Sunday, March 22, 2009

More Darkness Into Light Photos

Isaiah 42
16 I will lead the blind by ways they have not known,
along unfamiliar paths I will guide them;
I will turn the darkness into light before them
and make the rough places smooth.
These are the things I will do;
I will not forsake them.

13th-century Scheldt bridge (Pont-des-Trous)- Tournai, Belgium.

Roman ruins, Italica, Andalucia, Spain.

Roman ruins, Italica, Andalucia, Spain.

Cathedral, Cadiz, Spain.

A narrow passageway, Granada, Andalucia, Spain.
I love to take photos that have symbolic meaning, at least to me. Here are more photos with a message.

Darkness Into Light Before Them


A passageway in La Alhambra, Granada, Spain.

Isaiah 42
16 I will lead the blind by ways they have not known,
along unfamiliar paths I will guide them;
I will turn the darkness into light before them
and make the rough places smooth.
These are the things I will do;
I will not forsake them.

Isaías 42:16 (Reina-Valera 1960)
16 Y guiaré a los ciegos por camino que no sabían, les haré andar por sendas que no habían conocido; delante de ellos cambiaré las tinieblas en luz, y lo escabroso en llanura. Estas cosas les haré, y no los desampararé.

Isaías 42:16 (Reina-Valera Antigua)
16Y guiaré los ciegos por camino que no sabían, haréles pisar por las sendas que no habían conocido; delante de ellos tornaré las tinieblas en luz, y los rodeos en llanura. Estas cosas les haré, y no los desampararé.

Isaías 42:16 (João Ferreira de Almeida Atualizada)
16E guiarei os cegos por um caminho que não conhecem; fá-los- ei caminhar por veredas que não têm conhecido; tornarei as trevas em luz perante eles, e aplanados os caminhos escabrosos. Estas coisas lhes farei; e não os desampararei.

以 賽 亞 書 42:16 (Chinese Union Version (Simplified))

16 我 要 引 瞎 子 行 不 认 识 的 道 , 领 他 们 走 不 知 道 的 路 ; 在 他 们 面 前 使 黑 暗 变 为 光 明 , 使 弯 曲 变 为 平 直 。 这 些 事 我 都 要 行 , 并 不 离 弃 他 们 。

Ésaïe 42:16 (La Bible du Semeur)

16 les aveugles, je les ferai marcher
sur une route qu'ils ne connaissent pas.
Oui, je les conduirai sur des sentiers dont ils ignorent tout.
Je transformerai devant eux leur obscurité en lumière
et leurs parcours accidentés en terrains plats.
Tout cela, je l'accomplirai
sans rien laisser d'inachevé.

Isaia 42:16 (La Nuova Diodati)

16Farò camminare i ciechi per una via che non conoscevano e li condurrò per sentieri sconosciuti; cambierò davanti a loro le tenebre in luce e i luoghi tortuosi in pianura. Queste cose farò per loro e non li abbandonerò.

I love to take photos that have symbolic meaning, at least to me. Here are more photos with a message. I took them on our trip to Europe last month.

13th-century Scheldt bridge (Pont-des-Trous)- Tournai, Belgium.

Roman ruins, Italica, Andalucia, Spain.

Roman ruins, Italica, Andalucia, Spain.

Cathedral, Cadiz, Spain.

A narrow passageway, Granada, Andalucia, Spain.
I love to take photos that have symbolic meaning, at least to me. Here are more photos with a message.

Street Signs in Spain


Run for it! Here come some crazy drivers!

Run faster!!!

Street signs in Cadiz. I thought that they were cute.

What do you do when every way forward is the wrong way? Go back! Go back!

A street sign on the property of La Alhambra in Granada, Spain. We thought it was funny.

Sunday, March 15, 2009

CHRIST THE DOOR INTO THE CHURCH


La Parroquia, Lebrija, Andalucía, España. Our daughter is teaching in that town this year. We visited her last month, and I took some photos. I really like this one.

These are beautiful words by the preacher Robert Murray McCheyne. Won't you enter into Christ's church? This happens when we are born again by the Holy Spirit of God. We then join a local body of believers called a church.

