Dr Paul Allen

Our doctrine of Scripture as the word of God depends on our view of who God is and what he does. Here the temptation to focus on a single mode of God’s nature must be resisted.  God is both creator (implying his presence among his people and his fellowship with humans) and king (implying God’s authority over history and human dependence), both transcendent Lord (implying God’s omniscience and omnipotence and human finiteness) and ever active Father (implying God’s love for his children and his acceptance of humans in virtue of his own nature), both perfect (implying God’s total integrity and humanity’s call to holiness) and merciful (implying God’s forgiveness of wrongdoing and humanity’s confidence of being accepted).  A biblical doctrine of Scripture needs to take all these elements into account. A fundamental description of the nature of God as related to the nature of Scripture includes the following: 1. God is a person, i.e. he communicates, he speaks, he wills. When he ...

In the Gospels bombastic Peter blurted out his first thoughts; in Acts a matured and Spirit-filled Peter dominated early-church history. And Paul spoke so openly of his feelings and motives that sometimes we’re embarrassed by his totally honest revelations. But it’s hard for us to visualize John, so humble that in his Gospel he cannot bear to name himself. With quiet joy he refers obliquely to “the disciple whom Jesus loved” (John 21:7). We know that John was one of the inner circle along with his brother James, and with Peter. We know that at the Last Supper John found a place as close to Jesus as possible. But what else do we know about this quiet apostle? And what do we know about his writings? John and His Writings The man . When John and his brother James, the sons of Zebedee, began to follow Jesus, they were apparently quite young and passionate. Once the disciples were passing through Samaria on the way to Jerusalem. James and John went on ahead to find lodging in a villag...

Image via Wikipedia A staff member with years of experience observed, “If our team is strong and healthy, we can go through hell together and come out with wisdom and gratitude.  But if our team is bickering and distant, no amount of ministry success offsets the tension and heartache we experience.” This person’s perspective is shared by many people on teams across the country. Chemistry is one of the most important and elusive traits of a staff team. We know we should value each other’s strengths, but too often, we secretly (or not so secretly) despise people who are different.  If we’re extroverts, we shake our heads at those who are quiet and reflective. If we’re analytical, we become impatient with those who enthusiastically buy every new concept or program. If we’re big-picture people, we are annoyed by staff members who insist on dotting every I and crossing every T. We may have concluded that getting along with certain people is impossible, but the apostle Paul would ...