Scarlett told me a story of her friend, Connie. Connie had breast cancer, trusted the Lord to heal her and she prayed every day. God healed her of her cancer and she has been great ever since!!!! NOW, she has called her fellow brothers & sisters in Christ to pray for a friend of hers! This is the email she sent me today.

“We have friend that is believing God for healing of cancer. Her name is Maggie Walls. She is the daughter of a dear friend of mine who stood beside me when I was believing God for my healing.

Maggie’s church has a prayer pager ministry. After you pray for her then you call this number…it will beep on your end and it will beep on her end to let her know someone has just prayed for her.You wan’t talk to anybody, you will just hear beeps. It is really neat.

She is the mother of 4 little people. She has triplets that are 4 and another child that is 7 and a precious husband Jason. They are leaving in the morning to go to Little Rock AK for tests out at a cancer center there that specializes in the type of cancer that is trying to attack her body, but we know we aren’t moved by the report of man. We believe in the report of the Lord that says by the stripes of Jesus she is healed and whole.

So, if you feel led to pay for her and want her to know she has been prayed for I am going to give you her prayer pager number. 770-636-0653

In His Love, Connie

The joy of the Lord is your strength. Neh.8:10″

As friends, family & believers in Jesus. We need to stand together, pray for our sister in Christ and I ask you to repost this prayer, tweet this prayer and tell your church to Pray. We all endure tough things in life’s journey BUT the Holy Spirit can do incredible things!! Her family needs your help!!!

Yesterday, during the time of worship at church I felt really good. It was that good you feel when you know its 100% right on. During one of the last songs played, my eyes opened up with tears and I looked around the room. Yesterday it hit me me that we get to worship freely in our cars with the music turned way loud, in our church with our hands lifted high and on the streets we can pray for people in front of others. We can do that but there are others who are persecuted each day in other countries because they try to live for Jesus.

One of the definitions of “Christian” is a verb. It states, “to live with holy spirit filled power and to follow Jesus Christ”. As a verb, it asks us to DO SOMETHING. A verb is all about action and defining what you can do with your life in this case. Jesus dying on the cross to give you & I life was a verb because he did something that he was called to do and live for. He sure was passionate about that, wasn’t he?

Are you passionate about Jesus? Do you pull out all the stops to live for him?

In what areas of your life are dry with passion? You feel that there is an area of your life that needs grow. I can tell you this. Jesus can grow any area of your life only after, you hand it over to him. I think living with Passion for Jesus means to give everything to him. Don’t hold it back.

I had this idea that if I were to hand it all over to God then he might steal away things that I have built up. I thought my business would be taken away and changed against my will. Even though I was thinking that, after I finally said in prayer that everything was his… It all changed for the BETTER! I was able to do so much more for Jesus and use my talents and business for him in amazing ways!  So don’t hesitate to be used by Jesus.

I feel that I can now Live Passionately because I know that it’s all his now and he uses me in more incredible ways. Try it, it’s really amazing. He WANTS to use you and your business. The rewards you receive are total blessings too.

Now, go read Psalm 1: 1-2

Five years ago, they met. Through some mutual friends, they were convinced to try out a blind date. Todd wanted to casually date while Elysa was set to find the man of her dreams. Elysa was a little hesitant to go on the date but she did anyways. The date started out as a group of friends which led eventually to the whole group heading over to La Jolla Shores. When they arrived, the rest of the group ditched Todd & Elysa leaving them alone on the beach which was the perfect setting for them to start some one on one conversation to learn more about each other.

3 days after their blind date, they started to officially date. Todd was a Marine and in August of 2004, he was informed that he would be shipped to Iraq until March of 2005. During that time, nearly 7 months, they wrote nothing but letters back & forth and when given the chance Todd would call Elysa to check up on her. Once Todd returned to the states, they continued where they had left off.

After dating for almost 4 years, Todd had planned the perfect opportunity to propose to Elysa. It was his 24th birthday. She had thrown him a BBQ with all their family & friends. When they had lit the candles, Todd looked at Elysa right as he blew them out. Elysa asked what his wish was, his response was “You”. Todd then dropped on his knee in front of all their family & friends and asked her to marry him. She was his birthday wish.

