say CHEESE.....

As I set out on this journey to ‘capture’ our area through the lens of a camera, my wife mentioned something to me she heard in a photography class. She said, “when you take the picture, take the time to capture the essence of what you want the people seeing it to notice, the story you are wanting to tell.”

passed this dude on my run this morning
(he was in attack mode .... but I calmed him with my brain control)

Through the years I have witnessed that some people enjoy having their picture taken while others do not. Break out a camera around my little girl and posing begins immediately.  Do that around my boys and they run for cover!
On the average, when we know we are preparing for portraits of any kind, we make sure that we appear just how we want others to see us. This very principle is what has consumed so many in society today.  They have become so concerned about the outward that they have taken no time to care for the inward parts that make up who we truly are.   

Pastor Wade in yesterdays’ sermon asked our community what our motives were. And by that I mean, he wanted us to think about what came out of our mouths, what we put on, what we watched – in other words, what were our motives behind it all? 

The old Chinese proverb says, “One picture is worth a 

thousand words.”

(to those in MD - this picture is not worth 1,000 words .... more like 1,000 calories)

My question today is this: What lies behind your smile? What lies beneath getting dressed and fixing our hair? What lies behind the ‘cool’ look we are hoping to portray? As Pastor Wade asked, 'What are our motives? "

I wonder how we would live if there were cameras capturing the intents of our heart?
            - Husbands, your wife could see…
            - Wives, your husband would see…
            - Parents, your kids could see…
            - Pastors, your church would see…
            - Our friends, they would see…             ….the real us.

            Remember: That picture is worth a thousand words.

Scripture said that King David was a man ‘after God’s own heart.’ Can you take a snapshot your heart today and say as David, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.” (Psalm 139:23) (NLT) While we humans may not have a camera that captures the hearts’ intent – there is One who does.

Heavenly Father, may my ‘picture’ never speak like that  of a Pharisee: “Then he said to them (Pharisees), “You like to appear righteous in public, but God knows your hearts. What this world honors is detestable in the sight of God.” (Luke 16:15) (NLT)

Anyone can go out and start snapping pictures but the great ones take the time to focus on what they really want others to see…the story of the image.