Sample 66 - Flare (To Pike's Peak, '11)

Psalm 28

To You I will cry, O Lord my Rock: Do not be silent to me, Lest, if You are silent to me, I become like those who go down to the pit.

Hear the voice of my supplications When I cry to You, When I lift up my hands toward Your holy sanctuary.

Do not take me away with the wicked And with the workers of iniquity, Who speak peace to their neighbors, But evil is in their hearts.

Give them according to their deeds, And according to the wickedness of their endeavors; Give them according to the work of their hands; Render to them what they deserve.

Because they do not regard the works of the Lord , Nor the operation of His hands, He shall destroy them And not build them up.

Blessed be the Lord , Because He has heard the voice of my supplications!

The Lord is my strength and my shield; My heart trusted in Him, and I am helped; Therefore my heart greatly rejoices, And with my song I will praise Him.

The Lord is their strength, And He is the saving refuge of His anointed.

Save Your people, And bless Your inheritance; Shepherd them also, And bear them up forever.

Sample 65 - Loveland Pass

I had my brother take this for scaling purposes. Solely for scaling purposes. No, really. :D

Partial Panorama Crop

Full Panorama (Click to enlarge and enjoy. :))

"By awesome deeds you answer us with righteousness, O God of our salvation, the hope of all the ends of the earth and of the farthest seas; the one who by his strength established the mountains, being girded with might; who stills the roaring of the seas, the roaring of their waves, the tumult of the peoples..." - Psalm 65:5-7

_________________________
jb.redeemed
email me at jibee@rocketmail.com. 

May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift His countenance upon you and give you His Shalom. - Numbers 6:24-26

When In The Red...

It is no secret that recently, times have definitely been trying; we have seen disaster strike - typhoon Pablo left more than a thousand dead. We have seen tragedy disturbing if not shattering what peace was dwelling in Newtown, CT as Adam Lanza killed 26 people, mostly children, before shooting himself. Crisis is coming, closer and closer to home. Personally, I have issues - inner struggles, and responsibilities.

Of course, this isn't the first time I've been in this season of frustration, when everything around me intimidates me. By the grace of God I have learned to take this time to recognize how fragile we are, and how we are desperately in need of God and His unfailing grace and love. I believe that as this point draws closer and closer to home, we are to call upon the name of The Lord with more and more urgency!

As I pondered upon this, and as I saw how my heart and strength fail me, I was led to a passage, a psalm, Psalm 77. In it, David mentions: "in my affliction, I remembered..." No, "This is my anguish; but I will remember the years if the right hand of the most High. I will remember the works of The Lord, surely I will remember Your wonders of old."

I took this as a cue for me to take my mind back to recent times, when I literally saw the Lord's goodness work in my life, particularly through ministry. Alas, for some reason these memories I sought came back to me partially, or lacking in 'impact'! "What in the world do I need?!," I thought.

Then, right then and there, I was led to recall another familiar passage: 1 Thessalonians 5:18 - "In EVERYTHING give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus"!

And again, I remembered to "enter His gates with thanksgiving, dwell in His courts with praise"!

So I took my mind off of myself (as I should have much earlier) and began to thank God. Lord, thank You. For this and that. I began typing it down on my phone, and if I could just see myself again at that very moment I could definitely see how God slowly but surely lifted His countenance upon me!

(This is what I typed)

Seek the Lord and His strength; Seek His face evermore! Remember His marvelous works which He has done, His wonders, and the judgments of His mouth, O seed of Abraham His servant, You children of Jacob, His chosen ones! (Psalms 105:4-6 NKJV)

Thank God for life. Thank God for my relationships. Thank God for my family. Thank God for Paola. Thank God for her family. Thank God for the rain and the sun. Thank God for my father's life and legacy. Thank God for my brothers and their thoughtfulness. Thank God for my nephews and nieces. Thank God for my camera, for my laptop. Thank God for this iPhone. Thank God for all these material blessings, but thank God also for putting me in check and graciously bringing me eyes back on Him! Thank God for life in Christ, and for changing me! Thank God for all the vices I no longer have any obligation to! Thank God for health and recovery and restoration! Thank God, thank God for salvation and love and grace! Thank You, Lord, for there are just so many things to thank You for, and as we do so, indeed, we remember Your goodness!

