My most recent prayer letter

Where has time gone?  Since my last edition of “On the run…” so much has happened.  It’s been crazy (in a good way).  I have been blessed to be able to see God working in the lives of students and in my own life as well.

Let’s start back in February when I was part of a team supporting Durham Christian Union.  Durham is a very “red brick” university and operates on a college level so this was always going to be very different to my own university mission week experience.  We had lunchtime apologetic style talks, which were led by Andrew Sachs, on various hot topics such as God and Science, Suffering and Hell, while Rico Tice led the evening talks titled RESCUED?  This was a really awesome week seeing God work miracles in people’s lives and unveiling the glory and splendour of Jesus Christ and seeing how bigger CUs run their mission weeks.  A number of people have been coming along to find out more in a follow up course so please continue to pray that eyes will be opened to the Truth of the gospel.

Towards the end of February the North East region held Forum NE for new CU leaders.  This was a really cool time meeting all the new leaders from as far north as Newcastle and as far south as Sheffield.  During the weekend we studied the sweet gospel message found in Leviticus.  There are some people who actually think Leviticus is boring! Isn’t that weird? Of course it can’t be true, because what would that say about God whose Word it is? So we were shown how awesome Leviticus really is by Mike Reeves which has impacted so many new leaders and many staff as well. I was helping to lead a seminar for new secretaries which went well.  Please pray that all the new CU leaders will find their feet in Christ and be able to serve the CU they are part of in His strength and using his wisdom. 

As March came so did the slightly better weather which a lovely blessing.  Northumbria had their Mission Week during the first full week of March, which had been forecasted for snow.  Thankfully the weatherman got it wrong and we were blessed with beautiful sunny days, albeit with some gale force winds added into the mix. A lot of the day-time events were held outside under a gazebo which proved to be fun with the winds but the CU managed to have loads of good conversations with students about “Who do you think Jesus is?” and “What do you think happens after you die?”. The week was titled “Trying to be religious is POINTless” which was trying to get people to think about where their priorities lie and what influences them climaxing with the main point being Jesus dying for them.  The evening events were really well attended and some people have been attending Christianity Explored, which is brilliant – Praise God!  Please pray that as people find out more and count the cost that they will see Jesus as their Saviour and Lord and follow him.

Just a fortnight ago I was helping out Sheffield Hallam CU, which is a smallish CU much like Northumbria.  We were using Sheffield Hallam’s 4 favourite movies (The Lion King, Inception, Toy Story 3 and Shawshank Redemption) to show how Christianity engages with film.  Each night we set up a themed 3-course meal where students watched clips from the movie, discussed some of the themes and heard a talk about how Christianity deals with some of the key themes in the movie.  This was a new concept as a method of engaging evangelism, and it seemed to work really well.  The CU members were really great at inviting their friends along, so much so that we had to put out extra tables many of the nights.  As with all the mission weeks there are students who really began to see Jesus for who he really is, please join me in praying for these students and that God will open their eyes fully.

Over the past two months Jo and I have been running a film discussion night in our flat for some of the students at Sunderland CU.  Basically our view was to love the students by welcoming them into our home and to help them engage with the big themes of the film.  Our God is a creative God and therefore we are creative which means God can speak into film, music and art.  So our aim is to show how Christianity engages with the films that we watch and ultimately help our non-Christian friends see a bit more of Christ.  This has been really good fun as it has helped Jo and I get to know the students better as well as allowing us to watch movies and call it work! J The guys from Sunderland are now running a film discussion night in their own homes which is brilliant so pray that they will continue with the vision: to seek to love their friends and show them Jesus more and more.  In light of that, we are now hoping to start a night for the guys and gals at Northumbria.  Please pray that this will work out and in the last few months of doing Relay we can serve the CU members in this way as well as showing them a really easy method of evangelism.

