Blog Header - October 10, 2010

One of Front Royal’s beauty queens. I took this photo at last weekend’s Festival of Leaves.

The Cheerleader

Have you ever felt like you needed a cheerleader? Have you longed for someone to stand somewhere off to the side and yell encouragement to you as you went through the day? Wouldn’t it be great to have a cheerleader following you around day and night to do just that?

Colossians 1:19, 20

For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

So often it seems that life is quite a bit harder than it should be. I begin my day and the pile of rubbish that I need to clear out from in front of me seems to be too much for me to handle. Some of that rubbish has been heaped up in front of me by others, but much of it is my own. But my having caused the rubbish does not make it any easier to face—or to clear.

Psalm 85:10

Steadfast love and faithfulness meet; righteousness and peace kiss each other.

To look at life’s difficulties from a slightly different perspective, why do parents attend their children’s sporting events, concerts, plays, and activities? Why do children involved in those activities scan the bleachers or concert hall to get a glimpse of their parents sitting in the seats? Parents try to attend these events because they know that they are providing a huge confidence boost to their children simply by being there. Some parents talk to their children ahead of time, giving them advanced encouragement to call to mind during the event. Some even work out a signal—a look, a hand gesture—that the child will recognize as a reminder of that encouraging word the parent gave prior to the event.

Jeremiah 29:11

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

But then when we get older and set up our own households, we lose that degree of direct connection with our parents. When we’re at work we don’t have our parents sitting in the next office or cubicle making that gesture to remind us of their support and encouragement.

Even though I have been out of my parents’ home for more than half my life, my mother and father still send me words of encouragement—by phone, by email, by postal mail. Those words of encouragement are a great help when things get tough.

Micah 7:18

Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression for the remnant of his inheritance?
He does not retain his anger forever, because he delights in steadfast love.

As Christians, we have a never-failing Father who is with us all the time. He never misses any of our events. And he has given us words of encouragement too. But we often forget those words of encouragement and try to trudge through the day under our own strength without ever gaining the strength of that heavenly Cheerleader. The child in the school play will not receive the encouragement from his parent if he doesn’t look into the audience to see that the parent is there. He will not gain strength from the parent if he doesn’t remember the things his parents said before the event. And neither will we, if we forget those things God has said to us as means of encouragement and motivation.

Isaiah 26:12

O Lord, you will ordain peace for us, for you have indeed done for us all our works.

As I had my devotions this morning I was reminded of many of the encouraging statements God has given to us. I’m going to try to remember them today as I tackle whatever lies ahead. I’m going to remember that my Father is standing out there cheering for me.

Job 22:21
Agree with God, and be at peace; thereby good will come to you.

 

Blog Header - October 6, 2010

I took this photo in Lynchburg on our way home from the Apple Festival. I loved the fall feel of the pumpkins and hay bales.

 

The Gospel according to The Matrix

I

’m on vacation this week. Among other relaxing things, I’m catching up on my movie watching. Today’s movie is one of my favorites—The Matrix.

Ever since I first watched The Matrix, I have wanted to build an evangelism course around the storyline. It’s probably too late now—I’ve let too much time transpire. The movie is no longer in the public consciousness as it was shortly after it was released. But every time I watch this movie, I am again struck with the gospel narrative parallels.

One such parallel just came up as I’m watching. And I thought I should post it:

“I can only show you the door, Neo. You must walk through it.”
—Morpheus

“I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.”
—Jesus (as quoted in John 10:9)

Do you want a friend?

H

ave you ever read a children’s book and ended up with tears flowing down your cheeks? Well, neither have I—until now, that is. Sometimes this world is more than we can handle. Sometimes life just becomes too hard to bear. Sometimes we need a friend that never fails—and we have one. And this children’s book tells us about this friend.

I love John Piper. I love John Piper’s ministry. And now I love this book written by John Piper’s wife Noel. Check it out for yourself. Here is the full book in PDF version.

Interesting commentary from Israel

W

hat do our allies think as they watch current events develop in the United States? We hear often about the disrespectful comments of those who hate America, but we don’t often hear from those who actually appreciate us.

In A Prayer for 5771 (Jerusalem Post), writer Caroline Glick gives us a glimpse into the mind of our truest allies—the nation of Israel. Ms. Glick also offers an interesting perspective on Glenn Beck’s recent “Restoring Honor” rally in Washington, D.C. She observes that Beck’s rally was an effort to lay claim to “the American Creed,” and an attempt to bring it back to the forefront of the American psyche. Here’s a quote from the article:

That creed is so ingrained that it has served as the subtext of every major political and civic speech by every American political and civic leader since the 18th century.

