Dr Paul Allen

Wesley declared that the supreme and overruling purpose of God’s plan of salvation is to renew men’s and women’s hearts in His own image. It is a teleological theme,14 for he believed that all the grand currents of biblical salvation history moved toward this one end and had, in a restricted but definite manner, a fulfillment and perfection in this life.  Wesley held that God had promised salvation from all willful sin, and he saw this promise in passages such as the following: Deuteronomy 30:6; Psalm 130:8; Ezekiel 36:25, 29; Matthew 5:48; 6:13; 22:37; John 3:8; 17:20–21, 23; Romans 8:3–4; 2 Corinthians 7:1; Ephesians 3:14–19; 5:25, 27; and 1 Thessalonians 5:23.  He believed that such passages as Luke 1:69–75, Titus 2:11–14, and 1 John 4:17 indicated that this sanctification took place before death. By grace, God would restore to us the holiness that had been lost in the Fall by our first parents. The gracious element resides in God’s good will to all, in that He is ...

Wesley used his observations of contemporary experience and his reflections on the lives of past Christians to shape his understanding of God’s will, he nevertheless held God’s Word as ultimate and authoritative. He refused to consider seriously any teaching unless it could stand its ground under the pure light of revelation. No Christian leader has ever been more faithful in bringing all observation, experience, and rational conclusions to the Scriptures for final judgment. “If by catholic principles,” he said on one occasion, “you mean anything other than scriptural, they weigh nothing with me. I allow no other rule, whether of faith or practice than the Holy Scriptures.” At the same time, he insisted that God’s truth was given to us to be translated into life and could be if it were received and believed.  Therefore, to understand salvation fully, one must take into account the knowledge of God given to those who were honestly seeking His will and experiencing His gra...

English: "John Wesley," by the English artist George Romney, oil on canvas. 29 1/2 in. x 24 3/4 in. Courtesy of the National Portrait Gallery, London. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) John Wesley (1703–1791) is best known in church history as the founder of Methodism. His commitment to the biblical gospel, passion for evangelistic preaching, and skill at organizing the budding Methodist movement are all notable traits. And God used those qualities to help spark the Evangelical Revival in England in the mid-18th century (a revival that paralleled the Great Awakening in North America ). In that respect, there are many helpful things that we can learn from Wesley’s example. His marriage, however, left a different kind of legacy; one which is also noteworthy, but not for good reasons. As Methodist author John Singleton explains: The saga of John Wesley’s marriage is a cautionary tale from the roots of Methodism that ought to resonate today with any couple so involved in chur...

The Brazen Serpent, by Benjamin West; among the overthrown, an unmistakable reference to the Laocoön (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) We’re commanded to engage in prayer because it is a God -ordained means of impacting him and changing the world. Jesus didn’t say if we have faith and pray our attitude toward mountains would change. He said the mountain would move! Prayer changes what happens in world. Did you know that there are more “if…then” clauses associated with prayer in the Bible than any other single human activity? For example, the Lord says, “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” He then goes on to add, “Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place” (2 Chron. 7:14-15). The Lord is in effect saying, “I want to heal and forgive you, but I’m waiting on you to humble yourse...

This week J.I. Packer turned 88. He has written a book on aging. It’s titled, Finishing Our Course with Joy: Guidance from God for Engaging with Our Aging .  It made me want to live “flat out” to the end. That was his goal. You could call it “Don’t Waste Your Sixties, Seventies, and Eighties.” It’s worth reading at any age. He is not naïve. He is 88! There is no romantic idealization for the final years of this life. It will be hard. “Aging,” he says, “is not for wimps.” Some may paint a rosy picture of life after seventy. Even John Wesley , Packer observes, said that at eighty-five “the only sign of deterioration that he could see in himself was that he could not run as fast as he used to.” With characteristic understatement Packer says: “With all due deference to that wonderful, seemingly tireless little man, we may reasonably suspect that he was overlooking some things.” Nevertheless Packer realizes that the assumption that was general in my youth, that only a sma...

