Tilling and Planting

Author: Cory Lewis

  • Explaining The Trinity

    Explaining The Trinity

    Intro

    Welcome to the last post discussing the Trinity. Even though I’ve officially completed the Trinity Trilogy, explaining the Trinity warrants its own post. So, I’ll be doing my best to explain – or at least simplify – what the Trinity is and how it works. If you haven’t read any of the posts in the trilogy, catch up here: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

    What Is The Trinity?

    The Trinity, also known as the Godhead, is a concept that is difficult to explain and understand. Basically, God is a single God who exists as three persons – Father, Son (Jesus), and Holy Spirit. (Just writing “single” and “three persons” in the same sentence to describe the same noun makes the logical parts of me cringe.) These three persons are distinct yet are also each God. And the Bible demonstrates in many places just how distinct they are.

    Some examples, Jesus prays to Father God on a regular basis. God speaks affirmations over Jesus, declaring Him to be His son, on no fewer than 3 occasions (Jesus’ baptism, the transfiguration, and another time). And Jesus states that both He and Father God will send Holy Spirit and Jeus refers to Holy Spirit as “Him”. This makes it clear that Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are distinct persons. However, the Bible is also clear in referring to each of them as God. Jesus makes statements to be God (refer to my previous posts for examples) and one of the best passages that references Holy Spirit as God is in Acts 5. In this story, Peter accuses Ananias of lying to Holy Spirit and then a couple of sentences later, says that he lied to God. Clearly Peter understood Holy Spirit to be God and not just some impersonal “force”.

    All that said, many illustrations exist to try and explain – or simplify – the Trinity to make it easier to understand. I will be putting forth a handful that I have heard over the years. I leave it up to you to decide which one(s) make it easier for you to understand.

    Illustrations

    I have heard several illustrations trying to explain the Trinity from my many years of experience within the church. And this list I’m giving you probably isn’t all of them, just the ones I can remember. I will give a description of each one and how well I think it holds up to the truth. The litmus test for these will be how well the individual part can perform the job of the whole. Any member of the Godhead can perform everything that Bible says God can do. Each member is omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, and immutable. So for these examples, how well it holds up depends on how well the individual part can perform the job that you expect of the whole. If you have any additional ones that you like, let me know in the comments.

    The Tree

    One of the earliest illustrations I recall is the Tree. When you think of a tree, three pieces of one probably jump to your mind immediately: the leaves, the trunk, and the roots (branches as well, but I’m including that in the trunk for the sake of the illustration). These three primary parts of a tree are all distinct, but they make up a single tree. The problem here is that while each member of the Godhead is individually God, you can’t say the same about each of the three parts of the tree. The leaves can’t perform the job you expect the whole tree to do. The nicest part of this one is that it demonstrates an example of a triune God creating things with the number 3 (seriously, start examining everything God has created and you’ll be amazed at how many times the number 3 pops up).

    The Egg

    I only heard about the Egg illustration more recently. It’s one that my wife, Stacy, introduced me to. In this one, you’ve got the shell, the egg white, and the yolk. Again, they are all distinct pieces of the egg, yet it’s still a single egg. I like this one a bit better than the tree since unlike the tree, eggs really don’t have much more to them other than these three parts. It makes it easier to compare instead of nitpicking a tree apart and pointing out all the distinct parts of it. And similar to the tree, the egg is also an example of a triune God creating things with the number 3. However, the tree’s shortcoming is the same as the egg. You can’t point to the yolk and call it an egg. Without the other two parts, it’s not a complete egg.

    The Family

    Now we’re getting to my favorite illustrations. The Family unit is one of the better illustrations for the Trinity. In the Trinity you get Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. In the family unit you get Father, Mother, and Children.

    Relationships

    As an aside, I am going to briefly mention the relationships within the Trinity. In the Bible we clearly see Jesus submitting to His Father’s will time and again. Jesus says He only does what He sees the Father doing (see John 5:19). Even though Jesus is God and is equal to God, He submits to Father God. With Holy Spirit, Jesus states that He and Father God have authority to send Holy Spirit. Furthermore, Jesus declares that Holy Spirit will glorify Him, Jesus, rather than glorifying Himself. This demonstrates a submission on the part of Holy Spirit to Jesus and to Father God.

    This relationship reflects the ideal family unit that God designed (and that sin destroyed). First, you got the father in the place of Father God. Second, you got the mother submitting to the spiritual leadership of her husband as Jesus submits to Father God (the Bible makes it clear that the wife submits to the husband, though it is also clear that the husband submits to his wife as well; but that is a whole other topic). And finally, you got the children as – pretty literally – coming from the parents. And the children are meant to submit (obey) to both father and mother (Ephesians 6:1-3 is perhaps my favorite passage about this). In addition, just as Holy Spirit glorifies Father and Son, so too are children meant to bring joy and honor to their parents (Proverbs 15:20).

