Showing posts with label Trinity Sunday. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Trinity Sunday. Show all posts

Friday, May 29, 2015

Trinity 1+1+1=1


There are three magnificent readings set for this Sunday and a glorious Psalm to set the tone for worship:

Prayers for Trinity Sunday


The first prayer is from A Barclay Prayer Book and the second is Patrick's Breastplate Prayer

Tuesday, May 26, 2015

Trinity ... Unity

This is one of the few Sundays in the Christian year when all 4 of the lectionary readings are meant to compliment each other. So in Isaiah, in the action of the paired wings of the seraphim we see an image of Trinity. One pair covers the face (Father), another the feet (Son), and with the third they fly (Holy Spirit). In John we the Trinitarian nature of our salvation: God the Father loved us and sent the Son; we are drawn to and believe into the Son; and we are born anew of and by the work of the Holy Spirit. In Romans we see that as children of God, we are led by the Spirit of God, calling out to the Father, and being made joint-heirs with Christ the Son. As for the Psalm, in a polytheistic world, this temple song proclaimed that YHWH rules over all other gods in the heavens and on earth.
I think my focus is going to be that the unity in the Trinity ought to be manifested in unity in the church.
Here are the readings:

Saturday, June 14, 2014

Prayer for Trinity Sunday and Fathers' Day


Almighty and everlasting God, you have given to us your servants grace, by the confession of a true faith, to acknowledge the glory of the eternal Trinity, and in the power of your divine Majesty to worship the Unity: Keep us steadfast in this faith and worship, and bring us at last to see you in your one and eternal glory, O Father; who with the Son and the Holy Spirit live and reign, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.


PASTORAL PRAYER FOR FATHER'S DAY

    Loving and Merciful God, whose power is beyond our scope and whose wisdom is beyond our understanding, we turn to you in faith assured that you know our every emotion and are aware of our every need. Our thoughts and prayers today are turned towards our fathers.

    For those whose fathers have increased the joy in their lives, we give you thanks.

    For those whose father's presence is greatly missed may we take time to gratefully recall all they have given to us, providing for us in our growing.

    For those who have recently lost or who are facing the imminent loss of their own fathers, may they find comfort in their grief, hope in their despair, courage in the love that their fathers have given them.

    We give thanks, God, for those good men who sustain and support us in our living, who love us no matter what! What a blessing they are to all who know them!

    We give thanks to you, O God, for all those whose gift for fatherhood is so strong that they have allowed their caring to spill over into the lives of others providing the guidance and stability, the nurture and the love needed.

    How distressing it is for us to consider that not all fathers have been good fathers. We pray, compassionate God, for those whose father has been a source of hurt and pain, for all those for whom one or more members of their family has caused them to suffer. May their wounds be healed. May they find in you, in us, in others, the nurturing, sustaining love that is needed for their growth and well-being.

    We recall with sadness fathers who are separated from their children through life choices made by them or others. Give them the insight and wisdom, the courage and perseverance to parent in whatever creative and life-giving ways are open to them. Give them the courage to make the decisions which allow their children to prevail.

    We remember before you single fathers and mothers who struggle to be both parents to their children --to provide all the emotional, physical and spiritual needs without the constant support of a spouse. May they find the strength, the courage and wisdom for their task.

    We pray for those fathers whose relationships with their children have been difficult or disappointing. We pray, too, for those who have been denied a chance to be fathers, and for those whose years of parenting have been cut short by the loss of a child. We turn to You, most holy God, knowing, trusting that you can console where consolation seems impossible. May they receive comfort for their soul and peace and hope for living, that their gifts may not be denied to others.

    Finally, O God, we rejoice with you, at the many fine men, who have taken their place as fathers with open hearts, with willingness and joy.

    And we join all fathers everywhere in praying that their children may be well and happy, a source of joy for years to come.

    Hear our prayers this day, O God, and give to us such assurance of your love that your love may spill from us into the lives of others.

    Amen.

A colleague of mine (Rev Jenny Sprong) in the Methodist Church of Southern Africa has shared this beautiful prayer. I'm not sure if any further acknowledgements are due regarding its authorship. If any readers are aware of its origin, please contact me cedric@johnwesleyproject.com and I will publish that information.

