Dr Paul Allen

English: ELIYAH VISITS KING AHAB AND THE BA'AL PROPHETS 1 MELAKIM 21 KINGS (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) The false god of limitless choices, like those at a coffee shops, is enslaving Christians. Would you prefer to make an ironclad, no-turning-back choice, or one you could back out of if need be?  Do you ever find that you're afraid to commit? Do you reply to party invitations with a ''maybe'' rather than a ''yes'' or ''no''? Do you like to keep your smartphone switched on at all times, even in meetings, so that you are never fully present at any given moment? Will you focus on the person you're talking to after a church service, or will you look over her shoulder for a better conversation partner? If so, you may be worshiping the god of open options 1 Kings 18:21 describes a crucial moment of decision. It's the final showdown between the God of Israel and a false god called Baal. Elijah calls God 's people to c...

Image via Wikipedia We live in a world of almost infinite choice. It wasn’t always this way, of course. Even just a few generations ago people made do with far less to choose from. But today we demand and expect that we will be able to choose from among hundreds of options. A short time ago someone sent me a short outtake from the movie Borat . I haven’t seen the movie, don’t recommend the movie and hear that it is, from all accounts, not the kind of thing Christians should see. But this clip was harmless and pointed to our ridiculous demand for choice (and Sasha Cohen ’s ability to draw out a joke). Standing in a supermarket with a manager, he walks slowly alongside a refrigerator, pausing at each package of cheese and asking, “What is this?” “Cheese,” says the manager. Borat moves to the next one. “And this is…?” “Cheese.” “And this?” “Cheese.” It goes on and on and on. And then, like a typewriter hitting the end of a row, he zips back to the place he started and begins in on the nex...