Eric Gilmour

Being a Spokesman for God

Let us listen to this impactful and inspiring conversation between Pastor Priji and Eric Gilmour who is an author, musician and itinerate speaker and the founder of Sonship International – a teaching ministry committed to strengthening the church.

Transcript:

Pastor Priji: What is the normal day in your home look like especially in the past season with all the chaos and crisis all over the world?

Eric Gilmour: We as a family actually enjoy being together. All the different personalities in the family kind of just create an amazing situation. We have such a deep love for one another that we are able to do different things and yet come back and have a good time together, and then, we do it again the next day.

Pastor Priji: You have founded the ministry by the name Sonship International, so what was the vision and the heart behind founding this ministry?

Eric Gilmour: In 2010, God told me, “I want you to speak for Me.” I did not know what that meant at that time. Later on, I realized He was saying I want you to speak for Me, and so I quit my job and then started to spend more and more time with the Lord. He told me also if you give yourself to My presence, then I will gift you My words. So the whole vision behind Sonship International is to be his spokesman. It was mainly enjoy Him, hear Him and then give what has been given to me to others.

Pastor Priji: Where did it all begin? How did you first encounter with God?

Eric Gilmour: My dad was a pastor all my life, so I grew up in the church knowing about God but I had no relationship with God. In 1995, God put out His Spirit in Pensacola, Florida, and there was such a visitation of God in a little church that 4 million people came through the doors 4 years without one advertisement. So, my dad and mom convinced me to go with them to check it out and when I went there I encountered the person of God through His presence and that changed everything for me. In 1999, I got accepted into the school of ministry and then in 2010, God’s call happened.

Pastor Priji: How did you keep your walk with God and love for God going through the last couple of decades and what fueled your walk with God?

Eric Gilmour: There are so many variables to it. If I was to narrow it down to one thing it would be the gospel. The fact that God has done something so extravagant in becoming a human being and suffering on my behalf and dying and then being buried and raised from the dead and then going up on high and sending the Holy Spirit that whole scene wins my heart. When I find myself starting to get cold or dry, I turn my eyes to the cross to open up the inside of me.

Pastor Priji: What would be your encouragement to somebody that is going through a very difficult season in their life having been away from God for too long, and what would your advice be to them to get back to the place of first love?

Eric Gilmour: I would chuckle because it is such a lie that happens in the mind that God wouldn’t accept you or that God is just mad at you. While we were sinners, He came and died for us and that truth will dispel the lie that He does not want you or you went too far. This gospel is enough for us. So, I would encourage the person to believe the gospel and even ask the Holy Spirit to help them believe the gospel.

Pastor Priji: What do you think are some of the hindrances that stop the revelation of Gospel?

Eric Gilmour: If I would have to pinpoint, it would be the lack of fellowship with Jesus. I am finding as I get older in the Lord, my greatest need is the revelation of things that I already know. I think if a man will go away, shut the door and adore His God and love on the Lord and let the word of God come out through the presence of God it would cause everything to be alive again and quicken to life. These things so easily die because of the oppressions of the world. We are deeply in need of daily fellowship with the Lord.

Pastor Priji: How do we overcome the dependency on ourselves and our own effort when it comes to our walk with God?

Eric Gilmour: I pray frequently to the Lord to grant me trust strong enough to end my efforts. We need to fear dead works as much as we fear sin. There is only one who pleases God and that is Jesus and His sacrifice is the only aroma that puts a smile on God’s face. So, let us go before Him not to get brownie points or gain favor but stand before God as Christ, then we will go to Him for the right reasons.

Pastor Priji: How was it for you to start ministering to people? Did it come naturally? Did it come easy?

Eric Gilmour: I think it is very much like the principle of fruit. If there is life in the tree, there will be fruit on the lips. If there is no life in the tree, there will be no fruits upon the branches and so part of that fruit is something that others can eat from your life. People can receive from your love, joy and peace because you have those things to give. Also, there was an erupting desire to tell people what happened to me. The more that we perceive and experience the person of the Lord the more we have this erupting desire to share what we have seen of Him but if there is no seeing and no hearing then there is no erupting desire to share from the Lord. For me, it was not a decision or requirement that I need to preach the gospel every day, but I could not stop because there was something alive on the inside of me and even to this day when I stand before people, I always feel this joyful desire to spread the glad tidings that Jesus is enough.

Pastor Priji: Did you at any point feel any kind of fear or any kind of personal challenges that you have had to overcome when you had to minister to people especially in big numbers or big crowds and what helped you in those times?

Eric Gilmour: This is an issue of consciousness and what I mean by that is what has your attention. If I am self-conscious, then I am unable to be God conscious and if I am people conscious, then I am unable to be God conscious. If I am going to speak thinking of myself, person or the people, it is difficult for me to be conscious of the Lord but if I will look to the Lord and realize my only responsibility is to Him then I am lifted above of those natural fears and anxieties.

Pastor Priji: What you have been doing in terms of raising leaders who can pursue God with the same ferocity that you have?

Eric Gilmour: I would say three different things:
1. Making sure that I remain delighted in the presence of the Lord personally because if I do not delight in Him, I can’t woo people to the delight of Him.
2. I find that most people’s problems are a failure to believe the gospel in its simplicity so I tried to bring out the Gospel of Christ in a very simple way to them.
3. We have the Schools of His Presence wherein all day we just relax in the presence of the Lord and talk to people how to keep their attention upon His presence and make His presence the focal point of prayer. Prayer is presence and presence is prayer. It is the very foundation for how God leads us in prayer.

Pastor Priji: How long does this school go?

Eric Gilmour:  It normally starts at 9 a.m. and ends around 5 p.m.

Pastor Priji: What are some of the ways in which people can be in touch and receive sermons or songs or things that you write or teach online

Eric Gilmour: If you go to YouTube and look up Eric Gilmour, we have hours of music, messages and personal teachings and also a series called Enjoying His Presence. You can go to sonshipcourses.com that will show you the different E-courses we have.

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