Wow.. That's what we need to have with every day. How can we hope to conquer if we only focus on our situations? How can we direct our focus from the problem to the Solution?

in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. (I Thessalonians 5:18 NKJV)

Thank God for all the situations I'm in. Thank God for allowing me to go through these situations, and thank God for loving me through it all... Thank You, Lord, for picking me up when I fall, hearing me when I call! Thank You, Lord, for encouraging me and for edifying me by Your Spirit, each and every time! Walang mintis, Lord, Ang galing po Ninyo! Halleluyah!

Thank You, Lord, for my mom and her thoughtfulness as well. Thank You for Manang Irene and her help and loyalty to our household. Thank You for Charlotte and Harlene, and Melvin and Israel; thank You, Lord, for this family. Thank You for this house and the blessings we have inside! Thank You for running water and electricity! Thank You for space to move and to work out! Thank You, Lord, for our dogs. Thank You for Pearl, Jade, Eyebrow, Shaggy, Snowball, and Duchess! Praise You, Lord!

Thanking God is a great way to start recognizing the goodness of The Lord in the past and in the present. Truly, by His grace we live, and by His grace we are definitely blessed. Thank You, Lord, for Your grace.

-----

This is what I want to share, in a nutshell. Actually, I'm going to just repeat that verse:

Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. (Psalms 100:4 NKJV)

God bless and keep you.

Sample 64 - In Pace Requiescat

This was taken just outside the Echo Lake Lodge on the way down from the Summit of Mount Evans. This particular picture (verse and all) was part of a project I had way way back to publish a book. I thought to myself, maybe it's better if I actually started sharing the pictures instead of getting ahead of myself (and ultimately keeping the pictures to myself).

I just came to the realization that the Lord's glory and grace is known in our trials... not only by courage and not with the strength and wisdom we demonstrate, but also in the peace that He gives us. This peace is no ordinary peace, indeed it is a peace that goes beyond all understanding, as it is described in Philippians 4:6-7. 

The grace, the peace that God is so thoughtful and faithful to abound is us - it is far greater than the pressure and distress that a situation, a trial can bring! Though our bodies are trained to 'fight and flight', the peace of the Lord gives us the option to think things through and respond in the best way possible!

I believe this, because I know my heart was pounding and my body was gearing up for conflict when I was recently confronted, but God, in His faithfulness and by the power of His Spirit, led me to say what needed to be said, to do what needed to be done (pray, pray, pray!) for His Name to be glorified. Praise God for these times, and praise God because I know I am blessed, even when I am persecuted and ridiculed for His Name's sake! 

God bless you!

_________________________
jb.redeemed
email me at jibee@rocketmail.com. 

May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift His countenance upon you and give you His Shalom. - Numbers 6:24-26

Sample 63 - The Beauty In Faith

'Just Another Rainbow' - Sure, we can call this another phenomena that naturally happens when rain and the light of the sun are in one place at one time. However, the Bible says that rainbows are also a sign of God's promise that He will never allow the earth to be completely covered in water, ever again.

 It's time to speak up.

Just because God doesn't do what you want Him to do, doesn't mean He doesn't exist.

My father died even if we prayed, and prayed hard for His healing.

My life isn't exactly what the common person would call fun and cool.

I don't have everything I want. I don't get everything I ask for.

But I have peace. I have peace due to the fact that 2,000 years ago, a Man named Jesus Christ, steadfast before the most trying of temptations, compassionate, merciful before the hardest of hearts, Life dwelling among death and decay, sinless before God and man - this Man chose to be subject to betrayal, arrest, ridicule, torture;

He was perfect & sinless before God & man, yet He suffered as a criminal in the eyes of both God &man - the most painful & shattering scourging, topped off with a humiliating, slow death hanging naked, nailed to a cross - all the while forsaken by God the Father, separated from all Hope, and love, and all that is good... All for us. All so we would not suffer the same fate.