As you may or may not know Jo and I got an unexpected email from our landlord saying that due to the earthquake in New Zealand, where he was living for the year, he would need to move back into his property in April.  He had expected to be in New Zealand working for a year however the earthquake destroyed his home and business so he came back home to the UK.  This has left us in a bit of trouble as we are now looking for a place to live again.  Please pray that we will be able to find somewhere in the next few weeks so that we will be able to move and settle into another property before the end of the Easter holidays.

Thank you for all your continued prayer and support.  It really is much appreciated.

Chris and Jo Simons

Interview with Rebecca Manley Pippert

Found a great interview done during New World Alive this year.  Nay Dawson a UCCF Team Leader from down south speaks with Rebecca Manley Pippert.  Rebecca is the person who wrote the amazingly helpful and encouraging book call "Out of the Salt Shaker".

Check out the video and see what you think.

Dads being Dads

It's been a while since I last posted something on my blog but I've been away on Mission at Sheffield Hallam with Sheffield Hallam CU and haven't worked out an easy way to blog from my phone.

Today I was really struck by how much I love seeing Dads being Dads.  I had just got off the Metro from my 1-2-1 with Mike, a student in Sunderland, and was walking home and in front of me was a Dad walking with his young daughter and talking with her and helping her to properly 'find her feet' along the pedestrian walkway.  When they got to the road he taught her to stop and to look and listen out for cars before crossing the road.  It was such a simple thing and something I imagine every parent will do but I was really encouraged to see a Dad being a good Dad with his young daughter.  I was reminded also of a similar time when I was walking home and a Dad had arrived home from work and his children ran out with such excitement to welcome him home.  That experience put a massive smile on my face and warmed my heart.

I don't know why I was particularly struck by these simple yet so moving experiences.  Today I realise it was down to a God moment.  In our 1-2-1 we have been studying the book of Colossians and today we were looking at Chapter 3 v 18 - 4 v 1.  The passage is titled in the ESV as "Rules for Christian Households" and talks much of husbands, wives, children, slaves and masters.  In my little faith I wondered how our study would go as Mike is neither married, nor living with parents, nor a slave or a master.  So it was extremely encouraging to find out that he has been reading a book about God's ideal for men called "Wild at Heart" by John Eldredge.  We were able to chat about the role of men in our society, on how even at the very beginning of time men had responsibility and yet refused to use it (i.e. at the fall Adam was with Eve when she took and ate of the fruit - he could have stopped her had he taken his responsibility seriously).  We also talked about how the roles of men and women have shifted over the centuries into modern living.  Admittedly some of our ideas may have been flawed but we were able to trace much of the problems with families today down to men not taking up their responsibility.

Let me try to explain some of our thought processes.

We often think that "Wives, submit to your husbands" sounds really harsh and very 1950's however when we looked at what the Bible was really saying we realised that if God created man to be at the head of the family and responsible for the family then wives will naturally submit to their husbands in a loving way.  However, it was also very clear that the statement to husbands ("Husbands, love your wives") was vital to this.  For example if a husband loves his wife, if he spends time with her, nourishes her, supports her and leads her then she will instinctively submit to him.  If however the man doesn't take responsibility in the family and doesn't love his wife as he should then she will have to take more responsibility over the family and therefore decrease how much she actually submits to him.  When we saw this we began understanding why much of our culture thinks this way about the roles of men and women (i.e. that men and women are equal in everything).  Thinking back to the beginnings of the feminist movement did it all start because men were not taking their responsibility seriously?  Where they spending much of their time at work and not being sensitive to the needs of their family?  Where men seeing the need to be the "bread winner" over the need to love and cherish?  Both Mike and I are not well versed in history but it gave us real food for thought.  We both remembered the verse in Genesis 3:16 where God declared to Eve "your desire shall be for [or against] your husband, and he shall rule over you".  God showed that husbands will rule over their wives however women will desire to take that responsibility.  I interpret this to mean that women desire this because husbands will not bear all the responsibility that they should bear - they will try to delegate some of the responsibility to their wives until ultimately their wives will be 'earning the bread' and they will be sitting at home playing the Playstation or the Xbox.  As a little disclaimer I am not saying that women should never work and should stay at home in the style of the 1950's housewife I am simply trying to put forward the idea that men need to step up and take hold of the responsibility that they have been given so that they can love their wives all the more.

