Last Saturday we went down to help my wife’s folks out a bit. Three weeks ago Oklahoma had a fierce ice storm, and they needed some help getting some tree branches off their roof. They live on a hill overlooking the town of Henryetta. I took this photo looking east and a bit south. The blue building and the complex around it was the glass plant where my wife’s grandfather, “Bampa” worked for forty-four years. In those days it was owned by Pittsburg Plate Glass (PPG), but for the past couple of decades it has been owned by Anchor Hocking, and it has been retooled to make jars and bottles.
This shot was taken a couple of nights ago out at Tulsa International Airport. I just love watching the deice crew do their thing. That is the only thing that I enjoy about cold, icy weather. Obviously, we were hit with another winter storm this week, though not as bad as a few weeks ago when the ice storm came through that brought branches down on my wife’s parents’ house. Praise be to God, travel to and from, and during work has been safe for me and my co-workers.
If you love snow or winter, there is still time to repent.
Catch all of the other extra fine photos over at the Friday Photo Group, where you will find some real quality photos from around Christian blogdom.
I really do love working with cutting torches and welders. It is still amazing to me how you can make two pieces of metal become one.
I spent the whole day two Saturdays ago (01/06/07) building a couple of drive-through gates for our entry way. Here I have just finished cutting the saddles on each end of the front four pieces of pipe, which will form the tops and bottoms of the frame.
Here’s a close-up of the saddle cuts. A little patients (oops) patience here, getting a close fit, will make weld-up much easier and smoother looking.
Here’s how one of the corners welded up. Nice.
My project was far from finished on that Saturday, and last weekend we were socked in with a massive ice storm here in eastern Oklahoma, so that we didn’t set foot outside of the house until I went to work last Monday afternoon. Early tomorrow another major snow storm is set to move in. The gate project will have to wait at least one more week.
You can check out the rest of my project pictures on my Flickr page. Check out the making gates set there. The first six photos in that set are from a previous gate project, but they are interesting too.
Don’t miss all of the other fine Friday Photos at the Friday Photo Group.
This shot was taken last Friday evening at work. I don’t believe I have ever taken a night shot in the rain before. I like the way the lights reflect on the pavement. The driver is a guy we all call “Sparky”. He’s a good Penticostal brother.
This shot was taken today. Imagine that, something blooming on the first week in January. Nope, this is not coastal Georgia, it’s Oklahoma, “where the wind comes sweeping down the plain.”
I hope you enjoy the photos. Be sure to check out all of the other fine pics at the Friday Photo Group.
Have a great weekend, and I hope to meet with you, and all of the saints on the Lord’s Day in His presence.
This week’s Friday Photos is about sunsets. The first sunset was taken from my front yard on Christmas eve. The second sunset was taken this Wednesday from work.
Check out a whole raft of other fine photos at the Friday Photo Group. Have a blessed weekend, a happy new year, and May God bless you and yours.
And to Adam he said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, “You shall not eat of it,” cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field.” (Genesis 3:17, 18, ESV)
I know this is not what you expected. You might ask “So what’s with a title like Joy to the World, followed by a picture of a hand full of grass burrs, followed by a Scripture passage about the fall” The third verse of this great hymn by Isaac Watts is the key to this post:
No more let sins and sorrows grow,
Nor thorns infest the ground;
He comes to make his blessings flow
Far as the curse is found.
Let me tell you how far the curse is found on my place. It is found at the foot of a small tree, with a good deal of bark and cambium scraped from its tiny trunk; damag by deer antlers in the middle of the previous night. One big buck had “scraped” a number of our smaller trees, including several small apple trees and the White pine pictured below. The pine had been our Christmas tree three seasons back. When I bent down to get a close shot of the damage, my left hand quickly came up with a hand-full of this curse.
And that is where Joy to the World comes in. That is what Christmas is all about. Christ came to put an end to all of that, and though we live in this age of the already but not yet, we have a sure hope that one day sin and sorrow will grow no more, neither will thorns infest the ground. Also, this creation will not strive with it self, so that rutting bucks won’t mindlessly try to destroy young trees. Sure, these things are nothing compared to personal sin and misery and estrangement from God, but they are connected and related.
So the next time your car breaks down or your co-worker dissapoints you, or you come down with the flu, or a loved one dies; then remember just how far the curse is found, and what great joy it is to this fallen world and all in it, that Christ came to fix all of that. That is what Christmas is all about.
For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. (Romans 8:19-23, ESV)
Check out some other blogger’s fine Friday Photos over at the Friday Photo Group
There, I’ve said it. Some time each October my wife and change the exchange of pleasantries from “Good morning, [Sugar]” (several variants are possible.), to “I hate winter!” I use to feel a bit guilty when I said it, thinking it probably was being unthankful or disrespectful to God. Then I thought, “The Garden wasn’t this way before the fall, and Heaven won’t be this way. I bet the new heavens and the new earth won’t be this way. What do you think?
The great snow fall of November 30, 2006, ending in the wee hours of December 1. The tracks are mine. At 12:30 a.m. I had to walk the last quarter mile to my house. After 22 miles driving from my work to the house, I got stuck in a drift climbing the hill just south of our house.
You notice It is a sunny day today. We will be running around in shorts and t-shirts by the weekend.
Those of you who enjoy snow, and love winter, you need to repent.
One more time: I hate winter!
Check out all of the other fabulous photos at the Friday Photo Group
Last Tuesday evening we went to the community service that our church is involved in through the local “West Side Ministerial Alliance”. The Alliance is represented by a variety of church denominations, but not as diverse as we could be. They are all baptistic, mostly Anglo, some charismatic. Our hosting church this year was Red Fork Baptist Church.
I always enjoy these community services, held around Thanksgiving, though generally not on account of the Christ-centered emphasis. These community services help me keep things in perspective at my own church. The music at my own church frustrates me at times, but after just a short time at this year’s community service I was realizing the far surpassing value of our singing service. We have a better Minister of Music, better hymn book, far heartier congregation of singers, and two angels on piano and organ.
On the preaching of the word, my pastor was not slated to preach this year. The pastor of the local AOG church was. I am always curious and eager to hear what any preacher of God’s word has to offer, but not because I don’t have a faithful pastor at my own church. I just enjoy good preaching. I wasn’t dissapointed. After the preacher got up and tried to tell us that doctrine doesn’t matter, because it’s all about unity after all, after close to a dozen lame jokes, then my pastor got up and prayed the best five-minute message you have ever heard in a closing prayer at a community service.
One thing that surpassed anything I have seen in a church on the West side was their stained glass. The photos pictured here look out over the people as they walk into the sanctuary. There was quite a bit more glass around the building, but this was the only one that was lit up for a decent shot. Apparentely Red Fork Baptist Church is a very missions minded church. Lining the walls of the vestibule and along both sides of the main sanctuary were flags from all of the countries where Southern Baptist missionaries are serving. I had never seen this done before; very interesting, and quite colorful. It seems to be an effective reminder of what the great commission is all about.
Don’t forget to go see all of the great photos at the Friday Photo Group.
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