The Trinity on Display

I shared this with a couple of 8th-graders today, and I think it's interesting enough to share here as well.

We were talking about the Trinity, and how the term never actually appears in the Scriptures, though the concept is clearly taught. In fact, there's one particular scene in the Bible in which the "Three-Personed" nature of God is undeniably on display: the baptism of Jesus.

Here's how it's presented in Luke 3:21-22.

When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as he was praying, heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: "You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased."

In this one scene, we see all three Divine Persons. God the Son is the One being baptized, God the Holy Spirit descends in a visible manifestation that resembles a dove, and God the Father speaks audibly from heaven. This is a simple, clear, and quite beautiful depiction of the three distinct Persons in our "Three-in-One" God.

So keep that one in your back pocket, just in case you need to blow someone's mind.

Let me pose a question...

When it comes to serving in your church or your community, what factors make it easier or harder for you to get involved?

What specific things is your church doing (or do you think they should be doing) to facilitate your involvement in ministry?

Atypically Transparent

I'm at a weird place in my faith.

I've gone to church and loved God as long as I can remember, and as an adult have chosen to actively pursue a deeper faith and a closer, more personal relationship with Him. As part of this process, I've made sincere efforts to cut things out of my life that would get in the way of that, stemming from a desire for simplicity, good stewardship, and a clear focus on things that truly matter.

I've determined not to look for satisfaction in possessions or hobbies, but to enjoy the abundant "life to the full" that Jesus talks about in John 10:10. There's an indescribably sweet sense of purpose and fulfillment that comes with the experience of God working through you. And I learned, while living out of a backpack for a year as a traveling missionary on the World Race, that no creature comfort can compare with that.

There's just one problem. The more I've tried to devote myself to serving Him, the less I've experienced this 'feeling' of abundance, or even contentment, in my life.

My theology says that God should be enough. That He IS enough. Yet, I'm having a lot of trouble reconciling that knowledge with the struggles that I'm facing. Despite my efforts to seek God and spiritual maturity, I feel like I'm missing something, and I don't even know what that thing is!

I have so many thoughts elbowing one another:

- How selfish is it to want to feel content (at peace)? Can I / should I expect that?

- Is this experience right or normal, or, where have I gone wrong?

- Why isn't God answering my questions?

- What if I AM missing something, and in my attempts to find that, make things worse?

- How can I separate loving God from loving to serve God from loving serving God? (that question made sense to me... I hope it does to you too)

Obviously, somewhere among my assumptions, expectations, and choices, I've made a wrong turn. And, like a little girl who's hit a dead end in a maze, I must now backtrack until I encounter a new path to explore.

Ultimately, I trust that God will work through this for some kind of breakthrough. And I will be oh, so much better for it. But in the meantime, I shall continue to lean on Him for strength and patience, and believe that He will fulfill Paul's prayer for the Romans in my life as well:

"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." Romans 15:13

Whooooooooo are you? Who? Who?

We use a tool called Site Meter to monitor the daily traffic of visitors to our blog. Though we can't see WHO they are, we can see how many people visit each page, and where they are located.

Here's a fun graph that shows the locations of this blog's visitors:


I'd love to know who's out there, so if you are reading this, I invite you to take a second to answer a few of these questions in the comment section:

1. Who are you?
2. How did you find this blog?
3. Are you a regular reader?
4. Do you have your own blog? If so, please leave a link to your URL.
5. Do you have any topics you'd like me to blog about?
6. What is one fun factoid about yourself?