Tag: Top 10 Nomination

“Take Courage, Son.”

The following is an excerpt from the Sermon: “Take Courage, Son,” in which Jesus heals the paralytic after declaring the man’s sins forgiven. 

Forgiven Sins

“Take courage, son; your sins are forgiven.”

The second monumental statement is one the paralytic did not expect… But it is what the paralytic needed the most: his sins were forgiven.

Do you see that? We want the miracles, the relief from suffering, the healings. Yet, what we need most is the forgiveness that Jesus gives us. We need the atonement. We need the cleansing.

And so often, we forget this truth. We need the forgiveness Jesus brings, more than temporal success. We need forgiveness more that temporal peace.

While the temporal healings, peace, and provisions, are helpful to us in the here and now, the forgiveness found in Christ is the eternal blessing that we need the most.

You can listen to the full sermon here.

Out and About: Marquise Pro

Rerun: originally posted March 28, 2020. 

Heidi and I took advantage of the sunny weather and walked over to an area super market to get some yellow onions. I know, probably too much information. But that was what we were doing when we rounded the corner of the Hobby Lobby and heard someone playing a saxophone, and playing it well.

Marquise Pro had set up shop, was playing away, collecting tips, and bringing a bit of joy to people’s day. What a sweet surprise. I’m not sure whether or not Pro is his real surname, or his professional name. But it was fitting for the way he handled the saxophone. I wanted to pull up a curb and listen for a while.

Another reason it was special is because it highlights the theme of my series Out and About. The series is focusing on the fact that even though there is the threat of coronavirus, death, or a mild ticket from the local constable, people are still going about their lives. We need more people like Marquise. Hopefully we will get back to normal, whatever normal is, soon.

You can find more out about Marquise here, it’s his website.

All photos are copyright © Timothy J. Hammons, 2022.

Top Photos of 2020, Volume 3.

PLEASE VOTE: it only takes a few seconds. I keep getting all these views, and only a few people are voting. Thanks. 

I should have the tallies from the first day of voting later today. As I mentioned yesterday, Andy’s picture is leading the way.

Today’s pictures have two shots from outside contributors. The first is the family shot, which my son in-law Justin took. He loved the shot because I was the only one paying attention.

The second shot was contributed by my daughter in-law, Jessica, of her two wonderful children: Anthony and Annaliese.

I took the final shot back in the last decade and it is one of my favorite pictures of Joey.

I guess you could say this is the family edition of Top 2020 pictures. More to come. Working on posts for next week as well. Keep checking back and voting. Thank you for all those who have and continue to do so.

And please, you are under no obligations whatsoever to vote for my son, Joey, over the rest of the family. I would never put that kind of pressure on you. Besides, only Google, Facebook, Twitter, and the deep state really know how you voted.

 

Top Photos of 2020, Volume 2. Please Vote

This is the second installment for determining the top photos of 2020 on my blog, and I think that I should point out, that this is a fair and equitable election. I am not using any Dominion voting machines. Each poll will be open for 2 days, and you can only vote once.

As I write this, the first poll shows the picture of Andy in a commanding lead over the Glassy Sunset an Amber, the Golden Retriever. In fact, as I write this, the dog has yet to score a single vote. I thought for sure, dog lovers would rise to the occasion.

In this post we have Avery. Taking her picture was when I realized how good pictures can be of children you don’t know. Her eyes, and look of suspicion, make the shot. Well, the lighting does as well. The concrete wall was reflecting the sun up into her face, which is why we can see her vivid expression.

The second shot is of Marquis Pro playing the saxophone, although it’s mostly of the sax. It’s one of my favorites because of the way it is framed, and the reflections in the saxophone itself.

The third shot is another endeavor into the artistic world and is a bell from The Virginia that I took back in 2007. It’s one of the pictures that brings to mind the sounds of the gulls, and the smell of the sea. I miss those things.

 

Top Photos of 2020, Please Vote. Round 1.

I’ve never done this before, but thought I would give it a shot. Instead of me deciding which are my best top 10 photos of the year, I thought I would let my viewers decide. 

So for the next several days, I will publish posts with three of the best photos, according to internal polls (me), and you decide on which one is the best. I will run the top 10 when we have figured out which ones they are.

Vote below… winning photos will advance…

UPDATE: I fixed the polling so that you can only vote once, and the poll closes after 2 days. 

