Archive for the ‘By Bill Winn’ Category
Following Jesus
Filed under: By Bill Winn, Christian Living, Gospel, Relationships, The Dance and Dream of the Trinity, Trinity, Uncategorized | Tags: C. Baxter Kruger, Christian Living, Following Jesus, god the father, Gospel, Incarnation, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Jesus walked on water, Relationships, role model, Trinity
Comments (1) 
You know, sometimes we Christians fall into the trap of thinking that Jesus is first and foremost our role model. We easily buy into the concept that we are to be like Jesus. Let me explain before you click away from this blog thinking I am a heretic. When I say Jesus is not our role model I simply mean that we will never be Jesus and as we try to be him we not only fail and look silly but often damage others in the process.
Jesus walked on water. Jesus supernaturally hid himself away on at least one occasion. He also charged into a Jewish temple and smashed up the place where the money changers were gouging the worshippers. If you and I try all that, we will look silly and perhaps even spend a little time behind bars.
Imagine if I said that Superman was my role model and I set out to be like him in the same way we sometimes perceive Jesus as our role model. What if I tried to stop a train with my hands? What if I jumped off a tall building and tried to fly? What if I tried to stop a bullet? Well I could leap off a tall building and even stop a bullet if I wanted to… at least once anyway. You get the point.
But Bill…. we are supposed to be disciples of Jesus right?
Right!
Here is what I want us to think about for the next week.
To be a disciple literally means to be a follower. We are called to follow Jesus. I am a follower of Jesus (as much as I am able to listen and respond to his leading). So follow him where? Well we follow him where he goes. As Nan reminded us earlier he is Emmanuel… he is with us.
There is a great story by Dr. C. Baxter Kruger that he tells about his son and his son’s friend. You see one afternoon Baxter was waiting for a football game to come on TV and out of the corner of his eye he saw his 7-year-old son and his son’s buddy all dressed in their pretend Army gear and in an instant they ran across the room and attacked Baxter. Instantly the tree of them rolled around on the living room floor and laughed and tickled and played. It was a large time. So big deal right? Well you see Baxter had never met his son’s friend before that moment of play. So now think about the little boy there but remove Baxter’s son from the scene. Do we really think this little boy would attack Baxter and engage him in childish play? Not a chance! So here is the deal… that boy did not have a relationship with Baxter but Baxter’s son did and Baxter’s son also had a relationship with his little buddy from the neighborhood and what Baxter’s son did was to include his friend in the relationship he had with his daddy. All the little boy from the neighborhood did was follow Baxter’s son. Hmmmmm….
Maybe it would be helpful if we could just pause for a few days and think about Jesus running into his Papa’s arms to play and perhaps follow Jesus there!
Holy Spirit remind us that we are beloved of the Father and in the person of Jesus Christ we have been brought into the context and safety of Jesus’ relation to the Father. Help us break out of our religious prisons and learn to play with the Father, Son, and You. Amen
How the Battle of Guadalcanal Gave Me Christmas
Filed under: By Bill Winn, Church, Gospel, The Plan of Adoption | Tags: Christmas, Church, Guadalcanal, Jesus, Love, Marines, pagan, paganism, Saturnalia, Trinity, xmas
Comments (2) How the Battle of Guadalcanal Gave Me Christmas
I grew up in a faith tradition that did not celebrate Christmas. I grew up being taught and believing that Christmas was a pagan ritual that Christians had been duped into observing and that God was entirely put out by it all to the point that one may just burn up in a sea of fire for uttering the words “Merry Christmas.” I was taught that Christmas was a rip off of the pagan holiday Saturnalia… and well there is a connection. Let me explain. You see Saturnalia was indeed a pagan celebration kept by the Romans in the last centuries B.C. and throughout the early centuries A.D. Saturnalia was a time of gift giving and feasting. Families gathered for meals and to renew relationships. During the time of the Early Church Christians made every attempt to root out pagan observances so why not replace Saturnalia with a festive celebration of the birth of Jesus? Since no definitive date or time could be established for the birth of Jesus the Early Church saw no problem celebrating it over-top Saturnalia to replace the pagan ritual.