Okay so this post is all about Dads being Dads and all I've really ranted about is the fact that husbands need to man up and take responsibility.  Well I believe there is a clear connection.  If fathers lead their family well, by taking the responsibility for the family, then his children will see that strong Biblical role model and will seek to model it in their lives.  I also believe that his children need to have their father around.  So fathers should provide for their family but that does not just mean by bringing home the money for food, clothes and shelter.  It also means that he should provide for them spiritually, emotionally and physically.  It means that he should physically be around his children and he wife, spending time with them, loving them and caring for them, it means that he should be leading his family by teaching them (like the father I met on my way home) and it also means that he should share the Gospel with them.  

On Sunday at church we had two baby dedications and our Pastor shared some bits around the Bible about how parents (and particularly fathers) should love and care for their children.  We looked at a passage in Deuteronomy 6:4-7 which says "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.  You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul and with all your mind.  And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart.  You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise."  As men who are or may become fathers we should desire to teach our children the truths of the Gospel so that they may love the Lord with all their hearts, souls and minds.

If we love our children and lead the family well our children will desire to obey their parents - much in the same way as when we understand the Gospel and see Jesus as our loving Saviour and Lord we desire to obey Him out of an over pouring of joy in Him.

However, the passage in Colossians warns fathers not to provoke their children.  What does this mean?  Well I believe it is speaking to fathers who are harsh and critical of their children instead of encouraging them and equipping them for life.  I was blessed to have a father who encouraged me immensely and therefore I respect him and look up to him massively.  He has had an enormous impact on who I am today.  However, I know for some the opposite is true because their dad never told them he loved them, or was constantly critical or perhaps even mistreated them.  Paul is writing to encourage fathers to lead their family well.  Again if they lead well and encourage and equip their children then their children are more likely to obey them because their father is a role model to them.

So I guess that is why I love to see Dads being Dads.  I know that I want to be a loving husband to my wife and when God blesses us with children I know I want to be a father that leads by example.  A father of repentance and not one of religion (or rules) but one of grace, just like my father and my loving Heavenly Father.

Day 1 of "Pointless?" NCU Main Events Week

Well Main Events Week at Northumbria has well and truly started and I've just arrived back home from Day 1 of Main Events Week at Northumbria Christian Union (my former CU) where I have the privilege of being able to train, equip and support the students in the CU with the power of the Gospel and call it work. 

We started the day by "Talking to God before talking to people about God" (Gram Seed) which was a blessed time.  Getting excited about the Gospel and sharing it was so much fun.  The CU has bought a Gazebo which we put up in the wonderfully sunny but still rather cold Quad in the middle of the university.  We put up a few tables with gospels and a quote from Lady Gaga about love which people could come and assess whether they agreed with the quote or disagreed.  The quote was about love and we were asking whether people thought this was real love.  

"I want the deepest, darkest, sickest parts of you that your afraid to share with anyone because I love you so much"

Lady Gaga

This was a really easy way to get people thinking about what real love is and then talk to them about the theme of love that comes from the Gospel.  We had some really interesting responses to this quote - some largely because of how they viewed Lady Gaga :)

We had people playing acoustic music in order to draw attention and create a buzz which was an awesome idea.  Some of the CU members got stuck into questionnaires with students around the quad which brought about some exciting conversations and invitations to the rest of the weeks events.