Friday, June 13, 2014

Trinity Sunday: Believe in God... or....Believe God

(Read John Wesley's Sermon on the Trinity here)
(Read the Prayer for Trinity Sunday here)
(Read a Fathers'Day prayer here)

One of the biggest controversies that the early Church faced was over coming to terms with who God is, the God who had revealed Himself in the Scriptures we call the Old Testament.  They had to reconcile the Biblical truth that, “The Lord your God, the Lord is One” (Deut 6:4) with the truth they had come to experience in the presence of Christ who had seemed to them to be God in their midst, especially after His resurrection.  And then, after Pentecost, they had to try and explain the Holy Spirit, who was poured out on them and now seemed to be the amazing and quite unbelievable, presence of God within them!
                                                
“Behold, Israel, the Lord your God, the Lord is One”......but He seems to be in Heaven, and Jesus has said we can call Him Father,...... and He seems also to have been on earth in Jesus who called Him Father,..... and He seems to be in us when we are born again and baptised in the Spirit, as Jesus said we must be if we want to see and be a part of the Kingdom which is in our midst (John 3.)

It really was (and is) a mystery, but by 55 AD when Paul wrote his second letter to the Corinthians, one can see they are coming to terms with what would only later be called the Triune God, the God who is Trinity, the God who is One, but Three......Three, but One......mystery.  

Paul ends his letter with what has become the best known benediction among Christians, “May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.”

Much later the Church would put into words this belief in the form of a credo, a creed, which means: “I believe.” The Nicene was written in 325 AD and puts into words the mysterious description of God as Trinity, as God who is Father, God who is Son and God who is Holy Spirit.

Our God is a “plural”, a “we”, an “us”......mystery.  Our God has said that He is not like us, that His ways are not our ways but even so He has chosen to reveal as much of Himself (themselves) to us as we can bear to see and take in ...... and this is enough for us to be able to decide whether we want to have anything to do with Him/Them. 

That our God is a we/us should come as no surprise to us because right back in the very first verses of our Scriptures (Genesis 1:26)

            “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness.”

Do you see that: God said......Let us.

So here’s the question we must ask......what does it mean to be created in the image of, in the likeness of God who is Trinity?

This is key to our understanding of everything we’ve been looking at since Easter.  Good Friday marked the drawing into one place, the focusing, of all evil into one place and onto one person, God the Son, Jesus the Christ.  That one “person” then conquered all evil and with His resurrection on Sunday, the first day of the week, inaugurated a new world, a new creation, a new kingdom, a new order, which has many manifestations, just one of them being that evil has never again had the last word, evil is a conquered enemy (which of course is a very dangerous enemy to have).  And then with the giving of His Holy Spirit, God has created a new people, the Church, whose primary calling is to accept God’s invitation to be a part of inaugurating this new world (while we live in the old), this new creation, while we live in the old creation, inaugurating this new kingdom where we have one King and His Name is Jesus, even as we live under other kings/rulers/presidents with other names, inaugurating this new order, which is now God’s order, God’s pattern, God’s way even as we live under the order, pattern, ways of the old world.

For all this we need to be born again, and part of that process is ......  becoming ...... like ...... them, getting new ears, new eyes.....a new heart...all of these like...God's.

“Let us make humans in our likeness” ...... let us recreate humans, who have had our image/likeness shattered in them because of sin, let us recreate them in our image, let us restore in them, our image.  We have dealt with sin, once and for all on the cross, so now we can restore in them, our image ...... if they let us ...... if they want to be like us in the world where they live, and Jesus showed them what that means, ...... if they want that, we will do it in them.  And we can do that because we have sent and will continue sending our Holy Spirit, who is the holy making Spirit in them, if they ask for our Spirit.

I’m going to lift from our reading from Genesis a few things regarding what it means to be created, re-created in God’s image......what it means to be like them, like God......here in Alberton in 2014.

There is much, much more to this subject (books are written on this subject) but I am going to look at the Old Testament reading on the 7 days of Creation, which is where God first reveals Himself to us, and lift 7 things it might mean for us to be “like them" as we go about our business in each of the 7 day cycles that we might have left.

