About the Photo Albums

How to use the Photo Albums

This is a very rough initial edit of this page and will be improved substantially... There is one (pretty much complete) photo album so far. The actual photo albums are coming soon (i.e. not here yet)... Correction — there is one there now (which is pretty much finished now).

Often what happens when people become Christians is that the Christian part of their life is new, and stays disconnected from the memories of their old, wordly life. So when you go back to those old situations, the first instinct is to think the same old thoughts that you had before conversion. I noticed this a lot in my own experience, and I found it takes a while for this to diminish.

Photos of God's Creation and also photos of wordly things which you can look at with Christian eyes. With Bible verses under the images. The idea is to think of the place or object or situation or person and at the same time realise how different things are when viewed from a Christian perspective.

Some examples: Instead of how can I get something: How can I let go of craving for it? How can I use whatever I know about it to help God's work in my life and other peoples lives?

Instead of how can I make myself attractive to the opposite sex: How can I make myself and my life attractive to God?

Instead of the constant internal dialogue we usually have in our heads, usually imagining conversations and situations with other people we know: Imagine Jesus is sitting in the chair right next to you, right now. Since he is, in spirit form. Imagine having conversations with him (i.e. praying) instead of with other people.

Instead of how can I add to my material posessions, improve my house, etc.,: How can I appreciate the beauty and wonder of God's creation and feel the power and majesty of God when I see (and perhaps visit) places like that?

Instead admiring "survival of the fittest" on Earth: Think about your really long-term survival, after this life. Which will be for much longer than the life you live here.

Instead of wishing you had more money so you could buy this (perhaps so that others will think more highly of you): How can I give more money to help others who need it more than I do (perhaps so that God will think more highly of you, or even just to help them and feel like you've really contributed to someone's happiness -- rather than just impressed them and made them feel jealous of you and therefore worse off than they were before.

Instead of stressing about how to achieve (or maintain) a certain kind of lifestyle: To what extent can you make God's word (i.e. the Bible) into your life... your whole life... as if you didn't need anything else but that (and allowing whatever else you need to come from God as it is his will).

Instead of trying to figure out what God wants you do to with your life: Just follow Jesus and let your life happen, since God knows much more about what's good for you than you do.

Instead of getting upset about problems: Remember that God has more idea of what you need, and even problems can have deeper (and sometimes eternal) lessons and benefits that we can't understand from our limited mortal human perspective.

Summary

SO TO SUMMARISE, the idea is to look at the photos, while thinking things of God and of Christ Jesus, and comparing those thoughts to what you might have thought about them from a worldly point of view. If you do this often, it can make a very noticeable change in the way you react to things in your real actual everyday life in this world as a Christian.

Each photo will be chosen to be an aid in changing a worldly part of ourselves to a godly part.