The Trinity

February 25th, 2008

I got an email today from someone having a problem with a page I wrote titled He who comes to God must believe that He is.

This is what he wrote:

it all started out so good but, how do you get “And these three are one, and are each one, God” ? how do you deal with these scriptures: 1.here o israel the lord thy god is one lord.: 2. one lord one faith and one baptism.:3. one god and father of all.:4 and his name shall be called wonderful……….everlasting father.5.god is spirit and they that worship him must do so in spirit and in truth. my point is i do believe that you must first believe that god is but after you need to seek god for the understanding of who is. i know that some say the trinity is mystery but it’s one that we should not even have to try to solve because to understand the oneness of god is to truly learn of gods’ love. he said he looked for a man and could not find one so his own arm has gotten him this salvation. no greater love than this that a man would lay down his life for his friend. we know god is not a man but he took upon himself the form of a servant and humbled himself even to death on the cross. isaiah writes i even i am he and besides me there is no savior. i conclude that trinity makes no sense at all and to believe in one would cause us to question who is the father of jesus the holy ghost that overshadowed mary or the father that said this is my beloved son in whom i’m well pleased.

Here was my response:

Thanks for writing. I read your email with interest. The scriptures you have used below are all valid. I will not dispute with you what they mean. A simple reading explains what each of those references mean. I accept what they say.

In my page that you read I also use scriptures. I will honestly expect you to read them with the same determination you used when pointing out your own scriptures. I have laid out for you the scriptures themselves and then I go further and point out to you what they mean to me. The conclusion I wrote about is the one that I believe is right.

Does this mean that I think you are wrong? No, not according to the scriptures you have used. The question then becomes; “what of the scriptures that Joe quotes?” In the beginning was the Word etc… is John’s way of saying that the Jesus he saw in the flesh is the same person who said… “let there be light” in Genesis.

The question you need to ask yourself is, “do I use all the scriptures to understand what God says about himself?” I know this is a hard question to honestly answer. I have struggled through years of searching to understand “the mystery.” There came a point for me when I had to simply believe what the scriptures revealed… all of them… and accept that your core statement “hear O Israel, the Lord is One” and one of mine “in the beginning… the Word was God” and “became flesh.” Do they seem at odds with each other? Of course they do. Does that mean one or the other is wrong? No, they are both right.

I would like you to know the Jesus that I know. That comes from revelation. Not because I am smart or clever or specially holy, I am not, it comes from God the Father. I needed to stretch “my faith” to accept what the bible declares. Read my page again and then pray.

Like the scriptures say, “God is the rewarder of those that diligently seek him” (which is the next page in the series).

May God bless your continued search for the truth… wherever He may lead you.

I am interested in knowing what you think on the subject. Ahem… play nice (as Patti says).

Posted in Random Topic Posts, religion | 17 Comments »

Ex-Gays study, Jones and Yarhouse

February 19th, 2008

I was listening to the 700 club on television today. Their theme was sexuality and their main story was about a study done by Jones and Yarhouse on the conversion success of homosexuals participating in gay recovery ministries.

The short story is this… some gays can change a lot, some a little, some not at all and some simply enter the celibate life. Quite a mix bag of results. Yet the scientific(?) community says that changing sexual orientation is not possible but can only lead to mental harm. This study shows that the truth is somewhere else. Though the sample community was small it shows that the homosexual may have room to maneuver.

Personally I view homosexuality as no different than any other type of obsessive, compulsive and/or addictive (OCA) behaviour. There are degrees of involvement. I was a weekend alcoholic. The rest of the week I was fine and abstained from drinking but on weekends I would start drinking friday evening and wouldn’t stop until early sunday morning… if then.

What other behaviour can count as obsessive, compulsive and/or addictive. Gosh, everything under the sun including religion. Of course there are groups where the OCA behaviour would be accepted. They flock together: druggies with druggies, alcoholics with alcoholics, homosexuals with homosexuals, and the list goes on and on.

Hopefully the church, or should I say a church, is the one place that a person can go to get the help they need to overcome their personal demon. There doesn’t need to be pointing fingers or shouts to repent. There needs to be understanding and a willingness to come alongside those who are trapped and help them to overcome the problem they face. This could take years of counselling to immediate conversion or anything in between.

What the person who needs help must admit is that their actions are wrong. Then seek the help of a loving church. If the church will not admit that certain behaviours are wrong then they condemn the OCA to his/her lifestyle. Those who think there is nothing wrong with their behaviour should be given a time to repent (change their minds about it).  If not, by-by. Yet if the church throws out the OCA who wants to change then they do a dis-service not only to the person seeking help but forget who it is that God came to save.

