Dr Paul Allen

Martin Luther’s great moment of theological clarification came at the climax of a command performance. Facing the threat of martyrdom and execution, Luther appeared on trial at the Diet of Worms before the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire . Asked on what authority he dared to defy the Pope and the magisterium of the Roman Catholic Church , Luther famously replied: “Unless I am convinced by the testimony of the Holy Scriptures or by evident reason-for I can believe neither pope nor councils alone, as it is clear that they have erred repeatedly and contradicted themselves–I consider myself convicted by the testimony of Holy Scripture , which is my basis; my conscience is captive to the Word of God. Thus I cannot and will not recant, because acting against one’s conscience is neither safe nor sound. God help me. Amen.” To those words were added: “Here I stand. I cannot do otherwise. God help me.” The Diet of Worms was held in 1521. At the conclusion of his defense, Luther simply sa

“That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ . . . May give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: The eyes of your understanding being enlightened.” ( Ephesians 1:17-18 ) The “spirit of wisdom” is applied to a wide variety of circumstances. It certainly includes leadership ( Deuteronomy 34:9 ). But wisdom is also identified with the ability to make beautiful clothing ( Exodus 28:3 ) and to engineer and invent complex equipment (31:2-6). Daniel was said to have “an excellent spirit, and knowledge, and understanding, interpreting of dreams, and showing of hard sentences, and dissolving of doubts” ( Daniel 5:12 ). We are even promised that our “adversaries shall not be able to gainsay nor resist” ( Luke 21:15 ). A “spirit of revelation” is also made available to us. This revelation (literally “to take off the cover”) is not new doctrine or truth. Revelation is implemented by the Holy Spirit ( 1 Corinthians 2:10 ), having the source of His revelatory work f

Religion can be a place we try to hide from God . There’s something about rhythms and rituals, formality and functions that trick us into thinking that God is fooled by our church attendance. We think, “Maybe if I lift my hands really high Sunday morning, I’ll distract God from what happened  Thursday  night.” And even if we rarely say those thoughts out loud, we know the temptation of this pattern. Blind Fools Mock the All-Seeing God While the prophet Ezekiel was exiled in Babylon, God showed him a vision of Jerusalem’s religious leaders committing idolatry. In this vision, the Lord brought Ezekiel to the sanctuary in Jerusalem and commanded him to dig through the walls. “And there, engraved on the wall all around, was every form of creeping things and loathsome beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel ” (Ezekiel  8:10 ). The very place God intended to be set aside for his worship had become a gallery of idols. Then the Lord asked Ezekiel, “ Son of man , have you

IS YOUR JESUS TOO SMALL? “Does He not see my ways, and count my every step?” (Job 31:4) God is surely the Great Mathematician. God even “Determines the number of the stars and calls them each by name.” ( Psalm 147:4). Astronomers estimate that at least 10 trillion, trillion stars exist in the heavens, and God has counted and identified each one! And that is not all: “The very hairs of your head are all numbered ,” Jesus said ( Matthew 10:30 ). From the most massive star to the tiniest hair, God has counted each component of His creation....AND HE KNOWS MY STEPS... Such countings are far beyond our capabilities, for “the host of heaven cannot be numbered, neither the sand of the sea measured” ( Jeremiah 33:22). But God has also created “an innumerable company of angels” ( Hebrews 12:22) and has promised that the followers of Christ will include “a great multitude, which no one could number” (Revelation 7:9). No wonder David exclaimed, “Many, O LORD my God, are your wonderful wo

One of the key founders of monastic communities had no notion of founding anything—he was simply concerned for his own spiritual condition and spent much of his life alone.  Anthony was born in Egypt , probably about 250, to well-to-do parents who died when he was about twenty and left him all their possessions.  A sermon text, Jesus ’ command to the rich young ruler, “If you would be perfect, go and sell all you have,” changed the young man’s life.  The words seemed directed to him, and Anthony took them literally. He gave his lands to his fellow villagers, sold his other property, and donated the money to the poor. He put himself under the care of an elderly Christian who taught him the joys of self-denial. Anthony lived on one meal a day of bread and water and slept on the bare ground. With the conversion of Emperor Constantine in 312, the church’s situation changed drastically . Christians lost their position as a persecuted minority and became members of a respectable

The Westminster Shorter Catechism has an excellent definition of repentance in Question 87: " Repentance unto life is a saving grace, whereby a sinner, out of a true sense of his sin , and apprehension of the mercy of God in Christ , doth, with grief and hatred of his sin, turn from it unto God, with full purpose of, and endeavor after, new obedience." In the heat of the Christian life, however, that definition may seem more theoretical than practical, not particularly helpful when seeking to live a life of repentance (See the first of Martin Luther's 95 Theses : When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said, " Repent " (Mt 4:17), He willed the entire life of believers to be one of repentance.) We recognize that repentance is a grace. That is, it is a gift from God. It is not something we work up for ourselves. It is not turning over a new leaf. It is a turning away from sin and a turning to God that is fueled, as it were, by the Spirit of God at work with

Who were the Ammonites, Moabites and Edomites in the Bible? When the kingdoms of Israel and Judah controlled the land of Canaan, the kingdoms of Ammon, Moab and Edom ruled east of the Jordan. Although the Bible offers information about these three Iron Age kingdoms, recent archaeological discoveries are bringing to light a fuller picture of them. In his article “Ammon, Moab and Edom: Gods and Kingdoms East of the Jordan,” published in the November/December 2016 issue of Biblical Archaeology Review, Joel S. Burnett examines the incredible archaeological discoveries from Ammon, Moab and Edom. Who were the Ammonites? In the Bible, they are described as being descendants of Ben-ammi, who was the son of Lot (Abraham’s nephew) and Lot’s younger daughter (Genesis 19:38). The capital of the Iron Age kingdom of Ammon was Rabbah, which is located at modern-day Amman, Jordan. Burnett describes the boundaries of Ammon: “The Ammonite heartland comprised the north-central Transjordanian Plateau e

