Dr Paul Allen

If God is good, why is there so much suffering? Most of us have probably sought explanations for suffering in light of our faith in God, or else evil may have contributed to our doubts about God’s existence. If you have spent any extended amount of time thinking about these questions, you are exploring the problem of evil, a term that refers to analyzing challenges that the existence of evil causes for various religions. What is the problem of evil? Technically, we would do well to speak of multiple problems of evil. Each religion may face unique challenges (is karmic suffering really just, as Hinduism suggests? Is evil an illusion, as some Buddhists claim?), but this article will consider the problem of evil in Christianity in three forms.  The logical problem of evil is a philosophical attempt to argue that a theistic God cannot exist if evil exists. The evidential problem of evil argues that a specific kind or example of evil makes God’s existence improbable. The existential pr...

  Ecclesiastes 11 Rejoice, O young man, in your youth, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth. Walk in the ways of your heart and the sight of your eyes. But know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment. Remove vexation from your heart, and put away pain from your body, for youth and the dawn of life are vanity. (Eccl. 11:9–10) Ecclesiastes is bold. It deconstructs us, and it reconstructs us. It frees us from any dreamy idealism that would run smack into the brick wall of harsh reality. But it also frees us from any grim cynicism that would keep us miserably half-alive. Ecclesiastes declares our freedom to live real life, in this real world, vigorously and confidently under the smile of God. Which puts our feet on the path of profound holiness. And if you ask me, freedom of heart to live, really live, is the change we most need here in our time. We forsook idealism long ago. What hurts us now is the opposite. We have grown numb to lofty grandeur, ...

  Giving is not a sacrifice purely and simply; it is a “sowing” and will be followed by a “reaping”. You reap what you sow, v. 6. No man ever loses by being generous. The harvest reaped will be proportionate to the seed sown. Sow sparingly, reap sparingly. Sow abundantly, reap abundantly. Giving is not just a contribution; it is an investment. Of course, giving must not have selfish ends in view. The motive must be right. The spirit of giving is more important than the gift, v. 7. Giving must spring out of a deliberate choice, “according as he purposeth in his heart”. There must be neither constraint nor complaint, “not grudgingly”. Everyone must be entirely free to decide what to give, “not … of necessity”. Giving must be with cheerfulness. God loves the happy giver, as characterised by a spirit of real enjoyment in his giving which sweeps away all restraint. Not only does God love a cheerful giver, but He is able in His grace to see that there shall always be the means to give, v...

 

Serve the LORD with gladness! Come into his presence with singing! —Psalm 100:2 As spring draws near, it is as though all creation bursts into life. Flowers bloom, trees blossom, grass grows, and weeds shoot up like they have been fertilized. Thus, it is time to break out the weed-eater, which soon leads to firing up the blower. However, these gas-powered instruments for beautifying the yard cannot crank with just one tug on the pull cord. The engine requires priming, which involves pushing a small pump to deliver fuel, making the engine ready for combustion. Our hearts are like those cold engines. To be ready for worship, fired in our souls to give God the praise due His name, we need shots of truth, heart-focusing facts about the greatness of the Lord and His grace, so that our cold hearts would be roused to action. Psalm 100 can be such a primer for us. Psalm 100 is the climax of a collection of psalms focused on the Lord as King. From the declaration of Psalm 93:1, “The Lord reigns...