Eric's Blog

How to Grow in Your Faith Part Two

Growing in your faith requires action on your part. You will have to make decisions and act on those decisions. You can only grow so much from going to church and sitting in a pew and reading your Bible and praying at home. Don't get me wrong these things are important and should be done.

But growing in your faith requires you to make decisions that STRETCHES your faith. I have practiced this in my life and in my ministry. When I said we were going to build our new sanctuary debt free everybody was not ready to move out in faith. Some worried about the current debt and other things. To make a long story short about a year later the building was finished debt free!!! Believe me that required a lot of faith.

My rule is this: When I am facing two choices and they both are good or Godly, which one requires more faith. That is usually the way I go. It may be the more difficult path but by choosing that path I have to pray more, depend upon God more, and that causes my faith to grow. I have always told God I wanted to be a man of great faith. I don't want to be a person of little faith and I don't want to look back over my life and regret a decision I made simply because I did not have enough faith.

When we were building the Ministry Center Building we were not going to finish the kitchen. One day God said to me: "The only difference between finishing the kitchen now and later is your faith." Guess what, we finished the kitchen. I mean around $7000 worth of cabinets with appliances and all.

Faith decisions will take you out of your comfort zone. I also ask our leaders and others in our church to do things that take them out of their comfort zones. Pastors, you should constantly be challenging and stretching your people's faith. Don't be afraid to ask them to take a step of faith with you. It's part of your responsibility.

So you want to grow in your faith? What is God asking you to do right now that you are afraid to do, that you have been putting off, that you know YOU can't do or that you are fearful of what others might say. Step out and do it. Follow God with everything you have. He is a faith God and wants yours to grow.

Blog Time

Sorry I have not been able to blog much the last week. We had a new project we were working on at the church, a wedding, a court situation (not mine), and taxes (among other things). We just got ours in on time. Now thats done I will be back with some new blogs and new information. Thank you for reading!

By the way, I have not heard much about global warming this week. Wondering why? Cause it's freezing outside in the middle of April.

Know Your Enemy

God is moving!!! When God moves the devil takes notice. When you are no threat to his kingdom he normally leaves you alone. But when you begin to grow spiritually or your ministry begins to grow and people start accepting and following Jesus Christ, he will do everything he can to try to put a stop to it. Here are few ways he works:

Destroy: John 10:10 says, "The thief's purpose is to steal and kill and destroy" (NLT). Let's be clear. He plays for keeps. He desires to destroy you. That means your marriage, your future, your finances, your joy, and your future. He wants to destroy all the God in you. That is his ultimate plan.

If he cannot destroy you then he tries to detour you.

Detour: He will take you off the path. You could be one step away from your blessing or breakthrough but you turned away. You did not keep on the path. Deut 5:32 says, "So be careful to do what the Lord your God has commanded you; do not turn aside to the right or to the left" (NIV). How many times do we give up? We started right, we were growing spiritually and something or someone took us off the path. See, satan's detours do not put you back on the right path. Then keep leading you further and further away from God plan and purpose for your life. Remember, he plays for keeps. His detours lead to destruction and death.

If he cannot detour you then his next tactic is delay.

Delay: Ps 119:60 says, "I will hasten and not delay to obey your commands" (NIV). This is a big one and we fall into this trap ALL the time. God has blessings for us, all kinds of blessings. But blessings follow obedience. Deut 28:1-2 says, "If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations on earth. 2 All these blessings will come upon you and accompany you if you obey the Lord your God" (NIV). Stop right now and read all of Deuteronomy 28.

We talk ourselves out of God's blessings all the time. "I'll get water baptized next time. I'll tithe next pay check. I'll get involved in small groups later. I'll go to church next Sunday. I'll sign up to for a ministry next time. I'll invite them to church next week." Stop it already. No you won't. You are falling right into the plans of the enemy of your soul.

What is God asking you to do right now? What are you waiting on? Do it now! Take the next step now! Don't delay! God's blessings are right on the other side of your next act of obedience. So, what are you waiting on???

Ten Questions: Family

Today's Ten Questions from Craig Groeschel's Blog deals with families. Here they are...

