Dr Paul Allen

Understanding Anxiety Some find it helpful to contrast anxiety with fear. Fear and anxiety share many of the same symptoms and cause the same reactions. But fear is focused on a present threat, something right before you, like a rattlesnake slithering on the trail.  Anxiety is focused on a possible threat. Fear focuses on what is happening. Anxiety focuses on what might happen. Fear goes as easily as it comes, once the snake slithers away into the brush. Anxiety is far more slippery, far more diffuse, far more difficult to get behind you. Consider a few definitions of anxiety. The American Psychological Association defines anxiety as a “future-oriented, long-acting response broadly focused on a diffuse threat.”1 The American Psychiatric Association says “Anxiety refers to anticipation of a future concern.”2  And here is perhaps the most helpful definition I’ve seen: “Anxiety is both a mental and physical state of negative expectation. . . . Anxiety is meant to capture attentio...

Few things can cripple people like fear. Fear makes people shrink from doing what they know they ought to do. Fear can also make us do things we ought not to do. Fear is not simply self-protective or self-preserving; fearful concern for the well-being and protection of those we love can cause us to worry, lie awake at night, and even do things that could be perceived as either very brave or very foolish.  So, what overcomes fear? The Bible offers a clear and potent solution—faith in God's promises. “By faith, he left Egypt, not afraid of the king's anger” (Hebrews 11:27). This verse stands in the middle of Hebrews 11 and in the middle of the author’s commentary on Moses's life. It briefly reflects on Moses's faith in the face of a very real and present danger (humanly speaking)—the king of Egypt. Moses was like any other man; blood flowed in his veins just as in yours and mine. He was truly human and thus capable of knowing the reality of fear in the face of an imminent...

Earlier this year, I read Carl Trueman’s The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self. It’s a devastating survey of the history that’s led to the expressive individualism and sexual revolution of our current cultural moment. Trueman uncovers the tensions and contradictions present in commonly held cultural assumptions. But he’s also frank about the mammoth task Christians face in holding to biblical ethics, morals, and values. It’s unlikely to become easier to be faithful to Scripture in the coming days. A book like Trueman’s raises questions: How can Christianity survive such a hostile onslaught? Do we have a survival strategy? The familiar narrative of Daniel 6 answers these questions with the foundational truth that God rules over all—even in the most hostile environments. Daniel’s confidence in God’s absolute authority encourages us to adopt three postures in the face of hostility. Obedience in the Face of Danger As the curtain rises on Daniel 6, there’s a new king in town: Darius. As t...

We hear a lot these days about dechurching, deconstruction, and decline. Church attendance in America is dropping. Is this a crisis or merely a correction? Is it more of a problem or an opportunity? What can we expect for the future of the American church landscape? I’m not a prophet or the son of a prophet (Amos 7:14), but I was asked recently to speak to some church leaders about that question. Here are six answers I proposed. 1. The church’s future is certain.  Amid much hand-wringing and prognostication, we must start with one absolutely sure truth: the church has a future. Our Lord Jesus Christ said so: “I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock, I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matt. 16:18). Because Jesus promised he will build his church, we should have profound optimism about the future. Yes, your local church (or mine) may fold, split, or shrink. Individual churches and denominations will rise and fall. But the church as a whol...

We are living in an age of profound cultural shift. Up until the early twenty-first century, Western history was dominated by a form of Christianity that was legally established and culturally honoured. While not everyone was a Christian, being a Christian was respectable, and Christianity was generally recognized as the dominant cultural and moral outlook in society. That has dramatically changed in the last ten years, signaling the end of that cultural establishment. Many Christians feel disoriented. What is this new world, and how should we relate to it? These are questions that we find ourselves rather ill-prepared to address because up until recently, we could assume things that can no longer be assumed regarding how people think and how they react to Christianity. Amid these changes, I have found considerable help in thinking through these issues in the life and work of Abraham Kuyper. Kuyper (1837–1920), a Dutchman, lived in a place and time when the issues we face today were al...

In the new year, can I get a car loan? Is the buying power of my dollar going to erode further? Will the challenges with my kids get better or grow worse? Will I gain a new friendship, or will one of my friends stab me in the back? Will the political season stir deeper division in the church? There’s much I don’t know about the new year. But as I turn to the Word, there’s much I can know. The Bible—and Psalm 90 in particular—gives a set of constants on the horizon as the calendar flips from December to January. 1. God will still be my refuge. Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations.Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting, you are God. (Ps. 90:1–2) The great constant in my life year after year is the unending fact of the presence of God. He has been there, and he will be there. No matter where I find myself this year, God will be there. God will always be there for me, no matter how strong...

Moses with the tablets of the Ten Commandments, painting by Rembrandt (1659) (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen”  ( Deut. 18:15). A study of the names of Jesus will demonstrate that each name contains a variety of nuances and emphases that reflect the complexity of the God-man. The name “Savior” ultimately refers both to physical and spiritual salvation. The title “ Messiah ” that is given to Christ includes the Old Testament expectation the Messiah is to be a prophet. In the verse above we see the promise that God would raise up a prophet for Israel like the prophet Moses (Deut. 18:15). However, this new prophet would also be the Messiah who would save His people and empower them for new obedience. Since Jesus is Messiah, He is also this prophet. But we might be a bit confused when we read that Jesus would be a prophet like Moses. This is because most of ...

English: Icon of Jesus Christ (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Paul said, “to live is Christ .” In four syllables he explained the  why  and the  what  for his earthly existence. Why was he living? Christ. What was his point for living? Christ. How would you answer that question. Fill in the blank. “For me to live is ____________.” What would you say? Whatever you place in the blank will do the following four things for you. It will govern how you think about your present circumstances. It will direct how you respond to your present circumstances. It will control how you navigate through your present circumstances. It will set the course for and the outcome of your future . You could think of whatever you placed in the blank as the foundation upon which your life will be built. Everybody has a “ to live is __________”  presupposition. We are all defined by something. This makes thinking about the thing that drives us an important matter. Your wor...

Image via Wikipedia 'Take no thought for the morrow,' means 'Do not be guilty of anxious thoughts about the morrow'. It does not mean that you do not take any thought at all, otherwise the farmer would not plough and harrow and sow.  He is looking to the future , but he does not spend the whole of his time wondering and worrying about the end results of his work. No, he takes reasonable thought and then he leaves it. PRAY ABOUT EVERYTHING: WORRY ABOUT NOTHING Here again the whole question is where to draw the line. Thinking is right up to a point, but if you go beyond that point it becomes worry and anxiety and it paralyzes and cripples. In other words, although it is very right to think about the future, it is very wrong to be controlled by it. GOD AND YOUR FEARS The difficulty with people who are prey to these fears is that they are controlled by the future, they are dominated by thoughts of it, and there they are wringing their hands, doing nothing, depres...