Dr Paul Allen

Kim Kardashian has been called the most famous woman on the planet, with more than 200 million Instagram followers and a reported net worth of one billion dollars. Yet in the aftermath of her divorce from Kanye West, she said that she feels like an [expletive] “failure” and “loser.” There’s a lesson here for all of us, one that is confirmed by the biblical book of Proverbs. To be clear, I don’t write this to attack Kardashian or to speak evil of her. Regardless of how she has made her money or become famous, she’s a human being created in God’s image and someone for whom Jesus died. And, based on her own words, she is hurting right now. So, my prayer for Kim Kardashian is that she would truly come to know the Lord, truly come to repentance, and truly find internal wholeness and peace. I am not here to throw stones. Peace of Mind Beats Riches and Fame Instead, I’m here to remind us that riches and fame cannot be compared to peace of mind and that no amount of wealth or popularity can me...

To many, the New Testament's teaching on divorce and remarriage seems to be both impractical and unfair. The "plain" meaning of the texts allows for divorce only in cases of adultery or desertion , and it does not permit remarriage until the death of one's former spouse. But are these proscriptions the final word for Christians today? Are we correctly reading the scriptures that address these issues?  By looking closely at the biblical texts on divorce and remarriage in light of the first-century Jewish and Greco-Roman world, the original audience of the New Testament heard these teachings differently. Through a careful exploration of the background literature of the Old Testament, the ancient Near East, and especially ancient Judaism, we can construct a biblical view of divorce and remarriage that is wider in scope than present-day readings. Jesus and Paul condemned divorce without valid grounds and discouraged divorce even for valid grounds.  Both Jes...

Married Christians love telling single people why they can’t have sex. I can’t say why. But I can say that we singles are left navigating sexual desires that are good and holy, which are nevertheless expressed and experienced by twisted and sinful hearts and minds, souls and bodies. Singles have been given a  one–verse  allowance for thinking about their sexuality: “. . . it is better to marry than to burn with passion” ( 1 Corinthians 7:9). I wish that all were as I myself am. But each has his own gift from God , one of one kind and one of another. To the unmarried and the widows I say that it is good for them to remain single as I am. But if they cannot exercise self-control, they should marry. For it is better to marry than to burn with passion. (1 Corinthians 7:7–9) An ancient command, and the scenarios which we face as singles today are arguably more difficult: “Asking unmarried singles to control their sexual impulses for longer and longer periods of tim...

Rembrandt's depiction of Samson's marriage feast (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) “Pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!” Ecclesiastes  4:10 Contrary to conventional wisdom , the single man often has a rough go of life. He is far more likely than an unmarried female to be an alcoholic, drug user, or convicted criminal. He is less responsible about his driving habits, finances, and personal appearance. (Check with your auto insurance agent , bank officer , or neighbor with college‐age sons if you doubt this statement.) There are millions of exceptions, of course, but statistically speaking, an unmarried young man is at risk for many antisocial behaviors. Yet when he falls in love, marries, and begins to care for, protect, and support his wife, he becomes a mainstay of social order . His selfish impulses are inhibited. His sexual passions are channeled. He discovers a sense of pride in his family. He learns why, on average, a married man lives a longer and...

Gwyneth Paltrow at the 2000 Toronto International Film Festival (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) I'm mindful that Paltrow and her husband Chris Martin are, in fact, real people who are in distress and working hard to be loving parents. I am also certain that whether you're a millionaire actress married to a rock star or my neighbor down the block in the Chicago suburbs , I can't begin to know what's going on inside your marriage . So what follows isn't about trashing "gp," as she refers to herself on her website, but about exploring what I think her now-infamous "conscious uncoupling" message gets wrong about marriage. (By referring to her as "gp," I'm acknowledging that her statements are hewn with the help of publicists and probably represent the bone she felt obligated to toss at a barking, celebrity-crazed culture. I expect that what the real woman – Gwyneth Paltrow – is experiencing right now is likely very different.) Here a...

English: Quba Mosque (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Muhammad was born around 570 in Mecca in what is now the nation of Saudi Arabia . This was an area where there were significant populations of both Christians and Jews, so there was access to the Scriptures and the teachings of both the Old Testament and the New Testament.  Muslims claim that Muhammad was a direct descendent of Ishmael, and thus of Abraham, though the only evidence to support this comes through oral tradition. Muhammad’s father died before he was born and his mother sent him as an infant to live in the desert with Bedouins in order to become acquainted with Arab traditions. While in the desert he is said to have encountered two angels who opened his chest and cleansed his heart with snow, symbolic of Islam’s teaching that he was purified and protected from all sin. Muhammad returned to Mecca sometime soon after. His mother passed away when he was 6 and he came under the immediate care of his grandfat...

Oil painting of a young John Calvin. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Matthew 5:31–32 “Everyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of  sexual immorality , makes her commit adultery. And whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery” (v. 32). Jesus , in the Sermon on the Mount , tells us that God wants not only right actions, but also a pure heart ( Matt. 5:8). Refraining from murder and adultery does not exhaust those particular commandments; Exodus 20:13–14 also forbids lust and unjust anger (Matt. 5:21–30). This is in line with the Old Testament, which says the Law must be followed in heart and in deed ( Deut. 6:6; Ps. 37:31). Jesus’ corrections of the Pharisaic traditions are not an exposition of the Law that covers every single possible situation. For example, Christ says “everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment” (Matt. 5:22), but He does not mean that anger is always evil, as He Himself will get ...

Dispute of Jesus and the Pharisees over tribute money (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Matthew 19:1 –8 “He said to them, ‘Because of your hardness of heart Moses  allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so’” (v. 8). Though He has made a few excursions into Gentile areas (Matt. 8:28–34; 15:21–39), Jesus ’ roughly three years of public ministry have thus far been confined mostly to the region of Galilee (4:12–25; 9:1–7; 10:5–42; 17:24–27). But we see now that He has left Galilee for Judea (19:1–2), the place where His time among His disciples will conclude with His death, resurrection, and ascension. Upon arriving in Judea, Jesus meets some Pharisees who, as we have come to expect (12:1–14; 15:1–20), seek to test Him once more. Now the issue is divorce, and the Pharisees’ question (19:3) is rooted in the controversy over marriage in their day. First-century Jews interpreted Deuteronomy 24:1–4, which allows for divorce on the...

English: Marriage and divorce rates expressed as percentages of the Australian population at the time. Based on statistics from the ABS 2008 (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) English: This is a figure illustrating the greater rates of marital dissolution by income and race/ethnicity in the U.S. in 2002. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) English: Marriage and divorce rates in the US, 1990-2007. Source: Statistical Abstract, 2009. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) English: Divorce Rates in Sweden 2000- 2010 (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Marriage and divorce rates in New Zealand (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Nowadays, advocates of liberal divorce laws win the “more- compassionate -than-thou” game hands down against those who advocate the view taken in these articles. It is easy to generate sympathy for a person suffering in a difficult marriage. It is harder to arouse the same passions for principles and institutions. Herein consists the toughness of the tough cases. The emotional immediacy of ...