Photo Editing!

I have always had a fondness for editing photos and video. I think it is a great form of expression that I enjoy doing a great deal. As a change of pace in relation to my other blog posts I though I would share some of my creations. I will post more as I find them. For any of my dear readers, if you have any photos or video you need to have edited feel free to let me know! I would love to help! God bless!

PHOTOS

To begin with, these are some pictures I edited for the company I work with. They were included in several different advertising campaigns.

This is a photo I created from scratch for our company Christmas card last year (2009). 

 

 

VIDEOS

This is a video I edited with footage from my missions trip to Uganda back in 2007

 

 

 

This video deals with the second coming of Christ

 

 

 

Lastly, this is a video I made concerning faith.

 

 

 

 

The God We Praise

Currently, God has given me the privilege to be involved in His body at the Church at Brook Hills. This Wednesday, the worship band is releasing a CD entitled "The God We Praise." All the tracks are originals that were written by members in our worship band. There is a great variety of lyrics and musical styles on here that I think can be an encouragement to all believers everywhere, whether in praise to the Lord or supplication.

The worship team has set up a web site where you can get a lot more information about the CD and purchase it as well. Just click on the image above to go there. I hope you guys enjoy it! I'm so thankful for our worship team. They are a tremendous blessing.

Husbandry

I have not posted in quite some time. Much has occurred since my last post, most of which would bore most readers to tears so I will spare you all that.

However, one significant is my new marriage convent with my lovely bride, Beth. It has been quite a journey so far. I have realized that nothing can really prepare you for the way God refines you through marriage. I have been able to see with my own eyes the greatest heights of God's mercy, patience, and grace with me, as well as the depths of my own sinfulness that I never knew even existed.

I have been so thankful to see how the Lord has used Beth to teach me how to look past myself and die to myself in the decisions that I make and the desires that I have. Naturally, men in their fallen state tend to be incredibly selfish, materialistic, and--in America--stuck in a boyish state throughout their adult life. The rewards of Biblical manhood are indescribable, which I have barely got to the foothills of so far, but one thing I know for sure is that dying to self is often painful, frustrating, and often scary because before the Spirit of God in me can kill a fleshly part of me, it is brought to the surface and I must stare down my own sinfulness. My inner man can be seen clearly in the mirror, and he is very ugly. All that to say, the glorious truth I have been constantly reminded of is "surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; the chastisement that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed," as well as "He who seeks to save his life will lose it; and he who loses his life for My sake will find it."

I must not make decisions to satisfy my own selfish desires anymore. There is another person who I affect with the decisions I make now. I must learn to show the same unconditional love that my Savior has shown me. "Husbands love your wives like Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her." I desire so much that the Lord give me the grace to just be a man and love Beth the way I should. I praise God that His grace is greater than my sin, and He is doing the work to make Beth and I more like Him. We must just put ourselves at His disposal and say, "Here we are, Lord."

Right now we are working on getting a consistent time of prayer, worship, and study of the Word together. This is certainly a more elementary thing, but it is of the greatest importance over all else for a marriage to be Christ-exalting and therefore full of peace and joy. It's so easy for our materialism to get in the way of such important things. Our culture is so full of it all over the place. Our love of it is destroying marriages, creating derelict parents, and creating border-lined professors of faith in Christ who treat Jesus as a flavor of the week as long as their checkbooks balance and their car payments get in on time.

I pray to God that we would not be that couple. God's grace is not cheap. It demands all, yet it offers quadruple more than what it demands. Jesus offers us two things--one of which is not a car, house, or happy life--a cross to die on and resulting everlasting life searching the endless treasures of the knowledge of God. I pray the Lord would rip us from the world and make our hearts want more than cheap toys.

Stamp Eternity on My Eyeballs

This is my first post in quite some time. Much has been going on with wedding planning, which is T-Minus 10 days away! There will be much more to come once I have officially been joined in covenant with the lovely Ms. Beth Lester :-) As for now, I came across this video of a preacher who I used to listen to often when I first came to know Christ. I have seen few men as in touch with the heart of God as he. I hope it blesses you.

