June 2, 2025 • 17 mins
In this personal reflection, Pastor Lonnie sets aside a preplanned sermon to share a pivotal turning point in his spiritual journey—the moment he chose to leave behind comfort and control to follow a risky but divine calling. Sparked by an unexpected invitation to plant a church and solidified during a powerful sermon in San Diego about the story of Peter walking on water, he felt a deep, inner shift. The message—“If you want to walk on water, you have to get out of the boat”—became a defining call to faith and action.
The story explores his fear, uncertainty, and vulnerability, while also highlighting his determination to step out in faith with his wife, Mercedes. It’s more than just a personal testimony; it’s a challenge for others to confront their comfort zones and have enough trust in God to take genuine risks. Through raw honesty, the author urges readers to stop spectating and start walking—because true faith begins when you leave the safety of the boat.
The story explores his fear, uncertainty, and vulnerability, while also highlighting his determination to step out in faith with his wife, Mercedes. It’s more than just a personal testimony; it’s a challenge for others to confront their comfort zones and have enough trust in God to take genuine risks. Through raw honesty, the author urges readers to stop spectating and start walking—because true faith begins when you leave the safety of the boat.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
Well, yesterday I had a well organized sermon, ready to Go,
a sermon that was carefully built around this morning's reading
from Matthew.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
This walking on the Water.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
But at the same time, some of you know, others
may not why I'm working on sermons each week, I
have a couple of other writing projects. I'm also working
on an although biographical volume with the working title Ready
to Preach, and another volume as well.
Speaker 2 (00:52):
On the history of this church. So there's a lot
of balls in the air.
Speaker 1 (00:58):
And yesterday I shared a chapter of Ready to Preach
with my wife and the title of the chapter goes
along with this painting.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
The title the chapter is out of the Boat my
San Diego moment. It's a chapter title. She read it,
and she gently.
Speaker 1 (01:33):
Gently pointed out, well, it tells the story, but it
doesn't show how it moved you.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
She was right, she was right.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
Telling a story it's one thing, But letting people.
Speaker 2 (02:01):
See how it shaped you that's harder. That's much harder.
Speaker 1 (02:11):
Vulnerability isn't easy.
Speaker 2 (02:18):
It feels risky when you're vulnerable.
Speaker 1 (02:23):
But I also knew that she touched on something that
was important.
Speaker 2 (02:32):
So.
Speaker 1 (02:34):
I set aside a sermon that I really want to preach.
Speaker 2 (02:39):
Next week.
Speaker 1 (02:42):
And this morning, though, I want to share something more personal.
Speaker 2 (02:49):
Not just what happened, but what it meant. And here
it is. Starting a church was never part of my plan.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
If you'd asked me a few decades ago what my
future looked like, church planter.
Speaker 2 (03:18):
Would not have made the list.
Speaker 1 (03:23):
And then one day, one day out of nowhere, came
to the question, Lonnie, would you plant a church?
Speaker 2 (03:39):
It was Dick and Marilyn v Tech and I knew them.
Speaker 3 (03:46):
Well, they're whys, they're grounded, they're full of vision, and
there are also.
Speaker 2 (03:59):
People I trusted. But the question hit me like a curveball.
Speaker 1 (04:13):
I then flew out to their southern California home to
meet with them, thinking, well, I'll just hear you out
and see what's going on. And instead of just hearing
them out, something deeper.
Speaker 2 (04:37):
Happened. During those few very intense days, full of prayer,
of reflection and honest wrestling, I sensed.
Speaker 1 (04:56):
A shift, not a shift in my plans, but a
shift in my heart. Something was stirring, something was at play,
(05:18):
but it was not until the moment where it all
clicked were just a few days later at the National
Pastors Conference in San Diego, my San Diego friend, and
according to my journal I'm a journal or. It was
February seventeen, two thousand and one. I was there with
(05:44):
my wife Mercedes, who joined me for the conference, and
John Orthberg gave a message we would never forget.
Speaker 2 (05:58):
It's what the painting here is all about.
Speaker 1 (06:02):
And he spoke about Peter walking on water, and there
was one line that pierced me in the sermon, and
he later published a book himself on that as well,
and the line is, if you want to walk.
Speaker 2 (06:23):
On water, get out of the boat. Get out of
the boat.