In all this we must show God’s grace toward the sinner and God’s love for the sinner. Whatever OCA a person has, their only true help comes from God and usually that means through a local church.

OK, that was two cents worth. What is your position on homosexuality or any other OCA activity?

Posted in personal side, Random Topic Posts, religion | 7 Comments »

Computer Competency

February 12th, 2008

Originally posted at runningpastor.blogspot.com (mostly)

I have a book on Perl programing that has been sitting on my desk for months. I know just enough Perl to get into trouble. Not enough to do anything really useful.

Think of it as a puzzle book for the computer squeek. Computer Squeek? You have heard of computer geeks who can do everything. A Squeek is someone… well someone who just squeeks by.

There are three classes of people who use computers.

1. The Eeks
2. The Squeeks
3. The Geeks

 Which one are you?

Posted in Random Topic Posts | 3 Comments »

The Plan, The Crunch, The Reality

February 11th, 2008

Linda has been away on a cruise for a little over a week now. She is having a great time vacationing in the Caribbean and will be back tomorrow. I miss her and will be happy to have her back in the house.

Plan? Well, there were a lot of things I planned to do in the little world of my home while she was a away on the cruise: windows to be caulked, a good cleaning throughout the house, boxes to be moved and a few repairs. There were also some tasks to do outside, in the big world. Of course I do have a slight problem with procrastination. Don’t do today what could be done tomorrow. After a couple of days I settle into my new routine… I’ll do it tomorrow… tomorrow… hmmm… tomorrow… a little folding of the hands… a resting of the eyes…

Crunch! Today is the day of salvation… at least it is if I am to do anything that was on my list of “things to do.” Where did the time go? To everything there is a season, says Ecclesiastes… a time hustle and a time to bustle… sigh… no time now to rest. It will be a busy day, I hope. Right after I…

Reality?! Who am I kidding. Most of these things won’t get done. You know, when she goes on these trips, things seldom ever get done as I planned. Subconciously I take my own little vacation. It doesn’t involve leaving the house. I just rest. Oh, today will still be busy but not that busy. At least things will be a little better than when she left. Ha! I just have to make sure I do the visible things that she will notice right away.

Will I get away with it. Maybe not… certainly won’t if she ever starts reading my blog. Tomorrow, when we see each other in the airport, all these thoughts will pass away as we get caught up in that special moment. A big hug and a sweet kiss. Ah, the telling of her adventures as we eat at our favourite restauraunt.

 The following day things will be back to normal… less procrastination and more doing. Our vacations over. 😉

Posted in family, personal side, Random Topic Posts | 3 Comments »

Site Migration

February 4th, 2008

Thank you thank you thank you… my site has finally completed its migration from powweb to netfirms. Everything is up and running. Including the email. (joe breathes a big sigh of relief)

Most people who come to my site visit the blog. Looks like it is working as it should. The dates on the comments for the past six months are out due to a failure of the export program. I had to move those individually one at a time.

Dougie G said that the blog was acting funny… he lost a post (and shouldn’t from now on) and I do have flood control on. If you try to upload too many comments quickly it will tell you so. Here’s hoping there are no more glitches. Happy blogging! (fingers crossed and a quick prayer to God’s ear)

Posted in Random Topic Posts, Uncategorized | 10 Comments »

Chased out of the country

February 1st, 2008

Yep, heard about the big storm coming from Texas. Mixing with the cold artic air. Lots of snow. Soooo… 3:30 in the mornig a van rushes up to the door of my house. A man jumps out and comes to my door. There is a flurry of activity as suitcases and bags are whisked out the door to disappear within the waiting vehicle. Where are my women? My wife and her mother? I feel the wind pass by. It wasn’t the cold wind fortelling the storm, no, it was Linda and Goldie speeding past to get to the van. The dog next door begins to bark. Quickly all things and all people are loaded, such hasty goodbies. Off into the distance races the van carrying my loved ones to the airport, the storm nipping at their heels. A furtive wave and I walk from the door. Alone again… the batchelor life… me and the cat, facing the storm. Sigh!

Posted in personal side, Random Topic Posts | 4 Comments »

Job of the bible and Mother Theresa of Calcutta

January 30th, 2008

originally posted at

 http://runningpastor.blogspot.com/2008/01/dare-i.html

I like to think that mother Theresa was the “Job” of our age. Perhaps a better example than Job himself because we have such a better covenant than he did.

