Lotus 2008

These were taken about 2 kilometers from our home.

Canon EOS 40D with EF 135 F2L

Shizuka's Baptism

Our friend, Shizuka Fujimoto, and her husband Kozo attended our home bible study for about 4 years. He was transferred to another city, Ogori, where they lived for 5 years, and also where they attended bible studies and fellowship. She confessed her faith in Christ while in Ogori.

He then returned to work in our area and after they moved back, she requested we start a weekly bible study for her. Last autumn we began to talk to her about baptism. Last week, after our lesson on the life of Philip (from Acts), I asked her if she was ready to get baptized. Her answer was, "anytime!".

So today, at noon, in the Nishiki River, with Midori (Mrs. Soileau) behind the camera, and Jazz, our border collie as another witness, I baptized Shizuka. Hallelujah!

Sorry about the glare!

In His Grip,
Kevin

Mightier!

From Psalm 93, and this shot is overlooking Japan's Inland Sea after 2 days of rain...

In His Grip,
Kevin

Canon 40D & Tokina 12-24 F4

An Old Shed

That's what we called small storage buildings when I was small, living in Louisiana. Today I went to my wife's grandmother's home, early in the morning for pictures. She lives on the foot of a pretty big hill/mountail and there are a couple of trails leading up the hill.

I found this old shed, set up the tripod and camera, and took a few picts of the structure in a setting of summer green.

Yuu Town, Iwakuni City, Yamaguchi Prefecture...

Shot with my 40D and Tokina 12-24mm F4.

Why Pray?

by George MacDonald, The Word of Jesus on Prayer

‘But if God is so good as you represent him, and if he knows all that we need, and better far than we do ourselves, why should it be necessary to ask him for anything?’

I answer, What if he knows prayer to be the thing we need first and most? What if the main object in God’s idea of prayer be the supplying of our great, our endless need—the need of himself? What if the good of all our smaller and lower needs lies in this, that they help to drive us to God? Hunger may drive the runaway child home, and he may or may not be fed at once, but he needs his mother more than his dinner. Communion with God is the one need of the soul beyond all other need; prayer is the beginning of that communion, and some need is the motive of that prayer. Our wants are for the sake of our coming into communion with God, our eternal need. If gratitude and love immediately followed the supply of our needs, if God our Saviour was the one thought of our hearts, then it might be unnecessary that we should ask for anything we need. But seeing we take our supplies as a matter of course, feeling as if they came out of nothing, or from the earth, or our own thoughts, instead of out of a heart of love and a will which alone is force, it is needful that we should be made feel some at least of our wants, that we may seek him who alone supplies all of them, and find his every gift a window to his heart of truth. So begins a communion, a talking with God, a coming-to-one with him, which is the sole end of prayer, yea, of existence itself in its infinite phases. We must ask that we may receive; but that we should receive what we ask in respect of our lower needs, is not God’s end in making us pray, for he could give us everything without that: to bring his child to his knee, God withholds that man may ask.