Even so, come quickly Lord Jesus.

A Groovy Tune!

At church on Sunday we had a day of fasting and prayer for the entire church. It was a very blessed time. The focus was on the fact that the purpose of fasting is to abstain from worldly delicacies, especially food, in order to feast on God and all the riches He has in store. It is to joyfully focus our hearts on the truth that man does not live by bread alone but by the Word of God. We celebrated the reality that we need God's Word more than we need food. That is why we fast. The choir lead the congregation in several amazing songs of worship, one in particular that I thoroughly enjoyed. I would now like to share that tune with all those who would like to listen. Unfortunately, this is not a recording of the choir at my church. It is the original recording, but the choir sounded a lot like the original recording. They hung in there! :-D Alas, Baptists do know how to break it down in worship to the Lord and no stones flew as the swaying to the rhythm began.

	Gary Oliver - Holy Holy Holy .mp3
	Found at bee mp3 search engine

Radical

I am blessed to be a member of a church that takes the demands of the Gospel of Jesus Christ seriously. Lately, we as a body have dove in together into the controversial and radical terms that Jesus gives as requirements to being His disciple. These terms are frequently overlooked or ignored completely by the majority of churches in America. The result is that the majority of people in American churches who believe themselves to be followers of Christ are deceived because they have come to Jesus on their terms and not His. This is a frightening reality. My pastor, Dr. David Platt, recently wrote a book entitled, Radical, that expresses these truths from Scripture in detail. Below is a video promotion for the book gives a brief illustration of the a true call to a disciple of Christ. I pray that God will have mercy upon us and give us grace to truly walk the narrow path.


Radical by David Platt from Taylor Robinson on Vimeo.

Darkness is Not Dark

I recently wrote my first traditional hymn. I wanted to share it with everyone. I hope it is edifying to all Christians who read it and will spur them on to find greater satisfaction in Christ during the extremely dark times of life.

"Darkness is Not Dark"

By: Daniel Fuller

My body's lamp, with palest gleam,

Gazes on death's cold plain.

Cruel Shadows drown ev'ry beam.

Heav'n stills with no refrain.

With silent cries, ruined souls strain

To tread this noonday night.

Bitter lusts guide each step of shame

That never finds delight.

No humble strain of words entice

Darkness to lift its veil.

All the eloquent words suffice

To make a son of hell.

There's one whose darkest hour is light

That shines out from this dread.

"Finished!" He shouts into the night,

Shredding the blackest thread.

Loving rays stream forth to kiss

This Son of Man whose face

Reflects resplendent bliss

That floods the darkest place.

A desp'rate creature of Thy hand,
On Thee alone I live;
My God, Thy benefits demand
More praise than I can give.

Professional Sermon Listeners

This really hit me. I think it's definitely worth sharing.

Tough Times

I found this chart from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. It's pretty crazy to see the spike in unemployment in the past year or so. These are some tough times right now. If we stay confident in the promises of God to seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness then He will supply all our other needs in this world. He faithfully provides for the flowers. How much more important are we than flowers?

Few there will be that find it

I found this video to be very powerful and truthful. I think it is definitely worth a look.

Global Warming

I recently stumbled upon this article about the recent recantation of one of the "father's" of man-made climate change theory. As the article says, I am sure our activities affect the climate to a degree, but I believe it is past time for the hysteria and hyperbole of world doom to end. It goes to show that something with the word "scientific" on it does not mean that it is infallible like many are apt to believe. I think men have done much more damage to this world through the corruption wrought by his turning away from God and towards the evil desires within himself than he has done to the trees.

A Winter Walk

There is nothing better than a good snow. Before I continue further, I have included a link to a lovely song called "Winter Snow" by Chris Tom (feat. Audrey Assad) that will perfectly accompany this entry :-)

"WINTER SNOW"

Please click the the above link to download the song for the full experience! For the most convenience, right-click the link and select "Open link in new tab."

