I'm so proud... and jealous

Paul,

Hi. You are the first recipient of an email from my iPhone. I'm sitting next to my mac, so this is kinda silly but fun.

Jared

Sent from my iPhone

The J Family Shoot

I spent the evening at the J house taking some pictures of their kids. For more, see my Am8ture Flickr account.

40th Birthday

So Saturday I celebrated the big 4-0. My wife kidnapped me on Friday and took me to Cherry Valley Lodge for the weekend. She arranged it so I didn't have to preach on Sunday (a big thank you to Andrew for stepping in for me!)

It was a relaxing weekend. The lodge was nice. It seems they do a lot of weddings and events. It is set up around a court yard which has a pond and a path to walk around it. For a created thing, it is very well done. We got there late, had a late dinner in the lodge and then just hung out for a while.

The room was nice, kind of a suite-type set up with a living area, balcony, fridge... and a 16:9 flat panel TV which swiveled so you can watch it in the living room, bedroom or in the tub! (On Saturday we paid $11.50 for the in room movie and watched "Blades of Glory," but man, it's tough to beat Bob and Larry!)


Saturday afternoon we got up and went to Granville. Granville is one of those old, towns with big houses and tree-lined streets. We just wandered through the streets and went in stores and walked around. Again, for me, the key to a good vacation is moving slow with no agenda that I have to make up.

We had lunch at a place called the Buxton Inn. Nice place. Then we just wandered around. The truth is that this week was just slow moving... which is exactly what I wanted.

Okay, I have work to do. I will write more later.

"It ain't a sin to buy the car..."

When the lead of the news story is, "When it comes to luxury sports cars, Ferrari begs to differ with the Pope," you know it's going to be interesting.

Apparently, the Vatican issued a document warning against using a car "as a means for outshining other people and arousing a feeling of envy."

Now, say what you want about the Vatican, but as Christians, I'm guessing we all can agree with that, right? We don't want to use our stuff to make other people envious. Also, although not specifically stated, I think we can all agree that we need to be good stewards of our money and that there might be things that would be wiser kingdom investments than other things.

Well, Ferrari's general manager, Amedeo Felisa, told Reuters this week he was convinced that "buying a Ferrari was not a sin."

"I hope not -- but you should commit at least one from time to time," he said.

Well, if Amedeo Felisa says it's not a sin to buy a Ferrari, than it is not a sin! I mean the general manager of Ferrari would know. He would know that spending anywhere from $200,000 to over a million on a car would just please the heart of God.

I'm I being cynical here? I hope not because I gave it up.

Oh, and oddly enough, this story was in the same edition.

Headline: "Africa faces better food year but crises remain"

Thoughts from a week at Willow, part 2

"Cynicism lacks courage."

--Nancy Beach

Some of my creative team was picking me up at Lakeside so we could drive to Willow together, so I rode to the West Ohio UMC Annual Conference with a friend and colleague of mine. During the drive, we talked about life, ministry and relationships. At one point, she bluntly said that she thought I had become "resigned" about certain areas in my life. Whereas I didn't like to face that truth, I knew that the word "resigned" was a good description of how I felt. I was losing hope.

I thought about that through Annual Conference. "Me resigned? Even cynical?"

On Tuesday my creative team team picked me up and we were off to the Willow Arts Conference. And in the very first session, Nancy Beech said these words:

"Cynicism lacks courage."

Ouch.

Cynicism is popular right now. I think in our attempt to be authentic, in our attempt to be honest, in this "question authority" culture, to be a cynic is almost cool. This is even true in the Church. It is almost a virtue to be against things.

But that is not the gospel.

I'm not sure I could make the argument that Jesus was a cynic in any way.

And I'm supposed to be like him.

Nancy pointed out that teachers, artist, musicians, usually by our wiring, are more negative; A bit more cynical. "More likely to wear black."

But here's the thing: if we, who are the church, aren't filled with hope, if we who are the church don't see the positive in people and situations and even institutions... then where is the hope? This is especially true for those of us who are leaders.

Leaders are brokers in hope.

Now, this is not, "Jesus will kiss you boo boos and make everything right" kind of hope.

This is not "Happy, Happy, Christian" kind of hope...

But it IS being deeply rooted in the truth that the Kingdom of God has come near. It is now possible for us as ordinary human beings to live in the presence and under the reign of God.

