Dr Paul Allen

Like many of you, I long for the Lord’s appearing, and my greatest dream is that He will return in my lifetime. Even so, come, Lord Jesus! But I have a real problem with setting dates for His return. And I have a real problem with the mindset that He could return at any moment. Let me explain why. To be clear, none of us know when we will die, and in many cases, our deaths will be sudden and unexpected. So, at all times, we should live in readiness to meet the Lord. That goes without saying. But when it comes to predicting the day (or year) of the Lord’s return, the first problem is that, to date, every single prediction, without exception, has been wrong. The failure rate is 100 percent. Why should anyone believe the next prediction when all previous predictions have been wrong? Based on what new, definitive data? (For the record, I’ve seen some of the “data,” and I don’t buy it for a second.) The second problem with date-setting actually explains why every previous prediction has bee...

War has been at the forefront of many minds in the past fifteen months. War has impacted us all, no matter how close or far we are from the front lines. Of course, Jesus said we can expect to hear of "wars and rumours of wars" and that "nation will rise against nation," which are "but the beginning of the birth pains" (Matthew 24:6–8). Jesus said this in the context of his return to earth and what we can expect before he comes again. Matthew 24:6–8 mentions that war makes many appearances, especially in the book's second half.  My question is for Christians -do you have a healthy expectation that the second coming might actually bring stability to a person's mind who is feeling psychologically fragile and vulnerable and off-balance — maybe because of personal circumstances, losses, tragedies, pain, or because of upheavals in society that disorient people and pull them this way and that and make them feel fragmented and shaky, maybe even agitated an...

Advent itself can be puzzling. “Advent” means “coming” or “arrival. ” The songs and scripture readings often used at this season seem to be about two quite different things: about waiting for the “first coming,” the birth of Jesus, and about waiting for his “second coming” to put all things right in the end. How did these things get muddled up? How can we make wise, prayerful sense out of it all? The early Christians developed the “church’s year” as a way of telling, learning, and reliving the story of Jesus, which stands at the heart of our faith. As they did so, they came to understand that it wasn’t simply a matter of going round and round the same sequence and never getting anywhere.  Think of a bicycle wheel; it goes round and round, but it is moving forwards, not standing still. . . . So it is with the church’s year. We go round the circuit: Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Holy Week and Good Friday, Easter, Pentecost. The traditional Western churches sum all this up on Tr...

If the apostles believed that the end times—the last days—began with Jesus ’ first coming, it seems difficult to understand that two thousand years later we are still waiting for Jesus’ promised second coming. If “the end times” began in the first century A.D., why are we still waiting for the end? Can “the last days” really last for so long? The delay of Jesus’ second coming was already perceived as a problem by some whom Peter calls “scoffers”—people who gleefully provoked the faithful Christians with the words, “Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since our ancestors died, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation!” (2 Peter 3:4). Peter answers that these people ignore three facts. First, they forget that God, who created the world and then sent the great flood, will one day bring about the day of judgment when the present heavens and earth will be destroyed along with the godless (3:5–7). Second, they forget that for God, “one day is like a thou...

Few things in the Bible attract more attention than prophecies about the end times. Even people with only a passing acquaintance with the Bible know that it foretells a second coming of Jesus . Those who study the Bible know the book of Revelation reveals that the second coming brings an end to the reign of the antichrist (the “beast”; Rev 19:11–21). The risen Christ, the incarnation of God, returns to earth not as a suffering Savior, but as the glorious warrior-king. But does the Bible describe an earlier return of Jesus —one that precedes this triumphant arrival? The “ Rapture ” Some Christians believe that 1 Thessalonians 4:16–17 describes how all believers will be taken from earth, dead or alive, at an appearing of Jesus before the second coming described in Revelation 19. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive...

Peter's Denial by Rembrandt, 1660. Jesus is shown in the upper right hand corner, his hands bound behind him, turning to look at Peter. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Hebrews 1:1–2; 9:26 The author to the Hebrews begins his homily with the assertion that God ’s revelation has taken a major turn in the recent past: while he had spoken to the Israelites and the Jewish people in the past through prophets “at many times and in various ways,” he has now been speaking to his people through his Son (Heb. 1:1 NIV ). The author dates God’s speaking through Jesus his Son as having happened “in these last days” (ep’ eschatou tōn hēmerōn, Heb. 1:2). The demonstrative pronoun (toutōn, “these”) indicates that the last days have begun: “in these days which are the last days.” The entire period between Jesus’ first coming and the future consummation of God’s purposes constitutes “the last days.” When the author asserts that Jesus Christ, our High Priest, did not have to suffer many times but ...

Cover for a NIV Bible (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) In Romans 13:11–12, Paul appeals to the Christians in the city of Rome to understand “the present time” and explains that “the hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light” ( NIV ). The “night” is the present evil age (see Gal. 1:4); “the day” is the day of the Lord . Paul’s assertion that “the day is almost here” (Rom. 13:12 NIV) means that the day when God will bring to an end human history as we know it is fast approaching.  Paul is convinced that Jesus might return within a very short period of time. Paul does not seek to narrow down the time frame within which Jesus will return, nor does he base his exhortation on the assumption that Jesus’ return would take place very soon. But he clearly believes that Jesus’ return ...

Pietro Lorenzetti fresco detail, Assisi Basilica, 1310-1329. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) The apostles were convinced that they were living in the last days. In the Old Testament , the expression “the last days” refers to the future time of God’s final intervention in Israel ’s history and in the history of the world.1 The earliest Christians dated the beginning of the end times to the coming of Jesus , particularly his death and resurrection and the giving of the Holy Spirit, a complex of events that constitutes the fulfillment of God’s promises of Israel’s restoration and humanity’s salvation. The End Times Have Begun with Jesus’ Coming: Acts 2:16–21 One important passage in the New Testament teaching that the end times began with Jesus’ coming is found in Peter’s speech given on the day of Pentecost. After clarifying for the Jews who had gathered from around the world that the speaking in unlearned languages by Jesus’ followers is not the result of drunkenness (Acts 2:15), ...

English: Icon of Jesus Christ (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) What if you really believed that God is 100% for you? That he not only accepts you, but accepts you  fully , because of the perfect person and work of his Son? That your best successes can’t earn you any more access, and your worst failures can’t take any of it away? If you did —  really  did — it might change everything for the pursuit of joy in your life. The Christian doctrine that deals with God’s acceptance of us into right relationship with him is called justification . It’s the long j-word that has so much to do with the short j-word that we’re all seeking in our own way:  joy . Justification by Faith Alone Justification deals with how we get right with God. Here the setting is the law court. There’s a defendant (you), and there’s a Judge (God). And we’re all rightly charged with unrighteousness — a treasonous offense against the Judge himself. To be  justified  means that the J...

Stained glass at St John the Baptist's Anglican Church http://www.stjohnsashfield.org.au, Ashfield, New South Wales. Illustrates Jesus' description of himself "I am the Good Shepherd" (from the Gospel of John, chapter 10, verse 11). This version of the image shows the detail of his face. The memorial window is also captioned: "To the Glory of God and in Loving Memory of William Wright. Died 6th November, 1932. Aged 70 Yrs." (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Prayer is one of the deepest joys of the Christian life . It is almost too good to be true that in Jesus we have the very ear of God . What an indescribable gift, that the God whose greatness is beyond comprehension actually stoops to listen to us, and is even more ready to hear us than we are to speak. And the joys and benefits of prayer aren’t limited to our personal prayer lives. A shared joy is a doubled joy, and God means for us not only to  pray in our closets , and “without ceasing” ( 1 Thessalon...