Benediction

This is not our home.
Do you remember?

And yet we run into these fleeting moments of profound beauty.
Do you know what I'm talking about?

That indescribably gorgeous sunset;
That performance at the symphony or
That rendition of the spiritual - that was so beautiful it brought tears to your eyes.

These moments shine a light in our darkness,
to remind us of and make us long for our true home.

"And yet they are not the thing itself;
they are only the scent of a flower we have not found,
the echo of a tune we have not heard,
news from a country we have never yet visited." *

You all have a spark of heaven within you.
Will you let that spark grow and in so doing
become, yourself, a reminder to the world around you
that this is not our true home.

That it is but a shadow that becomes a truer reflection
as we bring God's kingdom here on earth.

"You are the light of the world.
A town built on a hill cannot be hidden.
Neither do people light a lamp and
put it under a bowl.
Instead they put it on its stand,
and it gives light to everyone in the house.
In the same way, let your light shine before others,
that they may see your good deeds
and glorify your Father in heaven" **

Go in peace

This benediction was given at the 11:00 a.m. Service at Ecclesia, Houston on Sunday Feb. 13, 2011.

On the morning of Wednesday, Feb. 16, my friend & our Sister-in-Christ, Sarah Chidgey-Hughes went home to be with the Lord. She is now in her true home an in her true incorruptible body. Her service is this afternoon at 2:30 p.m. and will be streamed live online.

Please keep her husband Eric as well as her mom, dad & sister in your prayers.

Grace & peace,

Deji.

* - C.S. Lewis (from "'The Weight of Glory" - The Weight of Glory)
** - Matthew 5:14-16

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Christmas [is] changing the world from Living Water International on Vimeo.

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Just in case you somehow haven't seen this yet :-)

You can find out more about the Advent Conspiracy on the [AC] website.

Also, for a limited time I will be donating a portion of proceeds from sales of my photographic prints to Living Water Intl. as part of the Advent Conspiracy. Details are on my photography website.

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Here's wishing you a 2009 that is filled with beautiful surprises & blessings in unexpected places!

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Hi all!

Saw a post from one of my friends on Flickr this morning and thought I'd pass it along.

His daughter was last seen this past Saturday (Jan. 26th) and he has posted a montage of her on Flickr asking for prayers for her safety and safe return. Please keep Victoria and James in your prayers.

Grace & peace,

Deji.

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[AC] Advent Conspiracy from Jon Collins on Vimeo.

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So this is what Christmas has become - a deluge of "Holiday" catalogs & special offer e-mails. Every year it seems to kick into a new gear of marketing and solicitations to come spend, come buy, send gifts, receive gifts, show how special you think the other person is by outdoing their own efforts to get stuff for you. I will admit - I am guilty. There is a certain pleasure to it. I think even an amount of narcissism. That part of the drive to get those gifts and find just that special one that will put that look on the face of the child, spouse, parent, sibling, friend, significant other ... etc is ultimately about me. That I will have been the one who got just that special gift that put that look there - and I can smile and bask in the pleasure of having done that. It does feel good doesn't it? At least for just that moment.

Then there's the part that is just about me. Just about getting that gizmo that I've been putting off getting all year and now it is Christmas and you know what, I think I deserve to get something that I really want. Right? :-) You don't know how convicting it is to write this. The B&H Photo store catalog arrived in the mail a couple of days ago and so did the gift guide edition of Wired magazine.

So what is the problem? Well, the question is - Is this what Christmas is really about? It is supposed to be a birthday celebration but who is getting the gifts?

"'... For 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, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.' ... 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'" - Matt 25:35-36, 40

What if we made Christmas about giving gifts to the celebrant instead of the guests? What would that look like?

"Advent Conspiracy is an international movement restoring the scandal of Christmas by worshipping Jesus through compassion, not consumption."

It is a bit of a change of focus isn't it? That the truth of Christmas is not about having stores say "Merry Christmas" instead of "Happy Holidays". That it is not about the stores at all. It is about giving life, restoring hope, easing pain, sharing grace, bringing peace.

I will probably still buy some gifts, but I might also make some or make the gifts themselves more meaningful and I will find a way to give life and share grace with people I don't know and whose faces I may never see, realizing that this particular gift is not about me and is definitely not about any recognition for it. That maybe through all of this I might realize that whatever it was that I was able to do did not come from me but only passed through me.

Posted by Deji Osinulu at 11:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

Wow! July went by very, very quickly!! It has been rather busy around here with stuff all over the place. It seems like we just got into July not too long ago and the next thing I know, it is August.

Let's see ... what has been going on? Some photography stuff - got one of my entries picked for a photo show (600 sq mi: Photos from Houston) that opens in September (more on that later). Took up a bit of running and now it seems like I might give the Houston 1/2 Marathon a shot (quick note on this - I thought since I do a bit of cycling this should not be a big deal and boy was I wrong ... it is harder than it looks). What else ... teaching the CrossTrainers Sunday School class at First Methodist again (3rd week on a series on David this Sunday). Of course there has been work stuff which takes up most of the daylight hours (and some night time too).

Anyway, just wanted to post something and say "hola!", hoping to resume posting on a more regular basis again.

Gotta sign-off now ... have a run rather early tomorrow morning, and combine that with being a Sat. morning and that is way early for me!! :-)

Blessings, grace & peace,
Deji.

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The site is Oaktree Idea. It has been around for a while and was recently acquired by my dear friend Shelley. The idea behind this site is to build an online social network and community that is Christ centered and allows each of us to connect with our fellow sojourners in dialogue with each other and supporting one another in our individual journeys and our communal efforts.

That sounds rather "wordy" doesn't it? :-) Well it is kind difficult to explain it all very succinctly so you need to just go on over there, check it out and sign-up. They have Forums, Dialogues, Impact Groups, Blogs, Photos ... you know, all that good "Web 2.0" stuff. When you do join, give me a holler on there.

By the way, they are having a drawing for a free iPod Nano when you register and vote on site's potential new name.

Blessings,
Deji.

Posted by Deji Osinulu at 11:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."

Luke 2:14

Hope you all had a wonderful and blessed Christmas! Here's wishing you and yours the very best in the New Year.

Grace, peace, hope & joy,
Deji.

Posted by Deji Osinulu at 1:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Got word the other day about this new Blog - GodSecret.com

Godsecret is an alternative to bring in the light of God and show others our daily testimonies in a new and creative way.

There are two objectives for this blog:
1. To challenge ourselves to worship and glorify God in a different way.
2. To communicate our testimonies to the world. in a different way.

As you know, all of us can't sing - but we still sing in service every Sunday. Some of us don't feel comfortable about sharing our private testimonies with others ~ here's your chance to do it anonymously,
all while honoring God. This is a unique opportunity to speak to the world about God's truth.

Check out their Blog and send them a postcard. It is anonymous so you might even be able to share those places where God is still at work in you and you still struggle with :-)

"For the accuser of our brothers, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down. They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; ..." - Rev. 12:10b-11a

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