Dr Paul Allen

English: The Apostle Paul (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Geoffery Thomas on the Call of God.  Who will possibly stay in a relationship with a girlfriend or boyfriend “until death us do part” unless there is a deep devotion to that one person above all others, a commitment that is based on comprehensive knowledge and respect? That is the essence of marriage, leaving all others and cleaving to one until God shall separate by death. Who will stay in the Christian ministry for one’s entire working life unless one loves this work above all others, being unable to do anything else than preach the gospel and pastor the people of God to whom he preaches week by week?  The Apostle Paul writes about a man who “sets his heart” on this work ( 1 Tim. 3:1 ). He is stretching out to make this his life’s supreme calling. He is not talking about selfish ambition for prestige and power but for the high privilege of caring for the people whom the Son of God loved and for whom He suff...

English: Charles Grandison Finney (1792-1875) Português: O teólogo estadunidense Charles Finney (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) "A Calvinist evangelist? Calvinism undermines evangelism." This accusation has been repeated so many times. Never mind that some of the church's greatest evangelists have been Calvinists . One need only be reminded of men such as George Whitefield , David Brainerd , or "the father of modern missions," William Carey . "Yes," we are told, "these men were great evangelists and Calvinists, but that is because they were inconsistent." But is this true? The fact of the matter is that Calvinism is not inconsistent with evangelism; it is only inconsistent with certain evangelistic methods. It is inconsistent, for example, with the emotionally manipulative methods created by revivalists such as Charles Finney . But these manipulative methods are themselves inconsistent with Scripture, so it is no fault to reject them. In orde...

China Inland Mission. Rev. J. Hudson Taylor & Wife, with Group of Christians (Photo credit: Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library ) Hudson Taylor almost killed (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) From The Story of The China Inland Mission; Mary Geraldine Guinness; 1893 (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) From the Jubilee Story of the China Inland Mission; Marshall Broomhall 1915 (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Hudson Taylor circa 1865 (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) The missionary spirit is utterly contagious. Even just one life burning brightly for the gospel can ignite the hearts of hundreds of others for generations to come. What a powerful thing it is to contemplate that reality in the history of missionary work! Consider, for example, the following chain of gospel influence: 1. John Elliott (1604–1690) was a Puritan settler in New England who began evangelizing the native Americans. Known as the “apostle to the Indians,” he translated the Bible into their native language, helped to establish churches, ...

Image via Wikipedia David Brainerd lived only 29 years but the account of those years inspired many to follow Christ . Some, like William Carey and Henry Martyn , followed his footsteps onto the mission field. At the age of seven David began to seek the Lord. His journal shows that he struggled greatly in coming to Christ. To replace self-righteous works by faith seemed to him very difficult to do. He found it hard to prefer God 's glory over his own salvation. Exceedingly scrupulous, depressive, and tubercular his physical health might well have aggravated his spiritual struggles. David Brainerd found peace at last. It began with an utter sense of lostness. "One morning while I was walking in a solitary place (as usual) and came near a thick bunch of hazels, I felt at once unusually lost and at the greatest stand and felt that all my contrivances and projections respecting my deliverance and salvation were brought to a final issue."  From Friday morning throug...