Rescue Mission

      On Tuesday I had the privilege of preaching at the Hendersonville Rescue Mission.  It was a real blessing to me.  The look in the eyes of those men and women was all the encouragement I needed.  They seemed to leave with a spring in their step and a hope in their eyes that was not previously there.

Doctrine of Jesus Christ: A Brief Essay by Michael Longson

Introduction

         The doctrine of Christ contains several themes.  To understand these themes better, I will break them down into their respective categories and address each in brief.  The basic themes that require addressing when discussing the doctrine of Jesus Christ are His divine nature in contrast to His human nature and His impeccability.

The Divinity of Christ

          The Gospel of John makes the Biblical stance on the divinity of Christ clear.  John, who spent three and one-half years with Jesus in close personal association, viewed Jesus as Jehovah God in the flesh.  He recognized in the first chapter of his Gospel that not only were the Father and Son separate persons in function and purpose, but that they were both one entity, God, without separation.  John acknowledges that Jesus (John refers to Him as the Word) pre-existed creation and was not only with God in the beginning, but God was in actuality the Word Himself.  He later elaborates that the Word took on flesh that we might see the glory of the Father in the flesh, learning how to live in goodness and love.

The Humanity of Christ

         The humanity of Christ is seen in the flesh that was taken on by the divine Christ, flesh born of the Virgin Mary by the Holy Spirit.  In all ways that we can comprehend, the Bible makes it clear to a discerning reader that Jesus had a body flesh and blood prior to the resurrection.  He walked, he ate, he grew tired, he slept, he cried and he loved.  All these are completely human emotions and physical states.  Jesus clearly had a physical body.  As a result of this physical body, Jesus experienced temptation.  This aspect of his human nature leads us now into the next aspect to consider in the doctrine of Christ.

The Impeccability of Christ

           In His human form, Jesus would have experienced many physical needs.  Shortly after Jesus was immersed in the Jordan River, the Holy Spirit drove Him to the desert to allow Him to be tested by Satan.  After spending forty days without food in the desert, Jesus would be at His most vulnerable.  Even faced with a forty day fast, when Satan placed the bait in front of Jesus’ hunger ravaged body, He resisted.  The Bible says that Jesus was tempted in all ways, yet was without sin.  He experienced all the same temptations and test in the world that we do, yet He passed through victorious, without stumbling.  There was no sin nature within Jesus to drag Him down.  Jesus, born of the Holy Spirit, did not receive the inherited sin nature passed down from the father ever since the time of Adam.  Therefore, Jesus was a sinless sacrifice who triumphed over all the daily temptations we face even today.

Conclusion

         It is nearly impossible to discuss or understand the nature of Jesus without considering these topics.  Only the divine Christ could meet the sinless perfection to cover over all the sins of all time.  Because of Christ and His sacrifice, we can go before God the Father on the basis of Christ’s work and sacrifice.

The Trinity: A Brief Essay by Michael T. Longson

          The Doctrine of the Trinity is a rational absurdity to most people.  Attempting to explain it is near impossible since there is nothing in human experience that can adequately explain it.  According to the Doctrine of the Trinity, which is nowhere named in the Bible, yet the doctrine is difficult to miss, God exists as three separate, co-equal persons, but do not cease to be one God.  The three separate but equal persons of God, as mentioned in the Bible, are God the Father (God)/Yahweh), God the Son (Jesus Christ), and God the Sprit (the Holy Spirit).

           The apostles in the New Testament affirm the Jewish belief that God is one, and that God alone should be the object of our worship, yet these same apostles give their worship, and teach others to as well, to Jesus Christ, our Lord as equal to God.  Jesus also claimed that knowing Him was equal to knowing the Father.  The Jesus Himself also refers to the Holy Spirit as another Paraclete, one like Jesus.  Since we have already established that the apostles saw Jesus as an equal of God and Jesus referred to the Holy Spirit as an equal to Himself, whom it was already stated considered Himself equivalent to God, it is clear that Jesus saw the Holy Spirit as being an equal of God.  Now, since none can be equal to God except God Himself, because God, being a perfect being Himself, cannot create another perfect being.  The creation would always be less than the Creator would; therefore, a being equal to God, must be God as well, and equally so.

