Juggling Apathy

Hey everyone. Well, I'm back from my trip and the weather is looking fine. In fact, its about to get warmer! However, my happiness of the weather is over-casted by a mood that I have been in for the past day. I don't know why, but I am in an un-emotional funk that I can't shake. It could be me trying to adjust to life again after break, it could be some upsetting news I have been getting (I heard about this past Sunday), it could be that I don't feel like I can juggle church and school anymore, it could be my battle with what I want and what God wants, and on and on.

Do you know the feeling of deciding to carry something only realizing that halfway into the journey you realize you should have taken less, but as you look around to pass off your load--you know its too late because everything is already accounted for and you just have to keep carrying what you have? I feel this way with some things in my life. If it is one thing I can give advice to you about, it's this: Make sure God wants you to do something before you do it. Include Christ in the decisions that seem too hard to make, for he will guide your path. If I seem weird to you, or different it is because of this. God will bring me out, but until then, I need time to talk with Him and with others.

For those of you who fasted over the past week, I want to know how you are doing. I want to know what you want prayed over and most importantly, I want you to talk to me if there is anything that you need to talk about. I feel that we are a close knit group and if you need something we should provide for that need. If you need something off your chest, I believe you should have people to talk to. Keep your gossip, bring your honesty. There is too much hurt going on out there to keep inside. If not me, let someone wise into your life to lend an ear if not His word. We shouldn't walk the earth alone, neither should we show up Monday nights expecting the world to change. Let's LIVE life with each other. Lets "LIFE" today, tomorrow and the next day. May we not use distance as an excuse for the disconnect we may feel, but rather find the means to gain the friendship we desire. May we improve ourselves in Christ and leave the things of this world behind us. Can we take our faith seriously? Is it possible to forget why we are really here? I know that I need to surround myself with Sun-Sat Christians and people who are honestly genuine about their faith. I need people in my life who know when something shouldn't be said or who will call me out with grace when I'm doing the saying, I need people in my life who take seriously their growth with the Most High, who are in this world--but not of this world. The Children of God. We are the children of....God.

Think this week, listen to Him and listen to the wind, the leaves, the water dripping, the sound of the still and think about this: The people who we surround ourselves with will not only change the way we listen to leaves or water, or change how we see a bird soar or a squirrel climb--but they will change how we live our faith and how we treat God.

Proverbs 11:14 Without good direction, people lose their way; the more wise counsel you follow, the better your chances.

Proverbs 13:20 Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm.

New Website and RED

Hey everyone. It so happens that with the help of Mobile Me and iWeb, I was able to make a personal website all to my own. I will be giving it to anyone who wants to know a bit more about myself, or just want to see it for some reason. I highly recommend people to get a mac just for this purpose. iWeb is such a cool program and makes creating a website so easy. So here it is to you guys, since you're reading this right now http://web.me.com/ericlukepeterson/eric Enjoy!

On another note, I just bought RED's new album Innocence and Instinct and it is beyond God breathed amazingness. To give you a sense of what they music is all about, check this out. To compare them to an artist, they would be pretty close to Linkin Park without as much rapping. 

Thats all for today. I'm off to engage in some seriously awesome small group action, FNBS (Friday Night Bible Study) Peace and God bless.

Stroke of Beauty

The wetness marks the crying of winter, the melting of transitions past.
The warmth relays to the embrace of spring, hoping it has come to last.

With each muddy footprint, each slosh in my shoe, I give an audible grin.
With each drip of water off the rooftop, I smile to the glorious din.

It’s about time for some change, the feel of cold leaving like memories of old.
It’s about time for some change, flowers peek through colorful and bold.

Another year, marked by water entering gutters, and grass again apart of our lives.
Another season, marked with the tears of sad, tears of happy, we know life strives.

It’s with this that only words can paint the canvas, the art-form that is this world.
It’s with this that only words can make us see, the beauty quietly unfurled.

