Saturday, May 31, 2008
Friday, May 30, 2008
Image of the Day
So what kind of blossom is this? The plant is right outside my back door, but I have no clue what it is.
Thursday, May 29, 2008
PCA General Assembly Colloquium on the Sacraments
I finished my presentation on sacramental efficacy for the General Assembly Colloquium this year. I need to get it to the convener tomorrow. The stipulated question that each of the 4 speakers were asked to address is: What do the sacraments actually accomplish in their administration?
I sought to answer this question from a slightly different perspective. I've broken the question up into two parts, each adressing two dimensions of the problem. First, it's not enough to simply ask what the Lord's Supper, for example, accomplishes, but what ought it to accomplish?
And once we answer that, then the more difficult question is: Does the Lord’s Supper actually accomplish what God intends in our churches? And if it doesn’t, what’s the problem?
Most Reformed people would respond to the problem of the Supper's not accomplishing what God intends with a reference to the individual communicant’s lack of faith. Efficacy depends on the faithful reception of the Supper. No faith, no benefits. True enough. But is that the whole story? What if the way we do the Supper, the way the Supper is performed and then experienced is a major part of the problem? What if even faith-filled Christian people are hindered from receiving all the gifts God intends to give in the Supper because we pastors and elders are not being attentive to the proper manner in which the Supper is to be performed?
That's the question I will address in my presentation. Maybe I'll post it after it's delivered on June 10th.
I sought to answer this question from a slightly different perspective. I've broken the question up into two parts, each adressing two dimensions of the problem. First, it's not enough to simply ask what the Lord's Supper, for example, accomplishes, but what ought it to accomplish?
And once we answer that, then the more difficult question is: Does the Lord’s Supper actually accomplish what God intends in our churches? And if it doesn’t, what’s the problem?
Most Reformed people would respond to the problem of the Supper's not accomplishing what God intends with a reference to the individual communicant’s lack of faith. Efficacy depends on the faithful reception of the Supper. No faith, no benefits. True enough. But is that the whole story? What if the way we do the Supper, the way the Supper is performed and then experienced is a major part of the problem? What if even faith-filled Christian people are hindered from receiving all the gifts God intends to give in the Supper because we pastors and elders are not being attentive to the proper manner in which the Supper is to be performed?
That's the question I will address in my presentation. Maybe I'll post it after it's delivered on June 10th.
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Stuff
I've got a lot going on this week, so don't nobody be bugging me about posting profound blog posts. It ain't gonna happen. The presenters at the GA Colloquium on the Sacraments have all been given another week to finish our presentations. Wheh. I love grace. That was close. My presentation will be much better with a few extra days to perfect it.
Oh, and everybody should remember that my birth day is this Sunday, June 1. But since I'm leaving immediately after church for our annual seminary student retreat, we'll be celebrating it on Wednesday. Send me an email to find out where you can ship me money, expensive gift certificates, Nikon DSLR lenses, rifles, handguns, ammunition, Mac computers, and other significant birthday gifts. It's okay if they arrive a few days late.
In the meantime, look at this portrait of 5-day old George Owen Gibson:
Oh, and everybody should remember that my birth day is this Sunday, June 1. But since I'm leaving immediately after church for our annual seminary student retreat, we'll be celebrating it on Wednesday. Send me an email to find out where you can ship me money, expensive gift certificates, Nikon DSLR lenses, rifles, handguns, ammunition, Mac computers, and other significant birthday gifts. It's okay if they arrive a few days late.
In the meantime, look at this portrait of 5-day old George Owen Gibson:
Sunday, May 25, 2008
George Owen Gibson's Baptism
Rev. Jamison Galt baptizes Shane & Kim's 5-day old son.
Here are more images of the baptism, the Gibson family, and Shane's ordination.
Here are more images of the baptism, the Gibson family, and Shane's ordination.
New Orleans
Gotta run in a minute. I was so frustrated last night on the plane. I was on the wrong side of the jet (window facing east) and I couldn't capture the amazing cloud formations against the backdrop of the setting sun. The windows were badly scratched and foggy anyway, so I wouldn't have gotten a great image. I settled for this shot from my dirty, stratched window.I'm in New Orleans this morning to preach at a friend's ordination service at Redeemer Presbyterian church. Last night the pastor here took me to the French Quarter and we heard some pretty cool Cuban-style jazz at the Blue Nile. More later.
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Original Stage Shot
Wayne asked about how much "correction" I had to do with the shot of Jeffrey receiving his "diploma" in the previous post. Answer: A lot. Here's what the original looked like:
There's a WHOLE lot more going on here than just adjusting the "brightness" slider. Stuff you can't do if you don't have Photoshop CS3 or Photoshop Elements.
When shooting in such bad light with a telephoto, you've got to have the camera settings just right. And you've got to shoot in RAW so you will have enough data to manipulate when you start correcting for the poor lighting. If you capture in jpeg format, you will not able to recover an image like this. A jpeg file doesn't contain enough "hidden" detail for you to work with. The result will be distorted and very unpleasant to look at.
Now, of course, the result of my "pushing" this image isn't by any stretch of the imagination a great picture. But it's certainly useable and keepable. To get really great results you need an expensive f2.8 lens like the Nikkor 70-200mm VR. Maybe one day.
There's a WHOLE lot more going on here than just adjusting the "brightness" slider. Stuff you can't do if you don't have Photoshop CS3 or Photoshop Elements. When shooting in such bad light with a telephoto, you've got to have the camera settings just right. And you've got to shoot in RAW so you will have enough data to manipulate when you start correcting for the poor lighting. If you capture in jpeg format, you will not able to recover an image like this. A jpeg file doesn't contain enough "hidden" detail for you to work with. The result will be distorted and very unpleasant to look at.
Now, of course, the result of my "pushing" this image isn't by any stretch of the imagination a great picture. But it's certainly useable and keepable. To get really great results you need an expensive f2.8 lens like the Nikkor 70-200mm VR. Maybe one day.
8th Grade "Graduation"
Last night Jeffrey "graduated" from 8th grade.
Mother & Son:
You can view the whole album here (if you care).
Oh, and former Cardinal pitcher Andy Benes and catcher Mike Matheny both had children graduating.
Mother & Son:You can view the whole album here (if you care).Oh, and former Cardinal pitcher Andy Benes and catcher Mike Matheny both had children graduating.
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