The Triune Gates

This website was born from a simple thought:
Perhaps I can contribute something to the spreading of God's Word.

Perhaps this website can help someone dive deeper into the Bible. Perhaps a comparison with ancient writings gives a different perspective. Perhaps an image, a text, or a thought encourages someone to search further themselves.

Or perhaps someone ends up here who has never truly read the Bible.

And if ultimately even just one person opens the Bible because of this, begins to search, and comes to faith in the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, then this website has meant something.

Because the Bible is so much more than just a thick book with many pages.
It is a story that invites you to read, investigate, and live it.

Not burying the talent

Jesus tells in the parable of the talents about a servant who, out of fear, hid the talent entrusted to him in the ground. When his master returns, the servant says:

"Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed, so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground..."

His master answers that he should have at least put the money with the bankers, so that at his return he would have received it back with interest.
— Matthew 25:24–27

That image is one of the thoughts behind this website. I do not want to bury my faith like a talent in the ground and keep it only for myself.

Perhaps I cannot reach everyone.
Perhaps I cannot convince everyone.
That is not necessary.

But I can do something with what I have been given. This website is, in that sense, my "bank". A place where I can leave something and share, in the hope that it bears spiritual fruit somewhere.

Sowing without knowing where it grows

Scripture teaches:

"For whatever one sows, that will he also reap."

— Galatians 6:7

When we sow something, we do not always know where it lands. A word. A Bible verse. A conversation. A testimony. An act of love. Help to someone who needs it.

Perhaps we ourselves will never see what comes of it. Paul phrased this beautifully:

"I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth."

— 1 Corinthians 3:6

That is also how I see this website.
I can plant.
Another can water.
But God gives the growth.

Which side of the story are we on?

Jesus said about His betrayal:

"The Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to THAT man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed!"

— Matthew 26:24

To me, there is a broader lesson in that as well. That something will or must happen does not mean it is unimportant by WHOm it happens. When something bad happens, I do not want to be the one through whom the evil is carried out.

But I want to turn that principle around as well. When something good happens somewhere — when someone is helped, when God's Word is spread, when someone begins to search or ultimately comes to faith — why shouldn't we try to contribute to that, however small?

Not to receive the glory for it ourselves.
But to have a part in the good work.

The vine and the elm

A remarkable image of this is found outside the Biblical canon as well, in the early Christian text The Shepherd of Hermas. In Similitude II, a vine and an elm are described.

The elm bears no fruit itself. The vine does bear fruit, but when it lies on the ground without support, its fruit is ruined. However, when the vine is supported by the elm, it can grow upward and bear good fruit.

Thus they need each other. One bears the fruit. The other helps make the fruit possible. And therefore they both share in the fruit.

To me, that is a beautiful image.
Not everyone has to be a preacher.
Not everyone has to build a website.
Not everyone has to have the same talent.

One speaks. The other listens.
One writes. The other shares.
One helps someone in need directly. Another gives to people or organizations that can carry out that work.
One plants. The other waters.

And ultimately: God gives the growth.

Each in their own way

Therefore I believe we can all do something. Testify of the Lord when you get the opportunity. Help someone who needs help. Give to the poor, or support organizations that help the poor. Support churches, mission work, or other people who sincerely spread God's Word.

Not because it literally earns "interest" with God. But because something you give — money, time, knowledge, love, a word, or a talent — can be used by someone else to bear spiritual fruit.

Perhaps you will never see that fruit yourself. That does not make the seed any less valuable.

Why The Triune Gates exists

That is why this website exists. Not because I claim to have all the answers. Not because I expect everyone to draw the same conclusions.

But because I want to share what I have found, what made me think, and what might encourage others to search for themselves.

If this website can contribute to that for even just one person, then it was worth the effort.

Do not bury the faith within yourself.
Sow. Share. Help. Testify.
Each in their own way.

Because one plants and the other waters —
but God gives the growth.