Dr Paul Allen

More than seventy killings took place in London in the first quarter of 2018. A surgeon in a London hospital reports that the number of children and young people being brought in with knife injuries is at an all-time high.2 This great city, blessed in the past by some of the greatest gospel preachers in church history, is waking up almost daily to headlines telling of another life snatched away. Politicians debate increasing police funding. Newspapers argue about law enforcement. Alice Springs in Central Australia young kids are smashing the town apart. In Philadelphia, cars are burned while people do drug injections openly in the streets. The USA has had numerous cities under siege by various groups. The root of the problem was described in a book aptly titled Death in the City, written nearly fifty years ago by the apologist Francis Schaeffer. In a culture that has deliberately turned away from God, what basis is there for morality? Schaeffer warned that Western societies in the 1960

English: 4th day of Evangelism training at Huntington Beach provided by LivingWaters Ministry which encourages and equips Christians to share their faith biblically the way Jesus did by obeying Jesus command to "Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to everyone." Mark 16:15 (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) One in five don’t believe in a deity. 12% of the Australian population attend religious services on a regular basis. People simply find our evangelism unbelievable. Why? While a person’s response to Christ is ultimately a matter that rests in God’s sovereign hands — something we have no control over — a person’s hearing of the gospel is a matter we do have control over and responsibility for. “Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season” ( 2 Timothy 4:2).  “Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person” ( Colossians

Christ in Gethsemane (Christus in Gethsemane), oil painting by Heinrich Ferdinand Hofmann (Heinrich Hofmann). The original is at the Riverside Church (Riverside Church, New York City). (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) It is my conviction that we grow weary, that our lives grow complicated principally because we refuse to heed the warning of Jesus who tells us that no man can serve two masters ( Matthew 6:24 ). The Old Testament testifies to our myriad failures, as well as our constant folly in trying. Syncretism, the blending together of true and false worship existed then as it exists now precisely because we seek to serve two masters, the true and living God of the ages, and the god of the age. While our Lord is gracious, every false god proves to be a cruel and demanding task master. In our age that false task master is he whom Francis Schaeffer called "the god of personal peace and affluence." We Christians frantically seek to serve the Lord, which we ought to do, whil

Planet earth is fast becoming a "no-truth zone." Relativism is the death of " true truth ," the "extinction of the idea that any particular thing can be known for sure." The denial of absolute truth also has serious implications for Christianity. Today's denial of absolute truth leads to statements such as these:  -All religions lead to God. -All religions teach basically the same thing.  -Jesus is one of many great spiritual leaders.  -No such thing as ultimate truth exists.  -All beliefs are equally valid. Have you ever heard people make statements like these? "We all have our own truths..." "There is no moral right or wrong. Beliefs about truth and morality are based on personal situations, cultural bias, or on one's religious upbringing..." Sadly, even some Christians believe these statements, like the young lady at the bank who told me, "We all have our own truths." This relativistic spirit pres

Image via Wikipedia A lot of ink has been spilled over whether God exists. Within this context, some theists like to point out that "God has made it plain" that he exists, that "God's invisible qualities … have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse" (Rom. 1:19-20). They urge us to remember that the "heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands" (Ps. 19:1). Jim Spiegel cites these passages and  writes : "This naturally prompts the question: If the evidence for God is so abundant, then why are there atheists?" Spiegel asserts that for many atheists, it's not "cool, rational inquiry" that led to their atheism. Rather, in many cases it's complex moral and psychological factors that produce atheism. For example, Spiegel points to research suggesting that some prominent atheists had broken, defective relationships with their fathers. Others