Emphasis Preaching Journal

It was in my own home church; the chief qualification of Sunday school teachers was their willingness. Herbert, however, had his private agenda -- to be endorsed for seminary someday. For now, he would teach this class. The class was working on the second chapter of Joel. "We Christians need to know more about the Old Covenant." That was Herbert's proclaimed posture. "And so we conclude, my friends, that the doctrine of the trinity is set forth here in this Old Testament passage." "How do you get 'trinity' in this?" He was challenged.
"Well, just look. Here God speaks first to the land itself, then to the beasts of the field, and finally to the children of Zion." First some murmuring, then total confusion with verbal darts. Herbert forced his voice again. "Yes, and all you farmers can see the trinity every time you squat down on your three-legged milking stools." I winced along with others. "You can't force a figure of speech," a local school teacher fairly shouted. A music teacher pointed out that, "This is poetry, can't you see?" Herbert raised his voice again but was interrupted. An old retired cleric, who sat in the back of the room every week but never entered the class discussion, now tapped his cane for attention. "With this kind of so-called study, no wonder the church's theology is cluttered with foolishness." That was in 1941. -- Hoornstra