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Saw this on a wall. No clue what it means.

Kind of makes me wonder about the messages I leave scrawled about. What do people think I mean, think I represent, think about the meaning I’m trying to convey? What meaning are they hearing anyways.

Communication is more than just images, letters, or sounds. Its sharing definitions and ideas. A shared language.

The apostle Paul suggested that people who believe in the hope of Jesus are like an aroma of life to the world around them. They convey (or should) some meaning and message that gives fullness, richness, completeness to the culture, people, and world around them.

So, what am I saying to the time/place around me? Am I smelling of life, or am I just writting letters on walls that mean something to me, but don’t connect to anyone else?

Are you?

Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®

Posted in General Rants

I have spent today working.

I didn’t have to punch in anywhere, didn’t have a boss, and didn’t even have to shower (although I did!). Today I was working from home. I was working for my business.

That is wired for me to say. I have a business.

100000words is (as of this weekend) a business in the state of Oregon.

Holy crap! I have a career!

I’m still kickin’ it at JazzKats Coffee Bar and the Rhinelander (gots to pay them bills), but those are my day jobs. I am a professional photographer and designer.

Never really thought I would be able to say that.

After high-school, I didn’t take the ‘American path to adult hood’- work yourself through school so that you can finally have a decent job and finally make some cash. That course just wasn’t for me. I have too much artist in these bones.

For a long time, I didn’t really know what I wanted to do with my life. I figured that I would I would just find an ok job and work to pay the bills while I tried to serve a church somewhere and maybe be a writer. Not a bad idea, but really nebulous and direction less at its core.

After Sarah and I moved to Portland, she bought me a camera (my Nikon d40- freakn’ love this thing!). I started taking pictures, and found it to be a real joy. I mean, I never got sick of taking pictures… I still don’t.

Then, an idea got into my head: why couldn’t I do this for a living? People say I have a good eye (check out my flickr stream and judge for your self), and even though I have a lot to learn I seem to be pretty good at it. Long story short, I got hooked up with KJB Design Photography doing weddings, and thus a career was birthed, surprisingly painlessly.

In the process, I also discovered that this eye is good for design. So, I started designing business cards, fliers, web elements… pretty much anything I needed. I have gotten chances to design things for others, and they have liked my product. Sweet!

Example 1: this is a post card image I was doing today for First Methodist in AK:

Seriously, this thing has been so much fun to make!

So, not only do I have a career, but it’s something I enjoy doing!

Being married and getting pregnant has done something to me. It has filled me out, completing me in ways I never thought would happen.

All that time I spent in my early twenties sort of floating about, dreaming of an artsy job to support my ’some day’ family… that was my heart reaching out saying “This is what I was made to do. This is part of who I am!” Only, I never really knew it.

But now, I have a wife and a coming child (oh… and two cats, can’t forget them) to take care of, not just support. This has fulfilled me, given me direction and clarity, and made me realize (largely thanks to Sarah’s belief in me and her constant affirmation) that I can do what I have dreamed about. I am able to do this, and to do it well! …even if,(for now) I have to work elsewhere to get all the bills covered. I will always do whatever it takes to make sure that our bills are paid and food is on the table. But, sometimes that’s not enough.

I’m not saying I want a huge ass house and three cars or any of that shit. I do want my family to thrive though. They cant thrive if I’m not happy, because I’ll be draining away their joy. Or worse, I’ll just be absent. So I will take care of them, I will be around, not working late to squeeze out some extra money. I will (someday) be able to be home with my wife and kids. They will see me work, know that when I have appointments I will be home later and we will play, and I will be present in their lives just as they will be present in mine. They will see that I freaking love my work, that I work hard at it,  and I hope it will inspire them to follow their passions.

And they will see me serve.

One reason I love the idea that is slowly coming to reality of working for myself as a free lance photographer/designer is that I will have time to serve other people. I will have time to be more and more a part of the Evergreen Community. I will have time to take friends out to lunch, for coffee, have people over for breakfast. I will have time to be involved in peoples lives.

And I’ll have a kick ass job career that I love.

For now, our bills are getting paid (sometimes barley, but it’s enough), I do get to have lots of time with Sarah (my beautiful wife), and I get to start a kick ass career making images that dont suck and taking awesome pictures.