So for my 40th birthday (tomorrow), I have decided to crucify cynicism.

Now, I know it will rise again. I know there will be times it will come out. But I refuse to feed it. I refuse to deal in it. I refuse to wallow in it.

Rather, I want to deal in hope.

Thoughts from a week at Willow, part 1

"[This] can be seen, for instance, in children, when they find some game or joke that they specially enjoy. A child kicks his legs rhythmically through excess, not absence of life. Because children have abounding vitality, because they are in spirit fierce and free, therefore they want things repeated and unchanged. They always say, 'Do it again,' and the grown-up person does it again until he is nearly dead. For grown-up people are not strong enough to exult in monotony.

But perhaps God is strong enough to exult in monotony.

It is possible that God says every morning, 'Do it again' to the sun, and every evening, 'Do it again' to the moon. It may not be automatic necessity that makes all daisies alike; it may be that God makes every daisy separately, but has never got tired of making them. It may be that He has the eternal appetite of infancy; for we have sinned and grown old, and our Father is younger than we. The repetition in Nature may not be a mere recurrence; it may be a theatrical encore."

--G.K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy


"Creativity is a moment when we see, not redundancy, but opportunity."

--Nancy Beach, Willow Arts Conference

I feel that most of us are too "old" to see God in the moment. Most of us are too caught up in the minutia of life and the tasks at hand, to notice what a child would notice. I go for a walk and I want to get where I'm going. My daughter goes for a walk and it is the opportunity to point to every street sign, flower, dog... etc.

I often walk to this little restaurant several blocks from my house. I have passed this building countless times and never noticed it. It is actually a pretty neat building. A couple of weeks ago, I was out walking and for some reason, I noticed it. I walked up to it... I noticed the texture of the wood. I looked at the nails that held it together. I noticed the tin pealing off the roof. I really thought it was beautiful.

Nothing profound here, but maybe there is something to getting so caught in the repetition of our life that we miss out on all that is around us. Maybe one of the keys to creativity is breaking out of routine every once in a while to see things in a fresh way. This is one of the reasons I like photography. I try to force my self to see things in a different way that I normally would see them.

But doing new things takes effort. It takes some risk. I guess the question is, "Is it worth it?"

Happy Father's Day

There's no place like home...

I'm home from Chicago. I had a great time with Amy, Beth and Tyler. Willow was wonderful. The conference was great. But I like where I am and the people I'm with.

It's good to be home

Heros

If you look up the definition of the word "hero," most of it is about bravery, risking life, fighting in wars, etc.

To me, a hero is someone who makes your life better. Someone who, when you are around them, you want to be more like Jesus, even if that means just being more like them.

I'm not into hero worship... I'm not all that impressed by celebrity... but if you know me, you know that one of my "heros" is John Ortberg. Today I'm in an all-day seminar on preaching and teaching by John. I'm sitting in front, at most, 6 feet from him. I've heard it all the content before, I'm not really even taking notes, but that doesn't matter. I have found over the years that there is something about being in the physical presence of my heros that just gives me life. You may not understand it, you may not even agree with it, but I think it is good to have heros: people you admire and respect for who they are and what they do.

And I think it's good to share that admiration with them (Everyone assumes they don't need it.)

So after this last session, I walked up to John, and (pretty wrought with emotion because I'm really neverous) I said, "I feel really silly doing this, but I wanted you to know that, not only have you have had a profound impact on my teaching, but also my life and theology. There have been times when you were teaching that what you said hit me so hard that I had to pull off the side of the road so that I could just deal with what you were saying. And I wanted to just tell you that and thank you."

And with my soul laid pretty bare and him holding this moment in his hands, he looked at me and with a sincere smile said, "Wow, thanks. That was so kind of you to say. And there is no reason to feel bad about that. I have people like that in my life... and I'm honored to have played that role in your life. Thanks."

Then I asked him to sign my journal and if I could get his picture with me... and we are both laughing because the guy using my camera was absolutely clueless (hence it is out of focus and a horrible shot... but it is more meaningful that way because now it's a story.)

There are some people who you meet, and when you meet them they just seem taller.

Just me and my camera

I like having all this free time to take pictures.

I'm at Willow and Beth is with us. She is currently my favorite "model" (she is one of the only people patient enough to let me shoot her!) So we were all hanging out one morning in the room before a session... the light was good... and then she taught me photoshop.

