YONDER BREAKS

Now about food sacrificed to idols: we know that we all possess knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. The man who thinks he knows something does not yet know as he ought to know. But the man who loves God is known by God. 1 Corinthians 8:1-3 Read those verses a couple times and ask yourself: Why is loving and being known by God the answer to haughtiness in knowledge? I would have picked something like, "the fear of the Lord," but Paul says this; it seems kind of like an odd combination to me. I had the privilege of sitting next to  Curt Thompson, M.D. , on a plane once. He told me about a book he had written,  Anatomy of the Soul , which is about the importance physiologically to being known by others and God. It was an idea I had only heard a few times, as the Western church puts way more emphasis on knowing God, usually through disciplined actions. But look at this: Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and ...

When I moved to Los Angeles five years ago, I have to admit I was a little unsure about what to expect from LA skaters. It's a big city where the level of skating is sky high, and so I imagined territorial skaters protecting their little pieces of turf in the vast concrete expanse of Southern California skateparks. To my surprise, though, I found the opposite... Most skateparks I visit are filled with kids who love skating and love the people they skate with. But I just had a  particularly  awesome skate session at the  Alondra Park  in Lawndale, CA, and as I reflected on the sweetness that happened, I wanted to share some things that made it stand out amongst the plethora of skate spots LA has to offer. 1. The vibe at the park was great. I love going to a park where people actually enjoy skating together. High-fives abounded as friends challenged each other to skate better, along with other typical skater hijinks. The park was even crowded with both bik...

Two years ago, my friend  Kyle Hamilton  and I set off to make a skate video to commemorate his time in Los Angeles, before moving to the more compressed big city of New York. After day one of shooting left us so sore that day two quickly became a wash, we discovered the title for our movie: "Too Old for This."  That was two years ago, and I'm still skating, so I guess I wasn't too old for it. But then last weekend I found myself injured in a  (two-hand touch)  football game that nearly jeopardized an excellent South swell the next day. And so I have to ask myself again, am I too old to keep doing these extreme sports? This was taken just before the peak of my skating "career." The answer is a resounding NO! And neither are you. The fact of the matter is, though age deters progress, it only increases your ability to have fun. Case and point: at the peak of my skating, I had dreams of sponsorship, traveling the country (dare I say it: the world?...

I've been reading in the Jewish Publication Society bible (The Tanakh or the Old Testament). It reads a little differently than the Old Testament, but really the only main difference I've noticed is that it's more frank or brash in some of its language. Anyway, I was reading  2 Kings 19  and Judah, under the rule of King Hezekiah, is on the verge of attack from Assyria. Assyria sends some dudes to come threaten them a couple times, and its scary -- I can't imagine living in a world where the threat of foreign invasion is constant. I suppose you could argue we're there right now, but I think it's much less imminent than in those days. So Hezekiah takes this letter from the messengers of Assyria and goes into the House of the Lord. He spreads it out before God and prays: "O LORD of Hosts, Enthroned on the Cherubim! You alone are God of all the kingdoms of the earth. You made the heavens and the earth. O LORD, incline Your ear and hear; open Your e...

I was looking at one of Ellie's blankets and it was made of 100% polyester. It got me thinking: what exactly  is  polyester? Forgive my ignorance if that's common knowledge, but I wanted to know. So, of course, I used Google and found this: pol·y·es·ter ˈpälēˌestər noun   a synthetic resin in which the polymer units are linked by ester groups, used chiefly to make synthetic textile fibers. a fabric made from polyester fiber. There's even a website!  http://www.whatispolyester.com This is a daily pursuit for most of us...we have a question and use the internet to find the answer. We live in an age where information is available in moments, all the time (I have some opinions about our growing dependency on this reference-based knowledge, but I'll save that for later). This point led me to another thought: is the question "what is?" is losing its power? To ask what something is rarely invokes any kind of critical thought or ...

We've all seen the epic  night surf scene  in Point Break, right? A new world of surfing was opened up recently when some friends invited me on a Super-moon Surf. There are a lot of benefits to night surfing, including fewer people and awakened instincts due to the lack of sight. I've made a few mistakes on the nocturnal way though, so I thought I'd share a few tips for going on a night surf: Courtesy of Inlet Charley's Surf Shop (inletcharleyssurf.tumblr.com) First, try and schedule your surf on a full moon. I've been out before the moon rises and can say, firsthand, that it makes a huge difference. It's also an amazing sight to see a big red moon rise over the city while you're out on the water with just a few trusted friends, which brings me to my next tip... Always night surf with friends. It's a bit dangerous out there because you often can't see the waves or other surfers until they're a few yards away. You need guys around...

Part two of the epic and widely circulated  Lessons from Malachi ... more  lessons from Malachi! I should mention that for years my time in the bible has been a bit stale. I felt like I was just reading because I had to, and should, but the life that comes out of scripture was rarely present. So I started something new: I bottle feed my daughter twice a day and I read out loud to her while she's eating. I also bless God for Ellie's food, and ask the Holy Spirit to teach us things through His word. I've always prayed to be filled with the Holy Spirit before reading scripture, but maybe that is a stronger statement than I realized, and was something I did not have faith to fully experience (and maybe was even afraid of?). Anyway, simply asking for the Holy Spirit to  teach us  something is much more tangible and has led to fruitful bible study. I also think reading out loud has helped, and hopefully Ellie is picking up some of the good word too! For the lips ...