Dr Paul Allen

Church history teaches us that conflict in church life is a reality. The disciples of Jesus disagreed with each other; the early church was fraught with division, and disunity has continued to be a recurring issue ever since. From petty controversies to serious errors, conflict is a regular feature of church life. While moral failings and heresy require church discipline (Matt. 18:15–17), how are we to tolerate differences over minor matters that do not warrant church discipline? We can learn a great deal from Paul in his letter to the Philippians on this issue. Rather than exposing the specifics of the controversy between Euodia and Syntyche, Paul winsomely reminds them of who they are before helping them resolve their disagreement. Remember That You Are Beloved of God Paul’s language in Philippians 4:1 is striking. He addresses the church at Philippi as “my brothers,” “whom I love” and “long for” and are “my joy and crown” who are “my beloved.” With candour, he reveals his heartfelt ...

Does the Holy Spirit Choose Not to Baptize People, or Are People the Problem? From a Pentecostal perspective, including that of Donald Gee and other scholars, the issue is not that the Holy Spirit chooses not to baptize certain people but that individuals may encounter personal barriers to receiving. Baptism in the Holy Spirit is a promise available to all believers, not a selective gift withheld by God. God’s Desire to Baptize All Believers Pentecostals believe Baptism in the Holy Spirit is a gift available to all who believe in Christ. Acts 2:39 states: "The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call." (NIV) This verse supports the view that Baptism in the Holy Spirit is not limited to a select few but is meant for all believers. Scholars such as Donald Gee emphasize that God does not withhold the Holy Spirit arbitrarily; rather, the responsibility often lies with the individual (Gee, Pentecost , 1932). Human B...

According to Donald Gee and other Pentecostal scholars, why do some people not receive Baptism in the Holy Spirit and speak in tongues? Donald Gee, a well-known Pentecostal scholar, along with other Pentecostal theologians, identified several reasons why some people do not receive Baptism in the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues. Some of these reasons include: 1. Lack of Understanding or Teaching Gee emphasized that some believers do not receive the Baptism in the Holy Spirit because they have not been taught about it. Misconceptions, fear, or lack of biblical teaching can hinder faith and expectancy. 2. Unbelief or Doubt A common reason cited by Gee and other Pentecostal scholars is unbelief. If a person is sceptical about the experience or doubts that speaking in tongues is for today, they may struggle to receive. Faith is essential to receiving the Holy Spirit (Mark 11:24). 3. Fear or Overanalyzing the Experience Some individuals fear losing control or ...

Orthodoxy means the right doctrine or belief. In one essential sense, it is critical to salvation. Although we are saved entirely by the grace of God, not based on the correctness of our thinking, the right views of God promote wonder, reverence, and love. Moreover, for future generations to believe in Christ, we must guard the gospel, without which no one can be saved (2 Tim. 1:14).  Hosea bemoaned the fact that “my people are destroyed for lack of knowledge” (Hos. 4:6). Israel’s idolatry had affected its whole national existence. False worship bred sinful practice. God is faithful; allegiance to him requires attention to what is true and right. Ideas have consequences.  Truth is healthy for both body and soul (1 Tim. 6:3). Worship is to be in truth, which is embodied in Jesus Christ (John 4:21–24; cf. John 1:9, 14, 17–18; John 14:6). True biblical orthodoxy leads to orthopraxy (right practice), which should promote healthy living and relationships. Not All Orthodox Doctrine ...

by Ted Peters Our church—evangelical, mainline, Catholic or Orthodox–seems like a sandcastle on an ocean beach. We can stand back and admire our craftsmanship. Then a wave washes up high, and a few grains of sand get eroded. Another wave erodes more of the castle. Wave after wave finally leaves the beach the way it had been before our architectural triumph. Wave after wave of cultural change is eroding our church under our very eyes. Silently and almost invisibly, the digital world is replacing the biblical world. The world of Bible study, hymn singing, praying in unison, and using God as the subject of sentences is becoming forgotten. What now absorbs our attention is a complex array of video gaming, net surfing, Instagramming, Zooming, texting, and sexting. The digital world is actually a disorganized composite of min-worlds. In only half an hour, any teenager can be introduced  to the worldviews of QAnon, Sufism, yoga, new age meditation, naturalism, spiritual-but-not-religious,...