The best part of the day had to be the conversations we were able to have with people when we invited them to write down on a massive roll of paper their answer to the question "What is your purpose in life? - Beer/Sex/Jesus/Something Else?"  There were some 'interesting' answers to say the least but I managed to butt into a conversation with one of the CU members and two Muslim guys.  We stood around shivering while having a really interesting conversation about what we believe and basically having the opportunity to give an answer for the hope that we have in Christ.

We estimated that we must have spent an hour chatting to these guys from topics ranging from Trinity, to authenticity of the Bible, to literal and figurative translations of things in the Bible, to what grace is all about and why we trust in Jesus Christ as our God and our Salvation.  Massive topics and much for me to come home and look into so that I may be able to answer some more of the questions that come my way from our new friends.  I pray that we may have knocked down some of the barriers that were preventing our friends from seeing the Truth.  I am thankful that it is by the power of the Holy Spirit that these sorts of miracles happen and I pray that massive miracles will happen on Northumbria Campus this week and into the future.

Throughout the week I'll try and write about what amazing things have been happening and any specific prayer requests.

But for now much praise for the ideas and planning that has come to fruition and the response we received today - Praise The Lord [ PTL for short apparently :) ]

Praise and Prayer Service to kick off the new PA system at church

At "The House" in Newcastle upon Tyne (my home church away from home) we have just installed a whole raft of new PA gear from mics, to a new Allan & Heath mixing console, to new amps and speakers and literally everything in between.  For me the technophile (that's someone who loves tech stuff) I am having a very pleasant morning worshipping through being able to use all this gear to facilitate corporate worship.

I am having a lot of fun with the FX unit and creating some awesome effects with the vocals on the system.  Admittedly it's not totally all perfected yet but I am extremely excited about how far we've come in just a few days.  Bring on the next couple of months :)

Marriage, Ministry and Mistakes

If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God’s church?

Jo and I watched a great video lecture by Mark Driscoll on Marriage, Ministry and Mistakes (video can be found on you tube by clicking this link).

One of the main things that came up was the question 'where do our priorities lie?'.  Having looked at 1 Timothy 3 it is clear that we should prioritise (1) Jesus, then (2) our Marriage, then (3) our Children and finally (4) our vocation or ministry.  As a bloke in ministry it can be hard to see that 'ministry' can actually be an idol in our lives.  At times it can be and we must be aware of it.  Our main focus should always be on Jesus and then my marriage and family before ministry for "If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God’s church?"

If I am a Christian but do not love my wife as I should then I am disqualified for ministry.  If, when I have kids, I neglect them and place ministry as a priority over them I should be held to account and repent as I am idolising ministry.  If I don't place my marriage and family above my ministry how can I minister to others - in effect I am 'disqualified'.

I understand this and whole heartedly believe this but I still have questions that take effect in the practical realm of ministry (as opposed the theological or theoretical realm).  

• How practically do I show I prioritise my wife when I am away on ministry trips etc?
• What does it look like?           

Movie Nights

I just thought I'd throw together a few thoughts for using movie nights in your home as a form of ministry.

Jo and I have been opening our house on Wednesday nights to some of the guys an gals from Sunderland CU, where we have been watching movies and then spending some time just chatting about the film.  At the start I was trying my hardest to get the gospel tediously included in each and every discussion as I saw the idea as a way to evangelise.  Indeed it is a way to evangelise but I was forgetting one of my own personal convictions on how to evangelise and that was by building up personal relationships.

Movie nights are a great way to get to know the students that come along, it s a great way to have fellowship with them and love them by sharing our lives with them.  Ultimately we want to be able to get them to bring their non Christian friends along so that we can discuss the worldviews portrayed in the movies.

I've been amazed at my lack of movie knowledge.  I don't know half of the movies that people are suggesting so I'm able to spend time "researching" movies which is a great form of "work".  I didn't realise that most movies present some sort of worldview - some are very clear like "Blood Diamond" where the agenda is to make people think twice about buying blood diamonds whilst the themes that come from "Chicken Run" are slightly less overt - freedom, role of men and women, seeking to save others rather than just yourself, etc - who would have thought Chicken Run would have been usable?