    The family is great to describe the relationships within the Trinity. And again, one family, but three distinct parts.

    Still Falls Short

    Unfortunately, the family example still falls short. The problem again comes down to the inability of each individual to perform the role of the whole, i.e. Jesus can do all that Father God can do, but a child cannot do all that the father can do.

    The Human

    The illustration of mankind is probably one of the most powerful. God created humans with 3 very distinct parts that together make us “human”. As humans, we are spirit, soul, and body. 3 distinct pieces making up one human. As an added bonus, the soul is also made up of 3 pieces: mind, will, and emotions. I believe this is just one of the ways in which we are created in God’s image. The Godhead is a triune being. Humans are triune beings. And God created many triune examples in the world. A lot more than I’ve mentioned!

    As Romans 1:20 says, “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities – his eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.” God put Himself into His creation in a myriad of different ways. And as humans, we are His crowning creation.

    Like the other ones, this one is also flawed. Separate the soul from the rest, and you get conscious mind with emotions and a drive, but no ability to do anything. The three parts of a human rely on each other too much to be a perfect representation of the Trinity.

    The Chord

    Of all the illustrations my personal favorite is the Chord. And of all the illustrations ever used, this one stands as probably the least flawed of them all. A triune chord – a chord made up of three distinct notes – has great advantages over the other illustrations. The three distinct sounds work together to make one beautiful sound all the while remaining distinct. Each note can work on its own to perform the job of filling up the space it’s in with sound (just like each member of the Trinity can perform all the functions of a deity). And together, they work in harmony to create something even more beautiful.

    The three notes of a triune chord are separate and distinct yet together they make up a single chord. Each note is a sound. They don’t all sound quite the same and when combined, they create yet another sound. But they retain their own unique sound. And this is why I think this is the best illustration.

    Wrapping Up

    Ultimately, understanding the Trinity will never fully happen on this side of eternity. Our finite minds just can’t fully comprehend an infinite God. And understanding the Godhead isn’t required for salvation (phew!). Still though, it’s important to have some grasp on this topic – if only to be able to have a better answer for someone else other than “I have no idea”.

    Outro

    If you enjoyed this post, please consider doing one or all of these things. First, subscribe if you haven’t. If you have, thank you! Second, spread the word. Send these to everyone you know and encourage them to read and subscribe. This blog is purely word of mouth right now. I rely on you, my readers, to help me get more readers. And third, please consider donating. It’ll enable me to continue to offer regular posts.

    Feel free to leave a comment with any questions about what I’ve written, any additional comments about the post, or if there’s a topic you’d like me to write about. Before doing that though, be sure to check out all my posts here and see if I’ve covered it already. And if you find I’ve done it already but aren’t satisfied or still have more questions, let me know!

    Thank you for reading this! I greatly appreciate each one of you. Until next time, God bless you all!

  • Trinity Trilogy – God The Holy Spirit

    Trinity Trilogy – God The Holy Spirit

    Intro

    Welcome to the third part of the Trinity Trilogy! In this final part of the trilogy, I am reviewing the third member of the Trinity: God the Holy Spirit. If you haven’t read the others, I encourage you to catch up on God the Father and God the Son.

    Who is The Holy Spirit?

    God the Holy Spirit generates more controversy and confusion within the church than the other members of the Trinity. But He is a very real and very important member. God sent Holy Spirit for a reason – well, multiple reasons. I aim to address a few of those reasons here. And as you’ll see, His primary job is to point to Jesus and God. Secondary, He works in and through us to build the church.

    Him or It?

    The first thing that to address about Holy Spirit is “Him vs It.” Some people believe that Holy Spirit is just “the spirit of God” and not a distinct person of the Godhead. According to these people, rather than a Trinity, we have a Dualinity (Dunity? Duonity? 🤷‍♂️). However, the Bible is pretty clear that Holy Spirit is a “Him”, not an “It.” How can you tell? One: masculine pronouns are used to refer to Him throughout the New Testament (including the original Greek). Two: various verses refer to Him as a separate person. Verses like Matthew 28:19 that teaches us to baptize in the name of the Father, the Son, and Holy Spirit. Or Ephesians 4:30 that tells us not grieve Him.

    From these verses and more, I believe Holy Spirit to be a distinct person within the Trinity. Given that, I choose to refer to Him as “Holy Spirit”, rather than “the Holy Spirit”. It might be semantics, but it makes Holy Spirit sound more like a true name rather than a title or description.

    The Advocate

    Jesus declares that He will “ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever – the Spirit of truth” (John 14:16-17 NIV). Later in this chapter, Jesus says the Advocate (Holy Spirit) will “teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” So, Holy Spirit helps us by reminding us of all Jesus’ said and teaching us the truth of it, as well as helping us to understand it. Later on, Jesus states that when Holy Spirit comes, He will “prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment” (John 16:8 NIV).

