the church geek

The final 365 photo!! Woo Hoo!! As you can see, a bald forehead can come in useful for something!

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This snowman comes to life through the magic of fiber optics!

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Not sure our niece enjoyed her first sled ride as much as we thought - or hoped - she would!

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And Friday’s photo…

Aunt Lori is either trying to teach her niece about the political process in Iowa or is hoping that her niece will help her select which candidate to caucus for on Jan 3rd.

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I’m a bit behind on posting photos, here is Thursday’s Photo of the Day:

Got this book for Christmas and am about half way through it. The message of this book is dangerous and not something one can take lightly.

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I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas! Even with a lot of travel over the next week to visit family, I’ve somehow managed to find a few minutes of blogging time today to offer up my Weekly Roundup:

1.) I really love this Franciscan Benediction that Tony Jones offers as a Christmas Blessing.

2.) Nick Norelli offers an interesting reflection on the atoning work of Christ, asking the question what would have happened if Jesus had been killed as a baby during Herod’s slaughter of the infants reported in Matthew? Reminds of my seminary professor who constantly stressed that Christ’s atoning work was comprised of much more than just his crucifixion.

3.) John Armstrong offers some reflections on Denzel Washington’s faith.

4.) Project 365 wraps up for me in less than a week. Julie Bogart, who encouraged me to start this whole project in the first place, offers some reflections on the impact the project has had on her life. And Ampersand 365, who had some pretty amazing pictures herself over the year, highlights some of her favorite pictures from other 365ers.

5.) I’ve not had a chance to listen to any of the these yet, but I recently managed to come across an amazing archive of sermons available in MP3 format. Some names: John Buchanan, William Willimon, Tim Keller, Barbara Brown Taylor, Joanna Adams.

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What else is Christmas for but to eat decadent desserts?

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This beautiful star hangs in the living room of my in-laws home right over the Christmas tree.

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For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Is. 9:6

The Nativity from the work of He Qi

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Here’s a picture of my wife getting ready to enjoy some Christmas Gumbo in between our various church services. Merry Christmas to you and yours!

Posting will be kind of sporadic over the next week as we are traveling at various times to spend some time with family.

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Our backyard is full of patterns from the blowing snow.

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Now that I’m eight days from completing Project 365, my effort to take and photograph a picture a day, I’m asking what is next?

First, I’m in the process of compiling a book that provides some highlights of my project. Right now it numbers 20 pages. There is no way I can reasonably put together a book that shows all 365 photos, and I’m sure no one would care to see it! Instead I’m trying to capture the essence of the project, provide some observations and highlights, and show off some of my favorite photos from the year. Right now I think it will be about a 30 page soft-cover book, about 8X10 in size, and will cost about $20 to print. If you want one, let me know.

Second, I’m not giving up photography! But I am giving up committing myself to a photo a day. I hope this means I will be able to concentrate more on quality than on just getting a picture; perhaps taking a larger block of time in a week to work on some sort of photo subject.

Third, in terms of this blog, I’m hoping to concentrate now on more content…a photo a day is a lot of time away from providing quality blog material. I’ll never be prolific like some of the blogs I read, but I can step it up a bit. In terms of photos I think I may add a feature to my blog like “Photo Friday” which is something I’ve seen on other blogs where I will post one of my pictures each Friday.

That’s my thinking for now. Any suggestions? Let me know.

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I’m posting today’s sermon, in lieu of preaching it, since our worship service was canceled. This is the 4th Sunday of Advent and the text is Matthew 1:18-25.

The other day I had someone in my office. We were chatting away about a number of different things when this person asked me a question I had a hard time answering.

They asked me why we call this activity we just did - up front here with the kids - Christmas Presents for Jesus. At first I said I wasn’t totally sure why, but that its name was something inherited from one of my predecessors; maybe Dr. Bob or somebody before that.

I then explained that since the presents people brought weren’t really presents for other people, but instead were given to support the mission and ministry of our church they were presents or gifts that people brought to God. In that sense they could be considered Presents for Jesus.

Later, the more I thought about that conversation, the more I realized that maybe in this season of Christmas it’s a really good question for us to struggle with: What does it mean for us to give a Christmas present to Jesus?

In this season we are so concerned with getting just the right gift for Aunt June, or we are hoping our kids aren’t sorely disappointed when we can’t get everything they asked for, or we ourselves are wondering what that strangely wrapped present underneath the tree is.

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It is surprisingly difficult to get a photo that captures any sense of falling snow in the midst of a storm. Here’s my best attempt from today, with some heavy post processing to make it closer to my image of a snowstorm.

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This is another one of our creches. This one is from Brazil. Lori bought it when she visited there, as part of our Presbytery’s partnership, five years ago.

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