Todd & Elysa are such amazing clients. Their love story is such a unique one and they have held on hard to each other through the last 6 years. Their romance is perfectly fitting as on the weekends they take his motorcycle to Julian and enjoy the sweet food from Mom’s Pie Shop. The one big thing that Todd, Elysa & I share in common is our love for Sushi!

Their engagement session started at the http://niwa.org/ which is such a peaceful location. It’s inside of Balboa Park but when your really walking around their with all the oriental music, coy pond and tons of bamboo it feels like your out of San Diego for a brief moment. After our shoot at the friendship garden concluded we drove over to the Pier 32 right near the old blue crab restaurant where The Real World was taped while it was in San Diego back in 2003. I loved the buildings & textures down there with all the old piers and colored walls. It was sure a fun location!

Todd & Elysa will be getting married on their 6 year anniversary of May 1st, 2010.

I am a Chargers fan, but, Peyton Manning is undoubtedly one of the best QB’s of all time. Not only that, but Tony Dungy built their franchise in the NFL known as a team that has many christians on the roster. Tony Dungy knew the right way to win and that was passed onto the Colts current head coach, Jim Caldwell. Yesterday, Peyton Manning and Jim Caldwell accepted their AFC Championship. Did you notice the first words from both of their mouths? “I’d like to thank Christ who gave us the strength to win todays game”. One more on that, my pastor Miles McPherson is the chaplain for the away teams that play the Chargers. Miles told our church a story once that when he led the service for the Colts. Manning and Dungy along with many of their players all had their bibles open along with that, they were taking pages of notes.

Based on the evidence, Peyton Manning is a great athlete and he knows that Jesus lets him live the way he does and his power comes from above. Want more information on the faith of the Colts? Read Tony Dungys book, “Quiet Strength”.

Peyton Manning steps onto the field using the gift the Lord gave him and he then speaks on behalf of his heavenly father when the opportunity arises.

Recently, another photographer told me that he disagrees with photographers putting their faith out in the open because it creates controversy. I disagree

Here is why

I firmly believe that Jesus gave me the skill that I have in Photography. I do these devotion’s because I feel that living for Christ involves living for him outside of the church and not hiding what you live for.

Are you called to be like Christ? To live like him? Did you just say, “Yes”? Did Jesus hide the fact that he was Christ? NO! He healed people in public, he pulled demons out of others in front of crowds. Now, you aren’t called to do those same things, well maybe you are because I do believe in the power of healing prayer BUT you are called to live for him, right?

As a believer & photographer I will live my faith out on my blog, facebook, twitter and whenever I speak at events. I’ve been asked “why” before. To obey god is to live for him, to live for his name through everything and as social media becomes more of the way we all communicate it should feel normal to live the way we do in person, online. That goes in depth with the idea of “be authentic”.

Whatever you do, your really good at it. Jesus put you exactly where your at while you do that thing. Give it back to him by living for him through that.

1 John 5:3 NIV

“This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, for everyone born of God overcomes the world.”

I urge you…. don’t allow outside influences to change the way you live your faith. Don’t be afraid to face the frontline!

God Bless!

Is your heart on target? Think over those five words for a moment and in a general idea, do you have your heart on target?

“Is my heart on target with what?”

Is your heart on target with Jesus as your core?

One of the strongest abilities that I admire most about Jesus is that he never fell off track. He was tempted many times, but never fell off track. Like many of the people around you today, Jesus never had a sports car, no money or computers, no office assistants or even staff members. Jesus did what many of us fail to do. He stayed on course. He never walked to the side of the road and yelled at God telling him that he gave up. Oh right, and he knew he would be dying on the cross at the end of his 3 years in Ministry.

I believe that our success in life will be determined by one thing. “How are you using what you have, for the glory of God?”

Would it hurt you if you donated some time to photograph a family in your neighborhood who you know couldn’t afford it?

