Category Archives: Religion

The Taiwan Times – October 2011

October 23, 2011 Christopher D. Bennett

The Taiwan Times
By Mark Wolfram
Reporting on God’s mission in Taiwan
October 2011

²⁰ to those who were disobedient long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, ²¹ and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a clear conscience toward God.^[a] It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, ²² who has gone into heaven and is at God’s right hand—with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him.

1 Peter 3:20-22

Reaching out through baptism

God is a patient God. He continues to love us and reach out to us with his grace and mercy, even when we don’t love him or our neighbors. He calls us and snatches us from the claws of sin, into a true joy in Christ. This month I’d like to share about an example of God’s continued pursuit and welcoming of a new member into his family through water and word.

We were blessed on Sunday October 2, to have a baptism and confirmation at Salvation Lutheran Church. First, a student in our youth group named Lin, was brought into God’s family through the waters of holy baptism. Lin is a great testimony of God’s working in his own time and way.

I remember about 4 years ago, the youth group was taking an outing in the Chia-Yi area. Pastor Paul (who was a “fill-in” pastor for one year), was leading it and I was one of the chaperones for the students as we went to see a few monuments and go for a hike. Throughout the trip, we would talk and joke around with the kids, and try to answer questions that they had.

At that time, my Chinese was starting to improve and I could understand a lot more of what I was being spoken around me. I distinctly remember a conversation that Pastor Paul had with Lin concerning baptism. He asked her if she had ever thought about getting baptized, and explained how it was an assurance and out-pouring of God’s Holy Spirit, in which God promises eternal life. Pastor Paul asked her if she was interested in baptism, and she just kind of shrugged and didn’t respond.

I remember feeling discouraged at the time and thinking that she must not be that receptive to the message of the Gospel. However, praise God that the story does not end there and that he does not give-up. Lynn continued coming to youth group, and continued to hear God’s word, and now is a baptized Christian.

In addition to Lin’s baptism and confirmation, a high school classmate of hers named Wei, confirmed her Christian faith during the worship service.

Here are some videos if you would like to watch the baptism, confirmation, or just practice your Chinese!

Lin’s Baptism

Wei’s Confirmation

I wanted to share this story with you, to help you understand how God continues to work through you, me, and all the Christians here in Taiwan and in America. God hears our prayers and answers them in his way and his time. I hope you remember this, and that God will present to you opportunities to share his love with the people around you.

More teachers needed

Here at the elementary portion of our school, we are in desperate need for more teachers. We currently only have 2 elementary teachers on staff, and the school has asked teachers from the high school to teacher overtime hours to pick-up missing classes. If you know anyone who is interested in serving overseas as an English teacher, please let them know about the need in Taiwan. I can give them more specific information if they contact me. We could have teachers start as early as February, which would be the start of our second semester.

It’s prayer time:

Pray for my fellow teacher Noel Schaff, who is back in the US getting treatment for some growths that are in her body. Pray for God to heal her body, comfort her spirits and help her to put full trust in Jesus. Pray also for Noel’s husband Andrew, who is here in Taiwan continuing to teach.

Pray for Lin and Wei, that God would continue to grow their faith in him.

Pray for God to raise up new teachers to come and serve at CELA.

Praise God for the service of short term mission team Ken and Mildred Young, as well as a wonderful experience at the ALEA conference in Hong Kong. Both of these took place in the last part of October and I’ll report more on these in next month’s newsletter.

God’s peace be with you!

Mark

Alisa, Mission Trip, Vacation, Youth Group

Kansas City Mission Trip

August 31, 2011 Christopher D. Bennett

A few weeks back I was one of four lucky adults that got to chaperone my church’s youth group on a mission trip to Kansas City. It was truly one of the best weekends of the year for me and I sincerely hope that I get asked to chaperone a trip again in the future.

