Saturday, May 24, 2014

Praising God for His Creation

This star trail photo is 61 stacked images taken across the course of 28 minutes with the meteor streaking around 3:20am. Polaris, the North Star, is in the middle of the photograph with all others rotating around it.

Thanks be to God for the beautiful night. Even though NASA may have botched the meteor predictions, we did photograph one meteor and we saw two ourselves through the night. We also enjoyed hanging out with Caleb Taber while stargazing. These photos were shot with my 5 year old Nikon D3000 that I bought used. Thanks Don and Jennifer Page for letting church folks use your yard! These photos were taken in Wheatland, IN between 9pm and 3:30am by Christopher Wiles.

Psalm 19:1-6, 14 NIV
"The heavens declare the glory of God;
    the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
Day after day they pour forth speech;
    night after night they reveal knowledge.
They have no speech, they use no words;
    no sound is heard from them.
Yet their voice goes out into all the earth,
    their words to the ends of the world.
In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun.
    It is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber,
    like a champion rejoicing to run his course.
It rises at one end of the heavens
    and makes its circuit to the other;
    nothing is deprived of its warmth.
14 May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart
    be pleasing in your sight,
    Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer."
Just a pretty shot starting off the evening.


Me with a flashlight testing some of the camera settings.
— in Wheatland, IN.


Jarek with a flashlight testing camera settings indoors.
— with Jalayna Page in Wheatland, IN.


Jarek with a flashlight testing camera settings indoors.
— with Jennifer Page and Jalayna Page in Wheatland, IN.


Photo #1 No Filter
— in Wheatland, IN.


Photo #1 Filter #1
— in Wheatland, IN.


Photo #1 Filter #2
— in Wheatland, IN.


Photo #1 Filter #3
— in Wheatland, IN.


Photo #1 Filter #4
— in Wheatland, IN.


Photo #1 Filter #5
— in Wheatland, IN.


Star Trails #1 - The first star trail photo. It is four stacked images taken across the course of 4 minutes.
— in Wheatland, IN.


Star Trails #2 - The second star trail photo. It is nine stacked images taken across the course of 4 minutes. I moved the camera in the 9th image creating the extra trails.
— in Wheatland, IN.


Maybe we got one? There are three odd short trails in the lower left corner. I think they were lightning bugs, but they are in the exact location that I saw a meteor earlier with my naked eye. Ashley's foot makes an appearance in the lower left corner.

Star Trails #3 - The third star trail photo. It is 29 stacked images taken across the course of 14 minutes.
— with Ashley Wiles in Wheatland, IN.

Thursday, May 22, 2014

Living Lesson: "Teaching Them To Share"

Living Lessons for Sunday, May 25th, 2014
“Teaching them to share”: By Christopher Wiles
     Sharing is a big deal in our house.  Seriously, when you have two home-schooled boys who are close in age, sleeping in the same rooms, and doing a lot of the same things all day long, teaching kids to share is a priority!  Yet I’m not just talking about sharing toys, even though it is important.  Even more of a priority is sharing in household responsibilities, sharing conversation around the dinner table, and sharing in doing encouraging things for each other.  Sharing is a big deal to us

     The church is often likened to a family or a household in the New Testament (Eph 2:19) with our identity as an adopted children in the Father's family punctuated with this exclamation in Romans 8:15, For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry,  “Abba! Father!”
     Since you and I are a family with the same Abba, Father, then sharing should matter within our church too shouldn't it?  I'm not just talking about sharing the building reservations, pews, songbooks or monetary blessings though.  I’m thinking about sharing in responsibilities and spiritual conversations, like my own family.  Let’s consult what the early church did to share like a family in 1 Corinthians 14:26b, When you come together, each of you has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation.  Isn't it amazing that each one coming together had something to share?  The following verses of chapter 14 give structure and stability to that sharing but let’s not miss the fact of this verse, everyone had something to share. 
    Too often churches attract receivers instead of sharers.  Receivers are people who attend only expecting to receive something from the sermon, song selection, and prayer requests, even though the early church operated differently.  Let’s not be receivers only, because our church is stronger when everyone shares.  Share your spiritual thoughts with the person next to you in the pew.  Share a scripture with an elder that has been on your heart this week.  Share in teaching Bible classes, leading worship, preaching a sermon.  Share by putting your thoughts on the church sign or in a church bulletin article.  Whatever you have from the Lord, there is an appropriate place to share it. 

     Above all, make sure you are serving your neighbor, studying scripture, and praising God throughout the week so that when we come together Sunday morning, Sunday night, and Wednesday evening, you too may have something to share with the family.