Category Archives: Religion

Boone FUMC, Holidays, Jodie Cue, Kio, Mom, Night, Street Photography, Teresa

That’s Life

December 5, 2018 Christopher D. Bennett 3 Comments

If you’re not in the parade, you watch the parade. That’s life.
-Mike Ditka

Last Thursday was the annual lighted parade in Boone. I’m sure it has a proper name, but I don’t know what it is.

As a member of the Outreach Committee, I was part of the team that put together the “float” for the lighted parade. Unfortunately, we didn’t garner very many volunteers and I had to call a couple people last minuted just to borderline half fill our “people carrier”.

Although most people would not consider it a failure, I sorta do. That is okay. We learn more from our failures than we do from our successes. That means at the 2019 lighted parade, we will be back with a vengeance!

Here are some pictures from the event:

Santa was infatuated with my beard. He really wanted me to join the Santa union or something. Told me I could make $100 an hour as a “real beard Santa”. Maybe sometime, but I’m not ready for the Santa gig yet.

Boone FUMC, Event, Holidays, Kio, Panorama

2 Corinthians 9:11

December 4, 2018 Christopher D. Bennett 3 Comments

For the last, oh, 15 or so years, my church has hosted a free Thanksgiving dinner.

It is open to anybody and it is 100% free. We don’t ask for an “at will donation”. We don’t put out baskets for donations. It is 100% free.

I went down there for the first shift to take some photographs to submit to the newspaper.

Here are a few pictures from the day:

Boone First United Methodist Church's Free Thanksgiving

You can check out more pictures from the event by clicking on the link below:

Boone First United Methodist Thanksgiving

If you are looking for a church where you can serve and worship and awesome God, I attend Boone First United Methodist Church.

We have 2 worship services on Sundays.

A Traditional Service at 9 AM.
A Contemporary Service at 11 AM.

We also have a variety of Youth Groups on Wednesdays. The night begins with a meal at 6 PM and ends at varying times, depending on the age of the youth.

Come check us out!

9 Emotions Project, Alexis, Anders, Andy, Animals, Baby Got Rack, Baier, Bethany, Black & White, Boone FUMC, Brandon, Carla, Colleen, Derrick, Elainie, Flat Earth Joe, Iowa State, Jay, Jesse, Johnathan, Jorge, Laura, Logan, Michelle, Micky, Mom, Nader, Naima, Nate, Nora, Russell, Sara, Shannon, State Fair, Tenderloining, Teresa, Tim, Willy

Blessings – 2018

November 22, 2018 Christopher D. Bennett 4 Comments

I hope everybody had a great Thanksgiving! It is the time of year where we are supposed to count our blessings.

I thought I would share a few of my current blessings:

I am blessed with a great family!

I have plenty of friends that share my love for the Cyclones!

I have a job I don’t hate going to, where I work with several people I don’t want to punch in the face.

I have an amazing church family!

I have an amazing friends family!

I’m blessed to share my life with Naima!

This is really just a handful of the blessings in my life! But I’m already getting this out late, so I’ll cut if off here. I’ll just end with a passage from a Rob Bell NOOMA video that really spoke to me:

“So the verse in First Timothy, it says command those that are rich to not put their hope in wealth… and then it goes on and it continues… and it says, but to put their hope in God who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.

That phrase, a God that richly provides us with everything. All that we have is a gift.

Food. It is a gift.

Clothes. Gift.

Roof. Gift.

That breath you just took. It’s a gift.

Now there are some that will say: No, you don’t understand. I’ve worked for what I have. I deserve it. It is mine. But like it says in the book of Deuteronomy, Chapter 8: You may say to yourself, my power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me. But remember the Lord your God, because it is God that gives you the ability to produce wealth.”

I thank God for the embarrassment of riches in my life!

Art, Baseball/Softball, Black & White, Christianity, Flowers, Jay, Movies, Road Trip, Willy

06-11-08

November 17, 2018 Christopher D. Bennett

The pictures from the folder 06-11-08 are from a road trip I took with Willy and Jay to Dyersville. The point of the road trip was to see The Field of Dreams. Jay actually suggested this road trip, even though he doesn’t like baseball. I agreed to go, even though I don’t like the movie FIELD OF DREAMS.

Also on the trip, we stopped at the Basilica of Dyersville. I’m not 100% sure of what Basilica is, but I believe it is a really fancy Catholic church where the Pope can hang out if he ever get kicked out of Rome.