The Sunday after the mission trip I spoke before the congregation about my experience. I was operating on about 45 minutes of sleep because the night before was Sara’s graduation party. I got home at about 3 in the morning. I was also dogsitting Jupiter and any time I remotely dozed off he was waking me up for various reasons.

This is an approximation of the speech I gave to the congregation. Only it is better (I hope) because I’m not about to fall asleep.

The Kansas City Mission Trip was an amazing experience and there are two things I took out of the trip.

The first thing was perspective. On Saturday night during our debriefing we watched a Nooma video that gave some extremely startling statistics:

It would cost 20 billion dollars to provide basic nutrition, heath care, and clean drinking water for the entire world. 20 billion dollars sounds like a lot of money, until you put it in perspective. 20 billion dollars is how much money Americans spend on ice cream every year.

1 billion people in this world survive on less than 1 dollar a day.

Did you eat this morning? 800 million people in the world won’t eat today. 300 million of those people are kids. Every few seconds somebody dies of hunger.

1 billion people don’t have access to clean drinking water.

Those are worldwide statistics and they are horrible, but here are a few statistics that hit a little bit closer to home.

In Kansas City on any given night there are 13,000 homeless people. To put that in perspective, Boone is a town of about 13,000 people. There is an entire town of Boone in Kansas City every night that doesn’t have a home.

In Kansas City there are 350 beds for the homeless. To put that in perspective, on a good day, there are about 350 people here during this service worshiping. So think about it this way, everybody in this church would have a place to sleep tonight, but everybody else in town would be looking for a place to sleep. Underneath a bridge. In an abandoned car. On a friend’s couch. If they are lucky.

Many of those people won’t find a place to sleep. That is why when we worked at the Faith Hope Ministry on Saturday, many of the people were there to sleep. They were sleeping there during the day, because there wasn’t a safe place for them to sleep on the streets.

Here is another statistic about the homeless in Kansas City that breaks the heart. The average age of a homeless person in Kansas City is 7 years old.

I can’t imagine what life would be like if I was 7 years old and homeless. What was your greatest concern when you were 7 years old? Mine might have been missing the Duane and Floppy Show. It wasn’t where I was going to sleep that night. It wasn’t when I was going to eat again.

Another part of the perspective I learned on this trip was extremely shallow. I apologize for the shallowness of this observation.

I wouldn’t make it as a homeless person. I just flat out wouldn’t.

I don’t look the way I do because of lack of exercise, although I’m sure that contributes, I like food. I like good food.

I could not survive on the food that the homeless are thankful to have. Even the “good food” that was served at the Faith Hope Mission was tough to choke down.

Our final stop on Saturday night was at a Family Shelter. This shelter had been receiving food donations of expired food from an area Trader Joe’s.

This is perhaps my favorite memory from the trip.

One of our jobs was sorting the food that was too moldy to eat from the food that was moldy, but a person could eat it. The look on our youths face when Andrea handed them a package of strawberries that were covered in mold and told them it was edible… it was priceless.

The truth is that there were going to be people getting that food and those people would be THANKFUL to be getting it.

Perspective.

It is a reminder that everything we get is a gift from God. Everything. That car that you are driving. Gift. That house you are living in. Gift. Those clothes on your back. Gift. That food in your belly. Gift. That air in your lungs. Gift.

The second thing I took from this trip is that this church has an awesome youth group.

I don’t pick the word awesome randomly and I don’t mean it the way most people use the word. It is true that the members of the youth group are many of those things. They are cool. They are neat.

I mean awesome in the truest sense of the word: our youth group is awe inspiring.

The work they did was awe inspiring. The compassion they displayed was awe inspiring.

They inspired me to remember what it truly means to be a Christian. To serve others and always remember the questions: “What can I give? I have been blessed. Who am I going to bless? How can I be more generous? How can I step into my divine responsibility to give?”

I can report to this congregation that without a doubt that the Fair Stand will be in very good hands in 2035.