For more see my Flickr account.

Willow

Nice. You all need to come to this with us next year.

Yep

"Change, improve, innovate or die."

Adam Hamilton, pastor of the Church of the Ressurection

Wow

Maybe a glimpse into the future.

Note to media producers

Simply speeding up a video that goes on for 4 minutes does not make it cool.

Just me and 3,000 of my closest friends

I'm at Annual Conference. We have wireless. I'm a happy man.

It's hard to express what it is like to go through Annual Conference. Both the good and the bad. 3000 people packed in a room, worshipping, voting, and hearing endless reports... some good and some a pain in the .... ah... hard wooden chairs. So this is what it looks like. I'm sitting here listening to a report. To be honest, these just gone on and on. Occasionally there is this glimpse of grace, but mostly, I get frustrated. But there are moments... I'm hoping to experience some of them.

Good Gifts

"If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!"

Lydia has been really sick. She, like her mother, has a tendency to have the slightest bug really affect her breathing. By the time we got her to the doctor today, she was really bad. She would start coughing and wouldn't stop. She was breathing so shallow (to avoid coughing) that her blood oxygen levels were really low. Also, she basically hadn't eaten in two days so she was really weak. It was pretty pitiful. So they drew blood and did X rays and prescribed several medications (for both her and Laura-she has it too).

And doing this stuff hurt her. They inflicted pain to draw blood. Doing the tests made her uncomfortable and even make her cough more. In her mind it didn't make sense.

The doctor suggested I get her some popsicles, so when I went shopping, I made a trip to the popsicle section. To be honest, I was really excited. Yea, I know this is strange, but there is something about giving gifts to your kids that is really beyond anything I have experienced. And I knew that she would love this gift AND the doctor said it would be good for her.

Hold that thought.

Lydia also loves milk. And, although she hasn't eaten, she asks for milk all the time. So here is this sick girl, who I love, who keeps asking, "Daddy, many I have some milk please?" [It is so cute]. But here is the thing: when she gets this cough thing, milk is not good for her.

It's not that milk is bad. In fact, at a different time in her life, heck, even next week, she can have all the milk she wants. It's good for her. I want her to drink milk.

But not now.

For now I know... as I see a bigger picture.... that as much as I would love to give her what she asks for (even if what she asks for is good)... I know that right now, it is not the best thing for her.

And this doesn't make any sense to her.

And I don't want people inflicting pain on my daughter. I really don't. I can't tell you how it hurt me to watch her cry. (Both her mom and I were crying.) And it makes no sense to her that the pain will make her stronger. She doesn't understand.

But I love her that much.

You can draw your own conclusions.

By the way, she and her mother are on the mend.

Go now.

Go here and watch the two clips and post your thoughts.

Do it now...

Your eyes are getting heavy...

When I snap my fingers you will forget you were hypnotized... you will awake and go here.

Ash Cave

Just a couple of pictures from my trip to Ash Cave. For more go my Flickr account.

Yea, there is no doubt I married way up. I like this picture not only because of subjects, but because of the background. I love the contrast. It's a bit blown out. Overexposed. But I love the color. I also love Laura's smile. If I were to shoot it again, I would use a slower shutter speed to freeze the "waterfall" behind them more. But then I would lose the background blur that I was going for in the first place! Cameras.

The color in this one is not altered. That is the result of water, caves and cute 2-year-olds mixing.

New and Improved

I was getting bored with the look of my blog. It was designed at a time when I didn't want anyone to associate me with my work or my work with me (read my early posts). Well, that is ridiculous. I'm guessing anyone reading this blog knows me... so now I want you to know me even better. So over time I will add links to stuff I like, books I am reading or recommend, sites to visit - I'm going to try to add a profile... if I can figure out the code.

I am finding that I am getting a lot of joy out of photography lately. So for now, I have added links to some photographers I enjoy and drool over their work on a regular basis. Some are pros and some are friends. Come to think about it, most of the pros ARE friends (I have some exceedingly talented friends).

I also linked to the blogs I read whenever they publish (they are on my RSS feed). I hope you enjoy the stuff I hope to add over time.

Under Construction

This blog is currently under construction. Please be patient as I do some formatting changes, add some links and personal information.

I'm bored of the old look.