CHRIST THE DOOR INTO THE CHURCH
Robert Murray M’Cheyne
II. I come now to the second thing proposed, and that is, to shew you Christ's invitation. "I am the door; by me if any man enter in he shall be saved." There are many sweet invitations to sinners in the Bible; I have often felt these words to be the sweetest. There are some invitations addressed to those who are thirsty. It is said in Isaiah, "Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters," etc. Christ said on the last day, that great day of the feast, "If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink." And he says, near the end of Revelation, "I will give to him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely." Again, there are some invitations that are addressed to those that have a burden; "Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Again, there are some that are addressed to those who are prisoners; "Turn you to the stronghold ye prisoners of hope." But this appears to me the sweetest of all, for it is said, "If any man." It is not said, if any thirsty man, if any weary man, if any burdened man, but if any man enter in he shall be saved. I have seen some rich men's doors, where none could enter but the rich; and where the beggar must lie at the gate. But Christ's door is open to any man, whatever your life, whatever your character may be. Christ is not like the door of some churches, where none can enter in but the rich; Christ's door is open to the poor; "To the poor the gospel is preached." Some, perhaps, can say, "I am the vilest one in this congregation," yet Christ says, "Enter in." Some, perhaps, can say, "I have sinned more than all; I have sinned against my father, I have sinned against my mother, I have sinned against mercies, and against judgments, against the invitations of the gospel, and against light," yet Christ says, "Enter in."

Observe still farther that the invitation is not to look at the door, but to enter in. There are many that hear about the door, but that is not enough; it is to enter in at it. And there are many that like to hear about the door, but yet they do not enter in. Ah, my brethren, that's a great cheat of the devil. I am persuaded many of you will go away this day well pleased because you heard about the door, but you do not enter in. There are many that go a step farther, they look in at the door, but yet they do not enter in. I believe that many of you are often brought there; but when it comes to the point, that you must leave your idols, that you must leave your sins, you do not enter in. "By me, if any man enter in, he shall be saved."

Again, there are some who see other people enter in, but they do not enter in themselves. You, perhaps, have seen a father, or a mother, or a neighbour enter in; you have seen a change come over them, and a peace possess their minds, and you say, "I wish I were them"; but you do not enter in. Ah! if you would be saved, you must enter in at the door; convictions will not do, tears will not do, etc. And this is the reason why so many of you are not happy; you do not enter in.

I am the Door


A Hobbit's Door. At least it looked like one to me. This is a door in a wall in Northhamptonshire, England.
--------------
We were in Europe lately for a couple of weeks visiting friends and our daughter. Our daughter is in Spain.

I love taking photos of doors, windows, lights, flowers, and other random things. My pictures aren't all that great, but for me they carry a lot of meaning. I love the imagery of Christ being the Door. When I see a fascinating door, I think of Him.

John 10:9
I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.


Yes, it's a different kind of door that Jesus is talking about. The door mentioned in John 10 involves an opening in the stone wall of a sheepfold. It is the shepherd himself who fills that gap, so in a very real sense, the shepherd is the door, a good shepherd, anyway. Through this opening, the sheep can go in and out and find pasture, Christ said. At least that is what I am told.

The idea is that if anyone wants to be saved, he or she must believe in Jesus Christ their Savior. He is the only Savior, the only Door, the only entrance into God's sheepfold. In order to get into that relationship with God, a person has to pass through the Door, Jesus. He is the Good Shepherd who cares for the sheep in that way. He gives His life for His own. He did that by dying on the cross for our sins.

John 10:11
I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd gives his life for the sheep.


I found this one illustration of a sheepfold like the one that Jesus was talking about in John 10. Notice that the shepherd is sleeping in the opening. That way, no sheep can wander out into the darkness, and no predator can get in to kill the sheep. If necessary, the shepherd would give his life in defense of his sheep.

Christ did just that when He died on the cross and rose from the dead. He gave His life for His sheep, and now gives His life to His sheep, the ones who put their trust in Him.

Even so, I love ancient doors, especially the ones attatched to old cathedrals or old churches or just ancient buildings. We saw a lot of them in Europe, so I have a lot of door photos. Here are just a few. They are all in Spain. I liked Spain best. What an incredible empire they built!

A door in the wall around the Alcazar in Sevilla.

I think that this is a door into the parroquia in Lebrija.

I call this Door Vader. This is a sidedoor in the Parroquia in the town of Lebrija, where our daughter lives and teaches.

A door into an old monestary on the grounds of La Alhambra. This building is now a hotel.

A Moorish door in a building near La Alhambra in Granada.

Friday, March 13, 2009

Heaven


The view from a bedroom, Corner House, Grimscote, Northhamptonshire, England.

A George McDonald quote about Heaven.
Heaven
For the only air of the soul, in which it can breathe and live, is the present God and the spirits of the just: that is our heaven, our home, our all-right place...We shall be God's children on the little hills and in the fields of that heaven, not one desiring to be before another any more than to cast that other out; for ambition and hatred will then be seen to be one and the same spirit.