Dr Paul Allen

  Exodus 15:19–21  “Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a tambourine in her hand, and all the women went out after her with tambourines and dancing. And Miriam sang to them: ‘Sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea’ ” (vv. 20–21). The Song of Moses did not belong only to Moses, but all the people of Israel sang it, as indicated in Exodus 15:1. But how did Moses teach it to the whole company of Israelites, which numbered six hundred thousand men, plus their wives and children, plus many people who had joined the nation in leaving Egypt (see 12:37–38)? Today’s passage gives us at least part of the answer. After mentioning what happened to Pharaoh’s army at the Red Sea one more time, Moses says that the women, led by his sister Miriam, sang and danced (15:19–20). Specifically, Moses says that Miriam sang the song to the women of Israel (v. 21), and the sense here is that she was teaching them the song by s...

For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen ( Romans 11:36). Why did God create the world? One of the most foolish answers advanced is that God was lonely and needed to create someone with whom to have fellowship. The Christian doctrine of the tri-unity of God stands completely against any such idea. God has eternal fellowship within Himself and has no need to create anything. Creation results completely from His sovereign will. Some have said the purpose of creation was to prepare the way for redemption: God created it and predestined the fall of man so Jesus could redeem the world. At first glance, this notion looks very pious, since it focuses on Jesus and His work. As we shall see, however, it is inadequate to explain God’s purposes as the Bible sets them out. Looking at Genesis 1, some have said that the purpose of creation was to provide the world for man’s glory and happiness. Man, after all, is the crown of creation, and...

The New Testament describes singing as a corporate activity. A hallmark of those who are filled with the Holy Spirit is that they address “one another” in song ( Ephesians   5:19 ). Why? Because singing is an avenue for Christian love . Consider Colossians   3:16 , Paul’s famous teaching on singing, in its broader context: Above all these put on  love , which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God . (Colossians  3:14 –16) There are countless threats to the unity of the body (Colossians 3:6–9). Paul knows that brothers and sisters may have “complaints” against each other (Colossians  3:13 ). What does it look like to foster a community of forgiveness an...

In Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth’s excellent book  Choosing Gratitude , she makes the point that we are either whining or worshiping. Our natural, sinful state makes us prone to see what we lack, what we don’t have, and what’s gone wrong in our lives. Complaining is often my default response. Just the other day I noticed how even though I’d had a relatively good day, as soon as my husband walked in the door after work, I talked about the kids’ after-school squabble, our little guy’s potty-training accident, and did I forget to mention the freezer isn’t working right? Often the things that pour off our tongues to others can be complaints of things not going our way or how we’ve been mistreated by others. We’re a rights-oriented culture, and if we don’t get what we think is rightfully ours, we storm off in anger or despair. Often, we slip on the sins of entitlement and discontentment down the slope to anxiety and depression. We can become surrounded by dark thoughts and unmet exp...

At our church , everyone shows up ready to sing with full hearts each Sunday morning. Nobody arrives after a tense car ride to church, or a difficult morning with children, or a late night of studying, or a long week of work. Everyone is well-rested and eager to make melody to God . Except, not really. Each Sunday, a good portion of our churches gather for worship with genuine anticipation for singing , praying, and hearing the word. But not everyone. Life is too real, and the ancient fall of Genesis 3 is still too valid, to think nobody walks into church with scars, shame, or even cold apathy. But let’s be honest. Even the most stably enthusiastic in our gatherings have had Sundays when we wished our hearts burned more brightly. We experience an inner struggle in these moments. On the one hand, we know that we should sing because we’re at church. On the other, it’s good to be authentic and real, so it feels like a lie to sing when we don’t feel like it. Is it better to...

We were all created to live and breathe in an atmosphere of praise-filled worship to His Creator. The avenue of sustained inflow of divine power was to be kept by the sustained outflow of joyous and humble praise to his Maker. The severance of the bond of blessing through obedience that sin brought silenced man’s praise-filled fellowship with God and introduced self-centeredness, self-pitying, and complaint (see Gen. 3:912). But now has come salvation and life in Christ , and now upon receiving Jesus Christ as Savior, daily living calls us to prayer and the Word for fellowship and wisdom in living.  But our daily approach to God in that communion is to be paved with praise: “Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise” ( Ps. 100:4). Such a whale of praise-filled openness to Him will cultivate deep devotion, faithful obedience, Ma constant joy. The writer has established a record of leadership that models the mark in which praise brings steadfa...