By in large this is a really easy way to love students and get to know them so that ultimately you may be able to share the real TRUTH with them.

Why not have a go yourself and try a movie night with friends.  Ted Turnau has a great website and easy how to do a Movie Night kit which can be found at http://www.turnau.cz/node/2

Making good on planning in leadership

I was watching one of Mark Driscoll's leadership blurbs today on "How an Idea becomes Reality".  He had some very simple points to make which upon reflection I tend to agree with.  

When trying to make something work there are 5 stages that need to be completed.

Vision - An idea to do/try something has to come to a leader either through their own thinking or after being passed on to someone in leadership by another person.  The vision then must be shared with the leadership team who will decide whether it should be taken further.  They must ask themselves:

• Is this in line with our ethos?
• What is the goal?
• Is this something to be tried?

Plan - Once the idea has been decided upon decisions must be made about practicalities.

• How can we achieve this goal?
• How much will it cost (time, money, volunteers, resources, etc)
• What are the pros and what are the cons?

If the planning team can pass the idea through the planning stage then the idea needs to be implemented.

Implement - This stage requires people to actively make things happen.  So the idea has been thought through and the beginnings have been planned out.  There are no more questions just plain serving by action.  Buy things, make things, get things working so that the idea can become a reality.

Manage - Have you ever come across a situation where a new ministry/venture was set up enthusiastically but didn't really work at first?  I know I have.  The only way it will continue is if it is managed well.  Managers are needed to keep things going even when it seems on a go slow.  They need to keep money coming in to support the work, they need to make sure there are enough people to do the work and they need to promote the work to further supporters but also to those for who the ministry/venture was intended.

Review - Sometimes things are on a go slow, sometimes things just don't work, but sometimes things need a revamp to function well.  This is why it is extremely important to evaluate the ministry/venture.  You need to evaluate results and performance against what was intended at the vision and planning stage.  At this stage you can either modify the ministry, kill it (shut it down) or build it further so that it may bear fruit.  Review is most likely done by those in the vision and planning stage as the whole process is cyclical in order to work effectively.

Is this what we are doing in the ideas we have?

Do CU's work this way with their events, new ideas and methods?

Do churches work this way?

Let's make some of our ideas reality by doing it right.

Reddeming Cities @ Belfast

Over the past week I’ve spent some time watching the videos of the Redeem Cities Conference in Belfast back in November.  The main speakers were Mark Driscoll, David Stroud and Tim Chester.  I really got a lot from the talks/lectures and thought I’d post links to them so the people who read my blog might be able to get some encouragement and challenges from them.

God Bless

http://vimeo.com/17671500  - Redeem Cities 2010: Mark Driscoll Session 1

http://vimeo.com/17806171  - Redeem Cities 2010: Mark Driscoll Session 2

http://vimeo.com/17840599  - Redeem Cities 2010: Mark Driscoll Q&A Session

http://vimeo.com/17880474  - Redeem Cities 2010: David Stroud Session 3

http://vimeo.com/17918004  - Redeem Cities 2010: Tim Chester Session 4

http://vimeo.com/17953827  - Redeem Cities 2010: David Stroud Session 5

http://vimeo.com/17703044  - Redeem Cities 2010: Group Q&A Session

http://vimeo.com/17952578  - Redeem Cities 2010: David Stroud Q&A Session

A brief look at Malachi

Well I’m still at the Relay 2 Conference but there has been bombarded with so much great teaching that I felt I had to blogify some of it so I could articulate my thoughts and pass them on to dear friends.

We have been studying the book of Malachi (a book I’ve often read but just skimmed over).  I have to admit it was difficult for me to grasp the meaning of what was being said in Malachi when I first read through it, however, having wrestled with it a bit I’ve come to a deep realisation that God is calling his people to be faithful to Him, to worship him wholeheartedly and to trust in his promise of one who will come to refine our lives (Jesus).