I was in my late twenties before I ever actually celebrated Christmas. It was a difficult time for me. Mythologies die hard and in the back of my mind lingered this nagging
US Marines on Guadalcanal with a captured Type 92 Machine Gun (1942)
fear that God was gonna git me. Yep, “git” me. I know… git ain’t a word but down South where I cut my teeth we don’t much care what is or ain’t a word so long as we know what we’re talking about. 🙂
In any case I struggled with the idea of Christmas as a Christian celebration. The first year of our marriage my wife gave me an early present a few days before Christmas. It was a set of documentary DVD’s about the US Marines in World War II. In one of the documentaries the narrator explained that on one particular occasion on Guadalcanal a squad of Marines attacked an enemy machine gun emplacement. Enduring the withering fire of a fully automatic machine gun these brave Marines managed to capture the gun. It was what the narrator said next that turned the light on for me about Christmas. You see the Marines, being who they are and having traditionally received the left over low-grade equipment the other branches had cast aside, did not have a machine gun of their own but as soon as they captured the enemy machine gun nest they did! What the Marines did that day back in 1942 was to turn the machine gun on the enemy.
Brilliant! What the Marines did on Guadalcanal and what the Early Church did was simply brilliant. Most often the enemy of the Gospel is the wrong-headed mythologies of our own broken minds. We invent false religions and celebrations to soothe the longing within our souls. Jesus Christ, the babe in the manger… Emmanuel is the only salve for the wounded soul. The genius of the Father, Son, and Spirit is that out of our mythologies and wrongheadedness they may just redeem and put to good use what some might dismiss as being “rooted in paganism”.
The Father’s Son has come. The Father, Son, and Spirit love and like you! Hallelujah! Amen!
~Bill Winn
More Than Conquerors!
Filed under: Bible, By Bill Winn, Christian Living, Gospel, Grace Communion International, Humor, Love, Relationships, Sermons, The Plan of Adoption, Trinity, Uncategorized | Tags: Bible, Christian Living, Christianity, Conqueror, Gospel, Hope, Incarnation, Jesus, New Life Fellowship Baltimore MD, New Life Fellowship Of Baltimore Maryland, Pastor Bill Winn, Richmond Grace Fellowship, Theology, Trinitarian Theology, Trinity
Comments (2) 
Listen in as Pastor Bill Winn of Richmond Grace proclaims the Good News that YOU are LITERALLY a “Super-Duper-Duper Conqueror” in Christ! Pastor Bill proclaimed this message as a guest of New Life Fellowship of Baltimore, Maryland during their “Great Dance” Weekend!
I Never Miss
Filed under: By Bill Winn | Tags: Basketball, Christian Living, Christianity, Church, Gospel, Grace, Grace Communion International, Hope, I never miss, Incarnation, Jesus, nike, Richmond Grace Fellowship, Salvation, slam dunk, sports, Trinity
Comments (7) I recently saw an ad for a very popular shoe brand and in the ad there is a sort of “con” taking place on a basketball court. We all know the kind right? A guy shows up on the basketball court pretending to be a really bad player and after he is picked by his undercover friend to play ball on his team the show begins! Only this con-game is a b
it unique in that the bad player is really… well… kind of bad. In the advertisement the small weaker person is the bad player and he doesn’t seem able to even come close to scoring a basket. But when the game starts we see something amazing. We see the bad player lobbing terrible shots at the goal and not even coming close. Thankfully his friend on the team is an excellent player and is steadily grabbing the ball in mid-air and slam dunking it through the hoop. When I first saw the commercial I was intrigued and then Nike™ and their Ad Agency hit it home for me in a great big Gospel way. During the commercial the bad player looks at the camera , right after his friend dunked his errant shot, and said, “I never miss!” I thought to myself, “That’s it… that’s the Gospel!” I can’t make a Gospel basket to save my life, I can’t redeem myself, sanctify myself, reconcile myself, justify myself, save myself, or anything else. It is precisely my helplessness that necessitated that Jesus be me for me! He has grabbed the human race’s errant shot and slam dunked it. Hallelujah! Thank you Jesus that I never miss!
