I just want to throw some more madness on the web today. It's round about the day before the day they call Easter. I spent some time walking today, which is a big thing because I've had a sprained left foot for over a week.



skateboarding.



i got a lot of "why don't you grow up?" talk from folks the last few days. I haven't told my mom. I'm 31.



But I love to skateboard. I've been in it for 19 years give or take. I'm mildly skilled, but the main thing is that I feel happy doing it. And to me that's like Marlin from Finding Nemo, when he sees the light in the darkness of that huge crevasse in the ocean floor. "I feel happy. ...which is a big thing... for me..."



And then "Snap!"... yeah! a sprained left arch... no sweat...



There's another thing to the skateboarding, though. A thing that I am loth to use to legitimize the risk of my connective tissue. It's that when I'm skating, I'm among a bunch of folks who usually are having a really hard time with the whole God thing.



The culture behind hard-core skateboarding, the "X-treme" culture, is usually really turned off to any talk of Jesus. But I really relate to that, and so I get to be a voice to that people more often than most other people who run to Jesus for mercy (read Christian-that's one of my redefinitions).



And I'm in love with the experience of swimming in that bowl. I love the conversation. I love the table experience. I love the difference that shows in the midst of such similarity. I find myself falling in love with Jesus again, because this is where He would be. Scorned by "responsibility". Scorning fear. Tough and vulnerable.



It won't be long before my family and I are fully installed in urban Cincinnati- Northside. We're moving into a huge house that was a funeral home. We'll live with and care for Judy's parents, as they share their lives with the local church. They're a huge improvement to the neighborhood.



We really want to stoke the fire in the Body of Christ wherever we can. Please keep us in prayer and let us know you're with us on the front lines... we're out in the coffee shops, casting nets for the Master.