Is there a God? If so, what is He like? Does He care about us? What does He require of us? These are questions that all men must face. The answer to these will determine the direction and goal of each life. I. Evidence for God’s Existence A. Bible Reveals It. The Bible does not attempt to prove the existence of God. The first statement is: “In the beginning God …” (Gen. 1:1). It assumes it as a fact and asserts that “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God'” (Psa. 14:1). The Bible says that only a fool, ignorant of the facts, would deny God, and then not openly, but secretly in his heart. The Bible is written on the premise that the evidence for God is so strong that no informed person would deny His existence. However, to those who will not accept the Bible's teaching concerning God, it becomes necessary to examine added proof for His existence. A few pieces of evidence will suffice: B. Reason Teaches It. The law of cause and effect requires that back of every effect the...

An apologist recently shared three common reasons why some Christians deconstruct their faith: intellectual issues, disagreement with doctrine, and emotionally negative experiences with Christianity and Christians.      Apologist, author, and speaker Brett Kunkle joined Pastor Jason Jimenez for an episode of the "Challenging Conversations" podcast posted earlier this month. They tackled the issue of deconstruction, a term used to describe Christians who question their faith.  Kunkle, the founder and president of the MAVEN movement to equip the next generation to pursue goodness and truth, said that deconstruction is based on postmodern philosophy, which argues that people cannot understand a text due to various intellectual or cultural biases.  He believes that some Christians have taken the postmodern idea of deconstructing and used it more "to tear something down," like one's own beliefs than to rebuild.  There are "a myriad of reasons" why people ...

Engagement of our minds in theology as an intellectual discipline based upon the Holy Scriptures gains additional support from the activity of the New Testament church. The New Testament calls our attention again and again to a body of saving truth, as in 2 Thessalonians 2:15—“the traditions,” Romans 6:17—“the pattern of doctrine,” Jude 3—“the faith once for all delivered to the saints,” 1 Timothy 6:20—“the deposit,” and “the faithful sayings” of Paul’s pastoral letters (1 Tim. 1:15; 3:1; 4:7–9; 2 Tim. 2:11–13; Tit. 3:4–8).  These descriptive terms and phrases indicate that already in the days of the apostles the theologizing process of reflecting upon and comparing Scripture with Scripture, collating, deducing, and framing doctrinal statements into creedal formulae approaching the character of church confessions had begun (examples of these creedal formulae may be seen in Rom. 1:3–4; 10:9; 1 Cor. 12:3; 15:3–4; 1 Tim. 3:16 as well as in the “faithful sayings” of the Pastorals).1 Fu...

For pastors, there are two types of members who can be particularly onerous. The first is the theological pugilist . For this person, every issue is a hill on which to die. There are no secondary issues—everything is a test of orthodoxy and fellowship. From church music to the deity of Christ, he never met a theological debate he didn’t relish. The second is the theological minimalist. This person doesn’t particularly care for theology; that’s the domain of Bible College students and academic theologians. From Jesus’s miracles to the virgin birth, he never met a doctrine so important as to warrant serious debate. He’s too practical for theology. How can pastors and other church leaders shepherd these two difficult souls? And how do we distinguish between primary and secondary issues—and why does that even matter?  In his new book, Finding the Right Hills to Die On: The Case for Theological Triage (Crossway/TGC), Gavin Ortlund helps us separate the issues that are...

In this article, we’re going to take the long film reel of the church’s history since the apostles and zoom in on four key scenes that illumine the whole film. We will look at the early church first, at the great Augustine second, at the Reformers third, and finally at two giants in modern theology. Scene 1: The Early Church Let’s start in the first centuries after the apostles, where perhaps the dominating issue was this question: Who exactly is Jesus? The orthodox church had to fight for the truth that Jesus is truly God — and that he truly became human. And that was a fight for the fact that we truly see the glory of God in the face of Christ — and that his birth is good news of great joy. Truly Human Consider, first, the fight to uphold Jesus’s true humanity. In the early days after the New Testament, there were some who just could not believe that God himself could have become truly human. So they dismissed the very possibility and said that Christ must only have seemed ...