Month: July 2016

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PWTE Daily Devotion

Living Life from the Perspective of Sunrises and Sunsets

Palmer Park, Colorado Springs, Colorado

God is always with us whether we’re living in the sunrise or the sunset of life.

You can listen to today’s devotion by clicking on this SoundCloud link.

“From the rising of the sun to its setting, the name of the LORD is to be praised!”
Psalm 113:3 English Standard Version

Some of us are sunrise people and others are sunset people. I’m not talking about whether one is more beautiful than the other. They are both equally stunning and dazzling. They both happen over mountains and oceans, over plains and deserts.

Palmer Park, Colorado Springs, Colorado
Palmer Park, Colorado Springs, Colorado

Sunsets and sunrises signify two different views of life.

Sunrises compel us to look forward. Sunsets compel us to look backwards. Sunrises stir anticipation about the future, sunsets inspire us to look back on what has been.

There are those of us reading this blog who would describe our lives in terms of sunrises not sunsets and those who would describe them in terms of sunsets not sunrises. Our description of life lived in either one or the other is not about age, but about what we’re experiencing.

One is not better than the other; just a statement of reality. What’s important is that our loving God is with us at sunrise, sunset and the time in between.

Whether we find ourselves at sunrise, sunset, or somewhere in between, God’s name is lifted up by his forgiven and restored people.

Text and Picture Copyright Douglas P Brauner

Categories
PWTE Daily Devotion

“Say, ‘Cheese!'”

Being a photographer, I enjoy watching my grandsons take pictures even when the camera is facing the wrong way.

The Holy Spirit changes our perspective of life.

You can listen today’s devotion by clicking on this SoundCloud link.

“However, when God our Savior made his kindness and love for humanity appear, he saved us, but not because of anything we had done to gain his approval. Instead, because of his mercy he saved us through the washing in which the Holy Spirit gives us new birth and renewal.”
Titus 3:4-5 God’s Word to the Nations

Not surprisingly, it brings a great deal of joy to my grandpa heart when I see my grandsons, Eli and Nolan, taking an interest in photography. Some of you have seen Eli’s work on Facebook. He’s even entering a photography contest this summer.

However, I have not put my camera into Nolan’s hands since he’s only 2.5 years old. We do have a toy camera at our house and the last time the two of them were at our house Nolan picked it up and scouted the backyard for great photo ops. He spent time chasing our dog, Ginger, around the backyard. He took pictures of his brother taking videos of his grandparents.

Being a photographer, I enjoy watching my grandsons take pictures even when the camera is facing the wrong way.
Being a photographer, I enjoy watching my grandsons take pictures even when the camera is facing the wrong way.

His favorite spot was our garden. He studied the plants and put the camera to his eye and then pretended to push the shutter. However, if the camera actually took pictures, all of them would have been of the same subject, his eye. The camera lens was always pointing straight into his eye.

No matter how hard we try to get things right, we live life backwards. We know what God wants from us. He wants our attention, affection, and allegiance, yet the lens of life seems to focus on ourselves and not on God.

God has turned the camera around through the washing of rebirth in the gift of the Holy Spirit. Even though we are incapable of getting life “right,” God declares us to be right with him through his Son. His sacrifice changes our perspective from being self-focused to God-focused. The power for this changed perspective is ours through God’s Spirit.

Even though we still turn the camera around and focus on ourselves, his saving grace gently and sometimes not so gently, leads us back to his cross, to his work in our lives.

Thank God for the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Picture and Text Copyright Douglas P Brauner

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Podcasts

PWTE Podcast Episode 028: Can Christians Be Optimists?

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

IMG_20151219_073020853In this episode of the Praying With The Eyes podcast, Pastor Doug Brauner and Richelle Hecker  explore the issue of optimism in relationship to pessimism and realism. Can Christians be optimists? And if so, how does Christian optimism differ from others. In their discussion they talk about the difference between optimism based on humanity and that which is based on redemption. At the end of the podcast they discuss Dave Brukiewa’s blog, “Unbelievable,” and how the freedom we have in Christ encourages us to be optimists. 

Blog by David Brukiewa: Unbelievable

NPR TED Radio Hour: The Case for Optimism. Scroll down to May 6, 2016. This is the podcast that spurred the question for Pastor Doug as to whether Christians can be optimists or not.

Blogs:

Scripture: (passages are linked to Biblegateway.com)