Speaker 1 (06:31):
It was like a light switched on and I'd realize
then I was clinging to safety, predictability, comfort, control. That's
what modeled my life. But that's not where Jesus was
(06:57):
calling me. Where was Jesus?
Speaker 2 (07:01):
He was out of the water.
Speaker 1 (07:04):
He was on the water. And if you think of
that visual of Jesus on the water.
Speaker 2 (07:10):
It's terrifying, but it is also holy. Terrifying and holy.
I turned to Mercedes. We both were sobbing like babies,
and in a whisper.
Speaker 1 (07:33):
Only the two of us could hear, we said together.
Speaker 2 (07:39):
We're out of the boat. Said wow, that was it.
Speaker 1 (07:50):
I told Dick, I said, well, if you gather some
people and you started, you start a new church. And
if they want to call me need to be their pastor,
it's their decision.
Speaker 2 (08:03):
I'm in. I'm in. But this is not.
Speaker 1 (08:11):
Just my story, our Mercedes story. It's all our story
in many ways. Here's what I'm getting in. God did
not create us to stay.
Speaker 2 (08:26):
On the boat.
Speaker 1 (08:29):
Orthberg calls us, and I love the line.
Speaker 4 (08:33):
We are all would be water walkers. Here would be
water walker. You were made for something.
Speaker 2 (08:46):
Deep down and I think you feel it too. There's
more to this life than playing it safe. Too many people.
Speaker 1 (09:03):
Settle for padded spiritual lives, padded spiritual lives, and I
call them pew potatoes, new word pew potato, Warm, comfortable.
Speaker 2 (09:19):
And watching from the sidelines. Maybe you used to at.
Speaker 1 (09:27):
Some point, Maybe there was a time that you took
some bigger leaps of faith. Maybe you've gotten a little
used to the boat though. And my concern is, as
we enter a new era the mortgage is paid, we
better not get comfortable. That is our greatest threat, that
(09:51):
we've become.
Speaker 2 (09:52):
Padded pew potatoes. And I want nothing to do with that.
I understand. I was scared.
Speaker 1 (10:10):
We didn't have a building, no land, no professional staff,
just a fragile dream and a few people crazy enough.
Speaker 2 (10:28):
To believe it might work. Dreams are fragile, they're easy
to forget. They're fragile.
Speaker 1 (10:36):
They're here and they're fragile. But it takes a few
crazy people enough to believe it might work. There in
the scripture causes fools for christ, can you see the connection.
I remember one early morning, before we were even in
(10:59):
the theater, we spent time meeting and homes talking and
we got talking about money.
Speaker 2 (11:07):
Is it gang?
Speaker 1 (11:08):
You know this will cost something. There's funding that that's
kind of required. No one's talking about that, and we're
wondering how would we even get started at one person
pulled out a dollar bill.
Speaker 2 (11:25):
And scribbled on the dollar bill, Lana.
Speaker 1 (11:29):
Your first dollar at FRCC, And then they passed it
around the folks at the table and they all signed it.
Speaker 2 (11:39):
And I still still have that.
Speaker 1 (11:42):
I call it the Walk on Water dollar, and the
Walk and Water Dollar will be in the library with
with our archives and all that. It's the Walk on
Water dollar that really it is is representative of the
biggest challenge we have that it is really it's not
(12:02):
money here. It's not money. That wasn't the challenge. It
wasn't sustainability. Come on, the king of kings, the lord
of lords. If he says I will build my church.
We think it's dependent upon our sustainability. Our greatest challenge
(12:24):
is fear, raw.
Speaker 2 (12:27):
Honest fear of failing in front of people that we
love and respect. And that was my fear, and I
had to face it. I had to let go of
(12:48):
trying to look.
Speaker 1 (12:50):
Successful and start trusting God instead.
Speaker 2 (12:58):
And that's the thing about stay out of the boat.
Speaker 1 (13:03):
Stepping out of the boat is not Oh, I kind
of have it all together now, I'm going to jump out.
Speaker 2 (13:11):
Peter didn't.
Speaker 1 (13:13):
I think it is instructive in looking at the detailed
scripture and the events that happened when Peter walked out
of the boat. He was successful with the first step,
but then he failed.
Speaker 2 (13:24):
What happened says he stepped out of the water.
