Preview of thoughts for upcoming Posts

Prayer

I wonder??

I thought that Prayer would be the easiest of all aspects of Christianity to discuss. Certainly, as Christians we all pray.  There are numerous  scriptures relating to prayer. If we are not praying, certainly, we are in the presence of those who are praying whether prior to a meal or prior to a church meeting or from the pulpit at our church. People pray at the opening of the US Congress, at State events and until lately at the beginning of athletic events.

There are a lot of books on prayer.  I have been reading one lately titled,
"The PaPa Prayer" by Larry Crabb. He challenges your concept of prayer and talks a great deal about praying for "first things" first. Admittedly, he has challenged my concepts of prayer and forced me to rethink how I pray and for what I pray.

To whom do we pray? For what should we pray? What form should prayer take? Do we even need to pray? Are prayers effective? Silent or vocal prayers? What position should we take in prayer? Should we pray for ourselves only or for other people?

There are a lot of questions I have about prayer and I hope to write about prayer at a later time.

The Trinity

One of the most basic Christian beliefs concerns the Godhead, God the father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. It is one of those concepts that I accept by faith because it does not make sense to me. Three Bible references will illustrate my dilemma.

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God" (John 1:1 NIV

Jesus talking, "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching.  My Father will love him, and we will come to him..." (John 14:23 NIV)

Jesus speaking,' But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things..." (John 14:26 NIV)

Much of the scriptural reference I have found refer to three distinct beings, God, Jesus and the Spirit. and yet there are references to all three being wrapped into one with the three being separate aspects of God.

I may not resolve this question, but I am going to examine it.