Dr Paul Allen

Image via Wikipedia A question we hear often is, “Does it really matter what I believe as long as I believe in something?” Or, “As long as your belief helps you, isn’t that all that matters?”  The idea behind statements such as these is that there is no absolute truth to believe in, and thus the act of believing is all there is. We all believe in something, as Edgar Sheffield Brightman states, “A thinker cannot divest himself of real convictions, and it is futile to pose as having none” (E.S. Brightman in H.N. Wieman, B.E. Meland (eds.), American Philosophies of Religion, New York, Harper & Brothers, 1936).  The idea of finding any truth or meaning to life has escaped modern man. This statement reflects the inability to conceive of something outside of one’s self: “There are no rules by means of which we would discover a purpose or a meaning of the universe” ( Hans Reichenbach , The Rise of Scientific Philosophy, p. 301).  Even though we live in a day in which we...

"And behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake , but the LORD was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice."   1 Kings 19:11-12 After the great victory against the prophets of Baal on Mt. Carmel , Elijah cowered before Jezebel 's threat and fled to Mt. Horeb , hiding in a cave . God came to him and asked, "What are you doing here, Elijah?" Elijah then boasted about himself, how bad the people were, bemoaned that he was Image via Wikipedia  the only one left, and they were seeking his life. God told Elijah to go outside the cave where he was given a real show: a tornado-like wind ripping up the mountain, an earthquake, a fire.  But after each, a strange comment was made: "but the Lord was not in the wind... o...

Image via Wikipedia   “Take the helmet of salvation ” (Eph. 6:17). Your helmet of salvation protects you from discouragement and despair. We’ve seen how Satan attacks believers with his two-edged sword of doubt and discouragement. But he doesn’t stop there. He tries to take you beyond discouragement and on to despair by robbing you of hope. Unless you’re careful, his attacks will be successful when you’re battle-weary. The prophet Elijah is an illustration of that truth. The highlight of his ministry came atop Mount Carmel , where he slew 450 prophets of Baal ( 1 Kings 18:40). And yet immediately after that great victory, he fled for his life because Queen Jezebel threatened to kill him (1 Kings 19:1–3). He ran from Mount Carmel into the wilderness of Beersheba , where he “sat down under a juniper tree; and he requested for himself that he might die, and said, ‘It is enough; now, O Lord, take my life, for I am not better than my fathers’” (v. 4). He went on to moan, “...

Cover via Amazon “ Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke?” (v. 6). -  Isaiah 58:1–12 “ God rewards fasting because fasting expresses the cry of the heart that nothing on the earth can satisfy our souls besides God” ( John Piper ,   A Hunger for God , p. 181).  The practice never obligates the Lord to respond to our prayer precisely as we have asked. Nevertheless, just as when we first admitted our inability to save ourselves and called on Christ to redeem us, God is pleased when we put ourselves in a more helpless state by forgoing food because it displays how we are aware of our need for His grace at every stage of our lives. Fasting among the pagan peoples who surrounded the ancient Israelites was far different. The followers of these religions thought they could obligate their gods to behave in specific ways if they fasted.  Unsurpr...