Dr Paul Allen

English: Abraham Sees Sodom in Flames, circa 1896–1902, by James Jacques Joseph Tissot (French, 1836-1902) (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Reumah could hardly stand the racket. The pounding on the door and the shouting were deafening. It seemed that all the men of Sodom had gone mad and were pursuing their madness at her door! And these were her friends and neighbors! The men had first demanded that Lot should surrender the handsome visitors to them to get “to know” them, but now they were screaming for her husband’s head. Lot was terrified and frozen in shock. How could all this happen? Reumah wondered. She and Lot were influential leaders in Sodom. How could the Sodomites have turned on them so suddenly and so viciously? Reumah knew that somehow it was all tied to the visitors whom Lot had secreted in their home. These two men had come on a special mission to Sodom. Knowing Sodom’s reputation for sexual aggression, Lot insisted that they stay with him and Reumah rather than in the ci...

English: Kaaba at the heart of Mecca. As the night goes on pilgrims visiting the Holy House. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Islam is the second largest religion in the world. In 1995 about 1,122,661,000 Muslims inhabited this planet. Count the commas, folks—that’s a billion plus a hundred million. That means of every living person, one in five is a Muslim. As citizens of what is yet a superpower, we tend not to notice the worldwide Islamic population, of which merely sixteen percent are Arabs. But this blindness to our situation needs to change, not only so we can be more aware of the need for foreign missions, but so we can be aware of the needs of our neighbors. Islam is moving to where you live. And it looks like it is here to stay. Islam and Early America After the United States was founded, Islam had more influence than many would expect on certain segments of the population. For example, after being converted to Christianity, the Virginia statesman John Randolph of Roanoke ...

Throughout the first half of the 20th Century, New York harbor bustled with ocean liners transporting thousands of people between North America and Europe every week. Great ships like the Queen Mary and Normandie were celebrated as floating palaces, but very few passengers enjoyed their luxuries. Most who sailed on them were poor immigrants and refugees relegated to 3rd class accommodations. These ships served a highly utilitarian purpose—moving passengers and cargo from point A to point B. That’s why they were called “liners.” But the glory days of the ocean liners began to fade in 1953 when a Comet roared across the Atlantic. The De Havilland Comet was the first commercial jetliner. The distance covered by an ocean liner in six days was traveled by a jetliner in six hours. Virtually overnight the vast Atlantic Ocean became “the pond.” By the 1960s the great ships were being laid up or sold for scrap. Many predicted the passenger shipping business would never recover. They were wr...

Billy Graham Crusade New York Prayer wheel.  Related articles Six Decades of Faith, Reverence BIlly Graham. (theyoushowblog.wordpress.com) Confessions of a Billy Graham Crusade Phone Operator (brgulker.wordpress.com) Billy Graham in Quotes - A Treasure! (pamelastephens.me) 1957 Billy Graham ● New York Crusade (The Service) (lunaticoutpost.com) Remembering George Beverly Shea, Billy Graham Crusade Soloist dies at 104 (rockingfunmusic.wordpress.com) My Hope with Billy Graham (rethinkingnews.wordpress.com) Billy Graham's Last Crusade??? (jesusavesisrael.org) A Good Set of Articles on Separation from the IFCA International (ilyston.wordpress.com) George Beverly Shea dies at 104, sang at Graham crusades (blogs.tennessean.com)

Our Lord Jesus Christ (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Governor Agricola of Armenia was confronted with "mutiny." Forty soldiers refused to offer the sacrifice ordered by emperor Licinius . The forty who stood before him that wintry fourth-century day in Sevaste were fine specimens of manhood who radiated an aura of courage. He was determined to make them see reason. But the soldiers were adamant. They refused to sacrifice. To do so was to betray their faith in Christ . "But what about your comrades?" asked Agricola. "Consider--you alone of all Caesar's thousands of troops defy him! Think of the disgrace you bring upon your legion!" "To disgrace the name of our Lord Jesus Christ is more terrible still," replied the men. Exasperated, the governor threatened to flog and torture them. The soldiers stood firm, although they knew he would carry out his threat. In the fourth century, there were few civil rights. Boldly the men answered, "Not...

A number of people lately have been intrigued to meet a French theologian, and have asked me to tell them the story of how I, a French atheist, became a Christian scholar. Even the theologians and apologists I met recently at the  ETS  Conference in Baltimore (where by God ’s grace I was delivering my first scholarly paper) seemed to care (understandably) more about my conversion from atheism than my immediate theology paper! Therefore, it seemed fitting to type it up properly, to have a clean telling of that story of God breaking into my life, ready to be shared with people who ask. So here it is (and please let me know if you spot spelling mistakes or awkward sentences, I’m still French after all!)   FROM   RELIGIOUS   ATHEISM   TO   SECULAR   ATHEISM I grew up in a wonderfully loving family in France, near Paris . I was the second of 3 children. We were nominally Roman Catholic , and would regularly attend mass, but this religious expr...

20 years ago, Eric Metaxas knew practically every born again believer in Manhattan. “It was like a spiritual ghost town,” the cultural commentator, thought leader and author recalled. Yet, over the recent decades—particularly this last one—New York has seen a surge in evangelicalism. Some cultural experts believe the Big Apple to be on the brink of another ‘Great Awakening.’ Gregory Thornbury, president of The King’s College —the only free-standing Christian institution of higher learning in New York City—compares this rise in Christianity to the the great Wall Street revival of 1857. “I would say there is a very special moment of spiritual renaissance happening in New York City right now,” he said. The Roots of the Renaissance.  While it may seem to onlookers that the spiritual renaissance in New York City has just started, it has roots that reach several decades deep. In 1969, shortly before the Cymbalas came to lead The Brooklyn Tabernacle, B.J. and Sheil...