Dr Paul Allen

It’s never been easier to step into the role of a would-be prophet, to stand in the long line of men and women over the ages called to “speak truth to power.” Social media has amplified the ability to speak out on any number of issues—to expose the hidden corners of injustice, to rail against the abuses of the strong against the weak, and to point out the flaws in institutions and the people who lead them. Much of this prophetic sensibility is good. As a result of people expressing critique or concern, we’ve seen institutions and individuals move toward health. We’ve seen rot exposed and expunged. We’ve seen repentance and restitution. The ability of more people to speak out can lead to greater awareness and accountability in the church. Heartless Prophet But there’s always the danger of having a prophetic voice without a prophet’s heart. When this happens, we sound less and less like Jeremiah, passing on the Lord’s command through tears (“Return, you faithless children!”) alongside th...

Living in a fallen age, in fallen bodies, in which our fallen natures vie with our regenerate natures for control, we unfortunately cannot avoid the plague of bad moods. We are not, however, victims of these moods, and we certainly must not make others victims of them, either. Instead, we must develop the skilled habit of challenging them, ruling over them (Romans 6:12), and laying them aside so that they don’t weigh us (or others) down in the race of faith ( Hebrews 12:1). You Are Never “Just” in a Bad Mood When we feel irritable or cynical or discouraged or sad, we sometimes excuse sinful attitudes by saying, “I’m just in a bad mood.” But we are never “just” in a bad mood. Moods never come from nowhere. We may not always be conscious of what’s fueling our mood, but we can be sure something is. Our moods are at times affected by our body chemistry. A chemical or hormonal imbalance in our bodies can cause irrational emotions. I’ll touch on this more shortly. But when our bodies a...

Photo of merchandise inside Despair, Inc.'s Austin warehouse. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) The human body starts dying at age 25. Our twenties slap us with the expiration date of sin’s curse ( Genesis 6:3): slowly, in our ligaments; tightly, in our muscle fibers ; subtly, checking for bumps; decimally, with a rising BMI. We feel death in our twenties; emotionally and relationally, in ugly and odious ways. Death latches its chain to our frame, slowly pulling us deep into an answer to the question “Death, where is your sting?” ( 1 Corinthians 15:55 ). Our twenties bring so many answers to that question — transition, failure, desperation, dependence, accusation, responsibility, moral failure, stagnation, unfulfillment. “ Sting ” isn’t sufficient. Our twenties can be a dark time. Aspects of Quarter-Life Crisis There are (at least) five feelings that overwhelm and disillusion the wandering young saints, day after day. 1. Disappointment “I thought things would be better.” ...

English: John the Baptist baptizing Christ (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) In his kindness and mercy, God often reveals his active presence to us. By “active” presence I mean God’s presence as distinct from his omnipresence and his promised presence, both of which we accept by faith. Whether we “feel” it or not, God is present when his Word is faithfully preached, when his people meet in Jesus ’ name, when we celebrate the Lord’s supper , when we sing, and we were serve in his power ( 1 Tim. 6:13 ; 1 Cor. 5:4 ; Mt. 18:20 ; 1 Cor. 11:27-32 ; Acts 10:33 ; Eph. 5:18-19 ; 1 Pet. 4:10-11 ). At those times and others we can know that God is with us, empowering what we do. But there are times when God makes his presence known more clearly, more tangibly. Like in 1 Cor. 14:25 , when the secrets of a man’s heart are revealed by prophetic words and he declares, “God is really among you” ( 1 Cor. 14:25 ). We experience it when our hearts are flooded with peace, or we are suddenly aware of God’s...

Nothing to Envy (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Envy  Competes Who is Envy? What does Envy do? How do we define Envy? Something like this: Envy makes you feel resentment or anger or sadness because another person   has  something or another person  is  something that you want for yourself. Envy makes you aware that another person has some advantage, some good thing, that you want for yourself and, while he’s at it, he makes you want that other person not to have it. This means that there are at least three evil components to Envy: the deep discontent that comes when you see that another person has what you want; the desire to have it for yourself; and the desire for it to be taken from him. It’s crucial to understand that Envy flows out of Pride . (A commenter said it well: “In my wretched experience pride has always been envy’s father…”) Pride says, “This is what I deserve” or “Let me boast about all I have” or “I am better than you in all of these...

Image via Wikipedia In marriage, anger rivals lust as a killer. My guess is that anger is a worse enemy than lust. It also destroys other kinds of camaraderie.  Some people have more anger than they think, because it has disguises. When willpower hinders rage, anger smolders beneath the surface, and the teeth of the soul grind with frustration. It can come out in tears that look more like hurt. But the heart has learned that this may be the only way to hurt back. It may come out as silence because we have resolved not to fight. It may show up in picky criticism and relentless correction. It may strike out at people who have nothing to do with its origin. It will often feel warranted by the wrongness of the cause. After all, Jesus got angry ( Mark 3:5 ), and Paul says, “Be angry and do not sin” ( Eph. 4:26 ). However, good anger among fallen people is rare. That’s why James says, “Be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the ...