Monthly Archives: November 2012

Home, finally!!!!!  Catching a deep breath, napping, sitting by the fire, catching up on reports, it sure is great to be with my bride, and off the road!  I want to thank some people!  R.C., Jim, Snake, Wes, and Chuck, you guys are the best, what a wonderful workshop you ran, and so many people said they loved getting to know you all, and experience the fun and fellowship you helped provide!!!  To my coworkers in Nikon NPS, it was great to be with all of you in San diego and see some of the exciting things we all have to look forward to!  To the fantastic people that joined me in St. Louis for the Creve Coeur Camera programs, what a wonderful group of folks to share with, you guys were truly a delight!

 

Lastly, but by far, not the least, the great friends, brothers, and sisters that have prayed constantly for the new His Light Workshops.  The dream is coming true!!  This last trip was in many ways the natural evolution of what God is doing right in our midst!  The closeness of this group was something to experience.  The awesome love in the relationships, was a blessing for everyone that was there.  This was always the dream, a place where committed believers could enjoy learning, laughing, and deepening their walk with Him, and God is blessing our dreams, because it is in keeping with His will for our lives.  I sat in church Sunday morning and marveled at His goodness as we sang the song, “Because of Who You Are!”

 

Because of who You are, I give You glory
Because of who You are, I give You praise
Because of who You are, I will lift my voice and say
Lord I worship You, because of who You are
Lord I worship You, because of who You are.

 

 

Because of who You are, I give You glory
Because of who You are, I give You praise
Because of who You are, I will lift my voice and say
Lord I worship You, because of who You are
Lord I worship You, because of who You are.
Jehovah Jireh, my Provider
Jehovah Nissi, Lord You reign in victory
Jehovah Shalom, my Prince of Peace
And I worship You, because of who You Are

 

All honor and glory go to Him……

 

the pilgrim

 

My dear friend, John Gompf  sent this to me, I read it at 5:30 a.m., I had to share it, please do the same!

 

John 3:16 – I don’t understand it.

 

A little boy was selling newspapers on the corner,

the people were in and out of the cold.

 

 

The little boy was so cold that he wasn’t trying to sell

many papers.

 

 

He walked up to a policeman and said,

“Mister, you wouldn’t happen to know where a poor

boy could find a warm place to sleep tonight would you?

 

 

You see, I sleep in a box up around the corner there and

down the alley and its awful cold in there for tonight.

 

 

“Sure would be nice to have a warm place to stay.”

 

 

The policeman looked down at the little boy and said, “You

go down the street to that big white house and you knock

on the door. When they come out the door you just say

John 3:16 and they will let you in.”

 

 

So he did. He walked up the steps and knocked on the

door, and a lady answered. He looked up and said,

“John 3:16.” The lady said, “Come on in, Son.”

 

 

She took him in and she sat him down in a split bottom

rocker in front of a great big old fireplace, and she went

off. The boy sat there for a while and thought to himself:

John 3:16… I don’t understand it, but it sure makes

a cold boy warm.

 

 

Later she came back and asked him “Are you hungry?”

He said, “Well, just a little. I haven’t eaten in a couple of

days, and I guess I could stand a little bit of food,”

 

 

The lady took him in the kitchen and sat him down to a table

full of wonderful food. He ate and ate until he couldn’t eat

any more. Then he thought to himself:

John 3:16… Boy, I sure don’t understand it but it sure

makes a hungry boy full.

 

 

She took him upstairs to a bathroom to a huge bathtub

filled with warm water, and he sat there and soaked for a

while. As he soaked, he thought to himself: John 3:16 …

I sure don’t understand it, but it sure makes a dirty boy

clean. You know, I’ve not had a bath, a real bath, in my

whole life. The only bath I ever had was when I stood in

front of that big old fire hydrant as they flushed it out.

The lady came in and got him. She took him to a room,

tucked him into a big old feather bed, pulled the covers

up around his neck, kissed him goodnight and turned out

the lights. As he lay in the darkness and looked out the

window at the snow coming down on that cold night,

he thought to himself: John 3:16 … I don’t understand it

but it sure makes a tired boy rest.

 

 

The next morning the lady came back up and took him

down again to that same big table full of food. After he

ate, she took him back to that same big old split bottom

rocker in front of the fireplace and picked up a big old Bible.

 

 

She sat down in front of him and looked into his young face.

“Do you understand John 3:16?” she asked gently. He

replied, “No, Ma’am, I don’t. The first time I ever heard it

was last night when the policeman told me to use it,”

She opened the Bible to John 3:16 and began to explain

to him about Jesus. Right there, in front of that big old fireplace,

he gave his heart and life to Jesus. He sat there

and thought: John 3:16 . don’t understand it, but it sure

makes a lost boy feel safe.

