Behind the Lens

Photography is something I got into later in life.

It certainly seemed born out of necessity rather than desire.

One day, I found myself serving on a committee.

Before I knew it, I found myself acting as its historian.

I thought it might be a good idea to supplement the documentation with photographs.

I knew nothing about cameras and even less about photography.

Ten years and literally thousands of photographs later, photography has become an integral part of both my life and my ministry.

It has also taught me some truly valuable lessons along the way.

Perhaps the biggest lesson it has taught me is patience.

I learned that if I patiently waited for the moment to unfold I would have a much better photo.

It has also taught me that candid shots are preferable to posed ones.

My favorite photos are of people actively serving the Lord with smiles on their faces.

It has also taught me about the importance of timing.

This is especially true of God’s timing.

Earlier this month I captured a breathtaking sunset.

A minute sooner and my view would not have been as beautiful.

A minute later and the opportunity God offered would have been gone altogether.

It has also taught me to be grateful for the smallest of miracles.

The other day I was walking past a beautiful bush with tiny orange blossoms when a tiny flash of movement caught my eye.

A closer examination revealed that a butterfly with black and yellow wings was taking advantage of the blossoms.

I must have taken two dozen photographs of this tiny miracle.

It showed no fear of me.

Although it flew from blossom to blossom, it never flew away.

When I examined the photographs later, I felt that God had given me a very special gift that day.

I was reminded of the time when Moses desired to see God more than anything else.

God had a warning for Moses.

Exodus 33:20 (NET) - But He added, “You cannot see My face, for no one can see Me and live.”

We may not currently be able to see God face to face.

Yet God does grant us precious glimpses of Himself from time to time.

So often, we just need to slow down pay more attention.

Photography has taught me that as well.

Blessings,

Jim Pokorny

The Other Brother Jim

Look for me at http://faithfulfeetteam.blogspot.com/ on Friday, November 4, 2016.

I will be back here on Friday, November 11, 2016

Diamonds in the Rough

Diamonds are formed by a combination of intense heat and pressure.

Along with its rarity, a diamond’s cut, when made by an expert cutter, increases its value tremendously.

Before the expert makes his first cut, he will study the diamond, look inside it, and determine exactly where he will make his cuts.

In essence, what he is doing is determining what part of the diamond will stay and what parts will not.

After the cuts are made the facets of the stone that remain are polished and the diamond’s true inner value can finally be seen.

Something remarkably similar takes place in people.

While we can easily underestimate the value of a person, God sees the true value hidden within.

When God sent Samuel to anoint a son of Jesse as king, Samuel noticed Eliab and was certain that God would choose him.

But God did not choose Eliab.

God reminded Samuel, “People look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart,”

God sees the internal beauty then transforms lives.

He expertly chips away any excesses that interfere with the relationship between Himself and the believer.

He does away with self-destructive behaviors.

He removes bad habits.

He discards old prejudices.

As the excesses are removed, God polishes the believer.

The life of the believer is thus transformed into something completely unrecognizable from what it was before.

Scripture reminds us that nothing is impossible for God.

We must therefore never, under any circumstances, say that someone is beyond hope,

To do so discourages them.

Not only that, it also attempts to place limits on God who has none.

Isaiah 64:8 (NET) – Yet, LORD, You are our Father. We are the clay and You are the potter; we are all the product of Your labor.

It is important to remember that all believers were at one time diamonds in the rough.

Blessings,

Jim Pokorny

The Other Brother Jim

Look for me at http://faithfulfeetteam.blogspot.com/ on Friday, February 6, 2015.

I’ll be back here on Friday, February 13, 2014

Myth Conceptions

I am an avid reader.

Right now I am in the process of reading The Iliad and The Odyssey by Homer.

You may be asking why a Christian would bother reading mythology.

Mythology reminds me that everyone needs to believe in something or someone that is greater than himself.

The ancient Greeks felt that need.

They looked at the natural world around them and recognized that there was an order in the way things were.