Here are a few pictures from the trip:

I just want to close this journal entry with two Bible verses that kind of sum up the way I think of the trip:

“Beware lest you say in your heart, “My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.” You shall remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your fathers, as it is this day.”
-Deuteronomy 8:17-18

“Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, TO BE RICH IN GOOD DEEDS, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way, they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.”
-Timothy 6:17- 19

In particular this passage from Timothy is one of my favorites in the Bible. Along with Psalm 139 and Ephesians 4:29.

Editor’s Note: Since I wrote this blog, I have been asked to chaperone the mission trip to Minnesota next year.

Christianity, Mark

Catching Up with Mark

July 10, 2011 Christopher D. Bennett

I recently had my annual dinner with Mark and I realize that I have not posted his last two newsletters.

Here is my annual picture with Mark:

As usual we had a good meal and heard his sob story about how he HAS to go visit Australia for a 2nd time this year! I know, tragic!

Here is his May Newsletter:

The LORD will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.
Psalm 121:8

This is the Bible verse that greets everyone as you enter campus via the main steps. It is a reminder that God is always with us, no matter where we go. It especially applies to this month’s newsletter featuring CMS’ graduation, and I pray that it will be a reminder for you in your everyday life as well.

Outdoor Worship

On Sunday May 29, Salvation Lutheran Church joined up with Glorious Grace Lutheran Church (a church from a nearby county), to have an outdoor worship service in Ji-Ji, Taiwan. The day featured a service outdoors with Pastor John Wan of Glorious Grace giving the message. In addition to the worship service, we traveled to a playground area with old military equipment, a historic train station and shopping district, and a few sites with information on Taiwan’s environment and endemic creatures.

First, this was a really neat opportunity to travel and interact with fellow church members in a setting outside of the regular worship service. It also was an outreach event to get some of the parents and families who don’t attend Sunday worship, to join us for the day. This worked as there were a couple families that send children to the Saturday Kids Camp, but do not attend worship.

Secondly, it was also good to connect with another Lutheran Church. Glorious Grace had participated in two other activities with our church this semester. One was the LCMS/CELC Winter Youth Camp in the end of February (see my last newsletter for more information). A second was the CELC’s Central-Southern District gathering, held in March at Concordia Middle School. Seeing some of the youth and adults for a third time, helped me became more comfortable in my interactions with them. But even more importantly, it helped the youth of the two churches interact and continue to build on relationships that have been steadily growing over the last couple of months.

Praise God for this opportunity for the two churches to get, I hope that it will especially help the youth stay connected with each other. They are can encourage each other and relate to each other in an island where less then 10% of the people are Christian.
Check out our Team Taiwan website for this video from outdoor worship. In the video, Cherry (from Glorious Grace) leads us in singing a song to help learn the books of the New Testament (in Chinese of course J ).

http://sites.cmsh.cyc.edu.tw/foreignenglish/video/outdoor-worship-2011

CMS Graduation
This last weekend was graduation day at Concordia Middle School. I am always proud of my students and the hard work and dedication they put into finishing high school, especially with the high pressure testing that takes place here in Taiwan. I love congratulating them, signing their yearbooks, and talking with them about what universities they will attend and what they want to study in college. I’m always excited to see former students graduate and move onto the challenges and opportunities that will come in college. This is especially true in Taiwan, where the freedoms and new environment of college can often help students who were interested in Christianity explore it more. Many of them are removed from the family pressure of ancestor worship or local folk religion. I have heard several stories of students who were non-Christians in high school, but went to college and came to faith. A great example is a former student of mine named Bill, who graduated three years ago and now comes back to CMS to lead Bible small groups for 8th grade students (see Sept. 2009 newsletter).

Psalm 121:8 is on a sign near the front of our school, and is a reminder to all who enter that the Lord is with them as they come and go. As the students leave high school, I always pray that my students will remember the love of Jesus that they learned about here at CMS. Please help me in praying for them as well.

