Happy 1-Year to Blair!

So, my neice just turned 1 last week. I feel like the past year has really flown by… hard to believe that she is already running around and stuff.

Lucky for me, I really started take photography seriously right about the time that she was born… so, for the past year, I have had a constant subject at my disposal to try new things out on! I have had a lot of fun photographing her through her first year of life and then looking back on different photos and thinking how crazy it is that kids change so much during that first year.

Here are a few photos from the last time I was in Austin a few weeks back.

Enjoy!

The Divine Commodity

I just started this book last night (barely)… I’ve only gotten through the Introduction.

However, it has already captivated me.

The premise of the book is about how the American church has become the church of Consumer Christianity.

It sounds like it would be a pretty negative book… but, from what I can tell, it promises to be less on the negative side and more on the what we can do about that side.

Here are a few quotes from the intro that have already begun to spin through my head:

“This church is a corporation, its outreach is marketing, its worship is entertainment, and its god is a commodity. It is the church of Consumer Christianity.”

He also quotes Richard Halverson (who was a chaplain for the US Senate at one time):

“In the beginning the church was a fellowship of men and women centered on the living Christ. Then the church moved to Greece, where it became a philosophy. Then it moved to Rome, where it became and institution. Next, it moved to Europe, where it became a culture. And, finally, it moved to America, where it became an enterprise.”

I’ve never thought through that before. Pretty crazy to think about where we’ve gone.

The Author (Skye Jethani) doesn’t plan on arguing that the church today should do its best to try and look exactly like the church of the first century. He makes a good point that: “History has shown syncretism to the culture is a chronic ailment of the church.” The early church struggled with some of the same things as we do… it just looked different.

So… how do we move forward from here?  The answer needs to be found looking forward, not in looking backward…

Well, hopefully I’ll find some sign posts within this book that can shed some light on that conundrum.

I’m sure there will be more posts to come about this book.

Clean Water is Good

I thought this video was really impactful. It’s short and simple and doesn’t really pull at your heartstrings or anything.

Just true.

I think back to how many times I saw people getting water from much worse sources than this, yet I didn’t really think that much of it because that’s just what they do.

But, could I ever imagine having to do that myself? Having to serve this to my wife or children?

No one should.

There is a Bill in the Senate right now that isn’t getting a whole lot of attention that would provide 100 million people with first-time access to sustainable sources of clean water. 

That’s a BIG deal!

All you need to do it click here and put your name down to say you think it should be so.

We wouldn’t think this is acceptable if it was happening on our soil… why should we think it acceptable for other people?

Lopas Wedding

A few weeks back, I had the great privaledge of photographing Brian and Whitney Lopas’ wedding.

They were a lot of fun to work with, and their reception venue (Messina Hof Winery) was a photographer’s dream!

Their wedding was unique and fit them perfectly. And, after they made their grand departure from the reception, we were able to sneak around the back of the vineyard and have a fun, couple photo session.

I am really excited about the photos that came out of this wedding. I have picked some of my favorites for you to look at below.

Enjoy…

more about ““, posted with vodpod

If you are reading this in an RSS Reader and don’t see anything down here that resembles a slideshow, then go ahead and click here to see it directly from my blog.

The Global Abortion Debate

We are always hearing about the abortion debate here in the US. However, I have to admit that I am a little ignorant about how this applies to the rest of the world.

What other countries are going through similar debates and making important decisions about this?

How are our policies and rhetoric affecting people around the world?

I just read this report on 5 other countries around the world that are currently trying to work through this really devisive issue.

I’m pretty sure that this news source (like most) will lean toward the side of thinking that it is a human right for women to have abortions. Regardless, I found it really interesting to read.

I am finding that the older I get (HA!) and the more I read about politics and policies and see them work themselves out in real life, the more and more I just get frustrated and realize how screwed up this world is and the logic that it produces. 

I don’t know what the answer is (practically)… I know that the ultimate answer is for Christ to build His kingdom among us all and in each and every heart… then and only then will we see society operate in the way it was created to.

Until then… I just don’t know.

www [dot] socialism

A few months back, I somehow ended up with one of those “pick a magazine to have a free subscription for a year” deals, and the only one that peaked my interest was WIRED. It’s a techy magazine. I’ve enjoyed some of the stuff, and for the most part have just been completely blow away by the technology that is out there right now… my mind just doesn’t possess the ability to wrap around that kind of stuff. 

