Dr Paul Allen

St. Peter Denying Christ, by Gustave Doré (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) “Do You Love Me?” ( John 21:17 ). Several questions come to mind as we read this passage ( John 21:15-17 ): Why did Jesus ask Peter three times, “Do you love me?” Because Peter denied him three times. Why did he do this publicly? Because Peter denied him publicly. The other disciples needed to hear Peter openly declare his love for Christ . Without hearing those words, the doubts would linger forever. The man who had been so boastful, so sure of himself, so confident of his own courage, is now thoroughly humbled. Jesus’ first question – “Do you love me more than these?” (v. 15) – was a subtle reminder of his previous boast to be more loyal than the other disciples ( Matthew 26:33 ). In his reply Peter declares his love for Christ, but he refuses to compare himself with anyone else. As painful as this was, it was absolutely necessary. Jesus is cleaning the wound so that it might be properly healed. He is gett...

653 West 37th Street, Chicago, IL 60609 (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) We all pay lip service to the reality that we cannot necessarily measure the health of a church by its size.  We all know that some of the biggest churches in the world are also some of the unhealthiest churches in the world. The history of Christianity has long-since shown that it is not all that difficult to fill a building with unbelievers by just tickling their ears with what they want to hear.  We also know that the Lord is sovereign and that he determines how big each church should be and we know that in some areas even a very small church is an absolute triumph of light over darkness. And yet “How big is your church?” is one of the first questions we ask. Why is this? I don’t know all the reasons but I’d suggest at least two.  First, I think our question betrays us and shows that in the back of our minds we equate size and health. Somewhere we make the connection between big and ...

English: This is a map of first century Iudaea Province that I created using Illustrator CS2. I traced this image for the general geographic features. I then manually input data from maps found in a couple of sources. Robert W. Funk and the Jesus Seminar. The Acts of Jesus. HarperSanFrancisco: 1998. p. xxiv. Michael Grant. Jesus: An Historian's Review of the Gospels. Charles Scribner's Sons: 1977. p. 65-67. John P. Meier. A Marginal Jew. Doubleday: 1991. p. 1:434. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me”( Luke 18:22). As Jesus approached Jerusalem to initiate the great crisis of history, a certain ruler asked Him, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” (Luke 18:18). By asking what he must do, the ruler was focusing attention on his own good works and superficial obedience to God . If he had aske...

Image via Wikipedia Do you see through people or into people?  This question has been challenging me to examine how I interact and communicate with the people around me.  The problem is I find it hard to remember names? Do you? As a pastor / leader it is easy to get caught up into thinking only about  my  world,  my  struggles, and  my  priorities; so much so that my interaction with others can become automated and disingenuous. The question causes me to wonder just how many opportunities I have missed to connect with others more deeply and to truly serve them. How do you see people?  Before you answer that question, consider these five characteristics of someone that sees through people. A person that sees through people … Sees only the consequences of people’s actions and not the pain and struggle they are going through that causes them to behave in a certain way. Sees an opportunity to ask a question but hopes they don’t hav...