Sample 144 - Liberty In Uncertainty

Christ has set us free to live a free life. 

So take your stand! Never again let anyone put a harness of slavery on you.

Galatians 5:1

Sample 139 - One Hour Left

Be strong and courageous. For in Christ, we are never alone. God is with us. He will go before, but He is with us. He is everywhere, but He is also with us. No matter where we are, He is with us. He will never leave nor forsake us, and He is always true to His word. 

The first two shots were taken just minutes before beginning the ascent to Baguio City via Marcos Highway. The last shot was taken moments before reaching the bus terminal. They were all edited on-phone using the Mextures app, and in the case of the last picture, the Over app as well. 

God bless you. 

Sample 120 - Light Shines In The Darkness

These are perilous times we live in. But the fact of the matter is that light still remains and shines brighter than ever before, even if the darkness grows darker. The lines are being drawn. The gospel of Jesus Christ is being revealed more than ever. The enemy is becoming more desperate, his tactics becoming more brazen and brutal. Yet nothing can stop the fact that these days, more and more people are being set free by God's amazing and absolutely perfect love.

Praise God, from Whom all blessings flow. Soli Deo Gloria, to God alone be all the glory!

Sample 82 - Five

There will be situations that would be hard to understand... And perhaps, during these times, the reason why we fail to grasp why things happen is because due to some circumstances, we could only see (or bear to see) one side of the story.

If we are in Christ, we should always remember that though we would not be able to see all the angles all the time, our God is still always faithful to make things happen for our good, because He loves us. As we go through every trial step by step, I believe the Lord would make us see how the whole picture unfolds... and we would move forward, conquering in His name, for His glory.

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 77 - Step Up

'Do not be afraid of moving slowly
 be afraid of standing still.'

- Seen on a car sticker


_________________________
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 75 - A Fine Moment

'Scene At The Beach 032813, Shot Two

Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name. (Hebrews 13:15 NKJV)

I remember a good friend of mine teaching us a wonderful song; its lyrics were so simple but they seemed to be the right words to sing:

In Your presence
That's where I belong
In Your presence
Oh Lord, My God
In Your presence
That's where I am strong
Breathing Your grace (?), seeking Your face
In the cleft of the Rock
In Your presence, oh God...

Wherever we are in life, whether we be in joyous times or in the twilight of our souls, we would do well to dwell in the presence of God. Jesus Christ died and rose again that we would be reconciled and reunited with our Creator.

Where else can we feel any safer and secure, than in the presence of God? The writer of Psalm 139 says that even if we make our bed in the depths of hell, He is there with us. Wherever we are, as long as we are in Christ, we can be sure of the power, love, and sound judgment that He gives through His spirit.

It is for this reason that we can say that He is good, and He is good all the time. It is for this reason that we are able to give Him praise and thanks in all things.

Though we descend into darkness, His light shines...

God bless you.

Sample 74 - Playing By The Shore

'Scene At The Beach 032813, Shot One

I miss my camera. But at the same time, I thank God for the inspiration and motivation to just keep on shooting, even with whatever's on hand.

I was with our men's fellowship group at the beach yesterday. We cooked and ate and had fellowship. We worshipped and broke bread and shared the Word of God.

I praise God for trials. They really put us in our place - surrendered and depending solely on Jesus. The trials I've had as of late were pinning me down in a sense but it also brought me to desire a word, a revelation from the Lord.

Ask, and you shall receive, indeed. I'm posting again, starting off with this shot and this verse. It is true that our God is forever faithful, even when we are unfaithful. The fact that He addresses our problems one by one in such precision adds to my faith in His being an almighty God who really cares for and loves me.

I pray that you see the love of Jesus in your own life. God bless you.

Sample 72 - Light's Last Moments

Before the day slips away
I want to stop and say
I love You, 
I love You;

Before the world rushes in again
I want to stop and say there's none above You
There's none above You
 
I'll just be still and know You are God
 
Be still and know You are God

- 'Before The Day', by Newsong


_______________________
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 69 - Self-Portrait

Mansion House Lake, October 2010

A House Divided Cannot Stand

Then one was brought to Him who was demon-possessed, blind and mute; and He healed him, so that the blind and mute man both spoke and saw. And all the multitudes were amazed and said, “Could this be the Son of David?”

