"Enter in at the narrow gate because the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many going into it." Jesus Christ in Matthew 7:13. In this concluding part of His Sermon on the Mount the Lord Jesus warns us against "Broadway Christianity". This is not a warning …
Category: Church reform
Do you know the Way to Heaven?
The Way to Heaven is not by "being good", or by "going to church". Too often the church gets in the way, instead of helping you to find the Way. The Way to Heaven is not religion, philosophy or "living a good life". Jesus said to the ecclesiastical lawyers: “Woe unto you, lawyers! for you …
Reformation from blind faith
The 16th-century European Reformation was a reformation from the blind faith expected by Roman Catholicism. Blind faith is believing something because someone else has said it, rather than examining the evidence for oneself. It is encouraged by dogmaticians, who regularly use "proof by assertion" to "establish" their point. Instead of believing what the Roman Catholic …
Church courts or helpers?
In Presbyterianism it is common to hear of church assemblies being described as church courts. Why? This terminology promotes legalistic thinking, and this is too commonly found in dealing with cases of conscience or cases of discipline. This legal thinking needs to be balanced with the biblical teaching about office-bearers in the Church of Christ: …
Roman Jesuitism
This morning, the world's media focussed on the Roman Catholic funeral mass, known as a Requiem Mass, for Francis, the recently deceased and the first former-Jesuit to become pope in Rome. Roman Jesuitism was much in evidence to those who could recognize it. Presiding Roman cardinal Giovanni Battista Re read a homily saying that the …
The poverty of worldly love
It is a poor reflection on worldly love that the average length of a marriage that falls apart in England and Wales is about a dozen years. Birds of a feather flock together, but these worldly lovebirds fly apart. Those who claimed to love each other, and then lose it so quickly, need to learn …
The Finishing Line
Today, I remember my late brother's birthday. He passed away a few years ago, beating me in our race towards heaven. The life of the godly is a long-distance race. The finishing line is in heaven. The apostle Paul speaks about it in Heb 12:1-2. The point he makes is that racers keep their eye …
The price of losing Christian values
There is a saying: "You won't miss the water till the well runs dry." Britain's wells are running dry. The caring professions are running dry, which many now view simply as jobs without a sense of vocation. Speaking truth is running dry in politics and public life Isa 59:14. Christian conscience is seeping away from …
God’s Common Grace
Saving grace, restraining grace and common grace. What is the difference? Grace has many meanings, but in a Christian context it is distinguished from mercy. The grace of God is the love of God to those who do not deserve it Rom 11:6. The mercy of God is the love of God to those who …
False Christianity
Jesus warns us against false Christs Mat 24:24 and each of the apostles did the same. So, how do false Christs operate? First, they use Christian terminology. Counterfeits always imitate the real thing. Are you able to detect counterfeit Christs, counterfeit Christianity? Secondly, they use Christian terms in a different way than the Bible does, …
Donald's Thoughts 