Dr Paul Allen

Building a new family from the ashes of past abuse is an opportunity to defy destruction and illuminate hope. When you’ve come from an abusive past, building up your own new family is no ordinary thing. It joyfully, actively, and creatively crushes the work of Satan . The work of establishing a Christ -centered family stands as an act of redemption and re-creation that proclaims God ’s glory and dominion over evil. We are made in God’s image, created to reflect his value through our lives, words, and works — but we don’t come into the world fully mature. God designed families to serve as one of the most essential arenas of our development. Thus, we are born as malleable, impressionable children, who intrinsically imbibe the world of our caregivers. And this can be a world of affection and instruction in Christ, or a world of neglect and abuse. Being raised in a godly home should communicate to us that we are loved, that Christ is to be trusted, and that God is our Father ...

Image of Stephen Fry (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) STEPHEN FRY AND CANCER Stephen Fry was asked what he would say if he were "confronted by God ."   Fry replied, "I'd say, bone cancer in children? What's that about?  How dare you create a world to which there is such misery that is not our fault. It's not right, it's utterly, utterly evil.  Why should I respect a capricious, mean-minded, stupid God who creates a world that is so full of injustice and pain. That's what I would say." Interviewer: "And you think you are going to get into heaven, like that?"  Fry replied: "I wouldn't want to. I wouldn't want to get in on his terms. They are wrong. Now, if I died and it was Pluto, Hades , and if it was the 12 Greek gods , then I would have more truck with it, because the Greeks didn't pretend to not be human in their appetites, in their capriciousness, and in their unreasonableness.  They didn't prese...

Image by Bread for the World via Flickr Food pantries , clothing drives and mission trips have become unquestioned bastions of America ’s charitable landscape. But do these well-intended services – many of them run by Christian organizations – really help the poor? According to Robert Lupton, the answer is no. His new book,  “Toxic Charity,”  draws on his 40 years experience as an urban activist in Atlanta and argues that most charitable work is ineffective or actually harmful to those it is supposed to help. Lupton is the founder of FCS Urban Ministries, through which he has developed mixed-income subdivisions that house hundreds of families. He is the author of four other books and holds a Ph.D. in psycho Image by acfb via Flickr logy from the University of Georgia . Q: You say churches and charities can harm those they prop ose to help. How? A: Typically, the giving is one-way: those of us with the resources give to those with a lack of resources. One-way givin...