The other night, I was up late because I just didn’t feel like falling to sleep yet, and I managed to get into this long article about a “new socialism”.

I was really fascinated by the whole concept.

Basically, the author outlined all these reason why the internet and the networking that we are increasingly becoming involved in is a form of Socialism. 

It has varying degrees.

For instance… Facebook and YouTube and Delicious and things like that fall under “Sharing“… which he dubs the mildest form of Socialism. We are simply sharing things (personal info, bookmarks, videos, ect.) for free with other people. 

However, there are different levels to this. The next level would be “Cooperation“. This is where sites like Flickr come into play. Not only are you sharing things, but you can now (via the Creative Commons Licensing) use an extremely vast network of amazing photos at your will… without paying one cent! A few years ago, you would be forced to use stock photography sites and pay major $$ for images.

The next level is “Collaboration“. This is basically where random people that know a thing or two about technology (web usually) just spend their own time designing things because they like doing it and want the experience, and then they contribute little gadgets to networks and never get paid for their efforts (i.e. Google gadgets, those stupid Facebook apps, ect.).

The apex of this Socialist society we have created is “Collectivism“. This is basically where it’s all a little more organized and there is actually accountability for people contributing to things. Products like OpenOffice, Linux, and even Wikipedia are fairly sophisticated networks of people contributing to a collective effort without being paid. 

The end result… we are getting a LOT of free stuff… we are producing an incredible amount of “product” without paying anything for the labor behind it… and as a society, we are making a shift to where the expectation is that we don’t really have to pay for things!

The thought that I should have to pay for software for my computer is really beginning to just get annoying to me… why should I have to give any money for something that really isn’t that tangible. It’s getting to the point that I really don’t have to.

I’m able to enjoy so many things on the internet (all my Google gadget stuff, a TON of photos from Flickr to get inspiration as a photographer, and my newfound favorite… Delicious… it definitely lives up to it’s name). 

One conclusion that he made that I found really interesting though, was that he thinks because we as a society are becoming more comfortable (whether we know it or not) with this Socialistic concept, this could have contributed to the fact that we were able to elect a president that is far more Socialist leaning that any president before. 

The idea that as a society we can become really comfortable and even dependent on a communal internet and expect to get things for free, yet would still not be comfortable or recognize the benefits of having, say a socialized health system for people is really interesting to me. 

It’s going to be really interesting to see how this plays out in our society… will the internet force us to become more and more reliant on things that are communal? Will this in turn change how we interact with others aside from our internet lives?

Military Bible Extravaganza!

As I have stated previously on this blog, I spend a lot of time sifting through news articles from around the world in order to maintain what I consider a healthy worldview. Even though US news networks like CNN or Fox will cover world news, I’m not for a minute about to put all my eggs in either of those baskets. So, I subscribe to RSS feeds from BBC News (mainly for Africa) and Al Jazeera (mainly to get a feel for what’s going on in the Mid-East)… Sorry to the rest of the world… I only get bits and pieces about you!

Well… today is one of those days that I’m glad I get a well rounded view on things, because I don’t think I’m going to be seeing this come across some of our domestic networks (I may be wrong though). 

A few weeks ago, there was a lot of controversy over the US Military in Afghanistan possessing Bibles translated into Afghan language and soldiers talking about their primary duty as Christians being to convert Muslims… which in Afghanistan would be a death sentence for that person (not that it wouldn’t be worth it)… just saying. 

Now, clearly this is going to create quite the uproar in the Muslim world. Most of the news feeds on this issue were obviously coming from Al Jazeera rather than some of the other networks. 

Today, however, another news feed just rolled across my reader. Apparently the US Military thought that the best way to deal with this controversy would be to confiscate these Afghan Bibles and burn them. Yes… you read that right… BURN THEM. 

Now… I’m not sure what I would have done in this situation. I have tremendous respect for our leaders, and would never want to be the one to make decisions that will affect the world… decisions that are going to make people mad no matter which way you go with it. 

As a Christian, I absolutely agree that what people the world over (Muslim, Hindu, Agnostic, Post-modern, “Christian”) need a relationship with Jesus more than anything else. However, I’m just not so sure that our government (which is not a theocracy) should be the one spreading that… I guess more specifically, I’m not sure that while at war and while killing people, we should be spreading a message of peace that would appear to be coming from  America… the “Christian nation”… the one that has guns, rap music, pornography, greed, and the list could go on. 

