Dr Paul Allen

Instinctively, we think of confession as a gloomy, dour, introspective activity that, by focusing on all the things we have done wrong, makes us (quite literally) miserable sinners. And there is a grain of truth in this: Our sin is terrible, and we should never trivialise it or excuse it. But David takes a much more positive view of confession in Psalm 32. Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man against whom the LORD counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit. (Ps. 32:1–2) When I stayed silent and did not confess my sin, David elaborates, life was truly miserable. My bones wasted away, I groaned all day, and my strength was like dry ground in a summer drought (Ps. 32:3–4). But then I acknowledged my sin. I confessed it all to God. And he forgave it all (Ps. 32:5), fully releasing me from my debt and causing me to “be glad in the Lord and rejoice” (Ps. 32:11) rather than experiencing “the sorro...

When we have wrong thoughts about God, the consequences can be disastrous for every relationship – especially within the church. Many problems arise when believers’ actions are guided by inaccurate or unbiblical thinking about God. The church at Corinth is a case study in what goes wrong when people’s minds are led astray from the truth of God’s Word. The very first issue crippling the Corinthian church was disunity, which stemmed from these believers thinking with a fleshly mind, rather than with the mind of Christ. Rather than submitting to God’s wisdom and applying the mind of Christ to their daily walk, the Corinthians were enamoured with man’s thoughts, philosophies, and opinions, leading to church conflict and division. Paul, therefore, exhorted them in 1 Corinthians 1:10 to agree. When we come to 1 Corinthians 2:6-11, we discover that Paul wanted the Corinthians to adopt the very mind of Christ. As Christians, we have access to the way Christ thinks, and we know God’s wisdom. B...

Speaking or praying in tongues is a form of prayer in which the Christian yields himself to the Holy Spirit and receives from the Spirit a supernatural language with which to praise God.  It is a miraculous manifestation of God’s power, but one which combines both human and divine elements that expresses both human and divine initiative. It is truly a cooperative effort between the Christian and the Holy Spirit. Many people misunderstand what takes place when they hear someone praying or speaking in tongues. They are apprehensive over what might happen to them if they “let themselves go like that” or “let some other power take over.”  They assume the person is completely passive and that the Holy Spirit is doing it all. This is an erroneous impression of what is taking place. The person himself is actively participating in the experience. As someone once put it, “Without the Holy Spirit, you can’t, but without you. the Holy Spirit won’t.” Simply stated, man does the speaking;...

With God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26), therefore, the answer to this question is yes. However, it is a highly qualified yes! I personally know of two people who received the baptism in the Holy Spirit and spoke in English rather than in unknown tongues. Both were exceptionally sensitive, prophetic men, true spiritual giants of our time. One is Dr Frank Laubach, through whom the Holy Spirit manifested Himself supernaturally in English.  The other was Rufus Moseley, who, some months after his baptism in the Holy Spirit, began to speak in tongues and continued to witness faithfully to their value until his death. In a booklet entitled “How to Enter, Abide, and Increase in Union with Jesus Christ,” he makes this excellent statement: My feeling is that we must not be dogmatic and say that no one can have the baptism of the Holy Spirit unless he speaks in tongues. God, of course, can speak in English and in every tongue of men and angels. But He now seems a little more real ...

The only clear scriptural evidence of the baptism in the Holy Spirit is speaking in tongues. The first Christians to be baptised in the Holy Spirit were the 120 gathered in the upper room at Pentecost. The unique evidence that the 120 received the Holy Spirit was that “they began to speak in other tongues” (Acts 2:4).  All the other spiritual gifts, such as healing and prophecy, appear in the Old Testament and in the gospels. But with the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, which signified God’s presence in the disciples’ lives in a new dimension, God gave a new gift: the gift of tongues. The book of Acts records five separate occasions when the Holy Spirit was received. On three of these occasions, speaking in tongues is specifically mentioned as the visible sign accompanying the experience: at Pentecost (see Acts 2:4), at the house of Cornelius (see Acts 10:44–46), and at Ephesus (see Acts 19:6).  Paul received the Holy Spirit when Ananias laid hands on him and prayed (...

