True Gospel

Are we shying away from the message of the one true gospel…
“Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of UNDESERVED privilege where we now stand….” (Rom. 5: 1-2).
We look and see that the privilege to dwell with God wasn’t possible because of sin, it was an undeserved privilege. Only because of Christ and his obedience to the father can we come and stand, but what does that show me on what I need to give up?  Today the false promise that you can find eternal life but still continue to live in rebellion against God, claim Jesus as Savior and wait till later to commit to him and obey him as your Lord, a belief that your behavior has no correlation with spiritual status, or the option of obedience…..This is not the Gospel of Jesus.
“But he was pierced for OUR rebellion, crushed for OUR sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed.” …’He was oppressed and treated harshly, yet he never said a word. He was led like a lamb to the slaughter. And as a sheep is silent before the shearers, he did not open his mouth. NO ONE cared that his life was cut short in mid stream. But he was struck down for the REBELLION OF PEOPLE.” (Isaiah 53) This chapter in Isaiah is huge! Christ gave up his life for people who never would or never cared to. In Christ’s obedience he gave us the example….the example to follow just as Christ was obedient until death. So what does this say about the false claim to live in rebellion against God. You can read through John and see Jesus’ life. We say that we are Christians, but that saying that “I am a Christian” is sloshed around and the meaning of a true follower of Christ is being blurred by the false claims of the world that we ourselves our creating or we are sitting back and letting them become what people believe.
“The belief that someone could be a true Christian while that person’s whole lifestyle, value and speech, and attitude are marked by stubborn refusal to surrender to Christ as Lord is a notion that shouldn’t even need to be refuted.”—John MacArthur.
Jesus’ teaching and ministry always kept the issue of his Lordship at the center! You can not separate Jesus as your savior with out seeing him as your Lord. It is a two for one….Lord + Savior= Christ! He demands unconditional surrender. So the true message of Jesus CANNOT be divorced from the reality of his Lordship over your life. As Christians we are not sidekicks or admires who he can entertain…he called us to be followers.
As followers our foundation is build on Christ. “Anyone who listens to my teaching and FOLLOWS it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock.” (Matt 7:24). Jesus calls out to everyone to follow him, but for a majority, we aren’t willing to count the cost and see that through his submission to God in his death that is the call for us to die to ourselves and submit to God. We need to understand that Christ died, because he wanted to please God and the shedding of blood was the only way to punish our sins. Everything that Jesus ever did in his life was pleasing to the father. Christ’s motive wasn’t just to please the father, but his death was because of LOVE!...”And I give myself as a holy sacrifice for them so they can be made holy by your truth.” (John 17:19). Christ gave himself up so that we could be made holy and righteous before God, because if we look and began to question our purpose, I think you will come to find that it is to know and bring Glory to the one true God! “You are worthy, O Lord our God, to receive Glory and honor and power. For you created all things, and they exist because you created what you pleased.”
If you know the one true God and the true Gospel that he sent forth through Jesus. Your life would change radically. You would no longer want to live in rebellion against God….”So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives.You won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the spirit wants. The spirit gives us the desires that are the opposites of what the sinful nature desires…..” (Gal. 5:16-17)
Who are you living for and how are you living? Are you living in light of the false claims that says your actions and your attitude has no relationship with your spiritual life or are you trying to separate Christ as Savior and ignore his Lordship over your life?

The Joy of the Family

The album title pretty much describes it all....she surely is the joy of the family...everything revlves around here right, and why should it not? In about two weeks the cute monster will be a year old! The year sure has gone fast! For those of you, NO I do not have a child, but I do enjoy her like she was my very own...Look at her how could you not....She is adorable. This past year I have taken so many photos of this child I have so many i don't even know what to do with them. She is the reason why i take a camera home everytime I go home!