It is tough, but I try to live on course for Jesus. I wake up everyday & wonder, who can I serve today? I dare you, ask god every morning for an entire week, “God what can I use for your glory today?”

One of my friends is a youth pastor in San Diego. His church goes door by door in San Diego neighborhoods and asks if they can serve with anything to them?  One day, a young mother answered the door. She needed help cleaning the house, building a new crib for her son, flip her mattress, clean the fridge and landscape the yard. Their youth group spent 3 days working for this woman and they asked for nothing in return. That story is about more than just serving because my friend told me that afterwards he was able to complete more projects in his own personal life because serving hours to that young lady brought his heart to match his vision for how he should be everyday.

Why do we feel like everything is ours and the only way we give back is by handing 10% of our income to the church? It’s time that we use our photography to the world. It’s our job to capture the lives of people who hire us. What if you made it your mission to capture the lives of certain people around you and give them a print for free? Trust me, God will provide you will so much if you give.

I’ve seen it that once you give back to someone with you not expecting anything in return, your heart will fall more in line with how Jesus lived.

In simple terms…

You giving = a heart more like the heart of Jesus = your heart being more on target = God providing more

Matthew 25: 34-36

Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. ³⁵For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, ³⁶I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

“The moment you wake up each morning… all your wishes and hopes for the day rush at you like wild animals. And the first Job of each morning consists in shoving them all back, in listening to that other voice, taking that other point of view, letting that other, larger, stronger quiet life come flowing in” – CS Lewis

Every morning, after I wake up, before my mac turns on and I even look at a single image that is ready to be edited… I sit with Jesus. Quiet as his words flow like water through my mind and I wonder with Him for a few moments. Sometimes he tells me what to do that day, who I should pray for, why I should pray for them, what I should be on the lookout for today. It’s almost easier said than done, right? Wrong.

Give God your thoughts, your desires, your dreams. God is much bigger than the world and the world is bigger than your photography business. It may be harsh for me to say this but we don’t deserve to own a business. YET, Jesus loves us so much and he chose each of us to be photographers so he gave us each the power to capture love. In that sense, do you believe you do this for YOU or you do this for HIM?

I’ve struggled with that idea before. “But GOD! I worked hard on booking them, I shot those images, I did all that editing… its MY work”. Well, who on earth told you that? God created you, he gives you live, he gives you everything. Therefore if that is true, isn’t your business part of everything that is already his?

I’m not saying give it away… God doesn’t want us to feel pain but he does want us to acknowledge Him and understand that our business is HIS business. Our photography is HIS photography. He wants to be shooting that wedding when you are. Don’t leave Him at the studio, take Him with you. I can tell you that you WILL feel more Joy.

Mother Teresa  was asked by Dan Rather, “What do you say to God when you pray?”

Teresa responded with, “I sit and listen”.

Rather responded with, “Well, what does God say?”

Teresa said, “He Listens.”

That. is. deep.

During our quiet time with God, we will develop an intimate feeling. It feels like assurance and it contains no worries because we should know that we will wake up the next day and he will be right next to us.

At the end of your day, give God your thoughts. Let your mind settle with Him. Thank Him for everything he did for you that day. Thank Him for all that he does everyday for your business.

I usually do this as I am falling asleep. Some people have told me you need to be fully awake when praying… well, why not fall asleep when you pray? I sometimes get this feeling of “assurance” when I fall asleep praying. “He who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep”. (Psalm 121:4) What better place to fall asleep into than the arms of God? He knows your thoughts, why not release them to Him as you sleep? Try it tonight. I bet you will sleep a better night of sleep.

I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. John 15: 5,7

God wants to be as close as possible to you and your photography business. He wants to be the branch to the vine. They aren’t separated. The branch doesn’t connect to the vine when it’s time to bear fruit. The branch is connected from day one. The vine & branch will die if they aren’t connected. They need each other to survive. Your photography business needs Jesus to fully survive.

