Dr Paul Allen

We Repeat to Remember I found this song in the hymnbook of God ’s people, the book of Psalms . What’s the  ad nauseum  line? “For his steadfast love endures forever.” Twenty-five times  we’re reminded of God’s unending love, each time seeing his love in light of his righteous character and mighty deeds. There’s no confusion about which God loves us fully and forever. Give thanks to the Lord of lords, for his steadfast love endures forever. (Psalm 136:3) (Give thanks) to him who by understanding made the heavens, for his steadfast love endures forever. (Psalm 136:5) (Give thanks) to him who struck down the firstborn of Egypt , for his steadfast love endures forever. (Psalm 136:10) (Give thanks) to him who led his people through the wilderness, for his steadfast love endures forever. (Psalm 136:16) (Give thanks) to him who struck down great kings, for his steadfast love endures forever. (Psalm 136:17) Apparently, the psalmist thinks it important...

Saint George Preca has been likened as a successor to Saint Paul's evangelical work on the island of Malta. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) “Salute Asyncritus , Phlegon , Hermas, Patrobas, Hermes, and the brethren which are with them.” ( Romans 16:14 ) An interesting phenomenon occurs in the closing chapter of many of Paul’s epistles , which may at first seem incongruous with the biblical doctrine of plenary verbal inspiration. This phenomenon is the recital of various names of individuals—people in the churches from which, or to which, he was writing. Most of them are people about whom we know nothing except their names, as listed by Paul. There are 11 people mentioned by name in Colossians 4:7-17. In Paul’s final epistle to Timothy, right after he had written the great passage on the inspiration of the Bible ( 2 Timothy 3:16-17 ), he mentioned no less than 18 names. In the last chapter of Romans is listed 35 names, five of which are included in the one short verse of our text! ...

Detail of the right part of the second north window with stained glass depicting Psalm 66:2: Make His Praise Glorious. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) “Let the heaven and earth praise him, the seas, and every thing that moveth therein.” ( Psalm 69:34 ) We may not yet understand the full purpose of God in creation , but at least one aspect of that purpose is that all things created should somehow praise their Creator . This theme occurs often in Scripture, especially in the psalms. For example, in addition to the exhortation in our text: “The heavens declare the glory of God ; and the firmament sheweth his handywork” ( Psalm 19:1 ). “Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad; let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof. Let the field be joyful, and all that is therein: then shall all the trees of the wood rejoice before the LORD: for he cometh” ( Psalm 96:11-13 ). “All thy works shall praise thee, O LORD; and thy saints shall bless thee” ( Psalm 145:10 ). “Praise ye him, sun ...

If there is one word that best describes the Christian worldview , it is truth. In an age of changing opinions, multiple perspectives, and varying viewpoints, biblical Christianity stands by itself as objective, absolute, and abiding truth. Scripture alone teaches us how to perceive the world in a way that accurately corresponds to reality. As such, its message of salvation is as timely as it is timeless. And its truth is as reliable as it is unchanging. In contrast to the enduring character of the gospel, the theories and philosophies of men are constantly in flux. Worldviews that dominate popular thinking, whether for decades or for centuries, are eventually discarded as outmoded and passé. New discoveries, developments, or insights render previous frameworks of thought no longer tenable. In a very real sense, when it comes to human wisdom the only constant is change. But not so with God . Unlike men, God is not in flux. He never changes but is the same yesterday, today, and fore...

Image via Wikipedia "And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God ; walk before me, and be thou perfect." ( Genesis 17:1 ) This is the first of 48 occurrences of the designation of God by the term "Almighty," in the Old Testament . There are also nine times in the New Testament where God is called "Almighty" plus once where He is called " omnipotent ."  The last time it occurs is very near the end of the Bible, telling us that there is no special temple in the holy city, "for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it" ( Revelation 21:22 ). Thus, in the first and last books of the Bible , and often in between, we are reminded that our God is an omnipotent God.  As Jeremiah prayed; "Ah Lord GOD! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee" ( Jere...

The Gutenberg Bible displayed by the United States Library of Congress, demonstrating printed pages as a storage medium. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Even though we think of the Bible as being one book, it’s actually a collection of sixty-six books, and we realize that there was a historical process by which those particular books were gathered together and placed in one volume that we now know as the Bible. In fact, we call the Bible the canon of sacred Scripture . Canon is taken from the Greek word canon, which means “ measuring rod .” That means it is the standard of truth by which all other truth is to be judged in the Christian life. There have been many different theories set forth over the history of the church as to exactly how God ’s hand was involved in this selection process. Skeptics have pointed out that over three thousand books were candidates for inclusion in the New Testament canon alone, and only a handful (twenty-some books) were selected. Doesn’t that raise so...

The Sinai (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) "I have considered the days of old, the years of ancient times ." ( Psalm 77:5 ) The Bible provides for us a fascinating perspective on the passage of time. Three thousand years ago, the psalmist was reflecting on God 's ways in even earlier times and was seeking to understand God's ways in his time. Each new generation seems to think that it is the "new wave," leading the world out of its past darkness into a new age of enlightenment. There is need for scientific research, of course (in fact, this is implied in the " dominion mandate " of Genesis 1:26-28 ), but we need to keep in mind that true science is really "thinking God's thoughts after Him." The results of our scientific "discoveries" should always be to glorify the Creator and to draw men closer to Him, not lead them away from Him. The same is true of history. We are merely the children of ancient patriarchs, and our moral nat...

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Image via Wikipedia His [Paul’s] letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction (2 Peter 3:16b). The English Bible is composed of 66 books. How do we know that these books and no others are the infallible and inerrant Word of God ? The basic answer to this question is that when men wrote these books, they came to be aware that they had written the Word of God. Right away, the community of the faithful recognized that these books were the Word of God because the Spirit of God caused them to recognize the Master’s voice. Thus, right away, each new book was added to the collection that Moses had begun. This process went on during the Old Testament times and continued in the New Testament . We see this process in action in 2 Peter 3:16, where Peter refers to Paul’s letters as already part of the canon (list) of Scripture. Still, how do we know today that some books have not...

Image via Wikipedia "And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God ; walk before me, and be thou perfect." ( Genesis 17:1 ) This is the first of 48 occurrences of the designation of God by the term "Almighty," in the Old Testament . There are also nine times in the New Testament where God is called "Almighty" plus once where He is called " omnipotent ."  The last time it occurs is very near the end of the Bible, telling us that there is no special temple in the holy city, "for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it" ( Revelation 21:22 ). Thus, in the first and last books of the Bible , and often in between, we are reminded that our God is an omnipotent God.  As Jeremiah prayed; "Ah Lord GOD! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee" ( Jeremiah 3...

Image via Wikipedia "And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God ; walk before me, and be thou perfect." ( Genesis 17:1 ) This is the first of 48 occurrences of the designation of God by the term "Almighty," in the Old Testament . There are also nine times in the New Testament where God is called "Almighty" plus once where He is called " omnipotent ."  The last time it occurs is very near the end of the Bible, telling us that there is no special temple in the holy city, "for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it" ( Revelation 21:22 ). Thus, in the first and last books of the Bible , and often in between, we are reminded that our God is an omnipotent God.  As Jeremiah prayed; "Ah Lord GOD! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee" ( Jeremiah 3...