I did a short photo shoot of the Cornerstone worship band this past Wednesday. I am still gathering and editing the images but here are a few below from the shoot. Low light photography is one of my favorites when you can get some good directional light concentrated on the subjects. Here, it is a pretty dark room for photography, especially for hand held work, but some great subjects, and a little light from above and you can still capture some interesting shots.
I have tried so many different online gallery programs over the years and never could find one I fully liked, so I finally gave in and just started organizing my gallery. Coming soon I will upload wider variety of images from each shoot along with past photo shoots from all over the country. For now, you can see the current uploaded images on the Auburn Images music gallery. Check back there soon and I will have more organized and uploaded.
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This is the next installment of Throwback Thursday as coined by my friend over at Vagabondrunn, see Throwback Thursday (5), for his latest update. This image is obviously not me, far to cute for that, but my wife, at age 4. She says she actually remembers getting this photo taken. I don’t doubt it.
Funny thing about this photo is I wasn’t born yet. Guess that kind of gives away our ages but oh well. What a cute kid. Be sure to leave a comment with your post so we can take a look. I will try to actually get one of myself up there next week.
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This is my installment for the Blogger Small Group post (on chapter 5) and there is still time for anyone to join in if they like (see Blogger Small Group Rules/Guidlelines). Right now we are five weeks into a study on James, not need to try and catch up, just start in the same place we are and post your opinions.
Re-reading the book of James over the last few weeks has been great. James always has a real world perspective and he never holds any punches. This week was James, Chapter 5, and I thought the first section was quite appropriate for the holiday weekend we just had over here in the U.S.
This is going to be a shortened version this week since we were out of town all last week but that is probably a relief over last week.
From the Book of James, Chapter 5
In this chapter James breaks up the text into two sections. The first section titled, Misuse of Riches, and the second section titled Exhortation, meaning a call to take some kind of action. Then he ends in prayer with some great examples.
Misuse of Riches, (5:1-6)
This section brought it home for those of us living here in the United States. Perhaps that is because we just had Memorial Day weekend over here, but I think even the poorest or less fortunate over here have riches that people in other countries couldn’t imagine as a part of their normal routine of life, or riches.
Sometimes I think we (as Americans) put so much emphasis on material items that we do miss the focus of how to use some of these items to further the kingdom of God. This first section talks about how much we have, yet we use it for purposes that will fade away anyway.
3 Your gold and your silver have rusted; and their rust will be a witness against you and will consume your flesh like fire. It is (E)in the last days that you have stored up your treasure!
In the NIV it refers to metals that have rusted and tarnished. Even gold and silver tarnish and are some of the most sought after metals still today. This storing up in the last days, to me, is referring to greed. How much is enough for us, how much do we actually need. Scripture tells us His salvation does not tarnish or rust.
Exhortation, (5:7-20)
I love the title to this section. Exhortation.
ex·hor·ta·tion [noun]: an utterance, discourse, or address conveying urgent advice or recommendations.
zɔrˈteɪThat sums up the book of James. An urgent advice or recommendation. James tells us to be patient and he then gives us the essence of patience, (v7-9), do not complain, strengthen your heart, and wait for the coming of the Lord.
James then gives us examples of patience in verses 10-13 and he ends in a prayer. This prayer is something that I have underlined in my Bible before. The need to be sensitive to others needs, and the importance of confessing our sins.
Something I take great comfort in when reading the last section is verse 16-17.
16 Therefore, (AO)confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be (AP)healed (AQ)The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.
17 Elijah was (AR)a man with a nature like ours, and (AS)he prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the earth for (AT)three years and six months.
The great Elijah, was a man with a nature like ours. A nature like ours refers to the fact that he was a sinner as well. But he prayed. The bold effect above is my doing, not scripture. That is the key to me and I love that verse. The effective prayer can accomplish much, wow.