Isn’t that awesome news? God knows that he needs us and we need him. He won’t ever leave us on the side of the road. We are all vines that connect to Jesus as the branch. When we are ready to produce fruits in our lives to produce blessings, he will make it happen. Consider this… You are a vine that is connected to Jesus, right? If a plant has a good farmer who will water it all the time, the vine has no worry about withering.

Jesus is our farmer. He knows what we will be blessed with and when. It’s actually only a matter of trusting him and knowing that your business will be fine. You will have amazing clients to capture. Your going to shoot great images. Then we all worry about finances, will I have any jobs next month, will I make ends meet? We worry too much about those things… All of those areas are part of our lives and they are on our vines that are connected to the branch and we’re wrapped around Jesus, just like a vine. When it’s time for us to bear fruit and receive blessings, he will do it. When we need to be watered, he will do it.

When you trust God and know that he is going to take care of you. Once you give everything over to him. You will feel good because you know it’s in his hands. You then have intimacy with Jesus, knowing that what he created you for is what you will be doing through intimacy with him!

Now, please go read Psalm 139:2-6

God Bless You

“No! I could never do that! You have NO idea what she did to me” These are the words a friend once told me after he went through a tough breakup with his girlfriend. I told him to forgive her and that was his snapback response.

Perhaps, that is you. Maybe you have wanted to forgive someone and you never could get the feelings out in that way? I told my friend, “Try shifting your focus from that person and take the time you put into them, into Christ”. Don’t fix yours eyes on the one who hurt you, but the one who saved you. Do you remember that verse in 1st John when he says, “But if we live in the light, as God is in the light, we can share fellowship with each other. Then the blood of Jesus, God’s Son, cleanses us from every sin” (1 John 1:7)

Jesus has cleansed us. He cleaned our hearts from all Sin! AND, he is STILL cleaning us. He is always cleaning us from all our troubles.

Our savior kneels down and gazes upon the darkest acts of our lives. But rather than running away, he reaches out in kindness and asks us if we need help. He asks if he can clean that away for us.

BECAUSE, Jesus has forgiven us that means we can forgive others. Because he has a forgiving heart, we HAVE a forgiving heart. We are like Christ. We are the same as him, why do you think you don’t have to forgive someone?

“If I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash each other’s feet. I did this as an example so that you should do as I have done for you” (John 13: 14,15)

Jesus forgives us for two reasons:

1) The first is to give us mercy.

2) To give us a message. That message is that Jesus gave grace & love. Actually, he gave YOU unconditional grace & love. The mercy of Christ protects our mistakes. Our mercy must proceed the mistakes of others.

We live like Jesus and that means that we should kneel as he knelt before God, touching people to heal them as he did, and FORGIVING them

“Be kind and loving to each other, and forgive each other just as God forgave you in Christ” (Eph. 4:32)

I get it… our flesh tells us “not to forgive because your so hurt”. Well, Jesus got hurt & angry many times in his 3 years of ministry during his 33 years of life. Still, he forgave them because he paved the “structure of life” for you & me. Even when it hurts to forgive. It actually will feel AMAZING once you do it.

As Jesus has given us mercy & forgiveness, is there something your wrestling with in your mind that is telling you NOT to forgive someone?

This week, I want you to call, email or take that person to coffee and talk face to face and forgive them. Tell them the same verses I wrote above and bring Christ into the center of the conversation. I’ve had days when I forgive someone and they don’t talk to me after I say it!! Well, Jesus works through them then because you will plant the seed of forgiveness into their heart.

God Bless You.

I shot my first wedding in 2007. I was working at Starbucks & I had just started taking b&w film classes at my local college. I would take pictures of flowers, sunsets, cars, rocks… you know it, AND please agree with me that we all shot that stuff at one point. I was taking these pictures and posting them onto my flickr account. People started to find my images and stressed it to me that I had a visionary eye (at the time it was for flowers) and I should take photos of people. I took some christmas money to buy a Sony point & shoot that was eventually stolen but in the time that I had it, I shot people and I really enjoyed capturing memories. Now, at that same time I was a videographer. I was already shooting wedding videos on the weekends and I closely watched the photographers. I never thought I would be a photographer.

