RG in GR

So I am here in Grand Rapids, MI enjoying the time away from everything. (The title means ReGrouping in GrandRapids) I needed some time to get away and enjoy the company of people that just love on you. You know the people, these are the people that you absolutely enjoy spending time with because you know that they are not gonna give you any flack for petty things, they are going to drop everything and spend time with you. Sometimes I dont feel that at home all the time, so I like to escape here.

Anyway, I am enjoying myself and I wish that more of the people I came to visit were here and not in their home towns or off on vacation, cause I miss them, but I am really enjoying the weather and the company that I DO have. God has been working in the time that I am here and I am glad of that.

I hope that you can get out and really give God some praise for the things in your life that He has blessed you with. There are many I know, but get out and thank Him for them today, and just get away from it all. Amen?

Peace and Love
Eric

The Word is the World

Fixing my eyes on the pages, I do not want anything else. Why is it that I have not turned to this before? Why is it that this paper, this word of God, has me in some sort of trance that I cannot loose? What is it that has me so undoubtedly fixated on the Holy One, the King of my Life? What about this book seems to last through all time, weather and war? Is it divine? It is truth...divine truth. The One on the throne has spoken it, so it shall be written by the hands of David, John, and Paul. So the hands of the servant scribe the words that are uttered from the One True God's lips. This word, THIS WORD IS THE WORLD TO ME. It is the truth, the life, the All of me. I lean on it for understanding, direction, and wisdom. I know I can't live without it, and yet I test its limits...how far can I go? The Bible, this is the book I speak of. But you already knew that. If you didn't...ask me. I'd be more than willing to let you in.

A while

So it's been a while since I made a post. This is partly due to the massive papers I had to write and the work that's being done at Pulse. It rained today, and as a result, I reflect on the things that I didn't have today: School, work, candy, motivation, phone, money, closeby friends, and the list can go on.

But I chose not to dwell on these things and get some hardcore work done in my room. It is one thing to think about the things I don't have, it is another to dwell on them and to let them consume me. I found out, after I got all ready today, that I don't have school. Instead of bumming out, I could get some much needed hmwk done, or work on my taxes.

Just some wisdom before you head out. Proverbs 8. The entire chapter. Just read it. Blessings on the day and keep walking after God, AMEN?

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.