Tom sharing the message of Christ's cross with tourists, visitors and residents on Santa Barbara's popular State Street

“I Get Around”
(new life in Christ version)

Round, round, get around, I get around.
I get around, all over town.
I’m a cross-walking fool,
but for the Lord it’s cool.

chorus

I always take my cross
’cause it’s never been beat.
And I’ve never missed yet with the people I meet.
I get around,
all over town.
I’m a cross-walking fool,
but for the Lord it’s cool.

Just for my own personal fun, I’ve taken several Beach Boys tunes and changed the words to fit my cross-walking ministry. Years ago I gave up the long board for the long cross and quit chasing the Endless Summer for the Endless Easter. Instead of praying for surf, I now pray for revival.  Of course, Jesus Christ was the original water walker. It is this first Water Walker whom I now follow and love with all my heart, soul, body and spirit. Nothing compares to following the Son! And nothing comes close to the love and warmth of the Son. Cowabunga and Hallelujah!

It was my wife’s suggestion that we celebrate Mother’s Day 2009 by taking the long cross to Santa Barbara and Ventura and cross-walking the streets and beaches of these two southern California coastal cities. Cross Walk Santa Barbara is a ministry of Cross Walk California.

Invasion of the Purpose Driven Cross Walker

"Look at that guy carrying a large cross!" was this young' response to the cross walk

Arriving at downtown Santa Barbara on an early Saturday afternoon, we parked  next to the gigantic and stately County Courthouse and walked a couple of blocks to the city’s main party street. State Street is a seemingly endless boulevard teeming with tourists, visitors and residents. Besides the  beautiful beaches of Santa Barbara, State Street is where both the in-crowd and the out-crowd hang out.

Walking east I spoke to countless numbers of people about Jesus Christ and why I was carrying a 10-foot, 60-pond cross. It seems no one had ever seen a cross walker before, although the response was quite receptive and positive. One young woman walked by, and with a smile on her face asked, “Still celebrating Easter?”, to which I replied “The Endless Easter!” The woman and her friends grinned from ear to ear and gave the thumbs up sign as they walked by.

How Much Is Your Life Worth?

As Jeanette took pictures, I talked with individual after individual about the Lord Jesus Christ. Many of the people shared that they, too, were believers. I carry an assortment of special two-sided tracts that I hand out. For this special cross-walk, I decided to hand out “How Much Is Your Life Worth?” The front side asks that question in large letters and also has a picture of a dollar bill. The dollar bill is badly frayed, chewed up,  and has pieces missing. The other side explains that if  a person takes a torn up and badly frayed bill to any bank, it can be exchanged for a brand new, crispy one. It goes on to explain that, just like that badly frayed and sorely-damaged dollar bill, all an individual has to do is take his or her tattered, torn, chewed up and shattered life to the bank of Heaven and ask God to exchange  that old and dilapidated life for a brand new one.

Because We Were Here Today, Santa Barbara Will Not Be The Same Tomorrow

Individuals throughout California cities respond positively to this particular two-sided tract. The tourists, visitors and residents of Santa Barbara were not exceptions to this rule. As we walked down State Street, which is the very heartbeat of Santa Barbara, I was pleasantly surprised at the overall response of the people to the cross-walk.

Tom praying at Santa Barbara City Hall

Hoisting the cross upright at City Hall, we prayed for Santa Barbara’s civic and government leaders and that citywide revival would break out among the city’s 97,000 residents.  The Jesusita Fire was raging out of control in the mountains above Santa Barbara.

Walking to the large County Administrative Building, I hoisted the cross upright and prayed for the County Supervisors and all the California firefighters fighting to put out this large and dangerous fire.

Jeanette and I then walked  to the huge Santa Barbara County Courthouse. I hoisted the cross upright and we prayed for the entire county, that all of Santa Barbara County residents get “caught” in the county-wide prayer dragnet we erected over the entire land through our prayer and praise to the God of revival. We asked the great Fisherman from Galilee to catch men, women and children in this prayer dragnet.

As we walked back to out truck and this particular cross-walk came to a successful and invigorating end, my first thought was: “Because we were here today, Santa Barbara will not be the same tomorrow.” We really didn’t  want to end the cross-walk, but our next destination on this cross-walking safari was just as important.

Ventura, here comes the cross-walker from Bakersfield, California!