Basically, Trayce must have cheated. I say that jokingly, but I’m not entirely convinced it’s untrue. She managed to guess that the object was in fact a Bible cover. It could have been leather for any of a thousand things, but she nailed it. That’s just crazy.

She will be added to the page of winners soon. To keep up with when these games are happening you should to subscribe or follow me on Twitter.

I can see I’ll have to make the next one even tougher…

I got my macro extension tube recently. It lets me get ridiculously close to things. This is my first “Guess What It Is” post since it arrived. Now that I can make things more difficult, maybe I’ll start offering prizes.

You can see previous objects and who guessed them on the Page of Winners, and you might find the page of tips and rules useful. Guessing ends Sunday June 6th at 5PM (Eastern)

Well, Matt guessed it. Although, he wasn’t as specific as he could have been. His guess was “TS/TRS connector either 1/4 or 1/8th inch.” and it was an 1/4th inch TRS connector.

Will was also pretty close to right, but it wasn’t part of a guitar cable, it’s part of a 1/8th to 1/4th inch adapter.

Sorry this was a little late. I forgot we had Jr/Sr High guys Bible Study today. Matt will soon be added to the Page of Winners. If you want to know when these games are happening, you can want to subscribe or follow me on Twitter.

Here we go again! I haven’t gotten a new lens for my camera yet, but I did manage to get a little closer. Future posts should be even closer because I ordered a nifty little device that will allow me to take super-close macros with my dSLR. I’ll post about that device, along with a brief review, once it arrives.

For now, take a guess! I used my Point-and Shoot (Canon A710IS) to take this shot, if that helps at all. You can look up previous objects and who guessed them on the Page of Winners, and you might find the page of tips and rules helpful. Guessing will end Sunday (05/16/10) at 2PM Eastern.

*Movie announcer voice* This Summer! It’s the movie you’ve been waiting for your entire life. Critics are raving. Bla, bla, bla.

Okay, so it’s not a huge deal. I’ve finally started working on my digital photography video series. We’ll be talking about exposure compensation, and I even got way better lighting. I hope to have the video up within the next week.

Stay tuned.

This is a tough one to judge. Megan got the answer first, but she wasn’t very specific. Kim came in next with a more specific answer.

I’m going to say Kim won since she was the first to guess it exactly. I’d be more concerned with getting it exactly right if the contest was harder. This one was pretty easy, though, so I don’t think it matters.

She’ll be added to the Page of Winners soon. If you want to keep up to date on the latest games, you might want to subscribe or follow me on Twitter.

I took this video shortly after I got my new phone, but YouTube decided it wanted to be mean. Anyway, this video perfectly explains one of my favorite features on my new phone.

You know you’re jealous.

What’s going on

Most of you probably already know that I’m going to be attending PBU in the fall. I’m really excited about it. I’m guessing that fewer of you know my education background. Basically, my only real time at a normal school was in kindergarten (which really doesn’t count, obviously). I was home-schooled from 1st grade through 12th grade. All this to say that college is (academically speaking) going to be an extremely new experience.

I’m nervous, or anxious, or something. I was never very good at understanding my own emotions. Suffice it to say that I’m scared. Don’t misunderstand. I’m not paralyzed with fear to the point where I’m thinking of backing out. It’s just that when I think about the tests and the papers, I should very much like to avoid the whole experience. I start to think about how lousy my study habits were in high-school, and wonder how on earth I’m going to pass even a single class.

Here’s what’s bugging me

The above bugs me a bit. See, I am very convinced that PBU is where God wants me, so being afraid of it is just dumb. If God wants me there then He’ll get me through. I’ve been asking people to pray that I’ll stop being anxious and that I’ll be able to do well in school. The responses I’m getting is what’s bugging me.

Things like: “Oh, you’re a smart guy. You’ll do fine.” or “College isn’t that hard. You just have to be disciplined, and you’re a lot better at that now.” I keep getting answers and things that make me want to put my confidence in my ability, or belittle the challenge ahead of me.

Don’t get me wrong, I understand that the reason for these answers is to calm my nerves and that people are really trying to help. It just bugs me, though, because in this I’m trying to just put my hope in God. Maybe I built the challenge up to be harder than it really is, but that doesn’t change the fact that I should be relying on God to get me through it.

I really don’t want to think that my intellect will get me through this (a laughable idea when I think about it). I really don’t want to think that I’m way more disciplined and should be able to get through it fine. I want to know that God is good, that He’s working all things together for my good, and that I should even never think about putting my trust in myself or anyone else.

Psalm 31:14

But I trust in you, O Lord;
I say, “You are my God.”

It’s that time again! Time to play the nifty guessing game. This one might be a bit easier. I need to get a macro lens for my camera so I can get closer to stuff.

Anyway, post your guesses. This one will end tomorrow (04/05/10) at 5PM. You can check out the Page of Winners to see what I’ve already used. You might also find it helpful to check out the tips and rules.

Let’s recap the last two posts real quick. In my first post I talked about how there is an idea that God wants our best work and won’t accept anything else. In the second (and a little in the first) post I talked about how that seems a bit odd because “our best work” is something God considers to be filthy rags. Then I summarized everything by arguing (mostly from 2 Corinthians 5) this: “if you’re saved you can now please God but it’s really God pleasing God because He’s the only reason that there’s anything good in you.”

I then argued that the above statement should have a very profound impact on how we worship and serve God.

Let’s get to it

Here’s the deal. We need to realize and continually remember a couple important things. I’ll use bullets because I’m too ‘bla’ a writer to come up with a brilliant paragraph (plus I’m told that people like lists):

• Anything good in you or outside of you comes from God (James 1:17, Romans 7:18).
• God doesn’t need what you’re doing or giving, whether it’s excellent or ‘bla’ (Acts 17:25, Psalm 50:12)

Those things are important to remember. I think a lot of churches will focus on doing things (ministries) well these days. Some churches focus on just doing them, and don’t care if they’re done well.  Both are missing the point.

What’s the point?

2 Corinthians 5:14-15 (ESV)

“For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.”

Service is supposed to come out of love. See, we were created to seek God, though He’s not hard to find (Acts 17:26-27). We were created so that we could experience all the things He’s given us and do two things. (One) We were to understand that He gave them to us, and (two) we were to acknowledge that He is better than the things He has given to us.

Sin broke that and jacked everything up. We got to the point where we either thought we could give something to God, or gave up entirely on the concept of God and started worshiping the things He gave us (Romans 1).

Reconciliation fixed that. Now we’re not stuck worshiping idols. We can go back to doing what we were created to worship. Service is a form of worship, and worship was never supposed to be about what we give to God. It was our response to the gift we were given (before the fall that was life and creation, now it also includes salvation).

So what are you saying?

Good question. Is it wrong to serve with excellence? No. We’re expected to give everything we have in the expectation that we’ll be rewarded… not because of the quality of our work but because of the goodness of our God. We receive time, money, talent, and other things. Then we give them back to God and say “This is great, but what I really want is You. You’re better.”

I guess I’ve not gotten much into practical application, but I think the heart attitude more important. It’s not about you impressing God, pleasing God, or helping God. It’s about seeking Him.

This was honestly a bit sloppy. I’m very open to comments if you have other thoughts (or questions). Thanks.