I’m thankful you know you need to have God in your life, and I hope you won’t let anything take away that desire. Jesus’ promise is for you: “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you” (Matthew 7:7).

You’re wise, however, to want to avoid any group that might be a cult — because they will lead you away from God instead of toward Him. How can you tell? One way is to find out if the members think that they, and they alone, have all the truth about God. To put it another way, most cults teach that every other church is wrong, and they alone are right. Most cults, incidentally, are of relatively recent origin.

The real issue, however, is what a group teaches about Jesus. Do they see Him as both fully God and fully man? Most cults don’t, but the Bible does. Do they teach that because of His death and resurrection we can be saved as we put our faith and trust in Him? Most cults don’t, but the Bible does.

The most important thing I can tell you, however, is that you can come to God right now! God loves you and sent His Son into the world to die for you. Ask Christ to come into your life today, and then seek out a church where Christ is central and the Bible is taught.