Grace Rules

“Grace Rules!” that was the theme of the past week of summer camp. Our theme verse was Romans 6:14 which reads “For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law, but under grace.” What a great week we had being reminded about the amazing grace of God. In this verse we are reminded that the Law (and laws) exposes and even produces sin in us when placed over our sin nature. The Law was given to show us our fallen condition and our inability to do what God requires of us. Grace on the other hand is God giving us what we don’t deserve and can not earn or pay for. I think however that grace is not fully understood by a lot of people. First it is important to note that grace is not just an emotion or disposition that God has. Jesus is the grace of God given to us. He is literally the good gift of everything we need that we don’t deserve and can not earn. He is the grace of God. Ephesians puts it like this “has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.” In Jesus we have every spiritual blessing. We have all we need in Christ. That is grace. With that being understood it is important to realize the two complimenting faces of grace.

1. Grace shows us that we are not capable of pleasing God on our own. We don’t measure up and there is nothing we can do to fix our problem. We are helpless left to our own. Therefore God’s grace is needed. In Jesus he did on our behalf what we could never do for ourselves. Most of us get that. The second aspect is also critical and must be understood to really be ruled by grace.

2. God’s grace is the power of God within me to be and do all God created and called me to be. It is not enough just to let grace tell you that you don’t measure up and stop there. Colossians reminds us that it is Jesus in us, the hope of glory. In other words God’s grace, the Lord Jesus Christ lives within to be everything you need. You as a child of God are now empowered through Christ to live out all God designed you to be. You were “created in Christ Jesus for good works.

If you have either aspect of grace without the other you have an incomplete view of grace. Grace must first humble you to realize you can’t but then you must also be empowered by grace to be all God requires you to be. Where does that leave you are you being ruled by God’s grace? Have you quit striving to please God in your own strength and are you resting in His grace? Are you empowered by grace to live out His righteousness in your life? Is there anything you are facing that seems to hard? Won’t you say yes to Jesus and allow Him to be all you need? That is good news for us all, whether we are student or adult!

In Grace,

In Christ,

Eric

Susie taking the church group to the winter retreat 2009.JPG - Poplar Springs Baptist Church Mail

Susie taking the church group to the winter retreat 2009.JPG - Poplar Springs Baptist Church Mail

Eric taking the church group to the winter retreat 2009.JPG - Poplar Springs Baptist Church Mail

Eric taking the church group to the winter retreat 2009.JPG - Poplar Springs Baptist Church Mail

Kellsea going to winter retreat 2009.JPG - Poplar Springs Baptist Church Mail

Kellsea going to winter retreat 2009.JPG - Poplar Springs Baptist Church Mail

Bonfire/ Campout 2008

Here is a few pics from our recent bonfire. Sorry i have done such a poor job with posts. We had a great time at the bonfire.Estimates of 100 people in attendance. It was a great opportunity to just spend some down time together. I enjoyed the praise songs around the fire. Thanks to those who led us. I don't know if anyone was aware of this or not but the Giaquintos had never camped in a tent before. AND with the rain they were the only ones who didn't come in and sleep in the gym. Way to go guys!!! Keep pressing on. Christ is life. Keep relying on Him!!!

What I Am Learning!

