Bridge of Reason

  The text given for the convention is the latter part of Psalm 29 verse 11, which reads in the New World Translation as: ‘Jehovah will bless His people with peace.’ Because Jehovah’s Witnesses erroneously, but deliberately, translate the tetragram YHWH (LORD in most Bibles) as Jehovah, every verse that has that name appears to speak directly to them. So, in setting the stage for those virtually attending this convention, the verse clearly says to them that Jehovah will bless His people with peace. Who are His people? Of course, they believe it is them - Jehovah’s Witnesses. To reinforce the opening thought that Jehovah has a people, a musical presentation was shown with Witnesses from around the world singing in their own language. The message is loud and clear. Jehovah has a people, and they are happy, united, and blessed. The Jehovah’s Witnesses are back out in force with their carts, and I recently spoke to an elderly couple of witnesses about the Lord Jesus and the way of salv...

In Reasoning from the Scripture s p.409 the question is asked: 'Does the Bible teach that none of those who are said to be included in the Trinity is greater or less than another, that all are equal, that all are almighty?' The Watch Tower brings a role call of familiar proof texts, and we may address them in future, but the one I want to look at is: 'Every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. And whoever says a word against the Son of Man ill be forgiven; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come'  Mt.12:31,32 'If the Holy Spirit were a person and were God, ’ they insist, ‘this text would flatly contradict the Trinity doctrine, because it would mean that in some way the Holy Spirit was greater than the Son. Instead, what Jesus said shows that the Father, to whom the 'Spirit' belonged, is greater than Jesus, the Son of man.' ...

  Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. John 14:27 In January 1736, John Wesley set sail to the Americas. His purpose, as recorded in his diary, was threefold. Firstly, he intended to serve as a pastor to the colonists. Secondly, he wanted to preach to the, yet unreached, Indians. Finally, and interestingly, he wanted to ‘save his soul’. Wesley was clearly a sincere, and serious God-fearing man but, at this point in his life, was he truly saved? He recalls another episode in his diary that made him consider his position before a holy God. On board his ship was a group of Moravian immigrants from Germany. A severe storm developed at sea, and they were in danger of being shipwrecked. Wesley, fearing for his life, noticed that the Moravians were singing and praising God, they were all at peace amidst the tumult. Wesley recorded the event in his diary saying, “In the midst o...

  I have been trying advertising on social media and it is an interesting exercise. It is an advert for a Christian conference about cults and new religious movements in September. Someone helpfully pointed out I might like to think about my strategy given the hostile emojis and unhelpful comments I have received. Of course, I rely on Facebook to choose my audience according to the declared purpose of my page and its regular content. Perhaps they're not doing such a good job, maybe there is something I can do to manage that, but... It's a Christian ministry page and my personal FB account carries a fair amount of Christian/religious content, as you might imagine. That being the case, I get all kinds of 'suggested' post, emails to my ministry email account, things I regard as not interesting, or not 'appropriate.' From ads for success-building advertising funnels to invitations to New Age conferences, past regression therapy, even a ride on a spaceship to meet m...

  William Wordsworth wrote: The world is too much with us; late and soon, Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers;— Little we see in Nature that is ours; We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon! Wordsworth is lamenting the fast withering connection between people and nature because of the all-embracing industrial society of his time, a great theme of his day . I find people are often aware they are somehow disconnected from something bigger than themselves. I sense their longing for they don’t know what, their frustration at an inexplicable sense of fragmentation . Believers can experience this frustration, when ‘the world is too much with us, late and soon, getting and spending.’ T hat sense we have laid waste our powers, given our hearts away while distracted by the demands of life . Like Esau, we can feel we have traded our new-birthright ‘for a mess of pottage.’ Genesis 25:29-33 ‘The world is too much with us, late and soon,’ and l ittle we see in sp...

  A discussion on this subject will often come up in an attempt to witness about the gospel and surprisingly enough not only from cult members. Many other people feel they must do things to 'be good' or earn the right 'to go to heaven'. Indeed, there are some apparent indications in Scripture that on first reading would indicate that works are necessary for salvation and we must be able to answer these questions satisfactorily. There will be those who are deeply religious that would also bring this question up because they would feel that they are saved by their good works of prayer and worship and even 'going to church'. Sometimes these people will just be trying to justify themselves or testing us but even so in similar circumstances Jesus gave a sensible and reasoned answer (see Luke 10:25 and 29) and we should seek to do the same. JAMES 2 The main verses used to seek to win this argument are found in James 2:24-26 and read in the NASB,  "You see tha...

  This morning I walked the dog, spoke to a few neighbours, and tidied up a little more of my study, a task that seems to have no end. I still seem to be caught up with the idea I am not enough and somehow can’t get away from it. So, I am reflecting on a prayer of David I read last night and asking myself how thankful I am, and how to be as thankful as David. He is at the end of his life, there are rivals for his throne staking their claim, enemies at court that his son Solomon wisely gets rid of later, and he speaks to his assembled officials. David has dedicated a fortune in gold, silver, bronze, and other materials for the temple Solomon would build and invited Israel’s leaders to make a similar freewill offering to the project. There is a lot going on for a man on his deathbed. Then he prays: “ Blessed are you, O Lord , the God of Israel our father, forever and ever. Yours, O Lord , is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is...

  In the Reasoning book p.408 the Watch Tower ask: 'Does the Bible teach that all who are said to be part of the Trinity are eternal, none having a beginning?' They point out Jesus, in Col. 1:15,16, is referred to as 'the first born of all creation,' making the point, 'if the Trinity doctrine is true, why are the Father and the holy spirit not also said to be the firstborn of all creation? But the Bible applies this expression only to the Son.' 'Firstborn' in Scripture always refers to a creature, each after its own kind.’ At the heart of this question is the Jehovah’s Witness’ s consistent misunderstanding of the Trinity. You can only ask this question if you think the Trinity doctrine understands all three members of the Trinity are the same person. We looked at this last time . Let’s state again: The doctrine of the Trinity may be summed like this: (1) The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are distinct Persons (2) each Person is fully God (3)...