Trinity DebateTrinity debateDear Omega, I had a brief ten minute Bible study on the Oneness doctrine nine years ago shortly after my baptism. And not a single sermon I heard preached at the Oneness Pentecostal Church I attend was the Oneness doctrine taught. The Oneness doctrine was not a teaching that was drilled into me by some brain washing technique as you implied. Let me tell you briefly about my personal testimony. Before I came to the Lord I was a professing athiest. I regarded religion in general and Christianity in particular with contempt. I come from a large family of professing Christians but none of them attended a church or lived the life. I come from a rough and broken background. My older brother was an alcoholic and drug addict since his teens. My sister and I were sexually molested by our dad. My mother left my dad and raised six children on her own without any support. My sister and I took on adult responsibilities of co-parenting the younger siblings because my mother at times was stricken with ill health. I worked after school to help pay the bills and support the household. Thus, I grew up. I was not raised up. I was dragged up. I was also a practising homosexual in my twenties and witnessed many people I knew and cared about die from AIDS. I am now 38 years old. By the time I turned to God at age 30 I was burnt out in life. I was depressed and full of anger and bitterness. I saw a TV program about Bible prophecy that got my attention. At the end of that hour long program I simply "believed" and right there and then I got down on my knees before the Lord and repented and asked Him to save me. I got a Bible soon after. I never read the Bible before. I read the Gospels many times over, the New Testament I read five times and Genesis thru Revelation twice before I went to any church. No one taught me a Bible study and no one from a church witnessed to me. All I did was pray for understanding and the Lord's leading and read the Bible. I made a promise to Jesus that if He would show me the Truth I would abide by it. I did not trust any churches or men calling themselves Pastor. I wanted to make sure I did not get involved in some cult. One thing I did know after studying the Bible is that I wanted to be baptized and receive the Holy Ghost. I said to God I want what those in the Bible got. I did not have the understanding I have now. In fact, I was hoping to find a clause in Scripture that would justify my homosexuality but could not find it. But I wanted Jesus more than I wanted my sin. The Scriptures about baptism and speaking in tongues jumped out at me when I read them. It took me nine months to find a church that actually believed and practiced what I read in the Bible by myself. I went to three different churches to get baptized but they did not baptize in Jesus' name. I refused to be baptized any other way because my Bible stated otherwise. A relative of mine invited me to a The Church Of Christ that baptized in Jesus' name. I went to some services and was taught some Bible studies. After a few lessons I found out members in that church were claiming to be sinless and did not believe in the Second Coming of Christ. They didn't believe in speaking in tongues either. That church was a cult. They were the ones who introduced me to the trinity doctrine which I studied and found to contradict Scripture. Finally, a co-worker told me he knew a Deacon from a church and introduced us. By that time I was openly hostile in my attitude and more distrusting. The Deacon, named Ron, came to my job and invited me to a service at the United Pentecostal Church. I went to the service and all during the sermon I was listening carefully for any false doctrine. I remember crying and sobing for no reason I knew during the service. I asked Ron, why am I crying when I'm not sad? He said to me, "Because in His presense is the fullness of joy". I felt happy and overcome with joy. I could feel the Shekinah Glory of the Lord in that place. I visited several churches but none of them compared. At the end of the service I was invited to go up to the alter. At the alter Ron told me I could receive the Holy Ghost. I said yes I want the Holy Ghost. He started praying for me and others came and laid hands on me and and after a few minutes I got baptized in the Holy Ghost and began to speak in tongues. It felt like hot oil was poured over me as the Spirit of God fell on me. It is a real and definite experience. Jesus answered my prayer I prayed to be lead into the Truth. The following week I was baptized in Jesus' name. I brought my two sisters, mother and two brothers to the service to witness my baptism. But God filled all of them with the baptism of the Holy Ghost too and they all ended up getting baptized as well. Therefore, Omega I know what I know in my walk with the Lord. God has done so much and changed my life so much I could write a book. God has chosen the foolish things of this world to confound the wise. Why did God choose water baptism and speaking in tongues in His plan for salvation? Why did God tell Naaman the leper through the prophet Elisha (2 Kings 5:14) to dip seven times in the murky waters of the Jordan River to be healed? The reason I believe God chooses these things is to break down the pride of the wise and prudent so they humble themselves with the humility of a child in order to receive from Him. Before my conversion I was so hungry and thirsty for God I would have dipped myself 70 times in a sewer if that is what it took. I prayed the so-called sinners prayer and repented and walked in that for nine months before my baptism. But what a difference between walking in repentance and actual conversion! As for learning doctrine. I was taught about the trinity by trinitarians before I was taught about the Oneness. When I was taught that brief Oneness study it clicked with me instantly. I studied more on the trinity than I've done on the Oneness. I could not reconcile the contradictions in the trinity. The Oneness was easy. Why? Because the Spirit has lead me into all Truth and it is by Spirit revelation the Oneness is understood. "But the natural [carnal] man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." (1Cor 2:14) |
🌈Pride🌈 goeth before Destruction
When 🌈Pride🌈 cometh, then cometh Shame