One afternoon, when the sun was going down, a mother and her little boy sat at the door of their cottage, talking about the Great Stone Face. They had but to lift their eyes, and there it was plainly to be seen, though miles away, with the sunshine brightening all its features. And what was the Great Stone Face?Embosomed amongst a family of lofty mountains, there was a valley so spacious that it contained many thousand inhabitants. Some of these good people dwelt in log-huts, with the black forest all around them, on the steep and difficult hillsides. Others had their homes in comfortable farm-houses, and cultivated the rich soil on the gentle slopes or level surfaces of the valley. Others, again, were congregated into populous villages, where some wild, highland rivulet, tumbling down from its birthplace in the upper mountain region, had been caught and tamed by human cunning, and compelled to turn the machinery of cotton-factories. The inhabitants of this valley, in short, were numerous, and of many modes of life. But all of them, grown people and children, had a kind of familiarity with the Great Stone Face, although some possessed the gift of distinguishing this grand natural phenomenon more perfectly than many of their neighbors. The Great Stone Face, then, was a work of Nature in her mood of majestie playfulness, formed on the perpendicular side of a mountain by some immense rocks, which had been thrown together in such a position as, when viewed at a proper distance, precisely to resemble the features of the human countenance. It seemed as if an enormous giant, or a Titan, had sculptured his own likeness on the precipice. There was the broad arch of the forehead, a hundred feet in height; the nose, with its long bridge; and the vast lips, which, if they could have spoken, would have rolled their thunder accents from one end of the valley to the other. True it is, that if the spectator approached too near, he lost the outline of the gigantic visage, and could discern only a heap of ponderous and gigantic rocks, piled in chaotic ruin one upon another. Retracing his steps, however, the wondrous features would again be seen; and the farther he withdrew from them, the more like a human face, with all its original divinity intact, did they appear; until, as it grew dim in the distance, with the clouds and glorified vapor of the mountains clustering about it, the Great Stone Face seemed positively to be alive. It was a happy lot for children to grow up to manhood or womanhood with the Great Stone Face before their eyes, for all the features were noble, and the expression was at once grand and sweet, as if it were the glow of a vast, warm heart, that embraced all mankind in its affections, and had room for more. It was an education only to look at it. According to the belief of many people, the valley owed much of its fertility to this benign aspect that was continually beaming over it, illuminating the clouds, and infusing its tenderness into the sunshine. As we began with saying, a mother and her little boy sat at their cottage-door, gazing at the Great Stone Face, and talking about it. The child's name was Ernest. 'Mother,' said he, while the Titanic visage miled on him, 'I wish that it could speak, for it looks so very kindly that its voice must needs be pleasant. If I were to See a man with such a face, I should love him dearly.' 'If an old prophecy should come to pass,' answered his mother, 'we may see a man, some time for other, with exactly such a face as that.' 'What prophecy do you mean, dear mother?' eagerly inquired Ernest. 'Pray tell me all about it!' So his mother told him a story that her own mother had told to her, when she herself was younger than little Ernest; a story, not of things that were past, but of what was yet to come; a story, nevertheless, so very old, that even the Indians, who formerly inhabited this valley, had heard it from their forefathers, to whom, as they affirmed, it had been murmured by the mountain streams, and whispered by the wind among the tree-tops. The purport was, that, at some future day, a child should be born hereabouts, who was destined to become the greatest and noblest personage of his time, and whose countenance, in manhood, should bear an exact resemblance to the Great Stone Face. Not a few old-fashioned people, and young ones likewise, in the ardor of their hopes, still cherished an enduring faith in this old prophecy. But others, who had seen more of the world, had watched and waited till they were weary, and had beheld no man with such a face, nor any man that proved to be much greater or nobler than his neighbors, concluded it to be nothing but an idle tale. At all events, the great man of the prophecy had not yet appeared." O mother, dear mother!' cried Ernest, clapping his hands above his head, 'I do hope that I shall live to see him! His mother was an affectionate and thoughtful woman, and felt that it was wisest not to discourage the generous hopes of her little boy. So she only said to him, 'Perhaps you may.' And Ernest never forgot the story that his mother told him. It was always in his mind, whenever he looked upon the Great Stone Face. He spent his childhood in the log-cottage where he was born, and was dutiful to his mother, and helpful to her in many things, assisting her much with his little hands, and more with his loving heart. In this manner, from a happy yet often pensive child, he grew up to be a mild, quiet, unobtrusive boy, and sun-browned with labor in the fields, but with more intelligence brightening his aspect than is seen in many lads who have been taught at famous schools. Yet Ernest had had no teacher, save only that the Great Stone Face became one to him. When the toil of the day was over, he would gaze at it for hours, until he began to imagine that those vast features recognized him, and gave him a smile of kindness and encouragement, responsive to his own look of veneration. We must not take upon us to affirm that this was a mistake, although the Face may have looked no more kindly at Ernest than at all the world besides. But the secret was that the boy's tender and confiding simplicity discerned what other people could not see; and thus the love, which was meant for all, became his peculiar portion. About this time there went a rumor throughout the valley, that the great man, foretold from ages long ago, who was to bear a resemblance to the Great Stone Face, had appeared at last. It seems that, many years before, a young man had migrated from the valley and settled at a distant seaport, where, after getting together a little money, he had set up as a shopkeeper. His name but I could never learn whether it was his real one, or a nickname that had grown out of his habits and success in life--was Gathergold. Being shrewd and active, and endowed by Providence with that inscrutable faculty which develops itself in what the world calls luck, he became an exceedingly rich merchant, and owner of a whole fleet of bulky-bottomed ships. All the countries of the globe appeared to join hands for the mere purpose of adding heap after heap to the mountainous accumulation of this one man's wealth. The cold regions of the north, almost within the gloom and shadow of the Arctic Circle, sent him their tribute in the shape of furs; hot Africa sifted for him the golden sands of her rivers, and gathered up the ivory tusks of her great elephants out of the forests; the east came bringing him the rich shawls, and spices, and teas, and the effulgence of diamonds, and the gleaming purity of large pearls. The ocean, not to be behindhand with the earth, yielded up her mighty whales, that Mr. Gathergold might sell their oil, and make a profit on it. Be the original commodity what it might, it was gold within his grasp. It might be said of him, as of Midas, in the fable, that whatever he touched with his finger immediately glistened, and grew yellow, and was changed at once into sterling metal, or, which suited him still better, into piles of coin. And, when Mr. Gathergold had become so very rich that it would have taken him a hundred years only to count his wealth, he bethought himself of his native valley, and resolved to go back thither, and end his days where he was born. With this purpose in view, he sent a skilful architect to build him such a palace as should be fit for a man of his vast wealth to live in. As I have said above, it had already been rumored in the' valley that Mr. Gathergold had turned out to be the prophetic personage so long and vainly looked for, and that his visage was the perfect and undeniable similitude of the Great Stone Face. People were the more ready to believe that this must needs be the fact, when they beheld the splendid edifice that rose, as if by enchantment, on the site of his father's old weather-beaten farmhouse. The exterior was of marble, so dazzlingly white that it seemed as though the whole structure might melt away in the sunshine, like those humbler ones which Mr. Gathergold, in his young play-days, before his fingers were gifted with the touch of transmutation, had been accustomed to build of snow. It had a richly ornamented portico supported by tall pillars, beneath which was a lofty door, studded with silver knobs, and made of a kind of variegated wood that had been brought from beyond the sea. The windows, from the floor to the ceiling of each stately apartment, were composed, respectively' of but one enormous pane of glass, so transparently pure that it was said to be a finer medium than even the vacant atmosphere. Hardly anybody had been permitted to see the interior of this palace; but it was reported, and with good semblance of truth, to be far more gorgeous than the outside, insomuch that whatever was iron or brass in other houses was silver or gold in this; and Mr. Gathergold's bedchamber, especially, made such a glittering appearance that no ordinary man would have been able to close his eyes there. But, on the other hand, Mr. Gathergold was now so inured to wealth, that perhaps he could not have closed his eyes unless where the gleam of it was certain to find its way beneath his eyelids. In due time, the mansion was finished; next came the upholsterers, with magnificent furniture; then, a whole troop of black and white servants, the haringers of Mr. Gathergold, who, in his own majestic person, was expected to arrive at sunset. Our friend Ernest, meanwhile, had been deeply stirred by the idea that the great man, the noble man, the man of prophecy, after so many ages of delay, was at length to be made manifest to his native valley. He knew, boy as he was, that there were a thousand ways in which Mr. Gathergold, with his vast wealth, might transform himself into an angel of beneficence, and assume a control over human affairs as wide and benignant as the smile of the Great Stone Face. Full of faith and hope, Ernest doubted not that what the people said was true, and that now he was to behold the living likeness of those wondrous features on the mountainside. While the boy was still gazing up the valley, and fancying, as he always did, that the Great Stone Face returned his gaze and looked kindly at him, the rumbling of wheels was heard, approaching swiftly along the winding road. 