Dr Paul Allen

About 15 years ago God showed me the results of tithing and believing (faith) so quickly that I was pleasantly surprised by it and I still am today. God does not require us to give our all, but I did, especially when things started to get desperate with my cash situation, he wants to bless us, and by us, I mean everyone who follows his word. At the time I was reading the bible and came to the book of Malachi. When I read God saying for us to test him and see if he doesn’t fill our coffers, this really stirred me into action. It was a few years after my stroke which had left me with many problems, I could not do any physical work anymore (no way to earn a wage) and had used all my cash funds up on trying to stay alive. Then one Friday afternoon I went to the ATM to get some cash-out and found that there was only $50 left, after withdrawing this I was in a quandary on how I should use it. After much pain, I departed with my last and gave it to my Church on Sunday. On waking up Monday ...

What’s the first thing you think about when you wake up in the morning? For most of us, the first and most natural things that flood our minds when the alarm goes off do not produce praise or comfort. More often than not, the burdens of the day come rushing in before we can even take a couple breaths — a struggling relationship, some conflict, that meeting, the mistake you made, the task list that’s too long for today, the pain you’re feeling, that sin you can’t seem to shake. And underneath them all, there’s the nagging feeling that we won’t find the strength to make much of a difference about any of it. If we’re not careful, those first few groggy, heavy minutes can define the rest of the day. We’re not naturally prone to follow the command to set our minds on things above, where Christ is (Colossians 3:1–4). It has always seemed ironic and foolish that the first few moments after a full night of total, unaware dependence, we immediately wake up and go into independent, s...