~Bill Winn
Group Hug
Filed under: By Bill Winn, Children's Ministry, Christian Living, Gospel, Love, Perichoresis, Relationships, Trinity | Tags: Gospel, Summer Camp, Youth Ministry
Comments (10) 
Recently I had the privilege of serving as Chaplain at Higher Ground Summer Camp in the beautiful mountains of North Carolina. Throughout the camp each dorm is given multiple opportunities to sit and chat about whatever is on their minds. I have attended many of these chats over the past decade and I have to say they are never boring and to my perpetual amazement young people seem to be far more tuned in to the world around them than we might think. Teens and preteens are concerned about many of the same things that matter to adults. What is so different is that teens and preteens often feel powerless to control their circumstances. They often feel unequipped and unprepared to handle the myriad of challenges that they face.
So there I was with boys’ dorm 3B fielding questions and facilitating discussion about everything from whether we should stomp on little beetles just for fun to why bad things happen to good people. Well, during the course of our time together a young man named Jared asked me a very serious question. His demeanor in asking the question told me how important this was for him. He leaned forward placing his elbows on his knees and clasping his hands in nervous anticipation of how his question would be received. Clearing his throat he managed, “How do I get closer to God?”
Now the me in me tends to answer right away and the answers tend to be less than stellar when that happens but on this occasion I waited to hear from Holy Spirit. What she gave me was worth sharing with the readers of Trinity and Humanity.
As I waited for Holy Spirit she gave me two words and a picture. I looked at Jared and said the two words , “You can’t.” Fear overcame his expression so I asked him to stand up. Now we were going to build the picture. I then asked permission to give him a hug. He agreed and right in front of the whole dorm I embraced him. As I held him tight in my arms I said to him, “Jared, Jesus has embraced you. But this is not a clear enough picture.” I motioned to a staff member named Linn. Linn came over and he wrapped Jared and I in his arms. I then repeated to Jared, “Jared, Jesus has embraced you in the fellowship of the Holy Spirit but this is not a clear enough picture.” I motioned for one of the counselors to come over and Jonathan embraced the three of us. I repeated again, “Jared, Jesus has embraced you in the fellowship of the Holy Spirit with the Father’s embrace.” Then I whispered to him, “Now you tell me how you get closer to this?” Jared was over-joyed to the near point of tears.
You see, Jesus has embraced us in the Holy Spirit with the Father’s embrace. We are in Jesus and He is in us. (Jn 14:20) We may sense a separation we may sense an estrangement but we can never be any closer to Triune God and we can never escape this all-inclusive embrace.
Lord show us and help us feel the group hug that surrounds us all! In Jesus name! Amen.
~ Bill Winn
The Rock
Filed under: By Bill Winn, Christian Living, Evangelism, Gospel, Love, Ministry, Trinity | Tags: camps, Cornerstone, Generations, Genmin, Jesus Christ, life, Storms, The Rock
Comments (7) In the Piedmont region of North Carolina there is a brand new summer camp for young people called The Rock. It’s located in the beautiful area around Hanging Rock State Park and words cannot convey the intense and deeply intimate way we have encountered the Triune God of Grace this week. As I write this blog I am sitting in the Chapel. The campers are all out at their activities. Some are at High Ropes, some are at Paintball, others are at Arts and Crafts, and the rest are doing a myriad of other fun activities. All week we have been talking about Matthew 7:24-29 where Jesus says that if we build our house on the Rock it will stand but if we build it on sand, the storms of life will tear it down. In the wake of the tragic storms in the past decade we have all seen what powerful storms can do to a weak foundation. Sand is surely one of the weakest foundations upon which we can build but a good solid foundation will support a physical house even in the toughest storms. 
Jesus is the only foundation there is. There is no such thing as a counterfeit foundation. The Apostle Paul wrote, “For no one can lay any foundation other than the one that has been laid; that foundation is Jesus Christ.” (NRSV) You see all week the campers have been taught about the Rock- Jesus Christ and have been encouraged to build their lives on him. While at the outset one might worry that we have been pushing these kids back on themselves, our camp director Stephen and our Chaplains Rocky and Linda have been very careful to articulate to the campers that in terms of a sandy foundation all we are ever able to do is pile sand on Jesus who is the One Foundation. He, the Cornerstone, has been in place for us before the beginning of the world and is holding us up even when we fall!