'Here he comes!' cried a group of people who were assembled to witness the arrival. 'Here comes the great Mr. Gathergold!' A carriage, drawn by four horses, dashed round the turn of the road. Within it, thrust partly out of the window, appeared the physiognomy of the old man, with a skin as yellow as if his own Midas-hand had transmuted it. He had a low forehead, small, sharp eyes, puckered about with innumerable wrinkles, and very thin lips, which he made still thinner by pressing them forcibly together. The very image or the Great Stone Face!' shouted the people. 'Sure enough, the old prophecy is true; and here we have the great man come, at last!' And, what greatly perplexed Ernest, they seemed actually to believe that here was the likeness which they spoke of. By the roadside there chanced to be an old beggar woman and two little beggar-children, stragglers from some far-off region, who, as the carriage rolled onward, held out their hands and lifted up their doleful voices, most piteously beseeching charity. A yellow claw the very same that had dawed together so much wealth- poked itself out of the coach-window, and dropt some copper coins upon the ground; so that, though the great man's name seems to have been Gathergold, he might just as suitably have been nicknamed Scattercopper. Still, nevertheless, with an earnest shout, and evidently with as much good faith as ever, the people bellowed 'He is the very image of the Great Stone Face!' But Ernest turned sadly from the wrinkled shrewdness of that sordid visage, and gazed up the valley, where, amid a gathering mist, gilded by the last sunbeams, he could still distinguish those glorious features which had impressed themselves into his soul. Their aspect cheered him. What did the benign lips seem to say? 'He will come! Fear not, Ernest; the man will come! ' The years went on, and Ernest ceased to be a boy. He had grown to be a young man now. He attracted little notice from the other inhabitants of the valley; for they saw nothing remarkable in his way of life, save that, when the labor of the day was over, he still loved to go apart and gaze and meditate upon the Great Stone Face. According to their idea of the matter, it was a folly, indeed, but pardonable, inasmuch as Ernest was industrious, kind, and neighborly, and neglected no duty for the sake of indulging this idle habit. They knew not that the Great Stone Face had become a teacher to him, and that the sentiment which was expressed in it would enlarge the young man's heart, and fill it with wider and deeper sympathies than other hearts. They knew not that thence would come a better wisdom than could be learned from books, and a better life than could be moulded on the defaced example of other human lives. Neither did Ernest know that the thoughts and affections which came to him so naturally, in the fields and at the fireside, and wherever he communed with himself, were of a higher tone than those which all men shared with him. A simple soul -- simple as when his mother first taught him the old prophecy--he beheld the marvellous features beaming adown the valley, and still wondered that their human counterpart was so long in making his appearance. By this time poor Mr. Gathergold was dead and buried; and the oddest part of the matter was, that his wealth, which was the body and spirit of his existence, had disappeared before his death, leaving nothing of him but a living skeleton, covered over with a wrinkled, yellow skin. Since the melting away of his gold, it had been very generally conceded that there was no such striking resemblance, after all, betwixt the ignoble features of the ruined merchant and that majestic face upon the mountainside. So the people ceased to honor him during his lifetime, and quietly consigned him to forgetfulness after his decease. Once in a while, it is true, his memory was brought up in connection with the magnificent palace which he had built, and which had long ago been turned into a hotel for the accommodation of strangers, multitudes of whom came, every summer, to visit that famous natural curiosity, the Great Stone Face. Thus, Mr. Gathergold being discredited and thrown into the shade, the man of prophecy was yet to come. It so happened that a native-born son of the valley, many years before, had enlisted as a soldier, and, after a great deal of hard fighting, had now become an illustrious commander. Whatever he may be called in history, he was known in camps and on the battlefield under the nickname of Old Blood-and-Thunder. This war-worn veteran, being now infirm with age and wounds, and weary of the turmoil of a military life, and of the roll of the drum and the clangor of the trumpet, that had so long been ringing in his ears, had lately signified a purpose of returning to his native valley, hoping to find repose where he remembered to have left it. The inhabitants, his old neighbors and their grown-up children, were resolved to welcome the renowned warrior with a salute of cannon and a public dinner; and all the more enthusiastically, it being affirmed that now, at last, the likeness of the Great Stone Face had actually appeared. An aid-de-camp of Old Blood-and-Thunder, travelling through the valley, was said to have been struck with the resemblance. Moreover the schoolmates and early acquaintances of the general were ready to testify, on oath, that, to the best of their recollection, the aforesaid general had been exceedingly like the majestic image, even when a boy, only that the idea had never occurred to them at that period. Great, therefore, was the excitement throughout the valley; and many people, who had never once thought of glancing at the Great Stone Face for years before, now spent their time in gazing at it, for the sake of knowing exactly how General Blood-and-Thunder looked. On the day of the great festival, Ernest, with all the other people of the valley, left their work, and proceeded to the spot where the sylvan banquet was prepared. As he approached, the loud voice of the Rev. Dr. Battleblast was heard, beseeching a blessing on the good things set before them, and on the distinguished friend of peace in whose honor they were assembled. The tables were arranged in a cleared space of the woods, shut in by the surrounding trees, except where a vista opened eastward, and afforded a distant view of the Great Stone Face. Over the general's chair, which was a relic from the home of Washington, there was an arch of verdant boughs, with the laurel profusely intermixed, and surmounted by his country's banner, beneath which he had won his victories. Our friend Ernest raised himself on his tiptoes, in hopes to get a glimpse of the celebrated guest; but there was a mighty crowd about the tables anxious to hear the toasts and speeches, and to catch any word that might fall from the general in reply; and a volunteer company, doing duty as a guard, pricked ruthlessly with their bayonets at any particularly quiet person among the throng. So Ernest, being of an unobtrusive character, was thrust quite into the background, where he could see no more of Old Blood-and-Thunder's physiognomy than if it had been still blazing on the battlefield. To console himself, he turned towards the Great Stone Face, which, like a faithful and long-remembered friend, looked back and smiled upon him through the vista of the forest. Meantime, however, he could overhear the remarks of various individuals, who were comparing the features of the hero with the face on the distant mountainside. "T is the same face, to a hair!' cried one man, cutting a caper for joy. 'Wonderfully like, that's a fact!' responded another. 'Like! why, I call it Old Blood-and-Thunder himself, in a monstrous looking-glass!' cried a third. 'And why not? He's the greatest man of this or any other age, beyond a doubt.' And then all three of the speakers gave a great shout, which communicated electricity to the crowd, and called forth a roar from a thousand voices, that went reverberating for miles among the mountains, until you might have supposed that the Great Stone Face had poured its thunder-breath into the cry. All these comments, and this vast enthusiasm, served the more to interest our friend; nor did he think of questioning that now, at length, the mountain-visage had found its human counterpart. It is true, Ernest had imagined that this long-looked-for personage would appear in the character of a man of peace, uttering wisdom, and doing good, and making people happy. But, taking an habitual breadth of view, with all his simplicity, he contended that providence should choose its own method of blessing mankind, and could conceive that this great end might be effected even by a warrior and a bloody sword, should inscrutable wisdom see fit to order matters SO. ' The general! the general!' was now the cry. ' Hush! silence! Old Blood-and-Thunder's going to make a speech.' Even so; for, the cloth being removed, the general's health had been drunk, amid shouts of applause, and he now stood upon his feet to thank the company. Ernest saw him. There he was, over the shoulders of the crowd, from the two glittering epaulets and embroidered collar upward, beneath the arch of green boughs with intertwined laurel, and the banner drooping as if to shade his brow! And there, too, visible in the same glance, through the vista of the forest, appeared the Great Stone Face! And was there, indeed, such a resemblance as the crowd had testified? Alas, Ernest could not recognize it! He beheld a war-worn and weather-beaten countenance, full of energy, and expressive of an iron will; but the gentle wisdom, the deep, broad, tender sympathies, were altogether wanting in Old Blood-and-Thunder's visage; and even if the Great Stone Face had assumed his look of stern command, the milder traits would still have tempered it. ' This is not the man of prophecy,' sighed Ernest to himself, as he made his way out of the throng. 