Dr Paul Allen

Bumper sticker car parked in Santa Cruz, California. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) I’m still amazed when I see the bumper sticker that reads, “Visualize world peace .” The idea is that if I, and enough other people, create the right mental picture of peace, it will soon come to pass. It’s astounding that some people actually believe that silly technique will bring about such a desirable goal. https://hopecollege.com Then, there’s the popular “Coexist” bumper sticker. You may have seen it, the one spelled out with the symbols of different religions— the Islamic crescent forming the C, the Christian cross forming the T, and so on. The idea seems to be that if we religious people would just stop focusing on our differences, we could achieve world harmony. If we understood that our beliefs are all ultimately the same, all of the problems of war and strife would go away. The funny thing is, we’ll reject such sentiments when they appear on a bumper sticker, but we’ll accept the...

In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways. [Heb. 1:1] God revealed himself to the Old Testament prophets in a myriad of ways. We can learn something about God by reviewing some of them. One of the most important ways God revealed himself was through theophanies. In a theophany God shows himself in and through some created thing. In one of the most famous examples of a theophany, the burning bush, God revealed himself to Moses as the bush burned with his divine glory. God also revealed himself through dreams. Famous dreams of Scripture include those of Jacob, Joseph, Nebuchadnezzar (in Daniel), and the night visions of Zechariah 1–6. God spoke in dreams to Joseph, the husband of Mary, and to Pilate’s wife. Visions differ from dreams in that they happen while people are awake. Ezekiel experienced numerous visions. The vision of Isaiah 6 surely changed Isaiah’s life and message. God spoke to Peter in a vision of the clean and uncl...

“God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream by night and said to him, ‘Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad’ ” (Gen. 31:24). Laban may have been away when Jacob and his daughters set out for Gilead (Gen. 31:17–21), but their journey does not escape his notice for long. After he becomes aware of his son-in-law’s absence, Laban sets out in hot pursuit and is soon able to get within striking distance of Jacob (vv. 22–23). Given what we know about Jacob’s loss of favor in Laban’s eyes (v. 2), it is obvious Laban wants to execute ungodly wrath on his son-in-law. Our Creator’s visit to him in a dream just before he overtakes Jacob makes this even more plain. At the beginning of the passage, Laban is warned not to say anything to Jacob, that is, he is told to contradict nothing Isaac’s son says to him (v. 24). Without a doubt, this dream provokes Laban to keep his hands off Jacob in the following verses. Once again, God has intervened in history, keeping His prom...

Graduation (Photo credit: besighyawn ) It’s graduation season. And as such, scores of graduating students and their doting family and friends will be exposed to the senseless drivel known as a graduation speech . This speech is supposed to prepare the students to face the real world—or perhaps the “real world” of going to college. One last shot at making something out of these thugs. Most graduation speeches follow the same format. And they are filled with inspirational quotes and silly sayings that somebody’s mom will post on Facebook three years later with pretty little flowers and a demand to share. Or maybe the saying will be really good and you’ll see it on one of those overpriced placards that people buy to put in their storage sheds. Usually the graduates are just lied to. Here are six lies they’ll likely be told: You can be anything you want. Just dream and work hard . This sounds so wonderful and loving and I’ve heard it so many times I feel like a jerk saying it isn’t ...