Here are some pictures from the road trip:

By adding these images to the Photography 139 Gallery, I was able to restore the following historic “An Artist’s Notebook” entries to their original glory:

Field of Dreams

St. Francis Xavier Basilica

Next Saturday’s walk down memory lane will involve a trip to the Iowa State Fair!

Animals, Art, Christianity, Ernie, Flowers, Still Life, Teresa, Travel, Vacation

08-03-08

October 27, 2018 Christopher D. Bennett

The pictures in the folder 08-03-08 is from the third day of my vacation in Kentucky with Teresa.

On that day, we went to a Southern Baptist Church service. We spent 3 hours at the church service, before we snuck out the back. I’m not sure how much long it went on. There were some positives about the church service. The music was amazing. The people were friendly. The story of the church was fascinating. It was started by a former prisoner. When he got out of prison he started the church with a mission of helping other convicts of surviving outside of prison and not falling back into the actions that got them in prison the first time.

The negative was it was the only time I’ve heard hate preached from a pulpit. At least hate on a certain group of people. The weird part of it was the pastor wasn’t even talking about the group of people he hated. He just threw a couple of bombs at them for no apparent reason. It was kind of sad.

After the 3+ hour church service, we also went to the lake and watch birds. Then we went to Ernie’s pond and fed his catfish.

Here are some pictures from the day:

By adding these pictures to the Photography 139 Gallery, I was able to restore the following historic “An Artist’s Notebook” entry to its original glory:

KENTUCKY – DAY 3

Next week’s walk down memory lane will involve driving home from Kentucky and a look at some Abraham Lincoln history!

Art, Christianity, Road Trip, Teresa, Travel, Vacation

08-01-08

October 13, 2018 Christopher D. Bennett

The pictures in the folder 08-01-08 are from a trip I made to Kentucky with Teresa to visit Ernie.

On the way down we stopped in Metropolis. Visited an illegal immigrant friend of mine. He’s a good chap. Maybe you’ve heard of him:

I highly endorse going to Metropolis. It is pretty cool!

By adding these images to The Photography 139 Gallery I was able to restore the following historic “An Artist’s Notebook” blog to its original glory:

The South – Day 1

Next Saturday’s walk down memory lane will continue to revolve around this 2008 trip to Kentucky.

Black & White, Boone FUMC, Jeff Daniel, Jim, Mission Trip, Ruins, Travel, Vacation, Yin

07-20-07

October 6, 2018 Christopher D. Bennett 2 Comments

The images from the folder 07-20-07 run the gamut from pictures from the first mission trip I ever went on to pictures from the Miller Farm to pictures from a RAGBRAI stop in Ames.

The mission trip photos are from Cedar Rapids. I went with an adult group from my church.

The Miller Farm pictures were taken before June and Dean moved off the farm and into town.

The mission trip to Cedar Rapids was after a flood. After working the second day, you drove home. One the second day we worked in a house where they had to pull a Youth Group out of because they found pornography.

I still can’t describe how bad that house smelled. The family had left their cat behind. It survived the initial flood. Then it came back to the house. Then it crapped all over the house. Well, mostly behind the couch. The food was still in the fridge. You could stand on the other side of the street and still smell the house.

By adding these pictures to the Photography 139 Photography Gallery, I was able to restore the following historic “An Artist’s Notebook” entries to their original glory:

Jeff and Yin

Miller Farm

Cedar Rapids Trip Day 1

Cedar Rapids Trip Day 2

There are a ton more pictures from the Cedar Rapids Mission Trip than I posted here. You can peruse those by clicking on the link below:

Cedar Rapids Mission Trip – 2008

There are also a ton more pictures from the Miller Farm. You can peruse those by clicking the link below:

Miller Farm – 2008

Next week’s walk down memory lane will involve a vacation I made to Kentucky.

Andy, Jaxon, Mission Trip, Youth Group

Rapid City Mission Trip Fundraiser Tonight!

October 3, 2018 Christopher D. Bennett

Reminder that tonight is the Rapid City Mission Trip Fundraiser at Pizza Ranch in Boone.

You are going to want to download and print a copy of the voucher below:

Then bring it to the Boone Pizza Ranch between 5 and 9 tonight.