'And must the world wait longer yet?' The mists had congregated about the distant mountainside, and there were seen the grand and awful features of the Great Stone Face, awful but benignant, as if a mighty angel were sitting among the hills, and enrobing himself in a cloud-vesture of gold and purple. As he looked, Ernest could hardly believe but that a smile beamed over the whole visage, with a radiance still brightening, although without motion of the lips. It was probably the effect of the western sunshine, melting through the thinly diffused vapors that had swept between him and the object that he gazed at. But- as it always did- the aspect of his marvellous friend made Ernest as hopeful as if he had never hoped in vain. 'Fear not, Ernest,' said his heart, even as if the Great Face were whispering him- 'fear not, Ernest; he will come.' More years sped swiftly and tranquilly away. Ernest still dwelt in his native valley, and was now a man of middle age. By imperceptible degrees, he had become known among the people. Now, as heretofore, he labored for his bread, and was the same simple-hearted man that he had always been. But he had thought and felt so much, he had given so many of the best hours of his life to unworldly hopes for some great good to mankind, that it seemed as though he had been talking with the angels, and had imbibed a portion of their wisdom unawares. It was visible in the calm and well-considered beneficence of his daily life, the quiet stream of which had made a wide green margin all along its course. Not a day passed by, that the world was not the better because this man, humble as he was, had lived. He never stepped aside from his own path, yet would always reach a blessing to his neighbor. Almost involuntarily, too, he had become a preacher. The pure and high simplicity of his thought, which, as one of its manifestations, took shape in the good deeds that dropped silently from his hand, flowed also forth in speech. He uttered truths that wrought upon and moulded the lives of those who heard him. His auditors, it may be, never suspected that Ernest, their own neighbor and familiar friend, was more than an ordinary man; least of all did Ernest himself suspect it; but, inevitably as the murmur of a rivulet, came thoughts out of his mouth that no other human lips had spoken. When the people's minds had had a little time to cool, they were ready enough to acknowledge their mistake in imagining a similarity between General Blood-and-Thunder's truculent physiognomy and the benign visage on the mountain-side. But now, again, there were reports and many paragraphs in the newspapers, affirming that the likeness of the Great Stone Face had appeared upon the broad shoulders of a certain eminent statesman. He, like Mr. Gathergold and old Blood-and-Thunder, was a native of the valley, but had left it in his early days, and taken up the trades of law and politics. Instead of the rich man's wealth and the warrior's sword, he had but a tongue, and it was mightier than both together. So wonderfully eloquent was he, that whatever he might choose to say, his auditors had no choice but to believe him; wrong looked like right, and right like wrong; for when it pleased him, he could make a kind of illuminated fog with his mere breath, and obscure the natural daylight with it. His tongue, indeed, was a magic instrument: sometimes it rumbled like the thunder; sometimes it warbled like the sweetest music. It was the blast of war -- the song of peace; and it seemed to have a heart in it, when there was no such matter. In good truth, he was a wondrous man; and when his tongue had acquired him all other imaginable success- when it had been heard in halls of state, and in the courts of princes and potentates--after it had made him known all over the world, even as a voice crying from shore to shore--it finally persuaded his countrymen to select him for the Presidency. Before this time- indeed, as soon as he began to grow celebrated--his admirers had found out the resemblance between him and the Great Stone Face; and so much were they struck by it, that throughout the country this distinguished gentleman was known by the name of Old Stony Phiz. The phrase was considered as giving a highly favorable aspect to his political prospects; for, as is likewise the case with the Popedom, nobody ever becomes President without taking a name other than his own.
christianstoriesonline.com
Monday, July 14, 2008
Using the Internet to Build Christian Community
by Dr. Ralph F. Wilson
Appears in Worship Leader, Fall 2000Churches and religious organizations have been experimenting with the Internet since the mid-1990s. But adoption has been slow; only a small fraction of churches have their own website. This should change gradually as organizations like the American Bible Society's ForMinistry.com (http://www.forministry.com) and Christianity.com (http://christianity.com) offer free wizard-driven starter websites that can be updated easily with only a web browser.Websites are important because they provide information, but they don't build "community." Community requires interaction and relationships, and those can hardly be built with the one-way medium of a webpage.Types of InteractionFortunately, there are several interactive tools that Christians can use to build communities. Each has its own strengths and weaknesses.Chat RoomsChat Rooms are immensely popular with Gen-Xers and Gen-Yers. Andrew Careaga, author of E-vangelism: Sharing the Gospel in Cyberspace, observes that, "The chat room environment is a kind of hang-out for people, especially for teenagers. It's their version of a malt shop."Chat rooms allow many people to interact with each other in real time. One of the most popular among Christians is The Christian Chat Network (http://www.cchat.net). Part of the fascination is the amazing variety of people you encounter in chat rooms. You'll find some regulars, but most dip in for a few minutes to see what kind of conversation may be going on, and then drop out to find another chat room. Users commonly give aliases rather than their real names. In a recent visit I saw "handles" such as Sword, SillySally, Romeo, Rent-a-Cop, and Sunflower.Conversations can seem pretty disjointed, too, since there's a lag time of 30 seconds or so between a question the time it takes the other person to type out an answer and send it to the chat room. If two or three conversations are going on at once, it can look pretty scattered. The Christian Chat Network has 129 "rooms" where people can go to discuss various topics, such as the Lobby, Abuse Outreach, and Bible Q&A. While most conversations seem pretty inane, you sometimes find people that are dealing with real issues and looking for help. For them, chat can be an introduction to the Christian gospel.Instant MessagingA second kind of real-time chat tool is called instant messaging. Typically, you'll give out your username (with AOL Instant Messenger, http://aol.com/aim/) or ICQ number (http://icq.com) to an online friend, and then you can type instantly-relayed messages back and forth anytime both of your are online at the same time. ICQ even makes a sound when one of your friends logs onto the Internet. Many teenagers have a long list of friends on their buddy list and spend hours online chatting back and forth.While instant messaging is primarily a one-on-one communication device, I can see youth pastors using it to check in with people in their group in the evenings. It is possible, though not too common, to hook up three or more people in a kind of private chat room. On the other hand, when you give your name or number to many people, you don't get too much work done. I've restricted sharing my ICQ number with a very small circle -- just to survive.Web BoardA third community building tool is the Web board or forum, which is similar to BBS systems of a decade ago. These bulletin boards are arranged into topics by the moderator. Under each of these topics are the various "threads" of conversation that members have started. One person may pose a question or make a statement. Others will reply to the same thread, agreeing or disagreeing, or adding a different perspective. Over time, the more popular threads can contain 20 or more messages, and reading the whole thread can teach you a lot -- at least what the participants know and think about a topic.CrossWalk.com (http://crosswalk.com), a popular Christian portal site, has hundreds of such forums. Their Family Life section, for example, includes forums on marriage, family, parenting, the marriage covenant, and support for family life workers in churches.Because they can separate out threads of conversation, Web boards are the most organized of the various community-building tools. They retain previous messages indefinitely -- or until the moderator moves the thread into the archives or deletes it. While chat and instant messaging take place in real-time (the technical word is synchronous), Web boards can be read or added to at any time, no matter what time zone you are in (called asynchronous).Web boards are the ideal tool to conduct an ongoing discussion of a topic where it is important for newcomers to be able to see how the ideas developed. Businesses commonly use them for product or technical support, since often a reader will find his question answered on the Web board, and then have no need to contact a real person by e-mail or phone.E-Mail DiscussionThe final interactive community building tool is e-mail discussion. In contrast to chat rooms, instant messaging, and Web boards, these discussions take place entirely via e-mail. They are empowered by software called a listserver that is hosted by an Internet Service Provider. Members join by "subscribing" their e-mail address to the "list." Then when any