Speaker 1 (13:27):
He's walking on water, he's mesrized by it, and then
he starts looking up the head and in fear came
in and that's when he started to crash.
Speaker 2 (13:36):
He went down and he sank. But I think it's
also instructive to us as we look at the scriptures.
In the midst of the sinking, there was that moment
of success. He walked on water. Then he started to sink.
He then cried out something, and he cried out.
Speaker 5 (13:54):
Lord, save me, Save me, And Jesus didn't hesitate.
Speaker 2 (14:05):
He reached down and he grabbed him. He'll do the
same for you.
Speaker 5 (14:20):
You might sink, you might mess up, but Jesus.
Speaker 2 (14:28):
Will not let you drown.
Speaker 1 (14:31):
Faith isn't about all of a sudden, Oh I have
it all together. Come on, It's entirely about trusting, trusting
the one who always shows up when you call.
Speaker 2 (14:52):
So here's my.
Speaker 1 (14:53):
Challenge for this morning, my challenge for us all. What
if you whispered today Jesus, I'm yours, I'm yours.
Speaker 2 (15:13):
What risk are you calling me to make? I'm yours?
What risk are you calling me to make? Would you
sign your name on that walk on water dollar? Just
(15:39):
sign your name on it. Those folks did.
Speaker 1 (15:45):
And then it's sisterly saying I'm in, I'm invested. I'm
gonna break protocol a little bit.
Speaker 2 (15:56):
I'm gonna embarrass someone.
Speaker 1 (15:58):
Usually when I'm gonna mention someone, I say, do I
your permission?
Speaker 2 (16:00):
I might ask for permission. Thirty years ago. Next month
I went to Wisconsin to start a new.
Speaker 1 (16:15):
Ministry and it was a it was a Sunday morning
and early Sunday morning and in sharing a vision for
the church. And there's hundreds of people who had those Hello,
my name is Badge, and they write their name on it.
And I'll ever forget one person, and it was Ted
Clumb putting.
Speaker 2 (16:35):
On the spot. Ted. Yeah. He walks through and he says, hey, Bud,
I'm in.
Speaker 1 (16:45):
Then he pulls his name tag off that sticky thing,
So here's my name.
Speaker 2 (16:50):
He's in. He's in.
Speaker 1 (16:53):
In a few weeks, their first grandson is going to
be baptized. Here, he's in.
Speaker 2 (17:00):
He's in. The storms will come.
Speaker 1 (17:07):
Your faith will falter, and you will have moments of doubt.
Speaker 2 (17:19):
But Jesus is right there every time.
Speaker 1 (17:26):
And then you will do something that you never thought
you could do.
Speaker 2 (17:35):
You'll walk on water. Amen.
Well, yesterday I had a well organized sermon, ready to Go,
a sermon that was carefully built around this morning's reading
from Matthew.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
This walking on the Water.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
But at the same time, some of you know, others
may not why I'm working on sermons each week, I
have a couple of other writing projects. I'm also working
on an although biographical volume with the working title Ready
to Preach, and another volume as well.
Speaker 2 (00:52):
On the history of this church. So there's a lot
of balls in the air.
Speaker 1 (00:58):
And yesterday I shared a chapter of Ready to Preach
with my wife and the title of the chapter goes
along with this painting.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
The title the chapter is out of the Boat my
San Diego moment. It's a chapter title. She read it,
and she gently.
Speaker 1 (01:33):
Gently pointed out, well, it tells the story, but it
doesn't show how it moved you.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
She was right, she was right.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
Telling a story it's one thing, But letting people.
Speaker 2 (02:01):
See how it shaped you that's harder. That's much harder.
Speaker 1 (02:11):
Vulnerability isn't easy.
Speaker 2 (02:18):
It feels risky when you're vulnerable.
Speaker 1 (02:23):
But I also knew that she touched on something that
was important.
Speaker 2 (02:32):
So.
Speaker 1 (02:34):
I set aside a sermon that I really want to preach.
Speaker 2 (02:39):
Next week.
Speaker 1 (02:42):
And this morning, though, I want to share something more personal.
Speaker 2 (02:49):
Not just what happened, but what it meant. And here
it is. Starting a church was never part of my plan.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
If you'd asked me a few decades ago what my
future looked like, church planter.
