Dr Paul Allen

Secularism has been on the rise . Church attendance has been down. And whatever optimism we may have about the rebirth of spirituality among the rising generation, this is not the society of yesteryear. We live in an increasingly post-Christian milieu, and there is a growing sense in healthy evangelical congregations that we can’t just keep doing things the way we’ve always done them. Not everything needs to be rethought, but some of the methods with which we’ve been most comfortable need serious and careful evaluation in light of our quickly evolving context. One of the areas that most needs our attention is evangelism . The Believable Gospel What if we thought about evangelism not only as opening our mouths, but also opening our ears? What if we thought hard not only about what we claim, but what questions we ask? What if we not only told nonbelievers what we believe, but probed what they believe? And what if we were willing not only to have a five-minute conversation o...

Thoughts on why an astounding number of college students are abandoning their faith in Christ The percentage of college students today who grow up in Christian homes and later turn their backs on Christ is stunning, almost beyond belief. I believe it’s vital that parents and church leaders understand some of the major reasons behind this trend—and know what they can do now to help their children prepare for the challenges ahead. Issue #1: The Problem of Evil and Suffering Many times the faith of students from Christian families is shaken because they have professors who argue, “Well, if you were in charge of the universe and all powerful, would you allow children to starve and be raped? I would think not.” As a young believer, C. S. Lewis was the first one to help me grapple with big and difficult questions like these. In  The Problem of Pain , he described how he himself used to argue against the Christian faith : Not many years ago when I was an atheist, if anyone had ask...

English: Detail of stained glass window created by Louis Comfort Tiffany in Arlington Street Church (Boston) depicting the Sermon on the Mount. March 2009 photo by John Stephen Dwyer (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Psalm 14 “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God .’ They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds, there is none who does good” (v. 1). Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount lays out the basics of the Christian worldview when He calls us to make a wholehearted commitment to His life and teaching ( Matt. 6:25–34; 7:13–14, 21–27). All people have a worldview — a construct that, like eye glasses , is the lens through which we interpret reality and make our everyday decisions. The Christian worldview is defined by the words and deeds of our Savior. Western society in our day has not been characterized by a single worldview. Various systems of thought influence our thinking, often without us being fully aware of those things that are shaping our minds. Th...

John 20:30–31 “These are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ , the Son of God , and that by believing you may have life in his name” (v. 31). Even though orthodox Christianity often receives criticism in our day, it is not too difficult to find people who admire Jesus. Politicians of all stripes invoke the name of Jesus, or at least what they believe He teaches, in their policy proposals. References to Him abound in popular films, books, and songs. The Jesus that is presented to us in these different ways, however, often bears little resemblance to the one we find in the Bible . In other words, many people respect a Jesus who does not exist. Instead, the Jesus that is exalted in our culture is one who has more in common with whatever is currently in vogue than with what the New Testament record has to say about Him. Of course, this is dangerous because the Bible is clear that salvation comes only through trusting in Him — as He has bee...

A Name for Evil (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) The problem of evil is certainly one of the greatest apologetic issue that Christians face today. In a postmodern world, people’s questions, objections, and problems with the Christian worldview are usually connected to the reality of evil in the world and their attempts to harmonize this reality with the seemingly contradictory notion of an all-powerful , all-good God . So valid is this issue that Ronald Nash, the late evangelical philosopher, said a few years ago (and I quote him loosely), “It is absurd to reject Christianity for any reason other than the problem of evil.” We must be careful not to relegate this problem exclusively to the intellectual realm. I think that J.P. Moreland and William Lane Craig have it right when they say we must distinguish between the intellectual problem of evil and the emotional problem of evil ( Philosophical Foundations for a Christian Worldview , 536). The intellectual problem of evil asks, “Is ...

Dore Bible Sermon on the Mount (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Psalm 14 "The fool says in his heart, 'There is no God .' They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds, there is none who does good"( v. 1 ). Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount lays out the basics of the Christian worldview when He calls us to make a wholehearted commitment to His life and teaching ( Matt. 6:25-34 ; 7:13-14 , 21-27 ). All people have a worldview - a construct that, like eye glasses , is the lens through which we interpret reality and make our everyday decisions. The Christian worldview is defined by the words and deeds of our Savior. Western society in our day has not been characterized by a single worldview. Various systems of thought influence our thinking, often without us being fully aware of those things that are shaping our minds. These non-Christian worldviews differ from each other on several important points, but those not grounded in a specific religion ( Islam , for example) are...

Image via Wikipedia Image via Wikipedia Image via Wikipedia One of the most important principles of Christian thinking is the recognition that there is no stance of intellectual neutrality. No human being is capable of achieving a process of thought that requires no presuppositions, assumptions, or inherited intellectual components. All human thinking requires some presupposed framework that defines reality and explains, in the first place, how it is possible that we can know anything at all. The process of human cogitation and intellectual activity has been, in itself, the focus of intense intellectual concern. In philosophy, the field of study that is directed toward the possibility of human knowledge is epistemology. The ancient philosophers were concerned with the problem of knowledge, but this problem becomes all the more complex and acute in a world of intellectual diversity. In the aftermath of the Enlightenment , the problem of epistemology moved to the very center of philos...

Image via Wikipedia 1 Corinthians 10:31, “Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God .” So they asked: How can young workers glorify God at work? Here’s the gist of my answer. Dependence : Go to work utterly dependent on God ( Prov. 3:5-6; John 15:5). Without him you can’t breathe, move, think, feel, or talk. Not to mention be spiritually influential. Get up in the morning and let God know your desperation for him. Pray for help. Integrity . Be absolutely and meticulously honest and trustworthy on the job. Be on time. Give a full day’s work. “ Thou shalt not steal .” More people rob their employers by being slackers than by filching the petty cash. Skill . Get good at what you do. God has given you not only the grace of integrity but the gift of skills. Treasure that gift and be a good steward of those skills. This growth in skill is built on dependence and integrity. Corporate shaping . As you have influence and opportunity, shape the ethos o...