member of the list sends a message to the list, it is immediately "echoed" to all the members of the list within a few minutes. If there are 50 members, that message is sent to all 50 members. As you can imagine, if there's an active discussion, members can receive a lot of e-mail. So members may choose to receive the "digest" version, an accumulation of the day's messages sent out at the end of the day. It's a large e-mail, granted, but at least it doesn't overwhelm your mailbox.You can imagine the potential for a disgruntled member or someone with a doctrinal position to promote to wreak havoc in a such a group. For that reason some groups require messages to be "moderated" prior to distribution to the larger group. It slows down the communication a bit, and keeps the moderator on her toes, but inappropriate messages can be filtered out that way.E-mail discussion groups are immensely popular. When I browsed eGroups (http://egroups.com) for "Christianity," I found 7,797 different groups, with all sorts of different emphases: apologetics, arts, Christianity for seekers, denominations, education, pastoral resources, etc. E-mail discussion groups don't require much from members. Once you've subscribed, you don't have to fire up your Web browser. The discussion comes to your e-mail box automatically. All you have to do is read; often only 10% or less contribute on a regular basis.There's a tendency, however, for e-mail discussion groups to degenerate to chatty talk about every imaginable topic or problem. So to keep them on focus they need a clear statement of purpose, and an active moderator who, while she may not screen messages, keeps the group on track by framing important questions and communicating with members who are getting off-track with public or private e-mails. There's seldom a need to remove an errant member, but it is possible and occasionally necessary for the good of the group.Interactive Bible StudiesWhen I first began exploring the Internet in January 1995, I was fascinated by the potential of this medium for communicating the gospel. I joined a number of discussion groups and could see how effective they could be for learning. I also saw how members of an e-mail discussion group began to get to know each other through their postings, and begin to trust each other. Gradually, people would begin to share some of the real issues they were struggling with.In the fall of 1996 I set up Joyful Heart Ministries (http://joyfulheart.com) as a vehicle to explore conducting effective Bible studies via the Internet. For some time I had been collecting e-mail subscriptions to my free newsletter, The Joyful Heart, so when the time came to begin the first Bible study, I had a number of individuals to invite.My first attempt was with a chat-room format, but I found that the problem of time-zones, the limited amount of time available, and the necessity for fast typing limited this as a serious Bible study medium.Since then I've moved to e-mail discussion, and found it a very effective platform to teach the Word. I taught a number of inductive Bible studies, sharing questions over the weekend, and then sending out a couple of questions to be discussed each day, Monday through Friday. On Saturday I would wrap it up with an exposition of the passage. Currently I am conducting a two-and-a-half year JesusWalk study through the Gospel of Luke (http://jesuswalk.com) with the purpose of training disciples. The process of meditating all week long on one of Jesus' teachings, ministry, attitudes, or words is designed to change lives to conform to the Master. This study is more deductive, with an exposition sent with questions at the beginning of each week. Members can choose be a part of an e-mail discussion group (we've had as many as 14, but currently are at 6), each with an active moderator. Of the 2,650 members of JesusWalk, about a thousand are involved in one of our discussion groups. A significant number of participants have indicated "profound" spiritual growth through this type of ministry.In addition to providing a powerful teaching channel, people in discussion groups bond early with one another, and encourage one another both publicly and privately in prayer support. Many members value their discussion group as a real spiritual family.Resources for InteractionChurches and ministry organizations can add community-building tools rather easily and inexpensively to a website by linking to tools hosted by service providers. Since they are advertising supported, many are made available at no cost. Two companies stand out as tool providers.eGroups (http://egroups.com), recently acquired by Yahoo!, provides a powerful listserver that enables easy formation of online communities as e-mail discussion groups. The listserver can be configured to be a one-way e-mail newsletter or a many-way e-mail discussion list, either moderated or unmoderated, with options for single e-mails, receiving a digest, or even viewing the messages only online. The group owner can designate several moderators, each with authority for a limited number of functions. Each group also has its own private chat room. For $4.95 per month the group can receive e-mails with no advertisements appended to them. Another similar option is Topica (http://topica.com). Ministries that want to bring all these functions in-house ought to consider the excellent but expensive Lyris list manager software (http://www.lyris.com). While the Majordomo listserver is widely available as freeware, it is much more difficult to configure and maintain for a large group.Everyone.net (http://everyone.net) offers "Plug-in Community" at no cost, providing a sophisticated Web board and chat room. The Web board can be configured with the church or ministry's logo and color scheme, and various sections can be designated by the owner. Each section can be moderated by a different person if you like, and message posters can either remain anonymous or be required to identify themselves (to the moderator, at least) by registering. Ministries that want to bring the Web board function in-house can opt for the $199 Ultimate Bulletin Board (http://ultimatebb.com), which can be configured to fit into any site design.These four tools -- chat, instant messaging, Web boards, and e-mail discussion -- can be used to strengthen existing Christian communities, especially in situations where most members have access to the Internet. But they can also open up new ministry opportunities to build ministering communities among a much larger population nationally and internationally.
Appears in Worship Leader, Fall 2000Churches and religious organizations have been experimenting with the Internet since the mid-1990s. But adoption has been slow; only a small fraction of churches have their own website. This should change gradually as organizations like the American Bible Society's ForMinistry.com (http://www.forministry.com) and Christianity.com (http://christianity.com) offer free wizard-driven starter websites that can be updated easily with only a web browser.Websites are important because they provide information, but they don't build "community." Community requires interaction and relationships, and those can hardly be built with the one-way medium of a webpage.Types of InteractionFortunately, there are several interactive tools that Christians can use to build communities. Each has its own strengths and weaknesses.Chat RoomsChat Rooms are immensely popular with Gen-Xers and Gen-Yers. Andrew Careaga, author of E-vangelism: Sharing the Gospel in Cyberspace, observes that, "The chat room environment is a kind of hang-out for people, especially for teenagers. It's their version of a malt shop."Chat rooms allow many people to interact with each other in real time. One of the most popular among Christians is The Christian Chat Network (http://www.cchat.net). Part of the fascination is the amazing variety of people you encounter in chat rooms. You'll find some regulars, but most dip in for a few minutes to see what kind of conversation may be going on, and then drop out to find another chat room. Users commonly give aliases rather than their real names. In a recent visit I saw "handles" such as Sword, SillySally, Romeo, Rent-a-Cop, and Sunflower.Conversations can seem pretty disjointed, too, since there's a lag time of 30 seconds or so between a question the time it takes the other person to type out an answer and send it to the chat room. If two or three conversations are going on at once, it can look pretty scattered. The Christian Chat Network has 129 "rooms" where people can go to discuss various topics, such as the Lobby, Abuse Outreach, and Bible Q&A. While most conversations seem pretty inane, you sometimes find people that are dealing with real issues and looking for help. For them, chat can be an introduction to the Christian gospel.Instant MessagingA second kind of real-time chat tool is called instant messaging. Typically, you'll give out your username (with AOL Instant Messenger, http://aol.com/aim/) or ICQ number (http://icq.com) to an online friend, and then you can type instantly-relayed messages back and forth anytime both of your are online at the same time. ICQ even makes a sound when one of your friends logs onto the Internet. Many teenagers have a long list of friends on their buddy list and spend hours online chatting back and forth.While instant messaging is primarily a one-on-one communication device, I can see youth pastors using it to check in with people in their group in the evenings. It is possible, though not too common, to hook up three or more people in a kind of private chat room. On the other hand, when you give your name or number to many people, you don't get too much work done. I've restricted sharing my ICQ number with a very small circle -- just to survive.Web BoardA third community building tool is the Web board or forum, which is similar to BBS systems of a decade ago. These bulletin boards are arranged into topics by the moderator. Under each of these topics are the various "threads" of conversation that members have started. One person may pose a question or make a statement. Others will reply to the same thread, agreeing or disagreeing, or adding a different perspective. Over time, the more popular threads can contain 20 or more messages, and