Earth Shots is a Photo of the Day contest celebrating the beauty and diversity of our planet. Everyday we feature the best photograph submitted by our visitors.

I recently signed up for a new photo site called Earth Shots where you submit your picture in hopes of winning “Photo of the Day” which leads to more visitors and greater exposure for your craft. If nothing else, it’s nice to see some of the work done by others.

For those of you looking for a more casual, friendly challenge then head on over to ph.otogra.ph and check out the weekly photo assignment.

This website is an interactive photography project. Every week brings a new theme to challenge the creativity in all of us. The themes are based on a noun, verb or adjective. For example, this week the theme is adjective: broken. Participants upload one photograph each week to fit the theme. Everything should be this fun.

Where do you draw the line on if it’s okay date or not to date? To be set up or not to be set up on a date? I personally don’t think it’s wrong per say to have single friends gather and if there is a spark, then “go, God!,” but if not, so be it. Too many singles dwell and persue meaningless relationships because they are lonely. They aren’t in it for the long haul. I think too many people want to “fix it” or “help out” instead of giving the reigns to God. It’s a trust issue in many cases. Ask yourself “do I trust God?”, “would I be okay if God chose for me to be single till my dying day?”, “would I compromise if I found a guy or gal that didn’t measure up, but fulfilled my loneliness right now?”

Relationships can take our full, undivided attention off of God. When a person is single, they are able to fully focus 100 percent on God. There is no checking in with your husband, wife or boyfriend or girlfriend when you are single. The Bible even says that it is better to be single. So why do we want to force it? I think loneliness is a battle that needs to be conquered in order to be content with the portion that God has blessed us with. We don’t deserve anything, so when God does bless us with our husband or wife, we can be 100 percent sure it is a gift from God and we will appreciate that person even more.

Grace: favor or kindness shown without regard to the worth or merit of the one who recieves it and in spite of what that person deserves.

Grace is one of the key attributes of God. The Lord God is “merciful and gracious, long suffering, and abounding in goodness and truth” ( Ex. 34:6). Therefore, grace is almost always associated with mercy, love, compassion, and patience as the source of help and with deliverance from distress. In the Old Testament, the supreme example of grace was the redemption of the Hebrew people from Egypt and their establishment in the Promised Land. This did not happen because of any merit on Israel’s part, but in spite of their unrighteousness (Duet. 9:5-6). Although the grace of God is always free and undeserved, it must not be taken for granted. Grace is only enjoyed within the Covenant- the gift is given by God, and the gift is received by man through repentance and faith ( Amos 5:15). Grace is to be humbly sought through the prayer of faith ( Mal 1:9)…the only way of salvation for any person is “through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ” ( Acts 15:11). The grace of God revealed Jesus Christ is applied to human beings for their salvation by the Holy Spirit, who is called “the Spirit of grace” ( Heb. 10:29). The Spirit is the One who binds Christ to His people so that they recieve forgiveness, adoption to sonship, and newness of life, as well as every spiritual gift of grace ( Eph. 4-7).
- Illustrated Dictionary of the Bible

To kick this little kids butt!

I recently watched Born Into Brothels, a documentary on children from Calcutta. It was one of those eye opening kind of movies. It wasn’t full of action, excitement, or romance, but it did have something else that you can only appreciate if you watch the film. I highly recommend this film to anyone.

Summary by: Kenneth Chisholm
Admist the apparent growing prosperity of India, there is a dark underbelly of poverty of another side of the nation that is little known. This film is a chronicle of filmmakers Zana Briski and Ross Kauffman’s efforts to show that world of Calcutta’s red light district. To do that, they inspired a special group of children of the prostitutes of the area to photograph the most reluctant subjects of it. As the kids excel in their new found art, the filmmakers struggle to help them have a chance for a better life away from the miserable poverty that threatens to crush their dreams.