Jesus will not be moved. He will not be shaken. And in our feeble attempts to “build” our lives, either on sand or on the Rock, we are ultimately building on Jesus in the end. If we make the choice to heap sand on the Rock and build atop such a weak, anemic structure our building is destined to crumble when the hard storms of life assail. The good news is that if we are so lost in our darkness, so blind, and so wrongheaded as to actually build on sand, the Rock, Jesus Christ, is still there with the Father’s unflinching heart to catch us when it all comes tumbling down.
So why would anyone build on sand? I don’t know. What I do know is that in one way or another we do it all the time. Our saving grace is that Jesus is there to help us pick up the pieces after the storms have blown it down and the floods have washed it away. Building on sand does not make Jesus go away. It cannot change the Triune God who Is. Building on sand is surely a fool’s errand… good for us that the Father, Son, and Spirit have already put in the Foundation that holds all things together and will never let us wash away or disappear from his love. ~Bill Winn
Truth of All Truths
Filed under: By Bill Winn, Christian Living, Church, Evangelism, Gospel, Grace Communion International, Love, Perichoresis, Relationships, The Dance and Dream of the Trinity, The Plan of Adoption, Trinity, Uncategorized | Tags: Jesus, John 14:6, Lie, Lies, lies per day, Notre Dame Study on lying, Shared Life, Triune Life, Truth, way the truth the life
Comments (1) Why does it bother us when someone lies to us? Who cares? Does it even matter whether we are truthful or not? It seems lately that it is getting harder and harder to hear truth. From politicians spouting statistics known to be false to advertisements that promise to “restore youth”, “regrow hair”, or help attract the person of our dreams we are constantly bombarded with obfuscations, little white lies, and plain old whoppers. So does it matter? Perhaps a better question is; “Why does truth matter?” Well the answer to every question is… “Who is Jesus?” Yes I know that is a question answering a question. I’m not a Rabbi but indulge me for a moment please. You see there is truth- absolute truth in fact but only because of the Truth. You see Jesus Christ, the one who has been face to face in honest communion with his Father from eternity, is Truth. In John’s Gospel he records the words o
f Jesus in John 14:6 “I am the way, the truth, and the life…” Truth in the first instance is not a what but a who. The questions is not; “What is truth?” or even if we should tell the truth the question before us is “Who is Truth?” Jesus is the Truth. The relationship between God the Father and His Son Jesus in the fellowship of the Holy Spirit is the foundation of every thought in the Cosmos. Telling the truth matters because Jesus is truth and we are created for, adopted into, and called to participate in the very life of God. In researching for this blog I read an article at Psychology Today citing a study where out of 1000 participants the average lies told per day was 1.6. According to a recent study at Notre Dame those participants who consciously avoided lying for ten weeks showed significantly better physical and mental health during the ten week study. Shockingly when I read the online article about the Notre Dame study there was a hyperlink in the text that led one to believe it would go to the actual website for the study on lying but alas it was only a link to an advertisement. It seems we can’t even write articles about studies on lying with openness. You see our very being is inseparably linked in mystical union with the Triune God. We are called to share in the very life of God. (Jn. 10:10) So how many times a day do you think Jesus lies to the Father or how many times a week does Holy Spirit lie to Jesus? Simply put, Jesus is life, Jesus is Truth, and there is no life in lying. It takes more courage and integrity than we can muster to tell the truth at all times in all situations but Jesus is Truth and He shares himself with us completely in every moment and therefore telling the truth for us is merely a picture of our participation in the Triune Life of Love… the life that only is Life. Whether we tell the truth or not God loves us and accepts us as the broken ones we are. You belong to the Father, Son, and Spirit. You always have. You always will. The Father loves you and likes you. You are His beloved child. And that’s no lie because Jesus is the Truth of all truths!
~Bill Winn
Members Only? YUCK!
Filed under: By Bill Winn, Christian Living, Gospel, Love, Relationships, The Dance and Dream of the Trinity, The Plan of Adoption, Trinity | Tags: Included, Inclusion, Members Only
Comments (5) 
Don’t we all have some childhood memory of a day or time when we were excluded from a group to which we wanted desperately to belong? Isn’t there still just a little something inside us that cringes when we see a ‘members only’ sign? Are not all of us offended to some degree when we are shut out or excluded?
