Trinity: Part 1

God Above Us:

The trinity is one of the most difficult ideas to wrap our heads around (my feeling). Yet if we were to understand it fully would God cease to be God? 3 diViNE beiNgs, one God, no hierarchy, different roles, yet so intricately woven together that they cannot be separated, confusing stuff.

As shaky and foundational this belief is we do see clear pictures of it throughout the Bible.

God above us, the Father, the Almight maker of heaven and earth. In Job we see an incredible picture of the wonder, awe, amazing, God who controls all things and knows all. God responds to Job's questions from out of the eye of the storm. That alone is incredible, but the things he says...blows my mind and leaves me in complete awe, remembering that I am man and God is God. That is a deep truth that has a lot to be unpacked. There are many things, many many things, like Job, that I don't understand. And I'm okay with that, as long as I recognize my place, my place is as man, not God. There are some things in this life that I will not figure out, that will not make sense and will leave me befuddled if I dwell on them too long. Then I remember that God is God and if he does what he says he does in Job chapters 38-42 then I have nothing to worry about, for I am man and God is God.

God above us

Trinitarian Centered

Some Churches today seem to focus soley on Jesus, the Holy Spirit or just God. I've found it rare to enter into a church that has a holistic view. One that (and I borrow from Christian Schwartz), "is Christ Centered, stressing the absolute claims of Jesus, and inviting people to find a personal relationship with him, and living in the power of the Holy Spirit, not only teaching about, but experiencing the supernatural dimension of our faith, and all of this based on principles that God has revealed to us in creation that we share with nonbelievers, which include striving for hte preservation of creation, social justice, human rights, and peace."

this is the balance we have to have. From what I have seen, most churches nail the JESUS aspect on the head, touch on the GOD, and hint at the Holy Spirit. Jesus by himself is not complete.

I'm applying this to the way I live, so if and when I do minister to others, my life will reflect this trinitarian balance.

Enter?

Perhaps we should change all of our exit signs in our church buildings to enter signs. It is out there, "in the real world" as our parents like to say that life happens. I think the reason those signs were put up was because we were spending too much time inside and so we had to let everyone know where the exits were at. If we could just reverse that so that we are spending so much time "in the real world", among the poor, feeding the hungry, fixing our neighbors car because they can't afford it, befriending those whom the 'real world' shuns. Then maybe when we 'entered' or now 'exited' our faith would have meaning and wouldn't be just a 'burnt offering (Hosea 6:6).


Remember to Enter.

Wake up and live like you were dropped into a alien race with no cultural connections. How does Jesus make a difference? What does life look like?

"love'

I was reading Velvet Elvis and I ran across this very interesting tidbit about the Bible. The first time John uses the word love in his book about Jesus is in chapter 3 verse 16. For God so loved that he gave his one and only son... The first time the word love is used in the entire Bible is in Genesis chapter 22 when God tells Abraham to take "your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love." and offer him as a sacrifice

Isn't that another awesome connection that John was trying to make.

God has written the ultimate story.

One Nation Under God??

Does God relate to the United States as a whole? We are not Israel, his chosen people. And he doesn't, how does this coincide with us living out our faith. Do we have a political duty, or a moral one?

I've been reading some really provocative and mind muddling books recently. I feel like I am in a swamp full of mud (but the mud is good mud) and I'm wallowing through it trying to figure it all out. A whole new realm of Jesus and the Father have been opened up to me over the last six months. There is a relationship that is so much like a relationship. (I understand that was a very vague sentence). What a friend I've found in Jesus has become a daily reality, even though the present journey of life has been bleak, ill-defined, and rocky, but and it's a big but, faithful Father has been there, even when I didn't want him there. Yes there have been times when I thought I would have rather not been familiar with my Father or even know him. Yet, he is there, I am learning, still walking and wanting others to know about the love of God even in my selfish moments.

Smoking is FUN!!!! YEAH!!!!

When I first saw this billboard I instantly thought of smoking. The box looks like boxes we have in America. Mind you I didn't see the part that says 'Golden Tea', because I was laughing to hard at that point. But then again, maybe they could use the same kid on a smoking billboard. It kinda makes me want to smoke...

Cleanest Beaches In The Known World!

Never doubt that a small group of committed people can change the world indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.

~Margaret Mead

Faith vs. Old Religious Ways of Doing Things

This thinking comes after a conversation with Rev. D. Bray and some interesting life experiences.

Salvation?

Relationship with Jesus, right?


Salvation it seems is saying yes to the light (knowledge of God) that we have been exposed to. Does prevenient grace cover the "what if's"? We have packaged salvation too much in America. It is more journey and relationshiplike than we have made it out to be. This being true, it makes baptism make a whole lot more sense.