Sorry guys, I've been away for so long it seems. I kept forgetting to post and then I was in the midst of a mini spiritual crisis, and then I was in Scotland for the weekend, so I've been a bit busy this week. Now, I have a super cool spiritual thought. buckle up folks....
I am an idolatrar, and chances are, so are you. We all love things. We all rank how much we love them too. It might be food, it might be a sports team (Go Chelsea!) it might be a spouse or a sibling. It might be a certain book series(Harry potter anyone?). That being said, most would say, I don't love food more than God, and I would agree, but the fact of the matter is, we do idolatrize things. In particular, people. Have you ever thought about how much time we devote to thinking about friends and family and loved ones in general? Not that it is a bad thing. I already talked about how we need others in our lives to help us grow and to support us and pour into us. But, sometimes, it gets to the point where we put those people above God. I know this past week, God kind of slapped me upside the head with that. I was head over heels about this girl, and I thought about her constantly. Then God was like, "What are you doing. You are thinking about her more than me. You are treating her as your god." and I was like, "Oh shoot, your right. Sorry God." That being said, it made me think...."We all, myself especially, need an intimate love relationship with God". I think I often forget that God is way cooler than having a cute girl friend, or even exploring the world that we're in. Yes, these are great gifts he's given us, but He is way cooler than them. These are things of the world, but God is eternal. He is the one that comforts us when we're down, he is the one that brings us the MOST joy on a day where everything is going right. He is love, he is beauty, he is wonderful and majestic. he is Lord and God. He wants an intimate relationship with us. He wants to be our greatest lover...shouldn't we be so attracted to that? Just a thought.
A Gate that leads to thoughts and things
A Gate that leads to thoughts and things
Tuesday, October 29, 2013
Saturday, October 19, 2013
Blessings
My spiritual thought comes early today. I woke up fairly early today, 7:30, and I made myself a nice big breakfast of sausage and bacon and eggs and toast, along with a nice cup of english breakfast tea. It is always an enjoyable to make yourself a nice big meal and then eat it. My thought came as I was finishing up my breakfast. I was washing up and I realized, we are just so blessed to wake up in the morning and have the opportunity to enjoy the things that God has created for us. Whether it be food, or nature, or friends(like I said last night) the fact of the matter is, we all, every single one of us, is outrageously blessed. For crying out loud, Jesus came to earth, from God's right hand, and lived among us, and then died for us, and then came back to life for us! He did it all for his creation whom He loves. So today, enjoy the blessings that God has given you. Enjoy the sunshine, enjoy the rain, enjoy breakfast, enjoy an evening out with friends, enjoy the MLB playoffs, enjoy College football. And above all, praise God, because to him be the glory. forever and ever.
Friday, October 18, 2013
Relationship
Hey folks, real quick, just read II Corinthians 4. My friend Nolan recommended it to me this evening as we were drawing to the close of a wonderful 2 hour long skype chat. It is very good. It talks about the fact that even though we might be oppressed, and even faced with death itself, we gain even more life from Christ who strengthens us. Through our suffering, even more glory is given to God, and through that, Christ is seen through us. Pretty cool huh? And that's not even my spiritual thought!!!!!!
My spiritual thought comes from the fact that I was able to chat with two very good friends this evening. In both cases, the conversation was good, and exceedingly life giving. My spiritual thought today is the fact that relationships are not only key to living a Godly life, but they are such a joy! Sitting and talking with someone for a couple hours over a cup of coffee, or sharing one's life with someone, for example working at camp for a whole summer, is such a life giving and encouraging experience. Relationships help us to see God in very real ways. If you have a friend that you have not talked to in a while, do it. Meet up with them, share the experiences that you have had since you last saw them. Talk about faith, talk about the fun stuff that your up to. Talk about the stuff that your struggling with. Share your life with them! It is so worth it. I literally just finished that 2 hour skype talk with Nolan and I am flying higher than a kite! I am so filled with joy right now. Relationships folks, they are such an important joy in our lives.
My spiritual thought comes from the fact that I was able to chat with two very good friends this evening. In both cases, the conversation was good, and exceedingly life giving. My spiritual thought today is the fact that relationships are not only key to living a Godly life, but they are such a joy! Sitting and talking with someone for a couple hours over a cup of coffee, or sharing one's life with someone, for example working at camp for a whole summer, is such a life giving and encouraging experience. Relationships help us to see God in very real ways. If you have a friend that you have not talked to in a while, do it. Meet up with them, share the experiences that you have had since you last saw them. Talk about faith, talk about the fun stuff that your up to. Talk about the stuff that your struggling with. Share your life with them! It is so worth it. I literally just finished that 2 hour skype talk with Nolan and I am flying higher than a kite! I am so filled with joy right now. Relationships folks, they are such an important joy in our lives.
Thursday, October 17, 2013
Intro....God will be WITH us.
October 17, 2013
Hey Friends, the intro is pretty long, so if you just want to skip to my spiritual thought, just scroll down till you see the big letters like this.
Hello Friends. I've started a blog......"ummmm wow, thanks captain obvious". But no seriously, I did start a blog. This is no ordinary blog either. Now some of you may be thinking, "Oh, another one of those study abroad blogs that college students do". You are wrong if you are thinking that. As you can see from the title of this blog, this has nothing to do with the fact that I am in England at the moment. Although, to be fair, the fact that I am in England will probably come out in my thoughts. Regardless, this blog is for me to just tell others what I'm thinking about in a spiritual sense. The reason for this is because of a bible study I went to at Cambray Baptist Church, which happens to be here in Cheltenham. We were talking about the gospel and how it relates to our social media usage. It really got me thinking about how I use my social media? Do I really use it to reflect my faith and hope that lies within Christ? Sure, I don't use profane language or post super offensive stuff on Facebook, but at the same time, do i really ever post stuff about my faith? Do I ever really reflect the work that Jesus is doing in me on Facebook?
