A Word For Thought

Rules that say, “NEVER”—so I don’t have to make a decision.

Rules that say, “NEVER”—so I don’t have to wrestle with uncomfortable dilemmas.

Rules that say, “NEVER”—so I can do what someone else says and not think about it (and not think?).

Rules that say, “NEVER”—so I can exempt myself from involvement in someone’s yucky problems.

Rules that say, “NEVER”——“EXCEPT”—“BUT”—“WHAT IF”—“NOW I HAVE TO”

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Don’t expect me to clear everything up for you and make things simple.
I just get weary of blanket rules, blanket doctrines, blanket policies, that come up short when real life throws a curve for you or someone you know or a country you love.

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NEVER raise your voice (don’t ever yell) with your children or your spouse.
– – – Don’t try to be so perfect that you never have to say, “I’m sorry.”
– – – Be real about your faults, don’t hide them.

NEVER get involved in something that’s none of your business.
– – – Many, many marriages and families would not fail if we cared enough to get in their trenches.
– – – There are not enough professionals who know what people really need—a friend with time for them.

NEVER dispute theologians and established church doctrines.
– – – Worship God, not any church.
– – – Read the Bible, Trust the Bible, not anyone who claims superior understanding.

NEVER break the laws you don’t like—change the laws.
– – – Sometimes a law has to be broken to change it.
– – – Sometimes a law will never be changed—don’t let it break your conscience.

NEVER cross the line in Christian activism—limits—no force, no damage, no violence.
– – – Sometimes bad guys with violence can only be stopped by good guys with violence.
– – – Good guys were part of the Boston Tea Party—the catalyst for our Revolutionary War.
– – – The Black Robed Regiment inspired the patriots with their sermons and their guns—and were the most feared by King George.

Many people who made a difference for good, for freedom, went through changes from watching to warring.
Passive
Peaceful
Active
Verbal
Physical
Violent

The Second Amendment—
When did the ‘gun part’ become off limits to stop a wayward government ?

Ending with a quote from a speech by Winston Churchill:
“Never, Never, Never, Never, Never, Never, Never Give Up.”

Every time ‘the trinity’ rolls off the tongue of a preacher, does anybody stop to consider what the listener thinks when he hears ‘the trinity’?

I can guarantee what the average person thinks about ‘the trinity’—NOTHING !

People can’t ever think anything about ‘the trinity’ unless some theologian ‘explains’ it, or tries to.

No lay person can understand ‘the trinity’ at all by reading his Bible.

Fact is, nobody—layman or educated professional—can understand ‘the trinity’.

If anyone who is supposed to know, paused to explain ‘the trinity’ every time he used this foreign term, he would immediately get on a merry-go-round and go around in circles without going anywhere, either spiritually or intellectually—and then he would never get to finish his message or teaching.
So they all just use the word routinely, over and over without thinking.
Just plug the words in, as though it counts for something, adds something.
And what would that be ? ? ?

What continues to amaze me is how EVERYBODY continues to go along with ‘the trinity’ without understanding it or questioning it.

They somehow sense how embarrassing are the the classic configurations used to explain ‘the trinity’—all thirty million of them.
And so ‘the trinity’ keeps getting used in nearly every sermon, without a pause, without a clue, without a comprehension—by speaker or listener.

Why ?
Because ‘the trinity’ is an end in itself, man-made, invented—not to make the Bible and God more clear—to give ‘theologians’ something to write hundreds of books about, that only entrenched theological students could possibly be interested in.
And most get read because they are required, to keep the merry-go-round turning for another generation.

I would like for someone to see how silly this whole system is, and dare to challenge it.
That’s why I’m compelled to write when I hear ‘the trinity’, knowing it is meaningless.

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Skip ‘the trinity’, and everything created with it.
Read the Bible—about God, the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit.

400 YEARS—40 YEARS—70 YEARS—1900 YEARS
Tough times for the people Israel, the Children of Israel (Jacob).

Times of slavery
Times of deliverance
Times of wandering, for doubt
Times of repentance, for idolatry
Times of scattering

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400 years of slavery in Egypt—then miracles of deliverance

40 years of wandering in the wilderness—then the Promised Land, for real

70 years of captivity in Babylon—then returning and rebuilding

1900 years of scattering worldwide—then national restoration in their own, original land—Israel
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It is good,
It is obvious,
It is imperative,
It is commanded,
PRAY FOR THE PEACE OF JERUSALEM
NOW !