Another Alumni Story
A good story about an aluni growing in faith happened this last month. I met a former CMS student named Jackie, who I had often saw at activities sponsored by the Religion Department, during his time at CMS. A few weeks ago, Jackie was back on campus helping to give information to the graduating Seniors about practical tips for transitioning to college. Before his presentation, I had the chance to catch-up with him and he told me that he is thinking about becoming a pastor. I was really excited for this because, while Jackie was a Christian in high school, it is encouraging to see God put this on his heart as he looks toward his vocation. I asked Jackie for a little more of his faith story, and he shared with me that his father is a second generation Christian and that his immediate family is all Christian. They attend the Quaker church here in Chia-Yi. Jackie is not sure if God is calling him to the ministry, but he is praying about it, and I told him that I would pray as well and ask people in America to pray with us.

Teachers Needed
We are still looking for teachers for the elementary portion of our school. If you know anyone who is even a little interested, please email me. I’d love to give them some more information.

It’s Prayer Time
1. Pray for God to raise up more teachers to teach at CELA in the fall.
2. Pray for all of the students who will be leaving CMS this year. Pray they will continue to learn about God.
3. Pray for Jackie as he considers being a pastor.
4. Pray for the youth of the China Evangelical Lutheran Church (CELC), that they would continue to be strengthened in faith and relationships formed at the church activities would be maintained.
God bless,

Mark

View the original PDF.

Here is Mark’s June Newsletter:

Back in the US
It’s good to be back in the United States of America, and to celebrate our country’s independence and freedoms. I made it back stateside on Saturday June 25, after a long but uneventful trip. When I come back, I am often asked how long the trip takes. Well, I timed it out from the moment I stepped out of my door in Taiwan to the time I arrived at my parents house in Des Moines, totally travel time was just under 28 hours. I know have already seen some of you, and will be seeing more of you during my time in the US. I look forward to that.

For my June newsletter, I would like to share with you the following article I wrote a few weeks ago for the Asia Ablaze Newsletter. It focuses on how Concordia Middle School shared God’s love in support of the LCMS school in Joplin, Missouri. A team of teachers over in Taiwan worked together with students and faculty at the school to lend a helping hand for their fellow Christians here in America. I specifically helped by having my 10th grade students write letters, and by coordinating the financial gifts with CMS’ principal, dean of the Religion Department, and fellow missionary Beka House.

CMS Helps Christians in Joplin, MO
On May 22nd , a powerful tornado ripped through Joplin, Missouri and devastated the community, including Martin Luther School. On hearing about the disaster, the administrators and students of Concordia Middle School (CMS) and Concordia English Language Academy (CELA) in Chia-Yi Taiwan, worked to give back and help their fellow Lutheran educators and students.

School. Several classes, decided to write letters of encouragement to families who lost houses, property, and friends. At CELA, over a 160 students in grades 3-6 took time in their classes make cards and letters to help encourage the people.
At CMS, 30 tenth grade students practiced their English and became educated on the situation through reading a news article on the disaster. They then proceeded to write letters of encouragement for the people at Martin Luther School. When asked about the situation in Joplin, tenth grader Rita Chen reflected, “I think it’s miserable, and I feel sorry for them. I hope they can get the help they need.” When asked about writing the letters, she went on to say, “I think it’s a great honor that I can actually help them, to give them comfort.”
Finally, Concordia Middle School also offered financial support to help get the people of Joplin back on their feet. On June 8, Rick Hong, Dean of the CMS Religion Department presented $1,000 (US) on behalf of CMS to be used to help the people of Martin Luther School. Taiwan GEO missionary Rebekah House will work with Martin Luther Principal Jeremy Schamber to use that money to buy gift cards and to get those gift cards and letters of encouragement to families in need.

Praise God for the willingness of the CMS and CELA students and administrators to support the people of Joplin. Please continue to pray for the people of Joplin as they recover from this horrible incident. May God comfort them, heal them, and work through this terrible event to bring more people closer to Jesus.