    Other translations say “convicts” rather than “prove”. And since that’s the more familiar phrasing, I’ll use that in my explanations of what each of them mean.

    Convicts of Sin

    Convicting of sin is probably the most obvious of Holy Spirit’s jobs. So, this doesn’t warrant much explanation other than stating that feeling of guilt that we get after sinning is the Holy Spirit leading us to repentance.

    It is worth mentioning that verse 9 states, “about sin, because people do not believe in me”. When I read this, I interpret it to mean that people cannot fully grasp the concept of sin if they don’t believe in God. If God doesn’t exist, then there is no moral standard and therefore no sin.

    Convicts of Righteousness

    Convicting of Righteousness is a bit trickier to understand. Verse 10 states “about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer.” I admit to not fully understanding this one until I wrote this post. The short version of what I found is that Jesus is the standard for righteousness. And no one can measure up to that standard – no matter how hard we try. What I get out of that is that Holy Spirit reminds us that without Jesus, we have no righteousness. So, conviction of righteousness becomes a conviction of our pride.

    Convicts of Judgment

    Jesus’ explains conviction of judgment in verse 11, “about judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.” When Jesus died and rose again, He defeated Satan – the prince of this world. His defeat was his condemnation. And all who stand opposed to God and reject Him face the same condemnation. And Holy Spirit convicts, or reminds, people of this truth.

    God’s love for us resulted in Him sending Holy Spirit to help us. To remind us of Jesus words, to draw us closer to God, to convict us where we need it. All of it to bring us into relationship and to give us a fulfilling life.

    The Deposit

    Paul writes in Ephesians 1:13-14 that “you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession – to the praise of his glory.” Now, what exactly does it mean that Holy Spirit is a deposit? Think of it like you would a down payment. When buying a house, there is an initial payment made – the down payment. Just think of the indwelling of Holy Spirit as that first payment. God promises that we will receive our inheritance when we cross over. And Holy Spirit dwelling in us guarantees that God will keep His promise to give us the rest.

    The Distributer of Gifts

    1 Corinthians 12 says that Holy Spirit distributes gifts to people. Spiritual gifts are probably the most controversial aspect of Holy Spirit, at least some of them are. And some people forget that some of these gifts are actually spiritual gifts. So, what exactly are spiritual gifts? Simply put, Holy Spirit gives spiritual gifts to people to enable them to minister to others in some way. They’re a way to encourage people, to point people to God and His love, and to point people to Jesus and His sacrifice.

    Spiritual gifts can be broken down into 3 main categories: Motivation, Ministry, and Manifestation. I’m not going deep on any of them, but I will give a brief description of each.

    Motivational Gifts

    In Romans 12:6-8, Paul lists the 7 motivational gifts as prophesying, serving, teaching, encourage, giving, leading, and showing mercy. As we look at the greater context of Romans 12, it becomes clear that the purpose of these gifts is in service to God and to the Body of Christ. These people motivate other members of the body to step out and exercise their own gifts and do what God called them into.

    Ministry Gifts

    Ephesians 4:11 tells of the ministry gifts, “So Christ gave himself the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers.” And the purpose of these gifts is helpfully stated in the next verse “to equip his people for works of service.” When reading these gifts, many people think that people with these gifts bear the responsibility for leading people to salvation, bringing people to church, praying for everyone and everything, etc. But according to this passage, their only job is to equip His people, the church, to do the works. We as individual members of the body hold responsibility for reaching the lost and ministering to the people of the world. It’s impossible for the pastoral staff of any (or all) churches to do that.

    Manifestation Gifts

    The category of manifestation Gifts is the category that has people most confused and up in arms about. They’re referred to as “manifestation” because they are the obviously supernatural ones. And people tend to fear the supernatural or not believe in it all. Or they believe in it, but fear of man prevents them from talking about them or displaying support for them. Some believe that these gifts (at least some of them) ended with the deaths of the apostles.

    Paul lists these gifts in 1 Corinthians 12:7-10, “Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by means of the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues.” (NIV). Paul lists out 9 gifts here, message of wisdom, message of knowledge, faith, healing, miraculous powers, prophecy, distinguishing between spirits, speaking in tongues, and interpretation of tongues.

    The primary purpose of these gifts is for edifying and building up the church. We see that as we continue reading through chapters 12-14. Sure, we can use them as part of outreach and witnessing to people, but it’s also clear that God intended many of these gifts to be used on a regular basis within the church. And as these happen more frequently within the church, they will naturally happen outside the church as our faith and boldness grow.

