Life

The Americanized Church is Devoid of Two Crucial Characteristics

eric — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 21:37:40 -0500

It seems the "Americanized" church is devoid of two crucial characteristics:

1) Dedicated discipleship of Christians towards Christ-like leadership

Christians should be trained to follow Christ through leaders who are upright and excellent examples every day of the week. to be more like Him. A Bible Study buffet of "topics" doesn't constitute discipleship.

Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation— if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.
– 1 Peter 2:2-3

2) Christ-based concern for the physical and spiritual welfare of children.

They are the next generation of leaders and not just "things" that should warrant a baby-sitter (aka programs that keep them from "bothering" adults) at all times.

Then children were brought to him that he might lay his hands on them and pray. The disciples rebuked the people, but Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.”
– Matthew 19:13-14

Learning to Pray Ceaselessly

eric — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 07:30:29 -0500

For hundreds of years, Christians have quietly repeated fragments of Scripture or short prayers throughout the day to remain present to God. As the Russian Christian writer Anthony Bloom put it, “God is never absent . . . We complain that He does not make Himself present to us for the few minutes we reserve for Him, but what about the twenty-three-and-a-half hours during which God may be knocking at our door and we answer ‘I am busy, I am sorry’ or when we do not answer at all because we do not hear the knock . . . we are a great deal more absent than He ever is.” Having a simple refrain to call upon during the day helps us maintain connection to Christ and tunes the heart to hear him knocking at its door.

In the Crowded Mind: Learning to Pray Without Ceasing By Cameron Lawrence

From the article at InTouch.org

I Will Not Apologize for My Heritage

eric — Thu, 06 May 2010 10:42:08 -0500

If you feel "disrespected" because someone else celebrates their American heritage in their own country, the United States of America, you obviously don't have a strong sense of contentment and self-respect for your own heritage.

No matter the day, I will not apologize for my heritage and country of origin.

My thoughts after Rick sent me the link to this story.

Isolating God

eric — Tue, 04 May 2010 11:45:28 -0500

Attempting to isolate God to a particular day of the week and specific areas of our lives only, leads to a pretty pathetic existence.

To only "allow" God access to us and our life shows not only do we not trust Him or follow Him, but we don't really want Him to follow us, either.

This just shows that we want to look good; to look pious at a given time that may suit our whims.

It is not at all Biblical. It is not piety. It is merely hypocrisy at it's finest.

Lifetime of Blessings in Ten Years

eric — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 09:46:21 -0500

To my lovely bride of ten years,

Jennifer, I can't imagine it happening any other way or with anyone else. The day we married was the best starting point we could have and I'm amazed at the lifetime of blessings that the Lord has packed into just ten years.

We've been through a job loss, starting a business, tight times, the birth of three beautiful children and almost losing one before she was born. The ride continues to be fun and wild with many ups and downs, and I can't imagine being side by side with any other. I don't believe it's possible to have a more wonderful and loving woman as you.

I love you.

Real Life & Online Data: Something Has to Give

eric — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 13:25:14 -0600

When furthering convergence of real life with online data something has to give. People will cut back on something. Commenting, for one, has become too noisy on blogs, in my opinion. People will trim the fat and time involved in managing comments which typically are negative or distract entirely from the information presented.

I don't believe that ALL commenting is bad. I just see that more people are seeing how time-consuming it is to manage and need to cut back on offering that as a communication method on their website.

Maybe it's just me, but I can see people starting to utilize Facebook (and maybe Twitter, although it seems more like an announcement channel rather than a great place to have inclusive dialogue) for comments to keep readers from being distracted from the original article.

I can see something more like this at the bottom of some blogs: "Want to discuss this with others? Head to the Facebook fan page to hash it out with others." Then you just have to check it when you want to and get directly involved or distracted from more important things in life.

I may turn off commenting on this blog, I don't know. Hardly anyone reads it, anyway.

It's just a thought on a trend I've noticed. *shrugs*

Tragedy and Heroism

eric — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 11:18:30 -0600

[Originally posted on November 11th, 2008 and reposted in honor of Veteran's Day]

We attended the Veteran's Day program at our son's Christian school this morning. The program was well done and honored the memory of those that have lived and died fighting for our freedoms. Hearing Taps has always given me chills all over. It so eloquently salutes the heroism lived out and the tragedy that has occurred.

To all of those that have so valiantly fought for us, past and present, thank you. Thank you to you, the brave and battle-worn soldier. Thank you husbands, wives, mothers, fathers and children for supporting and sacrificing with the defenders of our liberties here at home and around the world.

If Flash is disabled or not available, here is a direct link to the MP3

Encouragement To Do The Right Thing

eric — Wed, 14 May 2008 14:13:16 -0500

Do your best to do the right thing in any situation.

It may cost you time, pain, money, etc., but there's nothing like a clear conscience.

For we are taking pains to do what is right, not only in the eyes of the Lord but also in the eyes of men. – 2 Corinthians 8:21 (NIV)
Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. – Romans 12:17 (NIV)