Dr Paul Allen

There are more significant questions beneath this question, making this an essential issue to many. As we move toward an answer, here are three pivotal concerns behind the question that can help us understand why this gnaws at many people’s hearts. 1. What do we mean when we talk about heaven? Generally, when people think about heaven, they refer to what theologians more appropriately call “the intermediate state.” When a believer in Christ dies, their soul leaves the earth, and they go into the presence of Jesus until the second coming of Christ. Here, we are liberated from physical pain, sin, the presence of evil, and all effects of the fall. We shall see the face of Jesus and experience unfettered communion with him. We will be, ideally, euphorically and eternally happy. The intermediate state, though, is temporary. At the second coming of Christ, we will descend with Jesus to the earth, where heaven will become a place on earth. At that point, the resurrection of the dead will occu...

Question: Recently an unbeliever raised an objection against the reliability of the biblical accounts, he said that the account of Moses in which he was placed in a basket on the river by his mother had been a copy of the biography of Sargon of Akkad, a Mesopotamian monarch around 2400 BC. The account of Sargon goes like this:        “My mother was high priestess, I did not know my father. My father’s brothers loved the hills.  My city is Azupiranu, which is located on the banks of the Euphrates. My mother high priestess conceived me, and secretly gave birth to me. She left me In a reed basket, he sealed the lid with bitumen. He threw me into the river, which rose above me. The river carried me and carried me to Akki the water carrier. Akki the water carrier took me as his son and raised me. Akki the water carrier named me his gardener. Although I was a gardener, Ishtar granted me his love, and for four and […] years I have held the monarchy. ”    ...

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...

When the militant atheist, Christopher Hitchens, was alive, he made the audacious claim that the authenticity of the gospels has been shown to be “in tatters for some time, and the rents and tears only become more obvious with better research”. [i] In reality, this comment is so manifestly outrageous as to beggar belief. Here’s why: Galilee synagogues For many years, contemporary scholars were troubled by a lack of synagogues. Prior to 2008, no archaeological evidence for any synagogue existing in Jesus’ time could be found in the region of Galilee. As the gospels mention that “Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues” (Mt 4:23), this was a bit of an embarrassment. Some scholars concluded that the claim that Jesus preached in the synagogues of Galilee was an invention of the gospel writers.  But then, in 2009, archaeologists discovered the remains of a pre-AD 70 synagogue in the Galilean town of Magdala (the town where Mary Magdalene came from). Later that year, ...

Paul has anticipated and answered this question toward the end of Ephesians 5: “Do not get intoxicated—that leads to sensual indulgence—but always be filled with the Spirit” (Eph 5:18). In Greek, Ephesians 5:18–21 is a single sentence. The main verb is plērousthe (“be filled”), which is the second-person plural present passive imperative of plēroō, “fill.” Each of these elements is important:     • Second-person plural: “You (all) are to be filled.” The Spirit’s filling is not a privilege reserved for the few; all believers are involved.     • Present tense: “Always be filled.” A continuous appropriation of the Spirit is necessary; it is not an isolated, single experience.     • Passive voice: “Be filled.” Active yielding to the Spirit’s sway is implied.     • Imperative mood: “You must be filled.” This is a divine directive to be obeyed. Following this main or finite verb (“be filled”) are five participles (see below). By their natur...

The famous atheist philosopher Bertrand Russell was once asked what he would say to God if he found himself standing before Him after his death. Russell replied, “I probably would ask, ‘Sir, why did you not give me better evidence?’” For Russell, it all came down to the evidence. The implication is, given better evidence for God, Russell would believe. Many atheists today make similar claims. For example, while taking questions on The Atheist Voice , Hemant Mehta—the Friendly Atheist—was asked, “What would it take for you to believe in God?” He replied, “I guess, simply put, I would need to see a miracle. I need evidence for God, and maybe that would come in the form of a miracle that has no possible explanation in the natural world.” When we hear claims like these, it is tempting to think belief in God comes down to the evidence and nothing else. On this view, it’s as if we have an “evidence meter” in our heads. And when the “evidence meter” reaches a certain level, we believe ...

For five years, an ancient clay seal remained in a closet in Jerusalem’s Institute of Archaeology. After the seal was dug up at the foot of the southern part of Jerusalem’s old city wall, initial examination failed to establish the significance of the nearly 3,000-year-old object. But then a researcher carefully scrutinized the letters on the seal, resulting in a major discovery. The inscription, written in ancient Hebrew, reads: “Belonging to Hezekiah [son of] Ahaz king of Judah.” At the center of the seal is a two-winged sun surrounded by two images symbolizing life. The archaeologists who discovered the seal believe that King Hezekiah began using this seal as a symbol of God’s protection after the Lord healed him from a life-threatening illness (Isa. 38:1–8). Hezekiah had been pleading with the Lord to heal him. And God heard his prayer. He also gave Hezekiah a sign that He would indeed do what He had promised, saying, “I will cause the sun’s shadow to move ten steps backward” (...

Here is some wisdom from Mark Dever , drawn from  What Is a Healthy Church? . He offers up six considerations for before you decide to leave a church and four to apply if you decide that you must leave. Before You Decide to Leave Pray. Let your current pastor know about your thinking before you move to another church or make your decision to relocate to another city. Ask for his counsel. Weigh your motives. Is your desire to leave because of sinful, personal conflict or disappointment? If it’s because of doctrinal reasons, are these doctrinal issues significant? Do everything within your power to reconcile any broken relationships. Be sure to consider all the “ evidences of grace” you’ve seen in the church’s life—places where God’s work is evident. If you cannot see any evidences of God’s grace , you might want to examine your own heart once more ( Matt.  7:3-5). Be humble. Recognize you don’t have all the facts and assess people and circ...

Galileo Galilei, a renowned Italian scientist and astronomer. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) There have been obvious conflicts between the scientific community and the religious community over certain points. Of course, the most notable dispute historically was the embarrassing episode of Galileo and the whole theory of whether the earth or the sun was the center of the solar system . We know that many bishops refused to even look at the evidence of a telescope because they had already baptized another scientific tradition that wasn’t biblical.  This was a case, incidentally, in which the scientific community corrected theological interpretation and misinterpretation of Scripture because Scripture doesn’t teach that the earth is the center of the solar system, and it took the scientific community to correct us at that point. To go further than that and to say that sometimes science corrects erroneous ideas is one thing, but actually to disprove Christianity . . . there are very f...