As Jesus is the cornerstone upon which the Church is built, so are his teachings the unifying cornerstone of Christian doctrine.

Warning bells

How can we tell if a preacher is on the right path, way off the track or somewhere in between? None of us can claim that we are all right on every issue, but we often deceive ourselves into thinking that we are more right than wrong. In Luke 21:1-19 Jesus taught some major warning signs that would distinguish false teachers from the rest of us who, although still very faulty are perhaps at least headed in the right direction. Jesus describes those giving off such alarm bells as many not few. Not too many claim to be Jesus, but many do make Messiah-like claims such as the sole place to find salvation or exclusive knowledge about salvation. People who make prophetic claims about the immediacy of Jesus’ return are certainly sounding a warning bell — not to follow them!

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