Dr Paul Allen

Jen Wilkin When we hear Jesus’s command in Matthew 28 to go and make disciples, we tend to think of it in terms of evangelism. We picture Jesus’s disciples fanning out across the known world, armed with gospel tracts. We picture joyful conversions followed by joyful baptisms. And then we picture those evangelists moving on to the next town, carrying the gospel from Jerusalem to Judea to the ends of the earth. But if our understanding of the Great Commission is primarily a call to evangelism, we’ve forgotten a key piece: theology. Jesus’s final command isn’t a call to make converts but a call to make disciples. And as the Great Commission states, that call will require us to teach converts to “observe all that [Jesus has] commanded” (Matt. 28:20). When we think about discipleship, we must see the importance of passing along the good deposit of doctrine that was passed along to us. What Are We Doing with Our Doctrine? Conversion happens in an instant. Discipleship in the way of living ou...

We expect people in positions of authority to have training and experience in their respective fields. For example, I want my pilot to have knowledge of the helicopter in which I am a passenger, just as I want my surgeon to be proficient, and to know what he/she is doing before I go “under the knife!” Guessing, flipping a coin, or relying on luck just doesn’t cut it. We expect people to have knowledge. This seems to be the expectation of all who are labelled as experts or leaders in our society today, save one. . . the church! Why, when it comes to Christianity, are many satisfied to merely rely on our emotions or what we arbitrarily think? Is the Christian faith something more than this? Is it something we can actually know is true, rather than simply following an emotion or a “greatest desire?” Sadly, knowledge of God is not just something unbelievers assume impossible, but many Christians have bought into this lie and are now living that misguided stereotype. Most people in our s...

“In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” ( Colossians 2:3 ) Paul had just promised the twice-born that they would be endowed with the “riches of the full assurance of understanding” that would enable them to possess an acknowledgment of the triune Godhead. The ability to understand and the profound awareness of the Trinity is possible because all “the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” are in Christ—who is in us! In Colossians 1:9, Paul prays that they “might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding,” a sufficient awareness of information that will enable them to have “understanding in all things” ( 2 Timothy 2:7 ). Jesus explained to His apostles that His parables were devices to reveal to them “the mysteries of the kingdom of God: but to others in parables; that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand” ( Luke 8:10 ). This wisdom and knowledge is the “treasure” of the Lord Jesus, not of the wor...

Prayer is the native language of faith . John Calvin called prayer the “chief exercise of faith.” That’s why when faith is awake and surging in us, prayer doesn’t feel like a burden or an obligation. It feels natural. It’s how faith most instinctively speaks. Throughout the Bible , faith and prayer are inextricably linked. One of the clearest examples is Jesus ’s statement in John 15:7: “If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, [ask whatever you wish] and it will be done for you.” “Abiding” in Jesus’s is faith—fully believing his words. Asking whatever you wish is prayer. The Bible tells us to “trust in [ God ] at all times” (Psalm 62:8) and to “[pray] at all times in the Spirit” (Ephesians 6:18), “believe in God” (John 14:1) and ask of God (Luke 11:9). Prayer is the chief exercise of faith. John 15:7 also shows us that God’s Word and faith and therefore prayer are inextricably linked. Faith is a response to God’s word: “faith comes from hearing and hearing through the wo...

Sarah Trimmer (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) "Giving all diligence , add to your faith virtue ; and to virtue knowledge , etc." 2 Peter 1:5-6 If you would enjoy the eminent grace of the full assurance of faith , under the blessed Spirit's influence, and assistance, do what the Scripture tells you, "Give diligence." Take care that your faith is of the right kind--that it is not a mere belief of doctrine, but a simple faith, depending on Christ , and on Christ alone. Give diligent heed to your courage. Plead with God that he would give you the face of a lion, that you may, with a consciousness of right, go on boldly. Study well the Scriptures, and get knowledge; for a knowledge of doctrine will tend very much to confirm faith. Try to understand God's Word; let it dwell in thy heart richly. When you have done this, "Add to your knowledge temperance." Take heed to your body: be temperate without. Take heed to your soul: be temperate within. Get tempe...