    Emphasis

    It’s dangerous to downplay Holy Spirit because He’s the one who empowers you to work out your faith and do what God calls you to. By ignoring Him, you stifle yourself and make yourself virtually ineffective in serving God. On the other hand, over-emphasizing Him is also dangerous. When you over-emphasize Holy Spirit, you run the risk of becoming like those who believe that continuing revelation from Holy Spirit (a result of the Manifestation gifts) nullifies the need to have an adequate knowledge of the Bible. This leads to buying into false doctrines and a lot of deception.

    Wrapping Up

    The misconceptions of the Holy Spirit cause a lot of people to either downplay Him or over-emphasize Him. I hope and pray that this post gives you some clarity so that you don’t swing to far one way or the other.

    Well, that’s all for this post. Join me next time as I wrap up my discussion on the Trinity by doing my best to explain the concept of the Trinity itself.

    Outro

    If you enjoyed this post, please consider doing one or all of these things. First, subscribe if you haven’t. If you have, thank you! Second, spread the word. Send these to everyone you know and encourage them to read and subscribe. This blog is purely word of mouth right now. I rely on you, my readers, to help me get more readers. And third, please consider donating. It’ll enable me to continue to offer regular posts.

    Feel free to leave a comment with any questions about what I’ve written, any additional comments about the post, or if there’s a topic you’d like me to write about. Before doing that though, be sure to check out all my posts here and see if I’ve covered it already. And if you find I’ve done it already but aren’t satisfied or still have more questions, let me know!

    Thank you for reading this! I greatly appreciate each one of you. Until next time, God bless you all!

  • Trinity Trilogy – God The Son

    Trinity Trilogy – God The Son

    Intro

    Welcome to the second part of the Trinity Trilogy! In this part of the trilogy, I will be going over the second member of the Trinity: God the Son. In part one (check it out here if you missed it), I stuck with the more general name ‘God’ for God the Father – even though I could have chosen one of a number of distinct names. However, for God the Son, I am going to use His more common name of Jesus.

    Who is Jesus?

    Similar to the question “Who is God?”, the question “Who is Jesus?” will get you different answers. Some say he was a great teacher. Others say a prophet. Some people claim he was a fraud. Still others make the claim that he was – and is – the Son of God. How we answer this question reveals where our faith in God lies and reveals a lot more about our worldview. For the rest of this post, I explore the Biblical claims made about Jesus.

    As the title indicates, Jesus is the second member of the Trinity – as God the Son. That title – God the Son – indicates two key parts about Jesus’ identity: 1) He is the Son of God; and 2) He is God. I explore these two parts first before examining some other parts of His identity.

    Jesus is God’s Son

    The gospels quote Jesus claiming, or giving Himself, many names and titles. One of the most prominent ones is His claim to be the Son of God. In many of His prayers, He refers to God as “Father.” In one His most famous prayers in John 17, He says, “Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you.” And on the cross, Jesus prayed “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” (Luke 23:34 NIV). The word Jesus uses for Father is “Abba” which denotes a deeply intimate relationship – the equivalent word in English would be “Daddy”. The Jews had an understanding of their people as the children of God, but they wouldn’t have used such an intimate word for their relationship with Him. Jesus’ use of it was radical indeed. Which indicates how close God and Jesus were.

    And it wasn’t a one-way relationship either; during His baptism, God declares that Jesus is “My Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:17 NIV). And towards the end of His earthly ministry, when Jesus transfigured before Peter, James, and John, God spoke again and commanded that they listen to His Son. And later in Colossians 1:13 (NIV) Paul writes, “For he [God] has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves.”

    Jesus is God

    Not only does Jesus make these claims about being the Son of God, but He also claims equality with God. And not just equality of status or standing – like two CEOs of different companies – but claims to be God.

    Jesus’ Claims

    Many people say that Jesus never once claimed to be God. That He would have been appalled at being elevated to godhood after His death. But this is just not true. All throughout His ministry, Jesus makes repeated claims to be God. Sure, maybe He doesn’t say the English phrase “I am God” but he sure does say things that make the religious leaders ready to stone Him for that very thing. For example, John 10:33 (NIV), “‘We are not stoning you for any good work,’ they replied, ‘but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God.’” The Jews recognized what Jesus was saying and called Him out on it. And Jesus didn’t correct them. In fact, He doubled down on it later in this conversation.

    The I Am

    More than once throughout the gospels, Jesus uses a term that is translated as “I am” in English. Perhaps the best-known instance of this is in John 8:58 “‘Very truly I tell you,’ Jesus answered, ‘before Abraham was born, I am!’” (NIV). And like the other passage I mentioned, the Jews caught His meaning and tried to stone Jesus. Why? We miss it in English, but that phrase “I am” – which seems grammatically incorrect in Jesus’ statement – is actually the name God gave to Moses when Moses asked whom he should say sent him. “God said to Moses, ‘I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: “I am has sent me to you.”‘” (Exodus 3:14 NIV). Jesus used a very holy and specific name of God to refer to Himself. If that’s not claiming to be God, I don’t know what is.

