Opus 2018-275: Don’t Ask if You Don’t Want

Be careful what you ask for. 

Now and then I have people who ask me to pray for them.  I am not sure they really want that.  I might include the concern they have but only as an add-on to my basic pattern.  I had developed my way of lifting people up and did not realize where it came from until my wife was in the hospital one time.  The chaplain came and as he prayed for her I could tell what he was doing and it became clear where I got it.  It came from Jesus.

(Mark 12:30 KJV)  And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.

And He got it from the Old Testament.

(Deuteronomy 6:5 KJV)  And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.

My prayers for people follow the body, soul, mind, spirit path.  I put it different ways but I cover all of them because if they were important to Jesus, they are important to me.  I always start with salvation since everything else is a dead end street without it.

So unless you want the whole package, don’t ask for the pretty wrapping.

homo unius libri

Opus 2012-324, The Trinity, a Healthy Schizophrenia?

Let’s talk about one of the most complex teachings of orthodox Christianity, the Trinity.  What I have to say could be considered heresy, theology, heretical theology or theological heresy.  Or it could just be nonsense.  That wasn’t a question.  You don’t need to answer.

The Trinity is hard to understand because it deals with two different teachings in the Bible that seem to conflict.  On one side we have the unquestioned statement that there is one God.

(Deuteronomy 6:4 KJV)  Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD:

On the other side you have the equally clear teaching that Jesus is the eternal God.

(John 1:1 KJV)  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

You can also show that the Holy Spirit is God. 

So you have these three as separate persons.  We see all three together in one place.

(Mark 1:9-11 KJV)  And it came to pass in those days, that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized of John in Jordan.  And straightway coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens opened, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon him:  And there came a voice from heaven, saying, Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

One of the great discussions in the church is on how you can have one God and have three Persons. 

Might I suggest a kind of schizophrenia? 

Before you reject me totally and call out the Inquisition, listen a moment.  There are qualities that are sinful in man that are acceptable in God.  For instance, we are told that we are not to take vengeance.  That belongs to God.  We are told that God can punish iniquity but we are to let it go.  This doesn’t seem fair, but keep in mind the many differences.  Because we are at worst, totally in the control of sin and at best limited by our physical perceptions, vengeance is something that we are not qualified to administer.  God, being perfect, is qualified. 

God demands repentance before He will forgive.  We are expected to forgive as a matter of principle.  God can be jealous, we cannot.  God has reason to be proud, we do not.  God can live with the paradox of free will and foreknowledge, we get tied up in denominational wrangling.  God is free to judge, but we are told not to.  God can put together mercy and justice.  All we see is, it hurts.  God can have three persons in one essence and remain perfectly sane.  We would be put on medication or locked up.

Rejoice in the knowledge that we are made in the image of God but we are not God.  As that button/bumper sticker proclaims, “PBPGINFWMY.”  Please be patient, God is not finished with me yet.  At least I hope not.

homo unius libri