Jumping In: Eric Carpenter

I’m jumping into this project with both feet, and I hope you are looking forward to it as well.  I believe there is great potential in challenging one another to live in a very practical manner under the absolute authority of Jesus Christ.
God has granted me a wide range of experiences that have shaped what I believe about life in general and the church in particular.  I was raised in a Christian home in New York State, but now live in Savannah, Georgia.  I’ve worked in the public school system, at UPS, as a Southern Baptist pastor, and now at JCB.  God even sustained me through an M.Div. at SEBTS.
In 2006, God granted our family four months of living in South Asia.  We were in the midst of culture shock when we received another shock: we would immediately be coming home to the USA because our son had been diagnosed with a form of Lymphoma.  We praise the Lord for healing our son!
In the midst of all of this, God has been the one constant.  He is perfectly faithful.  He is also perfectly sovereign.  He has created a world and has told His followers how to live in it.  This is the part I’m still trying to figure out on a daily basis.  The older I get, the more I realize that there are areas of my own life that do not fall under Christ’s archy.  It is because of this that I’m looking forward to the discussions on this site.
For the past few years I’ve been talking through issues of theology, church, missions, family, and culture on my personal blog A Pilgrim’s Progress.  In the end, God has all the answers.  It is our duty to seek Him out and discover how He desires that we live for the betterment of the church and society.
My hope is that we can all sharpen each other through these discussions and that they will lead to real change in our lives.