The Month in Retrospect

Hey everyone. It seems that life passed by faster than I ever thought it could this December. It may be myself, but I was not able to keep a hold on this month, watching it careen by, waving as it passed. Many things happened this month, and I am full of stories. It is a shame that I cannot divulge them right now, but this month has been filled with trials and happiness mixed. I have payed back my parents, emptying my account, I have reconnected with God, I have reunited with my best friend from New Zealand, things with my guys small group are going well. God is blessing me to say the least. I am thankful, I really am.

With friends to back me up, with my faith on the rise, with my family looking on the up and up, I truly feel blessed. I am also finally taking on my responsibilities and letting no man dictate who I am meant to be or act. I am letting God be my role model and not letting the approval of others shape how I act to and around others. It has been a complicated trial that I have been going through, but it seems to be going well. 

I can't tell you how siked I am about FNBS (Friday Night Bible Study) right now. I feel that God is going to try and take back the hearts of the men in the bible study. I feel that He desperately wants that solid relationship that He desires in each and everyone of the men in FNBS. He has plans for them... I just ask that He show me the way to be the best example I can be: Be Christ. I ask that everyday be a new day in Him. That the first thing I know how to do in the morning is go to Him. That my only concern is if He would approve of my life. You God: Be my lifeblood.

Outpour Of My Weary Soul

Outpour 12-3-08

If it is the lies that I feed you that you want, I can willingly give them over to you for a flat rate. If it is just the pain and suffering that you seek, I offer plenty of this as well. My heart is open and I am giving to the lowest bider. The spinning wheel of fate holds my end game. The problem lies when I am not sure when the madness ends. Will it cease to circle? Why is it that every corner holds a man in black? Why is it that in every alley, there is a man who is ready to entice and steal the precious moments that are still mine? I want so desperately to hold onto them. I want so desperately to keep them close. Don’t take them away. But I know its not something he takes. It’s something I give away. Like a lamb to slaughter, I give it. Without trouble, without effort and without thought...I give it away. Again and again, time after time I give it. It is the insensible thing when we just give up everything for nothing, and yet this is what I seem to do time over time over time. The repetition of it is what makes me sick. Why? What provokes you, they ask. What does it give back in return? What do you gain?! For questions such as these, I am left without speech. Lost in the haziness and fog.

Today

http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=52410345859

This is where you can find out more about what I am writing about. As many of you who read this know, when something impacts me emotionally, my medium is writing. Whether that be poetry or just getting it out before I explode. This is what I made:

Today

Today steel and glass broke free from the frames,

the prisons that held them, controlled them, drove them.

Today drums were ringing, phones were singing, snow was falling,

falling down--outlining the wreck like a crime scene.

Today concern rang in, prayers weighed in, silence burned in,

into my memory--on loop mode, again and again.

Today tickets fell, money fell, tears fell,

hugs tell that love is stronger than green, stronger it seems.

Today never ends, it plays back again and again and again--

the same car, the same sound, the same wet and muddy ground.

Today was made by God, designed by God, crafted by God.

He knows the land ahead, and the dark behind, he knows my mind.

Today will melt like the snow, turn green and grow,

out of this only he will know, the direction this life will go.

Through Good and Bad?!

Praise God for whom all blessings flow. Praise the God who gives and takes away. You are Holy O God. Great is your faithfulness. 

Praises. How often do we give praise to God? Sunday? Saturday? Wednesday? When times are good? When you are blessed? When the cubs win the World Series? When? 

It is quite the thing to think about, praise. I feel that he deserves more than we give, but we don't feel right giving it in certain times. Bad times? REALLY?! Yes. Read the Bible. Believe it or not, he will work in you, no matter what times you are going through. The path may not be so "well lit," but he is there, ready for you to give up and lean on his faithfulness. He is sure to come-through. He is something to rely on when you need something firm and foundational. 

So how do we praise Him in the morning, praise him in the noon-time, praise him when we are young and when we are old? Habit, mostly. You start. The more you do it, the easier it will start to get for you. You will, I am sure of it, start to see the radiance in your relationship with God when you begin to revere Him, and thank Him. Go see for yourself today. Get into, not only the word, but into worship. Praise His Name. To quote a well known song..."So praaaaaaaaaaise His Holy Name. As long as I'm alive, I'll glorify His Holy name, Holy name."

