Dr Paul Allen

I preached from 2 Corinthians 1 where Paul talks about his sufferings as an apostle and about how he constantly faced death because of the gospel. On numerous occasions during his ministry, Paul believed that he would surely die. Paul says that when the clouds began to gather and he felt he was about to perish, the thing that got him through was knowing that even if he died, God would raise him up. 2 Corinthians 1:9 “We had the sentence of death within ourselves in order that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead.” The whole passage is about the hope of the resurrection. I exhorted this congregation that they should make this their hope when they face suffering. They should trust in the God who raises the dead. After the service was over and when I was greeting people, a gentleman who looked to be in his 40’s or 50’s came up to me and said, “You know that was really good except the part about our bodies being resurrected.” And I’m thinking, “Well, that was ki

John 6 records two eventful days in the incarnate life of Jesus Christ . The miracle of the feeding of the five thousand occurred on the first day. That day also ended with another miracle, that of Jesus walking on the water . The second day was a bit different. This day was filled with teaching, and it was teaching that was not well received by the great crowds. Jesus stood before this crowd and identified Himself as the bread of life and as the exclusive way to His Father (John 6:35-40). The crowd was not buying it. They responded "Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know?" (John  6:42 ). Jesus declared Himself to be one thing. The crowds decided that He was another. By the end of this second day, those great crowds had dwindled.  The hard sayings were too much, and Jesus was left with the twelve . So He put the question to them. Do you, the twelve, want to leave (6:67)? Peter spoke for the group. There is nowhere else for us to

The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) “Follow your heart” is a creed embraced by billions of people. It’s a statement of faith in one of the great pop cultural myths of the Western world ; a gospel proclaimed in many of our stories, movies, and songs. Essentially, it’s a belief that your heart is a compass inside of you that will direct you to your own true north if you just have the courage to follow it. It says that your heart is a true guide that will lead you to true happiness if you just have the courage to listen to it. The creed says that you are lost and your heart will save you.  This creed can sound so simple and beautiful and liberating. For lost people it’s a tempting gospel to believe. Is This the Leader You Want to Follow? Until you consider that your heart has sociopathic tendencies. Think about it for a moment. What does your heart tell you? Please don’t answer. Your heart has likely said things today that you would not wish t

Did the early church believe in the deity of Christ ? Ask your average Muslim, Unitarian, Jehovah’s Witness, or just about any non-Christian skeptic who has read (or watched)  The Da Vinci Code ,  and they’ll try to convince you the answer is  no .  From such sources we are told that the deity of Christ was a doctrine invented centuries after Jesus’ death — a result of pagan influences on the church in the fourth century when the Roman Empire adopted Christianity as its official religion. Emperor Constantine , in particular, is blamed for being the guy who promoted Jesus to the level of deity, a feat of cosmic proportions that he managed to pull off at the Council of Nicaea in 325. As Dan Brown put it (through the lips of one of his literary characters): “Jesus’ establishment as ‘the Son of God ’ was officially proposed and voted on by the Council of Nicaea. . . . By officially endorsing Jesus as the Son of God, Constantine turned Jesus into a deity who existed beyond the

Icon depicting the First Council of Nicaea. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) William Wordsworth sounds the warning: Sweet is the lore which Nature brings; Our meddling intellect Misshapes the beauteous forms of things: We murder to dissect . Dissecting Christmas carols can be musical murder. Unless the disassembly fits together again more beautifully and more fully felt. That’s my goal. “O Come All Ye Faithful” is near the top of my favorites. As I ponder why, I see it’s because of three marriages in this carol. Heaven and Earth First is the marriage of heaven and earth. Of course, that is what Christmas is: “Word of the Father, now in flesh appearing.” But this glorious fact is not what I have in mind. What captures my attention here is that, as we sing, we summon all the faithful on earth to come, and we summon choirs of angels to come — both to see and adore Christ . Verse 1: “O come, all ye faithful. . .” Verse 3: “Sing, choirs of angels . . .” And so the “us”

Painting, 14th century, Flanders. Rogier van der Weyden. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) 1 Corinthians 11:17–34 “In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me’” ( v. 25 ). There are many different bodies that call themselves churches, whether or not they are true manifestations of the church of Jesus Christ . How then can we tell when a church in name is also a church in reality, or a house church or even a connect group claiming to be a church? Faced with this same problem, the Reformers and Roman Catholics answered this question very differently. Rome has said that the bishop is the mark of the church, that is, the true church is present when you have a duly consecrated bishop who is part of a line of succession going back to the apostles. Ultimately, a bishop is a true bishop only if he submits to the pope; thus, in Roman Catholicism only Roman Catholic parishes consti