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        meeting with pastor
 
 
Saturday, February 19, 2005 6:53:10 AM   behumble
 
      re:meeting with pastor   
Well, after a struggle & the right biblical advice that helped me to see God's answer, I will not continue at this church. I thank God for using Wai Hun to bring me the wise biblical advice I needed to make the right decision. 
Monday, February 28, 2005 7:33:05 PM behumble
 
      re:meeting with pastor   
I don't think the answer is for me & the pastor to agree. I believe that the problem is that the pastor cannot fellowship with someone who disagrees with him. I believe that I am still to be in this for awhile longer. Please pray for God's will. In Jesus Name. 
Monday, February 28, 2005 5:32:44 AM behumble
 
      re:meeting with pastor   
This isn't over yet. My biological sister belongs to this church. She has requested that I meet with the pastor again to see if he can convince me that I'm wrong. For her sake, I will continue on.

I need help with this. I think that it is time to share more details.

The topic that causes the pastor to want me to leave the church, is the Trinity.

I've been wrong about scripture before & have freely admitted when I was wrong. When I was wrong about something that I was so sure about, I was stirred up inside when presented with the truth. There has been only deadness in his teaching on the Trinity. I'm not stirred up at all.

When he began this series, he said that the Trinity was the most important belief of our faith. Without it, we cannot be saved. He also commented that most people cannot teach it well & that is why most people do not understand it. But he was different. He has a great understanding of the Trinity. A red flag went up in my mind when he said this. (scripture says to trust not in your own understanding).

I have shared my beliefs about this for the past 2 years & have been told by several pastors that I will go to Hell because of my belief. This pastor is not unique in his fury over my beliefs.

So far no one has believed what I believe. I have everything to gain if I am wrong & nothing to lose.

What does this pastor have to lose?

His latest teaching on this subject included his sharing about his membership in an organization. A stipulation of membership is completing a faith statement each year that includes his belief in the Trinity. If he does not believe in the Trinity, he cannot be a member of this group. He also shared that he is not a full member of this group that determines church doctrine, until he obtains his PhD, which he is working on. He can't wait to be a full member of this group, & benefit from the prestige it will bring to him. He has worked many years to obtain this status. There's a chance he would need to give this up if he even considers listening to me, because of the slight chance that it could be true.

There are volumes & volumes of books that attempt to explain the Trinity doctrine. Even the experts say that we can never fully understand the Trinity. If the Trinity is that fundamental to my belief & salvation, I don't think that God would make it so complicated to understand. It seems that my pastor is quite proud of his knowledge level on the Trinity. He is probably praised in many pastoral circles because of his great knowledge.

The Trinity doctrine to me is like the Sabbath. God created the Sabbath as a blessing to man. It wasn't complicated when God established it. Then man complicated the blessing God gave us by attaching so many rules to it. Jesus rebuked the Saducees & the Pharisees for their ungodly doctrinal use of the Sabbath. I think man has turned the concept of The Father, The Son, & The Holy Spirit each being God, yet there is only one God, into a complicated doctrine that no one can understand, even the experts.

A pastor once said to me 'why would God show you something? Who do you think you are? There are great commentators & teachers of the bible that have spent their entire lives studying the bible. If God had a message like this, he would share it with one of them instead of with me.' I've also heard from pastors, 'why would God show you & not me?'

Only God can answer those questions.

What is my belief?

God is singular in his account of creation prior to Genesis verse 26. It is only when God considers creating man, that he speaks as if he is more than one. Then, in the very next verse, a singular God creates man. There are many accounts in scripture that show evidence there is only one God. The angels were not created in God's image. No other being except man was created in God's image. Therefore, it appears God was not speaking to the rest of the host of heaven. If there is only one God, why the plurality when considering the creation of man? Jesus was broken for man, yet not a bone was broken. Jesus broke bread & commanded we do the same in remembrance of him. What does the broken bread represent? Why not a broken bone from the lamb that was slain from the foundation of the world? Since God is all knowing, perhaps, as soon as the decision was made to create man, the price was established & God would be broken into the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Why? Man would sin. Sin has a price. God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, himself, broken for man. The giving of the Holy Spirit is the link that makes us one with God. In the New Testament, Jesus sits at the right hand of the Father. They are never as they were in the beginning. They are forever changed for the sake of man.

This demonstrates a huge sacrifice that God made for me. I believe that when Jesus took on the sin of the world, God the Father turned away, & the breaking off of God the Son took place. I believe that when Jesus ascended into heaven, 10 days later the breaking of the Holy Spirit took place at Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit was given for man. This opened the door to allow us to be one with God. In the end, all of us will be one with God the Father, through his Son Jesus Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit, linking us together spiritually. 
Sunday, February 27, 2005 6:56:42 AM behumble
 
      re:meeting with pastor   
Update:

I met with the pastor. He has asked me to leave the church. Please continue to pray for him & for me to find a new place for fellowship, according to God's perfect will. In Jesus Name. 
Wednesday, February 23, 2005 6:03:56 PM behumble
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