Dr Paul Allen

  One of the cruellest insinuations made about Paul was that he was under God's manifest displeasure. His attackers pointed to his thorn in the flesh, v. 7. It is not clear what this was, but the terms used are physical, and the indications are that it was excruciating.  Paul is forced to explain how it is that he has this disability, and in doing so he breaks a self-imposed silence of fourteen years. Fourteen years ago he, “a man in Christ”, had a stupendous experience. He was caught up to the third heaven and saw things impossible to communicate in human language.  Paul’s amazing humility comes out in the fact that he kept silent for so long about something that others would have shouted from the housetops. There had been a possibility of pride, and the Lord had taken effective steps. Paul was given that which proved both painful and humbling. He prayed the Lord thrice for its removal, addressing Him who, in the days of His flesh, had thrice prayed the Father, “Take aw...

It wasn’t too long ago that a Muslim explained to me that on the day of judgment (Qiyamat) scales will be brought before each human being, and, like measuring grain, all of the good deeds that someone has done in their lifetime will be poured on one side of the scale, and all of the bad deeds that someone has done will be poured on the other side of the scale. If the good side weighs more than the bad side, the person will be allowed into Heaven. This scale is not unique to Islam, though . It is the default position of every human being from birth. We all believe that we are inherently good and that one day God will let us into Heaven based on our goodness. There is a simple way to expose this when sharing the Gospel. Simply ask the person if they believe that they are good. Or, even better, ask the question, “If you were to die today and stand before God, and if He were to ask you, “Why should I let you into Heaven, what would you say?” I’ve found that most of the time the person ...