That rocks.

P.S.-You should hire me to do something for you.

Posted in General Rants Tagged: Me and my foibles, Personal Rant, work

Today I feel scattered.

Its one of those days when ideas seem distant, out there in the fog and I am unable to get more than just a glimpse.

Days like this, I feel clumsy and far from life. I feel far from God.

I used to gauge the health of my relationship with Jesus based on how I felt, my emotional state and my ability to dwell on thoughts of him. Day to day, I fluxuate, in part due to my bipolar condition, and in part because I am human. We are all easily tossed by life and effected by our sleep, health, what we eat and drink, and the environment around us. While these things can (and do) effect the quality of the way we walk with Jesus, they do not determine the overall health of the relationship.

Sometimes we just have off days.

During the last supper, Jesus took time to wash the feet of those he was with. It was a servants task that he took upon himself.

Peter had a freak out about it, saying ‘Lord, I won’t let you demean your self like this!’ Jesus responds, ‘Unless you let me do this, your not one of mine.’ So, peter goes for the gusto, ‘In that case, don’t stop at my feet. Here in my head and body too!’

Jesus’ response has been on my mind today, ‘Someone who has already taken a bath only needs there feet washed.’

I hear Jesus telling me to let him was my feet. To let him get rid of the shit and dust that clings to me as I walk around in this broken world. Hear him asking me let him center me on himself. Something that I need (but don’t think I can do right now).

Its not just the pridefull times in our lives that we need to be washed of, times when we willfully follow our own desires instead of trying to live like Jesus. Its the everyday build up of grime and weariness, the clinging stuff from our jobs, our family, friends, our self. Things that we can’t quite shake. The tragedy we head in the news, the way that person treated me, the in effectiveness of our selves in our world. Its our failure to be a good husband, father, friend, the weariness of not enough sleep, days that are too hot or too cold. It is life that we need to let Jesus wash us of so that we don’t get tangled up, strangled by a broken life and a weary world.

We need to be renewed so that we can be a source of life and light to this place we find our self, our friends, family, jobs, our community.

And Jesus is the renewer of life, the cleaner of feet.

So, when I have days like this, days of scattered mind and heart, days when its hard to believe because I am apathetic, days like today… its these days I need to remember I am made right with God because of Jesus, and I am kept fresh in this relationship ( and thus in the world) by this same Jesus: the suffering servant, the giver of life. Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®

Posted in General Rants

UPDATE: Be sure to check out Bob’s comment. Its a good response to balance out who actually *is* a weaker brother/sister.

Bob Hyatt posted this to twitter Monday morning (link here, if you really need to read it).

Quick synopsis: a “discernment blog” looked at an interview of Tim Keller and decided that he has/is giving up the true gospel in favor of some liberalized form of spirituality that they see cropping up everywhere in the American church.

(For those who don’t know, “discernment blogs” specialize in pointing out what they see as errors in other Christians beliefs, practices, and teachings. Basically, they have taken it upon them selves to guard their version of Biblical Christianity, declare it as the only real Christianity, and to denounce any and all who disagree with them.)

I really get fed up with these “defenders of the one true faith” running around and deciding who is in with Jesus and who isn’t. Usually, my initial reaction to these kind of blogs and articles is anger and dismissal.

But today, I was prompted to think about 1 Corinthians 8.

A while back, the Evergreen community (my church) walked through the book if 1 Corinthians. We saw how Paul kept urging and arguing for unity within the Corinth church. He appealed first and foremost to the fact that the church was/is Christ’s church, not Paul’s, not Appolos’, not Peter’s, and not some ’super apostles’ either. The church was created by Jesus, equipped by Jesus, and made whole by Jesus as he worked in/through the individual people who together made up his church.

One of the direct implications of this truth is how we who try and live life in the way of Jesus treat others who are trying to live out this Jesus life. Paul addresses several issues of how we live and worship together in this letter.

A major concern in Corinth was eating meat. More specifically, some people in the church were having a hard time eating any meat that was bought in the common marketplace because it had probably mostly for sure been taken from an animal that had been sacrificed in worship to an idol or other god. These people were trying to follow Jesus, so its understandable (and right) that they didn’t want to have anything to do with worship to something other than Jesus.

