Bridge of Reason

The Chambers Dictionary defines legalism as “strict adherence to law...the tendency to observe letter or form rather than spirit, or to regard things from the point of view of law.” It also helpfully illustrates the definition with a reference to the opposing doctrines of salvation by works and salvation by grace. But what is wrong with keeping the law? Surely as Christians we believe in being law-abiding? There is certainly enough in the New Testament about obedience to authorities. We are instructed, “obey your parents in the Lord” (Eph.6:1); obey your earthly masters with respect” (Eph.6:5); obey your leaders and submit to their authority” (Heb.13:17) and we are reminded “to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good” (Titus 3:3) The Challenge of Legalism When we witness to those with a legalistic bent we are often challenged with these and similar texts and accused of practicing antinomianism, “being emancipated by the gospel fro...

  It is commonly understood among Mormons that the Fall was a good thing. A 27 April post on X has sent the Christian world in a spin because it plainly said as much: 'In the LDS Church, we do not see Eve eating the forbidden fruit as a mistake or even a sin. on the contrary, we celebrate her courage and wisdom to partake of the fruit, transgress the bounds of Eden and become all that her Heavenly Father wanted her to be.' Of course, nobody outside the Mormon Church would teach such a thing. It goes against everything the Bible tells us, everything Christianity teaches about the nature of man, the purposes of God in creation , and the meaning of the atonement. People get uncomfortable when we use the word 'cult,' but it must be understood that error on this level cannot be winked at. It must be called out for what it is, plain heresy. People must be warned, and the fact someone 'sincerely believes it’ is no excuse. If it upsets our Mormon neighbours then pe...

You have left a cult, or you are helping someone come out; so what comes next? The apostle Paul wrote to the church in Corinth: 'But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it.' 1 Cor.3:1,2 There is a process of growth every Christian needs if they are to come to full maturity in Christ. The same is true for Christians coming out of cults. What are stages of this growth? How might we think about, and identify where people are in this process of sanctification? How are we to help them move on and grow further, from the milk to the meat? Recorded at the Reachout Trust Conference, September, 2024.  

Have you ever asked yourself this question? I spoke about this at our 2023 Reachout Trust Convention. Our 2024 Convention is already planned and booked for September. Why not join us and enjoy a weekend of teaching, equipping, and fellowship? Find out more here.  Meanwhile, I hope this teaching blesses you.  

  Isaiah 53 in the Great Isaiah Scroll It is in Acts 8:26-38 we find the story of Philip and the Ethiopian official from the court of Candace. The Spirit directs Philip to ‘go down from Jerusalem to Gaza’ and talk to the man. Here was the last watering hole before the desert on the route from Jerusalem to Egypt, from where he would go on to the ancient Nubian kingdom south of Aswan on the Nile. The man was probably a God-fearer – ‘he had come to Jerusalem to worship.’ He was ‘seated in his chariot, and he was reading the prophet Isaiah.’ This was unusual for an outsider, a Gentile. He had, nevertheless, been to Jerusalem and would have heard of the crucifixion, of the events at Pentecost, and might have witnessed the beginning of the Christian Diaspora. What would he have seen and heard that would draw him to Isaiah 53? Philip is instructed to join the man’s chariot, which he did and found himself invited to come up and sit with him. What if it had been Charles Russell in that...

  It is often asked, how can anyone fall for this or that cult? Behind the question is an assumption; these people are gullible. But they are neither gullible, nor are they dumb. In fact, most people who join cults are intelligent and capable. That much is clear from the fact they so often come along asking important questio ns about life. From our vantage point we might compare a cult’s teaching with our own experience and understanding, but that is not where the cult member is standing. Imagine a scale of 1-10: 1------2------3------4------5------6------7------8------9------10 Number ten represents the complete cult experience.  Number one represents what most regard as the received orthodoxy of the faith, where we stand when we agree on the fundamentals.  It is from this viewpoint that you survey the cult scene and judge others ‘dumb for falling for this stuff.’ The ‘others’ you are looking at stand, shall we say, at point seven on this scale. I t is well to remember th...

  Cult victim found alive after three days in Malindi grave ‘ Detectives under the homicide unit have found one person alive after exhuming a grave linked to Shakahola church members.’ It’s a shocking headline, hardly believable, but there it was in the Star of Kenya . The story has been unfolding on our screens, in our news feeds, across the world as we have looked on incredulously at the horror unfolding . How does it come to this? Who is Paul Nthenge Mackenzie and what drove him to insist his followers go to such extremes of fasting that it brought many to the grave? P aul Mackenzie, pastor of Good News International Church, is widely reported to have encouraged his congregation to extreme fasting in order to ‘meet Jesus’ or go to heaven. As with all such things, this ‘starvation cult’ has an origin story. Mackenzie is said to be a devotee of William Branham’s ‘the Message’ cult, having been radicalised by the Latter-Rain version of Branham’s message . Branham referred to ...

  Do you know someone who has left a church to join a cult? Sadly, I have heard many stories of those who have left behind Christian fellowship to join Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormons, or some other cultic group. Why does this happen? I want to suggest three possible reasons: i) Those who leave were just Church attenders. ii) Those who leave were Church members but not members of the Church. iii) Those who leave were ill-informed believers. They were just Church attenders. You may have heard it said that just as going to McDonalds doesn’t make you a Big Mac, so going to Church doesn’t make you a Christian. We may smile, but we understand the truth of this. Attending somewhere is not evidence of affiliation. Many people will attend church because of tradition. It is something they have always done. Perhaps they were brought to church as a child, perhaps they were christened and confirmed and have just continued with church because that’s what they do. For such ...