Pastor Eric Schall

Thanks, bro! (My reply is only slightly late...)

2012-01-20T08:40:19.137-08:00

Thanks, bro!

(My reply is only slightly late...)

Great post!! When I first got Saved ten years ago,...

2011-12-21T12:59:45.088-08:00

Great post!! When I first got Saved ten years ago, I did not have a church home, and became convinced I did not need one. This did stunt my growth with my relationship with Christ. I was always reading my Bible, sharing what I was learning with others, but did not have that fellowship with other Christians to move me forward. This fellowship, which I've now become a member of, has been my support group, or my "Rock." In just three short months I have experienced many wonderful things that I would not have experienced without having a church home. I am an active member, discovering which ministries to be involved in at the church and outside of the church, volunteering at homeless shelters, sharing God's Word through podcasts, writing, worshiping, praising and much more. I can't explain the feeling that I am going through right now, but all I can say is that I have a lot of joy regardless of my circumstances, and feel so loved as a child of God.

P.S. I too used to work the 4 am to 9 am shift at UPS. I only lasted two weeks though:-). I'm substitute teaching right now, and am getting ready to go back to school for my Masters Degree in Christian Ministries.

God bless!

That's what kills me PE. I have no problems, w...

2011-12-12T20:54:37.255-08:00

That's what kills me PE. I have no problems, whatsoever, praising the Lord in the church and getting to know other people that believe in Him. But I've seen some things that keep me out of the church. Mostly how some pastors greet you as more of a nuisance, if you can't show up for a few weeks. Like you're some sort of pestilence for wanting to enter the church, even though the Bible says all are welcome at the Lord's table. I've always thought it was the drunks and the drug addicts and bums and the people who are looking to change and actually want to follow God that should be welcome, not put down By The Church. Save for you and a handful of others, my non-Christian friends that just try to be morally good have treated me far better than the ones that call themselves Christian and go to church. I agree with a lot of your blogs, and I like to read them. And I agree that by ourselves, we are indeed much weaker. But at the same time, even if we are outside the church, the Lord knows our hearts and can see that if we're trying to serve Him then certainly He won't turn away from us. I see what you mean about opening up to blind spots and how much harder it is to be a Christian alone; I won't discredit you one bit. All I will say though is that, in going it alone, I actually find it easier to keep believing than to go to church with people that treat me like an outcast if I have the time to show up. It is hard, but in all these years and all these things I've survived I've never given up my faith, and to this day, it still grows. I see what you mean about it being stunted, by all means, and how easy it is to become self centered and to treat this life like your own. But truth is I pray every morning that the Lord help me keep up the path He has set before me and He never fails to put something in my way that gives me an opportunity to reach out, be that opportunity big or small.

Just saying, I find it easier to be a Christian alone than to go to a church full of people that stop just short of spitting on me for showing up even though I've preached from their Bible before...

Love it... Praise the LORD!! thanks for inspiring ...

2011-11-09T07:48:14.435-08:00

Love it... Praise the LORD!! thanks for inspiring me Eric and thank you Jesus!!!! HUGS

Thanks for the transparency!

2011-10-25T14:04:00.355-07:00

Thanks for the transparency!

Good Word!

2011-10-19T06:23:06.512-07:00

Good Word!

Interesting...pretty sure that Jesus saw that same...

2011-09-02T13:24:27.364-07:00

Interesting...pretty sure that Jesus saw that same church...why can't we just get it? I don't know really...If you find a church with everything on this list...call me...I'll be packing...

Well written and right on target. His church . . ....

2011-08-22T13:39:58.498-07:00

Well written and right on target. His church . . .

Encouraged by your faith PE...I know God has reall...

2011-06-07T10:20:45.760-07:00

Encouraged by your faith PE...I know God has really good things in store for you guys, wherever he takes you

Speaking as someone who has just fairly recently g...

2011-02-17T14:48:06.190-08:00

Speaking as someone who has just fairly recently gone through this process, I can say Amen to this. I never thought about it, but #9 is where most of the churches we looked at failed and a good working web site was what brought us to the churches we liked the most.

Hey that's a good question. Not to add to co...

2011-02-15T17:53:57.514-08:00

Hey that's a good question.
Not to add to controversy but here's a few things that should be considered.
1. According to the curse pronounced upon the serpent "because you have done this...on your belly". It would appear that the serpent (before the fall) in the garden was no legless, but having a fashion of mobility other than slithering along the ground.
2. The original word translated in the English to 'crafty' is also the same word as 'shrewd', 'wise' or 'intelligent'
3. The serpent was not evil and was one of God's beautiful creation. This serpent was used by the devil (perhaps because of his known quality for being wises of all the animals). It is not unusual nor uncommon for spirit's) to inhabit a living being to enact it's desires. Plenty of scriptural references to demon possession, but perhaps more pertinent... Numbers 22 - Balaam's donkey.
Hope that helps... at least a little
Phil

And why did he let that old snake into the garden?...