  1. The first chapter of Genesis reveals to us that God is creative – He seeks to build, He seeks to make new, and He always seeks to make better.  We, if we are to be like God, should be creative.....always looking to make new, to make better.  Sometimes, making new means breaking down (the rest of Scripture will show us that our God sometimes breaks down, His people, His Temple...... but always because He has something better in mind.)  In these last few weeks, we have seen bulldozers breaking down people’s homes in our country, but with nothing better in the offing.  That is not creative.  God sometimes brought a bulldozer to His people, their Temple and sometimes to His Church – but always because something better was in the offing.  We are called to be, and re-created to be, creative.
  2. God is especially creative through His words – His words left Creation in place.  Our words, our tongues, ought to be creative and to leave behind creation or the possibility of creation, through the wisdom, knowledge and love imparted by our words.
  3. God creates from nothing and the nothingness from which He creates is in some translations called “the chaos” in verse 2 of Genesis 1.  This is very encouraging in a broken, chaotic world, in a world where many often feel they have “nothing” left.  The person re-created in God’s image, the person who desperately longs to become more like God, especially as revealed in Jesus, realises that chaos and nothingness are the very means, the building blocks,      of the possibility of something good and something new.  God’s Spirit hovers over these things in people’s lives, often waiting for God’s people to proclaim a creative word, like God would, over the mess and chaos of people's situations.
  4. Our God has a rhythm that is good......and I’d love to spend a whole sermon on this but can’t.  God’s heart seems to beat in a certain way, and when ours beats to the same rhythm, I give personal testimony to the fact that our lives change for the better.  After each day of creation, we hear these words: “And there was evening, and there was morning, and that was the first (second, third......) day.”  In God’s rhythm, a new day starts......in the evening, at sunset.  In other words, the day starts with......rest.  Now you may say that this is just playing with words......but they are God’s words, and therefore I think we ought to listen to them and let our minds be conformed to them... Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind (Paul in Romans12)  The Romans said the new day began at midnight and the Greeks said the new day began at sunrise.  God’s people have always said: The new day begins at sunset.  I’d love to go into this more but will leave it here: to be made in the likeness of God means to also think as God does and move to the same rhythm as God does.
  5. We see in the Creation story, that God trusts those who are made in His image.  He makes all of creation and says: Will you take care of it for me?  Trust is His default.  We live in a world where distrust is the default – people have to prove themselves trustworthy in order to earn our trust – can you see how that is the exact opposite of the God in whose image we are created, and hopefully are busy being re-created.  And the Bible shows in the next chapter that God’s trust was totally misplaced......but here’s the mystery and the grace and the love......He refuses to not trust those who have proven themselves untrustworthy.  That takes tremendous faith on our part but it is often the only way we can speak a creative word into the life of someone the world has discarded.
  6. He blesses......and we should too.  Last week, we looked at, “We are blessed in order to be a blessing” ...... so no more on that this morning.
  7. He rests, and people becoming like Him, should rest as well.  As I read the Creation story, it seems to me that the first thing that humans created in God’s image do......is rest.  Sunset comes on Day 6, just after God created humans in our image.... and it is bedtime.  Then they wake up the next day, the 7th day, and probably say, all excitedly, “Wow......what now......what are we to do on this first morning......” and God says: ...... “it’s a day for you to rest!”

So......our God is an us/we who created humans in His/Their likeness.  We’ve looked at 7 things that might mean for us today. Let's be like Him, as He has revealed Himself to us in Christ and empowered by His Spirit.


I close with this thought: In our creeds, we say that we believe in God, in Jesus, in the Holy Spirit.  That is good and well, but only a beginning.  From believing in God, we must move to believing God because it is believing God, Jesus, Holy Spirit that has a transforming affect on us, because then we let Him change us because we believe His way is best for us.

Tuesday, June 10, 2014

John Wesley On the Trinity

Note from DentalMethodist JohnWesleyProject.com  This sermon was published first in Ireland, bearing the following advertisement dated Cork, May 8, 1775:

Some days since I was desired to preach on this text. I did so yesterday morning. In the afternoon I was pressed to write down and print my sermon, if possible, before I left Cork. I have wrote it this morning; but I must beg the reader to make allowance for the disadvantages I am under; as I have not here any books to consult, nor indeed any time to consult them. 

This information sourced from Bicentennial Edition of The Works of John Wesley, Vol 22 , Abingdon Press


On The Trinity
"There are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: And these three are one." 1 John 5:7.