Teachers Needed
We are still looking for teachers for the elementary portion of our school. If you know anyone who is even a little interested, please email me. I’d love to give them some more information.

It’s Prayer Time
1. Praise God for the time to relax, recharge, and meet with family, friends, and supporters.
2. Pray for all of the students who will be leaving CMS this year. Pray they will continue to learn about God.
3. Pray for Salvation Lutheran Church summer activities. The church will be continuing a Friday evening summer program in the month of July. This will be led by Ben and Amy Riley, and Pastor Alex. Pray also for the continued youth activities and the summer youth camp that will be led by the China Evangelical Lutheran Church (CELC).
4. Pray for God to raise up more American elementary teachers to come to our school.
I have seen some of you already and look forward to seeing more of you in the coming weeks.

God’s peace,

Mark

View the Original PDF.

Christianity, Mark

Taiwan Times – April 2011

May 15, 2011 Christopher D. Bennett

The Taiwan Times

By Mark Wolfram

Reporting on God’s mission in Taiwan

April 2011

⁵ In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? ⁶ He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee

Luke 24:5-6

Easter at Salvation Lutheran Church

Happy Easter everyone! What a wonderful day to celebrate the resurrection of our Lord, showing his triumph over death, sin, and the devil. As Christians all over the world recall this event, we can all reflect on the forgiveness, new life, and hope given to us through the sacrifice and victory of our Lord Jesus.

At Salvation Lutheran Church, I was especially excited to see many children in worship. Most of these came from the Saturday Kids’ Camp that is held every Saturday afternoon. Some of their parents came as well, and many of these parents and children are not Christian. However, praise God that they came for our Easter activities. Salvation Church asked the kids to come and sing a song during the service and then participate in an Easter egg hunt after the service. During the sermon, Pastor showed a cartoon that reviewed Jesus’ birth, life, death, and resurrection, allowing the children to get a full message about who Jesus was and why he came. Praise God for these visitors, and pray that they would continue to seek to learn more about the living Lord.

Youth Camp

In the end of February the China Evangelical Lutheran Church (CELC) partnered with LCMS World Mission and the American missionaries to hold weekend youth retreat. The theme of the Youth Camp was “Saved By Grace”, examining how our salvation is a gift from God, not because of our works. During the Youth Camp, the campers played games, had worship, Bible study, and got to meet some new friends from other parts of Taiwan.

The retreat started on Sunday afternoon February 27, and lasted until lunch the next day. 117 people participated, from 8 Lutheran Churches here in Taiwan. 69 of the attendees were youth from 5^th grade through college.

It was a wonderful experience to bring the youth and churches together. I praise God for how he worked through all of the preparations and activities. I was especially thankful for the chance to work with and get to know other pastors here in Taiwan. I pray for God to continue to bless the CELC and the Lutheran Churches throughout the island.

China Service Trip

During the second weekend of April, the Lord blessed me with the opportunity to travel to a village near Kun Ming, China. For the service trip, I worked with 4 other Taiwan American teachers and a welfare and education agency in China to gather information from the village. This information will be used to create reports that can help give updates to financial supporters and to guide future projects that may be done in the village.

The focus of my group’s questions was to get feedback on how the villagers were using a previously installed water system, and to get information on their overall health and hygiene. My primary role was to be an observer of the interviews and to write down notes concerning the people, their homes, and general conditions of the villages.

Most of these people lacked education past an elementary level, and did not understand basic health habits, such as brushing their teeth. I remember in one of the interviews the lady was asked when she brushed her teeth, and she replied that she did it only when they hurt.

Earlier today, our group met to share final analysis and help each other finish creating the reports. We will send it back to the organization later this week.

Due to the nature of the trip, we were not able use the trip to evangelize. However, praise God that the village we went to was Christian. You could see the love of the Lord in the people’s smiles and the joy they had as they willingly interacted with us and welcomed us into their homes. Pray for God to help the agency meet the needs of the people, and for these people to share their faith with those who don’t know Christ’s love.

