The doctrine of the Trinity

In the doctrine of the Trinity, there are three persons, God The Father, God The Son and God The Holy Spirit. All co-equal, co-powerful and etc.

Considering that the Holy Spirit is a person, look at Matt 1:18, 1:20 and Luke 1:35 where we are told that Mary was with child by the Holy Spirit, a person in the Trinity. Thus, if the doctrine of the Trinity is true, the Holy Spirit, being a person, is the father of Jesus, not God the Father.

The Holy Spirit being the father of Jesus, however, does not line up with the rest of scripture. Either scripture is wrong or the Holy Spirit is not a person. If the Holy Spirit is not a person, then the doctrine of the Trinity is false. Can’t have it both ways.

Council Of Nicea Had It Wrong

Hebrews 4:15
For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.

James 1:13
Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any.

The Council at Nicaea declared that Jesus is part of a triune Godhead and is therefor deity. Yet Hebrews 4:15 say he was tempted as we are but we know from James 1:13 that God can not be tempted. We can then see that the Council at Nicahad it wrong.

YOU SHALL NOT COVET'

"You shall not covet you neighbour's wife. You shall not set your desire on your neighbour's house or land, his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbour."(Deut 5:21)

If we wanted to sum this commandment up in a positive way, we could say, "Be content with what you have got." As the Scripture says in another place, "Godliness with contentment is great gain." (1Tim 6:6)

It is all too easy to look at what someone else has got and wish that we had the same, or more, or better. But it is a rare thing that they actually have a better life than we do. The more possessions a person has, the more worry they have, the more insurances they pay, and the more they have to lose. The more a person gets paid, the bigger responsibility they have, and the more stress they have to put up with. The greener the grass is on the other side of the fence, the more likely they have spent hours or dollars watering it, or have invested in a lot of green paint.

So let's count our blessings and be thankful for what God has given us. Being thankful and content is a fantastic antidote to the decay and disease of coveting.
Robert Prins [Auckland - Pakuranga - (NZ)]

WE ALL LIKE SHEEP…

Despite the cold and snow blanketing the UK over recent days, where we live the sheep are still in the fields. Their thick fleece keeps them warm enough, but they still need the care of the farmer to keep their supply of water free from ice and to keep them fed with fresh supplies of hay each day.

But generally in England we rarely see a shepherd spending time with his sheep. The sheep scatter over the fields and the shepherd works with his dog to round them up again when required. In other words the sheep are driven to wherever they are required to go. To an observer the scene is one of much activity and expended energy, tiring for the shepherd, his dog and the sheep.

This scene is very different from years gone by or from the scene in other countries. A number of years ago I watched a shepherd with his sheep in Greece. There was no dog in sight, just a shepherd and a small flock of sheep. The shepherd was playing some pipes as he was walking down the track and the sheep were following him. Every now and again he would turn to call back a straggler from the flock and slow the others down whilst the straggler caught up. A peaceful and tranquil scene, the shepherd looked at ease and the sheep appeared to be calm and content to follow the shepherd wherever he led them.

This contrast in the ways of caring for sheep brings to mind the scriptural description of ourselves as being like sheep. David writes:

“For He is our God, and we are the people of His pasture and the sheep of His hand. Today if you will hear his voice: Do not harden your hearts…” Psa 95:7-8

And

“I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek Your servant; for I do not forget Your commandments.” Psa 119:176

The characteristics of sheep are used in many ways throughout scripture to bring to life some of the aspects of human characteristics and behaviour in relation to the things of God. This idea of going astray and needing to be led like sheep back to the good pasture of God’s word is picked up by Isaiah. He writes:

“All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; he was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth.” Isa 53:6-7

God has provided the means by which those who have faith and who trust in Him can be brought back to Him and be forgiven. Again the symbolism of sheep is used. But this time we have the analogy of a lamb being led unresisting to the slaughter. A lamb by nature is defenseless, harmless, an innocent young creature. Thus the Lord Jesus is set before us as one cruelly oppressed and afflicted, innocent of any wrong doing, yet condemned. But like a lamb led to the slaughter, he did not protest and kept silent against the malicious charges laid against him.

There are two aspects to the Lord Jesus. The first aspect of Jesus in scripture is as the Lamb of God. He knew his Fathers voice; he followed His father willingly and obediently. Jesus became the sacrificial Lamb of God in complete trust that his Father would provide for him and protect him. He was indeed raised back to life and is now at his Fathers side, which brings us on to the second aspect of Jesus.

