YONDER BREAKS

I saw Pitch Perfect 2 the other night, and was surprised to see a trailer for a movie about Hillsong church music thrown in the mix with the twenty-five minutes of movie trailers they play these days; and as I sat in the theater, I found myself becoming a little nervous at every mention of God in the trailer. Watch it...they even speak about God like He's real! While watching, I wondered what the normal, potentially secular movie-goers would think about such a trailer before such a non-religious movie. What sneers would follow, with more criticism at the mention of God in somewhere-besides-church than a trailer for  Transformers 5 ? And so, as the trailer ended, I waited with baited breath, anticipating the chatter behind me to bash such a religious propaganda piece advertised in such a place. But I heard nothing.  No one commented. No laughs or sneers. None of what I expected. The next eight trailers played (it's getting kind of ridiculous, r...

I sat on my couch to read  a book that a friend recommended  to me, and didn't get one paragraph in before my daughter wanted to read too. Knowing the lack of pictures would not hold her attention, I still picked her up and placed her in the pocket between my arm and side, a perfect spot designed by God to keep your children while reading or watching TV or just simply to hold them. Well, it wasn't long before she started bending the book in half, and so I had to set her down. I finished the forward and felt a little guilty about choosing a book over her in that moment, and so I put the book down and picked her up to place her again in that magic pocket for some cuddle time. I'm not too much of a man to admit that the world "cuddle" makes its way into your vocabulary when you have a daughter, and will freely admit that sometimes I just want to hold my daughter in a warm, fatherly embrace and do nothing else. This could have been one of those rare "cud...

People often wonder why Judas betrayed Jesus. After all, how could you spend three years with a rabbi like Jesus and still betray Him? I suppose we'll never know for sure, but I think a couple scriptures give us some insight into the situation, and I would argue money had something to do with it. I was reading through Mark today and came to the passage where a woman "wastes" a jar of perfume that is worth a year's wages by pouring it on Jesus' head. Some of the people with them rebuked her, saying the jar could have been sold and the money given to the poor, but Jesus told them to leave her alone. Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial. I tell you the truth, wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in ...

...what do you see? Or maybe  Who  do you see, as Switchfoot presents in one of my favorite songs of theirs: I was reading Psalm 19 today, and found the following verses a beautiful declaration of what the skies represent: The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. - Psalm 19:1-4a It's like the stars are singing about God every night, and the clouds and the sun shouting His glory every day. What wonderful imagery that conveys profound truth: nature is the first revelation of God's character and creativity that He chose to reveal. But what really struck me about these verses was how  active  the language is. The voice of the heavens "goes out...to the ends of the world." ...

One last snowboard post before it all melts... Big snowboard jumps is one of the highlights of the sport. It's really one of the only boardsports where you can soar so high and far that you should be required to get a pilots license. Doing this carries with it the thrill of a reckless disregard for both gravity and safety; but if you maintain the proper techniques, you can retain just enough control to land, allowing you to go for bigger and bigger jumps with confidence. Lien Air: Notice I'm prepped for the grab with a flat takeoff, keep it tight and then level off at the end. (note: My shoulders are a little less square than I would advise on the landing. You want to be even with the board if you can). We're at the tail end of the season, which is a good time to go bigger. Here are some tips to do it well: Go fast:  If I'm trying a big jump, I find it helpful to go a little faster than you think you need to. It's easy to lose speed on the uphill pa...