Fundraising and New Teachers

Again, I want to offer praise to God that I am fully funded for another year of service in Taiwan. I’ll be in Iowa from the last week of June until the last week of July, and if you would be interested in having me come and share about mission work in Taiwan, please contact me.

Second, we are in huge need of new elementary teachers in Taiwan next year. Currently we only have 2 to teach next year. We need 2 more teachers to meet our bare minimum staffing needs, and we need up to 6 more to be fully staffed. Please pray for God to lead more people to Taiwan and if you know of anyone please contact me, and I would be happy to be in communication with anyone who might be interested in serving here next year.

Prayer Time!

Please pray for all of the children, parents, and people who were in church for Easter Sunday. May God the Holy Spirit work to create faith in them.
Pray for the CELC churches and youth. May God bless the relationships between churches and help the youth to stay connected to the word of God.
Pray for the people at the village I went to in China. May God provided them with supplies and education to improve their lives. Praise God for their faith and may he present opportunities for them to share it with others.
Pray for God to provide more teachers to come and serve in Taiwan.

Mark

Black & White, Christianity, Jesse, Sarah Toot, Still Life, Street Photography, Travel

More Random New York City – Near Ground Zero

March 30, 2011 Christopher D. Bennett 3 Comments

Here are some random New York City images from the Second Day of the trip. These were taken at and around Ground Zero and at St. Paul’s Chapel, which is across the street from Ground Zero.

Regrettably, some of these pictures were taken through a window, leading to a regrettable reflection.

More random New York City images will be coming your way next Wednesday.

Christianity, Mark

Taiwan Times – February – 2011

March 16, 2011 Christopher D. Bennett

I didn’t go to a movie on Tuesday because I was celebrating Carla’s birthday, so instead I will post Mark’s latest newsletter.

The Taiwan Times

By Mark Wolfram

Reporting on God’s Mission in Taiwan

February 2011

²⁰ Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, ²¹ to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever! Amen

Ephesians 3:20-21

Greetings everyone! God is great, and he works in many ways, often ways that we don’t even see or understand. The comforting news is that what he does is greater than we can even imagine. Serving here in Taiwan has been a great opportunity for me to witness God at work, and truthfully I have a lot of different stories I could write about for this newsletter. However, I have already eclipsed the “February” timetable, so I am going to fill you in a couple of pieces of news, and then give you break down of the mission trip I took to Australia.

New Semester

On February 14, we started our second semester. I don’t have any changes in my schedule, but I was excited to get back into the classroom. The 7^th grade Bible classes have been working through a unit on Old Testament stories including Noah, the Tower of Babel, David, and Daniel. My English classes are also going well, with short stories, small group discussions, and various projects. My 10^th graders have started reading some simplified summaries of Shakespeare plays, including Romeo and Juliet, Taming of the Shrew, and Hamlet. They read the stories in small groups and then take turns preparing items to help facilitate a group discussion.

Youth Camp

We were also blessed to have the China Evangelical Lutheran Church Winter Youth Camp on February 27-28. There were a lot of people who put in a ton of work to plan this retreat, and praise God for the blessing it was. Over 70 youth attended from churches throughout Taiwan, and we had 117 people participate in some capacity. I will write in detail about this in my next newsletter. Please pray for all who attended, that God would use the event to grow faith in the lives of those who do not yet know him.

Short term service trip

The teachers here in Taiwan began preparations for a short term service trip to China. On this trip we will be going to small villages to gather information about health and educational needs that they have. We will report this information to a Christian organization in China, who will use it to create projects to meet the needs of the people. There will be two groups of American teachers from Taiwan who will be going to China at two different times. Please pray for the logistical preparations, as well as our hearts as we set out to serve. More information on this will be written in a future newsletter.

Next Year

Finally, I want to inform everyone that I am going to be extending my service in Taiwan for another year. This past year has been full of new challenges and joys, and I feel God calling me to continue my new position as CMS Liaison for another year.

