Dr Paul Allen

The Bible reveals some things to us that are “hard to understand” ( 2 Peter   3:16 ). We recognize some of these things in our experience, but when we try to define or explain their essential nature or how they actually work, we find ourselves utterly perplexed. Take, for instance, the Trinity. Relating to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is, in many ways, much easier experienced than explained. A child can believe in, interact with, and trust the triune God , but the combined power of the greatest theological minds of the past two millennia have not been able to explain triune mechanics. We know it works, but we don’t know how. Or consider the coexistence of God’s universal, absolute sovereignty ( John 1:1 –3; Ephesians   1:11 ; Hebrews 1:3) and human personal accountability for our moral choices (Matthew  12:36 ; Romans 2:2; 2 Corinthians   5:10 ; Romans  9:14 –23). We know this reality by experience. We can all point to God’s sovereign interventions in our lives that go w

Tidal force as appearance of Gravity force (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) It's almost an institution, in our culture, in our nation, to describe God as a  higher power , something greater than ourselves. What's that, "the force be with you"? What is this higher power— gravity , lightning, earthquakes ? Now one thing about this nebulous, amorphous, nameless, characterless power, is that first of all it is impersonal , and second of all and most important, it is amoral. See, there's an upside and a downside to worshiping a higher power—a nameless, faceless, force like gravity, or cosmic dust , or lightning, or thunder . Here's the upside to a sinner. A force that is impersonal and amoral makes no ethical demands on anybody. Gravity does not make judgments about people's behavior unless they jump out of windows six-stories high. But even at that, there is no personal condemnation that comes from gravity, or an earthquake. Gravity has no voice; it sa