both trout and salvation come by Grace

i spent this past weekend hanging out with one of the greatest friends i have ever had, dan “z-man” zelinski. i met dan almost ten years ago at a miami navigators meeting at OBF.

dan and i were pretty much instantly friends, we had three major things in common: Jesus Christ, van halen, and chinese food…in that order.

i still really like chinese food (oh man, the orange chicken at phan shin, if you have had it you know what i mean), and every once in a while i will bust out an old VH album, 5150 maybe, you know...rock out to summer nights, but the thing that has remained truly constant since the day i met dan, constant like the water rushing all around us in the river we spent all day fly fishing in this past weekend, is the Lord Jesus.

the Lord has been the roots of my friendship with dan, and many others over the years, Jesus has been like the rocks beneath the waters, He has shaped and changed who we are, what we do, where we go, and so often what we talk about, like this past weekend.

there are only a few things in life greater than discussing deep truths about life, love and God while you are waist deep in crystal clear water, fishing with one of your best friends.



after this weekend, i am once again humbly reminded, that both trout and salvation come by Grace.

easter eve

be thou my vision, this is one of my favorite old hymns. the text (Rop tú mo baile) is often attributed to dallan forgaill in the 8th century; in any case, this text had been a part of irish monastic tradition for centuries before the hymn itself was written. it is an example of a lorica, an incantation recited for protection.

the music for the hymn is the irish folk song, slane, which is about slane hill where in 433 A.D. st. patrick defied the pagan high king lóe­gaire of ta­ra by lighting candles on Easter Eve.

by dying You destroyed our death, by rising, You restored our lives.

thank you Jesus.