Dr Paul Allen

The Bible speaks about the law in many places, but particularly through the Ten Commandments . Children must understand that sin is not just an outward act; its roots run deep into the human heart . Because the Ten Commandments are a summary of the law of God , they can usually be used to illustrate our children’s sin problem. For instance, if I witness my daughter teasing her sister, I can show her how her behavior violates the sixth commandment, “ Thou shalt not kill ” ( Ex. 20:13 ). I can say: “When you tease your sister in a hurtful manner, you are breaking the sixth commandment. And God hates all sin. You think this cruel teasing is funny, but God takes it seriously, as a form of hatred, which is the very root of murder. You are breaking His commandment, and that is what sin is.” We must explain to our children how the Holy Spirit uses the law to drive us to the Lord Jesus Christ . We must teach them that the law is like a mirror the Spirit holds in front of us to show us...

“For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him. Herein thou hast done foolishly: therefore from henceforth thou shalt have wars.” ( 2 Chronicles 16:9 ) Since God in His essence is Spirit (note John 4:24 ) and is omnipresent, one might wonder how He could have physical eyes. The fact is, however, that the Bible frequently refers to His eyes. In fact, this phrase, “the eyes of the LORD,” occurs no less than 21 times in the Bible. While this is hard to understand in one way, it is wonderfully clear when we remember that God is omnipotent and omniscient, as well as omnipresent. “He that formed the eye, shall he not see?” ( Psalm 94:9 ). We may not be able to understand the actual seeing mechanism of spiritual eyes; nevertheless, “the eyes of the LORD are in every place, beholding the evil and the good” ( Proverbs 15:3 ). The prophet Zechariah reminds us not to “[despise] the day of s...

(Author: Kabwata) Many explanations have been given for the explosion of the Charismatic movement in Africa . Many have seen this as a powerful visitation of the Holy Spirit . Whereas there is probably more than one reason, I want to add my own observation to this for what it is worth. In this blog post, I do not refer to the old conservative form of Pentecostalism once represented by the Assemblies of God churches. I have in mind the current extreme form that is mushrooming literally under every shrub and tree in Africa. How can one explain this phenomenon? I think that one reason why the Charismatic movement in Africa has been like a wild bushfire is because it has not challenged the African religious worldview but has instead adopted it. It has simply baptised it with Bible verses and Christian words that previously meant something totally different. The African Spiritual Worldview Let me explain what I mean. The African spiritual worldview consists of four tiers. ...

Image via Wikipedia "The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord : and he delighteth in his way." ( Psalm 37:23 )   There is nothing more satisfying to a believer than to be living in the will of God for his life. And it is good to know that God actually  delights  in leading us along that way which He is laying out for us. There are numerous Bible verses to this effect. One of the most familiar is "In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths" ( Proverbs 3:6 ).   That verse gives us a basic principle for knowing His way. We need to seek His leading in everything! Of course, it may not be an easy path. "For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps" ( 1 Peter 2:21 ).   Even if the path seems difficult at times, it is a good path, because it honors Him. "He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake" ( Psalm 23:3 ). He is...

Having a quick look around my house, I was rather surprised at the number of Bibles I have access to. Within a couple of minutes I can physically lay my hands on an NIV , an NCV, an NLT , a KJV , a GNB and various Bible dictionaries, Bible Atlases, Bible “How’s whos” and concordances/commentaries ( Mathew Henry ftw!). Then there’s the  YouVersion app (or site)  on my iPhone , Android tablet and Laptop; as well as other sites like  BibleGateway ,  eBible ; Bible verse shorteners like  bib.ly  and many sites/feeds for online daily devotionals (I use the  Chuck Swindoll Daily Devotional  and the  Daily Bible Study from Spring Harvest  – a UK Christian Event) and podcasts. Having all this access it made me think just how much I take being able to grab a Bible for granted. Image via CrunchBase It’s truly humbling what easy access I have and has made me re-evaluate how I use (or actually don’t) the resources. I want to use...

Image via Wikipedia Canadian punk group “Living with Lions” has drawn outrage for its obscene anti-Bible artwork and representation of Jesus Christ on their new album – funded by the Canadian government . The album, entitled “Holy S—-,” is designed to look like a Bible, with black cover and gold writing, yellow, faded pages, and lyric layout similar to Bible verses .   It is subtitled, “The Poo Testament,” and represents Christ as excrement. The group’s project was funded by the Canadian government through the Foundation Assisting Canadian Talent on Recordings (FACTOR), a fact the band acknowledges on its back cover.  FACTOR approved a $13,248 grant to Black Box Recordings Inc. to assist the band’s recording. The Minister of Canadian Heritage expressed his astonishment and concern with the offensive album in comments to the  Vancouver Sun  today. “The content of this CD is offensive and the fact that that it is clearly designed to offend a group of Cana...