Who authored Titus, 1 Timothy and 2 Timothy? Dick Harfield goes to great lengths to say it was not the Apostle Paul, based on Marcion's gathered letters.  Paul authored all three letters—1 Timothy and Titus after his release from his first Roman imprisonment (around A.D. 62–64), and 2 Timothy during his second Roman imprisonment (around A.D. 66–67), shortly before his death.1 These letters were directed to his apostolic representatives Timothy and Titus, who were overseeing churches in Ephesus and Crete respectively, and Paul provided them with guidance on managing those congregations.1 The authorship question has generated significant scholarly debate. While external evidence supports Pauline authorship, some modern commentators have questioned whether Paul wrote these letters.2 Critical scholars have challenged Pauline authorship, proposing instead that a second-century follower of Paul composed all three epistles.1  However, early Church Fathers—including Ignatius, Polycarp...

His daughter was dying, and Jesus had been diverted. Jesus looked directly at him and said to Jairus, "Only believe"   This means shifting our focus from the size of your problem to the size of your faith in God. It is a practical choice to trust Jesus when you feel overwhelmed. 1. Identify and Name the Fear: Acknowledge the anxiety . Do not ignore your panic, stress, or doubt. Surrender it: Visually or mentally hand that specific problem over to God, admitting that you cannot fix it on your own.  2. Guard Your Atmosphere. Filter the noise: In the Bible story, Jesus removed the mocking, weeping crowd from the room before performing the miracle. Limit negative inputs: Step away from voices, media, or advice that breed panic and hopelessness. Seek encouragement: Surround yourself with people who speak life, hope, and faith into your situation.  3. Replace "What-Ifs" with God's Word. Stop the spiral: When your mind starts inventing worst-case scenarios, intentio...

  This is Dick Harfield's answer to the question:  Why did Mary and Joseph have to go to Bethlehem for the census? Luke’s Gospel said that Joseph had to go to Bethlehem for the census of Quirinius “because he was of the house and lineage of David”. There would have been no reason for Mary to go there, as women were not counted in censuses. The reason for Joseph going to Bethlehem is unclear, since the census was applied only to establish to expected taxes from the newly acquired Roman province of Judea; as a resident of Galilee, Joseph would not have been assessed for taxes in what was effectively a foreign country. Uta Ranke-Heinemann says, in Putting Away Childish Things : There would have been no such journey unless Joseph had owned property in Bethlehem. If he had no real estate, as an inhabitant of Galilee under the tetrarch Herod Antipas, he would not have been affected by the order of the Syrian governor Quirinius. Joseph owned no property in Bethlehem. In that case he ...

And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. Likewise, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. (Rom. 8:23, 26–27) Christians have the best gift as we await the return of Jesus and the resurrection of our bodies: the firstfruits of the Spirit. “Firstfruits” literally refers to the initial portion of a harvest, which points to a greater harvest ahead.  Christians enjoy the firstfruits of the Spirit now (for example, the fruit of the Spirit listed in Gal. 5:22–23), as we await a greater harvest, or greater benefit of the Spirit: our adoption and redemption of our bodies.  While Paul says in verse 15...

The final words in 1 Corinthians 2 – “We have the mind of Christ” – are some of the most soul-stirring words in the New Testament. Scripture has much to say about the mind. God’s Word describes the sinner in his natural condition as having a depraved mind in Romans 1:28, as having a futile mind in Ephesians 4:17, as having a defiled mind in Titus 1:15, and as having a fleshly mind in Colossians 2:18. That’s why believers are exhorted in Scripture to renew our minds. Ephesians 4:23 tells us to be renewed in the spirit of our minds. As believers, we must not – and indeed cannot – go on thinking like we used to think before we were converted. Because much of the spiritual battle happens in the mind, Paul’s statement that Christians have the mind of Christ forms the foundation for our encouragement. We are not sent on a fool’s errand when the Bible tells us to renew our minds. God has provided the mind of Christ to us! Paul had called the Corinthians to renew their minds when he started th...

When Timothy was thrust into a difficult task, Paul prayed and laid hands upon him with other elders, and God blessed Timothy for the work, a normal procedure. A similar situation is found in Acts 13:1–3.  The church at Antioch laid hands on Paul and Silas to “separate” them for the work to which God had already called them. No “gifting” was attempted, but the laying on of hands was more than a ritual—it identified a need for strength from God.  One can hardly suppose anybody would choose one “gift” of the nine for a young fellow left alone in a pagan world with a small company of believers, as if it were a going-away present. I cannot imagine which one Paul and the elders would choose for the big task that lay ahead of Timothy, but a general pastoral gifting—yes. Another scripture quoted for “gifting” is the passage in 2 Kings 2, where Elisha asked Elijah to give him a double portion of his spirit. Elijah said it was a hard thing but promised it would be so if Elisha saw Eli...