Unlike us, they had neither the benefit of Christianity nor the wisdom that comes only from scripture.

So, they simply did the best they could.

They took stock of everything they could sense and invented various gods and goddesses to whom they assigned control of things.

They also assigned them human attributes including very human character flaws.

When disaster struck, they then incorrectly interpreted that these events were likely the result of these invented gods and goddesses struggling with one another for control.

A handful of gods was insufficient, so they also invented a host of lesser gods to fill in the gaps.

One more thing they did was create some human heroes who were able to contend with their deities.

The ancients took delight in stories in which these heroes were able to outwit the gods and defeat them at their own game.

Christianity of course is radically different.

Through the benefit of scripture and His grace, we know that there is only one true God.

It was He that created the universe and everything in it by speaking them into existence.

He also takes a very active and personal role in our lives.

Another critical difference is that God is all knowing and we cannot hide anything from Him.

It is impossible for us to deceive Him.

I must admit that I did learn a valuable lesson from this reading of Homer

The Iliad is about struggle.

It tells a story about a war between the Greeks and the Trojans.

Their gods took a very active role in this war and although they could not be killed by humans they could be wounded by them.

As I read the account I remember thinking that we could never wound God.

I now do not believe that to be entirely true.

I now believe that we can and do wound God on a certain level.

We do this when we refuse to obey Him.

We also do this when we mistreat others because they, like us, were made in His image.

We certainly do that when we reject His most precious gift to us.

That gift is His only Son, Jesus, who paid the price for our salvation.

Where The Iliad is about struggle and conflict, The Odyssey is a myth about the struggle and desire to go home.

We, as Christians, feel a similar need and desire to go home.

The home we desire is our heavenly home.

It is a home that has been prepared for us by Jesus.

John 14:2 (NET) – There are many dwelling places in My Father’s house. Otherwise, I would have told you, because I am going away to make ready a place for you.

That is certainly no myth.

Blessings,

Jim Pokorny

The  Other Brother Jim

Look for me at http://faithfulfeetteam.blogspot.com/ on Friday, November 21, 2014.

I’ll be back here on Friday, November 28, 2014

The Master Weaver

Psalm 139:13 (NET) - Certainly you made my mind and my heart, you wove me together in my mothers womb.


I love Psalm 139 for a number of reasons.

Take verse 13 for example.

Because God made my mind and heart he understands me better than anyone,

He knows me better than I even know myself.

I am especially moved by how He "wove me together".

Knowledge of the reproduction process tells me that half of my very first cell was composed from genetic material from my mother and the other half from my father.

I also know that cell divided into two cells which turned into four and so on.

Where I really see God at work in the weaving process is in how new cells become specialized for their future functions.

Cells that eventually made up my brain are very different than cells that made up my bones.

Even my very blood is composed of different kinds of cells.

I did not simply end up as mass of completely identical cells.

Psalm 139:14 (NET) - I will give thanks because your deeds are awesome and amazing. You know me thoroughly;

I am indeed thankful that God is all knowing and all powerful.

I am also grateful that even when others misunderstand me, God never misunderstands me because he knows me at the most intimate level.

No one else can claim to know me that well.

Psalm 139:16 (NET) - Your eyes saw me when I was in the womb. All the days ordained for me were recorded in your scroll before one of them came into existence.

Even my physical weaknesses, such as my rather poor eyesight were ordained by Him.

My life, including my service to Him, would not be what it is today, had I been born with perfect eyesight.

My less than perfect sight is not a result of God’s imperfections.

God has no imperfections.

My weaknesses are the result of His perfect plan.

While my eyesight may be less than perfect by earthly standards, you will never hear me complain once about the vision he has given me in its place.

Psalm 139:17-18 (NET) - How difficult it is for me to fathom your thoughts about me, O God! How vast is their sum total! If I tried to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand. Even if I finished counting them, I would still have to contend with you.

I do not know what God has planned for my future here on earth.

A mere ten years ago I could not have imagined my life today.

