Three Persons

How do you explain the Trinity? It is often compared to an egg which is composed of a white, yoke, and shell; three parts but one whole. That is not quite correct.

Who is God? A Divine Being. There is a difference between a being and a person. I am a human being. That is what I am. I was born with a body and am a person. That is who I am. I am one being with one person.

God is a Divine Being with three Persons; Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Because no human being has more than one person, it is difficult for our finite minds to grasp the concept of a being with three persons. To say the Trinity is all one and the same person is putting God on the same level as a human being. 

God is so much greater than humans. He is a Divine Being, eternal, omnipresent and omniscient. When Jesus said, "I and my Father are one," He was referring to their unity in Being and purpose, not their persons. If God were all one person (like an egg), He would have been dead when Jesus was crucified. The person of God the Father was still alive in heaven and He raised Jesus from the dead (Acts 13:30).

The hymn, Holy Holy Holy, got it right. "God in three persons, blessed Trinity." Think about that the next time you sing the hymn.

Holy, holy, holy

Lord, God Almighty

Early in the morning our song shall rise to Thee

Holy, holy, holy

Merciful and mighty

God in three persons blessed Trinity

Holy, holy, holy

Though the darkness hide Thee

Though the eye of sinful man thy glory may not see

Only Thou art holy; there is none beside Thee

Perfect in power, in love, and purity

Holy, holy, holy

Lord, God Almighty

All Thy works shall praise Thy name in earth and sky and sea

Holy, holy, holy

Merciful and mighty

God in three persons blessed Trinity

Amish Church

We had a cross-cultural experience this morning. The Amish preacher who works with Leroy was having church at his house and invited us to attend. Who could turn down an invitation like that? I tried to dress so I wouldn't stand out like a sore thumb. I wore a dark green solid color dress and black sweater and kept my watch hidden under my sweater sleeve.
The older women wore solid black. The younger ladies wore other colors of dresses with black aprons and capes. The girls wore colors with thin white full aprons. The little girls wore white coverings. When they are 13 they wear black coverings until they are married and then go back to wearing white.
The men and boys all wore black hats and white shirts. The little boys wore suit coats with a stand up collar like a plain suit. The older boys and men wore suits with a V-neck but no collar.

They had moved all the furniture out of the house and filled it with backless benches. The rooms had large arches that looked like they had panels which were removed so the four rooms became one big room. 

When we got there the preacher took Leroy inside where the men and little boys were sitting. A young girl led me through the basement where the girls were standing and up the stairs to the kitchen where the women were sitting. The hostess thoughtfully provided a folding chair with arms for me. I appreciated that because I didn't think my back could take sitting on a backless bench.

At nine o'clock the boys came in from the barn, filing in according to age from the oldest to the youngest. Each one shook hands with all of the ordained men before sitting down. The girls came up from the basement and sat in back of the boys. Then the men took off their black hats and the service started.

They sang three verses of a song in German from the Ausbund. In print since 1564, the Amish have always used this hymnbook. On the second verse of this song the ministers left the room. I've heard that this is to decide who will have the sermons.

The second song in every Amish service is the Loeb Lied. They sang all four verses of that song. They sing very slowly with four to seven notes to each syllable. (I counted!) It took half an hour to sing those seven verses of song. The ministers came back in the room half way through the second song.

An older minister had the opening message and spoke for 45 minutes. There was no speaker's stand and the preaching was entirely extemporaneous (he had no notes). That was followed by a kneeling prayer. When the prayer ended we stood up and turned our backs to the minister while he read from the Bible. Then we sat down and the younger minister preached another 45 minutes. The singing was German but the preaching was PA Dutch/German. I understood enough to follow when he talked about Samuel, the crucifixion, and John 15. 

When the second minister sat down, each of the ordained men gave a testimony affirming what the minister had said. Then we had a second kneeling prayer followed by another three verses of song and a closing prayer.
I was sitting facing a row of little boys who looked about 4 to 6 years old. I was impressed with their behavior. They sat on that backless bench for three hours and did not whisper to each other, had nothing for entertainment, and did not get off the bench or pester each other. 

During the last song the host and some of the women went to the basement to prepare the food for lunch. They came back up for the closing prayer and then immediately began to set tables for lunch. The table was set with dessert plates or saucers, a water glass, and a knife. That's it. Plates and bowls of homemade bread, peanut butter spread, cup cheese, pickles, red beets, pretzels and pie were set the length of the table. Nothing was passed but everyone reached in and helped themselves. I didn't know how to eat pickles and red beets with just a knife and didn't try. But I couldn't pass up the snitz pie so I watched how they ate it with a knife and managed to get mine eaten without a disaster.

The meal began and ended with a silent prayer. Then the tables were cleared, dishes quickly washed, and reset for another group of people. We left while the second group was still eating.

I felt privileged to be invited to observe their worship service and will treasure the experience. I sat there thinking this is probably how my Mennonite ancestors worshiped 400 years ago (before Mennonites and Amish were separate groups). It was a living history event to me but ordinary real life for them.