1. Whatsoever the generality of people may think, it is certain that opinion is not religion: No, not right opinion; assent to one, or to ten thousand truths. There is a wide difference between them: Even right opinion is as distant from religion as the east is from the west. Persons may be quite right in their opinions, and yet have no religion at all; and, on the other hand, persons may be truly religious, who hold many wrong opinions. Can any one possibly doubt of this, while there are Romanists in the world For who can deny, not only that many of them formerly have been truly religious, as Thomas a Kempis, Gregory Lopez, and the Marquis de Renty; but that many of them, even at this day, are real inward Christians And yet what a heap of erroneous opinions do they hold, delivered by tradition from their fathers! Nay, who can doubt of it while there are Calvinists in the world, -- assertors of absolute predestination For who will dare to affirm that none of these are truly religious men Not only many of them in the last century were burning and shining lights, but many of them are now real Christians, loving God and all mankind. And yet what are all the absurd opinions of all the Romanists in the world, compared to that one, that the God of love, the wise, just, merciful Father of the spirits of all flesh, has, from all eternity, fixed an absolute, unchangeable, irresistible, decree, that part of all mankind shall be saved, do what they will; and the rest damned, do what they can!

2. Hence, we cannot but infer, that there are ten thousand mistakes which may consist with real religion; with regard to which every candid, considerate man will think and let think. But there are some truths more important than others. It seems there are some which are of deep importance. I do not term them fundamental truths; because that is an ambiguous word: And hence there have been so many warm disputes about the number of fundamentals. But surely there are some which it nearly concerns us to know, as having a close connexion with vital religion. And doubtless we may rank among these that contained in the words above cited: There are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: And these three are one.

3. I do not mean that it is of importance to believe this or that explication of these words. I know not that any well judging man would attempt to explain them at all. One of the best tracts which that great man, Dean Swift, ever wrote, was his Sermon upon the Trinity. Herein he shows, that all who endeavored to explain it at all, have utterly lost their way; have, above all other persons hurt the cause which they intended to promote; having only, as Job speaks, "darkened counsel by words without knowledge." It was in an evil hour that these explainers began their fruitless work I insist upon no explication at all; no, not even on the best I ever saw; I mean, that which is given us in the creed commonly ascribed to Athanasius. I am far from saying, he who does not assent to this shall without doubt perish everlastingly." For the sake of that and another clause, I, for some time, scrupled subscribing to that creed; till I considered (1.) That these sentences only relate to wilful, not involuntary, unbelievers; to those who, having all the means of knowing the truth, nevertheless obstinately reject it: (2.) that they relate only to the substance of the doctrine there delivered; not the philosophical illustrations of it.

4. I dare not insist upon any one's using the word Trinity, or Person. I use them myself without any scruple, because I know of none better: But if any man has any scruple concerning them, who shall constrain him to use them I cannot: Much less would I burn a man alive, and that with moist, green wood, for saying, Though I believe the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Ghost is God; yet I scruple using the words Trinity and Persons, because I do not find those terms in the Bible." These are the words which merciful John Calvin cites as wrote by Servitus in a letter to himself. I would insist only on the direct words, unexplained, just as they lie in the text: "There are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: And these three are one."

5. "As they lie in the text :" -- but here arises a question: Is that text genuine Was it originally written by the Apostle, or inserted in later ages Many have doubted of this; and, in particular, the great light of the Christian church, lately removed to the Church above, Bengelius, -- the most pious, the most judicious, and the most laborious, of all the modern Commentators on the New Testament. For some time he stood in doubt of its authenticity, because it is wanting in many of the ancient copies. But his doubts were removed by three considerations: (1.) That though it is wanting in many copies, yet it is found in more; and those copies of the greatest authority: -- ( 2.) That it is cited by a whole gain of ancient writers, from the time of St. John to that of Constantine. This argument is conclusive: For they could not have cited it, had it not been in the sacred canon: -- (3.) That we can easily account for its being, after that time, wanting in many copies, when we remember that Constantine's successor was a zealous Arian, who used every means to promote his bad cause, to spread Arianism throughout the empire; in particular the erasing this text out of as many copies as fell into his hands. And he so far prevailed, that the age in which he lived is commonly styled, Seculum Aranium, -- "the Arian age;" there being then only one eminent man who opposed him at the peril of his life. So that it was a proverb, Athanasius contra mundum: "Athanasius against the world."