I know I know, this is a blog, not Facebook. but if you happen to be reading this, then you know that you got to this blog through Facebook, through the post I made. I want to do a better job of not only reflecting God's work in me, but also, I want to do a better job of digging into his word and spending time in prayer. I think as Christians, that is the most common desire/prayer request, is to really dig into His word more, and to spend more time in prayer. Basically, we want to set more of our own time aside for God. I mean, the Israelites in the Old Testament were sacrificing whole cows and sheep! Think about just how much a cow is worth today. Now think about how much they were worth in ancient Israel. They gave up a whole lot to serve their God, and we can't even spend 15 minutes in prayer a day. I am mainly speaking for myself here, but regardless, we all desire more time with Christ, at least from my observations. I am hoping that by starting this blog, I will be forced to spend more time in the word in order that I might be thinking more about the spiritual and less about the physical. In other words, I am hoping that this endeavor will center my life more around Christ and less around myself.
So, onto my spiritual thought of the day, not inlcuding the previous paragraph, is this....
Yesterday, at the bible study I went to at Cambray, we read Revelation 21:1-5. Throughout the night we were looking at examples of Christ making us into new creations, and how, when we post stuff on Facebook, it is often us trying to create a new image for ourselves. This particular passage talks about the new heaven and new earth joining. it talks about the sea dissapearing, and how every single man will be WITH God and will worship God, because He will be OUR God. It also touched on the fact that there will be no more tears, or death, or destruction, or pain...That, my friends, is a world I very much look forward to. I have been thinking a lot lately about how much I really am tired of this world. I've been here for 20 years and I am already sick of all the pain and destruction that Humanity inflicts upon itself. I guess if I had to chose one spiritual thought for the day though, it would have to be.........
No matter how crummy our days get, no matter how messed up things may seem, both in our lives and the world in general, We have something to look forward to that gives us a lot of hope. We have a Lord and savior who one day, either when we depart this world or He comes down to meet us, will make everything new. He will restore us. He will be WITH us. WITH us. WITH us......God will be physically among us, talking to us, hanging out with us, loving us...God will be WITH us. That there is definitely something that inspires hope if you ask me.
Stay tuned for more Spiritual thoughts and Things with Eric.
Hey Friends, the intro is pretty long, so if you just want to skip to my spiritual thought, just scroll down till you see the big letters like this.
Hello Friends. I've started a blog......"ummmm wow, thanks captain obvious". But no seriously, I did start a blog. This is no ordinary blog either. Now some of you may be thinking, "Oh, another one of those study abroad blogs that college students do". You are wrong if you are thinking that. As you can see from the title of this blog, this has nothing to do with the fact that I am in England at the moment. Although, to be fair, the fact that I am in England will probably come out in my thoughts. Regardless, this blog is for me to just tell others what I'm thinking about in a spiritual sense. The reason for this is because of a bible study I went to at Cambray Baptist Church, which happens to be here in Cheltenham. We were talking about the gospel and how it relates to our social media usage. It really got me thinking about how I use my social media? Do I really use it to reflect my faith and hope that lies within Christ? Sure, I don't use profane language or post super offensive stuff on Facebook, but at the same time, do i really ever post stuff about my faith? Do I ever really reflect the work that Jesus is doing in me on Facebook?
I know I know, this is a blog, not Facebook. but if you happen to be reading this, then you know that you got to this blog through Facebook, through the post I made. I want to do a better job of not only reflecting God's work in me, but also, I want to do a better job of digging into his word and spending time in prayer. I think as Christians, that is the most common desire/prayer request, is to really dig into His word more, and to spend more time in prayer. Basically, we want to set more of our own time aside for God. I mean, the Israelites in the Old Testament were sacrificing whole cows and sheep! Think about just how much a cow is worth today. Now think about how much they were worth in ancient Israel. They gave up a whole lot to serve their God, and we can't even spend 15 minutes in prayer a day. I am mainly speaking for myself here, but regardless, we all desire more time with Christ, at least from my observations. I am hoping that by starting this blog, I will be forced to spend more time in the word in order that I might be thinking more about the spiritual and less about the physical. In other words, I am hoping that this endeavor will center my life more around Christ and less around myself.
So, onto my spiritual thought of the day, not inlcuding the previous paragraph, is this....
Yesterday, at the bible study I went to at Cambray, we read Revelation 21:1-5. Throughout the night we were looking at examples of Christ making us into new creations, and how, when we post stuff on Facebook, it is often us trying to create a new image for ourselves. This particular passage talks about the new heaven and new earth joining. it talks about the sea dissapearing, and how every single man will be WITH God and will worship God, because He will be OUR God. It also touched on the fact that there will be no more tears, or death, or destruction, or pain...That, my friends, is a world I very much look forward to. I have been thinking a lot lately about how much I really am tired of this world. I've been here for 20 years and I am already sick of all the pain and destruction that Humanity inflicts upon itself. I guess if I had to chose one spiritual thought for the day though, it would have to be.........
No matter how crummy our days get, no matter how messed up things may seem, both in our lives and the world in general, We have something to look forward to that gives us a lot of hope. We have a Lord and savior who one day, either when we depart this world or He comes down to meet us, will make everything new. He will restore us. He will be WITH us. WITH us. WITH us......God will be physically among us, talking to us, hanging out with us, loving us...God will be WITH us. That there is definitely something that inspires hope if you ask me.
Stay tuned for more Spiritual thoughts and Things with Eric.
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