Seventh Light Photography

20/05/2024

To finish off Police Officer Awareness week (May 15-21), I want to announce my bi-annual Back The Blue Sessions! The dates for these sessions are May 25th, June 1st or June 8th. The sessions will be 20 minutes long. A $50 retainer is required to book your spot and that gets you 10, yes, TEN images! A full session will be shot and edited and you can choose your 10 favorite images. If you can't choose and want to purchase the entire session, that will be available for a significantly discounted price as usual.

I do these sessions to honor our men and women wearing blue and thank them for all they sacrifice! Please tag anyone you know that might be interested in this session and share the post! If you're interested in booking, please message the business page or text me at 325-269-9933

31/03/2024

But Sunday is coming…

It’s Saturday.

A dark day. A day of grieving. Mourning.

The religious leaders pay another visit to Pilate.

They remind him that, before Jesus died, he told them he would rise from the dead after three days.

A request is made for Pilate to send guards to protect the tomb. They’re afraid Jesus’ disciples will steal his body and falsely claim he rose from the dead.

Pilate grants their request.

They arrive back at the tomb, seal it, and post guards to protect it.

But what they don’t know just yet is -

A stone can’t stop the rock.

It’s Saturday. But Sunday is coming.

Shared from Courtney Melton

29/03/2024

But Sunday is coming….

It’s Friday.

Jesus is in custody.

Judas is ridden with guilt. He returns the silver, his betrayal payment, and hangs himself.

Religious leaders deliver Jesus to Pilate, the governor. Each Passover, Pilate releases one prisoner to the crowd. Barabbas, a prisoner guilty of theft, insurrection and murder, is brought in.

Pilate asks Jesus - are you the king of the Jews? Jesus confirms.

Pilate asks the crowd who to release. Barabbas.

He asks what he should do with Jesus, they shout - Crucify him. Crucify him.

Jesus is delivered to the soldiers. They place a crown of thorns on his head. They mock him, beat him, strip him of his clothes.

They head for Golgotha. Jesus bears the burden of carrying his own cross. He is too weak. Simon, a passerby, takes the cross and carries it on Jesus’ behalf.

Jesus, spotless and innocent, is hung on the cross. A nail in each hand and a nail in his feet. A sign is placed above his head reading - King of the Jews.

They mock him, insult him, spit on him, pierce his side with a sword.

Hours of agony pass. Jesus cries out - Father, forgive them. Jesus, in his final moments, prays mercy over his enemies that they may come to know and believe in him.

With one final cry Jesus proclaims - it is finished.

Jesus hangs his head. He gives up the ghost. The veil of the temple is torn, top to bottom, in two.

Joseph takes Jesus’ body. He wraps him in clean linens. He places him in a tomb, a borrowed tomb, belonging to Joseph. He seals the tomb with a stone.

With that, the plan for salvation is complete.

Sin, paid for. Debt, paid for. A promise of hope, mercy, forgiveness, eternal life. Free, if we’ll just trust him. Believe in him.

It’s Friday. But Sunday is coming.

Shared from Courtney Melton

28/03/2024

But then came Sunday…

It’s Thursday.

Jesus gives instructions to the disciples on where to prepare the Passover.

It’s evening, supper time. The last supper.

They begin to eat. Jesus reveals that one of the disciples will betray him. They all ask individually if it is themself. Judas asks last. Jesus confirms.

Jesus knew, but Judas ate too.

He breaks bread and gives to them to eat, a symbol of his body. He gives them a cup to drink, a symbol of his blood that will be shed for the forgiveness of sin.

My sin. Judas’ sin. Your sin. All sin.

They head for the Mount of Olives. Jesus predicts that another disciple will betray, deny him. Three times. Peter insists he never would.

Now in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus prays. He asks God - if possible, take this cup from me. A second time He prays - if possible, take this cup from me. He calls upon God for once more but this time He prays - if this cup cannot be taken away unless I drink it, your will be done.

Soon after, Judas shows up with a crowd of men. And with a single kiss, Judas follows through. He commits the ultimate betrayal.

Arrested and in the hands of the enemy, Jesus is brought back to town. Religious leaders again try to find fault in Jesus, even seeking false witnesses. They deliver an unjust verdict - guilty.

Jesus is beaten, spat on, mocked.

Peter is found. He is asked if he knows Jesus, he denies. He is asked again, he denies. And for a third time, just as predicted, Peter denies knowing Jesus.

Betrayed again.

It’s Thursday. But Sunday is coming.

Share from Courtney Melton

27/03/2024

But Sunday is coming…

It’s Wednesday.

Jesus is still teaching.

It seems as though things are quiet around town. But that isn’t the case.

Plots and schemes are made. The chief priests and the elders devise their plan to arrest Jesus and kill him.

Back in Bethany, in the home of Simon, Jesus is sitting at the table. A woman arrives and pours ointment, perfume, on Jesus’ head.

The disciples are angry. They question why she would waste it by pouring the entirety of it on His head. It could have been sold and the money given to the poor.

Jesus calms them, assuring them that she is doing a beautiful thing, preparing his body for burial, and that wherever the gospel is preached, what she did will also be told in her memory.

Back with the chief priests Judas, a disciple of Jesus, has arrived. Negotiations are made. Judas is desperate, greedy. He agrees to deliver Jesus to the chief priests in exchange for thirty pieces of silver. Betrayal.

It’s Wednesday. But Sunday is coming

Shared from Courtney Melton

26/03/2024

But Sunday is coming…

It’s Tuesday.

Jesus is teaching.

He passed by the withered fig tree he had cursed the day before and taught of faith.

Back in town, Jesus has made it clear who He is. The King of the Jews. Lord. Savior. Messiah.

The Pharisees are angry. They want to discredit Jesus. They question him, interrogate him. Tried to trap him in his own words, catch him in a lie. They fail.

He teaches again. Of hypocrisy, being a hinderance to the kingdom of Heaven, spiritual blindness - the seven woe’s.

Jesus heads to the Mount of Olives with his disciples. He teaches again. Of the end times, of the second coming of the Lord, of judgement day.

Jesus is still teaching. We just have to listen.

It’s Tuesday. But Sunday is coming.

Shared from Courtney Melton