Our God is a loving God, a jealous God, a just God, an awesome God who holds his created universe in his hand and he holds us close to his heart.  Yet we often forget him, ignore him and even reject him.  We don’t follow his rule and reign and instead we worship something else or our selves. 

This was the problem with Israel in the day of Malachi.  We’ve only worked our way to the 3rd chapter so I don’t want to give anything away, but it is clear that by ourselves we cannot achieve a righteousness worthy of God.  We need the one that is sent by God, the one who is God, the one who is the “pure offering” and the “refiner” of our lives so that we may be acceptable to God. 

Thankfully that person, Jesus, has come and has offered us the gift of grace through his death on the cross, so that we might be forgiven and refined by the power of the Holy Spirit.  I’ve really been challenged that I need to remain faithful to God in every aspect of my life.  God rebukes the Israelites in respect to their faithlessness to their wives, and this has given me a clear picture of what being faithful to God really is.  I’ve been thinking about it this way, I love my wife with all my heart but I dare say there will be times in my life when something else looks/feels more appealing than her.  Being faithful means not falling into that temptation but turning away from it and back to the one I love.  And so it is the same with God.  There will be times when something in my life seems more important or relevant than God but I need to look at God and his awesomeness and see what he has done for me and take an overwhelming sense of pleasure in that and therefore forget about the other stuff.  By constantly looking at God’s greatness I will be faithful to him because I delight in him.

I’m not presuming this will be easy and I expect that I will fail countless times at it.  That is why my life has to be a life of constant repentance, as I gaze into the brilliance of the grace he has given to each of us.

Friedrich Schleiermacher lives up to his name

Friedrich Schleiermacher

So we were at our regional UCCF team day over the past two days and found out we were going to spend today looking at the “The Father of Modern Theology”.  A few names spring to mind when I heard the topic - Edwards, Luther, Calvin (and my list is a small one because I don’t know very many theologians yet).  But no - we were going to look at the works of Friedrich Schleiermacher. 

Names are often give a good insight into people, so I set about trying to work out what his name meant.  I did a bit of German at GCSE level so I knew that “macher” meant maker.  I thought I’d search Google on my iPhone to find out what “schleier” meant.  It means Veil, so Schleiermacher means Veil Maker.  (You’ll see where I’m going with this later).

In order to cut a long story short, I think you should read “On Giants’ Shoulders - introducing great theologians from Luther to Barth” by Mike Reeves.  This will give you a full idea of what Schleiermacher’s theology was.  Let’s just say it’s a bit crazy - but has impacted so much of our modern theology it’s scary!

Schleiermacher’s root and origin of thought is from his description of the essence of piety which he said was “the consciousness of being absolutely depended”.  So from Year 0 mankind has been dependent on something.  That something has varied over time in a gradual way - from a weak form of dependence in the likes of primitive polytheism to our now civilised form of evolutionary dependence in the Christian religion.  With further reading you’ll begin to see a number of HUGE flaws in his thought for example: he believed the historical fall of man was mere fantasy, he said that evil was a punishment for sin (sin is described as “God forgetfulness”) therefore if someone was murdered but no-one forgot God in the process then it was not evil, he claimed that God was not a personal God, that Jesus was simply a man with perfect ‘God-consciousness’ and that doctrine was only an expression of our affections.  Essentially he believed that the only way to know God was through experience and if that experience contradicted the Bible you were to trust the experience.

I realise that none of this will make sense unless you know something about Schleiermacher but my concern is this:  Although Schleiermacher’s views can be seen as ridiculous I believe that some of what he taught had permeated into our theology.  I forgot to mention earlier that he calls the Trinity “the coping-stone of Christian doctrine”, that is an unnecessary add-on, and he found that the Old Testament was not relevant to this higher form of dependence found in Christianity.