On 27 August 1883, the earth let out a noise louder than any it has made since. It was 10:02 AM on the island of Krakatoa. The erupting volcano was heard nearly 3,500 miles away in Mauritius. That’s like someone in New York hearing a noise coming from London, taking about four hours to cover that distance. A barometer in Batavia, 100 miles away, registered a spike in air pressure from which they calculated the sound at 188 decibels, an unimaginably loud noise, which ruptured the eardrums of sailors 40 miles away. The air pressure spike caused by the eruption was detected in weather stations of 50 cities, every 34 hours, for five days. This means that the sound waves circled the earth four times. But there is something that generates an impact that reverberates through this world, the spiritual realm, and the Universe: a joyful church. FROM PSALM 100: THREE WAYS EVERY CHURCH MUST WORSHIP God’s people are called to worship him… JOYFULLY Ps 100:1 Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all...

Definitions are simply descriptions of the way people use words. Words don’t have intrinsic definitions. They are given definitions by the way people use them. When I say I want to define joy for you, I am asking whose joy are we talking about, or what use of the word are we talk-ing about? I mean joy as the apostle Paul uses it in his letters, and particularly in the book of Philippians. I am not just asking about the meaning of joy in general. I am talking about Christian joy, as Paul the apostle describes it. So let me give you my definition, and then take it apart one piece at a time. Christian joy is a good feeling in the soul, produced by the Holy Spirit, as he causes us to see the beauty of Christ in the Word and in the world. A Good Feeling Christian joy is a good feeling. By that, I mean it is not an idea. It is not a conviction. It is not a persuasion, or a decision. It is a feeling. Or — I use the words interchangeably here — an emotion. One of the marks of the differenc...

Hagia Sophia ; Empress Zoë mosaic : Christ Pantocrator; Istanbul, Turkey (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) "Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God , be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen. " ( 1 Timothy 1:17 ) In this stirring doxology to the One who allowed him into the ministry ( vv. 12-13 ), whose grace "was exceeding abundant" ( v. 14 ), who "came into the world to save sinners" ( v. 15 ), who showed mercy and longsuffering, and who grants "life everlasting" ( v. 16 ), Paul uses several majestic descriptive terms. Each deserves our attention. The King eternal. God's sovereign kingship is in view here. The phrase literally translates, the "King of the ages." "But the LORD is the true God, he is the living God, and an everlasting king" ( Jeremiah 10:10 ). He is the King, and we must stand in submission to Him. Immortal. The Greek word used here implies more than mere exemption fro...

Stained glass at St John the Baptist's Anglican Church " (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) In the Gospels show Jesus does many mighty works and miracles, and yet we do not see the disciples asking Him.. “Teach us how to turn water into wine,” or “Teach us how to walk on water.” Instead they ask Jesus to teach them how to pray. The disciples realized from observing Jesus that prayer was the heart of His life, and it would have to be the heart of theirs as well. When the disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray, we find that He said “Pray this way,” and taught them the Lord’s Prayer ( Luke 11:1). The Lord’s Prayer was not only given as a prayer to be memorized and repeated but also was given as an outline of how to pray. The first petition of the Lord’s Prayer, “hallowed be Your name,” is a prayer of adoration . How many of us are familiar with the language of adoration? Don’t we usually just jump into petitions and intercessions when we pray? Part of our problem is that ...

Image by madison.murphy via Flickr "I will praise thee with my whole heart : before the gods will I sing praise unto thee." ( Psalm 138:1 )   When we sing or testify of our praise to God , it should not be perfunctory praise or repetitive rote praise.  It should be sincere and wholehearted, personal praise. We should especially praise Him for revealing to us eternal  truth , as written in His inspired Word.  Further, we should not hesitate to praise our true God, even amidst all the false "gods" of this world. As the next verse says, He has magnified His Word above all His name!  That is, the Holy Scriptures are our greatest physical possession of all the things in this world, for they alone will "not pass away" ( Matthew 24:35 ). His Word is "for ever . . . settled in heaven" ( Psalm 119:89 ).   This phrase, "the whole heart," occurs a number of times in the Bible , especially in the psalm of the Word,  Psalm 119 . Note the test...