thursday james and i went out and stole traci’s tulips so we could take some shots of them. not the best macro work i’ve ever done, but some came out ok.
tulips
ambassador class – 3
old, but for some reason unpublished benedictions
i was going through old benedictions tonight when i realized that there were several from the early days that weren’t posted here. i thought i’d fix that by putting them up, but i wanted to keep their date structure somewhat intact, so i’ve placed them back where they belong (a year or so ago). here are the links:
to you who are alone
you who have tasted the world
as you follow his plan
you who wait expectantly
you who search for wisdom
may you run
God reaches out to you
a people – lost and wandering
as you survey your valley of dry bones
it was still back in the early days, so some are better than others, but there are a few that i like a lot, and that are rather meaningful to me. hope you enjoy.
may you carry others to Christ
may you carry others to Christ:
wounded, helpless, hopeless.
may you have eyes to see those in need –
in need of relief and release from an existence of fear and doubt –
in need of a Savior.
and as we approach Christ together
poor in our spirits and blind in our understanding
may we be continually reminded
that we are not above the charity of God –
that we are all the rescued ones.
what if…
James and I were talking today about all manner of things, and he dropped a little thought bomb that I thought I would share in rough form, before I’ve given it a lot of time to process and make my answer somewhat cogent (though I will no doubt do so soon…)
Proposition: What if God exists, and Jesus comes down, and everything we believe about Christianity remained constant, except there was no promise of eternal reward: i.e. there were no heaven, or at the very least we were not promised that we would go there simply by serving God/believing in Him/insert your own requirements here?
Given the above, here are a few questions:
1. Would you still serve God and attempt to live a “holy” lifestyle?
2. How would that change your view of the “Gospel”?
3. What does your answer to the first two questions tell you about the role that selfishness plays in your own personal decision to follow Christ?
4. If we as Christians are actually doing everything we’re doing ultimately so that we won’t end up in hell, does it mean that we may actually end up “doing all the right things”, yet still end up there anyway because our inward motivation was wrong?
5. How would this conflict with the current goals and ideas of mainstream American Christianity as a whole, and whatever local community of believers you find yourself a part of?
While this question is, in some sense, purely hypothetical, I none the less think it an important question to answer, or to at least think about.
I would be interested in hearing some of your comments on the subject.
rsb all faiths’ pictures
full gallery available here.
some technical side comments… the d200 is an amazing camera. i cranked through 300 pictures in about 30 minutes and never once ran into buffer issues. i was at 1600 the entire evening, with most shots at 1/30 of a second, many of them at or close to 200mm. on shots that weren’t too terribly underexposed (such as the bass shot above), the detail is fantastic, and the noise performance is terrific. when you underexpose by a stop or two, things get fairly noisy and grainy in a hurry, but it’s not any worse than any other digital i’ve ever seen, and certainly isn’t any worse than shooting with film.
rsb
robbie seay was in CS tonight, playing at all faiths. i’ll have some pictures up later.
there were two highlights for me – the first coming right off the bat as they played “when the cold wind blows” – one of my favorite songs. they also played “go outside” – a fantastic song, with a near haunting chorus that continues to ring in my ears:
“no one should be left out…”
ambassador class – 2
as you journey with a broken heart
as you journey with a broken heart
may you walk with expectation of Christ’s healing.
may you appreciate and embrace the pain and sorrow of disappointment,
trusting Christ to guide you to completeness.
may you experience fully the place you are,
not seeking to run ahead,
cheapening the priceless gift of life God has given you.
and may you wait patiently for the Lord,
weeping in your time,
but perpetually aware
that joy comes in the morning.
bono at the national prayer breakfast
earlier this month, bono spoke at the national prayer breakfast. i would highly encourage you to read the transcript (available here), as there are far too many good parts to put them all here. This one in particular that stuck with me:
A number of years ago, I met a wise man who changed my life. In countless ways, large and small, I was always seeking the Lord’s blessing. I was saying, you know, I have a new song, look after it… I have a family, please look after them… I have this crazy idea…
And this wise man said: stop.
He said, stop asking God to bless what you’re doing.
Get involved in what God is doing—because it’s already blessed.
Well, God, as I said, is with the poor. That, I believe, is what God is doing.
And that is what He’s calling us to do.