Saint Patrick's Day

   March 17 is Saint Patrick's Day. This is a day designated by the Catholic church to honor a man whose name was Patrick. We don't venerate the saints but it is good to know who Patrick was and what he did.

   Patrick lived a full life, but not without his share of suffering and adventure. He was born in Britain, in the fourth century A.D., during a time of great uncertainty for the Roman Empire. The Roman legions that once protected civilized Britain from barbaric invaders were called away to defend themselves in other regions of the Roman Empire. Therefore, Britain was left vulnerable to attacks.

   Just before Patrick turned 16 years old, he and his family spent time at their holiday villa by the sea, located outside the town of Bannaventa Berniae, when Irish pirates attacked it. Although Patrick’s family escaped, Patrick and many of the family's workers did not; and soon they were en route to Ireland, where Patrick was sold as a slave to Miliuc of Slemich, a Druid tribal chieftain.

   Patrick was given the task of a herdsman. Though raised in a Christian home (his father, Calpornius, was a civil magistrate and tax collector, as well as a church deacon), Patrick never made a decision to follow Christ until he was kidnapped and made a slave. In his autobiography, Confessions, Patrick wrote, “…‘the Lord opened my senses to my unbelief,’ so that, though late in the day, I might remember my many sins; and accordingly ‘I might turn to the Lord my God with all my heart.’” He also wrote about how his faith in God grew as he prayed to Him while he shepherded the flocks: “But after l had come to Ireland, it was then that I was made to shepherd the flocks day after day, and, as l did so, I would pray all the time, right through the day. More and more the love of God and fear of Him grew strong within me, and as my faith grew, so the Spirit became more and more active … In snow, in frost, in rain, I would hardly notice any discomfort, and I was never slack but always full of energy. It is clear to me now, that this was due to … the Spirit within me.”

   But Patrick’s devotion to God did not go unnoticed. He soon earned the nickname “Holy Boy” among his fellow slaves.

   One night Patrick had a dream. In it he heard a voice telling him, “Soon you will be returning to your own country.” In another dream he received a response to the first dream, being told, “Come and see where your ship is waiting for you.” At the age of 22, Patrick escaped and traveled 200 miles to the coast of Ireland. Of his long journey across Ireland, he wrote: “I turned on my heel and ran away, leaving behind the man to whom I had been bound for six years. Yet I came away from him in the power of God, for it was He who was guiding my every step for the best. And so I felt not the least anxiety until I reached the ship.”

   Patrick approached one of the men on the ship that rested on the coast. When he asked to board, the seaman scowled at him. Patrick started to leave when the man called back to him, saying the other passengers wanted him on board. Patrick wrote, “In spite of this, I still hoped that they might come to have faith in Jesus Christ.”

   The journey by boat was long, including a stop where they journeyed on land for 28 days. After having run out of food, the captain turned to Patrick and challenged him to ask his God for more. Glad to oblige, Patrick responded, “Turn trustingly to the Lord who is my God and put your faith in Him with all your heart, because nothing is impossible to Him. On this day, He will send us food sufficient for our journey, because for Him there is abundance everywhere.” According to Patrick’s autobiography, when the men turned around, a herd of pigs was standing before them. They feasted for days and gave thanks to God.

   Two years later Patrick finally made it to his beloved Britain and into the arms of his mother and father who pleaded with him never to leave them again. Patrick began to settle back into his life in Britain and studied to become a priest and a bishop. But one night Patrick had a dream of a man who seemed to come from Ireland and was carrying a letter with the words “The Voice of the Irish.” As Patrick began to read the words, he seemed to hear the voice of the same men he worked with as if they were shouting, “Holy broth of a boy, we beg you, come back and walk once more among us.”

   But church leaders and Patrick’s parents fiercely opposed his plans to return to Ireland. They did not think the Druids were worth saving. His family shuddered at the thought of him returning to barbaric Ireland with the gospel, as the Druids were known to weave criminals and runaway slaves into giant wicker baskets and suspend them over a fire. Of this opposition Patrick later wrote, “So at last I came here to the Irish gentiles to preach the gospel. And now I had to endure insults from unbelievers, to ‘hear criticism of my journeys’ and suffer many persecutions ‘even to the point of chains.’… And should I prove worthy, I am ready and willing to give up my own life, without hesitation, for His name … There was always someone talking behind my back and whispering, ‘Why does he want to put himself in such danger among his enemies who do not know God?’” Patrick had to sell his title of nobility to become the “slave of Christ serving the barbaric nation.”

   While in Ireland, Patrick shared the gospel with his former slave owner, Miliuc the Druid. But instead of turning his back on his pagan gods, Miliuc locked himself in his house and set it on fire while Patrick stood outside and pleaded with him to turn to Christ. Miliuc's refusal to hear the gospel was just the beginning of Patrick’s challenges with the Druids as he spread the Good News across Ireland and taught its people how to read and write. 