English: Icon of Jesus Christ (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) “For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ .” ( 2 Peter 1:8 ) In this first chapter of Peter’s last epistle, he refers to “these things” (one word in the Greek ) no less than six times. That they are extremely important things is evident from our text, but if these things are lacking, one is spiritually blind and has forgotten what Christ did for him in salvation (v. 9). However, if he does “these things,” he will never fall (v. 10). What then are the things which Peter stresses so urgently? Verse 8 makes it obvious that they constitute simply the hierarchical catalog of Christian attributes listed in verses 6 and 7—that is, faith, virtue (strength of character), knowledge, temperance (self control), patience, godliness, brotherly kindness, and charity (unselfish love). The same word is used in verse 4, where it ex...

English: Icon of Jesus Christ (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge : because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God , I will also forget thy children." ( Hosea 4:6 )   This lament over the ancient apostasy of Israel embodies an age-long principle which surely applies to those nations today which once professed Christianity but are now dominated by humanism. Our own nation is experiencing an awful scourge of moral anarchy among our children and young people, and the reason why is because their parents and grandparents have largely "forgotten the law of thy God."   America —particularly its intellectual leadership—has "rejected knowledge," so its people are being "destroyed for lack of knowledge." This ignorance exists despite an abundance of supposed actual knowledge (i.e., "science") in our ...

Image via Wikipedia " Henceforth I call you not servants ; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you." ( John 15:15 )   Some things in Scripture are harder to understand and believe than others. Christ , the Sovereign Creator of all things, the offended Judge who declared the penalty for sin to be death, the One who willingly died to pay that penalty and redeem us from bondage to sin, now calls us His friends. Certainly we would like to consider Him our friend ; but are we really His friends? If He were telling someone about His friends, would He include us? Somehow this seems too much--too good to be true; but He insists it is.   Actually, Christ said, "Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you" ( John 15:16 ). We are His friends by conscious choice on His part, even though He knows more about our inward nature than we will admit to ourselves. He ha...

Image via Wikipedia "Then hear thou from heaven thy dwelling place, and forgive, and render unto every man according unto all his ways, whose heart thou knowest ; (for thou only knowest the hearts of the children of men)." ( 2 Chronicles 6:30 )   Eight times in Solomon 's prayer at the dedication of the temple, he beseeches God to "hear from heaven" ( vv. 21, 23, 25, 27, 30, 33, 35, 39 ) when His people confess their sins and pray for deliverance. It is marvelous that God, whose "dwelling place" is in heaven ( vv. 21, 30, 33, 39 ) can actually hear the prayers of people here on earth, but we remember that He is omnipresent through His Holy Spirit .   Even more marvelous, if possible, is the fact that He can hear prayers uttered only in our hearts. But He is also omniscient, and thus knows the very thoughts of our hearts.   Then, as we read of Jesus' wrath at the desecration of the temple by those who would commercialize their religion there, it...

Image via Wikipedia "O LORD, how great are thy works! and thy thoughts are very deep. A brutish man knoweth not; neither doth a fool understand this." ( Psalm 92:5-6 )   In God 's sight, brutish men are not those who act like animals, but those whose understanding of God is like that of animals.  And those who are fools are not those who seem stupid about the ways of this world, but those who refuse to understand the ways of God.   The various applications of the adjective "brutish" in the Bible are significant. For example, "he that hateth reproof is brutish" ( Proverbs 12:1 ). Speaking of those whose god is not the true God of creation , but who are satisfied with their self-centered faith, the prophet says: "Every man is brutish by his knowledge" ( Jeremiah 51:17 ).   Our text stresses the sad truth that "brutish" men do not appreciate either God's great works or His deep thoughts. They refuse to see either the tremendous...

Cover of The Pursuit of God Developing a Passion for God I remember a stained-glass window that adorned the library of my university. In leaded letters, the words in the window declared, “Knowledge is power.” I cringed at those words. I did not like them. There was something arrogant about them. I could not deny that the words were true.  Knowledge is power. But the lust for power is not a sound motivation to gain knowledge . The Bible is right: Knowledge puffs up; love builds up ( 1 Cor. 8:1 ). Even the pursuit of the knowledge of God can become a snare of arrogance. Theology can become a game, a power game to see who can display the most erudition. When it is such a game it proceeds from an unholy passion. A holy passion is a passion inflamed by a godly motive. To pursue the knowledge of God to further our understanding of Him and deepen our love for Him is to embark on a quest that delights Him.  Jesus encouraged such a pursuit (John 8:31–32). Jesus...