When it snows it seems the earth and all of creation in pure tranquility, a beautiful reminder to me of the peace with God wrought by the perfect atoning work of Christ. Such peace on the earth reminds me of the wonder of redemption. We see the earth come under such torrential storms and disasters that show us the cursed condition of creation because of man's sin. However, under some conditions we are reminded of the beauty of what Christ has done. I believe God reminds us of this even through the natural processes of nature. Not only is nature curse, but it also groans inwardly for the revealing of the sons of God according to the book of Romans. When I see the snow I just see creation quietly displaying redemption. I'd like to use this entry as a celebration of the peace Christ has brought through His life and death. I encourage all who read to let winter's peace fill you with joy...Enjoy and God bless!

Too Easily Pleased

I thought this was worth a look. It's crazy to think how easily we are drawn to worldly things that offer no eternal reward.

A Suffering Servant

This is a conversation concerning the book of Job that I am having with the great Mr. Andrew Garnett. Andrew, I had to put my response on here for you because I think it was too long for Facebook to handle haha. I will post my initial comment, Andrew's comments first and then my response just for clarity and the sake of anyone else that might like to participate.

My initial comment:

Job's greatest mistake: "I will give free utterance to my complaint; I will speak in the bitterness of my soul." ~Job 10:1...And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell. ~James 3:6

Andrew's response:

While God does tell Job that some of his accusations against God are wrong, in the end Job is vindicated by God for his questions. The people that God gets angry with are Job's friends, who came in with trite, simple answers about God and told Job that he could not question God. That's why God tells Eliphas, Job's friend, "My wrath is kindled against you and against your two friends, because you have not spoken of Me what is right as My servant Job has." (Job 42:7) Job's honest questions and doubt make him the one who speaks well about God. The friends, who are too afraid to question, are the ones who have to offer a sacrifice and have Job pray for them, so that God won't kick their tails (Job 42:8).

I think this is the same sort of thing you see in the Psalms, where the authors question God all the time. They complain against God, and sometimes they get answers. It's the same thing in Habakkuk (which is a great little book), where the prophet makes two complaints against God and as a result gets to have a conversation with God about his problems.

To me, the story of Job shows that God gets more angry when people won't ask questions. What God dislikes there is people who are too scared to venture out of what they think that they "know" about God. What do you think?

My last response:

Andrew, I apologize for taking so long to respond to your comment. I appreciate your comments. There are a few points you made that I would like to address.

1.) "Job's honest questions and doubt make him the one who speaks well about God."

2.) “To me, the story of Job shows that God gets more angry when people won't ask questions.”

3.) “What God dislikes there is people who are too scared to venture out of what they think that they "know" about God.

If you look at the verse couple of verses of chapter 10, you see Job setting up what he is going to say for the rest of the chapter. He basically introduces this monologue of sorts by basically saying "I'm about to vent." Matthew Henry states it likes this:

"Job, being weary of his life and having ease no other way, resolves to complain, resolves to speak. He will not give vent to his soul by violent hands, but he will give vent to the bitterness of his soul by violent words."

First, I believe that in order to read the book of Job with the correct hermeneutic you have to begin with the correct doctrine of God's character and man's ultimate purpose in creation. I could right scores of essays discussing the character of God in depth. For the purpose of this discussion I will just briefly say that I am referring to the truths that God is holy, just, good, omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent, loving, etc. Now, concerning man's ultimate purpose we see Scripture address that:

a) For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen. ~Rom. 11:36

b) "Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created." ~Rev. 4:11

c) "If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full." ~John 15:10-11

So we are able to conclude from assembling Scriptures such as these that the purpose of man is to "glorify God and enjoy Him forever." As you probably know from the Westminster Catechism. What's really cool to me about this is that the only full and complete joy exists in glorifying God and in the words of John Piper, "God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him." Therefore, I think if you read Job with the presupposition that man's chief end is happiness through fulfillment through something within this world such as vitality, wealth, etc. then you will read Job incorrectly (not saying you are reading it through such a lens).