Speaker 2 (03:18):
Would not have made the list.
Speaker 1 (03:23):
And then one day, one day out of nowhere, came
to the question, Lonnie, would you plant a church?
Speaker 2 (03:39):
It was Dick and Marilyn v Tech and I knew them.
Speaker 3 (03:46):
Well, they're whys, they're grounded, they're full of vision, and
there are also.
Speaker 2 (03:59):
People I trusted. But the question hit me like a curveball.
Speaker 1 (04:13):
I then flew out to their southern California home to
meet with them, thinking, well, I'll just hear you out
and see what's going on. And instead of just hearing
them out, something deeper.
Speaker 2 (04:37):
Happened. During those few very intense days, full of prayer,
of reflection and honest wrestling, I sensed.
Speaker 1 (04:56):
A shift, not a shift in my plans, but a
shift in my heart. Something was stirring, something was at play,
(05:18):
but it was not until the moment where it all
clicked were just a few days later at the National
Pastors Conference in San Diego, my San Diego friend, and
according to my journal I'm a journal or. It was
February seventeen, two thousand and one. I was there with
(05:44):
my wife Mercedes, who joined me for the conference, and
John Orthberg gave a message we would never forget.
Speaker 2 (05:58):
It's what the painting here is all about.
Speaker 1 (06:02):
And he spoke about Peter walking on water, and there
was one line that pierced me in the sermon, and
he later published a book himself on that as well,
and the line is, if you want to walk.
Speaker 2 (06:23):
On water, get out of the boat. Get out of
the boat.
Speaker 1 (06:31):
It was like a light switched on and I'd realize
then I was clinging to safety, predictability, comfort, control. That's
what modeled my life. But that's not where Jesus was
(06:57):
calling me. Where was Jesus?
Speaker 2 (07:01):
He was out of the water.
Speaker 1 (07:04):
He was on the water. And if you think of
that visual of Jesus on the water.
Speaker 2 (07:10):
It's terrifying, but it is also holy. Terrifying and holy.
I turned to Mercedes. We both were sobbing like babies,
and in a whisper.
Speaker 1 (07:33):
Only the two of us could hear, we said together.
Speaker 2 (07:39):
We're out of the boat. Said wow, that was it.
Speaker 1 (07:50):
I told Dick, I said, well, if you gather some
people and you started, you start a new church. And
if they want to call me need to be their pastor,
it's their decision.
Speaker 2 (08:03):
I'm in. I'm in. But this is not.
Speaker 1 (08:11):
Just my story, our Mercedes story. It's all our story
in many ways. Here's what I'm getting in. God did
not create us to stay.
Speaker 2 (08:26):
On the boat.
Speaker 1 (08:29):
Orthberg calls us, and I love the line.
Speaker 4 (08:33):
We are all would be water walkers. Here would be
water walker. You were made for something.
Speaker 2 (08:46):
Deep down and I think you feel it too. There's
more to this life than playing it safe. Too many people.
Speaker 1 (09:03):
Settle for padded spiritual lives, padded spiritual lives, and I
call them pew potatoes, new word pew potato, Warm, comfortable.
Speaker 2 (09:19):
And watching from the sidelines. Maybe you used to at.
Speaker 1 (09:27):
Some point, Maybe there was a time that you took
some bigger leaps of faith. Maybe you've gotten a little
used to the boat though. And my concern is, as
we enter a new era the mortgage is paid, we
better not get comfortable. That is our greatest threat, that
(09:51):
we've become.
Speaker 2 (09:52):
Padded pew potatoes. And I want nothing to do with that.
I understand. I was scared.
Speaker 1 (10:10):
We didn't have a building, no land, no professional staff,
just a fragile dream and a few people crazy enough.
Speaker 2 (10:28):
To believe it might work. Dreams are fragile, they're easy
to forget. They're fragile.
Speaker 1 (10:36):
They're here and they're fragile. But it takes a few
crazy people enough to believe it might work. There in
the scripture causes fools for christ, can you see the connection.
I remember one early morning, before we were even in
(10:59):
the theater, we spent time meeting and homes talking and
we got talking about money.
Speaker 2 (11:07):
Is it gang?
