YONDER BREAKS

There is nothing quite like a backyard skate ramp. Something about being able to roll on it, every day, in the privacy of your own property, progresses your skateboarding like nothing else. It's on my mind today because my friend Josh started a skate company called Intrusive Skateboards . I met the guy while picking up my daughter from school. I had seen him back and forth on the drop-off circuit, but never spoke to him until one day I heard skateboarding from his phone -- that unmistakable sound of polyurethane wheels hitting concrete curves, wood snapping against the pavement, slamming back down with the crack of a successful trick -- I asked if he was watching skate videos and he said he was editing  them. If that doesn't scream instant friend, I don't know what does. View this post on Instagram @yonderbreaksmusic #shredding the #miniramp yesterday with me and @king.daniel.187 they pushed me, so here he is e...

One evening I was driving in the car and the phrase "money ain't nothin'" somehow showed up. At the time, I was going through a transformation in the way I view money and success. I had a mentor at the time who had spent about ten years pursuing a corporate career, and then realized that he and his friends had just pounded away countless hours over the course of a decade with very little to show for it. Finding myself in a corporate situation, I saw parallels and questioned what all this pursuit was worth. As I was driving that fateful night, the melody came and I found myself singing, "Money ain't nothin,'" long and slow. I scanned my mind for ways that rhymed, describing how money and success and financial pursuit all felt like a waste of time to me. Some of it is nonsensical, but the sentiment is present in the lines. Originally, the song was really slow. After I had recorded a demo (or maybe while I was recording it), I realized this thing w...

I've been trying to be more bold with my faith lately. Maybe that's something every  Christian is trying to do, but honestly it's a little difficult in a post-Christian world. I think the church as a whole has spent a lot of time lately trying to be appealing, when in fact, the gospel is offensive . As a result, we water-down the truth, hoping to not offend anyone. I think it comes from a good place most of the time -- trying to build and maintain relationships that can later lead to discipleship -- but how often is it detrimental? Here are some examples of why the gospel isn't always easy to talk about: For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. (1 Corinthians 1:18) Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe, “The stone the builders rejected  has become the cornerstone,”  and,  “A stone that causes people to stumble   and a rock that ...