   Patrick continued his journey across Ireland. He preached at racetracks and other places of worldly indulgences, seeing many come to Christ. However, this was not without opposition. The Druids often tried to poison him. One time a barbarian warrior speared Patrick’s chariot driver to death in an attempt to kill Patrick. He was often ambushed at his evangelistic events and was enslaved again for a short time. He had to purchase safe passage through a hostile warlord's land to continue on his journey. Another time Patrick and his companions were taken as prisoners and were going to be killed, but they were later released. In Confessions, Patrick wrote, “As every day arrives, I expect either sudden death or deception, or being taken back as a slave or some such other misfortune. But I fear none of these, since I look to the promise of heaven and have flung myself into the hands of the all-powerful God, who rules as Lord everywhere.”

   Patrick journeyed throughout Ireland, sharing Christ until his death on March 17, around the year 461 A.D. Later Irish mythological creatures known as leprechauns would creep into the holiday celebrations, as well as the symbol of the shamrock, believed to have been used by Patrick to illustrate the Trinity as he preached and taught. Some legends have circulated stating Patrick drove all the snakes out of Ireland. Since there are no snakes in Ireland and snakes often symbolize the devil and evil, many believe the “snakes” were a metaphor representing his work of driving the idol-worshipping Druid cult out of the country.

The Year's At The Spring

It happens every year when winter is winding down! One day the temperature shoots up to sixty and I am infected with spring fever. Today is the day!

Winter still has a week to go before we reach the equinox but  I am ready for a change of seasons. After months of sitting at my laptop pecking away day after day, the warm air didn't have to coax me to come outside. I raked the trash out of the shrubbery, cleaned some windows, hung sheets on the line, and walked my trail. I was walking two miles a day until it got too cold. I know I will have to work up to it gradually so I only walked a section of my trail. It felt good to be more active and outside again.

Each season has a beauty of its own but I think I like spring the best. Perhaps that's because it is a season of renewal, hope, and promise. After months of a dead brown landscape, a few warm days is all it takes to turn the world green again. New life is always a miracle and a gift from God.

The year's at the spring,

And day's at the morn;

Morning's at seven;

The hill-side's dew-pearled;

The lark's on the wing;

The snail's on the thorn;

God's in his Heaven— 

All's right with the world! 

Robert Browning

Church History

I just finished reading Keith Crider's new book, Church History, Resurrection to Reformation, newly released by Christian Light Publications. Here are a few things that impressed me.

1. Disagreements in the church on doctrine and practice are nothing new. The apostles had to deal with some controversial issues. The disagreement between Paul and Barnabas was so strong they split and went different ways with different companions. But in the end and were on friendly terms and worked together. The history of the church is a long series of disagreements and splits, many of which are not resolved peacefully and often not at all.

2. Persecution ended when Constantine made Christianity the state religion in 313 AD but it was a detriment rather than a victory for the church. People were church members without being born again and trusted in their church membership rather than in Christ. One result of Constantine's rule was the churches that were built on the "holy sites" in Israel. While in some respects those sites were spoiled by the churches, yet that prevented them from having Muslim mosques built on those spots  (years later) like the one that stands on the temple mount today.

3. A multitude of non-conformist groups existed through the centuries. These groups were persecuted by the state church. Some were more Biblical than others but there was always a remnant of faithful believers, even through the Dark Ages when only a small minority were literate. Jesus said "I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it." That the Word of God and true faith survived the Dark Ages is the fulfillment of that promise.
4.What caused the Dark Ages? The answer is complicated and multifaceted. With the fall of the Roman Empire, cities and roads fell into disrepair and its common language was lost. Vandals, Goths, Huns, and other barbarians from the north and east sacked Rome and made inroads deep into Roman territory.  They spoke a variety of languages which gradually mixed to become what we call the Romance languages. A large percentage of the population of Europe died due to war and plagues.The barbarians did not understand the climate or methods of farming the land they conquered.  They were illiterate and education was not available to the majority of the population. Europe was chaos and a hodgepodge of small kingdoms, tribes, and chiefdoms that fought each other. Life was a struggle to survive with the average life span for a man only 33 years. With Rome gone and no central power in Western Europe, the church stepped in to fill the void and provided at least a measure of stability.
4. The barbarians were pagan idol worshipers. When they invaded "Christian" countries the church set out to Christianize them. To make Christianity more attractive, the church sometimes substituted a "Christian" superstition for a pagan one and replaced a pagan feast with a Christian one. Easter replaced a pagan spring feast and Christmas replaced the festival of the winter solstice. Pope Boniface obtained relics of saints (bones, hair, etc.) which were placed in churches and served as replacements for the idols the pagans had to give up.
5. The tribes that overran Western Europe mixed with the former Roman inhabitants and eventually became the "natives." My Swiss-German ancestors probably had Hun, Vandal, Visgoth and other pagan ancestors. By the 700s and 800s the barbarians had become Europeans.  Israel did the same thing when they conquered and settled the land of the Canaanites. A more recent example is the European invasion and settling of America from 1500-1900.
6. The Anabaptists of the 1500s were a radical movement in the Reformation but they followed in the footsteps of many nonconformist groups before them. The Cathari, Albignese, Waldenses, and others preceded the Anabaptists and were persecuted (sometime to extinction) because they would not conform to the state church.

These are just a few highlights from the book. You really should get a copy and read the whole thing.