Jesus said to count the cost before following him.  This is good advice not only in the realm of the spiritual life but in other endeavors as well.  I have discovered that the road ahead can only handle so much and for me, one blog is more than enough.  Therefore, this is myfinal post to this blog.  I will pour my meager efforts into my remaining photoblog, “1000 Words Photogblog”, at http://royboysphotogblog.wordpress.com.

Thanks for your kind interest and I hope to continue to see you

“Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.”

                                            Romans 6:4

(Taken on Sunday evening, October 4 as Pastor Steve Johnson of the Mars Hill Baptist Church accompanies the baptism candidates into the chill waters of the bay.)

                                              Thomas Jefferson

“To have faith in the Creator to provide all your needs and desires is to be borne along through the difficulties of life as on wings of air.”

                                                              Anonymous

“Consider the birds of the air, they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?”

                                                     Matt. 6:26

OCEAN CITY, MARYLAND:  Gulls enjoy a symbiotic relationship with us.  We buy junk food at the beach.  We drop junk food at the beach.  God’s cleanup crew cleans up the beach.

Jesus spoke of the kind of trust that made birds an example of how we too ought to live.  We have become so enamored with planning and preparation for the future that we lose sight of how that impacts our ability to trust God.  But maybe we’re not supposed to avoid planning, just stop worrying about it.

 “Fiery colors begin their yearly conquest of the hills, propelled by the autumn winds. Fall is the artist. “

BOONSBORO, MARYLAND:  Even in death, the creator God has managed to bring forth beauty.  The corn shown here, past it’s prime as anything else, provides us with a glowing example of God’s creative genius as even hardened corn shows his flair for blessing our eyes with the stunning colors of Fall.  Even though the colors of this corn might be incidental to it’s condition, they are music to our eyes.

The author of our quote today has it mostly correct.  Fall is an artist, but it is God who provides the palette and the paintbrush.

Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.

                                                            Psalm 121:4

I grew up (at least for several years) on a dairy farm and I think that experience helped set my own personal alarm clock.  To this day I wake up at about the time the cows are ready to be milked.  I must confess however that, though I’m awake, I don’t always get out of bed.  The fact remains though that I enjoy getting up early! 

Like the morning glory pictured here, I’m at my best in the morning but begin to drag as the day goes on.  It makes me glad when I remember that our God doesn’t need rest and is always ready to hear our prayers.

                                                              John 4:14

This quote from John’s gospel reminds us how Jesus used commonplace objects to delve into deeper personal need.  It was not enough to wet the tongue to satisfy a physical need; what was required here was to whet the taste for something more than mere water can ever give us.

The shot shown here is a springhouse located near Boonsboro, Maryland.  The springhouse served as a place that early settlers (and even some today) use for keep foods fresh and chill them using the cold waters that pass through the springhouse foundation.

                                                                            Psalms 1:3

In this verse, the psalmist is talking about the nature of the blessed person.  One of the most refreshing thoughts that can be ours is that we are not alone in this world.  We fend for ourselves and do fairly well for a while but it is good to know that when we running on empty, God is always ready to refresh our lives when our roots are deep in his kingdom.  A tree planted near the river couldn’t ask any more.

The scene in this picture is the River Clyde in Prince Edward Island, Canada.  The flowers on the bank are Lupins.  These northern wildflowers grace many a field, hill and roadside in Atlantic Canada and northern coastal New England.

“I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.”

                                                           John 12:24

Here Jesus speaks of the concept of multiplication and the harvest.  Unless the seed gets into the ground and changes from what it is into what it will become, there is no harvest and the seed never serves its real purpose; the purpose of one bringing forth many.

The picture of athe wheatfield shown here was taken near Stratford, Ontario.