reading the whole thread can teach you a lot -- at least what the participants know and think about a topic.CrossWalk.com (http://crosswalk.com), a popular Christian portal site, has hundreds of such forums. Their Family Life section, for example, includes forums on marriage, family, parenting, the marriage covenant, and support for family life workers in churches.Because they can separate out threads of conversation, Web boards are the most organized of the various community-building tools. They retain previous messages indefinitely -- or until the moderator moves the thread into the archives or deletes it. While chat and instant messaging take place in real-time (the technical word is synchronous), Web boards can be read or added to at any time, no matter what time zone you are in (called asynchronous).Web boards are the ideal tool to conduct an ongoing discussion of a topic where it is important for newcomers to be able to see how the ideas developed. Businesses commonly use them for product or technical support, since often a reader will find his question answered on the Web board, and then have no need to contact a real person by e-mail or phone.E-Mail DiscussionThe final interactive community building tool is e-mail discussion. In contrast to chat rooms, instant messaging, and Web boards, these discussions take place entirely via e-mail. They are empowered by software called a listserver that is hosted by an Internet Service Provider. Members join by "subscribing" their e-mail address to the "list." Then when any member of the list sends a message to the list, it is immediately "echoed" to all the members of the list within a few minutes. If there are 50 members, that message is sent to all 50 members. As you can imagine, if there's an active discussion, members can receive a lot of e-mail. So members may choose to receive the "digest" version, an accumulation of the day's messages sent out at the end of the day. It's a large e-mail, granted, but at least it doesn't overwhelm your mailbox.You can imagine the potential for a disgruntled member or someone with a doctrinal position to promote to wreak havoc in a such a group. For that reason some groups require messages to be "moderated" prior to distribution to the larger group. It slows down the communication a bit, and keeps the moderator on her toes, but inappropriate messages can be filtered out that way.E-mail discussion groups are immensely popular. When I browsed eGroups (http://egroups.com) for "Christianity," I found 7,797 different groups, with all sorts of different emphases: apologetics, arts, Christianity for seekers, denominations, education, pastoral resources, etc. E-mail discussion groups don't require much from members. Once you've subscribed, you don't have to fire up your Web browser. The discussion comes to your e-mail box automatically. All you have to do is read; often only 10% or less contribute on a regular basis.There's a tendency, however, for e-mail discussion groups to degenerate to chatty talk about every imaginable topic or problem. So to keep them on focus they need a clear statement of purpose, and an active moderator who, while she may not screen messages, keeps the group on track by framing important questions and communicating with members who are getting off-track with public or private e-mails. There's seldom a need to remove an errant member, but it is possible and occasionally necessary for the good of the group.Interactive Bible StudiesWhen I first began exploring the Internet in January 1995, I was fascinated by the potential of this medium for communicating the gospel. I joined a number of discussion groups and could see how effective they could be for learning. I also saw how members of an e-mail discussion group began to get to know each other through their postings, and begin to trust each other. Gradually, people would begin to share some of the real issues they were struggling with.In the fall of 1996 I set up Joyful Heart Ministries (http://joyfulheart.com) as a vehicle to explore conducting effective Bible studies via the Internet. For some time I had been collecting e-mail subscriptions to my free newsletter, The Joyful Heart, so when the time came to begin the first Bible study, I had a number of individuals to invite.My first attempt was with a chat-room format, but I found that the problem of time-zones, the limited amount of time available, and the necessity for fast typing limited this as a serious Bible study medium.Since then I've moved to e-mail discussion, and found it a very effective platform to teach the Word. I taught a number of inductive Bible studies, sharing questions over the weekend, and then sending out a couple of questions to be discussed each day, Monday through Friday. On Saturday I would wrap it up with an exposition of the passage. Currently I am conducting a two-and-a-half year JesusWalk study through the Gospel of Luke (http://jesuswalk.com) with the purpose of training disciples. The process of meditating all week long on one of Jesus' teachings, ministry, attitudes, or words is designed to change lives to conform to the Master. This study is more deductive, with an exposition sent with questions at the beginning of each week. Members can choose be a part of an e-mail discussion group (we've had as many as 14, but currently are at 6), each with an active moderator. Of the 2,650 members of JesusWalk, about a thousand are involved in one of our discussion groups. A significant number of participants have indicated "profound" spiritual growth through this type of ministry.In addition to providing a powerful teaching channel, people in discussion groups bond early with one another, and encourage one another both publicly and privately in prayer support. Many members value their discussion group as a real spiritual family.Resources for InteractionChurches and ministry organizations can add community-building tools rather easily and inexpensively to a website by linking to tools hosted by service providers. Since they are advertising supported, many are made available at no cost. Two companies stand out as tool providers.eGroups (http://egroups.com), recently acquired by Yahoo!, provides a powerful listserver that enables easy formation of online communities as e-mail discussion groups. The listserver can be configured to be a one-way e-mail newsletter or a many-way e-mail discussion list, either moderated or unmoderated, with options for single e-mails, receiving a digest, or even viewing the messages only online. The group owner can designate several moderators, each with authority for a limited number of functions. Each group also has its own private chat room. For $4.95 per month the group can receive e-mails with no advertisements appended to them. Another similar option is Topica (http://topica.com). Ministries that want to bring all these functions in-house ought to consider the excellent but expensive Lyris list manager software (http://www.lyris.com). While the Majordomo listserver is widely available as freeware, it is much more difficult to configure and maintain for a large group.Everyone.net (http://everyone.net) offers "Plug-in Community" at no cost, providing a sophisticated Web board and chat room. The Web board can be configured with the church or ministry's logo and color scheme, and various sections can be designated by the owner. Each section can be moderated by a different person if you like, and message posters can either remain anonymous or be required to identify themselves (to the moderator, at least) by registering. Ministries that want to bring the Web board function in-house can opt for the $199 Ultimate Bulletin Board (http://ultimatebb.com), which can be configured to fit into any site design.These four tools -- chat, instant messaging, Web boards, and e-mail discussion -- can be used to strengthen existing Christian communities, especially in situations where most members have access to the Internet. But they can also open up new ministry opportunities to build ministering communities among a much larger population nationally and internationally.
Four Reasons Why I Believe in the Trinity
by Dr. Ralph F. Wilson
What is God like? You can make up your own god, a god that fits all your preconceptions. Or you can study what God reveals about himself, and from that data seek to understand more about him.I'm convinced from studying the Bible since childhood that you can't understand God, especially in the New Testament, unless you properly discern the relationship of God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit. We've got to deal with this, and simplistic answers won't do. Fortunately, God doesn't follow our logic; we must be humble enough to follow his. I'm convinced that the New Testament teaches the trinitarian nature of God -- an essential unity of God, who is made up of three distinct Persons.I'm going to explain why I believe this as simply as I can, but don't let my simplicity shroud the fact that this is a very complex subject. Many, many volumes have been written about it. It is complex, make no mistake. And frankly, I feel like a toddler trying to wade in the ocean, so I'm dependent upon what the Bible reveals for a hand to hold onto as I explore God.Now you'll hear detractors say things like: "The word 'trinity' doesn't appear anywhere in the Bible." And that's right, it doesn't. More on that in a moment. People also say things like "three can't be one," and they're right -- if we were talking about simple mathematics. What we are talking about, however, is a complex relationship, not a simple equation. So I propose we gather our understanding from the Bible itself, not from a detractor's caricature or misunderstanding.This is not a question of whether you or I can wrap our minds around the concept of the trinity. Electrons make lights turn on without a toddler understanding any more than how to flip a light switch. Right now passing by your head are dozens of radio and TV signals if you just had an internal tuner to sort them out and tune them in. Just because you can't hear them, doesn't mean they aren't there. The question is simply: What does the Bible teach about the relationship between the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit?A DefinitionFirst, let me define what we mean by "trinity."
