Dr Paul Allen

Wenceslas Hollar - Jesus before Pilate (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Murdering a human being is an assault on God . He made us in his own image. Destroying an image usually means you hate the imaged. Murdering God’s human image-bearer is not just murder. It’s treason — treason against the creator of the world. It is a capital crime — and more. “Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image” ( Genesis 9:6). As usual, Jesus takes this up in devastating terms. None of us escapes. You have heard that it was said to those of old, “ You shall not murder ; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.” But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, “You fool!” will be liable to the hell of fire. ( Matthew 5:21 –22) He does not say unwarranted anger is the same as murder. It’s not. Ask the bereaved parents of Newto...

Image via Wikipedia "It is he that buildeth his stories in the heaven, and hath founded his troop in the earth; he that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth: The LORD is his name." ( Amos 9:6 )   The text above is a rather remarkable description of God written by a simple "herdman, and a gatherer of sycomore fruit" ( Amos 7:14 ), Amos, whom God called to prophesy against the sinning people of Israel .  They needed, among other things, a better appreciation of the mighty works of the one true God who had called them as His special people.   Note, Amos says, "he that buildeth his stories in the heaven." The word for "stories" is usually translated "stairs," and the picture seems to be that of a great palace in heaven, with a giant stairway leading up to the very throne of God. Perhaps the "stories" are the heavens themselves (the Bible mentions at least three).  Remember that,...

Image via Wikipedia When Paul declared the mysterious and breathtaking promise that "all things work together for good to those who love God , to those who are called according to His purpose" ( Rom. 8: 28), he was musing in teleology . He was dealing with the realm of the remote rather than the proximate. This suggests that the proximate must be judged in light of the remote. Our problem is this: We do not yet possess the full light of the remote . We are still looking in a dark mirror. We are not utterly devoid of light, though. We have enough light to know that God has a good purpose even when we are ignorant of that good purpose. It is the good purpose of God that gives the final answer to the appearance of vanity and futility in this world. To trust in the good purpose of God is the very essence of godly faith. This is why no Christian can be an ultimate pessimist. The world in which we live is not a world of chance. Its beginning was not an accident, its operation is...

Image via Wikipedia When Paul declared the mysterious and breathtaking promise that "all things work together for good to those who love God , to those who are called according to His purpose" ( Rom. 8: 28), he was musing in teleology . He was dealing with the realm of the remote rather than the proximate. This suggests that the proximate must be judged in light of the remote. Our problem is this: We do not yet possess the full light of the remote . We are still looking in a dark mirror. We are not utterly devoid of light, though. We have enough light to know that God has a good purpose even when we are ignorant of that good purpose. It is the good purpose of God that gives the final answer to the appearance of vanity and futility in this world. To trust in the good purpose of God is the very essence of godly faith. This is why no Christian can be an ultimate pessimist. The world in which we live is not a world of chance. Its beginning was not an accident, its operation is...

Image via Wikipedia Keeping Promises in Context At this point, I need to sound a warning. In our day, many people have rediscovered the power of prayer . This is a good thing; there’s nothing more thrilling in the Christian life than to pray specifically, to express a desire, to make a request or a petition to God , and then see Him answer that request specifically and clearly.  It’s nice to receive what we pray for, but the added benefit is the assurance we gain that God hears our prayers and answers them. However, some carry this to an extreme and jump to the conclusion that prayer is something of a magic wand , that if we do prayer with the right sound, in the right manner, with the right phrases, and in the right posture, God is obligated to answer.  The idea seems to be that we have the capacity to coerce God Almighty into doing for us whatever it is we want Him to do, but God is not a celestial bellhop who is on call every time we press the button, just waiting to s...