Bridge of Reason

  “No matter what happens, never forget the door-to-door ministry.” With those words ringing in my ears, I walked three miles to the nearest village. When I arrived, I could not find the courage to go to the first house. After some struggle, I went into the woods and prayed very hard to God for the courage to preach. Finally, I was able to return to the first door and give my presentation. [1] Each week we run a City Centre book table giving out tracts, booklets, and Bibles. We have a lot of interesting discussions with all manner of people. Recently, I got into a conversation with a nice gentleman who told me that his wife was a very committed, baptised Jehovah’s Witness. He said that she had been in the Witnesses for over thirty years, and one of his sons was also a zealous adherent. I asked him why he was not a Jehovah’s Witness, to which he replied with a smile on his face: ‘I like golf too much.’ PAR FOR THE COURSE He admitted that for him, the cost of joining them wou...

  For Watchtower Wednesday on the Reachout Facebook page last week I pointed to an article on jw.org addressing this question. How do you understand the kingdom of God? How would you explain it to a Jehovah’s Witness? The Kingdom of Heaven It is always helpful to start with their understanding of kingdom. This puts them on familiar ground and gives you the chance to address specific ideas they hold to be true. The first thing of which they are sure is, ‘ The Bible identifies its true location by calling it “the kingdom of heaven.” ( Matthew 4:17 , King James Version )’ What jumps out at me immediately is their use of the King James Bible. Why not quote the N ew W orld T ranslation ? The KJV has Jesus refer to ‘the kingdom of heaven,’ a place, while their own NWT has Jesus refer to, ‘the kingdom of the heavens.’ ‘ Heavens’ translates the Greek ouranos which is anglicised to Uranus. It has the meaning of sky, air, firmament, any area above the earth; heaven(s), the place of ...

THE SITUATION ‘It made me feel so bad.’ ‘I felt like I was ripping his whole world apart. If he accepted what I was saying it would cost him so much.’ The person that told me this had just shared the gospel with his Mormon friend. His friend came from a loving Mormon family. He had four brothers and two sisters, and his parents were pillars of the Mormon community.   They were the model Mormon family. All his brothers had served a Mission, and now it was his turn. He was excited. He had filled in his papers and was waiting to hear where he was to be sent. He was hoping it would be Africa. Plans were also in place for his return from Mission. He had a confirmed place to study at Brigham Young University and a girl who, upon his return, was keen to marry him. All was good in his life. How could he possibly leave this behind? Why on earth would he leave this all behind? THE COST And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross ...

  On last week’s Watchtower Wednesday on our Facebook page I pointed to an article on jw.org addressing the question of misinformation, fake news . The Watchtower say: 'Today, you have access to more information than ever, including the kind that can help you stay safe and healthy. But in your search, you need to beware of misinformation, such as: Misleading news, False reports, Conspiracy theories. How can you protect yourself from misleading information and conspiracy theories?’ I asked how you might use the article in a discussion with a Jehovah’s Witness. T he question is, if we applied this advice to the Watchtower Society what would we find? How might we introduce it into our witnessing? It is a very helpful article with a lot of sound, biblical advice – if it is applied honestly. But how does the Watchtower Society fair when put to its own test? The y give several thoughtful helps: Don’t believe everything you see or hear Evaluate the source and content Be...

  It was a friendly enough discussion. We found ourselves agreeing on several things. We both believed there was only one God, who is the creator and sustainer of the Universe. We agreed that God is Sovereign and that the world He had created was in a mess. Surely, there would soon come a time when God will act, a time when the righteous and the wicked will be raised to a final judgement. He was keen to point out to me that, along with Judaism, we were all ‘People of the Book.’ He said: ‘We ‘Abrahamic’ religions have much in common and we need to stick together to overcome the world.’ I liked this Muslim. He had a zeal and a passion for God with a real desire to obey the one who, according to him, will ultimately decide whether he has done enough to enter paradise. After commending him for his desire to honour God and follow truth, I asked him a question: ‘Who is Jesus?’ His eyes lit up, and he went into a frenzy of excited explanation. A PROPHET ‘We respect and honour Jesu...