    If Jesus never intended to claim to be God, and the Jews merely misunderstood Him, all Jesus would’ve had to do is say, “I’m not claiming to be God. You misunderstand me. Here’s what I meant.” And everyone would have been happy, and no one would’ve tried to crucify Jesus. But Jesus didn’t do that. He consistently doubled down and selected words and phrases (such as “I am”) to announce His deity. This served to antagonize the Jews – which resulted in the religious leaders pushing for His execution.

    Jesus is the Lamb of God

    Animal sacrifice was one of the key things that God instituted through Moses and the Law. All the various sacrifices were designated for forgiving sins and ritual cleansings. And the first animal sacrificed for the Israelite nation was the lamb. While still in Egypt, God commanded Moses to tell the Israelites to kill a lamb and to put the blood on their doorposts so that the Angel of death would pass over their homes and not kill the firstborn child (see Exodus 11-12). This would become known as the first Passover – a holiday celebrated by the Jewish nation to this day. The Passover lamb was one of the most important sacrifices that the priests performed.

    In John 1:29 (NIV), John the Baptist proclaimed, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” when he saw Jesus walking toward him. And that last portion “who takes away the sin of the world” is the key to understanding why Jesus is the Lamb of God. In Leviticus, we see all sorts of sacrifices required of Israel. Many were for purification or peace offerings, but others were sin offerings. And in Hebrews 9:22, the author states that “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness” (NIV). So, in order to cleanse the world of sin, there needed to be a sacrifice. And Jesus was that perfect sacrifice who bore our sins upon Him on the cross. The Bible states that no one took His life, but that He gave it as a willing sacrifice.

    Jesus is sometimes referred to as the Passover Lamb, because He died during the Passover. One of the amazing things about the Jewish holidays defined by God in the Old Testament is that each foreshadows God’s ultimate plan through Jesus (But that’s another post).

    Jesus is the Coming King

    As the promised Messiah, Jesus’ work would not be complete if He did not come back and reign as the King of kings and Lord of lords here on the earth. The Jews expected the Messiah as a conquering king. There are several prophecies in the Old Testament about the Messiah being a king. One such passage is found in Daniel 7:14 (NIV), “He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all nations and peoples of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.” One of the reasons the Jews didn’t accept Jesus as Messiah is because He didn’t fulfill the conquering king role from the Old Testament. And there is some truth to it. Jesus hasn’t yet fulfilled all the prophecies of the Messiah. But He will.

    Acts 1:11 (NIV), “‘Men of Galilee,’ they said, ‘why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.’” Two angels promised the disciples that Jesus would return in the clouds – which Daniel promised the Messiah would descend from. Jesus promised in John 14 that He would return for His people (the church). And we see starting in Revelation 19:11 and through the end of the book, Jesus’ return, His thousand-year reign, and a new heaven and new earth culminating in the eternal reign of Jesus and the saints with him. There will be no more death, no more pain, no more sin, and there will be joy, peace, harmony, and a restoration of Eden. Amen! Come Lord Jesus, come!

    Wrapping Up

    I hope and pray this watered and nurtured your faith in who Jesus is. Or maybe it gave you additional points or Bible references for these different topics. Whatever you got out of it, I pray it helps you in your faith journey. I couldn’t cover everything under the sun for who Jesus is, but I do believe I adequately covered some of the most important parts of His identity.

    Well, that’s all for this post. Join me next time for part three of The Trinity Trilogy – God The Holy Spirit.

    Outro

    If you enjoyed this post, please consider doing one or all of these things. First, subscribe if you haven’t. If you have, thank you! Second, spread the word. Send these to everyone you know and encourage them to read and subscribe. This blog is purely word of mouth right now. I rely on you, my readers, to help me get more readers. And third, please consider donating. It’ll enable me to continue to offer regular posts.

    Feel free to leave a comment with any questions about what I’ve written, any additional comments about the post, or if there’s a topic you’d like me to write about. Before doing that though, be sure to check out all my posts here and see if I’ve covered it already. And if you find I’ve done it already but aren’t satisfied or still have more questions, let me know!

    Thank you for reading this! I greatly appreciate each one of you. Until next time, God bless you all!

  • Trinity Trilogy – God The Father

    Trinity Trilogy – God The Father

    Intro

    Welcome to The Trinity Trilogy. In this series, I aim to discuss who each person of the Trinity is in three separate posts – one per member. I can only do so much in a single blog post per member of the Godhead, so none of them will be comprehensive. As an aside, I recognize that the concept of the Trinity is deserving of its own post and will explore that after the trilogy. But for this first post of the trilogy, I will be examining the first member of the Trinity, God the Father.

