Dr Paul Allen

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. (Heb. 12:1–2) Christ does not get flustered and frustrated when we come to him for fresh forgiveness, for renewed pardon, with distress and need and emptiness. That’s the whole point. It’s what he came to heal. He went down into the horror of death and plunged out through the other side to provide a limitless supply of mercy and grace to his people. When you come to Christ for mercy and love and help in your anguish and perplexity and sinfulness, you are going with the flow of his own deepest wishes, not against them.  We tend to think that when we approach Jesus for help in our need and mercy ami...

  1. Prosecuting fellow believers through online platforms without ecclesial process The Apostle Paul instructed the church in Corinth to judge matters internally (1 Cor. 6). Today, however, the church has outsourced judgment to the Twittersphere. Believers now play judge, jury, and executioner without due process or any semblance of ecclesial order. Social media has become a tribunal, and reputations can be assassinated with a single click. This practice not only bypasses biblical structures of accountability but also reveals how biblically illiterate and spiritually reckless much of the body has become. The church is not a mob. It is a family governed by elders, not online outrage. 2. Presumptuously calling for a 'court of Heaven' For over a decade, the “courts of Heaven” teaching has gained traction in certain charismatic circles. The idea is that one can summon a heavenly court to break generational curses and demonic strongholds. While there are kernels of truth — God is a...

Cherubim first appear in Genesis 3, when God places them east of the Garden of Eden to guard the way to the tree of life, and they continue to make appearances throughout the pages of Scripture. There were numerous representations of cherubim in the tabernacle and in the temple.  Cherubim were given varied descriptions and primarily signified God’s presence, serving as a visible reminder of the majesty and glory of the Almighty God who reigns on His throne and abides with His people. Read commentary from Iain Duguid, Jay Sklar, Gary Millar, and Thomas Schreiner, who trace the appearances of cherubim through the Bible and help us understand who these figures are. Cherubim in Genesis He drove out the man, and to the east of the Garden of Eden, he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life. —Genesis 3:24 Adam and Eve’s sin has immediate and tragic consequences, as they are driven out of the garden. The entrance to the garden of E...

Fruit of the Spirit, we took a general look at the list to begin to uncover the meaning of the Apostle Paul’s words to the Galatians. Now we will examine each of these slices of the Spirit’s fruit, starting with love. What is this love produced by the Spirit?  Defining love is not an easy task, but here’s one that attempts to sum up the biblical nature of love: Love is a holy, divine affection toward others produced by the Spirit of God in all believers. This is spiritual love – produced, wrought, and empowered by the Holy Spirit. So, what does this love truly mean? First, spiritual love is not a natural phenomenon. Spiritual love is not the natural affection of the world. The world might be capable of love in the human sense of the term. We know there are unbelievers who have good marriages. Some unbelievers are willing to sacrifice for the greater good of humanity. It is possible to do these things without having true love as God defines it. As Paul says, a person can be a great ...

The fourth scroll or seal in the Book of Revelation appears in Revelation 6:7-8, and its opening releases the pale horse and its rider. Here's the key passage: "When the Lamb opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, 'Come!' I looked, and there before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him. They gained control over a quarter of the planet, enabling them to eliminate threats such as swords, famines, plagues, and wild beasts. (Revelation 6:7–8, NIV) Symbolic Elements • Pale horse (Greek: chloros–pale green, the colour of decay) • Rider: Death, followed by Hades • Power over ¼ of the earth • Four methods of death: sword (violence/war), famine, plague (pestilence/disease), and wild beasts Practical Prophetic Application There are different interpretive lenses for Revelation, but here’s a practical prophetic application that blends biblical theology with contemporary relevance: 1. A Warning...

A little over ten years ago, the book "The Shack" became an unexpected bestseller, sparking debate and garnering appreciation from across the evangelical landscape. Although the author originally wrote the book for his children and had it copied at Kinko’s, it reached number one on the New York Times fiction best-seller list after its release. In 2017, a major motion picture based on the book returned to the top spot once again. The themes of the book are heavy, at times harrowing, and inescapably theological, though they are presented in such a way that the reader can forget it is indeed a work of theology. The theological themes touched on include the character of the church, the problem of evil (theodicy), the nature of revelation, the depiction of God, and our understanding of the Trinity. I want to speak to an element of this last theme because the novel assumes something we are all tempted to assume: in reference to God, ”Father” is ultimately a metaphor and, as such, c...

In chapter 17 of the first book of his Institutes of the Christian Religion, John Calvin expresses his delight in this passage written by the fourth-century Cappadocian church father Gregory of Nazianzus. Specifically, Calvin points to the following sentence: “No sooner do I conceive of the One than I am illumined by the Splendour of the Three; no sooner do I distinguish them than I am carried back to the One.” Why does John Calvin find joy in these words? Calvin understands that contemplating our triune God exposes us to a truth that surpasses our total comprehension. He knew that to avoid error in our thoughts and words about God, we must be careful. Gregory of Nazianzus (AD 329–390) was one of the greatest theologians of the early church. He was instrumental in the resolution of the fourth-century Trinitarian crisis that engulfed the church. Certain of his writings, particularly Orations 20, 23, 25 and the five theological orations (27–31), are foundational works in the history of T...

One woman with cancer told me years ago, “I’m not a believer anymore—that doesn’t work for me. I can’t believe in a personal God who would do something like this to me.” Cancer killed her God. What would happen to me? I felt like a surgeon who was suddenly on the operating table. Would I be able to take my own advice? Facing such a serious diagnosis, Keller was forced to reexamine not only his “professed beliefs” but his “actual understanding of God.” He writes, Had [my ideas about God] been shaped by my culture? Had I been slipping unconsciously into the supposition that God lived for me rather than I for him, that life  should  go well for me, that I knew better than God does how things should go? The answer was yes—to some degree. I found that to embrace God’s greatness, to say “Thy will be done,” was painful at first and then, perhaps counterintuitively, profoundly liberating. To assume that God is as small and finite as we are may  feel  freeing—but it offers no...

Understanding Anxiety Some find it helpful to contrast anxiety with fear. Fear and anxiety share many of the same symptoms and cause the same reactions. But fear is focused on a present threat, something right before you, like a rattlesnake slithering on the trail.  Anxiety is focused on a possible threat. Fear focuses on what is happening. Anxiety focuses on what might happen. Fear goes as easily as it comes, once the snake slithers away into the brush. Anxiety is far more slippery, far more diffuse, far more difficult to get behind you. Consider a few definitions of anxiety. The American Psychological Association defines anxiety as a “future-oriented, long-acting response broadly focused on a diffuse threat.”1 The American Psychiatric Association says “Anxiety refers to anticipation of a future concern.”2  And here is perhaps the most helpful definition I’ve seen: “Anxiety is both a mental and physical state of negative expectation. . . . Anxiety is meant to capture attentio...