LOMO at Rojo, pt. 2

Allison, my sister-in-law at rojo.

LOMO at Rojo, pt. 1

In case I haven't expressed it clearly enough ... I love my LOMO. Here are a few pics I took of Amy at Rojo.

CA Beach Bicycles

While we were in California in May my mom planned a trip for us all to go to Newport Beach. These are some shots we took with the LOMO one afternoon while riding bikes at the beach. (Unedited ... Richard Photo Lab does a great job on the scans!)

Sunny Day Real Estate.

For all you music fans, it is official that Sunny Day Real Estate is doing a reunion tour this fall. I could not be more excited. I just told my wife, SDRE would definitely been in my top 3 bands to see live were they still in existence ... they have just taken their place in my top 3. Hope to make it Atlanta in the Fall. Check it out here http://sunnydayrealestate.fm/ .

If you aren't a fan, buy the album The Rising Tide today! It is a must have.

CA Random

Some random shots from CA when we were there in May.

Three Years!

Last week Amy and I celebrated three years of marriage! I am so thankful for the relationship that we have ... truly a blessing. How did we celebrate you ask? Taking pictures of course! The camera of choice this time around was my Mercury II film camera, circa 1945. I was given this camera last Christmas as a gift from my sister-in-law Allison. Check out the shots ... we got some cool multiple exposure shots. I am pretty excited to shoot this camera more.

Amy's Birthday Shoot-off

Last weekend we celebrated my wife Amy's birthday.  We made a day of it on Saturday, taking the afternoon to ride the Vespa around town with each of us take a one camera.  Amy took the LOMO and I took the Holga with a 35 mm adapter (We ended up sharing cameras, so to tell the difference: the sharp well-exposed shots are LOMO, the others are Holga).  We each had one roll of black and white film, and in typical Amy style, she decided it was a competition (of course we know who would win on their birthday!).  Here are some of the pics that we took.  Hope you enjoy.  (The photographs are unedited).  

The Winning shot.  (this is dedicated to Curtis K.).

Stott on Substitution

This week I was doing some work for my pastor and stumbled across this gem:

"The concept of substitution may be said, then, to lie at the heart of both sin and salvation. For the essence of sin is man substituting himself for God, while the essence of salvation is God substituting himself for man. Man asserts himself against God and puts himself where only God deserves to be; God sacrifices himself for man and puts himself where only man deserves to be. Man claims prerogatives which belong to God alone; God accepts penalties which belong to man alone."

John Stott, The Cross of Christ (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1986), 160.

I hope that you are enjoying this lenten season.  

More from India

I realized that I never finished posting photos and stories from my trip to India in November, so I have decided that in the next week or so I will finish posts about my last leg of the trip in Uttranchal, India.  I have found my thoughts the past few days wandering to memories of my trip to India and have recognized a persistent desire to photograph and tell the stories of more people groups around the world.  I am really thankful for the opportunities that I have had to share the stories of the people in India.  The most recent opportunity for sharing is a gallery currently on exhibit at the Samford University library.  If you are in Birmingham you should drop in.  

This photograph is one of my favorites from the trip.  There is not much explanation - simply that I shot this picture from the trunk of a taxi as we were traveling in Uttranchal - but I love the emotion of the boy on the scooter, and the fact that there are three grown men on one bike!  I also love that you really get a feeling of the scene in that community.  As mentioned earlier (for those interested), all of my images in India were shot on 35mm film (here 400 BW).  

A Word on the Value of General Revelation

General revelation does something special . . . it serves a unique purpose in the life of the Christian.  It is particular (special) revelation that draws us into relationship with God.  It is through the particular revelation in the Word of God - the Bible - that we receive the gospel.  Before entering into this relationship, general revelation is inadequate for our needs, especially.  salvifically.  In fact, it is damning, as God is only known vaguely through His creation;  only enough is known to condemn us (Romans 1:18f).  However, upon entering into relationship with God, general revelation leads us to worship.  It is in creation that the glory of God is put on display.  The Christian looks at creation and his heart is warmed and devotion is developed.  General revelation is the window, or portrait, for the Christian to sit in admiration of the great God with whom he has communion with because of the relationship established through particular revelation, the gospel.

One of my favorite tidbits of general revelation is the silhouette of trees on the sky.  This is a shot that I took in Srinagar, Kashmir, India.  Blessings.