September 18, 2018
by Eric Stillman
In the years after I graduated from UConn, I found myself wishing that I could go back to some of my classes and defend my faith against some of the messages I heard from my professors. I became a follower of Jesus right at the beginning of my freshman year at UConn, and although I was an eager learner when it came to my newfound faith, I had no idea how to answer many of the criticisms of Christianity I heard in my classes. For example:
“Missionaries are arrogant, evil, and ethnocentric.”...Keep Reading
Tags: College, Apologetics
September 11, 2018
by Eric Stillman
AW Tozer was a prominent American pastor and author in the early to mid-20th century, best known for his enduring works The Pursuit of God and The Knowledge of the Holy. I wanted to share a summary of a short treatise he wrote called “Five Vows for Spiritual Power,” which can be read in its entirety here. His approach in this treatise is to argue that if you are truly concerned about growing spiritually, then you should make vows and keep them. If you fail to keep them, don’t give up, but confess, repent, and start over. Don’t let the possibility of failure keep you from making vows that point your heart in the direction of God and holiness....Keep Reading
Tags: Discipleship, Vows
September 4, 2018
by Eric Stillman
In a book I read recently, an American Christian interacted with a seminary student from Africa. The man from Africa expressed his amazement at how little Americans speak of heaven in church. In his country, he said, they talk about heaven all the time. But, he realized, Americans don’t talk about it as much here because we have everything we think we want in this life. We are so comfortable that we don’t need to look ahead to heaven.
Perhaps there is some truth to this....Keep Reading
Tags: Death, Heaven
August 28, 2018
by Eric Stillman
One of the mysteries of the gospel of John is that one of the disciples is referred to as “the disciple Jesus loved.” According to church history, this disciple is none other than John himself, the author of the book.
Consider what you would be like if you saw that as your primary identity, the way you viewed yourself....Keep Reading
Tags: Jesus, Identity
August 21, 2018
by Eric Stillman
In my opinion, Romans 8 the greatest chapter in the whole Bible. Filled with promises about the love of God and His commitment to us, it builds from verse 1’s declaration that “there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” to the crescendo of verse 35-39, where we are exhorted that NOTHING can separate us from God’s love. Hallelujah! But perhaps just as important as Romans 8 is the end of the preceding chapter, Romans 7. After all, Romans 8:1 begins with “therefore,” which should prompt us to ask what it is “there for.” Romans 8, the passionate declaration of God’s great love for sinful, undeserving humans, follows Paul’s most candid confession of his complete inability to live up to not only God’s standards, but even his own. Listen to these words:...Keep Reading
Tags: Gospel, Discipleship
August 14, 2018
by Eric Stillman
Soon after the Holocaust, an East German pastor by the name of Guenter Rutenborn wrote a play called The Sign of Jonah, in his attempt to make sense of all the horror had transpired in his country. In his play, a group of German people attempt to come to terms with the atrocities that had been committed on their soil, asking who was to blame for the Holocaust. Some blamed Hitler. Others blamed the munitions manufacturers. Still more blamed the German people in their apathy. Finally, the people realized that above all the others, that God was to blame. After all, God had created this world. God had placed all of this power in such unworthy hands. And God had for some unknown reason allowed all of these tragedies to happen....Keep Reading
Tags: Gospel, Suffering
August 7, 2018
by Eric Stillman
I went to a funeral today. It was for the man who taught me the Lord’s prayer. Mr. Taylor graduated to heaven at the age of ninety-six. He spent more than thirty-five years...Keep Reading
Tags: Sunday School, faithfulness
July 31, 2018
by Eric Stillman
One of my favorite things about my time in seminary was the library. I love to read, so you can imagine my delight at finding a place that housed what seemed like every Christian book ever written. There was even a shelf made up entirely of Max Lucado books!
As much as I loved my seminary library, and as passionate as I am about reading good books, I am more cautious than ever when it comes to the average Christian book store, or Christian book distributor....Keep Reading
Tags: Culture, Books
July 24, 2018
by Eric Stillman
These past two months, as I have reflected on members or close friends of our church who have passed away during the time that I have been pastor, I have been reminded of how special each of those individuals were, and how, while the world may go on for most people, life is forever changed for those who lost their loved one. I have always loved this quote from the late Christian singer Rich Mullins, which I shared in the first reflection I wrote: “I think we cry at funerals ...Keep Reading
Tags: Suffering, Death
July 17, 2018
by Eric Stillman
At this time last year, I received a call from the Fearon family while they were in Maine, letting me know that Brian’s breathing had gotten much worse, and they were not sure he would be able to make it back down to Connecticut. Over the previous few years, Brian’s lungs had been getting steadily worse, and a few days after they called me, on July 20th, Brian stopped breathing and entered into the presence of His Lord....Keep Reading
Tags: Discipleship, Death