That wouldn’t have been that big a deal (maybe just a church of vegetarians), except that not everyone had the same concerns. Some members of the church in Corinth had no problem eating meat that might have come from some other religious ceremony. In fact, they were so unconcerned about it that if they went somewhere for dinner and the host flat out told them what idol of god the meat was sacrificed for, they would just dig right in unconcerned in any way. For them, it was just meat. Offering it to an idol meant nothing because they saw Jesus as the only true god. Any one/thing else was empty and meant nothing.

So, there was a debate; which side was right? Should we be extra cautious so as not to take part in anything that has to do with worship to another god, or should we relish in the knowledge that idols are worthless and we eat to the glory of the only true god regardless of from whom or where the meat comes from?

Paul puts it like this:

1Now concerning food sacrificed to idols: we know that ‘all of us possess knowledge.’ Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up…4 Hence, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that ‘no idol in the world really exists’, and that ‘there is no God but one.’… 6 for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and 7 It is not everyone, however, who has this knowledge. Since some have become so accustomed to idols until now, they still think of the food they eat as food offered to an idol; and their conscience, being weak, is defiled. 8‘Food will not bring us close to God.’ We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do. 9But take care that this liberty of yours does not somehow become a stumbling-block to the weak. 10For if others see you, who possess knowledge, eating in the temple of an idol, might they not, since their conscience is weak, be encouraged to the point of eating food sacrificed to idols? 11So by your knowledge those weak believers for whom Christ died are destroyed. 12But when you thus sin against members of your family, and wound their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. 13Therefore, if food is a cause of their falling, I will never eat meat, so that I may not cause one of them to fall.

Taken from the NRSV

1 Corinthians 8 is a passage I have heard preached and taught about most of my life. To be honest, its always been troublesome to me. Inevitably, the comparison is made to drinking or watching R rated movies or listening to ’secular’ music or some other issue of ‘morality’ and personal sensibility.

That has never felt like a completely correct fit for this passage.

Ya, I don’t want to offend other Christians with the way I live my life (usually), but is the modern day comparison of meat sacrificed to idols really weather or not I listen to ‘Christian radio’ exclusively? Is it really a matter of weaker conscious for someone with an alcohol problem if I order a beer with my dinner?

Paul seems to be dealing with not a morality issue (well, not here anyways) but rather a worship issue.
Some people had come from a history where idols carried weight in there life. In trying to leave an old life behind, shed an old belief system and embrace the truth of Christ and gospel, they were still in the habit of thinking (believing) that an idol or another god really was something to worry about. ‘I worship Christ! How can you ask me to eat meat that has been blessed in reverence to Diana?’

Paul urges people with out these convictions, people with stronger consciences, people who knew better to not be pride full and arrogant bastards with their knowledge. Rather, they were called to love their weaker brothers and sisters and to not exercise the freedom that their knowledge granted in ways that would cause the weaker in the community to stumble.

So, how can I who knows better actually love my weaker brothers and sisters who don’t have the same freed conscious I do?

These ‘discernment blogs’ are just one of the many voices I hear telling me about boundaries I should have in my spiritual life. I shouldn’t do contemplative prayer, meditation, or use prayer beads. I should dress sharper, not get tattoos, piercings, or have long hair. I shouldn’t use ‘bad language’, listen to ’secular music’, drink or read most of the books I do.

Rhetoric like that pisses me off… but if I take a step back, I can hear them really telling me not to eat meat. See, most people who take up this kind of speech (most) are doing so out of concern for how Christians should be living and worshiping Jesus.

It’s a worship issue.

Personally, I see that tattoos, piercings, ‘bad words’, music, dress, types of meditation, different spiritual practices, etc… is usually not a big deal at all. They do nothing detrimental to my worship of Jesus. They are empty in and of them selves, and can actually become something filled with the light and life of Christ.

But, not everyone shares my stronger conscious. So, what can I do to love them, and not just get pissed off and dismiss them as meaningless quacks (although some are)?

I think this is a question we emerging Church types need to really wrestle with more than we have. What does it mean/look like to love our brothers and sisters whose conscious does not give them the liberties we have?

Posted in General Rants Tagged: Bible, Church, God thoughts/ God walks, Jesus, Kingdom Themes, questions, teaching, Theology

One year ago, my wife and I were married.