    Who is God?

    Asking the question “Who is God?” will get you a myriad of answers. It’s not easy to explain who He is, not when He is beyond our comprehension – existing outside of time and space will do that. But I am going to do my best to lay out a few of the most pertinent attributes of God in this post.

    God is Creator

    One of the most important attributes of God, is that God is the creator of the universe. The universe did not come into existence accidentally, planets did not randomly form, and plants, animals, and humans did not evolve from simpler live forms. Genesis chapters 1-2 make it clear that God created everything – the stars, the Earth, the plants, animals, and mankind. If we ignore this important part of who God is, then we might as well forget about the rest. If God didn’t create everything as Genesis states, then we can’t trust the rest of the Bible and we should find a different religion.

    Why would I say something that strongly? Simple. 2 Timothy 3:16 (NIV) says, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.” Since Genesis is a part of Scripture, it was God-breathed. In other words, God inspired the words that were written down. So, if God did not in fact create the universe in the manner that Genesis describes, that would either make God a liar or non-existent. In either case, the Bible would no longer be trustworthy. Which makes Christianity a worthless religion.

    So, assuming the Bible is trustworthy, is Genesis the only Biblical reference to God being the creator? Nope. To list just a couple: Revelation 4:11 (NIV) states, “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.” and Psalm 139:13-14 (NIV) declares, “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.” Doing an internet search will yield many more.

    Shameless Plugs (Gasp!)

    I don’t have the time or space to go over the massive amount of evidence that exists to support the creation of the universe by God, and I encourage you to do your own research. A couple of fantastic documentaries I encourage you to check out are Is Genesis History? and TrueU (Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with the creators nor am I going to get paid if you visit these sites and buy anything. I am also not responsible for the amount of time and money you put into those).

    God is Good

    “The Lord is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made.” Psalm 145:9 (NIV). The Lord is a good God. The Bible states that there is no darkness in Him. He is pure light and love. Our God is a God we can trust to give us good gifts. Many of the polytheistic religions of the ancient world had gods that would punish people for seemingly no reason. In those days, people trembled in fear of displeasing them and would assume that whenever something went wrong in their lives, it was a punishment from one of their gods. The Lord, Jehovah, is not like that. We do not have to be afraid of Him. For He loves us with an everlasting love.

    If you’re looking for verses about how good God is, the Psalms are a fantastic place to start. I opened this section with a Psalm and here’s another one: Psalm 145:7 (NIV) “They celebrate your abundant goodness and joyfully sing of your righteousness.” But don’t worry, for those of you who prefer diversity, “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.” 1 Chronicles 16:34 (NIV). And for those who live in the New Testament more often, “No one is good – except God alone.” Mark 10:18b (NIV).

    Similar to the last section, I could go on with the number of verses that talk about God’s goodness. Instead, I will make brief mention about the importance of God’s goodness. God’s goodness is the reason we have the option of salvation and having a relationship with the creator of the universe. It’s because of that goodness that humanity is still around – instead of being wiped out and replaced. Without His goodness, we would have legitimate reason to be worried about the future.

    God is Sovereign

    “The Lord has established his throne in heaven, and his kingdom rules over all.” Psalm 103:19 (NIV). God created the universe. And He continues to rule it. The Lord sits on His throne above the universe and there is none like Him and none who can challenge Him. “All the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, ‘What have you done?’” Daniel 4:35 (NIV). The Bible is clear that God reigns and can do whatever He wants, when He wants. It’s impossible to challenge His sovereignty.

    Now, the sovereignty of God leaves many people confused. People question how a good God, if He is truly sovereign, could allow evil in the world. And the main reason I think people question this is because they don’t have a solid understanding of what sovereignty is. To put it simply, sovereignty does not mean that everything that God desires to happen will happen. The Bible states that God desires “everyone to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9 NIV) yet this isn’t happening. People die every day without repenting. What His sovereignty does mean is that, regardless of what happens, His plans will ultimately come to pass (see Isaiah 46:9-10).

    A quick analogy, the monarchs of old Europe were sovereign over their kingdoms. But not all their subjects obeyed the laws or did what the monarch would’ve like them to. Criminals ran around doing as they pleased disregarding what the king desired. It’s the same with God and our world. God is sovereign over all, but not everyone chooses to live their lives by His standards or do what He desires them to.

    God is Father

    The Almighty, holy, all-powerful God chooses to relate to us as a Father does to his children. However, He is the perfect father as no earthly father can be. James 1:17 (NIV), “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” What’s great about this verse is that it demonstrates a couple different attributes. It serves as a reminder that God gives good and perfect gifts – this relates to the earlier point of God is Good. And it also shows us that God is a Father. However, it doesn’t state that He is our father. But that’s okay! You can find other verses that state that more clearly. Such as “Yet you, Lord, are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand.” (Isaiah 64:8, NIV).