Speaker 1 (11:08):
You know this will cost something. There's funding that that's
kind of required. No one's talking about that, and we're
wondering how would we even get started at one person
pulled out a dollar bill.
Speaker 2 (11:25):
And scribbled on the dollar bill, Lana.
Speaker 1 (11:29):
Your first dollar at FRCC, And then they passed it
around the folks at the table and they all signed it.
Speaker 2 (11:39):
And I still still have that.
Speaker 1 (11:42):
I call it the Walk on Water dollar, and the
Walk and Water Dollar will be in the library with
with our archives and all that. It's the Walk on
Water dollar that really it is is representative of the
biggest challenge we have that it is really it's not
(12:02):
money here. It's not money. That wasn't the challenge. It
wasn't sustainability. Come on, the king of kings, the lord
of lords. If he says I will build my church.
We think it's dependent upon our sustainability. Our greatest challenge
(12:24):
is fear, raw.
Speaker 2 (12:27):
Honest fear of failing in front of people that we
love and respect. And that was my fear, and I
had to face it. I had to let go of
(12:48):
trying to look.
Speaker 1 (12:50):
Successful and start trusting God instead.
Speaker 2 (12:58):
And that's the thing about stay out of the boat.
Speaker 1 (13:03):
Stepping out of the boat is not Oh, I kind
of have it all together now, I'm going to jump out.
Speaker 2 (13:11):
Peter didn't.
Speaker 1 (13:13):
I think it is instructive in looking at the detailed
scripture and the events that happened when Peter walked out
of the boat. He was successful with the first step,
but then he failed.
Speaker 2 (13:24):
What happened says he stepped out of the water.
Speaker 1 (13:27):
He's walking on water, he's mesrized by it, and then
he starts looking up the head and in fear came
in and that's when he started to crash.
Speaker 2 (13:36):
He went down and he sank. But I think it's
also instructive to us as we look at the scriptures.
In the midst of the sinking, there was that moment
of success. He walked on water. Then he started to sink.
He then cried out something, and he cried out.
Speaker 5 (13:54):
Lord, save me, Save me, And Jesus didn't hesitate.
Speaker 2 (14:05):
He reached down and he grabbed him. He'll do the
same for you.
Speaker 5 (14:20):
You might sink, you might mess up, but Jesus.
Speaker 2 (14:28):
Will not let you drown.
Speaker 1 (14:31):
Faith isn't about all of a sudden, Oh I have
it all together. Come on, It's entirely about trusting, trusting
the one who always shows up when you call.
Speaker 2 (14:52):
So here's my.
Speaker 1 (14:53):
Challenge for this morning, my challenge for us all. What
if you whispered today Jesus, I'm yours, I'm yours.
Speaker 2 (15:13):
What risk are you calling me to make? I'm yours?
What risk are you calling me to make? Would you
sign your name on that walk on water dollar? Just
(15:39):
sign your name on it. Those folks did.
Speaker 1 (15:45):
And then it's sisterly saying I'm in, I'm invested. I'm
gonna break protocol a little bit.
Speaker 2 (15:56):
I'm gonna embarrass someone.
Speaker 1 (15:58):
Usually when I'm gonna mention someone, I say, do I
your permission?
Speaker 2 (16:00):
I might ask for permission. Thirty years ago. Next month
I went to Wisconsin to start a new.
Speaker 1 (16:15):
Ministry and it was a it was a Sunday morning
and early Sunday morning and in sharing a vision for
the church. And there's hundreds of people who had those Hello,
my name is Badge, and they write their name on it.
And I'll ever forget one person, and it was Ted
Clumb putting.
Speaker 2 (16:35):
On the spot. Ted. Yeah. He walks through and he says, hey, Bud,
I'm in.
Speaker 1 (16:45):
Then he pulls his name tag off that sticky thing,
So here's my name.
Speaker 2 (16:50):
He's in. He's in.
Speaker 1 (16:53):
In a few weeks, their first grandson is going to
be baptized. Here, he's in.
Speaker 2 (17:00):
He's in. The storms will come.
Speaker 1 (17:07):
Your faith will falter, and you will have moments of doubt.
Speaker 2 (17:19):
But Jesus is right there every time.
Speaker 1 (17:26):
And then you will do something that you never thought
you could do.
Speaker 2 (17:35):
You'll walk on water. Amen.
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