Dr Paul Allen

Every preacher knows that people do not like to hear about sin. People regard sin as a dreary, negative topic and prefer to think about more positive and comfortable themes. The situation is like that of a visitor to a leper colony, a comparison that is especially apt since the Bible uses leprosy as a picture of sin. The last thing lepers want to hear about is leprosy! They have to deal with it all the time, so they are not likely to gather in large numbers to hear someone speak about the nature and effects of leprosy. Since they are suffering, they prefer to listen to something entertaining to divert their minds! So why should Christians dwell on sin? James Montgomery Boice answers: "It is simply because Christians are realists. They recognize that sin is an everyday experience and the number one problem of mankind. What is more, they recognize that the Bible everywhere insists upon this." However, Christians do not talk about sin simply as an exercise in realism, but b...

Resurrection and Descent to Hell. Russian icon, (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) That's one of the most emotionally laden questions that a Christian can ever be asked. Nothing is more terrifying or more awful to contemplate than that any human being would go to hell. On the surface, when we ask a question like that, what's lurking there is, "How could God ever possibly send some person to hell who never even had the opportunity to hear of the Savior? It just doesn't seem right." I would say the most important section of Scripture to study with respect to that question is the first chapter of Paul's letter to the Romans. The point of the book of Romans is to declare the Good News —the marvelous story of redemption that God has provided for humanity in Christ , the riches and the glory of God's grace, the extent to which God has gone to redeem us. But when Paul introduces the gospel, he begins in the first chapter by declaring that the wrath of God is reve...

An evangelist is a preacher of the gospel, a proclaimer of the good news . Jesus himself was the prophesied anointed Evangelist, anointed to preach the gospel, and known for preaching the good news to the poor (Luke 4:18; 7:22). The word evangelist is used in only two other places in the New Testament . Philip became known as the evangelist ( Acts 21:8). Then Paul urged Timothy to do the work of an evangelist ( 2 Timothy 4:5). But the corresponding verb and noun are used many times of bringing good news, declaring glad tidings (Acts 13:32), preaching the gospel of God’s grace , the gospel of peace, or simply preaching Christ. The gospel is the good news about Jesus Christ . The evangelist comes, like Jesus, not “to condemn the world, but to save the world through him” (John 3:17). Using Philip as an example, we see that the ministry of the evangelist took him to people who did not know the Lord. First, it was a city where miracles brought joy and where the people believed his p...

Portrait of Martin Luther as an Augustinian Monk (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Just after instructing us to rejoice in the Lord ( Philippians 4:4 ), Paul wrote in verse 6, “Do not be anxious about anything.” Worry is a kill-joy. It specializes in worst case scenarios when God promises us best case scenarios: He has already rescued us from the worst, which is eternal Hell ;  Even if something horrible happens, He will use it for our eternal good ( Romans 8:28 ); Often bad things do not happen and our worry proves groundless; Whether or not bad things happen, our worry generates no positive change, and in fact, can cause me great harm; The cause for all our worries—sin and the Curse—is temporary, and will soon be behind us. Forever. Hence the command to rejoice is not mere positive thinking—we have every reason to rejoice. Paul continued in verse 7, “But in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of G...

Christ oriental - Our Lady of Lebanon Melkite Church, Fortaleza Brazil (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) There can be only one proper response to grace: a life of grateful holiness . Christ 's atoning death was "in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit" (Rom. 8:4). There are two ways of understanding these words. One way is to view them as a statement of what our Lord achieved on the cross: He fulfilled what the law required by offering up a perfect obedience (the active obedience of Christ ) and by meeting the law's retribution for our sin by His death (the passive obedience of Christ). He fulfilled the righteous requirements of the law for us in His life and death. Grateful law-keeping is the saved sinner's response to received grace. More likely, however, Paul is stating (what he will elaborate on later in this chapter) that Christians, whose sins are forgiven, n...

You are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.  Colossians 2:10 In Christ , we are made ready, we are equipped, for any crisis or circumstance that may come.…The children of Israel wandered in a wilderness, but their shoes didn’t wear out, even though they wandered there for forty years. When the children of Israel needed water, God supplied it.  When they needed food, He sent manna. When they needed guidance, He gave them a very clear and present witness to lead them by day and by night. When they were surrounded by enemies, He delivered them. His means were sovereign and supernatural, and His provision was complete and sure. We can trust the Lord to do the same for us. Related articles Christ in Us... Our Hope (anencouragedheart.wordpress.com) Writing the Wrongs: Where the Jews Are (writingtw.blogspot.com) Complete In Christ (inspirationalchristiansfortoday.com) The Dangers of Negative Self Talk (dianarasmussen.com) Rooted and Bu...