Now when the Pharisees heard it they said, “This fellow does not cast out demons except by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons.”

But Jesus knew their thoughts, and said to them: “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand. If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand? And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they shall be your judges. But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you. Or how can one enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? And then he will plunder his house. He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad."

- Matthew 12:22-30

 

I haven't felt so attached to a picture for the longest time.

Conflict exists in all levels; from the deepest personal thoughts to the highest forms of human government. If not addressed, all conflict leads to desolation, as Christ mentioned.

Introspection may prove counterproductive in the sense that we would see so much conflict in ourselves... But for those of us who believe, we have the option to choose to take what filth we see beneath the surface as a stern reminder of our humanity, and the futility of our flesh. That what we do of our own strength and power is done in vain, and it is God's strength that is made perfect in our weakness.

My brothers and sisters in Christ, we would do well to continually call out on the name of the Lord, for His strength to be made perfect in our own personal lives, through all the highs and lows, through times of silence and of great anguish. We are able, by the power of the Holy Spirit, to behold the Lord's strength to be made perfect in our own lives - and, eventually, as we continue to declare God's will to be done here on earth as it is in heaven, we will see the Lord's goodness manifest in our own houses, our communities, our cities, our countries, our world!

Truly, everything will be put in its rightful place, everything will be in order, when we give EVERYTHING to Jesus Christ.

Father, let Your Kingdom come, and let Your will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven.

To You be all the glory, and praise, and worship, forever and ever. In Jesus Christ's Name, amen.

_________________________
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 56 - To The Last Breath (Benguet '12) (1)

Notice that the branches at the very top of this dying tree are still alive.

"And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death."- Revelation 12:11

"Therefore, strengthen the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated, but rather be healed." - Hebrews 12:12-13

We have placed all our hope in the One who saves us - Jesus Christ. The tides may turn against us, but we stand strong on the fact that our God is King over the calm and the storm, God over the mountains and the valleys.

_________________________
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

Checkpoint 4.75

Fontana Resort, Clark Field, Pampanga. A beautiful place with trees which exude power and wisdom. They may not have fruit (not in my observation, at least) but they do wonderful in providing shade from the lowland sun. 

As we are moving towards expressing the promises of God through the photography shown on this page, one major revision in my workflow is to prepare a message before selecting which picture is to be used in the next sample.

Samples? Why do we call them Samples? I suppose we are showing part and not the whole glory of God; one thing that is impossible to capture is the whole glory of the Lord in one exposure. Absolutely impossible.

I chose to do a checkpoint now to make that clear. I recently posted an excerpt of a Christian comedian, Michael Jr., on my original blog. That was from a podcast where he co-shared a message with Pastor Miles of the Rock Church, concerning our gifts.

Right now I couldn't help but think about what the Lord told me some years ago concerning writing and photography. I am led to believe that these are two gifts from the Lord, and that I have unfortunately toyed around with them for my own gain for the longest time. Anyway, what I remember was 'write about salvation, and shoot about God's promises.' There was another point when I was pondering about how my walk with Christ and the blessing of photography were linked - I started off pretty good, writing a good foundation while on my way to Colorado, but it stopped there. There was one point that the word of knowledge for me was to 'finish what was started.'

Michael Jr. is a Christian with the gift of comedy. He related how his ministry of comedy was made exponential (at least in my view) when his mindset was changed - When he made the choice to give people a reason to laugh, as opposed to taking energy from the laughter. I couldn't remember his exact words, but he was blessed as he made the choice to prioritize giving instead of taking.

In the light of my last post, I have seen how I have strayed from using what is given to me in the light of the Source - that I have prioritized taking attention instead of actually blessing people with scenes to remind them of the love of God, and the hope we have in Christ alone.

It is my prayer that this site and the pictures posted here would continue to give God the glory, as more and more people are drawn to Him through His promises displayed through His awesome creations.

God, be praised in and around all. In Jesus Christ's Name I pray, Amen.