    Some might say that the previous verse is from Isaiah and referencing the Jewish people. And that’s true. However, as Christians (even us Gentiles), we are grafted in (Romans 11:11-24), so this verse applies to us as well. But if you need further evidence that God is our Father, look at Ephesians 4:6, “One God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.” (NIV, emphasis mine). God is everyone’s Father. And He loves us as His dear children.

    ‘Father’ is not a Trivial Aspect of God

    This is a very important part of God. He dearly loves us and wants the absolute best for us. So much so, that He gave His only Son up to death in order to have a relationship with us. So, we could spend eternity with Him (see John 3:16). This means that we can trust Him to give us good things and to do right by us. Matthew 7:11 (NIV) states, “If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask Him!” His loving Fatherhood coupled with His goodness means that we don’t have to worry about receiving bad things from Him, e.g. sickness, injury, identity theft, bankruptcy, etc. These things are a result of living in a fallen world with a real enemy looking to destroy our lives.

    God’s gifts to His children are more along the lines of Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self-Control. In addition to these (called the Fruit of the Spirit), He gives a variety of Spiritual gifts that He calls us to use to minister to others – both within the church and outside the church. Only a good and loving Father would do that.

    Wrapping Up

    As stated at the beginning, this isn’t comprehensive by any means. The vastness of who God is can’t be measured in one post. The Trinity Trilogy merely plants the seeds for those who are seeking. And to water and nurture the seeds for others who are more mature. If this stirs you to dig deeper into the Word of God or gives you greater confidence in who God is, then I have done my job (Did you like the plant metaphors? There’s a reason I called the blog Tilling and Planting).

    Well, that’s all for this post. Join me next time for part two of The Trinity Trilogy – God The Son.

    Outro

    If you enjoyed this post, please consider doing one or all of these things. First, subscribe if you haven’t. If you have, thank you! Second, spread the word. Send these to everyone you know and encourage them to read and subscribe. This blog is purely word of mouth right now. I rely on you, my readers, to help me get more readers. And third, please consider donating. It’ll enable me to continue to offer regular posts.

    Feel free to leave a comment with any questions about what I’ve written, any additional comments about the post, or if there’s a topic you’d like me to write about. Before doing that though, be sure to check out all my posts here and see if I’ve covered it already. And if you find I’ve done it already but aren’t satisfied or still have more questions, let me know!

    Thank you for reading this! I greatly appreciate each one of you. Until next time, God bless you all!

  • Hello My Name Is

    Hello My Name Is

    Intro

    If you’re a fan of Matthew West like I am, then your mind immediately started singing the rest of the chorus to his song of the same name. Yes, I’ll admit it, I got the idea from that song. But it felt appropriate to me since this is my first blog post and I need to introduce myself and what my blog is all about. And since I’m generally a man of few words, I’m just going to jump right in.

    Growing up

    Starting off, my name is Cory Lewis. If you’ve already seen my About Me page, then you got a taste of who I am. But just a taste. Here I will expand upon that.

    Home

    I grew up in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Not a small city (roughly 70,000), but not huge either. Oshkosh feels more like a small town than my current city of residence (Eau Claire, Wisconsin), even though they are roughly the same size. My parents homeschooled my 4 sisters and I through high school. Crazy, right? That’s a lot of work to homeschool 5 children. It still amazes me how my mom managed to do it. It couldn’t have been easy when someone didn’t understand something, and she had to explain it multiple ways. Or someone was in a bad mood and then had math problems to solve. Or girls getting emotional (love you all!). But we made it through, and no one regrets it.

    Church

    Church was a regular part of our lives. Sunday School, youth group, Awana, and more. During this time, I found I was good at extracting meaning and information from various Biblical topics. In high school, I attended a guy’s Bible study and was recognized as having the most solid grasp on the Bible in the group. In fact, if you could go back and read the Facebook messages between one girl from youth group and I, you’d see that most of them are answering her questions about God and the Bible.

    I clearly had a reputation in high school. And honestly, I didn’t care. I enjoyed talking about the Bible and explaining it to people. In fact, one youth leader said I “didn’t talk much, but when I did, it was worth listening to.” And I heard more than once I “had wisdom beyond my years.” I have since come to recognize it as the spiritual gift of Wisdom found in the Bible.

    Post high school

    After I graduated high school in 2013, I took a year to figure out what I wanted to do and what school I wanted to go to. I started working at Menards in Oshkosh during this time as a carryout and cashier – a couple of years later I would be promoted to Head Cashier. I ended up deciding to attend the University of Wisconsin – Oshkosh and major in Computer Science with an emphasis in Software Engineering. In 2014, I started my freshman year of college.