2011-02-14T10:04:53.460-08:00

And why did he let that old snake into the garden? ;)

Great hearing from you Dominator! (of course I rem...

2010-11-23T11:00:56.424-08:00

Great hearing from you Dominator! (of course I remember you!) So glad to hear you are following the Lord full tilt!

The best place to reach the unsaved and unchurched...

2010-10-26T16:11:51.736-07:00

The best place to reach the unsaved and unchurched is to go where they are. We ALL used to be that person. I applaud you my friend, Eric. "Friends are friends forever, if the Lord's the Lord of them!"
Karen

I applaud your efforts at reaching the unchurched ...

2010-10-26T15:22:12.064-07:00

I applaud your efforts at reaching the unchurched through a Halloween party. My husband and I used to avoid all things Halloween. Now, as more mature Christians (Ha! That's subjective!!!...) we participate in trick or treat and allow our children to dress up. I don't like to remain within my Christian subculture when this gets us out and interacting with our neighbors and their children!!! Additionally, I never understood church "Harvest" parties. Even as a young Christian, I couldn't tell the difference between harvest parties and Halloween parties. If I couldn't tell the difference, then I doubt the unchurched could tell the difference. I believe that many will come to your party that would otherwise not be exposed to the love of Jesus!!!

2010-10-26T15:17:13.349-07:00

This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

A lady named "Arleen" posted this on fac...

2010-10-26T10:58:34.977-07:00

A lady named "Arleen" posted this on facebook in response to our event:

"I feel that a true Christian Church advertising a" Halloween Party" is offensive and inappropriate. Halloween is secular or worldly holiday."

and

"It would be more appropriate to celebrate a festival of the Harvest."

I guess she's not coming. :)

good on you. if you need halloween invitation idea...

2010-10-04T16:32:05.609-07:00

good on you.
if you need halloween invitation ideas there are some diy invites the kids can make here.
make-your-own-invitations.com

Amen Pa.

2010-06-11T03:27:03.005-07:00

Amen Pa.

Good comment! And you are right in the sense that ...

2010-05-26T14:41:55.154-07:00

Good comment! And you are right in the sense that God is more. "Person" in my post was not meant to be the equivalent of "human." My intent in this post was not to delve into the theological depths of the Trinity, but to counter the idea in our culture that God is some abstract idea as opposed to Him having an identity such as He has revealed to us in His Word.

I agree with all you have said, but I don't th...

2010-05-26T14:24:02.436-07:00

I agree with all you have said, but I don't think that the identity of "person" fits God. If God were a person he would not have needed Christ to be the incarnation to humans. He does have the attributes of which you speak, but that is not all that he is. He is NOT limited to being a person but is so much more. He is God the Father who is part of the Holy Trinity. Assigning him person-hood an no more is just as much an error as not assigning him that.

Yes, periodically when I am praying about specific...

2010-05-03T19:00:21.654-07:00

Yes, periodically when I am praying about specific things. It is usually a "skip a meal" type fast.

I am very disappointed that the military decided t...

2010-04-24T21:57:01.202-07:00

I am very disappointed that the military decided to uninvite Franklin Graham. Just another small step toward marginalizing Christians in our society.

You're missing the point(s). Just exactly &qu...

2010-04-23T07:00:14.494-07:00

You're missing the point(s). Just exactly "who" are we praying to here? Prayer isn't some pointless speech to people about ideas or empty meditation, prayer is communication to God. That same God has revealed Himself to us and the world. We have always been a tolerant nation allowing freedom of worship, but it has been a consistent truth from our founding fathers onward that we honor the God of the Bible above all. The "meting pot" you refer to came from a sense of Christian charity inviting all the poor and oppressed people of the world to come and find hope in the blessings of God found in our nation. It does not mean that we surrender our heritage, faith or beliefs in order to assimilate other religions into our lives. And it most certainly does not mean that we alter our prayer (communication) to God because someone somewhere might get offended.

If God is not real or He is unknowable then what we pray and who we pray to on this day does not matter. If God is real however, if Jesus is the "way the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father except through" Him, then what does that make any religious teaching that denies this claim?

We do not have to agree with, like, or accept what other people believe in order to be "tolerant." It is true that Mr. Graham could have chosen his words better. However, the military leadership made a choice out of fear, not out of the same courage that our armed forces show every day.

I have something to say on this because I complete...

2010-04-23T06:29:27.705-07:00

I have something to say on this because I completely agree with the military's decision to pull Mr. Graham's invite.

He made an unfortunate comment on record last december damning the Islamic religion. It wasn't the fear of another terrorist attack that got his invitation recinded, it was was his intolerance toward another religion.

National Prayer day is just that, a day of prayer... and not just for Christians but, for the melting pot of races and religions that make up this wonderful country. Our great leaders didn't want somebody speaking at the ceremony who wasn't a compassionate representative for our people.