It is a great cause! Take a look at some of the pictures from mission trips past:

I look forward to seeing you there!

Animals, Event, Kio, Mission Trip, Pufferbilly Days, Youth Group

2017 Pufferbilly Days Pet Show: The Final Chapter

October 2, 2018 Christopher D. Bennett

Don’t forget that tomorrow is the Rapid City Mission Trip Fundraiser at Pizza Ranch.

5-9 tomorrow at the Boone Pizza Ranch!

+++++++

This is the final collection of 2017 Pufferbilly Days Pet Show photos.

Some cat pictures in here, so don’t let the smear campaign claiming I hate cats be put on notice!

Eventually, I will publish the pictures from the 2018 Pufferbilly Days Pet Show. Eventually.

Baby Got Rack, Bethany, Boone FUMC, Carla, Contests, Flowers, Football, Movies, Nature, Photo Journal, Photoshop, Vest, WPC - Reminder

A Photo Journal – Henry Carroll – Page 86

August 10, 2018 Christopher D. Bennett

First of all, thanks to everybody who voted to determine what pictures I will enter in the Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest. I have the 6 entries determined and will be ordering them this weekend.

Pufferbilly Days is September 7, 8, and 9 this year. You can see the photos at the new KWBG Building. That is located on the corner of 9th and Keeler. I don’t know for certain, but my sister Carla will most likely be entering photos as well. She did last year and did very well. There is also a fair chance that frequent WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE contributor Mike Vest will be entering as well.

Other Pufferbilly Days activities you might enjoy watching. Bethany will be running in the 10K. I don’t that Willy is, but I bet he does.

I normally don’t recommend going to parades. They are boring. Too long. Also, they are boring. However, you might want to give some consideration to going to the parade this year. While it isn’t a certainty, there is a pretty good chance I’ll be in the parade for Boone First United Methodist Church. Represent!

Also, on September 8, I’ll be opening the doors of the Union Street Theater* for an Iowa State-Team Out East Game Watch. All Cyclone fans are invited! Hawk fans, I think I can find an old analog television I can set up for you to watch in the garage. Kickoff is 4 PM. There will be snacks. You never know, I might have a popcorn machine by then. Probably not though. I have an electricity thing that I need done and all my electrician type friends have fallen through.

There is a rumor that Baby Got Rack will be competing in a barbecue contest on the Sunday of Pufferbilly Days, but they don’t list such a contest on the Pufferbilly Days website, so stay tuned for more information on that. Otherwise, you can come down to the Iowa State Fair on Tuesday to support us as we compete in the barbecue contest down there. Although, admittedly, we won’t be going all out down there. If there is a Pufferbilly Days contest, we will be bringing out the Cow. Probably Sir-Pigs-a-Lot as well. Stay tuned!

+++++++

This is your reminder that this week’s WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE theme is FEAR!

FEAR!

I would describe the difference between a FEAR photo and a SCARY photo as a SCARY photo is a picture of something SCARY while a FEAR photo is a reaction to something SCARY. However, feel free to interpret the theme any way you see fit.

Happy photo harvesting!

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A week or so back, a nice little storm ripped through Boone. I used it as a good opportunity to knock out Page 86 of THE PHOTO JOURNAL PROJECT:

Page 86 – Use Exposure as a Metaphor

This is the water tower that is about a block from where I live. The exposure compensation for this picture was set at -2.3.

Although I took several pictures, only one can be physically adhered into the physical PHOTO JOURNAL. The physical PHOTO JOURNAL is housed at Photography 139 Studio. It can be seen by appointment. It is protected by the Photography 139 security dog when I am not there.

Here are the ones that won’t be in the book:

-4.3

-3.0

-2.7

-3.0

-4.0

-2.3

-2.0

-2.3

-3.7

-4.0, but this one also had a lot of Photoshop tinkering done to it.

Next time we check into THE PHOTO JOURNAL PROJECT, we will probably visit Page 52, but nothing in life is certain, but death and taxes and Iowa football players getting arrested. For mistaking a police car. For an Uber.

*The Union Street Theater Movie Club’s August meeting will be August 26. Projector rolls at 6 PM. This month the double feature is bird themed. The B movie will be BIRDEMIC 2: THE RESURRECTION. The feature film will be the Alfred Hitchcock classic THE BIRDS. Snacks may also be bird themed. Or not. I have to talk to a guy.