The wretchedness of segregation with its ‘whites only’ placards has left a scar on our society from which we are hopefully recovering. My favorite game, golf, has been notorious for excluding others to one degree or another.
What is it about us that enables us to feel pain inside when we are excluded? Why does it hurt so much?
Well, the answer is simple: Jesus! Yes Jesus is the reason we hate to be excluded or left out. It is because of Jesus that we ARE included in the life he and his Father share in the Holy Spirit.
Triune God has existed eternally in perfect love and fellowship, unencumbered freedom and wholeness, and complete and lasting union. It is here that the cause of creation is found. Did you know why you were created? It was not, first, to worship or glorify God. You were created by God for God.
In short, you were created for inclusion. You were created because before the foundations of the world were laid the Blessed Trinity set Their love upon you and determined to include you in Their circle of life and love. You were created simply and plainly so that the Father could share His love and life with you.
In the person of Jesus Christ you HAVE been included in the Triune Life of God. In His earthly ministry Jesus has gathered you up in Himself and placed you in the center of a circle of fellowship with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Often we hear it said that somehow we have the capability of being separated from God… because of sins or unbelief or some other such nonsense. The truth is we have no power to be here. Either we are connected to God or we cease to exist. So when we hurt because of some physical exclusion it is merely a shadow of a larger reality. That reality is that in Jesus we are INcluded where it really matters- in the very life and being of God.
So now the reason you hurt when you are told that you are excluded is simply because you are INcluded. If someone were to twist my arm it would surely hurt, but only because my arm is attached to my body. If the arm were separated from me that person could twist it all day long and it would not hurt. You are included in Jesus and the lie that you are excluded hurts simply because there, on your Spiritual DNA, is written the truth that you belong to the Father, Son, and Spirit and you always have and you always will.
So let us resolve to include others in much the same way we have been included in the Trinity… without reservation, judgment, or prejudice.
~Bill Winn
BUSTED!
Filed under: Bible, By Bill Winn, Christian Living, Church, Evangelism, Gospel, Grace Communion International, Humor, Love, Ministry, Perichoresis, Relationships, Scripture Paraphrases, Sermons, The Plan of Adoption, Trinity, Worship | Tags: accusers, adultery, Bill Winn, compassion, Forgiveness, Grace, Grace Communion International, Judgment, Love, redemption, Richmond Grace Fellowship, Sin
Comments (6) The four Gospels of the New Testament record many of the sayings and teaching of Jesus. We are gifted with a partial transcript of his wisdom, humor, correction, insight, and compassion. One of my favorites is the statement Jesus made to a woman who had been caught in the act of something punishable by death. We find it in John 8 and many, I am confident, are somewhat familiar with the story. You see there was this ongoing attempt by the religious leaders of the day to try and trip up Jesus, to discredit him, and to have him killed the latter of which Jesus submitted to when the time for his sacrificial death drew near.
So in John 8 here they come, the “religion police”, dragging with them a woman caught right in the act of adultery. As you might expect this scene drew a crowd as many wanted to see what would become of her. At the time this all took place adultery was punishable by death. This woman was busted and in real trouble!
“Neither do I condemn you”
The religious leaders were hoping to trick Jesus into going against the law of their land thus discrediting him and putting him in mortal jeopardy.
Well, I venture a guess that if the religious leaders of the day had known and believed that Jesus really was the Eternal Son of the Father, the Creator and Sustainer of all things, and the Messiah they would not have been so silly as to try and trick him.
When they brought the woman caught in the act of adultery to him Jesus masterfully handled the situation. He looked at her accusers and wrote in the dirt saying, “Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” By the way where was the man with whom she’d done this act? Perhaps religious misogynism is a good future blog topic. Many scholars believe that what Jesus wrote in the dirt was some of the sins of the woman’s accusers, we really don’t know for sure but what we do know is that Jesus made a way to spare this woman’s life. Jesus took up her cause and defended her. This is greatly important to us as we read of the life and ministry of Jesus but what he actually said to this woman is, I think, most significant.