The trinity refers to "the unity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as three persons."[1]
The word "trinity," of course, is formed from the words "tri-" and "unity," and describes "the state of being threefold." In other words, to believe in the trinity means to believe that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are essentially one God, even while they retain their own set of differences. (Feel the fog beginning to blow around your legs....?)John Calvin put it this way: "That Father and Son and Spirit are one God, yet the Son is not the Father, nor the Spirit the Son, but that they are differentiated by a particular quality."[2]
Theologians discuss complex concepts such as "one substance" (Greek homoousios) to make important distinctions. But I'm going to leave that aside.I believe in the trinity for four good reasons -- Bible reasons. Please consider them with me.1. Because of the trinitarian statements in the NTOne of the main reasons I believe in the trinity is the several clear statements in the Bible that seem to put the Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit together on the same level.[3]
"Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit...." (Matthew 28:19)"May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all." (2 Corinthians 13:14)"... Chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by his blood...." (1 Peter 1:2)Of course, there are many places where the Father and the Son appear without the Holy Spirit mentioned, and the Son with the Spirit, etc. But I think these three passages are undeniably distinctive, especially Matthew 28:19. At this point, of course, the word "trinity" hadn't been thought of, but the concept certainly seems to be present in the New Testament. That's unmistakable.2. Because the NT teaches monotheism AND that Jesus is divineThe second main reason I believe in the trinity is that clearly the New Testament teaches both monotheism AND that Jesus is divine.MonotheismMonotheism is the belief, pioneered by Judaism and affirmed by Christianity, that there is but one God. You see it often in the Old and New Testaments (for example: Mark 12:29; Deuteronomy 6:4. :Acts 17:22-31; 1 Corinthians 8:4-6).The Divinity of JesusBut at the same time, the New Testament is quite clear: Jesus is divine, that is, he shares God's nature. Jesus' "beloved disciple" the Apostle John puts it this way:"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made." (John 1:1-3)[4]
The Apostle Paul is equally clear about Jesus' divinity."[Christ Jesus], being in very nature God,did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing,taking the very nature of a servant,being made in human likeness." (Philippians 2:6-7)Here is another description of Jesus' position:"He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him...." (Colossians 1:15-19)Unity with the FatherI could go on and on. The New Testament asserts Jesus' divinity again and again in numerous ways beyond the scope of this article. Jesus himself affirms his unity with the Father in ways that might be considered blasphemous -- unless they were actually true."I and the Father are one." "Again the Jews picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus said to them, 'I have shown you many great miracles from the Father. For which of these do you stone me?' " 'We are not stoning you for any of these,' replied the Jews, 'but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God.' " (John 10:30-33)" 'I tell you the truth,' Jesus answered, 'before Abraham was born, I am!' At this, they picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus hid himself, slipping away from the temple grounds." (John 8:58-59)" 'But what about you?' he asked. 'Who do you say I am?' "Simon Peter answered, 'You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.'"Jesus replied, 'Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven.' " (Matthew 16:15-17)In Jesus' presence, doubting Thomas calls him, "My Lord and my God!" (John 20:28) Jesus doesn't rebuke him or correct him, but comments on Thomas's faith.At his trial, Jesus is questioned directly:"The high priest asked him, 'Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?'" 'I am,' said Jesus. 'And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.' " (Mark 14:61-62)I've spent some time on this because some groups today either deny monotheism, or deny that Jesus was divine in any unique sense. I'm not trying to divide, but bring clarity. A belief in the divinity of Jesus and monotheism are the bedrock of true Christianity. But it is wise to be aware that a contrary view is very much alive in our day:The Jesus Seminar members assume that Jesus "couldn't have said" such things about himself, therefore the disciples must have made these things up.Mormonism seems to be monotheistic until you realize that every good Mormon male aspires to be a god to another planet, and that the founders of Mormonism saw God the Father only as the God of planet Earth, not of the universe, since he was appointed to be the God of the Earth by the council of the gods.[5]
This is not actual monotheism but a kind of polytheism.Jehovah's Witnesses see Jesus as a divine being, but not in any unique sense as sharing the Father's nature. They translate John 1:1 "... and the Word was God" as "... and the word was a god."[6]
Unitarians reject the deity of Christ.To summarize, I think it is pretty clear throughout the whole Bible that there is only one God, but at the same time the New Testament affirms again and again that Jesus is divine. Somehow you have to explain this apparent paradox. Either Jesus is God or he is only godlike. You have to face it; you can't just ignore it.3. Because Jesus and the Father are different personsThe third Bible reason I believe in the trinity is that the New Testament indicates many times and in many ways that Jesus and the Father are different and distinct persons.The Father and the SonThe reason we talk about the Father and the Son is not because some theologian made it up, but because that is the way Jesus himself explained the relationship between himself and God. For example:"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16)"All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him." (Matthew 11:27)"I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does.... He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent him." (John 5:19, 23)"Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you.... And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began." (John 17:1, 5)I could go on, but the Bible -- especially John's Gospel -- is very clear. Jesus also asserts an essential unity between him and his Father:"I and the Father are one." (John 10:30)"Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father'? Don't you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me...." (John 14:9-11)Jesus Is Distinct from the FatherIt is important, though, to recognize that the Son, Jesus, is a distinct person from God the Father. Why do I say that?Jesus prays to the Father. (John 17). This wouldn't make any sense if Jesus and the Father were the same person or entity. Jesus is not talking to himself when he prays to the Father. That is a foolish notion. But I make the point because one branch of the Pentecostal movement is not trinitarian. They believe that the term "Father" designates Christ's deity, while "Son" designates either his humanity or his deity as manifested in the flesh. Thus they believe that while the Father is not the Son, they hold that Jesus is both the Father and the Son.[7]
Submission to the FatherYou can also see in the New Testament that the Father (often designated in the Bible as "God" without the word Father), is the leader, with Jesus and the Holy Spirit voluntarily subservient to him. They seem to be "equal" in terms of divinity, but not in terms of role. The Father is the leader, much like in a human family of Jesus' day the father was typically the leader. No doubt that is why Jesus described the relationship as Father - Son. Paul includes a fascinating passage that explains more about this relationship:"Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. For he 'has put everything under his feet.' Now when it says that 'everything' has been put under him, it is clear that this does not include God himself, who put everything under Christ. When he has done this, then the Son himself will be made subject to him who put everything under him, so that God may be all in all." (1 Corinthians 15:24-28)I think it is important to recognize that New Testament presents the Father and Son as separate persons, differentiated from one another in function, and interacting with each other as separate persons do.A too-simple explanation of the trinity is in terms of modes or manifestations, that the one God manifests himself as Father, as Son, and as the Holy Spirit, just as water manifests itself as ice, liquid water, and vapor. But these are more than manifestations of a single person, otherwise prayer and submission would be meaningless. The Bible requires us to see the Father and Jesus as one God but also as distinct persons.4. Because the Holy Spirit is both divine and has personal attributesThe fourth biblical reason that I believe in the trinity is because the Holy Spirit is referred to in personal terms in the Bible, indicating that he, too, is a distinct person, different from either the Father and the Son.I must concede at the outset that we don't have nearly as much data about the interaction between the Spirit and the other persons of the trinity as we do about the relationship between Jesus and the Father. And sometimes the biblical data about the Holy Spirit seems ambiguous -- at least for the purposes of trying to form a consistent explanation.The Holy Spirit Is Spoken of as God"Then Peter said, 'Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? Didn't it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn't the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied to men but to God.' " (Acts 5:3-4)The Spirit Performs Divine FunctionsThe Holy Spirit also performs divine functions, such as judging (John 16:8-11), pouring out the love of God (Romans 5:5), giving joy (Romans 14:17), hope (Romans 8:17-25), peace (Romans 8:6), regeneration (John 3:5), and faith (2 Corinthians 12:9). The Holy Spirit can also be blasphemed (Mark 3:29 and Luke 12:10), which in the New Testament is usually an act of verbally injuring someone divine.[8]
The Spirit Performs Functions We Ascribe to PersonsBut here is the solid biblical evidence that points to the Holy Spirit as a distinct person in his own right and performs functions we attribute to personhood. He appoints missionaries (Acts 13:2; 20:28), he leads and directs them in their ministry (Acts 8:29; 10:19-20; 16:6-7; 1 Corinthians 2:13), he speaks through the prophets (Acts 1:16; 1 Peter 1:11-12; 2 Peter 1:21), he corrects (John 16:8), comforts (Acts 9:31), helps us in our infirmities (Romans 8:26), teaches (John 14:26; 1 Corinthians 12:3), guides (John 16:13), sanctifies (Romans 15:16; 1 Corinthians 6:11), testifies of Christ (John 15:26), glorifies Christ (John 16:14), has a power of his own (Romans 15:13), searches all things (Romans 11:33-34; 1 Corinthians 2:10-11), works according to his own will (1 Corinthians 12:11), dwells with saints (John 14:17), can be grieved (Ephesians 4:30), can be resisted (Acts 7:51), and can be tempted (Acts 5:9).In many languages, including Greek, words have masculine, feminine, or neuter genders which have no real counterpart in English.[9]
While the Spirit is often referred to by a neuter Greek pronoun, since the pneuma has a neuter tense in Greek (such as John 14:17, 26; 15:26), on several occasions the masculine pronoun is used, seemingly to emphasize the Spirit's personhood."But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom (neuter pronoun) the Father will send in my name, he (masculine pronoun) will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you" (John 15:16, RSV).We see similar language in John 15:26, and especially John 16:13: "When the Spirit of truth comes, he (masculine pronoun) will guide you into all truth." C.K. Barrett observes, "The Spirit is thought of in personal terms."[10]
I make a point of the Holy Spirit's divinity and personal nature because some groups specifically deny that the Holy Spirit is a divine being. The Jehovah's Witness New World Translation, for example, sometimes even omits the word "Spirit" and substitutes the phrase "God's active force" in its place (hardly a faithful translation!), a phrase that strips away any sense of personhood.[11]
Conclusion: There is much, much more that could be said about the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. But I have tried to keep my points simple. Even though the New Testament doesn't use the word "trinity," it is clear to me, as I have demonstrated above, that an honest reading of the New Testament must conclude that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are spoken of as both divine beings, and distinct from one another -- and that the New Testament affirms monotheism, the essential oneness and unity of God.While some later statements of the trinity go beyond what is taught in the New Testament, I believe that the New Testament clearly teaches the central concepts of the trinity: The divinity of three distinct persons -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit -- who are essentially one God.Do you and I understand this well? No. We struggle to expand our earth-bound thinking to encompass such a thought. But the New Testament requires us to stretch so that we might obey Jesus' own words to make disciples and baptize "in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." (Matthew 28:19)
What is God like? You can make up your own god, a god that fits all your preconceptions. Or you can study what God reveals about himself, and from that data seek to understand more about him.I'm convinced from studying the Bible since childhood that you can't understand God, especially in the New Testament, unless you properly discern the relationship of God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit. We've got to deal with this, and simplistic answers won't do. Fortunately, God doesn't follow our logic; we must be humble enough to follow his. I'm convinced that the New Testament teaches the trinitarian nature of God -- an essential unity of God, who is made up of three distinct Persons.I'm going to explain why I believe this as simply as I can, but don't let my simplicity shroud the fact that this is a very complex subject. Many, many volumes have been written about it. It is complex, make no mistake. And frankly, I feel like a toddler trying to wade in the ocean, so I'm dependent upon what the Bible reveals for a hand to hold onto as I explore God.Now you'll hear detractors say things like: "The word 'trinity' doesn't appear anywhere in the Bible." And that's right, it doesn't. More on that in a moment. People also say things like "three can't be one," and they're right -- if we were talking about simple mathematics. What we are talking about, however, is a complex relationship, not a simple equation. So I propose we gather our understanding from the Bible itself, not from a detractor's caricature or misunderstanding.This is not a question of whether you or I can wrap our minds around the concept of the trinity. Electrons make lights turn on without a toddler understanding any more than how to flip a light switch. Right now passing by your head are dozens of radio and TV signals if you just had an internal tuner to sort them out and tune them in. Just because you can't hear them, doesn't mean they aren't there. The question is simply: What does the Bible teach about the relationship between the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit?A DefinitionFirst, let me define what we mean by "trinity."
