Oracle on Delhi Studios

Starting with the Stewardship of a Dying Planet we are bringing our stock photos to the blog. We have a growing archive of stock photography. Oracle on Delhi Studios is officially open for business. If we can serve your photography needs, let us know.

The Ripple Effect

The world focus has been on the Middle East. The rippling has gone out from there. Turkey, India, Tibet, Lebanon, Algeria, Kenya, Sri Lanka, Iran, and Papua New Guinea have been in recent mission headlines. It is interesting to note that most of these countries are in or touch the 10-40 window.
The clash between major world cultures, Christianity, Islam and Hinduism seems to have increased. As we have our men in harm's way to build a democracy in the middle east, there are many that would like to crush the freedom. I'm treading on dangerous ground, politics and religion, so bear with me:

God's Spirit is on the move, He will bring people from every tribe, every nation, every tongue into His kingdom and when we sit paralyzed at the thought of danger, God's plan keeps going without us.

Matthew 28:18-20 The Great Commission

18Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in^[a] the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

The command is go, through out the history of the world God has used those who went, despite the circumstances, the finances, the dangers, the sacrifices. Those that went wholeheartedly, sacrificially, determined, and called by God -- those He has raised up, and blessed them, through generations. Jim Elliot, Nate Saint, Brother Andrew, Jim and Roni Bowers, these are people who made a difference in the world and their children, their disciples children have been blessed by the sacrifice.
The announcers on the Christian radio station were having fun, seeing who was related to famous people. To be part of the legacy is exciting, but how much greater is it, when we leave a legacy for our children, and their children. Yes, I am blessed to be related to Roger Williams and all that he stood for in his day and all that he did, he was a righteous man, but how much greater is the legacy that my daughters will take from me and give to their children.
I had a long conversation with a ministry friend, he asked a lot of tough questions about ministry. We need to have passion, calling and desire to stir up those around us, to make waves, to further the kingdom. We should be making waves in our world, that go out to those around us, they will see that we live what we believe, we trust in a God that we can not see, but we know

Are you floating in the ripples or are you making waves?

Stewardship of a dying planet

With oil prices steadily climbing, rumors and claims of recessions, its more important to be wise stewards. There is renewed talk about carbon footprints, shrinking ice in the artic and other ominous news. What has taken years, decades to mess up, can't be undone in days and months. We as Christians should know that Jesus said their will be signs of the end, I'm not going to say that we're seeing those signs now, but we're closer today to His return than last year. So what's that got to do with stewardship? Some of the visual imagery of Revelation may be glimpses of a dying world, it only has to last until Jesus' return.

Lift up your eyes to the heavens,
look at the earth beneath;
the heavens will vanish like smoke,
the earth will wear out like a garment
and its inhabitants die like flies.
But my salvation will last forever,
my righteousness will never fail. Isaiah 51:6

This is dangerous ground to tread. We need to steward the earth so it will last another 10,000 years(creationists approximate age of the earth), to make it last, but some might say, use it up, Jesus will come sooner. If you do the math, the earth's about 10,000 years, does it need to last 10,000 more? Doubtful. 5,000? Unlikely.

What do we need to do as Bible following Christians?

Steward our resources, so that we can pass on the earth to the next generation to steward. The solution is the size of the problem. Its global macroeconomics. We need to get out of being consumers, use it and chuck it, buy new _____ all the time because its the latest and greatest. We instead need to reduce our consumption, reuse what we can, recycle what we can and compost the biodegradables, what's left will be a small of amount of refuse that could be sent out as trash. We need to be smart about trash, things that are in the trash stream on a larger scale than the individual household, can be recycled, reused, reduced, there are some very interesting waste to energy experiments going on right now.

What's our immediate benefit?

We can free up more resources for kingdom work, we can feel good about stewardship, we will have more free time, less wants and more contentment. We can spend time with our children, instead of working.

Evangelical Fundalmental Speech Code or Plain English

When we speak, what are we really communicating?

Do we speak with simple words, words that anyone in our culture would understand? Do we speak in riddles for our highly religious speech?

I myself am guilty of this high religious speech. Lately I've tried to drop it completely out of my vocabulary, unless I'm visiting a local seminary (there aren't any nearby). Ask yourself, "Can I explain the gospel without any church words?"

I've heard altar calls, like "Come now, and make the Lord your Lord and Saviour, so He can live in your heart and be with you always."
Would "If you want to know more about this Jesus, or you want to make a commitment to follow Jesus' teaching, come down here to the front. We have people here ready to talk with you more about this commitment."
How do I talk to people with no religious background? It's very natural to let your relationship with Jesus be center stage, if your living it as in His strength. I've found that in recent weeks, I've been able to share with a few co-workers what I do outside of work and some of the ministry that I do at church. There's a level of respect, when the conversation is not forced, but allowed to bubble up like a spring of water. We are all springs of water for Jesus, some of us need a little cleaning up, so the water is fresh, cool and inviting.

Is your spring a fresh cool drink to the world?

Maybe this video will help. Technobabble at its finest!

Here's the link: TechnoBabble