Here's the deal. At my photo gallery found at yoeltphotography.smugmug.com
I keep most of my albums with a copyright block. That means that you cant drag and drop on to your desktop, or right click and save a picture that you want.
I don't see why I should give free reign for anyone to come and take whatever they want. Or worse, taking on of my pics and claiming ownership over the work.
But at the same time there are a bunch of sites out there that allow you to take the pictures freely.
Of course if there are any albums of a photo shoot with models, it would have a copyright.
I've been wrestling with this idea ever since I opened the site.
What do you think? 
Copyright or no Copyright, and why?
These were 2 snaps that I just had to post from this past weekend at FRC
Pastor Ricky right before the musical climax of the worship service
And Vocalist Rebeca holding little baby Christian! Big time "AWWWW".jpg)
Hello and welcome everybody. Thanks for following along on this Blogger Book Study journey.
Yesterday Genie started us off on our second book titled: Crazy Love by: Francis Chan. She covered Chapters 1-2. Catch up if your behind! And don't forget theirs a really cool video complimentary site that follows the book found here.
Today we will be covering Chapter 3-4. So here we go!
Chp 3 "Crazy Love"
"If you've spent any time in church, you've heard expressed, in some form or another, the idea that God loves us." Chan explains how for years he got the concept in his head but didn't fully understand it in his heart. Most of us to some degree have a difficult time understanding, believing, or accepting God's absolute and unlimited love for us. For Chan It had a lot to do with his relationship with his father.
dad and DAD
The concept of being loved by a father was foreign to Chan. Chan's mother died while giving birth to him. His father showed almost no affection. Chan always tried not to annoy him. He believes a lot of those emotions transferred to his relationship with God. He had no aspiration of being wanted by God; "I was just happy not to be hated or hurt by Him".
But his relationship took a major turn when he became a father himself. "For the first time I got a taste of what God feels toward us". Through this experience he came to understand that his desire for his children is only... (love this though) "a faint echo of God's great love for me and for every person He made." He states: "How could I not trust a heavenly, perfect Father who loves me infinitely more than I will ever love my kids? -Matthews 7:11
In Love with the One I Fear
It was easy for Chan to relate to any verse that would describe Gods overwhelming greatness or His wrath. If there was one word to describe his feelings about God in his first Christian years, it would be fear.
Jesus didn't command that we have a regular time with Him each day. "love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind" -Matt. 22:37-38. God doesn't want us to respond with a cursory "quiet time" plagued by guilt, but with true love expressed through our lives.
Chan still fears God, but uses words like reverent intimacy to describe how he feels about God.
Wanted
Chan took a trip to the woods with the desire to grow in His love for God. He had been realizing that his belief in Gods love was only theoretical. He ended up spending four days in the woods with out speaking to anyone. No plan or agenda. On the first day he opened his Bible and it fell open to Jeremiah 1. After reading the passage he meditated on it for the next four days. Verses 4 and 5 took him to another level:
"The word of the LORD came to me, saying, 'Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart: I appointed you as a prophet to the nations."
(WOW) "Take some time to really think about it... God knew you and me before we existed." God has been with us from well before the start. (it gets better) The following assured him he didn't need to worry about failure:
"But the LORD said to me, "Do not say, "I am only a child." You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you," declares the LORD. Then the LORD reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, "Now, I have put my words in your mouth. See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant." -Jeremiah 1:6-10
A Strange Inheritance
The holy Creator sees us as His "glorious inheritance"- Eph. 1:18. And yet Jesus doesn't have to love us. He doesn't need me or you. He is complete and perfect.
The funny part is that while God doesn't need us but still wants us, we desperately need God but dont't really want Him most of the time.
Do I have a Choice?
"Why would a loving God force me to love Him? He threatens me with hell and punishment if I don't begin a relationship with Him." This was a questioned asked to Chan by a college student. Chan responded: If God is truly the greatest good on this earth, would He be loving us if He didn't draw us toward what is best for us (even if that happens to be Himself)? (i had to read that one like 10 times to get it.)
Chan wraps up Chp. 3 with a series of questions that force us to think about the way that we really love God.
Do you love this God who is everything, or do you just love everything He gives you?
Are you in love with God or just His stuff?
How awful would it feel to have your child say to you, "I don't really love you or want your love, but I would like my allowance, please."
How great is it to have the one you love look you in the eye and say, "I love you. Not your beauty, your money, your family, or your car. Just you."
Can you say that to God?
Chp 4 "Profile of the Lukewarm"
Even though we could die any moment and mostly think our puny lives are pretty sweet compared to Him, He persists in loving us with unending, outrageous love.
Jesus would question the authenticity of big crowds when they would start to gather around Him. He would speak in parables so that those who weren't genuinely wouldn', get it. Jesus just wasn't interested on those who fake it.
A relationship with God simply cannot grow when money, sins, activities, favorite sports teams, addictions, or commitments are piled on top of it.
Would you describe yourself as totally in love with Jesus Christ? or do the words halfhearted, lukewarm, and partially committed fit better?
Chan goes on to offer a description on what halfhearted, lukewarm, and partially committed lukewarm people look like. Their are to many examples to put all down on here. But I will give you the Biblical verses he uses and what it touches on.
Church attendance -Isa. 29:13
Tithe -1 Chron. 21:24, Luke 21:1-4
What God thinks of your heart and lives -Luke 6:26, Rev. 3:1, Matt. 23:5-7
Sin and Salvation -John 10:10, Rom. 6:1-2
Acting radically -James 1:22, James 4:17, Matt. 21:28-31
Sharing your faith -Matt. 10:32-33
Gagging Morality -Luke 18:11-12
These are just a couple. He touches on many more. Bottom line is that a lukewarm, halfhearted following is useless, it sickens our souls. Jesus didn't that if you want to follow Him you could do it in a lukewarm manner. He said "Take up your cross and follow me".
Well that wraps up Chapters 3-4. I know it was a bit long, but I hope you were able to get some good stuff out of it. Tomorrow Stacie will continue with chapters 5-6.
SPOILER ALERT: This video does have professional concert footage.
You've been warned, prepare to be blown away!
Found this cool little video. Bono speaking about the new stage design and his view on music, and his motivation for getting out of bed in the morning.
Share your thoughts!
I LOVE this video.
A reminder that we don't do it to prove critics wrong, we do it for the people that need hope!
If you catch my drift, I'm talking about the church. We don't baptize 300+ people on 1 weekend because we want attention, or to prove wrong anyone who said it cant be done. We do it because someone has to address the need, the hurting, the ones searching. The numbers are just a guide to help us stay focused on the Vision. BUT the numbers are stories of life change, repentance, forgiveness, brokenness.
Today we are starting the first ever Bloggers Book Study. 6 books, 12 really cool leaders and leadHers! I have to say I'm very excited about this. I'm really looking forward to learning from all these books, and on top of that being able to talk, comment, and share our ideas amongst the blogger community. Jump in and follow along. You can find the schedule here. Head on over to H's blog to follow the journey. We begin with Courageous Leadership by Bill Hybels.
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