Dr Paul Allen

Curtain Fig Tree, Queensland, Australia (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Seeing a fig tree by the road, he went up to it but found nothing on it except leaves. [Matt. 21:19a] Think of what problems might arise from the fact that the Bible was written in terms of a culture different from our own. One problem in teaching the Bible to inner-city children, for example, is that they may have no idea what a sheep is. A more serious dilemma may be faced by a missionary who takes the gospel to a tribe whose gods are terrifying demons. How do they learn the concept of a loving God ? Sometimes we get tripped up when we read the Bible because we don’t know the customs of the ancient world. For instance, when Jesus approached the fig tree in Matthew 21:18 –22 he turns around and curses the fig tree because it is barren. We can take this story as an object lesson concerning Israel , which it clearly is. But the historical incident seems peculiar, until we learn about figs in the Near East . Th

Jesus is considered by scholars such as Weber to be an example of a charismatic religious leader. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Matthew 5:13–16  “Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven” ( v. 16 ). Jesus identifies Himself with Yahweh in the Sermon on the Mount when He compares His disciples to the persecuted prophets of old ( Matt. 5:11–12 ;  Jer. 37–38 ). The disciples who speak for Jesus are like the prophets who spoke for the Lord of the covenant; therefore, Christ implies His divine sovereignty. The prophets carried out their ministries in full view of the people of Israel , and so we are not surprised to see that their successors, the disciples of Jesus, do not build the kingdom of God in secret. This is the point of today’s passage. Our Savior calls His disciples the “salt of the earth” ( Matt. 5:13 ) and the “light of the world” ( v. 14 ), two substances that permeate and transform the f

Image via Wikipedia Image via Wikipedia Matthew 5:13-16 "Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven" ( v. 16 ). Jesus identifies Himself with Yahweh in the Sermon on the Mount when He compares His disciples to the persecuted prophets of old ( Matt. 5:11-12 ; Jer. 37-38 ). The disciples who speak for Jesus are like the prophets who spoke for the Lord of the covenant; therefore, Christ implies His divine sovereignty. The prophets carried out their ministries in full view of the people of Israel , and so we are not surprised to see that their successors, the disciples of Jesus, do not build the kingdom of God in secret. This is the point of today's passage. Our Savior calls His disciples the "salt of the earth" ( Matt. 5:13 ) and the "light of the world" ( v. 14 ), two substances that permeate and transform the food, or the darkness, in which they are found. Like salt and

Image via Wikipedia Last Friday (July 22, 2011), a bomb went off in Oslo killing eight people and injuring many more. Soon afterward, a gunman went on a shooting spree at an island youth camp in Norway , killing 68 people. The gunman was arrested and later claimed responsibility for both attacks. When interviewed by the police, Breivik claimed that his actions were intended to save his country and all of Europe from Marxist and Muslim infiltration.  Because of his belief that it is failing on the issue of immigration, he wanted to create as much loss as he could for Norway’s Labour Party. The bomb, therefore, was placed near buildings occupied by Labour Party members, and the shooting occurred at a Labour Party youth camp. Political terrorism has not been unusual in the twentieth and twenty-first century, but this attack hits home for those of us who claim to be Christian because Breivik has identified himself as one of us on his Facebook page. He claims to be a Christian.