          After establishing a case for the divinity of both Christ and the Holy Spirit as being equally divine as God the Father, many would refute the Trinity by claiming that Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit are three forms or modes of God, also known as Modalism.  This view has no Scriptural basis since at the Baptism of Jesus the Father looks on as the Holy Spirit descends upon the person of Jesus Christ as He comes upright out of the water.  Later again on the mount of transfiguration, the Holy Spirit is present within the person of Christ and the Father is present in the form of a cloud.  In both cases, several witnesses are present who testified later of the events.

      

          Based on this evidence, a clear case exists for the separate but equal existence of all three persons of the Trinity operating in one accord, yet working in three separate capacities.  Each is equal to the others while at the same time possessing separate and distinct roles in the Godhead (the term applied to the Trinity as a whole).  If one were to attempt to assign specific roles to each member of the Trinity, it may best be described as follows.  God the Father planned creation and all the aspects, God the Son performed the act of creation through His own divine person, and God the Spirit interacts and reside with those restored from the fallen creation and upon creation itself.  Space here does not permit a full explanation of the Scriptural basis for the assigning of each role; yet, the Bible is clear about the unified Godhead consisting in the three persons of God.

More Good News

     When it rains it pours.  After the great news yesterday I received a letter in the mail that said that I had been accepted to begin training as an assistant chaplain at Pardee hospital out here in Hendersonville.  So, I will soon be learning how to minister to patients and their loved ones.  I have also gotten an opportunity to preach at the rescue mission here thanks to a friend who schedules the services over there.  I hope I will have many opportunities to preach there.  It's a great place with many people who are looking for answers.

Joint reasons to celebrate

       Today was Hannah’s 12^th birthday and that alone is a reason to celebrate.  I went and got pizza from Wal-mart that we then made for dinner.  Afterwards we went across the street to Fruitland Baptist Church for the Wednesday night service.  On our way, we checked the mail and found that my acceptance letter had come at last.  we are very excited about the prospect of continuing my education.  Now we will be waiting for God to provide the funds for tuition and books as well as a place of service to support our family and serve Him through a local church.  We are very excited as the last few weeks of this quarter slip by and we head into the last quarter.  Praise God for all His wonderful blessings.

Saturday Pancakes

     Enjoyed my first Saturday of sleeping in for the past month, then pancakes with all my girls including my beautiful bride. Thank You Jesus.  He has been so good to me to save me and increase what I had greater than I almost lost.  Lord, you are the God of grace.

Pray for patience and direction

I recently sent my resume to a church in the Lumberton area.  I found out last Wednesday that the interim Pastor is sending my information along with two others to the pulpit committee for review.  Please pray for their decision process in their search for the man God wants to lead their church, and pray for my guidance if I am that man.

Hospital Assistant Chaplain program

     I'm getting ready to go over to Pardee Hospital to inquire about being trained as an assistant chaplain.  I how to gain insight and a practical understanding of how to minister to people who are sick or dying and their families.  I have begun to realize how important it is to know how to comfort people who are going through such difficult times.  I pray that God uses this experience to serve Him and comfort His people someday.

Blog staus

I am finally back to using my blog.  I posted a link to it on our family website, Longson.net.  This is my personal blog, the family blog is on our site.

Bike

      I am very excited.  My friend Mike at work just gave me his racing bike.  He knew I was looking for a good road bike or even one I could fix up so I could start exercising.  I miss running so much, but my knees just won't allow it anymore.  I am hoping that I can handle biking.Anyway, he can;t ride anymore since his knee surgeries following a car accident so he offered it to me.  I just ordered tires and tubes for it as well as some new grip tape.  Hopefully in a few weeks I will be up and riding after I get some gloves and a helmet.  Thank you Jesus.