6. But it is objected: "Whatever becomes of the text, we cannot believe what we cannot comprehend. When, therefore, you require us to believe mysteries, we pray you to have us excused."
Here is a two-fold mistake: (1.) We do not require you to believe any mystery in this; whereas; you suppose the contrary. But, (2.) You do already believe many things which you cannot comprehend.

7. To begin with the latter: You do already believe many things which you cannot comprehend. For you believe there is a sun over your head. But whether he stands still in the midst of his system, or not only revolves on his own axis, but rejoiceth as a giant to run his course; you cannot comprehend either one or the other: How he moves, or how he rests. By what power, what natural, mechanical power, is he upheld in the fluid either You cannot deny the fact: Yet you cannot account for it, so as you satisfy any rational inquirer. You may indeed give us the hypothesis of Ptolemy, Tycho Brahe, Copernicus, and twenty more. I have read them over and over: I am sick of them; I care not three straws for them all.
Each new solution but once more affords New change of terms, and scaffolding of words: In other garb my question I receive, And take my doubt the very same I gave.
Still I insist, the fact you believe, you cannot deny; but the manner you cannot comprehend.

8. You believe there is such a thing as light, whether flowing from the sun, or any other luminous body; but you cannot comprehend either its nature. or the manner wherein it flows. How does it move from Jupiter to the earth in eight minutes; two hundred thousand miles in a moment How do the rays of the candle, brought into the room, instantly disperse into every corner Again: Here are three candles, yet there is but one light. I explain this, and I will explain the Three-One God.

9. You believe there is such a thing as air. It both covers you as a garment, and, Wide interfused, Embraces round this florid earth.
But can you comprehend how Can you give me a satisfactory account of its nature, or the cause of its properties Think only of one, its elasticity: Can you account for this It may be owing to electric fire attached to each particle of it; it may not; and neither you nor I can tell. But if we will not breathe it till we can comprehend it, our life is very near its period.

10. You believe there is such a thing as earth. Here you fix your foot upon it: You are supported by it. But do you comprehend what it is that supports the earth "O, an elephant, says a Malabarian philosopher "and a bull supports him." But what supports the bull The Indian and the Briton are equally at a loss for an answer. We know it is God that "spreadeth the north over the empty space, and hangeth the earth upon nothing. This is the fact. But how Who can account for this Perhaps angelic but not human creatures.
I know what is plausibly said concerning the powers of projection and attraction. But spin as fine as we can, matter of fact sweeps away our cobweb hypothesis. Connect the force of projection and attraction how you can, they will never produce a circular motion. The moment the projected steel comes within the attraction of the magnet, it does not form a curve, but drops down.

11. You believe you have a soul. "Hold there," says the Doctor; [Dr. Bl__r, in his late tract.] I believe no such thing. "If you have an immaterial soul so have the brutes too." I will not quarrel with any that think they have; nay, I wish he could prove it: And surely I would rather allow them souls, than I would give up my own. In this I cordially concur in the sentiment of the honest Heathen. Si erro, libenter erro; et me redargui valde recusem. "If I err, I err willingly; and I vehemently refuse to be convinced of it." And I trust most of those who do not belie a Trinity are of the same mind. Permit me then to go on. You believe you have a soul connected with this house of clay. But can you comprehend how What are the ties that unite the heavenly flame with the earthly clod You understand just nothing of the matter. So it is; but how none can tell.

12. You surely believe you have a body, together with your soul, and that each is dependent on the other. 
Run only a thorn into your hand; immediately pain is felt in your soul. On the other side is shame felt in your soul Instantly a blush overspreads your cheek. Does the soul feel fear or violent anger Presently the body trembles. These also are facts which you cannot deny; nor can you account for them.

13. I bring but one instance more: At the command of your soul, your hand is lifted up. But who is able to account for this For the connexion between the act of the mind, and the outward actions Nay, who can account for muscular motion at all; in any instance of it whatever When one of the most ingenious Physicians in England had finished his lecture upon that head, he added, Now, gentlemen, I have told you all the discoveries of our enlightened age; and now, if you understand one jot of the matter, you understand more than I do." The short of the matter is this: Those who will not believe anything but what they can comprehend, must not believe that there is a sun in the firmament; that there is light shining around them; that there is air, though it encompasses them on every side; that there is any earth, though they stand upon it. They must not believe they have a soul; no, nor that they have a body.