 

 

Reformation Day: Revere

In my last post, I mentioned that I had a purpose in bringing my camera to the Reformation Day celebration. The purpose was Revere. When I met him in church, and saw his eyes, my first thought was that I needed to get my camera. Reformation Day provided the excuse. He has the biggest eyes of any baby I think I have ever seen. His mother informed me that it runs in the family. Revere’s grandfather had the same big eyes.

I wasn’t sure how to get the best pictures of him, since he was either being held by his father or mother or someone else. As we were beginning to eat, I noticed that Revere was crawling around the couch, so I grabbed my camera and took a few shots. It wasn’t working, so I sat down on the couch to put my camera back in the camera bag. Revere immediately pulled himself up next to the couch and started moving toward me.

“Now’s my chance.” I started taking pictures, and he kept crawling my way, then up my legs, and into my lap. Apparently, he wanted to pull on someone’s beard.

Andy, my son, took the pictures of me with Revere.

Copyright Timothy J. Hammons 2020.

Reformation Day: Look of Suspicion

When I heard about the Reformation Day gathering, I immediately thought of taking my camera because I wanted to take pictures of one particular child (blog post to follow) who has rather large eyes.

I love taking pictures of toddlers and young children who don’t know me, because they are really suspicious of who I am, and they give some of the best facial expressions. See Penny, Cyrus, and Peter below:

 

All photos Copyright Timothy J. Hammons 2020.

Reformation Day: The Bear

Reformation Day is a small celebration among Protestants in the area of Christianity known as Reformed. Most of these Protestants follow the Biblical truths put forth by John Calvin, a contemporary of Martin Luther, and leader of the Reformation in Geneva. His main thesis, in what is called Calvinism, is the sovereignty of God in all things. This sovereignty emphasizes man’s inability to save himself, and God’s overwhelming grace in saving a people to Himself, through Jesus Christ. To the Calvinist, as it was for Paul, no one seeks God… there is none who does good (Romans 3:11-12). This emphasizes that those who are saved, are saved by God’s grace alone, in Christ alone.

These truths was part of what Martin Luther declared when he posted his theses on the Wittenberg Door on October 31, 1517. The actual 95 Theses was over the abuses of the Roman Catholic church and its popes. But his driving issue, and posted on the door prior to the 95 Theses, was over justification by faith alone in Christ alone. That doctrine is the heart of the gospel, and at the heart of those of us who are called Reformed.

All that Luther and Calvin worked for, was a reformation of the church. The Roman Catholic church of the day, taught that man could earn his salvation by doing good works and earning enough merit to work their way out of purgatory into heaven. But Paul showed this not to be the case (Ephesians 2:8-10). We are saved by faith in Christ, not our works. Amen and amen. For if our works are tainted with the least bit of sin, they are rejected by God. We need the works of another, one who was perfect: Jesus Christ.

It is for this reason we remember October 31, 1517 and call it Reformation Day. Our celebration is not a mandate of God, but something we do with thanksgiving that God worked through men like Luther and Calvin for the purity of the gospel.

The following pictures were taking at our Reformation gathering and feature Arthur, also known as “Bear.” More pics to follow in the coming days.

All photos Copyright Timothy J. Hammons 2020.

A Glimpse of Heaven Above Cloudcroft NM

One of the biblical truths that I have recently discovered, is that after Christ returns, He will make a new heaven and a new earth. In this new creation, those who have glorified bodies will walk, live, and glorify the King of kings. I think that places like the ones below are a small glimpse of the glory and beauty that the new heavens and new earth possess. In fact, something tells me that with all the beauty found below, it will pale in comparison to the new creation.

Yet, I rejoice at the beauty found above the town of Cloudcroft, N.M. It gently screams of the glory of our Creator.

 

 

The Schooner Virginia

From a visit to the Schooner Virginia back in 2007 with my sister and niece. Realize that the Virginia was built back in 2004, which is amazing that someone would undertake such an endeavor in modern times. I think more of these ships should be built.

The Schooner you see under full sail is the Alliance. I don’t know that much about her.

 

Out and About: Avery

The sun came out on Tuesday for the first time in a fortnight, so I grabbed my camera and headed to Bishop Park in Plano, TX. Meet Avery. I know absolutely nothing about her, other than the fact that she didn’t want me to take her picture. Her mother did. In the conflict of wills, her mother won, and so did we. Avery is truly a beautiful little girl.

As you can see from the last photo, I did get her to smile.