New Year's Resolutions
As we begin to settle into the new year, what are you resolving to do? Some will seek to be fit, make better grades, get along with family, find a job, while others will make many empty promises. It is my prayer that you will seek the Lord and make some commitments to further your walk with Christ.
Over the past couple of months I have been working on my personal discipline in fitness, eating, and in my spiritual practices. Basically, I was a slob all around and needed to get my act together. I have been running, watching what I eat, and most importantly getting in the Word of God and spending quality time in prayer. I plan to take this further in the new year by reading through the Bible in one year.
There are many different plans available thought a website YouVersion that you can choose from but whatever you do; get into the Word and determine to listen for God’s direction in your life.
Posted by Eric on 1/2/2010 at 3:00pm – Link to this post
Spiritual Buffet
Over the past couple of weeks, we have taken a look at several different belief systems and how they compare to Christianity. It is important that we know what we believe, but if we want to communicate the gospel clearly we must have some level of understanding in other belief systems.
We have already covered the basics of the Church of Jesus Christ of Later Day Saints and the Jehovah’s Witnesses and will cover Islam, Judaism, and Hinduism.
If you have questions concerning the beliefs of these different world religions and how they differ from Christianity, please post you questions below and we will get back to you as soon as we can.
We hope to see you at Fairhaven next Wednesday night for the Light at 6:45pm.
Posted by Eric on 2/6/2009 at 7:52pm – Link to this post
New Year's Resolutions
Over the years I have made some strong, week, half-hearted, desperate, spiritual, physical, and mental New Year’s Resolutions. Many of which I failed to keep for much longer than it took you to read this post. This is a common theme in New Year’s Resolution making: failing to see the change through. It is my prayer that your desires to change, improve, and adjust your life in all the ways that you see fit will be followed up with the grit and determination to achieve the goals you set. But in setting these goals, don’t forget to ask God to show you His plan for you. What do you need to do spiritually in 2009 to grow? Maybe it is plugging in to the church, are you an attendee or contributor, or repentance, not just confession but turning from that sin that entangles you, or setting a time to have with God every day, remember this is a relationship not just a religion, or maybe it is to become a follower of Jesus Christ, He is the only way to salvation and forgiveness of sin. Whatever your resolution may God use it to move you further down your path in life and closer to Him and His Bride the Church.
Take a few minutes and share your resolutions for 2009 below.
Posted by Eric on 1/5/2009 at 10:33am – Link to this post
Dog Days of August
I cannot believe that school is upon us. I am able to include myself because my son will be in Kindergarten this year. Summer was great but just like every year it was too short and too hot. But fall is one of my favorite times because of football season and I cannot wait until the lazy Saturday afternoons in September- December when the pads crack and pop.
Please pray for me and for the believers in the town of Chilia Romania. I will be meeting with them for four nights teaching them basic doctrines of the faith. It will be a great time of ministry and encouragement. I will be gone August 7-15. I look forward to tell you all about it when I get home.
I must apologize for not writing more often but this summer has been hectic and I, along with everyone, have been very busy.
Posted by Eric on 8/5/2008 at 4:02pm – Link to this post
Welcome to the Jungle...
Welcome to the Jungle… could have been the theme song for my backyard. It was horribly unkempt and full of weeds, sticks, and very tall grass and a little dog (Cletus) that I could barely see. And I firmly believe, it was the cause of my bout with acute sinusitis (sinus infection). It was also a symptom
of my life and the extreme busyness that I had taken on.
It normally takes me about 45 minutes to an hour to cut my back yard but because of the neglect it took a whopping 2 hours to cut and it still needed cutting 5 days later. I wish I could say the grass was tall because of the fertilizer that I had put on it or that it was all part of the plan for it to look good, but it was not at all that case. Matter of fact, during that same time roughly one month, the front and side yards were mowed 3 times and look very presentable. The backyard was left to grow out of control because it could not be seen by the public.
We are that way in our Christian lives, when we get real with ourselves. We keep the outward appearance looking yard of the month worthy yet the inside of the house is trashed and backyard has seven undiscovered species living in it. God and Jesus had hard words for those who were whitewashed tombs (Matthew 23:1-36 and 1 Samuel 16:7 and Psalms 51:16-17).
How are you going to live your life, with hidden sins, or hidden Christianity or are you going to allow God to clean it all out through the Holy Spirit living in your life? With God as the vine dresser and the divine gardener (John 15:1-11), He will keep you pruned and producing fruit even if you neighbors cannot see the backyard of your life.
Posted by Eric on 5/5/2008 at 10:11am – Link to this post
Ants, Ants, Ants!!!
For Christmas, my son received an ant farm from my mom and it has been the center of many family discussions and meals, no we did not eat chocolate covered ants; the ant farm is on the center of the kitchen table. When I was a child ant farms were made of sand but now they are made of gel instead. After weeks of waiting for the ants to make their journey in the mail from California, we put them in their new home and watched in wonder as they began build tunnels and mounds of the gel. Each day we would check them to see what new progress they had made over night and how many of them had made it through the night. As of today, we have 18 or the original 25 and they have created a mound that is full of mold that they eat.
The ant farm makes me think of me in the eyes of God. I know that I did not create the ants but they are a prized possession in the Sanford house. In similar ways, God prizes us. God is interested in our lives, our actions and attitudes. God cares about the big things like food, clothing, and housing and God cares about the other things that occupy our time and thoughts.
If God were to look down on you like I do the ants what kind of progress would He see in your life? Would He see you disobeying your parents, cheating on tests, take His name in vain, living for the pleasure of the world or would He see you living for Him, being honorable, and letting your light shine before men so that He would be glorified? God is always watching His creation and desiring that they worship Him. How will you worship Him with your life this week, this month, this year? Learn from the ants and carry out the work that God has placed you on this earth to do.
Posted by Eric on 3/6/2008 at 2:39pm – Link to this post
Cool stuff about the Red Sea crossing
Over the last couple of months we have been studying Exodus on Wednesday nights at the Light and last week we looked at some really cool artifacts that have been found in the Red Sea at a possible crossing site. The pictures we looked at showed chariot wheels that have been found at the bottom of the Gulf of Aqaba in between Sinai and Saudi Arabia. Traditionally the crossing site has been in the Gulf of Suez but there has been little archaeological evidence that confirms the tradition but not there is a great deal of evidence that shows the Red Sea was crossed further away from Egypt than previously though. Check out these websites and tell me where you think the Hebrew people crossed the Red Sea.
Website #1 Website #2 Website #3 Website #4
