Bridge of Reason

  I used to play this trick where I took a handful of change from my pocket and asked someone to count it for me before I used it as an illustration. They would come back with a number and I would look puzzled and ask, ’Are you sure?’ I would then count the change for myself, taking out all the foreign coins that looked like British currency. ‘That,’ I would say, ‘is how easy it is to fool someone. With blinding familiarity and an unsuspecting mark.’ So it is that along comes a Jehovah’s Witness, pointing out the Bible clearly says, ‘You are my witnesses,’ declares Jehovah.’ Isaiah 43:10, and our mark, thinking this an insight, and feeling how clever of him to see it, says, ‘Oh, yes! Tell me more.’ So, too, a Mormon comes along and says, ‘The true church is built on a foundation of apostles and prophets.’ Eph esians 2:20; 1 Co rinthi a ns 12:28; Eph esians 4:11-14, and our mark, thinking he knows something now, and how clever he is to know it, says, ‘Oh, yes! Tell me more.’ You

8 in 10 individuals who were hospitalized by COVID-19 said they wished they had used the Bible more.’ I posted this originally in the Spring of 2021. Maybe it's a good time to remind ourselves of these things at the beginning of 2023. As we begin a New Year Reachout Trust is committed to encouraging Bible reading, which is in a poor state across the church. We have more and better access to a dizzying choice of Bibles, electronic Bibles having become very popular over recent years. It is reported YouVersion’s Bible App gives us free access to 1,839 Bible versions in 1,275 languages. And yet... Christianity Today reported Bible reading in the US has fallen away during the pandemic: ‘ Between early 2019 and 2020, the percentage of US adults who say they use the Bible daily dropped from 14 percent to 9 percent, according to the State of the Bible 2020 report released by the Barna Group and the American Bible Society (ABS).’ This is dissonance on a grand scale. A feast of the b

  “But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only.” Matthew 24:36 A new year tends to bring hope and expectation for many. Promises are made, optimism fills the air and then, usually a week or so later, we realise that nothing has really changed, and we have already reneged on the resolutions. The last few years have been incredibly difficult. We have had a worldwide plague, there is a continuing war in Ukraine causing global recession, and a worrying increase in climatic changes. All of this has caused an acute insecurity, leaving people extremely vulnerable and susceptible to the messages preached by doomsday cults. Coming Soon The doomsday cults will always seek to take advantage of fear and insecurity in society. For them tribulation and turmoil are clear and obvious signs that the end is nigh. For such groups, a new year brings about a sense of hope and an expectation that this may be the year when all their long-held