. And pray for the wave of disciple-making that we trust the Lord will bring in his timing.

*I originally heard this illustration from our founding pastor, Nate Newell, who commonly used it in the early days of Oak Hill.