If we look to churches in our day and age, moreover if we look at ourselves how often do we think “It’s just the old testament, it’s not that important, all the good stuff is in the New Testament”, or how often do we put the Trinity somewhere in the background - we know it’s there but it’s not essential to our faith.  How often do we find people who call themselves Christian’s but don’t have all that much time for sanctification and even Jesus.  This has all been passed down to us from the theology of Schleiermacher.  We’ve realised some of his notions were totally wrong but yet still he has managed to veil the truth of the Bible, the truth of God’s character and sometimes the truth of Christ’s atonement for our sins amongst other things.

I think therefore that Schleiermacher has indeed lived up to his name by veiling the truth of the Gospel and has done a good job at it as it is still prevalent almost 200 years later.

The application I personally took from this session on Schleiermacher was:

1. I must watch the foundation of my faith - in that I will look to Scripture to shape my affections and my faith and not my feelings shape what I read into scripture.
2. I should view the Old Testament as a constant pointer to Jesus as Lord - I’m looking forward to reading some of Jonathan Edwards sermons on the Old Testament as well as checking out a bit more Tim Keeler for this.
3. Remember that God is a intimately loving and personal Trinitarian God

“Therefore, since through God’s mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart. Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God. And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,”made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.  But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.”

                       2 Corinthians 4:1-7

Have Christians perverted what the Bible says by creating the Doctrine of the Trinity?

The Debate over the Trinity

The doctrine of the Trinity is one of the most important in the Christian faith, yet it also causes much confusion and objection, especially because the term ‘Trinity’ is not itself found in the Bible.  This term was developed primarily by Tertullian, a Greek scholar, who described the Godhead by the word trinitas.  Tertullian wrote, “I testify that the Father, the Son, and the Spirit are inseparable from each other... My assertions is that the Father is one, the Son is one, and the Spirit is one - and that they are all distinct from each other.”

From this comes our three affirmations which are central to the doctrine of the Trinity:

1. There is but one God;
2. The Father, the Son and the Spirit is each fully and eternally God;
3. The Father, the Son, and the Spirit is each a distinct person.

Nowhere does the Bible explicitly teach this combination of assertions. It may, nevertheless, be claimed that the doctrine of the Trinity is a profoundly appropriate interpretation of the biblical witness to God in the light of the ministry, death, resurrection and exaltation of Jesus.

In order to show that the doctrine of the Trinity is in fact a true Biblical understanding, it will be necessary to show that the above affirmations are found in the Bible.  Below is a brief study on the Scriptural basis for the affirmations.  I do not profess to have included everything as to do so would require a lot more study and I would end up writing multiple books on the subject, however it should make it clear that Scripture is definitive on the doctrine of the Trinity.

There is but one God

How can there be a Trinity when the Old Testament insists there is only one God?  If the Old Testament is right, how can John assert that the Word (later identified with Jesus) is God?  Does this mean that the one God became a human being and so all of God was on earth?  Does it imply there are two (or, with the Holy Spirit, three) Gods?  We can attempt to look, only briefly, at what the Bible says on this topic.

Firstly, it is quite right that the Old Testament teaches that there is only one God or, better, that God is one.  We need only look at Deuteronomy 6:4, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.” What is more, the New Testament also affirms the same doctrine.  For example, James 2:19 reads, “You believe that there is one God. Good!”  As in Deuteronomy, an even better translation would be, “You believe that God is one.”  The unity of God and the fact that there are no other gods besides him is a foundational doctrine of the Bible.

Secondly, the New Testament also teaches that Jesus was divine.  John 1:1 reads, “God was the Word.”  This verse is only one of several verses indicating this fact.