    The University

    While going to college, I lived with my parents and commuted on the city bus to and from school. Once I started attending, I got plugged into Chi Alpha. Chi Alpha is the Assembly of God’s student ministry organization. Two of my older sisters also attended the university and encouraged me to attend Chi Alpha. I learned and grew a lot in my faith there.

    As I attended college, I continued to work at Menards. All throughout, my managers and HR Coordinator told me to apply to Corporate after graduation because they were always hiring in IT. In my senior year, I did so and less than two weeks after putting in my application, they offered me a job. For years, I didn’t want to move outside the Oshkosh area. And Menards HQ is in Eau Claire, which is three hours west of Oshkosh. After getting the offer, I prayed and felt God nudging me to accept it. So, after I graduated at the end of May 2018, I moved out here and haven’t regretted it.

    New Church

    Once out here, I quickly found an amazing church and got plugged into the young adult ministry. I later volunteered for the tech team and have been serving in that capacity since. In 2020, I agreed to join people from church in putting on a kid’s camp designed for those in foster care called Royal Family Kids. I enjoyed my time doing it; it is an exhausting week, but I can’t imagine not doing it. What God does in those kids’ lives is incredible. Stacy came down from Superior to help us with this camp since she had prior experience doing it elsewhere. It took a few years, but we started dating on August 19, 2022, and got married April 29, 2023.

    What about the blog?

    You may be wondering, “That’s great, but what’s the point of the blog?” And that’s a good question. The story starts back in September 2022. I attended a weekend of worship at a local church. While there, the pastor of the church (whom I had never met), came up to me and told me that when he saw me the word “Author” came to mind. At that time, I had no thoughts of writing anything to publish at all. Didn’t think I would be any good at it or that anyone would want to read anything I wrote – which is funny considering how universally recognized I was in youth group as a very intelligent person with a great understanding of the Bible. For the most part I dismissed it. And even forgot about it for a while.

    The Nagging

    It started coming back to me sometime later and I wondered if it could refer to something else other than book writing – like a blog. However, it wasn’t until the end of February 2024 that I felt God telling me to start a blog with the purpose of helping people understand the Truth in a deeper way – much like I had done in youth group. After going back and forth on the timing, I realized I just needed to do it.

    The first thing I needed was a name. The word “seed” came to mind, but every combination of “Seeds of Faith” or similar, didn’t feel right. Plus, the domains that fit were taken or crazy expensive. When I asked Stacy about it, she suggested Tilling and Planting. I immediately felt this was the name I needed to go with. I immediately went and bought the domain and a hosting package and started building this site. And now, a couple of weeks later, I am publishing my first blog.

    And finally, the key verse I thought of as I built this site, is found in 1 Peter 3:15 (NIV), “But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.”

    Additional Things

    I should probably also point out my Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions. They can be found at the bottom of every page along with links to my About Me and Contact Me pages.

    Wrapping up

    So, this is me in a nutshell and my blog in a nutshell. I don’t know how far this is going to go, I only know that God called me to it. And even if I have a small audience, I trust that the impact I have on that audience will have ripple effects that I may never know about.

    And that’s really all any of us are called to do. Obey God in what He says and trust that He knows what He is doing and that what we do will not be in vain: “so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.” (Isaiah 55:11).

    Thank you for taking the time to read this, and I hope you will stick around for more. Please subscribe (it’s free!) so you don’t miss any postings. And to make you aware, I plan to post twice a month. With the power of scheduling (and because I need hard dates to make sure I don’t procrastinate!), my posts will automatically publish on the 10th and 25th of every month. I figure this schedule will not only keep me accountable but will make it easier for my readers to keep track. This may change in the future once I get in the swing of things – and depending on how many ideas I come up with.

    Speaking of ideas, I plan on my first posts being a series called The Trinity Trilogy. In this series, I will go over each of the three members of the Trinity and give a high-level overview of who they are.

    With that, I say, “Goodbye for now” and I hope and pray you will all find meaning, comfort, or confidence in what I write. God Bless you all!

    Outro

    If you enjoyed this post, please consider doing one or all of these things. First, subscribe if you haven’t. If you have, thank you! Second, spread the word. Send these to everyone you know and encourage them to read and subscribe. This blog is purely word of mouth right now. I rely on you, my readers, to help me get more readers. And third, please consider donating. It’ll enable me to continue to offer regular posts.

    Feel free to leave a comment with any questions about what I’ve written, any additional comments about the post, or if there’s a topic you’d like me to write about. Before doing that though, be sure to check out all my posts here and see if I’ve covered it already. And if you find I’ve done it already but aren’t satisfied or still have more questions, let me know!

    Thank you for reading this! I greatly appreciate each one of you. Until next time, God bless you all!