Dr Paul Allen

The final words in 1 Corinthians 2 – “We have the mind of Christ” – are some of the most soul-stirring words in the New Testament. Scripture has much to say about the mind. God’s Word describes the sinner in his natural condition as having a depraved mind in Romans 1:28, as having a futile mind in Ephesians 4:17, as having a defiled mind in Titus 1:15, and as having a fleshly mind in Colossians 2:18. That’s why believers are exhorted in Scripture to renew our minds. Ephesians 4:23 tells us to be renewed in the spirit of our minds. As believers, we must not – and indeed cannot – go on thinking like we used to think before we were converted. Because much of the spiritual battle happens in the mind, Paul’s statement that Christians have the mind of Christ forms the foundation for our encouragement. We are not sent on a fool’s errand when the Bible tells us to renew our minds. God has provided the mind of Christ to us! Paul had called the Corinthians to renew their minds when he started th...

Image via Wikipedia Image via Wikipedia Image via Wikipedia Image via Wikipedia God ’s leadership principles are the complete opposite of man’s. Consider just one. If a man wants to go up then he goes up. If he wants to climb the corporate ladder then he climbs (often stepping on a good number of others in the process). If a man wants to sit in the most important chair at the banquet then he sits there. It’s as simple as that. But in God’s economy of glory the way up is not up; it is down. It is the one who sits in the most obscure chair in the room who may be asked to sit in the chief place ( Lk 14:7-10 ). It is the one who becomes the servant of all who will one-day be the most important in the kingdom ( Mk 10:43 ). It is not the one who practices role reversal that will be lifted up, but rather the one who submits to God’s orderly structures of authority ( 1 Pet 2:18-20 ). In God’s system the way up is down. No greater illustration of this principle exists than Jesus —who lowered...