English: Icon of Jesus Christ (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Is there was a difference between the kingdom of Christ and the kingdom of the cults?  Christianity is historic and evidential — not a blind leap into a dark chasm, but faith founded on objective fact.  Cult leaders attempt to subjugate their followers’ critical thinking faculties because the mind is seen to be the obstacle to enlightenment. A striking parallel from paganism can be found in the ashram of Poona, India , where devotees of the late guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh engage in repetitive physical motions in order to work themselves into an altered state of consciousness. Their frenzied behavior produces a mind-altering form of hyperventilation, which empties the mind of coherent thought. In the end, they personify Rajneesh’s rendition of the mindless man. Is what was once relegated to the ashrams of cults is now being replicated at the altars of churches? Having largely set aside their ability to...

To the Glory of God  (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) What is the goal of the Christian life ? It is godliness born of obedience to Christ . Obedience unlocks the riches of the Christian experience. Prayer prompts and nurtures obedience, putting the heart into the proper "frame of mind" to desire obedience. Of course, knowledge is also important because without it we cannot know what God requires. However, knowledge and truth remain abstract unless we commune with God in prayer. The Holy Spirit teaches, inspires, and illumines God's Word to us. He mediates the Word of God and assists us in responding to the Father in prayer. Simply put, prayer has a vital place in the life of the Christian . One might pray and not be a Christian, but one cannot be a Christian and not pray. Romans 8:15 tells us that the spiritual adoption that has made us sons of God causes us to cry out in verbal expressions: "Abba! Father!" Prayer is to the Christian what breath is to life, ...

Jesus in Pray (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Prayer , at least private prayer, is difficult to do out of a false motive. One can preach out of a false motive, as do the false prophets. One can be involved in Christian activities out of false motives. Many of the externals of religion can be done from false motives. However, it is highly unlikely that anyone would commune with God out of some improper motive. We are invited, even commanded, to pray. Prayer is both a privilege and a duty, and any duty can become laborious. Prayer, like any means of growth for the Christian, requires work. In a sense, prayer is unnatural to us. Though we were created for fellowship and communion with God, the effects of the fall have left most of us lazy and indifferent toward something as important as prayer. Rebirth quickens a new desire for communion with God, but sin resists the Spirit. We can take comfort from the fact that God knows our hearts and hears our unspoken petitions as well as the words ...

We can all benefit tremendously from frank, Bible -based discussions on how Christians are to use their money. There are four questions you can ask when you are about to make a purchase—any purchase, keep questions like these in mind (which, I believe, were first posed by John Wesley ). 1. In spending this money, am I acting as if I own it, or am I acting as the Lord’s trustee ? I need to have a constant awareness that “The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein” ( Psalm 24:1). God owns everything in this world, and that includes both me and my money. I am not the owner of my money, but a mere steward or trustee. I am given money so I can use it on God’s behalf. When I face my next purchase, I need to ask myself whether I am acting as if I own my money, or whether I am aware that this is God’s money. This question alone may make all the difference between a good purchase and a foolish one. 2. What Scripture passage requires me to spe...

Image by Skibum415 via Flickr I want you to guess which prominent American public figure said the following: “I would agree with St. Augustine that ‘an unjust law is no law at all.’” He added that what makes a law “just” is that it “squares with the moral law or the law of God,” conversely “unjust” laws are those that are “out of harmony with the moral law.” Well, we just unveiled a statue of him on the National Mall . Yes, Martin Luther King penned those famous words in his 1963 “ Letter from a Birmingham Jail .” Those words and the convictions that prompted them changed America. But today, they would cause the great civil rights leader to be labeled a “theocrat.” “ Theocrat ,” and related words like “ Dominionist ” and “Christianist,” are the latest in a series of epithets directed at Christians who insist that their faith is not merely a private matter. Suggesting Christians want to impo Image via Wikipedia se biblical law on civil society is an attempt to make a comparison betw...