Response to a Trinitarian

" The term "Trinity" does not appear in scripture, however the concept of God in
three distinct yet co-existing persons of God the Father, God the Son (Jesus) and God the Holy Spirit are revealed throughout the Bible. The Fourth Lateran Council of the Church stated that the the three "persons" or "aspects" of God are all fully present and fully equal. The "Name of the Trinity" is just that: the Trinity, God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. Now there's an explanation from a person raised Southern Baptist, who spent 20 years as a Methodist and who converted to Catholicism 13 years ago."
First and foremost our position to reject the doctrine of the Holy Trinity is not because the word Trinity is unbiblical, but because the biblical position on the nature of the godhead is that of the Oneness view. While there may be room in scripture for the concept of “Composite Unity,” said concept does not contradict the Oneness position. One of the greatest problems with the Trinitarian concept (among many) revolve around the portion of “co-existence,” and “co-eternal.” Both of these portions of the Trinitarian concept lead to some form (In one way or another) of the doctrine of “Eternal Sonship,” which has been scholastically rejected (With some exceptions like Calvinism). For example the word “with” in John 1:1 (according to Trinitarian scholars), demands that a second person be included into this verse; “with” meaning face to face. While this may be true in the English language, it must be considered that concepts are attempting to explain the nature of God with human terms which are subject to error (unlike the scriptures which are infallible). Furthermore, to take the position that the word “with” demands a second person, then ultimately the person taking said position is placing another person in eternity (due to the context of the verse), that is eternal sonship.
Co-equal persons that have society within themselves leads to further problems such as: None of them can be “the Almighty.” If they are co-existing, did God the Son cease to exist for three days, after the crucifixion? God the Son speaks of a demi-God, or Jehovah Jr. The son of God speaks of the humanity of Jesus Christ. There is an amazing amount of difference in these two terms (besides God the Son, being contrary to scriptural doctrine). It is also interesting to note that the doctrine of the Trinity has evolved into a concept that it wasn’t originally intended to. When
speaking of the original concept and language of said concept, it had a whole different meaning. To clarify however, the definition and or name given for Trinity “The "Name of the Trinity" is just that: the Trinity, God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit.” This also is inaccurate at best; Trinity is the name of a concept coined by Tertullian (in Tertullian’s written work
entitled Against Praxeas) before the Council of Nicaea in 325 AD.
In conclusion the Trinitarian concept separates and divides the person of God, as oppose to the Oneness view that God is united, God is unique, God is One, God is Almighty.

Mary's Mother

Year after year, I read the Christmas story. And every year I wonder the same thing, what was so unique and special about Mary, that she was chosen above every other girl? The bible tells us in Luke chapter 1 verse 28, “And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.”

Mary, was “highly favoured” and “blessed…among women.” Many scholars have concluded that Mary was also quite young, another astonishing thought considering what she was about to go through.

As a little girl, I would dream of what it would be like if an angel appeared in front of me with a message from God. My great-grandmother had several encounters with angels, so I grew up knowing that it was entirely possible. But alas, it never happened. As I became a young woman, and the whole Christmas story took on a new meaning when I realized what Mary actually went through, I had a new appreciation for her. Here she was, engaged to be married; young, innocent, naïve, and those are only a few of the words that come to mind. Imagine her surprise, when suddenly an angel appears and tells her she has been chosen to bring forth God’s son. Do you think this may have disrupted her plans a little? However, notice her response, and this is where I am going with this, “Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word.” Wow! The bible does not say much about her upbringing, but I want to imagine a little, want to join me?

Mary’s response to the angel speaks volumes to me about her parents, in particular, her mother. I want to go back a few years, to when Mary was a little girl. What did her mother do to prepare her for such a moment? Did she arrive there on her own? I highly doubt it. Mary’s purpose in life was to be a servant, not just a servant to a random master, but to THE MASTER. Somewhere between the toddler years, the potty –training, schooling, emotional roller coaster of the pre-teen and teenage years, Mary’s mother groomed her, taught her and cultivated in her the art of being a servant to the Most High. She devoted time and energy to create in her little girl not only a love but also a respect for God and His kingdom. Their bedtime prayers probably did not stop at “Now I lay me down to sleep”, in fact, they likely prayed morning, noon and night. Did Mary’s mother somehow know her daughter would be chosen for the highest honor ever given to a woman? No, she probably did not. But yet, day after day, she trained and groomed, spent countless hours teaching, many sleepless nights in prayer and hours upon hours working side by side with Mary, raising her up to be God’s anointed. And when that moment came, Mary received her anointing with dignity and grace, giving ALL glory to God.

Now, I know this is all hypothetical, but it made me stop and think about my own children. What am I doing to prepare them for their anointing? Will they know? Will they be able to respond like Mary, “Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word?” Would they be able to accept God’s will for their life over their own plans? Not only accept His will, but also do it with dignity and grace, knowing beyond any doubt His way is the best way. I know there will never be another Mary, but I do know that my four children can be a conduit for the Holy Ghost to this generation. They may never have fame or fortune, to which I am not concerned, but Lord let me teach them to be servants ever ready to do Your will.

Just a thought.

Reagan once said something about liberals not being stupid, they just know so much that itsn't so...This also applys to "many," teenagers (NOTICE THE KEY WORD "MANY"). You know so much that isn't so. Your problem is that you're looking at stupid people and calling them stupid. Well thats a NO BRAINER! Stop looking at stupid people, and set your eyes on the wise. You just might see something. Unless you've looked at stupid for so long that now you're just as stupid.

Has Darkness Entered Your Bulb?