1. Am I closer to my spouse today than I was a year ago?



2. Have I read God’s word with my family this week?



3. Have I prayed with each member of my family this week?



4. Do my children know they come before the people in the church?



5. Are my children joyfully experiencing Christ at church or do they resent the church?



6. Does my spouse feel close to me spiritually?



7. If my spouse could have me change one thing about me, what would it be? (Why haven’t I changed in this way? What am I going to do about it?)



8. Are we honoring the Sabbath as a family?



9. Do my wife and kids enjoy being around me?



10. Can my family clearly articulate our family values and vision?

Wow, these questions will really make you think.

Don't Give Up

Have you ever prayed for something and did not see results after a short period of time and given up? I know I have. What about praying for someone's salvation and things seemed to get worse? I think we all have prayed for things and not seen the results or had our prayers answered when WE thought they should be answered.

Perry Noble wrote a post entitled Don't Give Up that encouraged me and I know will encourage you. It's a personal story that demonstrates that we should always keep sowing good seed even when we are not seeing results. So go read Don't Give Up and be encouraged today.

Easter and a Prayer Request

As Easter approaches I want to keep you posted on everything that is going on. First I am very busy this week and on top of that I have been dealing with a head cold and ear infection for 4 weeks. Today, I had to go the doctor. After 1.5 hours I was finally able to see the doctor. I am on 3 medications. With all that said please pray for me.

Don't forget today is our all day fast. Remember to to use your day of prayer and focus paper that was handed out on Sunday. Please pray that all those who will be receiving invitations will be receptive. Also pray for a powerful move of God on Sunday.

Other notes:

• You do not want to be late this week. Come early and be ready to welcome the guests.
• Do whatever it takes to get your three to the Easter service.
• Be sure and check out the DownTown nursery and foyer. It has been radically changed.
• Warning: The opening of the service will be very energetic and loud.
• Expectation is the breeding ground for miracles. I am expectation great things this Sunday.

Love you guys. Thanks for all the hard work.

Time Change

Don't forget to set your clocks ahead one hour tonight. I hate losing the hour but it means spring is not far away even though it is 40 degrees outside right now.

A Father's Love

There is so much you can learn about God's love as a Father. My son is 3  and my daughter was 10 months old on Monday. I keep the kids on Tuesday nights while my wife has her small group. Here are a few things a love about my children that I know God feels the same way about us:

• I love it when my children play together. Sitting on the floor with them and watching Seth run aroun tickles Katie and she just laughs. I know God loves it when His children play together. We have spent the last two weeks at church talking about unity. We (the church) need to quit fighting over petty things and learn to flow in unity as Psalm 133 talks about. We need to learn to get along with each other and see the God in those around us.
• I love it when Seth tells me he loves me. When is the last time you told God how much you love Him?
• I love it when Katie lays her head on my shoulder. She does not have to say anything. Just her head on my shoulder warms my heart. When is the last time you approached God without your list? When was the last time you approached Him just to be close to Him. Shhhhhh!!! Just lay your head on His shoulder and listen. He is waiting on you.

Money Saving Tip for Buying Razors

Thought I would pass this on to you. If you use razors you might want to check this site out. You can buy in bulk and they have fast service. Also, Razors Direct has a Shave Our Troops campaign going on in March. For every order placed in March they will send a $1 worth of razors to our troops. Just thought you might want to save a little money.

A Day with My Son

Last week because of a couple of late nights at the church I hardly got to see my son a couple of days. So I decided to make yesterday a father-son day. I took him to Home Depot (which he loves) with me to buy a few things for the church. Then we bought lunch and went to the church and ate in the cafe. A had a couple of small jobs that needed to be done so we set out to change a light bulb and fix two of the drain pipes connected to gutters on the Ministry Center Building.

He held tools for me, held the door for me so I could carry out the ladder, and I explained to him everything I was doing. (How many times do we tell our kids to do things and let them help us but don't take the time to teach?) The point was just to be together. There is no substitute for time with your kids.

We ended the night by going to a Southern Wesleyan basketball game. We took his small basketball and got to run around on the court during halftime and after the game. He loves doing that. The highlight of the night for him was when Deonte (a former SWU basketball player) lifted him up and he shot his basketball thorough the hoop. Wish you could have seen his face. The highlight of the day for me...spending time with my son and seeing him smile.