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Why does it always seem like there are a thousand things to do when you get back from a trip. I try to minimize this by taking my laptop, phone, work, all that stuff with me whenever we go out of town, and it does reduce the workload when you return, a little. It also keeps you connected to work all the time, but, owning your own business, that is what you tend to do.
What is amazing is that it always seems like when you return, not only do you have the normal things to do that didn’t get done while you were gone, but some how, you now have a brand new list of things that were never on the list to begin with. This comes from being in the car for 25 hours and getting away from the normal routine of things. If makes you think, sometimes it refreshes the mind, sometimes it gives you new ideas. This was a very fun weekend at the Polka Festival (see Busy Memorial Day Weekend Photos) as usual, but I also brought home a new to do list with items that had never before graced the presence of my office. Time to get busy.
I leave you with a photo above from the parade on Saturday. This is my grandson, William, explaining to the fireman that there are plenty more people behind him that want to say hi, to him, and he better be on his way. In all I think I took about 2,000 images over the weekend and about 2 hours of video. It will take a while to get through it all, in the mean time, its back to work.
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We are getting ready now for a nice weekend in Ennis at the National Polka Festival. Here is me and the little dude, William hanging before the festival begins. I have been able to take many photos of William each time we visit but this has to be one of my favorites. You can see the reflection in my glasses as I hold the camera way out in front of both of us, while William is trying to figure out what in the world I am doing.
The Polka Festival is something we have tried to go to each year for the last few years, but this year Deborah is competing in the Polka competition with her dad. This is nothing new to Deborah. She has been going to the Ennis National Polka Festival since she was about 5 years old, but this will be the first year to join in on the Polka dance competition. The Ennis Journal interviewed Deborah for the festival, see Polka Royalty Bid, which was a very nice article about her and the festival in general. Sorry the full text is only available when you log into their site but we will try to get a copy of it to be posted here or on her blog.
The main part of the festival starts tonight at 7pm and goes through Sunday at 3pm. It will be a long and very tiring weekend but a lot of fun as well. Our son and his family (including our 2 year old grandson) have driven down from Colorado to be here as well. We have already taken some photos of him in his new vest, he didn’t know quite what to make of it. We were able to get into town and get a few photos before everything got started. I love the expressions here on their faces. Especially when you know William has to be pulling Bryan’s hair. The vests were all made by Deborah over the previous year for this weekend.
I hope everyone has a safe and enjoyable Memorial Day weekend.
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This is my weekly post for Throwback Thursday. This is my lovely wife, at age five. I don’t normally have any images of myself since I am usually the one taking the photos, but I am starting to think that was the case back when I was growing up too. I will have to dig around and find some of myself, my wife was a much cuter kid anyway, so I will stick with her for this week.
I love the innocent look of this shot, the smile she has here is the same as it is today. If you have posted a throwback Thursday post leave a comment below with the link so we can take a look. To see the previous posts, just click on the link at the top for Throwback Thursday.
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I am sure by now just about everyone who knows who Steven Curtis Chapman is knows what happened in the news with his daughter being killed on Wednesday.
One of those tragic accidents that reminds me very much of the situation with the Burgess family back in January (see Attacks on the Burgess Family). Both of these “events” came to see the tragic loss of a child by a Believing family. It is not something that makes any sense or any of us can put a reason or explanation on it. It is only the understanding that we (as a people) are not in control down here, nor should we be I think. In God, all things work for His good.
One thing that comes to mind to me is Psalm 147:5
5 Great is our Lord and abundant in strength;
His understanding is infinite.
Although it is not under our own understanding, I am sure the Chapman family will turn to God during this tragic even, and we should as well. I know I don’t speak alone when I say many people are praying for you Steven Curtis Chapman.
Update: The Chapman family has setup a blog for their daughter Maria Sue Chapman and the post for the condolences are located at Maria Sue Chapman (2003-2008) (be aware, the page loads slow with more than 14,000 comments so far)
Here is also a post that was part of the memorial service for Maria Sue Chapman. Maria’s Memorial Service
