Dr Paul Allen

“May these precious seasons make me fruitful.” These words, found in the diary of a certain Isaac Staveley, who worked as a clerk for coal merchants in London during the 1770s, were written after he had celebrated the Lord’s Supper with his church, Eagle Street Baptist Church, in 1771. In the rest of this diary, Staveley makes it evident that the celebration of the death of the Christ at the Table was a highlight of his Christian life. On the evening of March 3, he recorded that he and fellow members “came around the table of our dear dying Lord to feast on the sacrifice of his offered body, show his death afresh, to claim and recognize our interest therein, to feast on the sacrifice of his offered body as happy members of the same family of faith and love.” How many today view the Table this way? Packed into these few words, Staveley reveals his conviction that the Lord’s Supper was a place of communion — communion with Christ and with his people. It was a place of spiritual nurture a...

English: Austin J40 toy car, interior (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) When I take my foot off the pedal, the car does not speed up. It doesn’t even maintain the same speed. Instead, from the very moment I take my foot off the accelerator, the car begins to slow. Allowing the car to coast is inviting the car to stop. It may take some time, but left on its own, it will stop eventually. It is inevitable. I’ve been thinking about this lately because I see in my own life a tendency to coast—to coast in my relationships, to coast in my pursuit of godliness , to coast in my pursuit of God himself. And here are some things I’ve observed: I do not coast toward godliness, but selfishness. I do not coast toward self-control, but rashness. I do not coast toward a love for others, but agitation. I do not coast toward patience, but irritability. I do not coast toward purity, but lust. I do not coast toward self-denial, but self-obsession. I do not coast toward the gospel, but self-sufficie...

Image via Wikipedia LUKE 14:25–3 3 “For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it?” (v. 28). Ideally, we learn at a young age the importance of setting goals in order to reach a desired end. We begin to save money in order to be able to buy certain things. The setting of deadlines for ourselves, we soon find out, is necessary so that we will accomplish our tasks on time both in school and at work. One practical way to help ensure that we grow to spiritual maturity is to make spiritual goals for ourselves, as seen by way of analogy in today’s passage. In Luke 14:25–33, Jesus teaches the necessity of counting the cost before becoming His disciple. Comparing discipleship to tower-building and to fighting a war, He shows that we must know the requirements for discipleship just as rulers and contractors need to be aware of the demands upon them. These examples concern planning for the future. A pers...