Something important to see about Job is that he knew the character of God and walked with God, fulfilling his purpose. So in chapter 10 we see him wrestling with what God is doing because it seems out of God's character, which he understand later that it wasn't. So what I would submit to you is that it was not Job's questioning God and doubting Him that caused him to speak rightly of God as God says he did in Job 42. It was Job's correct knowledge of the character of God that caused him to speak rightly of Him.

Therefore, what I think Scripture as a whole teaches is that it is not man's virtue to doubt or question God. Giving full vent to anger is seen throughout Scripture as foolish and destructive, but a temperament that is slow to anger and trusting in the Lord is virtuous and blessed (James 1:26; James 3:1-10; Psa. 37:3; Psa 37:5; Psa 91:2; Prov. 3:5; Isa 26:4; Jer. 17:7). Now, you are correct that later in the story it does appear that Job's questioning and venting was God's will to bring about the result of Job's increased knowledge of God and revelation of God that Job had not previously known intimately. However, I do not think this teaches us that venting at God and questioning God should be a temperament that a follower of Christ should have. The teaching of Scripture seems to be to the contrary. We see that when God first addresses Job He says, "Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?" (Job 38:2). Then God proceeds to give Job a revelation of Himself that how complex God's wisdom and His actions are because if you notice He never tells Job about the discourse with Satan or the purpose for his suffering. So I do agree with you that out of Job's questioning and doubting came the gift of God's revelation concerning His vast complexity and Job's inability to understand the answer to the questions he was asking; however, we do see God's revelation to Job coupled with a rebuke as well.

In conclusion, if you look at Job in light of Scripture as a whole you see a predominant theme in regards to suffering. You do not see it clearly taught that we are entitled to answers for our suffering, and I don't think you are encouraged to question God and doubt Him. I think Scripture views such a temperament as negative, possibly due to little faith (when the disciples questioned Jesus when their boat was caught in the storm He corrected them for their lack of faith). So I think asking "why?" in the midst of suffering like Job is not the virtuous question that God would have us ask. We know from Romans 8:28-30 that everything God does in the life of a child of God is for the purpose of making them more conformed to the image of Christ. That's why all things work together for good for children of God. The "good" there is the conformity to the image of Christ, whether that be through abundance or suffering. Both are ultimately good because they achieve that purpose. In light of this principle, I think the question that God would have us ask in the midst of suffering is "how?" "How can I suffer through this and become more like Christ and trust in God through this." Job knew God was just and good so I think what Job's more correct response should have been was to trust in the truthful character of God that he knew, knowing that God would never act outside of His character.

In the wide angle lens of God's plan with Job we see that it was God's will for Job to question and doubt for the purpose of being rebuked, corrected, and matured in Job's knowledge of God. However, I do not think Scripture teaches us seek questioning and doubt as a virtue that pleases God. That was so long. But we are dealing with a God of immense complexity so a few sentences certainly wouldn't suffice. What do you think?

The Face of the Deep

It's ironic how the moment you begin a new blog your body somehow knows that it is now time to stay awake at 4:50am so that you can blog and have no life lol. And here I am. I find that my mind is able to take upon itself much more expansive contemplations when I am sleep deprived yet not so much so to be peacefully slumbering. It is a mysterious thing when a man begins to contemplate his existence. As I sit here in my tiny den, in my tiny house, my mind just begins to wonder to the far reaches of space, beyond light years and stadia beyond anything I can possibly comprehend. As my journey meets full circle and rests back into my little den, I am in awe of how much there is besides us, yet in every system of thought and philosophy that I personally know, man plays a significant role in even beginning to understand the vast expanse that we are so tightly wedged into. I have an article linked here about the star called "Betelgeuse," and I will give a brief summary on its dimensions for the sake of this blog but feel free to read the entire article.