As with any time I have extended, there is always the need to fundraise. However, I have some very exciting news on that front. I was informed this weekend that I am already fully funded for next year’s service. Truthfully, I was surprised to hear this news, but as we know, God works in ways that are more powerful than we can imagine. Praise God, and thank you all for the role you play in making this ministry possible.

While I have met my fundraising goals, I still want to come and share with you more about what God is doing in Taiwan. Please contact me if you are interested in having me come and share about the mission work. My final schedule is not yet set for the summer, but we can begin communication about what dates could possibly work.
Also, we are still looking for teachers for next year. If you know of anyone who might be interested, please contact me.

Prayer Time

Pray for the people at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Kadina, Australia. May God help them to share the good news with the people around them.
Pray for all youth who attended the CELC Youth Camp, that they would grow in faith in their savior Jesus.
Praise God for the good news about my fundraising goals. Pray for others members of the team who still need to meet fundraising goals.
Pray for my students, that I may be able to share the Gospel with them clearly and that God would work faith in their hearts.

Thank you all for your prayers, support, and love in Christ!

Mr. Mark Wolfram

Anders, Black & White, Christianity, Mom

Hearts Beat High with Joy

January 31, 2011 Christopher D. Bennett

If you have always wanted to own your very own copy of Hearts Beat High with Joy, here is your chance!

Hearts Beat High with Joy

I have donated an 11×14 copy of this picture to the Sacred Heart School Carnival. This picture is matted and framed.

You can purchase it by winning its silent auction.

The Sacred Heart School Carnival is this Friday. From 6-8. It is at the Sacred Heart School in the Ryan Gym.

All the money goes to a good cause, so show up and bid, silently!

Christianity

Embarrassing Anti-Intellectualism

January 30, 2011 Christopher D. Bennett 1 Comment

Unfortunately a Doomsday Cult has put up this billboard in Boone.

They have made these calculations on their belief (yes, there are people who actually believe such things) that the world is only 14,000 years old.

Despite the fact that The Bible clearly states that “No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.” (Matthew 24:36), these people think they have cracked some Bible Code and figured out that Judgment Day will occur on May 21, 2011.

The world will end on October 21, 2011.

I wish that I could put up a billboard next to this billboard that reads:

“Most Christians Aren’t this Dumb!”

But alas, there isn’t another billboard right next to this one to rent.

I applaud their freedom of speech and their ability to practice their freedom of religion, but I wish it didn’t reflect so poorly on the rest of Christianity.

I hope they aren’t too disappointed when they wake up on May 22 and they are still here.

Animals, Black & White, Boone FUMC, Nature, Personal Photo Project

Personal Photo Project of the Week #52

January 28, 2011 Christopher D. Bennett 5 Comments

Heavenly Peace

Most people have already seen this picture that I took to send as a Christmas e-card. (Just one of the many awesome features of the Photography 139 Galleries!)

I borrowed a hymnal and candle after the early evening Candlelight Service on Christmas Eve and took this picture and returned them during the later service.

Since this isn’t new to many people, here are a couple unrelated bonus pictures:

I’m also excited to report that my new website is almost fully functional. Now it is merely a matter of getting some content and recruiting some more writers. Perhaps there will be a full-fledged announcement in a week or so.

Next week’s Personal Photo Project is the first in a series of pictures that are going to seem somewhat (completely) self-absorbed. Perhaps even worse than my Twitter account. If my greatest influence on myself is me, I’m going to start re-doing some “classic” Christopher D. Bennett images.

The first redux will be Nuclear Library.

Black & White, Boone FUMC, Night, Personal Photo Project

Personal Photo Project of the Week #51

January 21, 2011 Christopher D. Bennett 1 Comment

Radiant Beams

I went to the early Christmas Eve Service at my church and then came back for the late night service to listen to the concert and take these pictures.

Here are some Radiant Beams alternates:

All things considered, I should have worn warmer gloves.