The ceremony was at 5pm, on the beach at SeaSide, OR.

The reception was a blast. We had a bonfire with lots of good family & friends.

There aren’t words to tell you how happy I am that I married this woman.

It has been a rough year, full of hard times and challenges.

It’s also been full of us growing together, individually and as a couple.

It’s been a year that we have both learned to trust God, and see his goodness in one-another.

She is amazing, the love of my life, a precious gift from God.

In just over eight months, a child is going to be born, our first kid.

I’m so excited!

Really, overjoyed and exploding with happyness.

I’m so happy that Sarah and I are going to have many more years and aniversieries together.

I love you Sarah.

Here are the vows I spoke to her at the wedding. I still mean every word:

I Aaron take you Sarah to be my constant friend, my faithful lover, the mother of my children, and my wife from this day forward. In the presence of God, our family, and friends, I offer you my solemn vow to be yours in times of plenty and in times of want, in times of sickness and in times of health, in good times and in bad, in times of failure and times of triumph, in joy and in sorrow. I promise to love you unconditionally, to cherish and respect you, to care for and protect you, to support you in your goals, to laugh with you and cry with you, to comfort and encourage you, to honor you and stay with you as long as we both shall live.

I give you this ring as a symbol of my love, my faith in our strength together, and my covenant to learn and grow with you. All that I am and all that I have I give to you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

Posted in General Rants

Mike (from Fenbi) wants you to rock!

Josie (Bob Hyatt’s youngest) sharing her smiles with us. (Bob shares one of his favorites here)

Speaking of Bob, here he is on Sunday at the Evergreen gathering in the NW Lucky Lab.

Just a few of my favorite shots from last week.

Posted in General Rants Tagged: favorites, Photography, Photos, Pics

I took this picture of my wife while we were wandering around out side of JazzKat’s Coffee Bar in the Hollywood district the other day.

I really like how the background color brings out the darker red in her hair.

Post processing: I brought up the contrast, dropped the exposure a bit, and added the rounded corners/slight drop shadow.

Posted in General Rants Tagged: friday photos, Photography, Photos, Sarah

I think i should get some gas…

Posted in General Rants

Camera: Nikon d40. I like how easy it is to use. The controls are very intuitive (at least for me). It’s also really light. I can carry it in hand or around my neck for hours and not get tired. Some day, I may think about getting a more advanced body (I really like the D90, D5000, and the D300) but I’ll never get rid of my D40. It’s just so much fun.

Lenses: Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6g and a Nikkor 55-200mm f4-5.6 g. Sometimes, it’s a pain changing between two lenses. But, you get used to it… and fairly fast as well. These two lenses give me all the range I need. I’m able to get landscapes, upclose and personal shots, zoomed in to fine detail, and anything else I can think of. The quality and duribilty of these lense is great. These are the foundation of my photography. Any lenses I may aquire in the future can’t replace these two go to guys.

Other toys: Vivitar 225 flash. I inherited this from my dad. It’s a great little guy, and i’m really excited as I play and learn it more. I also got a few lense filters from him. With digital white balance, they are kind of unnecessary. But still fun.

I picked up a infrared wireless remote for my D40 (really, a must have for anyone), and a tripod to round out my gear.

That’s my equipment. That is all I really need.

And I like it that way. Too often, I hear people getting into photography talking about more and more equipment. They need this lense, that flash, that new camera body… Equipment does not make good pictures. Tools can help you maximise your skills and give you a wider range of shooting options, but they ain’t gonna turn your snapshots into photographs, if you know what I mean.

Keep it simple. Focus on your photography. Learn your camera and the lenses you have. It’s cheaper, and much more enjoyable.

That being said, I do want to pick up a SB-900 AF Speedlight, something along the lines of a SB_R200 Wireless Speedlight, and an 43″-60″umbrella reflector with stand to round out my lighting system. However, it is only after I have used the gear I have (and love) that I can say these things will enhance the photography I am trying to make into my career. If I never aquire these lights, I’ll be ok. I will still make great pictures, and still have a would of photographic options before me.

Get to know and love the gear you have. It will save you money, hassle, and is just another step to becoming a great photographer.

(man that last line sounded cheesy…)

Posted in General Rants Tagged: gear, links, Photography, Photos