Dr Paul Allen

Hasekura in prayer, following his conversion to Christianity in Madrid in 1615. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Our prayers are sometimes not answered because we pray in vague generalities. When all our prayers are either vague or universal in their scope, it is difficult to experience the exhilaration that goes with clear and obvious answers to prayer. If we ask God to "bless everyone in the world" or "forgive everyone in town," it would be difficult to see the prayer answered in any concrete way. Not that it is wrong to have a large scope of interest in prayer, but if all prayer is given to such generality, then no prayer will have specific and concrete application. Our prayers are also hindered if we are at war with God. If we are out of harmony with God or in a state of rebellion toward Him, we can hardly expect Him to turn a benevolent ear toward our prayers. His ear is inclined to those who love Him and seek to obey Him. He turns His ear away from the wicke...

Cover via Amazon "The activity by which the Christian directly secures the mortification of his sins is prayer," wrote J. I. Packer in his book A Quest For Godliness . But what does this practice of putting sin to death through personal prayer look like? J. I. Packer: "I never get to the end of mortifying sin because sin in my heart is still marauding, even though it is not dominant. Sin is constantly expressing itself in new disorderly desires, as bindweed is constantly expressing itself in fresh shoots and fresh blooms. Once bindweed has established itself in your garden or hedge it is very difficult to get out because it is always extending itself under the surface of the soil. And sin in the heart is rather like that. But as blooms of sin break surface and I recognize them, I am called to — indeed deep down in my heart I want to — go into action with this prayer procedure for draining the life out of them. And I think this is a discipline every Christian has ...

Stained glass window, U. S. Pentagon, honoring the Four Chaplains, USAT Dorchester, 1943 (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) A colleague forwarded me a  news article  awhile back written by James Dao of  The New York Times . My friend kept his own comments brief. "This is not a parody," he wrote. I was intrigued. After all, this was the Times , not the  Onion , why would he need to qualify it in that manner? The piece was titled, "Atheists Seek Chaplain Role in the Military." I quickly understood the context of my friend's note. "Strange as it sounds," Dao wrote, "groups representing atheists and secular humanists are pushing for the appointment of one of their own to the chaplaincy , hoping to give voice to what they say is a large—and largely underground—population of nonbelievers in the military." Existing chaplains are generally opposed to the idea, for obvious reasons. If atheism is the absence of religious belief , why would they want som...

Image via Wikipedia Does prayer make any difference? Does it really change anything? Yes. Though we cannot hope that our prayers will change God ’s mind, prevailing upon Him to act against His will, we can be sure that prayer does change things—including our own hearts. Plus, it is one of the chief means by which God carries out His will in the world. Related articles Prayer for Agnostics (adultonsetatheist.blogspot.com) The wonderful power of prayer... (jeremyhigdon.com) Prayer works... because of the Bible (jeremyhigdon.com) Personal Shopper: Outcomes-Based Prayer (wonderingpreacher.wordpress.com) A Prayer By Heinrich Bullinger (zwingliusredivivus.wordpress.com) Problems in prayer - and possible solutions (nelima.wordpress.com) A Prayer for Sunday (prayers on 9/11) (westernthm.wordpress.com) On Mr. Rogers and prayer (patheos.com) 4 Reasons Why Your Prayers Are Never Answered (theway2fullconsciousness.wordpress.com)

Image via Wikipedia One of the ironies of feminism is that by its advocacy of abortion it has endorsed the single greatest means of rob­bing women of their most basic right—the right to life . Abortion has become the primary means of eliminat­ing unwanted females across the globe. More girls than boys are now being killed by abortion. To kill an unborn female is to kill a young woman. There can be no equal rights for all women until there are equal rights for unborn women. Related articles Abortion and Compassion Within Islam (almostclever.wordpress.com) More scary, race-baiting, anti-abortion propaganda aimed at black women (newblackwoman.com) LifeNews.com Pro-Life News Report 6/26/11 (deaconforlife.blogspot.com) Russian legislators under fire for proposed abortion restrictions (rt.com) LifeNews.com Pro-Life News Report 6/26/11 (deaconjohnspace.wordpress.com) War on Women or Protection of Unborn Life? (erasetheneed.wordpress.com) Perdue vetoes bill which put constraints...

When most people get started in the ministry, they’re usually  moved  by the right things. They want to change the world for the glory of God . Make an impact on their generation. See God move in bold, fresh ways. But it doesn’t always stay this way.  Before long you can start being moved by all the wrong things. Critics. Competition. Fear. Bitterness. Comfort. And then you’re no better than the people you swore you would never be like back when you started. You lose your center. And if you don’t lose your effectiveness, you at least lose your joy. Which is just as bad. I don’t know how many years you’ve been in ministry. And I don’t care. I don’t know what moved you in the early days of your ministry.  And I don’t care. Whoever you are and whatever got you into this, you’ve got to  make sure as you get more mature in the ministry that you’re moved by the right things. Salvation. Compassion. Unity. Life change. Truth. In short, you...

Image via Wikipedia A town council in rural Ontario has been ordered by the court to cease opening meetings with the Lord’s Prayer after complaints from secularists, reports Bancroft This Week . The council of the Municipality of Hastings Highlands had replaced the Christian prayer in April with a more generic one, comparable to that used in Ottawa’s Parliament, after a secularist in the community threatened a lawsuit. Dagmar Gontard, a member of a group called Quinte Humanist, had  made  an appeal to the council in early 2011, arguing that the prayer is not inclusive and represents an intrusion of the Church into the affairs of the state. While at that time the council unanimously agreed to continue saying the Lord’s Prayer, allowing attendees the option of not participating, they backed down in April after the complainant issued a legal threat. The council received the court order on May 31st, despite having already ceased offering the Lord’s Prayer. The pressure on the...

Image via Wikipedia A town council in rural Ontario has been ordered by the court to cease opening meetings with the Lord’s Prayer after complaints from secularists, reports Bancroft This Week . The council of the Municipality of Hastings Highlands had replaced the Christian prayer in April with a more generic one, comparable to that used in Ottawa’s Parliament, after a secularist in the community threatened a lawsuit. Dagmar Gontard, a member of a group called Quinte Humanist, had  made  an appeal to the council in early 2011, arguing that the prayer is not inclusive and represents an intrusion of the Church into the affairs of the state. While at that time the council unanimously agreed to continue saying the Lord’s Prayer, allowing attendees the option of not participating, they backed down in April after the complainant issued a legal threat. The council received the court order on May 31st, despite having already ceased offering the Lord’s Prayer. The pressure on the...

Image via Wikipedia In the morning I lay my requests before you and I wait in expectation . Psalm 5:3 Prayer is so much more than the puny, ordinary thing we make it out to be. And that’s because the One we’re praying to is not only so much bigger than we’ll ever be able to comprehend.  But also so much more willing to respond to us than we’ll ever be able to comprehend as well. Think about this: Our galaxy has approximately 250 billion stars and it is estimated that there are 100 billion other galaxies in the universe, each with hundreds of billions of stars.  And He’s named each one. The universe is so vast in relation to the matter it contains that it can be compared in this way: A building 20 miles long, 20 miles wide and 20 miles high that contains 1 grain of sand.  And He’s holding it all in the expanse of His hands. The largest star to date, Canis Majoris, is so large that if Earth’s Sun were replaced by it, its radius would extend beyond the orbi...