YONDER BREAKS

Here is the last song from The Light EP . It's been fun sharing the stories of each of these songs with the world, and even more so the songs themselves. I hope you enjoy this one, a fun little tune about Ellie, my oldest daughter. I used to manage a property in Redondo Beach, CA, two miles from the beach. We moved in a couple days before Ellie was born, and it was an excellent place to learn to be parents. I used to walk Ellie all over the Redondo hills , mostly in this cool little green car my mom gave her. Every day was a park visit, and sometimes the afternoons were spent exploring more of the scenic neighborhoods, usually with a 7-Eleven coffee in hand. The green machine, next to the infamous Baja . The property had a little lawn out front where we would sometimes sit and wait for Katie to get home from work. The street was lined with those super tall palm trees that California is known for, and there always seemed to be a breeze blowing through. We really wa

My community group at church is going through the Sermon on the Mount to gleam some potentially overlooked insights from Jesus' most famous sermon. Really, we're trying to figure out what he really  meant, placing his radical teachings in their proper context, which is: Jesus talking to a downtrodden people who had been oppressed by different foreign governments for hundreds of years, while also living under the thumb of their own religious leaders. To these lowly people he said: Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. Blessed are those who have been persecuted for

So in struggling with being bold concerning my faith (this is a bit of a continuation of my last post ), I think a key to success is partnership . Something in our psyche makes us much bolder when we have a friend backing us. I think this is why Jesus sent out his disciples on their first missionary trip two-by-two. Calling the Twelve to him,  he began to send them out two by two  and gave them authority over impure spirits. These were his instructions:  “Take nothing for the journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in your belts.   Wear sandals but not an extra shirt.   Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you leave that town.   And if any place will not welcome you or listen to you, leave that place and shake the dust off your feet  as a testimony against them.” They went out and preached that people should repent.   They drove out many demons and anointed many sick people with oil  and healed them. ( Mark 6:7-13 ) I've experienced this myself a few t

A couple summers ago, I was taking a lot of boat rides, and consequently spending lots of time in the sun. Towards the end of that season, I was sort of done with it. The boat was always fun of course, but as we drove the long way back on my last boat ride of the season, I looked ahead in anticipation for the bridge that marked our landing -- and a way out of the sun. Again, not that I didn't enjoy boating and all that comes with it -- I don't want to appear ungrateful to those who lent their time and possessions to provide our family with a little fun -- but I like to eat fried chicken, not feel like one. But as we glided across the marshy waters, I caught myself. It's beautiful out here . The sun was shining, the grass was green and the air was moderately cool (especially for July). My family was with me and everyone had had a great day playing together, as well as a tasty lunch. The whole day was a real treat, and here I was looking forward to the end of it because I w