“Are you getting any good shots?” Often I have been asked this question. The fact that I have a big, badass looking camera dangling over my shoulder is usually the reason. Nowadays in a world of cellphone photographers, I stick out like a sore thumb. That is fine with me. Yeah, you can take a great photo by simply pointing your cellphone at something and hitting the ‘PHS’ button.(Press Here Stupid). As much as it is technically possible to capture pretty well anything on a cell phone, doing a great job of it consistently is another story. I don’t mind having one as a backup, but nothing beats my ‘real camera’ for getting those really amazing shots.
It is written in the New Testament that we have no idea whatsoever when the Lord shall return. Nor do we know precisely when we are going to die. So, don’t you think we should at least consider a thing or two as far as preparation for these events is concerned? Some don’t believe, or don’t wish to believe, anything lies beyond the grave. Oh yes, they’ll even go so far as prepaying for their own funeral and picking their favorite coffin ahead of time. They will predetermine whether they wish to be cremated or buried or fired out of a cannon into the lake. They’ll even pick their favorite songs to be played at the funeral home. Yikes, talking about having a problem letting go! Personally, I could care less what happens to my earthly remains when I die. The one thing I AM concerned about is the well being of my soul. Hey all you control freaks out there, maybe you should try to control your own destiny and get right with God, so that when the day comes you ‘bite the biscuit’ you will end up going to a good place instead of a dreadful place. Don’t let anyone tell you that somehow it will have nothing to do with our own decision. If we end up going to HE
, it is because we chose to go there, and not because God wanted to send us there. He has gone far out of his way to make it easy to avoid it. He went so far as to give us his own Son to pay the price for all the bad decisions we chose to make in our life time, estranging ourselves from our loving father. He’s tossed us a lifeline. Now it’s up to us to grab on to it and let him pull us to safety. How do we do this, pray tell?
Jesus said a person needs to be ‘Born Again’. He also said that whosoever believes and is baptized will be saved. Sounds pretty simple to me. There is the requirement to surrender to God’s will and stop doing things he considers just bloody wrong, and start doing the things that are right, right, bloody well right. That is called ‘repentance’, and we need to do it if we know what’s good for us. Only then will we be able to enter into the place where he calls ‘paradise’, a wonderful place indeed.
Ok, so I might not be able to take one last picture a moment before I die. Maybe I just won’t get the chance. One way or another, I will have taken my last picture at some point in time prior to my death, and hopefully it will have been a good one.
Some say you’re only as good as your last picture. I also know that I’ve been witness to some amazing things, yet regrettably did not have my camera with me. Maybe, if I’m prepared, I can get a shot of the Lord when he returns in the same manner as when he left. I can see it now; the clouds swirling dramatically and then parting to reveal him descending upon us in the most glorious and grand of all entrances! Hopefully I’ll have my camera set up correctly to capture the action as it unfolds before me. Preparation is key to ensure success. Being able to anticipate what’s about to happen is crucial as well. It’ not as though he hasn’t warned us enough ahead of time. It isn’t as though it ‘might’ happen, but ‘when’ it happens. We just don’t know for sure. That’s why we need to stand ready. If you don’t even have your camera with you, how on earth can you hope to get the shot? Heck, some people don’t even own a camera!
So get yourself ready and be prepared, because you never can tell when history is going ‘Explode before your very eyes’. And that folks, is why I always carry my camera, EVERYWHERE! It’s a constant reminder to me that the Lord is going to show up when we least expect it, so I better be damn well ready for him! I can’t wait to hand him the photo of when he arrived and see the thrilled look on his face!
To him be the glory, great things he has done, and all the great things that are yet to come!
Tuesday October 14th, 2025
Written by
Lucien Alexander Delean, aka ‘Looch’.