_________________________
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 47.5 - Half Baked (La Trinidad, '12)

"Michael, I did nothing."
- Peter Gibbons to Michael Bolton in the beautiful movie, Office Space

I call this Sample 'Half Baked' because, unfortunately, I'm really just posting to fill this day's slot.

God forgive me for not really working and walking with Him today. I must admit that I was pretty selfish today - though He keeps proving His absolute faithfulness through the lives we still have on this world, I feel as if I was just seeking comfort and entertainment for myself this Monday.

It's sad to think that I could have learned and accomplished so much. But I pray that we just keep on going anyhow.

Here's to better posts moving forward. To God be all the praise forever and ever.

Sample 45 - Solid. (Bauang, La Union '12)

"In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory."

Ephesians 1:13-14

In Jesus Christ I have peace, indeed it is peace that goes beyond all understanding. Whenever things happen, whether they are blessing or trial to me, I am constantly ministered to by the Holy Spirit, constantly reminded of that powerful promised that all things work for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28).

When I joined the men's group in our church in an overnight outing over at Bauang, we camped out at a beach full of bamboo shacks. There was also this one bamboo shack that was situated around 50 meters off the shore and on the water. Apparently there are people who prefer drinking and/or sleeping on a bamboo house seemingly afloat on the sea.

I say 'seemingly afloat' because I learned from a friend of mine who was there before that this shack has legs that go all the way to the ground underneath. That house isn't just anchored, but grounded.

Grounded. We have a ministry that calls itself 'grounded'. I suppose each and every one of us who makes the choice to walk with Jesus Christ is reminded, by the power of the Holy Spirit, to stay focused on the prize, to forget what lies behind. This means that we should always, always remember that it is not about what we think or do, not about what we have, but it is all about the Lord whom we serve, and even in serving we are empowered only by the Holy Spirit. we are to recognize how hopeless we are on our own, and how all our hope is really on God through Jesus Christ and by the power of the Holy Spirit. This is what I believe is being 'grounded' in a Christian sense.

What we are blessed to have in this world may be anchors, but it is our relationship with God - made possible by Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit - it is our relationship with God that really keeps us afloat and upright no matter how the wind and waves blow against us.

"Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers: that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come.

And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all."

Ephesians 1:15-23

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 43 - Nangalisan Rice Fields (Benguet '12)

I had other photos in mind to post but my nose had other ideas. I don't know how this cold happened, but my preference to let my sweat naturally dry off after working out probably had something to do with it.

So here I present a picture I took with my iPhone (which I call the Colonel) when we had the opportunity to be part of a group from our church called to bless a resort quite a ways from the city and the main highway. That meant a long drive and an equally long walk.

Now that I remember the events related to this shot I also remember that was also feeling under the weather back then. My joining the 'expedition' to the resort and my posting this right now (despite current and improving circumstances) - I suppose they are testimonies to the message, 'the show must go on'...

Thank God for the strength He gives us in times we absolutely need to go on - in walking great distances, in posting blogs and photos consistently, in staying on the path regardless of what hindrances come. Truly, His glory is needed even more when the enemy tries to take the upper hand. It is my sincere prayer that God would be glorified, and the love and salvation of Christ would be made known before, during, and after every situation.

God bless you!

Sample 40 - Transition (Baguio '12)

Nikon D80, 18-200mm @ 55mm, f/8, 25 second shutter (-0.3EV, Center-weighted metering), ISO 125

Nikon D80, 18-200mm @ 36mm, f/8, 1/800 second shutter (-0.3EV, Center-weighted metering), ISO 100

Transition - From the lights of the night to the light of day. As the night fades and as dawn looms, the glow of many lights gives way to the slow yet pronounced ushering in of the brightness of the sun.

This is the second time I shot the sunrise with some good friends in photography up in Kabuyao, an area you would pass as you climb Mt. Sto. Tomas. You'd have to wake up really early to make sure you're up there, all set up and ready before sunrise. As I go through these shots I'm reminded of some very important lessons.

You need to be prepared - well rested, fully charged, with all equipment accounted for. Also, sometimes you need to do some travelling to get to some good spots to shoot.