Betelgeuse can often be clearly seen at the upper edge of Orion's left shoulder, has a diameter that is approximately 1500 times the size of the Sun. Not only that, Betelgeuse has a luminosity that is 14,000 times that of the Sun at its maximum and 7,600 times the Sun's luminosity at minimum. If that isn't staggering enough, Betelgeuse is SEVENTH brightest star in the Northern Hemisphere. The outer edges of Betelgeuse extend over a trillion kilometers from the star. Because of this, it takes light almost two months just to break through the gaseous material of its outer edges in order to travel beyond the star. Every fiber in my being just wants to be able to take that in but is unable. My incredibly complex brain of some 100 billion neurons, 100 trillion synapses, with billions of impulses constantly traveling over 300 miles per hour, yet when I attempt to understand the size of one star that pales in comparison to many others in the universe, I am left void and unable to grasp even the footholds of such a thing.

There have been many people that have questioned whether or not we are the only intelligent life in the universe. Why would such a Creator of such a thing only create us on this tiny little planet of ours and leave so much of the universe uninhabitable? I have such a low view of God sometimes. Do I understand the gravity of claiming to worship a God that, according to Colossians 1:17, holds countless stars like Betelgeuse together. According to Hebrews He even does it by the Word of His power. I often have problems with the conventions of the accepted religious system. I say that because it is so easy to compartmentalize creation and the wonder of all that God is and does into something we think we completely understand. In the book of Job, Job's friends Zophar, Eliphaz, and Bildad were incredibly presumptuous in believing that Job's suffering was due to his sin and God's consequential judgment upon him. However, if God holds together the untold expanses of the universe then when He "does" one thing He does many things. I believe a misunderstanding of God has occurred both in the religious system and the secular system. We are very limited in our ability to discuss such a thing because the moment we begin speaking about the universe and about God we must reduce the vastness of it down just so that our minds can process it for the sake of speaking. When we do this we have a tendency to over-simplify something that is not simple in the least. In theological circles this is often seen with the doctrine of predestination and election. When any man ponders the universe he will quickly see that there can be no simple explanation because it is too great a thing to be reduced to simplicity.

God created the universe exactly for the purpose of showing His extremely complex and wonderful power and glory. I deem it an honor that He created me here and gave me the opportunity to worship Him for it.

I must say that I do greatly respect the men and women of science who have gone to great lengths to understand the universe and use their knowledge to better the lives of mankind. Much of what I know and what has evoked overflowing joy and worship from my heart as an offering back to God has come from the discoveries that many have devoted all their lives to studying. I am grateful for that. I have the privilege of knowing things about creation and being able to look somewhat deeper into the far reaches of God that many before me did not have. What I would really pray for, however, is that evolutionists and theologians alike could come together and discuss their views on the universe that they both most certainly are awed by. I do not think that an explanation a Creator is a theologians way of simplifying something that mankind cannot understand. Personally, when I think about God creating the universe, I do not want to leave it at that and say to myself, "Yes, now I've got it." I don't want it to be simple. I want to know more. It makes me want to know this Creator and know more of what He has done and more of what I can learn through the scientific methods that we have developed through the intelligence He has granted us. What a privilege that over myriads of history we would gradually uncover the expanse that this Creator spoke into existence in a mere six days. I would like to see secularists and theologians come to civil discussions as they realize that both sides are at least coming to the table with logical points of view.

I will probably never truly understand why God chose to create man, when He quite obviously was totally self-sustained within Himself. A power that sustains such things certainly doesn't need us. That is okay because I do not need to know. If God simply created such a grand universe to show His inexhaustible power and majesty then I praise Him for allowing me to witness it. I just fall to my knees in bewilderment and wonder and cry out from inside my heart with Job,

"What is man, that you make so much of him, and that you set your heart on him, visit him every morning and test him every moment?" ~Job 7:17-18


Praise the Yahweh that He chooses to steadfastly show such unfathomable and undeserved grace to men and delights in doing so.

Our first trip to Uganda

It has been quite some time since I blogged. I have my best friend, Scott, to thank for my recent return :-) Unfortunately, it looks like my first blog will not be very intellectually stimulating, as I have not too much to offer in that department at the moment. However, I do have a video to offer from my first trip to Uganda in Africa. The children and adults there are in desperate need of sound Biblical doctrine. There is also an overwhelming sense there to become like America. They absolutely do not need to become like Americans. If they need prayers for anything, it's those two things. Enjoy!