This second aspect is that of being the ‘good shepherd’ caring for his sheep. Jesus knows his sheep and they know him. There is no harsh driving of the flock by the Lord Jesus, but His sheep know the ‘Good Shepherds’ voice and follow Him. He leads them to good pasture and by still waters. He feeds his flock and provides for them. Yet as all sheep will, the sheep often go astray. Then the Good Shepherd seeks them out and tries to bring them back. If the sheep have not learned to recognise the Good Shepherds voice and heed His call, they will get lost.

These two aspects of Jesus firstly as the perfect Lamb of God, secondly as the Good Shepherd of his sheep, speak so eloquently about the means of our salvation. Those who have diligently heeded the Good Shepherds voice will find that he will lead them to green and verdant pastures and they will be able to drink abundantly from the water of life. This simile is continued to the description of the judgment. The sheep are those permitted to stand at Christ’s right hand amongst those acceptable to him, whilst the goats are condemned to the left as rejected by him (Matt Ch. 25). The sheep had followed the Good Shepherd and heeded his voice; they had exhibited ‘lamb’ like characteristics of meekness, obedience, trust, and sacrifice. We read that Jesus will say to them:

“Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: For I was hungry, and you gave me food: I was thirsty, and you gave me drink: I was a stranger, and you took me in: I was naked, and you clothed me: I was sick, and you visited me: I was in prison, and you came to me.” Matt 25:34-36

Let us therefore do likewise, that we also might inherit a blessing.

Andy P.

"Blessed are the undefiled in the way, Who walk in the law of the LORD! Blessed are those who keep His testimonies, Who seek Him with the whole heart!" Psalm 119:1-2

GROWTH

Paul, Silas and Timothy thanked God for the believers at Thessalonica. The reason they were so thankful was "because your faith is growing more and more, and the love every one of you has for each other is increasing." (2Thess 1:3)

I wonder if Paul, Silas and Timothy would have had the same thankfulness for us if they had heard about our faith and love? Would they have seen our faith and love growing?

Let's think back a year, ten years, or since we first gave our lives to the Lord. How much has our faith and love grown since then? How much has it grown recently? Sometimes we can find ourselves stuck in the routine of being a Christian, doing what needs to be done, but not really growing. We need to make sure we have consistent growth in both faith and love in our lives all the time. If we are find that we are becoming more exclusive in our Christain lives, we may find that we are feeding our faith but our love is dying. Or if we are full of compassion but the hope of the return of Christ is no longer a reality, then our love may be strong, but our faith needs some serious work.

Let's make sure our faith and love are works in progress, growing, no matter what stage we are at, to the glory of God.

Robert Prins [Auckland - Pakuranga - (NZ)]

REACTION TO TROUBLE

It had been a whole week that the kings of Israel, Judah and Edom had been tramping through the desert. Now they discovered that they had run out of water and were defenseless against the armies of Moab. The reactions of the king of Israel and the king of Judah can be very typical of our response when we are caught in similar situations.

The reaction of Joram, king of Israel was to instantly turn and blame the LORD for the situation they were in - although it was not as if they had asked the advice of the LORD in the first place. "What!" exclaimed the king of Israel. "Has the LORD called us three kings together only to hand us over to Moab?" (2 Kings 3 v 10) When things don't go as well as we expect they should, do we blame God as our first port of call even though we did not seek his advice earlier?

Jehosophat, the king of Judah, had a more noble reaction. Seeing no way out of his predicament, he turned to the LORD. "Is there no prophet of the LORD here, that we may enquire of the LORD through him?" he asked. (2 Kings 3 v 8) Why did he wait until he could go no further before asking for the LORD's advice? Do we?

Let's not blame God for our problems or use him as a last resort, but seek his guidance first, getting him to show us the right way.
Robert Prins [Auckland - Pakuranga - (NZ)]

LUCKY

A few days ago someone at the place where I work had a potentially fatal accident. As he reached across a machine to adjust it, his clothes got caught and dragged into the machine. He was fortunate to escape with cuts, bruises and burns and without any more serious injuries. One word has been used to describe his fate over the last week: Lucky.

Maybe there was more to it than luck. Perhaps it was an invisible hand that saved him, a hand or an angel much stronger than the forces that could have killed him. But in a godless society people refuse to admit that such a thing could happen. Instead they prefer to believe in a random event of chance called Luck.

Even Israel had that problem, and they should have been the ones that believed in God. God said, "It was I who taught Ephraim to walk, taking them by the arms; but they did not realise that it was I who healed them." (Hos 11:3) It was not luck that healed Israel, or even their own strength that gave them the basics of life. It was all provided by God.

Life is not a matter of random chance or luck, especially for those of us who believe. God's hand is at work in our lives because he loves us. Attributing our fortune to luck is bordering on blasphemous. Instead let us recognise God's work in our lives and give him the credit and thanks for what he does.
Robert Prins [Auckland - Pakuranga - (NZ)]