All so we would be saved, because we couldn't save ourselves.

In God we trust, because in Christ, we trust.

We may be emotional. We may come out as fanatical. But above all that the world perceives, one thing is definite: we choose to place our trust, our fate, our future to Jesus Christ. We keep believing because He causes everything to happen for the good of those who love Him. We keep believing because through all that has happened, all that is happening, and all that will happen, we know that God never fails, and that He is good, all the time He is good.

In Christ, there is peace, there is hope.

And, again I say... In God we trust, because in Christ, we trust.

Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, For this is man’s all. For God will bring every work into judgment, Including every secret thing, Whether good or evil. (Ecclesiastes 12:13, 14 NKJV)

_________________________
jb.redeemed
email me at jibee@rocketmail.com. 

May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift His countenance upon you and give you His Shalom. - Numbers 6:24-26

Sample 62 - Flow (A Testimony)

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I cannot allow this day to end without sharing how the Lord has been so faithful to me, indeed, even in times when I was absolutely faithless.

A few days ago, I was writing down as usual on my handy-dandy notebook. I wrote two questions. The first question was, "What's your 'win' in your photography?" to which I answered, 'Many people awestruck and inspired by the glory of God seen in pictures/video.'

Recently an acquaintance, a friend I had in Facebook left a comment on what I thought was one of my 'desperation shots' (I.E. The shots I post for the heck of it; caused oftentimes by lack of inspiration or just plain laziness); He said something to the effect that he was inspired (and he really used the word 'inspire') by my photographs. Here I was, not really minding, more concerned about sharing - 'Hope In Sight' had 50 plus 'samples' in - and it was only at this time - on this particular shot - that I received this feedback.

The second question I wrote down was, "What's your 'win' in leading worship?" to which I answered, 'To set and atmosphere of hearts open for the Holy Spirit to minister to.'

A few hours ago, the worship team planned on doing the usual grind when it came to leading the people with song - '2 fast, 2 slow'; 2 Fast Songs and 2 Slow Songs, something I noticed most churches observe nowadays. We sang 'Everyday' and 'By Your Side' (both by Hillsong). I remember being just the slightest bit nervous about leading because I had some minor issues in memorizing the precise lyrics for each song. But that didn't matter as we sang the first slow song - "Jesus, Hope Of The Nations".

What a beautiful song, with such great lyrics! At that moment we were all so into the song - pastors, worship team, congregation - I believe we were all put in place as worshippers before the Lord, singing to the top of our lungs, arms and hands raised in absolute praise... At that point there was no need to continue with the second slow song because I believe the Holy Spirit was there, touching every heart... I got further confirmation from Pastor Poppo, who said that he felt the presence of the Lord, and that it lingered even until the final prayer and dismissal of the people.

I forgot to mention that the same friend who left the timely compliment regarding my photos was there in that same service. You can bet that I was pretty serious when I told him that we should shoot one time.

I mean, it would be easy to look at these two events as just ordinary things, 'another day's work'... But I believe they happened as a direct result of my prayer with Pao at another separate occasion, where I simply asked the Lord that I also wanted what she regularly prays for - For us to see how the Lord works in our lives.

And has He worked!

Last Saturday night one of our core members in the 5pm service - Sister Norma - said she wanted to talk to me. I was quite nervous to hear what she wanted to tell me, only to find out that she wanted to borrow my camera. This was discussed with a fellow photography enthusiast - Brother Nolan - who said he was into it back in the film days, and didn't have the time to shoot anymore. We came into an informal agreement that I would borrow his film camera, and I would lend my DSLR to Norma.

