Dr Paul Allen

Hillsong Church London logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) "You have no idea how powerful Christ in you really is - how much he wants to do in and through you. It's more than your mind can comprehend." This was the message of LifeChurch.tv pastor Craig Groeschel on the third day of the Hillsong No Other Name conference in London . Speaking before over 10,000 people gathered in the 02 Arena , Groeschel urged the crowd to allow God to raise their ability to lead, whether in church, family or work. "We have to let him increase our leadership capacity so he can do more through us for his glory," he insisted. Going on to highlight five ways by which we can let God move in our lives, Groeschel underlined the importance of opening ourselves up to being changed and moulded. 1. Build Confidence: "We talk ourselves down, and we as leaders so often act as a lid to what God wants us to do - we say 'I just can't do this anymore, I don't have wh...

"Cleric, Knight, and Workman": the three estates in a French medieval illumination (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) “And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do the things that are pleasing in His sight.” 1 JOHN 3:22 Another reliable way to know if you are a Christian is if God answers your prayers. The apostle John gives us the infallible reasoning for this statement. First, you can know your prayers will be answered if you keep His commandments ( 1 John 3:22). And second, John says the only way you can obey God’s commandments is if you belong to Him (v. 24). Therefore, an obedient believer proves He is abiding in Christ and receives further assurance when his prayers are answered. However, the only prayers God answers are the ones prayed according to His will. If you are an obedient believer, you will fashion your prayers in line with what Scripture says about His will. The answered prayer that follows will bring you confidence an...

Smith's later false theology described Jesus and God the Father as two distinct physical beings. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God ; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God; and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; and this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world.” 1 JOHN 4:1–3 God’s children are able to discern false doctrine. A sure mark of every false religious system is doctrinal error, particularly about the Person and work of Jesus Christ. Those systems deny that He is Savior and Lord, God in human flesh, the only way to the Father ( John 14:6 ) because salvation comes only through Him (Acts 4:12). A sure mark, then, of all true children of God is that they ...

Giotto's depiction of Jesus before Caiaphas in the morning based on Luke 22 (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) The next day the “rulers” (the executives or official members of the Sanhedrin, the Jewish Senate and Supreme Court ) with the “elders and teachers of the law” (experts in the interpretation of the law of Moses; professional teachers of the Law) who were in Jerusalem assembled. With them came, specifically, Annas , Caiaphas , John, Alexander, and all the rest of the relatives of the high priest who happened to be in the city. This was probably not an official meeting of the Sanhedrin, but “may simply have been a rather ad hoc gathering instigated by the family of Annas.” Annas here is called the high priest. He was officially high priest from a.d. 6–15. Then his son Jonathan was appointed for about three years. Next Caiaphas, the son-in-law of Annas, was made the official high priest (a.d. 18–36). But Annas remained the power behind the position and kept his honorary title....

What’s special about this name? In Philippians 2:10–11, Paul writes, “at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father .” Every one ever born on this planet will give glory to God the Father by bowing the knee and saying that Jesus is Lord. Some do that willingly, others unwillingly. But they all will do it. Those who do it willingly are those to whom this truth has been revealed: “There is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). They can say with the Psalmist : “Come let us worship and bow down; Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker, For he is our God and we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand” (Ps. 95:6–7). The second person of the Trinity has a sacred name, but so do the other members of the Trinity. Remember that Jesus prayed, “ Our Father who art in ...

English: Moses Sees the Promised Land from Afar, as in Numbers 27:12, by James Tissot (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Deuteronomy 6:4 –9 “Hear, O Israel : The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might” (vv. 4–5). Even if we are unfamiliar with the content of Deuteronomy , most of us have probably heard the opening verses of today’s passage. Deuteronomy 6:5, in particular, is well-known in the church as the “great commandment” (Matt. 22:34–40). Yet Deuteronomy 6:4 is also famous, especially within the ewish community. Central to biblical theology is this affirmation of the oneness of God known as the Shema, which is the Hebrew term that begins verse 4. In its original historical context, the Shema set the Israelites apart from the nations that surrounded them. Deuteronomy was revealed at the same time the nation of Israel was about to enter the Promised Land in order t...