The American creed has two main components.

First, its core belief is that America is an exceptional country and that the American people are an exceptional nation. Second, it asserts that as Abraham Lincoln first said outright, America is the last, best hope for mankind.

The reason Beck’s rally was a watershed event is that in the Age of Obama, millions of Americans for the first time feel the need to reclaim what they believe is their birthright as Americans.

Because what distinguishes Obama from his predecessors is that he is the first American president who clearly rejects the American creed.

Read the full article here.

 

Blog Header - October 3, 2010

I took this picture this past weekend at the National Zoological Endangered Animal Research Center in Front Royal, Virginia. This was a presentation of troop training from the War Between the States. It was a small encampment with about a dozen cavalry who did training and maneuvers for the spectators.

Very interesting stuff.

Portraits - My not-so-secret passion

A

lmost 30 years ago I was in college with a shutterbug for a roommate. My friend Ron joined the yearbook staff our freshman year, and he was seldom without his camera. At the time, I had an inexpensive Polaroid camera. I bought a decent 35mm camera as soon as I got out of college—and I have been in love with photography ever since. Click on the pictures in this post to see the high resolution versions

One of our kids when we were youth leaders 15 years ago
Scanned from film print

Senior portrait taken in our basement – 1995
Scanned from film negative

As I explored different types of photography, portraiture continually rose to the top of my list. I love taking pictures of people—especially women. Formal, casual, outdoor, studio, posed, candid—I love them all. So over the past almost 30 years I have compiled a huge collection of portraits of people. Some of the portraits are studio shots of clients, friends, and family. Some of them are candid portraits of people I have never met. But they’re all portraits. This is the photography that I love.

Someone I don’t know (Strawberry Festival — 2010)

Someone I don’t know (Deloitte IMPACT Day — 2010)

Someone I don’t know (Pittsburgh, Duquesne Incline 2005)

So when a friend of mine told me about the Portrait Professional software, I immediately wanted to try it out. Unfortunately, that was about three years ago and I simply could not afford to purchase the software.

A couple at the Front Royal Wine & Craft Festival – 2010

Two couples at the Front Royal Wine & Craft Festival – 2010

So I downloaded the free version to try a little experimentation. It was pretty cool. And I wanted it even more after experimenting with it. But the free version could not save high resolution files and it superimposed a watermark over the person’s face. It was a cool piece of software, but I couldn’t justify the cost.

Stephanie and David – Skyline Caverns – 2010

Kim on our honeymoon
Scanned from film print

But then last week I had a birthday. I won’t get into the details of how old I am or whether or not cyanotype prints were the standard of photography when I was born. But ... my in-laws purchased Portrait Professional for me.

So now I’m going through my photos from the past 25 years or so and having fun with the software. My older photos were from the days of slides and negatives. I scanned many of those into digital format on a very cheap, low-quality scanner. But this software still makes the pictures look good—albeit, with quite a bit of lint and grain clearly visible.

If you’d like a copy of Portrait Professional for yourself, do it quickly—it’s on a time-limited 50% off sale right now. Go for it! Get your copy of Portrait Professional here.

Kim – 2004

Kim – 2006

Kim and David—this past spring

 

Blog Header - September 29, 2010

I took the picture of this father and son at the community outreach event at the First Church of the Nazarene in Front Royal, Virginia.

My love song

Mary Fuller

T

omorrow is a really special day for me. 23 years ago, I married the man who was my best friend and my sweetheart. On that special day, Lance and I sang a duet with each other, Household of Faith, by Steve Green. My sister thought it was cool because we were already in the process of building a physical house in which to live. I also sang and played an original composition for him.

There were some tense moments as I tried to shed my satin gloves to play the piano—I tried to get them off without pulling off the "glue on" nails I'd had expertly applied earlier that morning. My matron of honor looked on, waiting for the gloves to hold while I played. She finally encouraged me to just "rip them off" and she'd turn them outside right while I played. Well, below are the lyrics to this simple song, and the words are so much more true now than ever! I'm so glad we've stayed together all these years!!

Here I stand before you on this our wedding day;
The day when we will pledge our loyalty.
Yet I can't believe my eyes, you're more than I could hope for -
You are the Father's gift of love so great to me.

I could never dream of the man I've found in you.
You are the man God chose for me to love.
You are my best friend, you're every dream come true.
You are a gift from my Father above.