Job didn’t know why he was afflicted the way he was. Family, riches and health taken away from him. Sure there came a point where he complained alot… but he never lost faith in God. Just stubbornly wanted an answer as to why he was being afflicted.

Along came his friends and chapter after chapter of reasoned thought and counterpoint arguments. Never got him anywhere… just as Theresa went through letter after letter with priests or pastors. It is hard during those times to hold onto faith… with your friends and colleagues reasoning away… yet when the testing is over the reward is so much greater.

In the end Job got his humbling answer and repented and became a better man. In the end Theresa, always humble, found a deeper relationship with the Lord.

It is like the scripture reference… when things go well the plant will spread out quickly over the land. Yet when persecution or hardship comes it withers. God is as interested or perhaps more interested in depth of character not just abundance… and that only comes through hardtimes and struggles. Job and Theresa both came out stronger after their time of separation.

We can only pray that we have the staying power of a Job and the humility of a Theresa.

Posted in Random Topic Posts, religion | 1 Comment »

Backyard Dinosaurs

January 21st, 2008

I was looking out the back window of the sun-room this morning. The birds in the backyard were hoping around looking for seeds or bugs to eat. I have seen this scene a thousand times. I thought back to a special I saw on television where one professor of paleantology said that he believes that birds are the direct descendents of dinosaurs. As I watched the birds I thought to myself who are you related to. It must have been a grazer. Then I thought… whatever happened to the meat eaters of the group. Then we had an unexpected visitor. A young peregrin falcon attacked one of the grazers.

Feasting Falcon

The falcon pinned its prey with its large talons. In time the prey simply succumbed to the abuse of the falcon. It was strange to see the death of this bird. Even stranger to see the killing and feeding practice. It’s one thing to see it on a nature program… quite another to see it acting out in front of the window.

I wish I didn’t have a screen in the window. I would have liked a better photo to remember this wild kingdom moment. Backyard dinosaurs… who’d a thunk it!

Posted in Uncategorized | 14 Comments »

Democratic Michigan Primary

January 18th, 2008

I love U.S. politics. I remember back to the presidential election of 2000. Bush was elected by a slim margin. In fact it was so slim that Gore contested the results. I remember the hanging chads debate. Voters being blocked from voting. Polling stations closing early. The mantra that the democrats cried was “every vote counts.” The Supreme court let things settle as declared. The ballots with chads were all later counted by an independent group of journalists and Bush still had the slim majority. Despite their best efforts of the democrats the results were true.

Then came 2004 and the democrats were wailing their new swan song of every vote counts. Over and over again, ad nauseum. You get the feeling they really do fight for democracy and every vote being counted.

Now the 2008 democratic Michigan Primary. Every state wanted to feel important in the selection of their next presedential candidate. Several states decided that they were going to break with tradition and have their primaries earlier than they had in the past. In Michigan this broke with party rules.

Here we have the democratic party saying to their own people that unless you play by the rules your vote will counted… BUT… you will not be assigned any delegates to the convention. When it comes to choosing a delegate to represent the party in the presedential run for office, Michigan’s voice will be absent because every vote they cast last Tuesday does not count.

Seems it doesn’t matter what the people of Michigan want… if the federal party says no… they are disenfranchised. The very thing that the democrats desperately tried to lay at the feet of Bush for his two victorious runs for office.

None of this comes as a surprise to me. They squeal and shout and complain but their words are meaningless. Hillary, whom I do not like, won the hollow victory. She received 50%+ of the vote. Of course all the other major candidates withdrew their names from the ballot so the next large block of votes, 40%+, went to “none of the above.”

I guess Hillary was so desperate for a win that she thumbed her nose at the federal party and ran basically un-opposed. And she did that to get no delegates. Her election team says that she can bring the country together again. She can’t play fair and nice within her own party. How on earth can she reach the country.

U.S. Politics… I love it.

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

First Post of the New Year

January 9th, 2008

I would like to thank all those who participated in Linda’s Birthday Eve celebration this past week. It was a memorable occasion.

As for today, I look out my window and the sun is shinning in its strength. Sunlight enters the eye and a little bit of serotonin is made in the brain. Ah, that was a nice feeling while it lasted. Also stood in front of the office window, barechested, the sun striking my skin and lo, a bit of vitamin D is created. It rushes through my body and I feel a bone somewhere getting stronger. Hmmm… these two things may be small but I need all the help I can get.

Goodness, a celebration of life and two health benefits… what a wonderful start to the year. Hope the start of your year was even more memorable and beneficial.

🙂

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

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