Now, when I originally read about the Bibles, I did not have a huge opinion on it. Like I said, I don’t know what I would have done if I was in leadership. 

However, I’m pretty sure that I would have chose to do something other than BURN Bibles! 

In a war that, like it or not, is extremely charged with religious sentiment on both sides, the last thing that needs to happen is to fuel fire on either side. 

So… what are your thoughts on this? 

I know it’s not really helpful for people to bash the government on the blogoshpere… but, aside from bashing the government, what would have been a good way to handle this situation in your opinion?

Do you think that it was necessary for the military to go as far as burning the Bibles in order to prove a point to the Muslim world that we aren’t trying to convert them?

Feel free to spout off your opinions…

Things that get you through the day

What are the things scattered through your day at work that you just look forward to?

For me… I would have to say:

Reading my RSS feeds while simultaneously doing what I get paid to do. I have a very specific system for what order I read things in, and I usually get done with each section at about the same point during each day. If I get thrown off one day because of a change in my schedule… the rest of my week could be completely derailed!

I also look forward to drinking a cup of coffee during the first half of the day.

Usually at some point during the afternoon, I will enjoy and afternoon snack (snack of choice is definitely a Sweet & Salty Peanut Granola Bar… those things are like crack for me).

But, one of the things that puts a smile on my face and makes me happy about humanity is when our mails gets delivered/picked up. 

Wierd… I know.

Our Postman is like the coolest guy ever. 

You can always hear him from about 50 yards away as he gets closer and closer to our building, because he whistles.

That’s right… HE WHISTLES!! 

He whistles while he works.

It’s like the beginning of the Andy Griffith Show every day at about 9:45am. 

I really feel like I should be carrying an old fishing pole, wearing a oversized, floppy hat and saying “Hiddy ho!” when he walks through our door.

He not only walks in and makes the mail exchange, but he usually stands around for a minute or two and talks to us about gardening or his family or our weekends or the weather. 

AND… the best part… throughout the year, this guy grows his white beard out and for the entire month of December he dresses like Santa!!

I tell ya… if more postmen were like this guy… I would probably give up e-mail altogether and go back to the good-ole days. 

I love the little things that get us through the day.

Depravity of man

I read about this story last week, and it has been in the back of my mind for days now. 

One of those things that you just kinda think about for a second during the day until you just shake your head in disgust and move on with your day.

I’m not sure how much this has been on TV news or not… I never watch news on TV…

But, this soldier has been convicted of plotting an attack on an Iraqi family back in 2006. He and his buddies went into a house, raped a 14-year old girl and gunned down mom, dad, 6-year old sister and the defiled child as well. 

This soldier is now facing the death penalty for his actions. He will be the first in US history to face death because of crimes committed at war.

However, it’s stories like this that really make me question my stance on the death penalty (me being anti-). 

When I read about such a twisted, sick act, everything in my human bones screams “kill him!!!”. 

I’ll be the first to say that I know very little about what it feels like to be at war. I’m sure that seeing certain things can really screw up a person’s mind. 

So… I’m torn. 

Where is grace in situations like this? 

Is his sin worse than mine?

Is this soldier’s level of depravity more extreme than mine?

Left to myself… I am capable of doing things more lude and twisted than the worst of people… we all are. 

And so I’m back to questioning things again… is his sin worth killing him over? Is it our (society’s) job to pull the trigger?

bacak.family.portraits

I had the awesome privilege of taking family portraits of these great people.

I was honestly a tad scared going into this one. Anytime you put 4 young kiddos together and tell them to be still and smile, you’re just asking for disaster!

But, the kids were great for the photo shoot. They had a great time with it and I left feeling refreshed. These kids are just so much fun to be around and play with. This family has also taught Sara and I so much about life and marriage (they literally did teach our premarital class) and are just a blessing to be around.

We had the photo shoot out at Carousel Acres in Wellborn. The Bacaks’ daughter rides horses out there and it is really beautiful. I was able to take some shots of her on her horse as well as the rest of the family hanging out.

Here are a few of my faves.

Thanks for a good time Bacaks!