Dr Paul Allen

Rethink Mental Illness (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) According to a 2013 survey by LifeWay Research , one-third of Americans agree that "prayer and Bible study alone can overcome serious mental illness ." Nearly half (48 percent) of evangelicals agree. ( 1 ) Why on earth would Modern Reformation imagine that it had something important to say, from a distinctly Reformation perspective, on mental illness? That was a big question we discussed in our editorial meeting. By the end, though, after sharing our own experiences, the answer became clear. To the extent that evangelical attitudes reflect theological imbalances—and even errors—we think we have something indeed to contribute. Like their neighbors, Christians acknowledge that people suffering from cancer, AIDS, migraines, or cerebral palsy are still responsible for their actions. Their suffering does not entitle them to hatred, self-loathing, or the mistreatment of others. And yet, we allow room. With even a modicum of s...

Sixty-one percent of Australians self-identified as Christians in 2011, which is down from 91 percent in 1911, only 100 years earlier. Australia's population is steadily getting older, but the church is about to get younger. As the churchgoing elderly (78.5 percent of Australians born before 1946 self-identify as Christians) slowly begin to pass away, the ever-growing middle-to-young population of Australia will begin to dominate the churches, though those churches will likely be smaller due to the number of young people no longer self-identifying as Christians. (1) Here are three primary pieces of the churches of Australia that will be integral to their health in the long run: 1. Evangelism Sixty-seven percent of Australians who self-identify as Christians are comfortable sharing their faith with friends and family. This means that 33 of every 100 Australian Christians are uncomfortable sharing the gospel with those closest to them. (2) (Remember, this is self-identified C...

Jesus Wikipedia ) When it comes to discipleship , churchgoers struggle most with sharing Christ with non-Christians according to a recent study of church -going American Protestants. The study conducted by LifeWay Research found 80 percent of those who attend church one or more times a month, believe they have a personal responsibility to share their faith, but 61 percent have not told another person about how to become a Christian in the previous six months. These distressing results came from an extensive discipleship research project focused on measuringspiritual maturity in individuals. Overall, LifeWay Research found eight biblical attributes consistently evident in the lives of maturing believers. Of those eight, "Sharing Christ " has the lowest average score among Protestant church attendees. Three-quarters of churchgoers say they feel comfortable in their ability to effectively communicate thegospel, while 12 percent say they don't feel comfortabl...

Below is an analysis and commentary on the SBC membership and baptism trends. LifeWay just released the data and sent my commentary out, so I thought I would post it here. I'd ask the patience of my friends from other (or no) denominations, but since this is national news, it is worth the time to share here. Southern Baptist are the largest Protestant denomination in America and its future impacts all of evangelicalism, even globally. The article talks a lot about trends-- and one in particular. It's called a membership change trend-- and you really need to get to know this trend if you want to understand the future. It's a long and consistent trend. I give more details about it here and have been expressing concern about it for quite some time . We've been talking about this trend for several years. Here is 2008 , 2009 , and 2010 . A few years ago, some leaders wanted to argue about the reality of membership decline since it was small and just one year... then two...