What is the unpardonable sin ? (Man. 12:31) The concept of an unpardonable sin has been a source of difficulty for many because it seems to go against the Bible’s teachings about grace. We understand that God’s grace forgives every sin , but our Lord mentioned one sin that cannot be forgiven . The religious leaders had come out to hear Him, but they opposed virtually everything He said. As He was casting out demons, they accused Him of doing this by satanic means ( Matt. 12:24). Those people were so blind spiritually that they were attributing the work of the Holy Spirit to Satan . Furthermore, they were rejecting the Holy Spirit’s work in: their own lives. In essence, the Holy Spirit was saying of Jesus, "This is the Son of God. This is God," and they were saying, "He is not God! He is Satan’s agent." It was then Jesus said, "Every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven" (Matt. 12:31)

What does the Bible say about the Trinity? (2 Cor. 13:14) The Trinity is one of the great theological mysteries. There are some who think that because we believe in monotheism, one God , we cannot accept the concept of the Trinity. Yet the Bible teaches that the Godhead consists of three divine Persons — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit —each fully God, each showing fully the divine nature (Luke 3:21, 22). The Father is the fountainhead of the Trinity, the Creator, the first cause. He is the primary thought, the concept of all that has been and will be created. Jesus said, " My Father has been working until now, and I have been working" (John 5:17). The Son is the "Logos" or expression of God—the "only begotten" of the Father—and He Himself is God. Further, as God incarnate, He reveals the Father to us (John 14:9). The Son of God is both the agent of creation and mankind’s only Redeemer. The Holy Spirit , the third Person of the Trinity, proceeds from t

What is God like? ( Acts 17:23) Theologians have tried to describe God in many ways. He is the substance of all human virtues. He is all–wise and all–knowing. He can do anything and everything we cannot do, and He is everything good that we would like to be. So we say that He is omnipotent (all–powerful) or omniscient (all–knowing) or omnipresent (present everywhere). On the other hand, we can describe God by contrasting Him with our human limitations. For example, we are mortal, but God is immortal. We are fallible, but God is infallible. God is the Father of all creation, the Creator of all. He is all–powerful and sustains the universe. He exists outside the universe (theologians call this transcendence), yet He is present throughout the universe (theologians say He is immanent) and is its ruler. He exists in nature, but He is not nature, nor is He bound by the laws of nature as the pantheists assert. He is the source of all life and everything that is. The best description of

“Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt : for he had respect unto the recompense of the reward.” ( Hebrews 11:26 ) We hear much today about the importance of self-esteem , with the implication that lack of self-esteem is the cause of many of the personal problems and antisocial activities of so many young people (and others as well) these days. But this is not the biblical perspective. The problem really is too muchself-esteem. The biblical command is that we should “in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves” ( Philippians 2:3 ). The man Moses was once a prince of Egypt, probably in line to become the pharaoh, but he chose Christ and the people of God instead, “esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt” (today’s text). Paul the apostle could have become the greatest teacher and leader in the religious/political life of his own Jewish people , but he said: “What things were gain to me,

I want to pray more this year. More than ever before. God promises that he hears and actively responds to prayers as we come to him in the name of Jesus. We have not, because we ask not. I’m resolved to pray biblical prayers for myself and others. I’m responsible to pray for the members of my church family because I’m a member of the family and James commands us to “pray for one another” (James 5:16). As a pastor, I’m to be devoted to not only the ministry of the Word, but also the ministry of prayer (Acts 6:4). As a friend, I want those I love to experience the joy of the Lord. But there’s the problem: My praying through a list of names and needs often feels more like reading a shopping list than meaningfully communing with the Father in heaven. As a Christian who cares a lot about theological accuracy, I’ve found that if I pray a biblically grounded prayer request then I’m content with that even if I’m not really meaningfully pleading or connecting with God. There has to be

The clear teaching of the New Testament is that God gives spiritual gifts to the church for the common good of the saints ( 1 Corinthians 12:7) and to empower her mission to evangelize the world (Luke 24:48–49; Acts 4:29–31; 1 Corinthians 14:24–25). The most familiar lists of these gifts are in Romans 12, 1 Corinthians 12, and Ephesians 4. But the Corinthians list includes the most controversial gifts of the Spirit : healing, miracles, prophecy, tongues and their interpretation (1 Corinthians 12:9–10). And it’s in the context of teaching on these gifts — particularly the two most controversial gifts, prophecy and tongues — that Paul twice tells us to “earnestly desire” them, adding, “especially that [we] may prophesy” (1 Corinthians 12:31; 14:1). He leaves us no room to wiggle out of pursuing uncomfortable gifts. I know that some wonderful, sincere Christians believe that these most controversial gifts did not extend beyond the closing of the New Testament canon. I am not here go

When facing hard times, Christians sometimes discover that their faith is gradually being eroded by their circumstances. Though we are doing our best to stand upon the promises of God, we can sense that our feet are beginning to slip. Like the desperate father who met Jesus at the foot of the Mount of Transfiguration, we might find ourselves crying out, “I believe; help my unbelief” (Mark 9:24). There is an Old Testament echo of that cry in the life of Abraham, which can be of great help to us in dealing with our own struggles with unbelief while facing hard times. In Genesis 15, God appeared to Abram and spoke words of great promise and reassurance: “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great” (v. 1). Since Genesis 16:16 lists Abram as eighty-six years old (having begun his journey at age seventy-five, 12:4), I would estimate that Abram had lived in Canaan about ten years and yet still possessed none of the land and did not have a single descendant. His fa