The trinity refers to "the unity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as three persons."[1]
The word "trinity," of course, is formed from the words "tri-" and "unity," and describes "the state of being threefold." In other words, to believe in the trinity means to believe that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are essentially one God, even while they retain their own set of differences. (Feel the fog beginning to blow around your legs....?)John Calvin put it this way: "That Father and Son and Spirit are one God, yet the Son is not the Father, nor the Spirit the Son, but that they are differentiated by a particular quality."[2]
Theologians discuss complex concepts such as "one substance" (Greek homoousios) to make important distinctions. But I'm going to leave that aside.I believe in the trinity for four good reasons -- Bible reasons. Please consider them with me.1. Because of the trinitarian statements in the NTOne of the main reasons I believe in the trinity is the several clear statements in the Bible that seem to put the Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit together on the same level.[3]
"Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit...." (Matthew 28:19)"May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all." (2 Corinthians 13:14)"... Chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by his blood...." (1 Peter 1:2)Of course, there are many places where the Father and the Son appear without the Holy Spirit mentioned, and the Son with the Spirit, etc. But I think these three passages are undeniably distinctive, especially Matthew 28:19. At this point, of course, the word "trinity" hadn't been thought of, but the concept certainly seems to be present in the New Testament. That's unmistakable.2. Because the NT teaches monotheism AND that Jesus is divineThe second main reason I believe in the trinity is that clearly the New Testament teaches both monotheism AND that Jesus is divine.MonotheismMonotheism is the belief, pioneered by Judaism and affirmed by Christianity, that there is but one God. You see it often in the Old and New Testaments (for example: Mark 12:29; Deuteronomy 6:4. :Acts 17:22-31; 1 Corinthians 8:4-6).The Divinity of JesusBut at the same time, the New Testament is quite clear: Jesus is divine, that is, he shares God's nature. Jesus' "beloved disciple" the Apostle John puts it this way:"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made." (John 1:1-3)[4]
The Apostle Paul is equally clear about Jesus' divinity."[Christ Jesus], being in very nature God,did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing,taking the very nature of a servant,being made in human likeness." (Philippians 2:6-7)Here is another description of Jesus' position:"He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him...." (Colossians 1:15-19)Unity with the FatherI could go on and on. The New Testament asserts Jesus' divinity again and again in numerous ways beyond the scope of this article. Jesus himself affirms his unity with the Father in ways that might be considered blasphemous -- unless they were actually true."I and the Father are one." "Again the Jews picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus said to them, 'I have shown you many great miracles from the Father. For which of these do you stone me?' " 'We are not stoning you for any of these,' replied the Jews, 'but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God.' " (John 10:30-33)" 'I tell you the truth,' Jesus answered, 'before Abraham was born, I am!' At this, they picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus hid himself, slipping away from the temple grounds." (John 8:58-59)" 'But what about you?' he asked. 'Who do you say I am?' "Simon Peter answered, 'You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.'"Jesus replied, 'Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven.' " (Matthew 16:15-17)In Jesus' presence, doubting Thomas calls him, "My Lord and my God!" (John 20:28) Jesus doesn't rebuke him or correct him, but comments on Thomas's faith.At his trial, Jesus is questioned directly:"The high priest asked him, 'Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?'" 'I am,' said Jesus. 'And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.' " (Mark 14:61-62)I've spent some time on this because some groups today either deny monotheism, or deny that Jesus was divine in any unique sense. I'm not trying to divide, but bring clarity. A belief in the divinity of Jesus and monotheism are the bedrock of true Christianity. But it is wise to be aware that a contrary view is very much alive in our day:The Jesus Seminar members assume that Jesus "couldn't have said" such things about himself, therefore the disciples must have made these things up.Mormonism seems to be monotheistic until you realize that every good Mormon male aspires to be a god to another planet, and that the founders of Mormonism saw God the Father only as the God of planet Earth, not of the universe, since he was appointed to be the God of the Earth by the council of the gods.[5]
This is not actual monotheism but a kind of polytheism.Jehovah's Witnesses see Jesus as a divine being, but not in any unique sense as sharing the Father's nature. They translate John 1:1 "... and the Word was God" as "... and the word was a god."[6]
Unitarians reject the deity of Christ.To summarize, I think it is pretty clear throughout the whole Bible that there is only one God, but at the same time the New Testament affirms again and again that Jesus is divine. Somehow you have to explain this apparent paradox. Either Jesus is God or he is only godlike. You have to face it; you can't just ignore it.3. Because Jesus and the Father are different personsThe third Bible reason I believe in the trinity is that the New Testament indicates many times and in many ways that Jesus and the Father are different and distinct persons.The Father and the SonThe reason we talk about the Father and the Son is not because some theologian made it up, but because that is the way Jesus himself explained the relationship between himself and God. For example:"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16)"All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him." (Matthew 11:27)"I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does.... He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent him." (John 5:19, 23)"Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you.... And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began." (John 17:1, 5)I could go on, but the Bible -- especially John's Gospel -- is very clear. Jesus also asserts an essential unity between him and his Father:"I and the Father are one." (John 10:30)"Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father'? Don't you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me...." (John 14:9-11)Jesus Is Distinct from the FatherIt is important, though, to recognize that the Son, Jesus, is a distinct person from God the Father. Why do I say that?Jesus prays to the Father. (John 17). This wouldn't make any sense if Jesus and the Father were the same person or entity. Jesus is not talking to himself when he prays to the Father. That is a foolish notion. But I make the point because one branch of the Pentecostal movement is not trinitarian. They believe that the term "Father" designates Christ's deity, while "Son" designates either his humanity or his deity as manifested in the flesh. Thus they believe that while the Father is not the Son, they hold that Jesus is both the Father and the Son.[7]
Submission to the FatherYou can also see in the New Testament that the Father (often designated in the Bible as "God" without the word Father), is the leader, with Jesus and the Holy Spirit voluntarily subservient to him. They seem to be "equal" in terms of divinity, but not in terms of role. The Father is the leader, much like in a human family of Jesus' day the father was typically the leader. No doubt that is why Jesus described the relationship as Father - Son. Paul includes a fascinating passage that explains more about this relationship:"Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. For he 'has put everything under his feet.' Now when it says that 'everything' has been put under him, it is clear that this does not include God himself, who put everything under Christ. When he has done this, then the Son himself will be made subject to him who put everything under him, so that God may be all in all." (1 Corinthians 15:24-28)I think it is important to recognize that New Testament presents the Father and Son as separate persons, differentiated from one another in function, and interacting with each other as separate persons do.A too-simple explanation of the trinity is in terms of modes or manifestations, that the one God manifests himself as Father, as Son, and as the Holy Spirit, just as water manifests itself as ice, liquid water, and vapor. But these are more than manifestations of a single person, otherwise prayer and submission would be meaningless. The Bible requires us to see the Father and Jesus as one God but also as distinct persons.4. Because the Holy Spirit is both divine and has personal attributesThe fourth biblical reason that I believe in the trinity is because the Holy Spirit is referred to in personal terms in the Bible, indicating that he, too, is a distinct person, different from either the Father and the Son.I must concede at the outset that we don't have nearly as much data about the interaction between the Spirit and the other persons of the trinity as we do about the relationship between Jesus and the Father. And sometimes the biblical data about the Holy Spirit seems ambiguous -- at least for the purposes of trying to form a consistent explanation.The Holy Spirit Is Spoken of as God"Then Peter said, 'Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? Didn't it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn't the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied to men but to God.' " (Acts 5:3-4)The Spirit Performs Divine FunctionsThe Holy Spirit also performs divine functions, such as judging (John 16:8-11), pouring out the love of God (Romans 5:5), giving joy (Romans 14:17), hope (Romans 8:17-25), peace (Romans 8:6), regeneration (John 3:5), and faith (2 Corinthians 12:9). The Holy Spirit can also be blasphemed (Mark 3:29 and Luke 12:10), which in the New Testament is usually an act of verbally injuring someone divine.[8]