Recently I've been writing on my blog, Hope In Sight, regarding how I needed to bring my writing and my publishing up to speed, considering that the photographs I intend to share are no longer just reasons to brag, rather reflections of my own being, testimonies in their own right. I took the intentions of Sister Norma as signals for me to stop shooting and to focus on what I've already shot.

I was reminded of a shot I took in Otay Lake in Chula Vista, which showcased the white trunks and branches of trees jutting out in the middle of the lake. They were lifeless - no longer trees but mere perches for the local avian wildlife. I discussed this with Sister Norma, continuing by saying that if the blessings I already have are not being moved (or used), they would stagnate and not just be useless on their own but hazardous to everything else in my life. 

A picture of a stream I shot over at the Mt. Evans area over at Colorado came into my mind - A reminder that there is beauty in moving water. There is beauty to behold when blessings move. I remember how Brother Marion told me how it was impressed on him to tell me that I was as a 'wild river' - I'm thinking this is what he means. 

Chromatic Aberration is pretty apparent on the 18-55mm.

Needless to say, I knew exactly why I brought my camera to church that day - to lend it to Sister Norma. I am meeting her again tomorrow with a fellow young enthusiast, Bunjo, to teach them some basics they need to know when it comes to using that wonder of metal and plastic and glass. I remember telling Bunjo about it, saying these exact same words - 'see, a good way for you to know how much you actually know about a certain craft is for you to teach it - and I absolutely sucked in teaching you!'; It's time to step up!

Right now, I'm really into that one part of the chorus in that one song by Hillsong, "Children of the Light":

"The world is Yours, and I know

 everything will find its place

 under Your name!"

I'm writing this right now in an attempt to practice wisdom - as wholehearted as I imagine myself to be it is my intention to encourage whoever reads this to keep their eyes on the Lord, because He really knows how to keep you going in a way so tailor-fit for the edification of your heart and for those around you, for His glory. It is my prayer that we keep pressing on, keeping our eyes on the prize - but not before we testify about these things, about how the Lord puts everything together, how He indeed makes all things work for the good of those who love Him.

Dear Lord, take all the glory and all the praise in my life forever and ever... I love you so very much, Lord Jesus Christ..

_________________________
jb.redeemed
email me at jibee@rocketmail.com. 

May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift His countenance upon you and give you His Shalom. - Numbers 6:24-26

Get On The Bus

These shots were taken from the window seats of the buses I've been riding to and from Manila. You don't have to have all your equipment, you don't have to be anywhere special to be led to take pleasant pictures.

Every second is an opportunity to marvel at the glory of God as seen through His creation. Every moment is an opportunity to give God the praise for His grace and longsuffering as seen in what we do with His creation.

Every second is a gift. Every second we have is an opportunity to share the Gospel.

...and I believe through blogging we have greater opportunities to make every second count. Through this medium we are able to reach a significantly greater number of people in lesser time.

I thank God for His grace which endured through the times I abused the Internet by surfing for pornography and other nasty things. By His grace, and by Jesus Christ's faithfulness to His word, I am just overflowing with a desire to love as I have been loved, to be gracious as He has been gracious.

A wise pastor said more than once that the best way to demonstrate love to another is to lead that person to our own reason and source of love - Jesus Christ. That's the reason why I still pursue blogging, writing, photography...

Praise God, from whom all blessings flow. Have a good day.

On The Road

I haven't had my laptop with me for more than a week now, and though I thought that was going to be a hindrance on my part when it came to blogging, Lo and behold - I forgot all about the capabilities of the beloved 'Colonel' (the name I gave my iPhone - it used to be my Dad's).

So though I haven't been up to speed here in Bloggerland, I've been busy in Instagram, and needless to say, I've a seen its potentials in getting a message through to more people. So sit back and relax, because God willing I will be sharing what shots I've been taking with this handy-dandy phone more here.

There must be a way to link Instagram to Blogger. If not, oh well... Ill be PicFraming my shots, and you can always find me in Instagram as _jibee.

God bless and keep us all.