 

 

You know, I have to confess I don’t understand it either,

how God was willing to send His Son to die for me, and how

Jesus would agree to do such a thing. I don’t understand

the agony of the Father and every angel in heaven as

they watched Jesus suffer and die. I don’t understand the intense

love for ME that kept Jesus on the cross till the end.

I don’t understand it, but it sure does make life worth living.

 

 

John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only

begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should

not perish, but have everlasting life.

 

 

 

Jesus said, “If you are ashamed of me, I will be ashamed

of you before my Father.” Pass this on only if you mean it.

 

 

I do Love God. He is my source of existence. He keeps

me functioning each and every day. Phil 4:13  If you love

God and are not ashamed of all the marvelous things he

has done for you, send this on to others.

 

 

All you do is:

 

1) Simply say a small prayer for the person who sent you this,

“Father, God bless this person in whatever it is that You know

he or she may be needing this day  In Jesus Name  Amen !”

 

2) Then pray for those with whom you share this and then place it in God’s hands!

 

Be blessed,

 

the pilgrim

 

……..and thank you John, both Johns, biblical, and earthly!

 

It seems that so many times in my life, I find myself back at the beginning!  I think that I allow myself to think that I can see the plan, the mission and then God surprises me by moving the bar and putting me back at the starting point!  I promise to stop talking about the workshop that just ended soon, but I have one more point I want to make about what happened at the workshop.  We had an opportunity to minister to an individual and the resulting time among about eight or nine of us was an amazing outpouring of love. Several of the attendees really stepped up to the plate and delivered powerful words of encouragement, and showed real love for the individual.  It was a great lesson is the value of the body of Christ and the various talents, and experiences we all bring to the table.

 

I was amazed at how quickly members of the group jumped in and did their part in witnessing God’s love and forgiveness.  I’m not going to identify any of these folks because I know they all were doing what they did because of how much they love the Lord and wanted to serve Him.  The person that was being prayed for was profoundly affected and those prayers will continue to bring good into their life.  The point I really want to make is that real, powerful things happen when such a special group of people like this gather and commit to one another.  I have to believe that these moments in time on earth are only a small foretaste of what heaven will be like.

 

I want to thank every person that came to the workshop and gave so unselfishly of themselves to see to that the others had a great time!  So I thought I knew where this was heading, and once again God has opened by eyes to bigger and better things than I could have ever imagined.  That’s just like my Heavenly Father, He delights in surprising us with more blessings than we can contain!

 

Blessed,

 

the pilgrim

 

Tomorrow, I fly from San Diego to St. Louis to deliver four one hour programs in two days, please pray that I deliver what the the people need, and what God desire for me to share.

 

 

Last week as I traveled with my team and twenty friends to photograph the spectacular Golden circle of Arizona and Utah’s national Parks and wild lands, I thought this is truly God’s Majesty in earthly form.  Over the past 43 years, I’ve had the privilege of traveling around the world, and photographed every imaginable land form.  Every time I come back to this region I think it is truly among the most spectacular on earth.  The one morning that we went up into the canyon at Zion and photographed the cottonwoods, (above), was one of the most pleasant times for me.  I loved the sheer beauty of these wonderful trees against the back drop of the canyon walls.  Zion National Park is truly one of the most awe inspiring places in the national park system.  But it goes well beyond the sheer natural beauty.

 

Zion is a park that was established because of the close connection the early settlers had between this land and their God.  Every feature in the park has a biblical reference.

 

Zion |ˈzīən| (also Sion)noun1 the hill of Jerusalem on which the city of David was built.• the citadel of ancient Jerusalem.• Jerusalem.• (in Christian thought) the heavenly city or kingdom of heaven.• the Jewish people or religion.• the Christian Church.

 

Man has always been moved to associate the best and most magnificent things he sees and experiences with his God.  I personally find many things in life that overwhelm me as an example of God’s goodness and love.  My family, my brothers and sisters in Christ, the beauty of His creation.  All of these things cause a welling up of the joy in my spirit. My dear brother Chuck Summers writes often on his blog (  http://www.seeingcreation.com/  ) about the relationship of faith and honoring God and his magnificent creation here on earth.  I love the creation, but i worship God the Creator, as does Chuck.

 

I find tremendous peace being out in what god has created and I found even more hoy being with the great friends he lent us on this journey.  I pray daily for their protection, welfare and continued blessing form our God.

 

Today’s Prayer:  Heavenly Father, thank you for the great blessings of your creation, but even more for the greater blessing of fellowship with your children!  I pray that you will hold each and every one of them close to your heart, protect and guide them, and fill them with a never ending knowledge o your deep love for them!  I pay that as they gather with family and friends on Thanksgiving that their hearts will be filled with unsurpassed  joy and thanksgiving.    In Jesus precious name I pray, Amen.

 

Blessings,

 

the pilgrim

 

 

*Photo Note:  D800, Nikon 24-120 AF-S VR f4 lens.