The question therefore must be are there not three Gods?  The answer is that the New Testament does not give an explanation, but it does give facts, which were later used by the early church to make an explanation of how there can be three beings but not more than one God.  As pointed out above, the New Testament makes clear that there is only one God. The doctrine of “God is one” is foundational New Testament teaching, just as it is also true in the Old Testament.  The New Testament also makes clear that Jesus (and also the Holy Spirit) is God.  This can lead us to think that all of God perhaps became incarnate in Jesus and then in the Holy Spirit. This theory, however, does not sit well with New Testament teaching.  Jesus is constantly distinguishing himself from the Father.  For example, in John 11:41–43, he thanks the Father that he has heard him and then goes on to speak of the Father sending him.  This is part of an ongoing dialogue between the Father and the Son.  There is a constant discussion about the Son and the Father, which makes them equal, but at the same time distinguishes them.  Thus the Father did not become incarnate in Jesus. 

In the three subheadings below, Scripture will specifically show us that God the Father, His Son Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit are all God.  If they are all God, and the verses above are true then the Bible has given perfect proof that there is a Holy Divine Trinity of one God in three Persons.

God the Father is God

Throughout Scripture the Father is acknowledged as fully Divine, He is fully God.  Because this fact is recognised as beyond question, a mere sampling of biblical evidence will be presented.  1 Corinthians 8:6 reads, “yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist” and Deuteronomy 4:35-39 outlines that, “To you it was shown, that you might know that the Lord is God; there is no other besides him … that the Lord is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no other.”  These two verses make it blatantly clear that there is only one God – God the Father – and that there is no other god besides him.  Psalm 96:4-5 confirms this further by saying that there is only one God and that there are no other gods anywhere that are equal to Him, “For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; he is to be feared above all gods.  For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols”.

Jesus Christ is God

John 1:1-4 clearly affirms the full deity of Christ, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.  In him was life, and the life was the light of men.”  Here Christ is referred to as “the Word”, and John tells us that he was “with God” and “was God”.  The Greek text echoes that of Genesis 1:1 and therefore reminds us that John is talking about something that was true before the world was made.  He is telling us that the Word is God and was always fully God.  In John 1:14 he enlightens us further by declaring that “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”  John proclaims most clearly that the Word is Jesus Christ the Son of God, who is God and was with God at the beginning of time.  Paul writes to the church of Colosse saying that, “In him [Jesus] the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority.” Paul therefore makes it clear that Jesus is fully God.  Jesus himself confirms these statement in John 10:30 when he says, “I and the Father are one” and when he does not correct Thomas’ realisation that Jesus is “My Lord and my God” in John 20:27.

These verses provide major evidence to prove that Jesus Christ is truly God – and as such is truly the second Person of the triune Godhead.

The Holy Spirit is God

To complete the doctrine of the Trinity, it must be shown and proven from Scripture that the Holy Spirit is also God.  In Acts 5:3-4 it is inferred by Peter that the Holy Spirit is God when he rebukes Ananias, “why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land?… You have not lied to men but to God.”  Indeed in Paul’s letter to the Corinthians he claims that, “no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God”, for this to be true the Holy Spirit must be God in order to have the ability to be able to know the things of God the Father.  No human has perfect ability to know all things of God.  Only Jesus and the Holy Spirit have this capability within the Godhead itself.  The Bible says that humans will only “know in part” with what knowledge we can acquire from God.

Conclusion

If we believe that all of Scripture is “God breathed” (the whole of the Bible has come to us from

God the Father, through the Holy Spirit) then all of the above verses, especially when they are grouped together show that God is one God in three Persons – with God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit being the three, distinct Persons of this triune Godhead – and with all three Persons of this Godhead being co-equal and co-eternal.

1 John 5:7 in the NKJV sums this up in one concise yet profound verse,  “For there are three that bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one.”

The doctrine of the Trinity is not something that the early Christian church simply made up, the Bible contains countless references to the plurality and unity within the Godhead.  Christians have not ‘perverted’ what the Bible tell us, instead they have sought to define what the Word of God states to be true in the doctrine of the Trinity.