Dr Paul Allen

Throughout history, imposters have often deceived the unsuspecting by pretending to be something or someone, they are not to gain a leg up in this world. Believing these hucksters is, in the end, of little consequence. People might look foolish if they are misled, or they might be out money for whatever reason – but there are no lasting, eternal consequences from believing these imposters. However, the world is full of imposters, conmen and women, who are not merely pretending to be something or someone of earthly significance, but who are pretending to be agents of heaven sent by God, but who are in reality from the devil. In 1 John 4:1-6, the apostle John turns his attention to address the problem of spiritual imposters, calling us to discernment so that we may see if those we listen to are truly from God or if they are from the spirit of the antichrist. We are given one command, stated in two ways: that we must not believe every spirit, and that we must test the spirits to see wheth...

Stained glass at St John the Baptist's Anglican Church http://www.stjohnsashfield.org.au, Ashfield, New South Wales. Illustrates Jesus' description of himself "I am the Good Shepherd" (from the Gospel of John, chapter 10, verse 11). This version of the image shows the detail of his face. The memorial window is also captioned: "To the Glory of God and in Loving Memory of William Wright. Died 6th November, 1932. Aged 70 Yrs." (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Someone I know recently expressed an opinion that surprised and in some ways disappointed me. I said to myself, "I thought he would have more discernment than that." The experience caused me to reflect on the importance of discernment and the lack of it in our world. We know that people often do not see issues clearly and are easily misled because they do not think biblically. But, sadly, one cannot help reflecting on how true this is of the church community, too. Most of us doubtless want to dis...