In his book, “The Purpose Driven Church”, Rick Warren writes the following about waves: “If you take surfing lessons, you will be taught everything you need to know about the subject: how to spot a surfable wave, how to catch a wave, and such can ride as long as possible; and most importantly, how to get off a wave without hurting yourself. But you will never be able to take a course on how to build a wave. Surfing is the art of riding waves that God builds. God builds waves, surfers ride them. No surfer tries to create waves. If there are no waves, then you don’t surf that day. But when surfers see good waves, they make the most of it, even if that means surfing in the middle of a storm. Many books and conferences on church growth fall under the How to Build a Wave category. They try to create waves of God’s Spirit using marketing gimmicks, programs or techniques to produce growth. But man cannot create growth for the kingdom of God. Only God can bring that growth.” And indeed: Only God can breathe new life into a valley of dry bones (Ez 37). Only God can create waves, waves of renewal, waves of growth, waves of receptiveness to the Spirit… our job as leaders of our communities is to recognize and ride the wav