Pastors Blog

Victimhood Is Not A Good Thing

5/3/2023

By Pastor Eric

What we see in the world today, is a disturbing trend towards victimhood. Something that is prevalent in our society and it must come to an end. It has become stylish to play the victim in almost every area in life now. There’s always someone else to blame for our problems.
I’m not denying that there are problems in the world. Jesus told us that there would be. “These things have I spoken unto you in proverbs: but the time cometh, when I shall no more speak unto you in proverbs, but I shall shew you plainly of the Father.”John 16:25 (KJV) We live in a fallen, sin-ridden world. However, our biggest problem isn’t coming from other people. It’s how we perceive ourselves in comparison with our situation.

“Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:37-39 (KJV)

We are more than conquerors! That’s who we are!

Your Faith Has Made You Whole

4/2/2023

By Pastor Eric

I’m sure you’re familiar with the encounter between Jesus and the woman in the crowd. She had been to every doctor she could find. Spent all she had and still couldn’t be healed. She was in a bad situation and everything looked hopeless. By Jewish law, she couldn’t be around family, friends or anyone else. She was isolated, alone, with no one to turn to.
She had heard about Jesus. I’m sure she heard conversations at a distance and she was desperate. She made a decision that was going to do whatever it took to receive her healing.

She risked everything and pushed through the crowd as Jesus was walking through the city. She didn’t ask for help. She didn’t want a pity party. She wanted to be healed more than anything else at the time. “If I can just touch His robe, I’ll be healed.”

That woman had made a quality decision and in her heart she knew He could heal her. By faith she received healing and wholeness.

This was told in both Matthew 9 and Mark 5. That was not the only time that happened. People would gather along the streets want to touch Him because the power of God would be released by His grace through their faith. You can find others in Matthew 14:36, Mark 6:56, as well as Luke 6:19

By Grace through Faith we are able to receive all that the Lord has promised.

My Observation

3/1/2022

By Pastor Eric

As Believers, we have been called out of this world. We’re supposed to be the counter-culture. Many people in the Church have compromised their faith, by trying to be acceptable to the ungodly.

In the time we are in right now, there is this idea that the Church must placate the sinners’ lifestyle so as not to offend them. One small group of those are what is called the LGBTQ community.

So many on social media are out to shame people for disagreeing with abhorrent behavior. Saying we must embrace the sinner and their sin.
However, that is not a biblical principle.

Should we accept and embrace liars, cheaters, adulterers, murderers, and just say, “Well, we don’t want to call you out for that. You can’t help it, so there’s no need for repentance."

The truth is, sin is sin. There’s no difference between homosexuality and stealing. God’s Word does not differentiate big sin from little sin.
We’ve all sinned but we do not need to continue in it.

When people say we’re hurting others and pushing them away from God, they lack understanding. People push themselves away from God and use any excuse they can to not take responsibility for their decisions.

Don’t compromise what God’s Word says. As Jesus said in John 8:11, “And Jesus said unto her, “Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.””

Gifts and talents

2/1/2022

By Pastor Eric

Each and every one of us has been given certain abilities. Those talents or abilities are a gift from God. He created them in you. Some gifts are easily seen, such as making things from wood or some other craft. Other gifts, not so much.

There are those that seem to have a gift for listening. They’re always lending an ear to those who need to vent or share what they’re going through. Others seem to just know how to run a business and comes naturally to them.

All the gifts, talents and abilities come from God, The Father, Creator of the Universe. They were placed in the inside of us so that we can share them with others. To be used as a way to bless others.

The Father gives us these gifts, talents, abilities ,and yet, we are responsible for developing them within our lives. We have to make decisions as to whether we increase and fine tune those gifts or to ignore them. Don’t allow circumstances or others dictate what you have the ability to accomplish.

Work on that gift! Get better at it! Use it to be a blessing to others!

Negative Thinking

1/1/2022

By Pastor Eric

Here we are, another year gone by. This past year has brought out more negativity in people than I’ve ever seen before. Why? Is it the virus issue? Or political views? The truth is, it doesn’t matter what the circumstances are.

Circumstances change. For better or worse, things never stay the same. If we want to see better things happen we need to keep a positive mindset. How we think and what we say really does matter.

When we come from a negative mindset, our perspective is negative. We can’t see the blessings in front of us. We are blinded by our thought process. So we speak the way we think. Even if we experience something good, we tend to find the bad in it and actually speak against the very thing we’ve been wanting.

How do we change our outcome? By changing our thinking. The Bible says in Philippians 4:8, “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.”

The Message Translation says it this way, “Summing it all up, friends, I'd say you'll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse.”

It’s pretty clear. Stop the negative thoughts right where they are.

Remember, when you receive the Word of God and put it into action, your life will be changed forever.

What am i seeing....?

4/20/2020

By Pastor Eric

The church has an amazing opportunity to adjust in this season. Not an indictment or judgement on anyone. We have to make changes in order to fulfill the vision and purpose God has given us.

We can no longer rely on programs for church growth. Nothing wrong with the programs. In this season, programs, children’s church, youth ministry, etc., are not there. So what must happen? Change.

Going back to the basics of faith. We now have to rely on the Word and Power of God. His Word, not our ideas.

Many people have become reactionary rather than stable in their faith. Now is the time to really get quiet and listen to the Lord. Many pastors have turned to survival mode. Just trying to get by. Survival mode is not sustainable. Some have not been prepared for adverse conditions. They start doing whatever someone else is doing without seeking the Lord first. If the Lord didn’t tell you to go live on social media, then why do it? Survival mode.