Well September and October have flown by. I have to admit the last month has been very tough in a lot of ways. I am constantly trying to love my wife well, stay “plugged in” with my own teens, adjust to our new addition, be a good father to 3 kids under the age of 3, manage our family finances, do my part around the house, etc. That is enough to be exhausted and I haven’t even touched on the care of the students. I am “learning” what it means to be a youth pastor. I do say learning, because I am finding out there are more questions sometimes than answers. It has been a tough month for “youth ministry.” I don’t really know how to explain it, but I will tell you some of the things I mean. First I am learning. That is a big issue in its self. Every new season is just that a new season that I am experiencing for the first time as a pastor. I don’t have a tried and true “program.” All I know is that I have an incredible desire to see our students know Christ through His Word and walk with Him in their daily lives. Second I desire to be better connected to our students relationally. That takes time together I know. But I am struggling to do that better. Thirdly, I so desire to have a “youth ministry” that helps you as a family. In saying that I desire for the students to want to come and be a part. I desire for them to have time together as a group to build relationships with each other. I desire to provide opportunities/ activities that they can enjoy also. All while providing a constant opportunity for them to be learning the Word of God and therefore experiencing the God
of the Word. In all of that I know we as families are very busy and all face the reality of money pressures. I never want to burden your family with time or financial pressure. So my desire is to balance all of those things, teach well, grow in my relationship with our students, support our families, be a good husband, father, and provider. I don’t share that
to have anyone feel sorry for me. I share that so that I let you know what God is teaching me in all that.

1. I can’t substitute “doing” for “being”! What Christ is reminding me as I face what seems like impossible standards is that I have to start with just being His. I have been reminded that it is so easy to desire to “do” and forget that it all has to flow from Him and my relationship with Him.
2. Seeing the impossibility of being able to do all that I desire to do is a great place to be. What I mean is I am being reminded that Christ always calls us to do things we are not capable of. His strength is made perfect not in our abilities but in our weaknesses.
3. In all of these areas I must do what I can (be faithful and present) and trust God to do what only He can do. Only Christ can make me a good husband, father, provider, pastor, and friend.
4. I must keep looking to Christ and follow Him as He leads. Life can be
overwhelming and that makes us want to quit. The way we persevere is to continually be looking to Christ and in obedience following Him moment by moment. The “tasks” are too large, but Christ is sufficient for my every need.

As I said these are some of the things Christ is teaching me and I share them so that you will pray for me. I also share them as an encouragement to you. You may not be facing the exact issues but I know we all face issues of our own. We can’t. He never said we could. He (Jesus) can and He always said He would. Let all of our circumstances point us to Him and our need to trust Him to be in us what we are incapable of being on our own.

Learning and Growing With You!
Eric

WHAT IS THE BEAM?

I want to share a part of a chapter found in the book "The Calvary Road." The quote is discussing Mathew 7:3-5. In this passage we are told to examine ourselves then we will see clearly how to help our brother. Here is the section.

"Now we all know what Jesus meant by the mote in the other person's eye. It is some fault which we fancy we can discern in him; it may be an act he has done against us, or some attitude he adopts towards us. But what did the Lord Jesus mean by the beam in our eye? I suggest that the beam in our eye is simply our unloving reaction to the other man's mote. Without doubt there is a wrong in the other person. But our reaction to that wrong is wrong too! The mote in him has provoked in us resentment, or coldness, or criticism, or bitterness, or evil speaking, or ill will - all of them variants of the basic ill, unlove. And that, says the Lord Jesus, is far, far worse than the tiny wrong (sometimes quite unconscious) that provoked it. A mote means in the Greek a little splinter, whereas a beam means a rafter. And the Lord Jesus means by this comparison to tell us that our unloving reaction to the other's wrong is what a great rafter is to a little splinter! God have mercy on us for the many times when it has been so with us and when in our hypocrisy we have tried to deal with the person's fault, when God saw there was this thing far worse in our own hearts. But let us not think that a beam is of necessity some violent reaction on our part. The first beginning of a resentment is a beam, as is also the first flicker of an unkind thought, or the first suggestion of unloving criticism. Where that is so, it only distorts our vision and we shall never see our brother as he really is, beloved of God. If we speak to our brother with that in our hearts, it will only provoke him to adopt the same hard attitude to us, for it is a laoad y Rw of human relationships that "with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again."

That is very challenging! Our unloving reaction towards another's perceived sin is just as bad or worse than what we are seeing in someone else. We have a responsibility to act and react out of love. Think on that for awhile. Also I DARE you to get a copy of The Calvary Road by Roy Hession and read it. It is a great and powerful book. I have 2 copies if someone is interested.