Dr Paul Allen

English: Baptist communion elements (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) When I was growing up, I did not like going to church. For a young boy in a rural town, church was boring, long, and filled with old, stodgy people singing old, stodgy songs. I would have rather been playing and watching football. However, there was one Sunday out of every month in which I did look forward to church—the first Sunday. The first Sunday was communion Sunday. The mothers (older woman) of the church would dress in all white. The pastor would wear his white robe. The communion table, normally bare, would be draped in a white cloth under which was clearly the communionware containing the bread and the wine. I was impressed with the ceremony involved and the care taken in preparing the table. There was care in handling and distributing the elements. The deacons wore white gloves and the trays were passed between them with a deliberate orchestration of movements and reverence. I really enjoyed the anticipation

Christ Pantocrator, mosaic, cupola of choir, Hosios Loukas Monastery, Boeotia, Greece (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Hardship comes to us via every avenue of life, from beginning to end. Affliction is no more avoidable than air. And thankfully, Scripture has much to say about it. But one passage that has often redemptively grabbed me is from Lamentations 3. “It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth. Let him sit alone in silence when it is laid on him; let him put his mouth in the dust—there may yet be hope.” (Lam 3:27-29). Now, the degree of hardship faced during the time of this verse exceeds what many of us will face. Even so, the verse illustrates a timeless principle on the topic of affliction: it is  good  for us young men (“young” could refer to under 40ish +/-) to experience a measure of hardship’s yoke. But why? What is it about us young men such that affliction is particularly profitable? For the most part, it’s simply because we are young. We lack the f

“Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.” ( Romans 8:37 ) The first verse of the well-loved hymn “Faith Is the Victory” describes preparation for the battle between the forces of light and darkness. The second verse tells of marching into battle, and the third of the actual attack. For the soldier of faith, empowered by love and obedience to the commandments of God , the victory is assumed. The last verse relates the rewards of victory and a commitment to wise governing once the battle is over. To him that overcomes the foe, White raiment shall be giv’n; Before the angels he shall know, His name confessed in heav’n. Then onward from the hills of light, Our hearts with love aflame; We’ll vanquish all the hosts of night, In Jesus ’ conq’ring name. Jesus, when the apostle John saw Him in His present glorified, victorious state, made this promise to the churches: “He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not

I remember when most people described themselves as “ Christian ”, even though that meant “confused theist” at best. I remember when almost all businesses were closed on Sunday because it was “the Lord’s day ”. I also remember when most people were at least affiliated with a church. None of those things are true anymore but for the most part, that’s not because too much has actually changed. The people who pretended to be Christians are no longer pretending, on multiple fronts. Still, a whole lot of my personal friends have abandoned the faith over the years and I’ve watched hundreds leave the church and several even go from “ Bible geek” to “raging atheist”.  A while ago, I ran across an article that talked about the importance of Christians being part of a church and it brought this topic to mind. The writer listed several reason why people mightbe part of a church and several reasons why people might remove themselves from a church, and didn’t cast any judgment on thei

Icon Apocalypse (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) In the garden of Eden , the man and the woman were naked but without shame until sin came into their lives. The very first psychological self-awareness of guilt and shame was an uncomfortable awareness of nudity. Since then, human beings have been the only creatures who have adorned and covered themselves with artificial garments , because it is built into our fallen humanity to equate shame and humiliation with nakedness. Throughout the pages of Scripture, when God speaks of bringing judgment against the guilty, He does it by exposing their sin and stripping them of their clothes. A prime example of this comes from the book of the prophet Amos. Amos gives the Lord's list of transgressions by Moab , Judah, Israel , and so on, then gives God's response: " Behold , I am weighed down by you, as a cart full of sheaves is weighed down." This is God's rebuke of His people. He then says: "Therefore flight shall peri

English: Sanctuary of Senhor Jesus da Pedra (Lord Jesus of the Stone) "If thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it." Exodus 20:25 God 's altar was to be built of unhewn stones, that no trace of human skill or labour might be seen upon it. Human wisdom delights to trim and arrange the doctrines of the cross into a system more artificial and more congenial with the depraved tastes of fallen nature ; instead, however, of improving the gospel carnal wisdom pollutes it, until it becomes another gospel, and not the truth of God at all. All alterations and amendments of the Lord's own Word are defilements and pollutions. The proud heart of man is very anxious to have a hand in the justification of the soul before God; preparations for Christ are dreamed of, humblings and repentings are trusted in, good works are cried up, natural ability is much vaunted, and by all means the attempt is made to lift up human tools upon the divine altar.  It were well

English: Peresopnytsia Gospels. 1556-1561. Miniature of Saint Matthew. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) "And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but perceivest not the beam that is in thine own eye?" ( Luke 6:41 ) This rhetorical question by the Lord Jesus incisively points out a sin common among most Christians --the sin of sanctimoniousness , committed in the good name of morality . It is easy to criticize fellow Christians for their moral or ethical deficiencies while simultaneously justifying one's self for the same or worse defects. "Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things" ( Romans 2:1 ). This scripture point out that we can hide even worse sins, pretned we are holy then point out others lesser sins.  True morality is generated internally from a heart of gratitude and love for the Lord and Hi

English: Isaiah; illustration from a Bible card published by the Providence Lithograph Company (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) And everyone who is captured will fall by the sword. Their children also will be dashed to pieces before their eyes; their houses will be plundered and their wives ravished” ( Isa. 13:15b–16). Most of us have never seen firsthand the death and destruction an invading army leaves behind, so it is difficult for us to comprehend war’s atrocities. But it may be even harder for us to see God as providential during wartime. We see Him as a completely loving Father, and rightly so. We might wonder how a loving God can take any part in war. At that point, however, we begin to place God in a box and forget about the other aspects of His person, such as His sovereignty , His justice, and His immutability. Isaiah , with the aid of the Holy Spirit , sees a bigger picture. It is that picture of who God is and His role in our lives that we should focus on. God is sovereign

English: Peresopnytsia Gospels. 1556-1561. Miniature of Saint Matthew. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) "And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; . . . I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth." ( Revelation 3:14-16 ) The Lord Jesus used intense language to rebuke this church, the last of the seven He had John write to in the book of Revelation . Laodicea was dangerously near the brink of being disavowed by He who is the Head of the church. Such churches believe they "have need of nothing" ( Revelation 3:17 ). Worldly wealth, extensive property , and popular recognition blinded these members and their leaders to their true spiritual condition. They failed to understand that, from the Lord's perspective, they are "wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked" ( Revelation 3:17 ). The c

English: Icon of Jesus Christ (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) "Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy." ( Psalm 107:2 ) This hymn of praise for God 's providence centers around four examples of God's deliverance from particular problems. The four situations are as follows: Lost travelers who are out of provisions far from a city ( vv. 4-5 ), prisoners imprisoned for their own rebelliousness ( vv. 1-12 ), those who have been brought to physical illness due to their sin ( vv. 17-18 ), and sailors who face shipwreck on stormy seas ( vv. 23-27 ). In each case, the individuals prayed for deliverance which resulted in God's miraculous rescue and a response of praise. This cycle reminds us of the pattern during the time of the Judges when "every man did what was right in his own eyes" ( Judges 21:25 ). Due to their rebelliousness, God brought the people of Israel into captivity over and over again. Each time, i