Jonese's Blog

A little over a year ago I started this blog. I had the idea initially this blog would be a place for me to unload my thoughts about everything which interested me. In the early days there were some geeky posts but they were quickly lost in the shuffle of religion and personal exploration.

My posts here have always been sporadic and very often long winded. I'm a passionate blogger and when the spirit moves me I write and post. A lot of my earlier posts were these kinds of stream of conscious posts. Not a lot of review, discernment or even care for possible backlash.

It was all about putting my brain and it's crazy ideas on the Internet for others to soak up, debate and comment on.

As I got more and more followers I felt like I needed to be more "missional" with my posts. Which is just a fancy Christian word for being preachy in my case. Many of my posts got a "holier then thou" attitude in them and while I was talking facts it was all about how you should be better.

I was preaching but not always following my own advice.

Then over Christmas God really stepped in through His Word (aka the Bible), wisdom from friends, and just me paying more attention to bloggers I respect. I saw how I had deviated from BEING me and was more ACTING me.

It's time to JUST BE again.

So this is my last post here at Jonese.us. Jonese is dead, I'm killing him but leaving him up here because there is a lot of great content and I fully stand by everything I've written.

I'm not giving up, I'm not going away, I'm just moving forward. I saw this as a realignment but a friend said it was a reinvention of myself. I didn't like that idea until my friend showed me how it wasn't ME reinventing myself but how my relationship with God has reshaped and reinvented me.

I am no longer jonese. I am Eric Ryan Jones, follower of Jesus Christ.

Jonese was the old me, it was me in everything, emails, nicknames, twitters, im's. You could find me all over the place just by searching out Jonese.

But it was the old me really, it is not who I am now. It must ALL come to an end.

It's time for me to claim who I am, to stand up and BE who I am supposed to BE.

What does that look like? Good question, I'm not 100% sure but as with everything I do it has a theme. It has a purpose and I'm stoked to be stepping out of the boat in faith with all of you.

So join me as I stand with arms high and heart abandoned. Fully surrendered to the God who loves me more then I'll ever be able to love myself.

http://www.witharmshigh.com/

Not a lot to say BUT I can promise you there is a reason for my silence.

Big things are coming down the pipe and I'm so excited for them. Really, honestly, I could burst and I've already spilled the beans to a couple of people.

So wait for now.

First an update. Big things are happening hence my silence. Can't say a whole lot but God has really given me some fire and i'm just fleshing out the best way etc to deliver it. I know I know that makes no sense. Be patient with me and i promise not to disappoint...

Prayer Request Please

Today is a big day as Vicki Cravey starts her Chemo to battle the last of the cancer cells still invading her system. After a successful operation to remove and reconstruct her bladder this is a big charge to finally be cancer free.

Please keep her health, her recovery, her family and the doctors and nurses treating her in your prayers over the next few months.

If you'd like to drop Vicki a note of encouragement please feel free to do so at this URL:

http://www.bealight.com/vicki/send-well-wishes.cfm

We all know the power of prayer and i don't need to point out the COUNTLESS times it's been used in the bible or in our own lives. Remember it's not the length of your prayers or what you say but where your heart is. Bring your heart fully to Him and I am confident He will take care of Vicki.

Just a quick note. I was humbled and honored to be able to attend a Spritual Gift small group with Chip Ingram recently and even got to offer my thoughts on the experience. Those toughts are posted on his Blog, go check it out and if you have the cash and time buy his Devine Design DVD set. As Christians we MUST know our Spiritual Gifts(s) and how to use them, grow them and avoid abusing them. I'll be writing more on this topic later for sure...

Why do I feel like people don't like to ask for help anymore?

What has society has a whole done to make it a bad thing to ask for help?

I'm a nice guy. One of the things I embrace about my nice guy syndrome is the fact that I have a very high level of compassion for people and their needs.........

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It's been two weeks since i posted My Stuggle = Confidence. First i have to say thank you to everyone who reached out to me. I love you all and i am in absolute awe the impact my little video had on everyone. I'm so blessed to have friends and family like you all.

This video is a follow up to that initial video. In it i talk about how my struggle with confidence has lead to the sins in my life. This video was actually harder to record so forgive me if i stumble over my words a little bit. If you get bored fast forward towards the end and seriously consider taking my challenge. Enjoy!!!

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It's 11:48pm and I'm supposed to be asleep. I've got other blogs I'm working on in my head, on video, on paper and none of them are as important as this one right now.

So many people like to point out the bad when trying to disprove the existence of God. They point to babies who die before they had a chance to live, to vicious crimes, natural disasters and anything else we humans see as "sensational".

But no one ever points to these same instance to prove the existence of God.........

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This is a video post talking about my stuggle with personal confidence. It's in part a response to this Jarret Steven Nuvement.com post, and part something which has been on my heart and needed to be shared.

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Lot's going on behind the scenes in my world. More details will come as pieces fall into place.

In the meantime check out my guest post over at ChurchCrunch.com

I've heard of Lent, I'm not talking Lint or belly button fuzz her kids, and I've participated here and there but never really thought about it. So this year when asked what I was going to "give up" for Lent I decided to really put some thought into it.

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