Dr Paul Allen

Rev. Jonathan Edwards, a leader of the Great Awakening, is still remembered for his sermon "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God." (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) We get a job so we can buy our kids shoes, so they can go to school, so they can get a job someday, so that they can buy their kids shoes, so that they . . . " In other words, work is meaningless.  In fact, from this perspective life itself becomes rather meaningless—simply an endless cycle. Or we work so that we can support ministries that do the real work—kingdom work. Now, I'm not opposed to giving to ministries. In fact, I think you can make a strong biblical case that we are obligated to do so. But I wonder if this fully captures the meaning of work. So again, why do you work? I find the start of the answer in Psalm 104. Psalm 104 is a reflection on creation and maybe even a further reflection on the flood of Genesis 6–8. We see the psalmist poetically describing not just God 's creation of th...

Image via Wikipedia "In that day the lord with his sore and great and strong sword shall punish leviathan the piercing serpent, even leviathan that crooked serpent; and he shall slay the dragon that is in the sea." ( Isaiah 27:1 )   There is a remarkable animal called a "leviathan" described in the direct words of God in chapter 41 of Job. It is surprising that most modern expositors call this animal merely a crocodile. Our text plainly calls it a "piercing serpent . . . the dragon that is in the sea."  He is also said to "play" in the "great and wide sea" ( Psalm 104:25-26 ). God's description in Job 41 says "a flame goeth out of his mouth" ( v. 21 ), and "he maketh the deep to boil like a pot" ( v. 31 ). The entire description is awesome! Whatever a leviathan might have been, it was not a crocodile!   In fact, there is no animal living today which fits the description. Therefore, it is an extinct animal ...