I have to be honest; The reason why I posted these shots is because I took some shots from my iPhone during the same shoot, and I posted that shot on Facebook first. Here it is:

iPhone, Auto-all Settings (Like I had a choice), Instagram filter (Forgot which one)

Now I figure, posting this shot on Facebook was an accidental challenge I gave myself - is it possible for the pictures I took with the D80 to look at least a bit better than what I took from my iPhone?

I'll leave you to decide on which pictures look better. Of course, constructive feedback is always welcome.

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 37 - BreakPoint (San Juan, 030612)

This is a reduced and cropped composite of around 11 shots, taken with an 18-200mm lens on my trusty Nikon D80, @ 18mm, f/11, 6 seconds per shot.   

See that rock in the middle? Pao and I were there at least one time before. We almost broke up there when we made one mistake too many. 

Involving God in our relationship initially meant that we needed to hold each other up to a standard 'to keep Him in the center.' The problem with that was that we were, in our church's terms these recent months, 'keeping ourselves under the law'; i.e. we were too caught up in guarding ourselves in our own efforts that it was inevitable that we would make a mistake and our relationship would consequently take a turn for the worse. It was all about our own performance, and that simply would not do, for us as individuals or as a couple. 

The moment the love we have does not come from the cross, the moment we love without realizing that Christ loved us first, all sorts of crazy things happen.

One famous verse we see often shared in Christian circles is Proverbs 3:5-6; "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not unto your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight." This verse certainly applies in relationships as well. In our case, we make it a point to keep recognizing Jesus Christ as the reason and purpose of our relationship; we acknowledge that it is only by the grace of God that we are strengthened by the Holy Spirit to keep on going, together.

I simply cannot share this photo without that message. 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 22 - Faux Frost (Carmen 101110)

Add caption

Close-Up Grass

I'm downloading some tutorials on how to use Lightroom right now. While waiting I decided to go ahead and try playing with one of the many RAW files I have backed up here. No HDRs here, people. I ignored the Photomatix icon and opened the NEF file with Adobe Camera Raw (ACR), something like a branch of Photoshop. 

Here's the original file:

This is one of the many pictures I took from the window seat of a bus during my many trips back and forth between Manila and Baguio from 2009 - 2010. In this particular shot I liked how the tops of the tall grass together in the distance looked like a white blanket. I'm not so sure what sort of metering I used here but as you can see the sky was 'murdered' with highlights. I don't think you can recover any detail by playing with levels, brightness and contrast, and curves on this JPEG equivalent. 

It was a totally different experience with ACR. I simply opened the NEF file and brought the exposure down 2 stops. I was wrong to think that the 'blinkies' (highlights) were impossible to fix - the clouds popped out as I dragged the Exposure pointed to the left.

Well, that was something to remember - but I wanted to emphasize the 'white blanket' so I eventually cropped out most of the sky, as you can see in the finished picture. I thought the grass zoomed in looked a little painterly so I thought I'd post that too. 

I hope to watch that Lightroom tutorial soon to see what else I've been missing. 

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 19 - A Drop Of Golden Sun (Anilao '09)

Please accept my sincerest apologies for posting reruns and for not posting recently - I've been lazy, perhaps intimidated to keep uploading for some reason. 

God blesses us for us to bless others. Indeed, we love only because He loved us first. We are gracious because He has showed us grace first. The blessings we have, they are of no use if we keep it all to ourselves - it simply cannot be kept hidden! That being said, I must continue to clear my repository, sharing what I have seen to the world, for His glory! 

I want the pictures that I take to go far above the shallow and worldly intention of merely showing where I've been. I want to glorify God with every click of the camera.

May I always remember this whenever I shoot, and whenever I share. To God be all the glory and praise, forever and ever!

_________________________

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 17 - [reposted] The Emerald Plains of Oz

San Juan, May '09

 Originally posted in my first blog.

_________________________
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 16 - One Morning In Amparo... (031308)

These were taken one morning as I was on my way home using the Bakakeng Norte route. The smoke and the rays of light fascinated me for some reason... Now that I think about it I suppose what I like about it is that with smoke, we can see in detail how light pierces through where it can..

Do bear with me as I am going beyond describing why I appreciate the pictures I take and choose to post, beyond saying 'I thought it looked good.'

Shalom.


_________________________
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