Love and Peace to you.

EP

No Rules

So, alright. This is it. I wouldn't be much of a blogger if I didn't say what was on my mind at the given moment. You all get a treat, because not only am I going to outpour what happens to be on my mind, but it just might be controversial. 

Last night could very well be the most influential night of my life period. This night goes down in history for my life as the "turning point," the pinnacle so to speak, that changes everything...or so I hope. Last night, I was injected with the Holy Spirit. Last night, I made a decision. No Rules. Now before I explain that let me lay down some background for ya.

Two nights ago, Dana Morey, a very influential speaker within my church, gave a very compelling sermon at a Men's Retreat in Lawton, MI about living a spiritual life with no more rules. What he first told us to do was to create a list of things that we did, every day, that made us feel like we were at our best with God. A list of things that furthered our relationship with Christ. Things like, Read the Bible, Pray, Serve others, Accountability, etc. Then he collected them. After that he read them off and asked us, "If you do everything in Dan's list, is that it? Is this the way? Okay, how about Noel's list? If you do everything that Noel has down, do you have it right?" Each list he crossed off as we chanted "no."And then he asked, "About how often do you feel that you accomplish your rules to get to Christ?" We came up with a round about answer of about 15%. Fifteen percent. Surely, this is getting us the results that we desire. No? Why do you think that is? Are you happy going to your list of "must do's" and "have to's?" God calls us to have a relationship with him.

Now, Dana is not calling us to go screw everything that we are doing. No. What he is saying is that the rules that we are setting out for ourselves to engage in Christ are not enough. Not even close. What we need to do is One Thing. Live in the Holy Spirit. Be Christ. Our rules are thrown right out the window if we just Live in the Holy Spirit. Brothers in Christ? BE CHRIST! Be perfect? No. Walk so closely to the Rabbi that you are spotted with the dirt of his feet. Brothers, if we are living in the Holy Spirit, and I mean LIVING, THRIVING, FEEDING, the very breath you BREATHE is CHRIST, then your rules are no where to be found. Rules about how to pray and what to say in prayer, rules about how to get into the word and when to do it, rules about what is right and what is wrong, rules about what is righteous and unrighteous, rules about everything pertaining to your walk in Christ. No Rules. The free'er we are from the rules that we hold so tightly to, the more we are able to just come to God and let him work in us. The more able we are to flat out be Christ.  

If you feel this is you, if you feel that your way of coming to God has been flawed from day one, you're not at all alone. I sat in a room with 19 to 86 year olds, all testifying to the inadequacy that was their personal walk in Christ. When we came together to make a declaration to Christ in prayer, and pray in unison that He would change us from the inside out, that He would meet us in that place and break down our rules, our conditions to follow Him (as if we had it all together on how to connect with Christ), that the Holy Spirit would descend into that room, and let me tell you guys something--The Holy Spirit is one of the only things I know that can make a grown man cry. We weeped and cried out to God, asking Him to move inside of us that night. I can honestly say to you who are reading this that I am forever changed. And I am not changed by what some men brought to the table, or by an idea that some guy had. I am changed by what God has in store for my life.

You want to know one the greatest Rule breakers of all time? It's God. He gives unconditional love to you. No conditions. No rules. Shouldn't we show the same love in our churches? Our Families? Our wives? Our children? Our friends? 

Guys, if you come out of this with anything, know this. I am not pining that everyone adopt this style of living, because it is a Life Action, no. I am saying that if you are feeling the gaps day after day after day in your walk with the Living God and you fall short of keeping the list of things that make you feel right with Christ, then walk a different road. I am sick of the 15% more than you'll ever know. 15% sums up my whole life of following Christ. I want more. Do you?

Courtesy of Dana Morey, Jim Langkamp, and Steve Van Denend