It’s Monday morning after a long, three-day spa treatment in La Jolla, CA. I’m calling the weekend “work”, since I actually presented a shortened version of our Mini-DE Seminar on Saturday and spoke twice at La Jolla Community Church (LJCC) on Sunday. Despite the residual introvert exhaustion I’m feeling this morning, I cannot deny that there’s a bit of a La Jolla glow lingering. This was an amazing weekend.

Just to give some context, Steve Murray (the pastor of LJCC) and I have been close friends for 38 years. He was one of two “best men” in my wedding, and although I’ve traveled and lived far from the beaches of California (where he’s pretty much embedded himself), we’ve stayed in touch. Some of you will remember I went to his church last spring to speak at his “True North” men’s gathering. This weekend was the fruit of that brief visit…and one more of the endless blessings of knowing Steve Murray.

I arrived around noon on Friday, and was picked up by one of Steve’s guys, curbside at the San Diego airport…in a Maseratti. David Ruyle is one of the sweetest guys you’ll ever meet, an unassuming, tender-hearted lawyer (yah…I know, I know) who actually uses that Maseratti as his daily driver. I’ve only seen one other, and have never actually ridden in one, so this was a really sweet beginning. David took me to the church to meet the tech boys, who quickly set me up for the next couple of days, making sure all the connections/links/video pieces worked. I was then Maseratti’d to lunch at the La Jolla Beach and Tennis Club, where we ate at a table that was no more than 30 feet from the beach…but still inside the restaurant. Great view of the Pacific Ocean on an amazingly beautiful day. Lunch was followed by a long walk along the beach and some wonderful conversation with David.

Eventually we had to get over to Steve’s house, but that didn’t happen until almost dinner time. The Murray cottage is such a warm and inviting place. Janet (Steve’s adorable wife) is an artist and designer, and their house reflects her in ways that are stunning yet comforting at the same time. It’s like a well thought out B&B, actually, with a small, English garden-like backyard where we spent lots of time lingering over wine, cheese, and good conversation. That pretty much describes our Friday evening, which went a bit late for us all, probably, but which was soul satisfying for me.

Saturday was the DE Seminar, which ran from 9:30 to about noon, followed by a simple BBQ lunch on the church patio. We probably had about 60 people attend (maybe more) and the room was just alive with energy and enthusiasm. The time flew by and by the time I was able to get out to the patio for lunch, the ten books I brought to sell (Jim Henderson’s “Evangelism Without Additives”) were all sold…plus two copies that I’d written in huge red letters “FOR DISPLAY ONLY—DO NOT REMOVE”. Twelve books should have garnered $120 in donations. There was twice that in the basket. And one order for 15 more copies. These folks REALLY liked this stuff.

Saturday afternoon was brutal. Steve made me go with him to the San Diego Yacht Club to spend a few hours sailing with four of his buddies. It was warm, sunny, and windy, which required me to put on sun screen and hold on for dear life as the rather large and expensive sail boat got underway quickly, riding on it’s side for much of the time. Ok…it wasn’t really brutal. IT WAS FREAKIN’ AWESOME. I don’t get to go sailing much here in the high desert, so I just stayed out of the way mostly, but I have to tell you…this was really the perfect way to spend a sunny afternoon in San Diego. Steve, Bill, Rand, and Randall…thank you so very much for letting me be part of your life. Especially part of your life Saturday afternoon!

Ok…I have to keep remembering this was a work weekend. So Saturday night was a much earlier turn-in than Friday, because, well…that was one exhausting day, with all the sun and sailing and such. I slept rather well in the Murray casa that night.

Sunday morning at LJCC rocked. Great worship services, with fantastic leadership and focus…and a lot of laughter. I had a blast teaching on 1 Peter 3:15 (you can watch it HERE if you like…it’s about 35 minutes, not including the announcements, introduction, etc.) and had tons of great conversations afterward with the folks who attended. I also got to eat outside on the patio again, but this time with about 25 Chinese students from the University of California, San Diego (UCSD…not SDSU as previously, and erroneously, reported here) who were visiting. I just became Facebook friends with one of the guys I met over lunch who had just landed in America three days before. That was a real treat.

So today I bask in the glow of La Jolla, still a bit in a daze from it all, and unable to quit smiling whenever I recall a moment or two of what happened. It appears that we might get to go back in the future, as there were a few pastors from other churches who came on Saturday and just loved the material.

I’m pretty sure I can clear my calendar for another trip to La Jolla whenever you’re ready, friends. Suffering for Jesus never felt so good.

Postscript: I have never done this, and I didn’t ask permission from the writers to do so now…but here are a couple of excerpts of emails I received from folks who were at the seminar that were really encouraging to me, and which I thought might be helpful to anyone considering booking a DE event. I’ll post them anonymously, just to be somewhat appropriate, but issue my apologies in advance to the kind people who wrote in without thinking I’d publish their comments.

“It is so liberating to approach evangelism in your doable way! (My friend) told me that it was almost as fun watching me react to your humor as it was to watch you. I am a professional speaker…and I have to tell you EVERYTHING about your content, style and power point is perfect. What a gift you are to others. Just wish I had known all this 50 years ago! I also looked at your rates (on your website) and they are so very, very reasonable. May God bless you mightily!”

“Dear Randy,
My husband…and I were so blessed by your messages about DE, humor, authenticity and just plain straight talk at LJCC. Thank YOU!”

“Dear Steve,
Today was an memorable day and I want to thank you for it. Randy was great, funny, AND believable – he convinced me that sharing our time and our hearts- our love of life in Jesus- is actually quite easy- we can do it (and have been doing it) on a scale even I can handle (on purpose)! Thanks for bringing him to us.”

“Dear Steve and Randy,
What a great weekend. If no one else has commented, please know everyone I talked to who showed up yesterday and today felt the same way. Good stuff and something we can manage in the day to day! Thanks to both of you.”