After her accusers left Jesus said to the woman, “Where are your accusers? Is there no one left to condemn you? She answered, “No one Lord.” Then Jesus replied to her with the most stunning news she could have heard from the Son of God… “Then neither do I condemn you… go and stop this sin.” That is the word of the Lord to us, “Neither do I condemn you!”
Jesus himself said that he did not come into the world to condemn it but that through him the whole world might be saved. If you blow it this week, if you have already blown it, if there is a behavior or action in your life that you know is poison then knock it off but know this… no matter what Jesus does not condemn! Jesus redeems, Jesus heals, Jesus loves, Jesus brings to bear in your life the very Triune life of God that he has shared with his Father and the Holy Spirit from all eternity. So while others may condemn us and pass judgment on us the One who really matters is Jesus and he says, “Neither do I condemn you!”
~Bill Winn
Somewhere In God’s World
Filed under: Bible, By Bill Winn, Christian Living, Evangelism, Gospel, Love, Prayer, Relationships, Trinity | Tags: Christmas, God, holidays, Home, lost, x-mas, xmas
Comments (2)
Recently we celebrated Veteran’s Day in the United States. It is a time when we honor those who have served our country in the Armed Forces. My Uncle Joe Winn is someone our family honors and respects greatly for his service to our country, his selfless life as a family man, and for the legacy he has left us in his children and grandchildren. Joe D. Winn made an impression on all of us in our family but I wanted to tell you about a time in 1945 when the events of Joe’s life impacted one little girl who was only 4 years old. You see after completing flight school in the Army Air Force, Second Lieutenant Joseph Daniel Winn was assigned to the island of Iwo Jima as a bomber escort flying the famed North American P-51D. On 28 July 1945 Joe was shot down during a strafing run over an airfield on the Japanese mainland. He was taken prisoner and (as were all allied flyers) classified by the Japanese as a war criminal. One evening my Aunt Beth could hear her parents and grandmother talking about Joe. She was only 4 at the time but she recounts the story in this way. 
“Mama, where’s Joe?” No answer. “I heard you say Joe’s gone to ‘War’. Mama, where’s ‘War’?” “Honey, there are some things children shouldn’t hear. Please don’t ask any more questions.” Later, I heard Mama and Daddy talking about Joe again. They used words like “Japan” and “missing” and that enormous word, “War.” Mama was crying. Young as I was, I knew where to get an answer. “Grandma, please tell me, where’s Joe?” Grandmother put her arms around me and held tight, so I wouldn’t see her tears, but I knew. “We don’t know exactly,” she said, “but wherever Joe is, that place is somewhere in God’s world.” Fear slipped away, just like that, as Grandmother’s words drew a picture in my mind: a circle of light surrounding and shrinking the dark place called “War.” Then Grandmother said, “Let’s say a prayer for Joe.”
Being sent to Omori civilian prison in Tokyo, Joe and the rest of the boys in his cell block endured conditions too horrible to mention. One ray of hope came from their guard who had gone to school in the USA. As Japan’s surrender grew near the guards could be heard going from block to block executing the Allied P.O.W.s. Joe’s sympathetic guard locked the large steel door to their cell block and slid the only key under the door with instructions not to open it for any reason. Moments later Joe and his comrades heard the other prison guards shoot their friend who had just saved all of their lives. Joe made it home after the war, raised a wonderful family, and lived the rest of his life in peace. He is one of our family’s greatest heroes, though I doubt he ever thought of himself as such.
So this Christmas if you find yourself unsure of where a loved one may be or if there is some reason you and a loved one are apart remember: Jesus is the Light of the Cosmos! (Jn.8:12) Jesus called his Father the Lord of Heaven and Earth. And Jesus himself declares that we are in him and he is in us. (Jn 14:20) This is indeed Triune God’s world and whether we know exactly where someone is at any given time, whether we worry about loved ones serving in the military, a son or daughter that we have not heard from in a while, whether we are estranged from family because of brokenness or divisions we must remember that where ever that person is they are in Jesus and in God’s world. It is no small comfort to know that we are all in Jesus and we are all ultimately safe as long as Jesus is safe. Just ask my Aunt Beth.
~Bill Winn