14. But, secondly, as strange as it may seem. in requiring you to believe, "there arc three that bear record in heaven the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: And these three are one;" you are not required to believe any mystery. Nay, that, great and good man, Dr. Peter Browne, sometime Bishop of Cork, has proved at large that the Bible does not require you to believe any mystery at all. Thee Bible barely requires you to believe such facts; not the manner of them. Now the mystery does not lie in the fact, but altogether in the manner.
For instance: God said, let there be light: And there was light." I believe it: I believe the plain fact: There is no mystery at all in this. The mystery lies in the manner of it. But of this I believe nothing at all; nor does God require it of me.
Again: "The Word was made flesh." I Believe this fact also. There is no mystery in it; but as to the manner how he was made flesh, wherein the mystery lies, I know nothing about it; I believe nothing about it: It is no more the object of my faith, than it is of my understanding.

15. To apply this to the case before us: There are three that bear record in heaven: And these three are One. I believe this fact also, (if I may use the expression,) that God is Three and One. But the manner how I do not comprehend and I do not believe it. Now in this, in the manner, lies the mystery; and so it may; I have no concern with it: It is no object of my faith: I believe just so much as God has revealed, and no more. But this, the manner, he has not revealed; therefore, I believe nothing about it. But would it not be absurd in me to deny the fact, because I do not understand the manner That is, to reject what God has revealed, because I do not comprehend what he has not revealed.

16. This is a point much to be observed. There are many things "which eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man to conceive. Part of these God Hath "revealed to us by his Spirit:" -- "Revealed;" that is, unveiled, uncovered: That part he requires us to believe. Part of them he has not revealed: That we need not, and indeed cannot, believe: It is far above, out of our sight.
Now, where is the wisdom of rejecting what is revealed, because we do not understand what is not revealed of denying the fact which God has unveiled, because we cannot see the manner, which is veiled still

17. Especially when we consider that what God has been pleased to reveal upon his head, is far from being a point of indifference, is a truth of the last importance. It enters into the very heart of Christianity: It lies at the heart of all vital religion.
Unless these Three are One, how can "all men honour the Son, even as they honour the Father" "I know not what to do," says Socinus in a letter to his friend, with my untoward followers: They will not worship Jesus Christ. I tell them it is written, `Let all the angels of God worship him.' They answer, However that be, if he is not God, we dare not worship him. For `it is written, Thou shalt worship the lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.'"
But the thing, which I here particularly mean is this: The knowledge of the Three-One God is interwoven with all true Christian faith; with all vital religion.
I do not say that every real Christian can say with the Marquis de Renty, "I bear about with me continually an experimental verity, and a plenitude of the presence of the ever-blessed Trinity."I apprehend this is not the experience of babes," but, rather, "fathers in Christ."
But I know not how any one can be a Christian believer till he "hath," as St. John speaks, "the witness in himself;" till "the Spirit of God witnesses with his spirit, that he is a child of God;" that is, in effect, till God the Holy Ghost witnesses that God the Father has accepted him through the merits of God the Son: And, having this witness, he honours the Son, and the blessed Spirit, "even as he honours the Father."

18. Not that every Christian believer adverts to this; perhaps, at first, not one in twenty: But if you ask any of them a few questions, you will easily find it is implied in what he believes.
Therefore, I do not see how it is possible for any to have vital religion who denies that these Three are one. And all my hope for them is, not that they will he saved during their unbelief, (unless on the footing of honest Heathens, upon the plea of invincible ignorance,) but that God, before they go hence, "will bring them to the knowledge of the truth."


Edited by David R. Leonard with corrections by Ryan Danker and George Lyons of Northwest Nazarene University (Nampa, Idaho) for the Wesley Center for Applied Theology.   Copyright 1999 by the Wesley Center for Applied Theology. Text may be freely used for personal or scholarly purposes or mirrored on other web sites, provided this notice is left intact. Any use of this material for commercial purposes of any kind is strictly forbidden without the express permission of the Wesley Center at Northwest Nazarene University, Nampa, ID 83686. Contact the webmaster for permission.