Jesus  Wikipedia ) That's one of the most emotionally laden questions that a Christian can ever be asked. Nothing is more terrifying or more awful to contemplate than that any human being would go to hell. On the surface, when we ask a question like that, what's lurking there is, "How could God ever possibly send some person to hell who never even had the opportunity to hear of the Savior? It just doesn't seem right." I would say the most important section of Scripture to study with respect to that question is the first chapter of Paul's letter to the Romans. The point of the book of Romans is to declare the Good News —the marvelous story of redemption that God has provided for humanity in Christ , the riches and the glory of God's grace, the extent to which God has gone to redeem us. But when Paul introduces the gospel, he begins in the first chapter by declaring that the wrath of God is revealed from heaven and this manifestation of God's an...

English: Young saint Timothy with his mother (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) "This charge I commit unto thee, son Timothy , according to the prophecies which went before on thee, that thou by them mightest war a good warfare ; Holding faith , and a good conscience ; which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck .” ( 1 Timothy 1:18-19 ) Paul had been entrusted with the gospel of Jesus Christ by Christ Himself ( vv. 1 , 12-16 ), and he did not take this fact lightly when it was time to pass on the job of guarding and propagating the truth to others. Following his praise to God for giving him such a function, Paul now "charges” Timothy to follow in his footsteps. The word "commit” finds usage in banking vocabulary and implies a deposit of something of great value. Timothy was to continue to teach the valuable, life-changing truth of the gospel in love ( v. 5 ) while guarding the flock against the teaching of false teachers ( v. 3 ). Paul had not found...

Cover via Amazon "I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel ." ( Galatians 1:6 ) There is only one true gospel (meaning "good news") in Christianity, but there are many false gospels. Various cults have proposed such concepts as the social gospel , the prosperity gospel , the full gospel, and others, but it is dangerous to attach adjectives or other modifiers to the gospel unless these are specifically attached to it in the Scriptures. There are enough of these, however, to emphasize that the true gospel does have many facets. God 's "good news" is always about Christ--His person and work--but His work is from eternity to eternity, and He is both the mighty God and perfect Man. Therefore, with Paul we can say, "I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation" ( Romans 1:16 ). The gospel is the "everlasting gospel," focusing o...

Oil painting of a young John Calvin. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Declare His glory among the nations, His wonders among all peoples (Ps. 96:3). Many assert that John Calvin had no zeal for missions. They wrongly believe that evangelism and world missions could not be reconciled with his strong doctrine of predestination. However, to suppose that predestination is incompatible with evangelism is a grievous error. While God elects some to salvation, we know not who. God uses the proclamation of the Gospel to call those He has already predestined to eternal life, and He uses the church to proclaim this Good News to the lost. God has commanded us to go into all the world to preach the Gospel. When we refrain, we disobey a direct command from our Lord Himself. God uses His church to bring in the harvest—a harvest that remains ripe even to this day. Calvin strongly believed in missions because he was faithful to the Word of God. When he read passages such as Psalm 96, he be...

The last Judgment - an icon 17th cent. from Lipie, Historic Museum in Sanok, Poland (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) John Lennon's 1971 song "Imagine" encouraged a generation to imagine there is no heaven or hell, and to instead embrace "living for today." Over 40 years later, many evangelicals are following Lennon's advice. It's commonly said that the gospel is not really about the afterlife. The gospel answers much bigger questions than a person's eternal state. It's about life today—not so much about tomorrow. And slowly but surely, we have begun to let the promise of divine judgment that appears in the Apostles' Creed —"He will come again to judge the living and the dead"—slip by unnoticed. Many Christians talk a lot about justice and very little about judgment. Justice here and now is a popular subject. Judgment there and then? Not so much. But justice and judgment are two sides of the same coin. You cannot have perfect justic...

Philip the Apostle. The text (in Old Church Slavonic) in the book is: "15 Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God. 16 And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love..." (First Epistle of John). Church of the Dormition of the Theotokos (1774) at Kondopoga. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) "Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, . . . honest, . . . just, . . . pure, . . . lovely, . . . of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things." ( Philippians 4:8 )   Our lives are surrounded with ungodliness and demands that often bleed away our thoughts until we are worn and weakened. Reflect for a few moments on this inventory of empowering thinking.   • Truth--Literally "that which is not hidden"; Jesus Himself ( John 14:6 ); the Word of God ( John 17:17 ;  Psalm 119:11 ).   • Honesty --Not just accuracy, but "sober" and "venerable...