Better Late than Never

I thought I should share a little about my Christmas Break, yes I do know that we are coming upon the end of January and this post is late, but better late than never. Christmas break was extremely relaxing, but going home always is. I was able to hang out with a few old friends, which is always great when you can get your old crew together. It is amazing to think about how even through the years of having to move on or things in your life change....having a baby, getting married, working non stop....even though all of this you can still go back to your roots and it seems like your friendship never changes. You can look back on your past and what seems like forever ago, a little part of you wishes you could go back, but these you can laugh because those experiences of stupidity and spontaneity have shaped who you are. I am so grateful for them, for those same girls who have been there and continue to be there.
Being with Family is always great. There is absolutely nothing normal about my family. Christmas Eve was spent a the grandparents house. Entertainment came from my brother, Christopher, who did wheelies in a wheel chair and told his ever exciting trips to Wal-mart and the salvation army acting like a cripple. As you may be able to figure out....we don't need much to be entertained!
I spent a week in Nashville attending the New Years Conference. You can not go to a conference like this not go away changed. I have learned in the past that in order for God to release and give more of his knowledge, it is you that has to be willing to seek. I went to a seminar about prayer and intimacy with Christ. One of the things Kenny shared with us was the higher you are trying to grow and get that higher level the deeper the foundation has to be. In order for me to grow in Christ there has to be a foundation....a foundation for getting in the word, for prayer, for fellowship. I saw that all these different things that were once projected to me as things on a wheel. If there were areas that i wasn't getting enough of or spending as much time doing, my wheel would not spine properly or even be able to pick up speed. For a year i had been driving on a newly pathed  road, but each day air was beginning to escape from the tire. As the days went on of choosing not to get in the word or going before the Lord....my perspective on my life and the perspective of others began to change..I became the victim, I began to wallow in sin and being able to find joy in my life here in Jonesboro was nonexistent. My life became something I walked through day end and day out, i was driven by my circumstances...there would be good days, but they never steamed from Christ.
The intimacy with Christ had stopped, my obedience in some aspects had stopped. I no longer respected authority, I became my own Lord and the opinions and directions of others went in one ear and out the other.....It is amazing how easy it is to put on a mask and act like everything is okay, because I'll tell you that I am really good at hiding. It is still hard to believe that even through all of this, God still wants me! He calls me to be intimate with him..... Which takes me praying through Psalm 63, that I would EARNESTLY be seeking God, my soul would be thirsting for him gazing upon his power and majesty and experiencing his love in its full capacity---> Viewing his Love better than Life.
Building a Foundation that is build around Christ....brings me to my Faith! During NYC and even now a verse that is really hitting home is Luke 9:23-24. Faith will and always cost you something. So right now,I am asking God to show me what my life is costing me and recognizing his authority over my flesh. 

"If any of you want to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross daily, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give your life up for my sake, you will save it."

As we deny ourselves we recognize the authority that Christ has over our lives. Christ is far above any ruler, all things have been placed under his authority (Eph. 1:21-23). As I submit to Christ's authority HE makes me full and complete......This is just some of things God revealed to me over the Conference....I can't say that it is a summary or even half. Below are some Photos from the Conference.



ASU GroupPhoto

Tedashii Concert

Benefits

You could almost see me with a camera ever where I go. Multiple times in my life as a photographer, i have gotten to the point of not even wanting to pick up a camera...it is almost like a dry period. I love memories! Tonight I realized that even through the massive amounts of photos that I have taken...you can find joy! The joy...of friendships that bought you laughter and tears. The Memory of a time in your life when you thought your world was crashing in on you, but then you realize and see the Goodness of everything up to the point of today. My photos do that for me!

They remind me of how much I have grown up not only in photography, but also in life! People will come and go in your life, but you don't really realize how much of a blessing they were until after they are gone! I always saw my photos as something that didn't matter to people, but they matter to me. They are my timeline! They map out my story, and the different things I have done and been able to experience. They bring me back to a time before I even knew Christ, indulging in my sin and living a life devoted to myself, but also they bring blessings and a thankful heart.

They bring me back to the faces that shared the gospel, they take me to NYC 2006, where i surrendered my life to Christ, they take me back to the multiple times I have turned away from God with idolizing relationships and choosing a boy, alcohol, and just a constant battle against my flesh. They remind me of the love of Christ, and just how God has blessed me with friendships that will bring me back and push me to know Him even when I didn't want to be obedient and they show me the power of Christ, through their lives of being made a new creation or living a life that is following fully after Christ.

We are never content with our lives and always wishing for something different, to be somewhere different. Antisipating and thinking/planning on how our lives will be in the next 5 to 10 years. I look back at the massive amounts of photos I do have and even catch myself wanting to go back, ponding on memories of decisions made or actions taken, wanting to take them back or just wanting to experince them again because they brought joy and laughter and it seems like everything was simple, easier.

"You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed."-Psalm 139:16



Everything that has, is and ever will happen in my life, has happpened because God allowed it to happen. Just as I made a choice to surrender my life to Christ, with that choice I choose to accept everything God had instore for me.

The Lavendars

I was asked to take some photos of Laura and Aaron for a christmas card that Laura is wanting to create. They have been married since May and their family consist of 2 dogs... Denver and Red, and Boy, you are talking about two hands full. Laura is an amazing woman and Aaron is a pretty special person and knows exactly how to make ya laugh. All he has to do is bust of move. Here are a few shots out at their home with the "kiddos"

