A WORD IN PASSING - November 2024

            'But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpents cunning, your minds may somehow be

             led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ.'                                    2 Corinthians 11: 3

              Some years back the following article appeared in 'The Times' newspaper.   

        'The deranged man who tried to handcuff New York's Roman Catholic Archbishop in a 'citizen's arrest' during a New         

       Year's Day Mass at St Patrick's Cathedral says that the Church is lying about Christ. Timothy Byrne, said by his family

       to be suffering from manic depression, claims that the real saviour was a female librarian in the Egyptian port of

       Alexandria, who was killed by Christians hundreds of years ago. He insists she had been reincarnated as a green eyed

       Manhattan female who graduated from Columbia University Business Scholl in 1999. He calls her 'Hypacia'.   

      Not all deceptions are so easily exposed. Especially when they contain elements of truth that seem to authenticate them.

      Some believers in the church in Corinth had fallen for false teaching that sounded good and seemed to make sense.

      Unfortunately, there always has been and there always will be people both inside and outside of the Church who twist,

      distort and dismiss God's word.  Outside of the Church the goal is often to undermine and destroy any Christian influence

      that may remain in society. Inside the Church it's often a surrendering to contemporary culture in the hope that the Church

      may be seen as relevant and therefore acceptable. Both arise from a rejection or discomfort with what God's Word teaches.

      Christians who want to stay true to the truth - and thereby the God of truth - need to be on their guard; not believing anyone

      or anything simply because they sound reasonable and authoritative; not being lulled into falsities and deceptions via the

      slippery slope of accommodation. We must let the Bible be our guide. Interpreting it, yes. But God's character and His will

      remain unchanging. He does not accommodate Himself to our wants and ways, rather it is we who are called to repent and

      believe that we may accommodate and be led by His Spirit in us and in His Church.

       Keep in step with His Spirit. Let God's Word be your guide. And measure what others say and teach by what the Scriptures

       reveal to us about Jesus; about God's will and His ways. Don't be led astray by the enemy without or the enemy within.

       Keep your focus on a 'sincere and pure devotion to Christ': He who is the real Saviour.                                                                              

                                                                                                                                                                                             Graham Pulham

                         For more information about the Christian faith, go to www.christianity.org.uk