Perspective

"My friend, you belong to God. Let this reality color your entire life."
--St. Vincent de Paul

Scott is a friend of a friend of mine (Daniel, our Australian physicist for all you Central readers). He was supposed to speak at Central this May, but was unable to come due to his illness. I've been following his story since this summer and it has offered me some perspective on life.

Read: Round 7

wrong organ

So does anyone else find this strange?

30,000,000!

He fervently prayed over our website and nominated us! :O)

________________

Dear Beloved, It is by the grace of God that I received Christ, knowing the truth and the truth have set me free.Having known the truth, I had no choice than to do what is lawful and right in the sight of God for eternal life and in the sight of man for witness of God´s mercy and glory upon my life.I have the pleasure to share my testimony with you,having seen your contact from the Internet. I am Barrister Uche Mordi ,the legal adviser to late Mr.and Mrs. Ben Brown,a British couple that lived in my Country Nigeria for 25 years before they both died in the plane crash late last year.These couples were good Christians, they so dedicated to God but they had no child till they died. Throughout their stay in my country, they acquired a lot of properties like lands, house properties, etc.As their legal adviser, before their death, the husband Mr.Ben Brown instructed me to write his WILL.Because they had no child, they dedicated their wealth to God. According to the WILL, the properties have to be sold and the money be given out toa ministry for the work of God.As their legal adviser,all the documents for the properties were in my care. He gave me the authority to sell the properties and give out the fund to the Ministries for the work of God. In short, I sold all the properties after their death,as instructed by Mr.Ben Brown before his death.And as matter of fact, after I sold all their properties, I realized more than $30,000,000.00 (Thirty million US dollars plus), and what supposed to be the percentage interest of my right legal fee was firstly deducted by me out of the total amount realized from the sold properties, this was base on the initial agreement between me and the owner of the properties before his death. Therefore the total amount left to be invested into God's work as instructed by the owner, is $30,000,000.00 (Thirty million US dollars) only. But Instead of giving the main fund out for the work of God as instructed to me by the owner before his death. I converted the fund to myself with the intention of investing the fund abroad for my personal use. I was afraid of putting thehe Bank, because I haveto give account to the bank on how I got the money. I then packaged the fund in consignments and deposited the consignments with a security company. I did not want the management of the Security Company to know the content of the consignments, therefore I registered the content of the consignments as Gold Bars. Now, the security company believes that what I deposited with them was Gold Bars.I had encounter with Christ when Pastor Benny Hinn was preaching ontelevision concerning Ananias and Saphira in Acts 5:1-11. After hearing the word of God, I gave my life to Christ and became a born again Christian. As a born again Christian, I started reading my bible and one day, the Lord opened my eyes to Ezekiel 33: 18 and 19 where the word of God says: "When the righteous truth from his righteousness, and committee iniquity, he shall even die thereby. But if the wicked turn from his wickedness, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall live thereby". From the scripture, I discovered that the only way I could have peace in my life is to do what is lawful and right by giving out the fund as instructed for the work of God by the owner before his death. I have asked God for forgiveness and I know that God have forgiven me.But I have to do what is lawful and right in the sight of God by givingout the fund to the chosen ministry for the purpose of God's wok as instructed by the owner before his death. After my fasting and prayers, I asked God to make his choice and direct me to a honest Christian or the chosen ministry that deserves this fund by his Grace. I then came across your address on the Internet as I was browsing through a Christian site, and as a matter of fact, it is not only you or your ministry that I picked on the Christian site initially, but after my fervent prayer over it, then you were nominated to me through divine revelation from God, so these are how I received such a divine revelation from the Lord, how I got your contact information, and I then decided to contact you for the fund to be used wisely for things that will glorify the name of God.I have notified the Security Company where I deposited the consignmentsthat contained the fund, that I am moving the consignment abroad and thesecurity company has since been waiting for my authority for the consignment to leave my country and move to abroad. So if you know that you will use this fund honestly and wisely for things that will glorify God's name,then do contact me back first. for more details.You should also forward to me your physical contact address were you will like the consignments delivered to you,your direct telephone and fax number for easy communication and to fax you the documents concerning the consignments. Please kindly reply to my alternative email address below: uche_mordi@yahoo.co.uk Your prompt response will be highly appreciated. Yours in Christ. Barrister Uche Mordi