After my sony was stolen, I thought that was the end for me. Well, I bought a Rebel and a 50 1.8. That bride in 2007 who told me everyday that I should shoot weddings was a fellow barista. She got engaged and hired me to shoot her wedding. Are you kidding me? A bride who has the money to hire someone else who has a 5d wants to hire a guy who has one lens and a crop body camera? I shot the wedding. I got a voicemail 3 weeks later once she viewed the images (edited them in iPhoto) she was in tears. She knew that I was going to do an amazing job and she would refer me to all her friends. That wedding set me up into a place where I trusted God and I dreamed. I suddenly started to visit the PUG Meetings, meet with other photographers and all of a sudden I wanted to be a photographer. I was a guy with one camera and one lens but the one thing I had that I knew my clients saw was my passion and they wanted to help me grow. Do you have someone close by you, who urges you to be better at what you do?

Since that one wedding two years ago I continued to dream. My goals & dreams have changed a few times but the one passionate thought that runs through my mind everyday is that I am the person who captures their story. Through the past two years I have grown as a person and a photographer and this industry is so supporting of my dreams. The dream & goals I had two years ago… they all all happened. The one major dream that will always remain steady and in the middle is to Glorify God with everything I do for others.

I visited my very first Partner-Con this past November. During a presentation from Dane Sanders, he presented a video. As you watch this, your might hit pause because your not sure what is going on. I urge you, watch it start to finish. At the end you will see that something happens to a group and something else happens to one person. Watch it closely! I ask you this.

Do you dream?

How did you start in Photography?

Why do you take pictures?

What do you desire to capture?

Do you trust yourself to create the dream?

What can You do right now to start making them happen?

Band: Sigur Ross – Glosoli

Don’t our hearts feel so far away from his?

He was pure/We are always greedy

He is peaceful/We are hassled

He is purposeful/We are distracted

He is pleasant/We are cranky

He is SPIRITUAL/We are earthbound

How could our lives & our business have the heart of Jesus, in place of our crazy lives? Well… YOU ALREADY HAVE HIS

You already have the heart of Christ! If you believe that you’re in Christ, you already have the heart of Christ! If your life is given to him & your business is given to him, he is ready to give you all of himself into your heart.

“Christ lives in me!” (Galatians 2:20)

If your life, if your business, if your heart has been given to Jesus. He already moved into your heart. He unpacked his bags in there and he has been there and he isn’t leaving anytime soon AND he is ready to change your heart when you fully trust him!

Still, in this we all ask “why do I still think like ME!?” “why am I still the same old ________ (name placed here)

If Jesus is in me… why do I still hate those slow drivers in front of me on the highway?

This answer can be illustrated in a short story about a lady in Ireland… There was an old lady who lived in a small shack on the seashore. She turned out to be one of the most wealthy but she also wanted to live simply. The surrounding area was astonished when this small shack was one of the first to ever have electricity in her home. Several weeks after the installation, the electricity company came by her shack asking, “is your power working well? The old lady replied by saying it works great! The man replied with, “we see that you have used less than 20% of the power allocated for you, can you tell me why?” Surely, the old woman responded. Each evening, when it gets dark. I turn it on to light my candles around my home then I turn it off. (Credit: David Jeremiah: The God of the Impossible)

The old tapped into the power but she doesn’t use any of it. Photographers, we too… are the same. We are saved but our hearts unchanged. Is your business connected to God but you would rather remain in the shadows and not allow God to have any of what is already his? We occasionally flip the power switch, “Oh hey God… I need help with this right now” “Hey God… book me some more weddings” “Hey God….”

What would happen in YOUR life, if you flipped the switch on and left it that way? What would happen if we trusted God with everything we already have? God has an amazing plan for our lives. The same God that saved you, wants to change your business & change your life.

I’m going to leave you this morning with Romans 8:29… what are YOU going to do about it?

Romans 8:29

For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.