Photography

When on holidays recently i did the normal tourist thing and took a lot of photos. Here's a few of my favourites.


Arctic ice somewhere between Japan and England



The very famous Tower Bridge in London.


Sunset in New York.



Ain't it cute! I saw this little fellow at a picnic spot overlooking a glacier in Canada.



Canada's beautiful Lake Louise

Introducing the Blogs and Writers I love section

Over to the right of the posts is a section for my favorite blogs. I'll be adding more as time goes on but to start off i thought i'd introduce a few.


Tim Challies (challies.com)
Tim Challies blog is worth subscribing to for his daily roundup of the best blogs, websites and news articles of interest. He is also an excellent writer, particularly when it comes to reviewing books.

Anne Jackson (flowerdust.net)
She writes about life and faith in a way that is thought provoking but always interesting and at times funny. She is super passionate about helping the poor so make sure you check out her posts on that.

Shauna Niequist (shaunaniequist.com)
Shuanna's book Cold Tangerines has become one of my favorite books because of her wonderful way of communicating the joy that can be found in everyday life. Check out her site to read some of her work and if at all possible get her book.

Stuff Christians Like (stuffchristianslike.net)
If you have ever had much to do with the craziness that is christian culture you will enjoy this blog. It takes a good natured but very funny jab at some of the amusing things that happen in churches and christian culture. Make sure you read the comments because they are often as good as or better than the posts.

Stacy from Louisville (stacyfromlouisville.blogspot.com)
I've enjoyed Stacy's funny comments on Stuff Christians Like for a while so i'm very happy that she now has a blog of her own. Make sure you check out her recent posts on what she got up to at bible college. It's funny stuff.

The Free Christian Music blog (thefreechristianmusicblog.com)
The name pretty much says it all. The blog is dedicated to where to find Christian music on the internet that is free and completely legal. Recent posts have included P.O.D, Anberlin, Phil Wickham and Jars of clay to name a few.

Enjoy!

The solid rock

It has been an interesting week. Earlier this week i got the news that a christian leader who i highly respect and has had a huge positive impact on my life over many years and the lives of so many people i know had a significant moral failing. Given the nature of what happened and the person involved, many people (myself included) were understandably left feeling confused, hurt, betrayed and even a bit angry. I'm not going to go over the details (lots of blogs are doing it) or try and speculate on why it happened. I do want to share something that this whole unfortunate saga has taught me.

Soon after hearing the news and while still very much in shock i put some music in the hope that it would help me feel better. One of the songs that ended up on my playlist was an old hymn called The Solid Rock. I believe God led me to that song and that it has something to say to all of us, whether we are dealing with the failure of our leaders or not.


My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness;
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly lean on Jesus’ name.

Its great to have role models, especially godly ones. Its totally normal to think highly of someone who has had a positive influence on your life. We should respect our leaders. In this area there can be too much of a good thing though. A healthy respect can easily turn into idolization and an unhealthy dependence. They are only human, they were never meant to carry that weight. No matter how well they preach, worship lead or even how holy they seem they are only human. Because of that they will fail you. It might not be a massive scandal it may just be that you eventually realize that they just were not as awesome as you thought they were. Our hope and faith must be firmly in Jesus. Even when people fail us, he will not. We can confidently put our hope in what he has done for us.


When darkness veils His lovely face,
I rest on His unchanging grace;
In every high and stormy gale,
My anchor holds within the veil.

Even when people fail badly and everything seems to be a huge mess God is not sitting in heaven freaking out and worrying about whether all his plans for humanity have just been messed up by our stupidity. He is bigger, stronger and smarter than any problem, sin or darkness. Storms will come in everyone's lives, even the most dedicated believers are not immune. The good news is he is our anchor. Even when we can't see him at work we can rest in the knowledge of his grace and power. We don't have to get it all worked out for ourselves.


On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand,
All other ground is sinking sand

Today i encourage you to search your heart. Where does your hope and faith ultimately lie? Is it in your pastor, church or a hero of some description? If it is not in Jesus it will fail and that failure hurts bad. In a world of sinking sands Jesus is a sure and steady rock. He is the only one truly worthy of your hope and faith.

Welcome

Welcome to my new blog!

I've been blogging on and off for a while at myspace. I have come to realize that not only is it not a particularly flexible platform to use and didn't exactly look very serious! So that brings me here! I hope to share some of the things i've been learning and point you in the direction of worthwhile sites and resources. Feel free to leave me a comment and please do check back soon.