Saturday, September 15, 2012

A Question on the Trinity


A Question on the Trinity

Timothy Wood wrote: "Could you explain the Trinity to me please?"


The hymn goes “God in three persons blessed trinity.” What do we mean by that phrase?  Most people just shake their heads and say it is a mystery and still others think we Christians worship three gods, which is not true. You will not find the word “Trinity” in the scriptures.

For me the easiest way to think about all this is to recognize that there is only one God. Jesus said that. “God is spirit and must be worshiped in spirit and in truth” so this is our starting point.

Humans have a difficult time relating to a god that can not be seen or touched so we want to make pictures or statues to help us. That however is forbidden in the Ten Commandments. The early Christian church struggled with this relationship. They needed to express the different ways they experienced and talked about God. They saw that the one God was doing three things in relating to us and the terms they used were Father Son and Holy Spirit.

Father: God acting in creation to make all things by word of command.

Son: In the man Jesus God put His spirit and saved us from our sins.

Holy Spirit: God created us with our own spirit and contacts directly as spirit.

The very human concept of Trinity is our way of relating to the different ways that God has used and continues using to relate to us.   

Now that school has started



It is ironic that in the age of super fast computers, when our access to knowledge and information exceeds any previous age, that confusion is rampant. It is not the new and improved that we need to seek but the oldest source of wisdom and strength, God’s Word. The words and witness of the prophets of the Old Testament and the saints of the New Testament tell us that faith is more powerful than doubt, that hope is more potent than despair, and that only God’s love can conquer those forces within.

The forty-plus writers of the Bible give us their witness of their growing relationship with God. Their life stories were a lot like ours. Life was a hard struggle then as it is now. Even with advanced technology, our basic struggles are the same. We face the same temptations to sin against God and against other people, just as they did. Some of them obeyed God and were blessed, and some of them turned away from God and paid the price of their folly. We can learn from their successes and mistakes that God is quick to forgive those who repent and love. If you find that life is just too much, turn to your Bible, and you will find that someone before you has faced the same problem and has given you a witness for overcoming that problem with power and faith. Go ahead,

With school starting children are streaming back into the class rooms to learn all they can. The summer has been full of trips, relaxing and enjoying the fun in the sun. But now it is time once again to refocus their minds. It is also a good time for the rest of us to also refocus our minds. Some of us have traveled out of the country and some to other parts of the country. Some went fishing and some went to visit family and friends in different parts of the good old USA. Now is a natural time to get back tour living at home and get back to church. Sunday School and Bible studies are an inportant part of our focus on faith. 

Friday, September 14, 2012

In these crazy trying times




In over 40 years of ministry I have noticed that when people’s lives are under stress from work or other uncontrollable events that they look for places where they can have some control and vent their frustrations. Today we are under a lot of economic stress across the strata of our society. Even people who have jobs are worried about loosing them. The rich are getting a lot richer and the poor are growing in number. The gap between rich and poor is widening.

There are two places where people under stress vent their frustrations. The first is often in the family where more abuse of spouse, children and elderly are on the increase. Passing your hurt on to the defenseless is a coward’s way out and really gets you no where. It is really sad when children become the target of a parent’s wrath at society.

The second is in volunteer organizations like clubs and church. I have often watched as someone disrupts a church board or committee meeting seemingly without cause. It is all about exerting some control some where. Many church pastors have been attacked simply because some one was venting frustrations in the only place they can and get away with it.

Some how we need to instill self-control and a path to personal inner peace in all our children before they become adults in this crazy world.

Thursday, September 13, 2012

Disappointments




Life is full of disappointments. Promises are made and not kept, dreams are shattered by reality and we are often tricked, abused and manipulated.  So as we grow older we find that it is not so easy to believe all that we see and h ear. Especially during the political season believing is not so simple.

I think about the Disciple Thomas, whom we call the doubting Thomas, and I wonder if a bit of him is in all of us. He had not been in the upper room when Jesus appeared to the others. When they told Thomas that Jesus was alive he doubted their word. It was not until Thomas saw for himself and touched for himself that he believed.

There is that aspect of life that requires some of us to see for ourselves before we accept and believe. Faith is believing in what we can not see or touch by accepting the witness of all those who went before us. We do not let the disappointments of life distract us from our spiritual life of faith.

Sunday, September 9, 2012

Wasted Votes?



It was suggested to me that a vote for a third party candidate is a wasted vote. The other way of saying it is that a vote for a third party is really a vote for the party some one else does not like. I strongly disagree!

Your vote and my vote is a political statement of personal preference. In that context no vote is wasted except for the vote that is never cast. If I do not like either major party then my political statement is to say so by voting for a third party that I do like.

Saying that because I choose to vote for Governor Gary Johnson is really a vote for President Obama or from the other side a vote for Governor Romney is just not true. Your vote counts for the one you vote for even if that person does not win. In the last presidential election Senator McCain did not win but one would not say that the people who voted for him wasted their votes.

I strongly encourage every citizen to vote for who ever you choose. You only waste your vote if you do not vote.