You will always see light when it shines in darkness, but you’ll never find darkness in the light. “And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.” (Genesis 1:3-4) There has distinctively been a line drawn by the word of God that separates light from darkness. In 2 Corinthians 4:6, Paul says that God commanded the light to shine out darkness. By the commandment of God, the good light shines out darkness.

As we sneak so quietly into the kitchen and crack open the door to the fridge for a midnight snack a little trigger in the fridge door has been set off and now light breaks through the opening of the door. At this same instant darkness in the room retreats to hide behind an object to be nothing more then a faint shadow. A line has been crossed and we are now in light. No longer are we silently, yet over dramatically, gasping for air while in shock as at least one of our ten toes makes contact with an unidentified object waiting in dark.

Light is intentional, we turn it on to be able to see where we are going, what is coming, or what is our surroundings. First we must find the power source in order to have light. “God is light and in him is no darkness at all.” (1 John 1: 5) In John 8:12 Jesus is speaking and says, “…I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” So God is the power source of the light. When I received the gift of the Holy Ghost the light of God entered into my life, lighting my path. No longer must I walk in darkness not being able to see my next step. I now carry a torch that bears the name of God. Matthew 5:14 says, “Ye are the light of the world.” Verse 16 goes on to say, “Let your light so shine before men…” So as Jesus is the source of which we receive power I’m the bulb that his light shines through. The light of God just doesn’t turn off as if there has been a power outage due to weather conditions. The only way that this light can be turned off is by cutting out the power source.

We are to be a light to the lost, a reflection of the light of God in a dark world. But just as we purposely turn on light, we can also cut off the source that is feeding power to the light bulb. “If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth.” (1 John1:6) What is truth? Preaching Jesus name baptism and being filled with the Holy Ghost. Why is light throughout this world cutting off the source of power and falling to the dimming light of the emerging church? Jesus said, “Be holy for I am holy”. What is holy in Hollywood, revealing clothing, boys looking like girls, girls looking like boys, or being so relevant that you can’t tell the difference between a first time visitor and the rest of your church? These are the questions that I began to ask myself a few years ago and I knew I was getting caught up in something that could not stand the test of time.

I thank God that I have found a path of transcendent light shining from the house of God that led me from the dim light of the emerging church. 1 Peter 2:9 says that we were called out of darkness and into his “marvelous light”! 2 Cor. 4:6, His light shines out darkness. But what about being relevant to the world? Paul wrote in Romans 12:2, “And not be conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God”. I want God’s perfect will in my life! The Word of God is clear that we are to “be not conformed to this world”! We are a chosen people that are separated from this world!

In conclusion, light can always be turned on in a dark room but darkness can not be turned on to over power light unless the power source has been cut off from the light.

Luke 11:34-35, “The light of the body is the eye: therefore when thine eye is single, thy whole body is full of light; but when thine eye is evil, thy body is also full of darkness. Take heed therefore that the light which is in thee be not darkness.”

For God So Loved...

As she looked up at me, with mascara streaked tears running down her beautiful face, she spoke these words: “He accepted me!” At first, her words did not affect me. I simply nodded, smiled and wiped away my thankful tears, knowing she was a new creature. It was not until later that her words returned to haunt me.

Over the course of the next few days, her words would flash through my mind unexpectedly. What did she mean by them? Was she really surprised that God loved her enough to save her? What has been her experience with love? True love, agape love.

After giving this much thought, I asked God to help me understand what she meant. It bothered me that she went so long not knowing the love of God as I do. Never in my life have I ever felt unaccepted or unloved by my Savior. Honestly, the thought never occurred to me that He would not love me or accept me. This is not because I think myself great or any such notion; I simply know God loves me.

Then, to compound the matter, she called me in a state of distress. She had a bad moment and said a few things she regretted. Hurt by betrayal and those that said they were “friends”, she had a moment of weakness. However, that was not the cause of her distress. Her pain came from thinking because she failed, God would walk away and leave her. Bam! It hit me! She thinks God is like many humans, who walk away from us when we have been wrong. Wow! I was shocked to say the least.

My heart ached so bad, I prayed and wept thinking about the hurt she has endured. I poured over the scriptures so that I could encourage her when those thoughts would come. I was comforted by God’s promises and His love. Now, I had to portray that to her.

Most people are familiar with John 3: 16, For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. Unfortunately, there are many who do not fully comprehend these words. God loved us so much that he sent His Son, His ONLY Son, to die that we may live. If you look in Romans chapter 5, verses 6-8:
⁶⁾For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.
 ⁷⁾For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die.
 ⁸⁾But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

Not only did Christ die for us, but He died WHILE we were sinners. He did not require us to be righteous before He offered His life. What this means for us is that He knew we were not perfect and we will make mistakes, yet He died that we might have life.

We put limits on God’s love. Our finite minds have a hard time wrapping around the fact that He loves us infinitely. We often compare our earthly love to His love, and truly, there is no comparison. I spent time trying to relate this to my friend. Using the analogy of a mother’s love to show God’s love still does not reach the immenseness of God’s love.

Finally, she began to relate. She saw how much God loved her and that He was NEVER going to walk away, even if she failed. However, it did not end there. Now, I began to wonder how many people, everyday, feel that God cannot love them. I imagine their pain, their emptiness, and my heart breaks. What can I do to show them? How can I help them? This is real. There are real people with real pain, who do not know about the love of God.

Back to the Word of God, we find our answer. I John 4:11, Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. It is that simple. We are to love one another. In word, in deed, in everything we do we must show forth God’s love. Otherwise, how will they know?