Dr Paul Allen

How should we understand the ending of the book of Job? Let's look at the sorrow and the power of God to bring restoration and change. What's this saying? Is it saying if you trust the Lord , that God'll give you a happy ending ? You're in a trial, you're in a difficulty, but just trust Him, and there'll be a happy ending. He'll restore your fortunes. Is that what we're supposed to draw from this? No, of course not.  No, some people's lives end in shadow, and in darkness —marriages that are irreconcilable, relationships with children that just seem to go from bad to worse, and they're never restored, despite all the longings and prayers and urgings. So we mustn't misuse this chapter . It is saying this though: God can change your life from what it is right now 180 degrees. He's able to do that. I'm not saying that's God's plan for you. I don't have the authority to say that. But I can say to you it is more than pos...

Gustave Doré, Depiction of Satan, the antagonist of John Milton's Paradise Lost c. 1866 (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) I am not certain by any means, nor do I have an exhaustive knowledge of the powers of Satan . I know that Satan has more power than one would normally find among human beings . At the same time, I know that Satan is not divine; he is not God , does not have divine powers or attributes. He is a creature with the limitations that are found normally with creatureliness. He is an angel. The Bible doesn't give us an exhaustive list of the powers of angels. They are more powerful than people but far less powerful than God. Obviously God can read your mind. God is omniscient. He knows your thoughts as you think them—"There is not a word on my tongue, but behold, O LORD, You know it altogether" (Ps. 139:4). The tendency is for Christians to think that since God is a supernatural being and can read our minds, then Satan, also a supernatural being, mus...

Christians are supposed to have an impact on the world in which we live. Like the followers of Jesus in Acts 17:6–7, present-day followers of Jesus should be turning the world upside down. However, when we think about turning the world upside down for Jesus, we often think we must live “radical” lives. That is, we need to sell our Ford, give up movies, and relocate to the Bolivian jungle in order to engage nomadic peoples who’ve never heard the gospel. That is the real way we make a serious impact. Tony Merida has a different perspective. In his book Ordinary: How to Turn the World Upside Down , Tony calls Christians to a new normal: “Most gospel ministry involves ordinary people doing ordinary things withgospel intentionality” (9). If we can understand this, then we might see an “‘ordinary movement’ that involves ordinary Christians, not just “super Christians,” who live on mission in the rhythms of everyday life.” He is calling Christians to simply care about what God cares ab...

Wenceslas Hollar - Jesus before Pilate (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Since we believe that God is the author of this planet and is sovereign over it, it’s inevitable that we ask where he is when these terrible things take place. I think the Bible answers that over and over again from different angles and in different ways. We find our first answer, of course, in the book of Genesis , in which we’re told of the fall of humanity . God’s immediate response to the transgression of the human race against his rule and authority was to curse the earth and human life. Death and suffering entered the world as a direct result of sin. We see the concrete manifestation of this in the realm of nature, where thorns become part of the garden and human life is now characterized by the sweat of the brow and the pain that attends even the birth of a baby. This illustrates the fact that the world in which we live is a place that is full of sorrows and tragedy.   But we must never conclu...

Image via Wikipedia "Who knoweth not in all these that the hand of the LORD hath wrought this?" ( Job 12:9 )   The book of Job is one of the oldest books in the world, yet it contains numerous references to natural systems and phenomena, some involving facts of science not discovered by scientists until recent centuries, yet recorded in Job almost 4,000 years ago .   A good example is in  26:7 . "He stretcheth out the north over the empty place, and hangeth the earth upon nothing." While ancient mythologies may imagine the earth to be carried on the shoulders of Atlas or on the back of a giant turtle, Job correctly noted that it is suspended in space. The force of "gravity" is still not understood, and it is quite reasonable to believe that God Himself holds it in the assigned place in His creation.   There is a reference to the rotation of the earth in  38:14 . "It is turned as clay to the seal." This speaks of the smooth turning of the glob...

Image via Wikipedia The restoration of health (Ps. 41:3), the making whole or well whether physically, mentally, or spiritually. The Bible indicates that God’s highest will for man is for him to “enjoy good health … even as your soul is getting along well” (3 John 2).  Healing is a prominent topic in the Bible.  Sickness is cured by the supernatural intervention of God with or without the use of earthly means.  God himself proclaimed, “I am the LORD , who heals you” (Exod. 15:26), and Scripture clearly teaches that God heals all of man’s diseases (Ps. 103:3).  In the OT the word used most commonly to denote healing is rāpāʾ, in the LXX iaomai frequently stands for rāpāʾ, and in the NT healing is normally expressed by the words therapeuō and iaomai. The Bible presents two basic views concerning healing and sickness. 1) In the OT Yahweh alone was the source of healing, just as he was considered the source of sickness. Summarizing the basic OT attitu...

Image via Wikipedia By Scott Stephens ABC. They just don't make atheists like they used to. The form of divine disbelief popularized today as the " New Atheism " is a far cry from the more robust and morally serious tradition that runs from Xenophanes and Qoheleth - and perhaps even the writer of the Book of Job - reaching its apogee with Marx, Nietzsche and Freud, but still retaining vestiges of its original vitality in the work of Alain Badiou , Slavoj Zizek and, somewhat differently, Francois Laruelle . What made the atheist tradition proper so potent was its devotion to the tasks of flushing out the myriad idols, often unperceived, that clutter human society, and dismantling all the malign political, economic and sexual uses which those gods were made to serve. But there was another aspect of this tradition - frequently overlooked and now almost forgotten - that immunized it against the excesses and indiscretions which will almost certainly consign the "New A...

Image via Wikipedia In the arena of biblical studies , there are five books that are generally included under the heading of “ wisdom literature ” or “the poetic books of the Old Testament .” They are the books of Proverbs, Psalms, Ecclesiastes , Song of Solomon , and Job. Of these five books, one stands out in bold relief, manifesting significant differences from the other four.  That is the book of Job . The wisdom that is found in the book of Job is not communicated in the form of proverb. Rather, the book of Job deals with questions of wisdom in the context of a narrative dealing with Job’s profound anguish and excruciating pain. The setting for this narrative is in patriarchal times. Questions have arisen as to the authorial intent of this book, whether it was meant to be historical narrative of a real individual or whether its basic structure is that of a drama with a prologue, including an opening scene in heaven, involving discourse between God and Satan , and moving clim...