Some will give into the financial pressure all around us. Some, the emotional pressure, not feeling relevant or able to meet people’s needs. Unfortunately, there will be churches that will close their doors permanently. Not something I want to see happen.

Take this opportunity to prepare for the harvest.

Forgiven

2/1/2020

By Pastor Eric

“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us [our] sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9 (NKJV)

Really, this is the big point concerning repentance. Change what you’re thinking and change what you’re doing and forget your past sins. Don’t hang on to what you did and think you have to do something to pay for it.

Look at Ephesians 1:7, “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace.” We have been given redemption by what He did, not by what we can do. This is grace and mercy. We have what we didn’t deserve and didn’t get what we do deserve.

By Grace through faith, we have received salvation and not by our working for it. Beating yourself up and feeling guilty won’t change anything, for better or worse. Trying to make yourself better doesn’t work. That’s why we need a Savior. He paid the price and took care of your sin forever.

Understand, that doesn’t mean we keep on with our old sinful ways. We change our actions by changing our thinking. We’re no longer slaves to sin. We are new creatures in Christ.

A simple way to look at it is this:
Admit it.Quit it.
Forget it.
That’s it! Plain and simple!

Use Your Imagination

1/1/2020

By Pastor Eric

When God created us, He gave us an imagination. We are made to be just like Him. The challenge is our perspective. We are to think like God and that throws our carnal minds out of sync.
All the creation we see where The Lord had a thought, spoke it and it came into existence. Understand, He created us in His same image and likeness. We are to act on earth as He does in Heaven. We are to be creative, just like our Father.
In reality, imagination is creating a vision in your mind. Here’s a little experiment. Think about your car. As soon as you read that, you could see your car without going outside. That is using your imagination. This is how we create a vision.
Many times we use our thoughts to create a scenario that we really don’t want to happen. We imagine that things aren’t going to go well at the office. Or the situation at home is going explode. We don’t really know if that’s what’s going to happen but our imagination says it will. That’s when we have to change our thinking.
Use those influences that are positive. Instead of creating a negative image, start seeing yourself in a positive circumstance. Take one step towards imagining a good result rather than bad. You are what you think and truly believe you are.
We cannot go beyond what we imagine ourself becoming. Use the power of imagination to change your thought processes to that of success in every area of your life. You’ll see things differently and get different results!

The right position

11/1/2019

By Pastor Eric

A lot of times we find ourselves out of alignment, not because we intend to be, but because we lose track of our position. Just like having a GPS that we don’t pay attention to.

Global Positioning Systems (GPS) are able to track where we are and where we’re going. This is what the Holy Spirit does for us. While we’re on this journey through life, He is our guidance system. We only have to listen and respond as we go.

Hebrews 3:7-8 says, “ Wherefore as the Holy Ghost saith, Today if ye will hear his voice, Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness.” Understand that, while in the desert, the Israelites had an opportunity to be successful in taking land that was promised them. However, they didn’t listen when the Spirit of the Lord spoke through the prophet to move forward. They listened to their flesh. They operated in fear and missed it.

We as Believers, filled with the Holy Spirit, need to tune our hearing. Make the adjustments to stay the course towards our destiny.

Take time to pray in the Spirit, just as it says in the book of Jude, building up our holy faith. As we continue and are consistent, our ability to hear from the Lord will increase. Simply listen and follow the instructions.

Five Ways Or maybe more

10/1/2019

By Pastor Eric

We see a lot of posts on social media about five ways to get rich, have better hair, and so on. That’s not what I’m talking about here. I’m talking about how to change your destiny. There are probably a lot more than five but this is what I’ve got for now.

The first thing we must consider, is our mindset. Where do we get our thoughts from? The answer? Influences. That’s right! Where it all starts. What we allow to influence our thought processes, is what will drive us to our destiny. Whether it’s something or someone from our past, or what we’re consistently looking at and listen too, those things will get into our core value and guide us towards a destiny. Whether we desire it or not. This happens on the subconscious level.

Another area is, what we spend our free time doing. Most of us have full-time jobs or careers that take up the majority of our day. During the off time, what are you doing? Are you on social media? Or taking care of things around the house? Spending time just hanging out? These are real questions. We have to ask ourselves if we truly want to see change in our lives. How much time do you spend in prayer? Reading or listening to the Word of God? Doing something to serve others? Perhaps learning or improving new skills.

Thirdly, is the area of finances. What are you doing with your money? Do you give on a regular basis? We should be givers, not just receivers. Understand, it’s okay to have nice things, but don’t allow things to have you. Finances is one area that most people don’t understand. Get knowledge and understanding. We can work on getting out of debt or reducing expenses. We don’t need to follow the latest trends. This will allow us to give more into the Kingdom.

This next one sort of ties into number one. Keeping right relationships and staying out of toxic ones. We all know people that seem to drain the life out of you with their constant barrage of complaining or neediness. We can’t allow everyone into our inner circle. It’s not healthy. You can still be a positive influence on their lives but you have to set boundaries.

Last but certainly not least, is our relationship with the Lord. It’s imperative that we grow in our spiritual life. Continue to seek the Lord and do what He says. He will never let you down.

I’m sure there are many other areas to consider and may touch on this again.

I call you blessed.