The Spirit Performs Functions We Ascribe to PersonsBut here is the solid biblical evidence that points to the Holy Spirit as a distinct person in his own right and performs functions we attribute to personhood. He appoints missionaries (Acts 13:2; 20:28), he leads and directs them in their ministry (Acts 8:29; 10:19-20; 16:6-7; 1 Corinthians 2:13), he speaks through the prophets (Acts 1:16; 1 Peter 1:11-12; 2 Peter 1:21), he corrects (John 16:8), comforts (Acts 9:31), helps us in our infirmities (Romans 8:26), teaches (John 14:26; 1 Corinthians 12:3), guides (John 16:13), sanctifies (Romans 15:16; 1 Corinthians 6:11), testifies of Christ (John 15:26), glorifies Christ (John 16:14), has a power of his own (Romans 15:13), searches all things (Romans 11:33-34; 1 Corinthians 2:10-11), works according to his own will (1 Corinthians 12:11), dwells with saints (John 14:17), can be grieved (Ephesians 4:30), can be resisted (Acts 7:51), and can be tempted (Acts 5:9).In many languages, including Greek, words have masculine, feminine, or neuter genders which have no real counterpart in English.[9]
While the Spirit is often referred to by a neuter Greek pronoun, since the pneuma has a neuter tense in Greek (such as John 14:17, 26; 15:26), on several occasions the masculine pronoun is used, seemingly to emphasize the Spirit's personhood."But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom (neuter pronoun) the Father will send in my name, he (masculine pronoun) will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you" (John 15:16, RSV).We see similar language in John 15:26, and especially John 16:13: "When the Spirit of truth comes, he (masculine pronoun) will guide you into all truth." C.K. Barrett observes, "The Spirit is thought of in personal terms."[10]
I make a point of the Holy Spirit's divinity and personal nature because some groups specifically deny that the Holy Spirit is a divine being. The Jehovah's Witness New World Translation, for example, sometimes even omits the word "Spirit" and substitutes the phrase "God's active force" in its place (hardly a faithful translation!), a phrase that strips away any sense of personhood.[11]
Conclusion: There is much, much more that could be said about the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. But I have tried to keep my points simple. Even though the New Testament doesn't use the word "trinity," it is clear to me, as I have demonstrated above, that an honest reading of the New Testament must conclude that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are spoken of as both divine beings, and distinct from one another -- and that the New Testament affirms monotheism, the essential oneness and unity of God.While some later statements of the trinity go beyond what is taught in the New Testament, I believe that the New Testament clearly teaches the central concepts of the trinity: The divinity of three distinct persons -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit -- who are essentially one God.Do you and I understand this well? No. We struggle to expand our earth-bound thinking to encompass such a thought. But the New Testament requires us to stretch so that we might obey Jesus' own words to make disciples and baptize "in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." (Matthew 28:19)
Global warming, a Christian perspective
Global warming has become such a great concern. Many scientists and some authorities in some countries are trying to take measures to prevent it or slow it down. Some people have even suggested banning the light bulb because it contributes to global warming.What should one think about global warming? Is there any truth to all that is being said, or is it all scare tactics? Does the Bible say anything about global warming?Although it is not known for sure what the weather was like before the flood of Noah's day, there apparently was no severe hot or cold weather. It is often suggested that a greenhouse effect kept the earth at pleasant temperatures all the time.However, after the flood, God made this promise to Noah, "While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease." (Genesis 8:22) In Psalm 74:17, the Bible says this about God, "Thou hast set all the borders of the earth: thou hast made summer and winter."There is no doubt that there will one day be drastic changes in the earth, and the weather patterns will greatly change. Can man do anything to stop these changes? What does the Bible say?One day the sun will become extremely hot. God will give power to angels to send plagues upon the earth. Men will be scorched by the heat of the sun. Revelation 16:8,9 says, "And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire. And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory."God will also cause changes in the earth's water supply. In Revelation 8:10,11, the Bible says, "And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters; And the name of the star is called Wormwood: and the third part of the waters became wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter." Revelation 16:3 says, "And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea; and it became as the blood of a dead man: and every living soul died in the sea."God promises that the weather will be affected, and there will be a great earthquake, worse than any other earthquake that has ever occurred on the earth before it. Revelation 16:18 says, "And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great." The face of the earth will be changed completely because of this earthquake. "And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great." (Revelation 18:20,21)One day God will come down in great wrath to finish his judgment upon mankind. Revelation 6:12-17 says, "And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind. And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?"Do these words frighten you? They should if you do not know Jesus as your Saviour. One day the Lord is coming back to earth to receive His own. He will take all those who believe in Him to Heaven to live with Him for all eternity. (See I Thessalonians 4:16,17) Will you be going?If you do not know Jesus as your Saviour you will be left behind. And if you have heard the gospel and rejected it, you will believe a lie. II Thessalonians 2:11,12 says, "And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness."Also, you will worship the beast and receive his mark in your hand or in your forehead. Revelation 13:11,12 says that the other beast that comes up out of the earth will cause those who dwell upon the earth to worship the beast. And verses 16 and 17 say, "And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name."And in the end you will suffer the wrath of Almighty God because you worshipped the beast and rejected God. Because you did not trust in Jesus, "the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world," (John 1:29) you will suffer in the lake of fire for ever and ever. God's word says, "And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire." (Revelation 20:8)How can you escape the terrible plagues that are coming? How can you escape the scorching sun and the bitter waters and the earthquakes and great hail? Repent of your sins and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Do not wait until tomorrow. Tomorrow may be too late. "Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon." (Isaiah 55:6,7)Turn to God from your sin. Realize that your sin separates you from God. You cannot remove your own sin. You cannot get yourself to Heaven. Jesus has already done everything for you. It is finished. "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved." (Acts 16:31) "Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved." (Acts 4:12)Yes, the globe will warm up. The weather patterns will be changed. But this does not need to concern you if you are saved, if you have trusted Jesus Christ as your Saviour.God has told us what will happen to the earth and to outer space in the end of time. He said, "But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up." (II Peter 3:10)Where will you be when these things happen? Where will you spend eternity? Will you spend your life here on earth trying to battle global warming, trying to keep the earth from warming up? Or will you make preparations for eternity? Will you be content with a temporary home here on earth and eternity in the lake of fire? Or will you seek a heavenly city, one not made with hands, eternal in the heavens, a place where you may live in eternal joy and constant fellowship with God and the Lord Jesus Christ? Believe in Jesus today. He is ready to receive you.
All Scripture verses quoted from KJV
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All Scripture verses quoted from KJV
www.christianwebsite.com
Each Life Affects Another's
We may not always realize that everything we do. Affects not only our life but touches others, too. For a little bit of thoughtfulness that shows someone you care. Creates a ray of sunshine for both of you to share. Yes, everytime you show a friend you care and understand. Everytime you have a kind and gentle word to give. You help someone find beauty in this precious life we live. For happiness brings happiness, and loving ways bring lone. And giving us the treasure that contentment is made of. We are molded and tempered by those who have loved us, and though that love may pall, we remain nonetheless their work. No love, no friendship can ever cross the path of our destiny without leaving some mark up on it forever.
- Francais Mauriac. "The worst thing that can be done toSomeone you love is to do something for them they can and should do for themselves".- Abraham Lincoln
christianstoriesonline.com
- Francais Mauriac. "The worst thing that can be done toSomeone you love is to do something for them they can and should do for themselves".- Abraham Lincoln
christianstoriesonline.com
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