Dr Paul Allen

We all have questions about death. What is death? Why do we die? Why do we all die? Why is death so scary? Why did Christ die? Why do Christians have to die? How can I face the death of someone I love? How can I prepare for death? How can I help others prepare for death? What happens after death? To answer these questions, we need to look to Scripture and see what God has to say. The Bible is God’s Word and is completely reliable and true. If the Bible tells us something about death, then we can stake our lives on it. We also have a lot of help. Our spiritual ancestors thought profoundly and practically about death. Throughout the church's history, pastors and teachers have sought to help God’s people face death in light of the riches of biblical truth. In the Protestant Reformation five centuries ago, the church recovered the gospel in its full biblical integrity. Martin Luther, John Calvin, the British Puritans, and their spiritual heirs have left us rich reflections on suffering...

Nearly every week, I hear from pastors, ministry leaders, or parents about the ethical challenges they face as they encourage those under their care to love God and love their neighbour (Matt. 22:37–39). Many of these questions centre on the digital advances of our day—especially social media. As we enter another year, here are three truths to equip yourself and your people to wisely follow Jesus in a digital age. 1. The Christian ethic is more than sufficient for our day. We tend to believe we’re facing novel issues the writers of the Bible didn’t foresee and couldn’t address. While it’s true these writers never talked about social media, algorithms, or ChatGPT, the assumption that the Bible is insufficient for the challenges of our day is misplaced. It’s driven by thinking of the Christian ethic as a set of rules rather than as a rich framework for pursuing wisdom no matter what comes our way. Many, if not all, of our current ethical issues, are rooted in deeper questions of what it ...

I hesitate to put this article up, yet was asked the very question regarding failed prophecy and prayer.  Michael Brown writes; "We are living in an unprecedented season in American history, one of massive consequence for the nation as a whole and for conservative Christians in particular. All the more does this hold true for charismatic Christians, as I’ll explain shortly. Please allow me to lay out the stark, contrasting possibilities." I’ve written about this briefly in the last few days, but I’ll expand on things more fully here. "On the natural, non-spiritual side, either Donald Trump has pulled off the political feat of a lifetime, convincing tens of millions of Americans to reject the results of a fairly contested election. Or Trump is the victim of the most massive electoral fraud in our history, the exposing of which will shake our nation to its foundations." With the massive, worldwide, ongoing outpouring of prayer for this election, I feel confident that ...

Image via Wikipedia Does this not confirm Hilaire Belloc 's extraordinarily prescient description in 1929 of what he termed the "Modern Mind" - that cultural conceit that has been formed through the intermingling of arrogance, ignorance and sloth - and the "instrument" which feeds and deepens its malaise? " The popular Press ," writes Belloc, tends to present "as objects for admiration a bundle of things incongruous: a few of some moment, the great part trivial. Above all it grossly distorts ... Thus the 'Modern Mind' dislikes thinking: the popular Press increases that sloth by providing sensational substitutes.  Disliking thought, the 'Modern Mind' dislikes close attention, and indeed any sustained effort; the popular Press increases the debility by an orgy of pictures and headlines. The 'Modern Mind' ascribes a false authority to reiteration; the popular Press serves it with ceaseless iteration ... In all these ways and...