Count the Cost

I have been reading so much about missionaries. I can't explain why? I enjoy reading the testimonies of men
who have been transformed and the radical change in their lives because of God and the power of the Gospel. I today I read about William Tyndale (1494-1536) and his soul passion and desire for the Bible to be translated from Hebrew and Greek to English so that every person in England could read it.
King Henry VII wanted Tyndale to come back to England. Thomas Cromwell (the kings advisor) informed William the king had wanted him to return home after hiding on the continent, but William would only return if the King would authorize an English Bible from Greek and Hebrew for the common language of the people. Henry VII refused and William would never return to his homeland.
If the King and the Roman Catholic church would not provide and English bible, Tyndale would and it would eventually cost him his life. In 1526 Tyndale finished the English translation of the Greek new Testament in Germany and he began to SMUGGLE it into England in bales of cloth. For us today it isn't hard to come across a bible in English: Christian Bookstores, Walmart, and even in the night stand of a hotel. I remember as a little girl getting my first bible. My name was engraved on the front cover and it was a precious moments bible, if you don't know what I am talking about Google it. I can remember looking through
the bible and looking at the pictures that illustrated the different bible stories, the pictures were the only thing to really catch my eyes. Do we ever realize and understand the sacrifice that have been made for the gospel to be spread through out the nation? I didn't, I can reflect back on the last
3-4 years of hearing stories of missionaries going to countries and having to share the gospel in secret and even taking a moment in prayer and thanking God that I could come before him in prayer and read his word in public and not have to worry about having to hide my faith or be persecuted. But I never realized the depth of it. William Tyndale gave his whole life to see the bible translatedin to English, and he did it himself.

After Tyndale's translation, there was a spiritual explosion in England and it became known as the Reformation of Faith.The controversy during this time was with the Greek New Testament of Erasmus(the Roman Catholic humanist scholar) which had been printed in 1516.Erasmus was 28 years older than Tyndale, but they both died the same year in 1536. Erasmus was a respected member of the Roman
Catholic Church and Tyndale, martyred by the Catholic church. But why? Both men believe that the bible should be translated into every language. Both were concerned with the corruption and abuses in the Catholic Church and both wrote about Christ and the Christian Life, but the difference was the paradox between dieing to self---human exaltation and self sufficiency. Erasumus and Luther had clashed in the 1520's over the freedom of will. Tyndale was firmly with Luther..

"our will is locked and knit faster
under the will of the devil, than 100,000 chains binding a man to a post"

Human nature is wrapped around evil, we think evil, and our whole being is a controversy to the will of God and because of that we are under eternal damnation by the law (ten commandments). It is
not possible for a natural man to consent to the law. This view of human sinfulness set the bar for people to grasp the glory of God's sovereign grace in the gospel. Erasmus did not see the depth of human condition, there fore did not see the glory and explosion power of the gospel, which is the work of God in the death and resurrection of Christ to save helpless enslaved hell-bound sinners. Erasmus neglected
the gracious blood-bought salvation.

What drove Tyndale to sing "one note" all his life and continue was the conviction that all humans were in bondage to sin, blind, dead, damned, and helpless, and that God had acted in Christ to provide Salvation by grace through faith---which had been missing in the Latin scriptures and the church system. This was why the Bible had to be translated and ultimately this is why Tyndale was martyred. But the question still remains why
was there so much hatred for the bible to be translated into English?

1) A surface reason of why the bible should not be translated was that the English language is rude and unworthy of the exalted language of God's word
 2) There would be errors
 3) Men would become their own interpreter and many will go astray into heresy and be condemned and it was church tradition that only priests were given
  divine grace to understand the scriptures
 4) The church realized that they would not be able to sustain certain doctrines biblically because the people would see that they are not in the bible.
 5) Church realized that their power and control over the people and even over the state would be lost, especially the priesthood and purgatory and penance.

Tyndales translation basically came down to 5 words. 

•  Presbuteros-- instead of translating it as priest-- it translated to elder
•  Ekklesia--instead of church--it translated to congregation
•  Metanoeo--instead of do penance--it translated as repent
•  Exomologeo--instead of confess--it translated as admit or acknowledge
•  Agape--instead of Charity--it translated to love

The ecclesiastical pillars of priesthood and penance and confession, the pervasive power and control of the church collapsed. England would not be a Catholic nation.
What did it cost William Tyndale? He fled his homeland in 1524 and was burned at the stake in 1536. Twelve years as a fugitive and there is only a small picture of his life
during his 12 years.
 "my pains, my poverty...my exile out of my natural country, and bitter of the absence of my friends..my hunger, my thirst..my cold..."

His last words were..."Lord open the King of England's Eyes!"....He was 42 years old, never married, and never buried. 

The short little insight on his life, blew my mind. I really don't grasp how much and how far the gospel has made its way and even the power it holds. I am so small and probably not even worth God's time, but yet He still choose me, he chooses me everyday when I wake up. The question is how am I, how are we going to live and count our life as nothing just as Paul says in Phil 3:8. The gospel is a beautiful thing.... that a man can lay his life down for my sake, for me to experience freedom and escape the pits of hell. Tyndale gave up his life so that in 2010 I could know God through his word!

-SideLine View-

One of the things that I enjoy the most is to be able to stand/sit on the sideline of football or basketball game. If there is anything that I could probably do for the rest of my life is sports photography. Monday and Tuesday night I shot for the University's marketing/sport information department. Sports Information is basically the hub of everything that deals with ASU athletics: Press Releases, Athletic Web page, media guides and etc. I love having the opportunity to work along side sports info to be able to continue and grow as a sports photographer in hopes that maybe one day that dream may come a reality! Here are a few Photos from Monday and Tuesday....The ASU Men played Henderson (winning) and the Women played University of Arkansas-Monticello also Winning.