Hello, world!

Religious person. Bible bumper. Jesus freak. Otherwise, you can just call me Eric.

Now that introductions are out of the way, I can respond to the thoughts above that I've read on the faces of or sensed coming from people I interact with every day.

'Religious' person: not so much - I don't have a religion so much as a relationship with Jesus. 'Bible bumper': occasionally, I guess - the Bible is God's love letter to us and the believer's handbook for life, so it comes naturally that I share what I've learned from it from time to time. 'Jesus freak': definitely - the Son of God saved my life, so I can do nothing less than give it back to Him.

This blog isn't my first. For a while I posted my own thoughts and perspectives on different topics; not a bad thing at all, but it was sort of without real aim or purpose. After a time, I shifted my focus to highlight the persecuted church, the body of believers in a number of countries around the world, who are harassed, jailed, killed, or worse, for being Christians.

Due to a . . . shift in focus at Cornerstone, the persecuted church is more of a personal than corporate ministry. I guess that's okay for now, and still, this new blog will have elements of both of the two previous ones, with the exception that I'll try to stick to Cornerstone's desire to enable people - churched and unchurched - to become fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ.

One of the things I feel led to do - it almost feels like a duty or a calling - is to keep a watchful eye on social, spiritual, and I suppose to some extent, political, trends today in America and beyond. Hopefully, that's where this column will come in, to link the mission and values of Cornerstone Community Church with the happenings in the world outside our doors. Prayerfully, God will give me the perception to pick up on the significance of what goes on in the world, whether major or mundane, and the wisdom to translate it as the Holy Spirit leads.