Similarly, I cannot foretell what my life on earth will be like ten years from now,

For that matter, I do not even know if I will have a life here on earth ten years from now,

That sort of unknown frightens some people,

I know, because there was a time in my life when thoughts like that frightened me.

I may not know what age I will ultimately reach, but God knows and that is sufficient for me.

Through His word, I know that when my days on earth are complete a home in heaven awaits me.

A home that awaits all who have put their faith in Jesus Christ.

And therein lies a great deal of comfort.


Blessings,
Jim Pokorny
The Other Brother Jim
Look for me at http://faithfulfeetteam.blogspot.com/ on Friday, July 5, 2013.
Please enjoy the contributions of my fellow Christian bloggers while you are there!
I’ll be back here on Friday, July 12, 2013.
Schedule subject to change.

The Master Designer

Genesis 1:1 (NET) - In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

Since I was a small child, I have always had a fascination with clocks, watches, calendars, sundials and anything else that has the capacity to track the passage of time.

Of these, I have a particular fondness for watches.

I appreciate the mechanics involved, the interplay of the various gears, the gear ratios, the springs, the tiny screws that hold the assembly together and so on.

In fact, had I been born with better eyesight, my fascination could possibly have turned into a different career.

As it stands, I have a career I enjoy and timepieces have turned into a hobby.

What has this all this to do with faith? For me, the answer is a great many things.

In the early nineteenth century, William Paley made a theological argument for the existence of God in what has come to be known as the watchmaker analogy.

In this analogy, Paley stated that if you found a watch, you would have to conclude that it had been designed because it is "complex". In other words, for the watch to exist, there has to be a watch maker.

It then follows that because the universe is s complex, it too must have a designer, namely God.

When I look at the complexity of the universe, I agree with Paley’s analogy.

Isaiah 45:12 (NET) - I made the earth, I created the people who live on it. It was me - my hands stretched out the sky, I give orders to all the heavenly lights.

There are some additional lessons in faith I have picked up from watches along the way.

For example, the first thing people usually notice about a watch is its face.

These faces range from black to white and include every color in between.

Each color is beautiful.

The same is true of human faces as well, as all are made in the image of God.

Genesis 1:26 (NET) - Then God said, "Let us make humankind in our image, after our likeness, so they may rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move on the earth."

Another feature easily noticed has also been given a human identity.

The hands.

Like their human counterparts, the simplest watches have two hands. One to track the hours and one to track the minutes.

Those that track other things require more hands to do so.

Some have a third hand to track the seconds.

Others require even more hands to track the month, the day, the date and so on.

Others have built in stop watches and require yet more hands.

Interestingly, each of these extra features have come to be known as complications.

I find this to be a remarkable coincidence because often our lives become "complicated" and when they do, a helping "hand" from a friend is always welcome.

Proverbs 3:27 (NET) - Do no withhold good from those who need it, when you have the ability to help.

The outward appearance of the watch is not the only thing that is important to those who appreciate them.

We also care about the what is inside as well, in particular, the movement.

What is inside says a tremendous amount about the watch.

Likewise, what is inside a person says a lot about the person.

1 Samuel 16:7 (NET) - But the LORD said to Samuel, "Don’t be impressed by his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. God does not view things the way men do, People look on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."

Finally, sometimes watches stop running or stop running well.

When that happens, they do not operate at the level at which they were designed to operate.

Sometimes this happens as the result of a fall.

At that point, a watchmaker or a highly skilled watch repairman must be consulted in order to get the watch operating in the way in which it was designed to operate.

It is very similar with people.

We do not operate at the level at which we were designed to operate.

This happened as the result of another and more serious kind of Fall.



God, the master designer, can always be counted on to fix even the most broken of us.


Blessings,
Jim Pokorny
The Other Brother Jim
Look for me at http://faithfulfeetteam.blogspot.com/ on Friday, February 17, 2012.
Please enjoy the contributions of my fellow Christian bloggers while you are there!
I’ll be back here on Friday, February 24, 2012.
Schedule subject to change.