Dr Paul Allen

English: Statue of Asclepius, exhibited in the Museum of Epidaurus Theatre. Deutsch: Statue des Asklepios, ausgestellt im Museum des antiken Theaters von Epidauros. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Jesus healed a man who couldn't get into a pool belonging to a Roman god Asclepius. The lower pool would flush from the upper pool and people were fooled by the rumor that an angel brought healing. Jesus healed the man to simply show, his belief was in a false ido and Jesus was God.  The history of the pool began in the 8th century BC , when a dam was built across the short Beth Zeta valley , turning it into a reservoir for rain water ;a sluice-gate in the dam allowed the height to be controlled, and a rock-cut channel brought a steady stream of water from the reservoir into the city The reservoir became known as the Upper Pool (בריכה העליונה). Around 200 BC , during the period in which Simon II was the Jewish High Priest , the channel was enclosed, and a second pool was ad...

English: Sunday school area within Christ Church, Gosport (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) In the pastorate you have to master the seemingly impossible art of having, at the same time, thick and thin skin . How can you possibly pull off such a feat? And why would such a chameleon-like skill even be desirable? First, why do you need thick skin ? In a word, as pastor you will receive your fair share of criticism . The lion’s share of criticism should be placed into the “ignore this stuff” category. People often complain about the silliest things: the time of the worship service , how frequently the church holds activities, the types of illustrations you use in your sermons, the fact that you pick the same hymn too frequently, the color of your tie, or the kind of beverage you drink (for the record, I’ve personally had all of these complaints). I have to say with great glee, that I simply smile, note the complaint, and then move on. I let the words flow off my back like water off a duc...

Habakkuk the prophet, Russian icon from first quarter of 18th cen. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) "Woe unto him that saith to the wood, Awake; to the dumb stone, Arise, it shall teach! Behold, it is laid over with gold and silver, and there is no breath at all in the midst of it." ( Habakkuk 2:19 ) How foolish are those who worship idols--objects of wood and stone with no life in them, not even when they are adorned in silver and gold. Can inanimate objects come to life and even become teachers? A child knows better. But not college professors! All over the land, these proud purveyors of "science falsely so called" are indoctrinating young minds with the absurd belief that inorganic substances can somehow first become simple living substances and then eventually organize themselves all the way up to being people. They would not, of course, suggest that sticks and stones could suddenly become human (neither did the ancient idolaters, for that matter). They just be...

Sphinx on a pottery (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) “And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve the things that are excellent, in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ .” - Philippians 1:9–10 - The word translated “sincere” in this passage is a fascinating word in Greek. It’s a compound word : eilikrineis, from helios, which means “sun,” andkrinō, which means “to judge.” Literally, “judged by the sun.” Now, what does being judged by the sun have to do with sincerity? Well, in the Roman world one of the largest industries—if not the largest—was the pottery industry. And, just like anything else, the various kinds of pottery differed in quality. The lowest quality pottery was thick, solid, and easy to make. But the finest pottery was thinner and therefore more fragile. Often, when thin pottery was being fired, it would crack in the oven. Now, rather than discard those vessels that we...

Memorizing the Bible resources Books : His Word in My Heart  by Janet Pope Flaming Sword  by Tai Ikomi Keep in Memory  by N.A. Woychuck You Need to Memorize Scripture  by N.A. Woychuck Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life  by Donald Whitney The Spirit of the Disciplines  by Dallas Willard Celebration of Discipline  by Richard Foster Scripture Memory Made Easy  by Mark Water Websites : Memverse.com  – A spectacular online memory tool Fighter Verses  – Memory verse system for children and parents through Desiring God Impress Kids  – Online memory tool that is a companion to your ongoing church discipleship, uses the verses you are already promoting as memory verses for the week or month Memlok  - Bible memory software Organizations or Other Resources : Scripture Memory Fellowship  – A complete infant to adult program with incentives for Bible memory An Approach to Extended Memorization of Scripture ...

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Image via Wikipedia EATING OUT ·  When the bill arrives, Mike, Dave and John will each throw in $20, even though it's only for $32.50. None of them will have anything smaller and none will actually admit they want change back. ·  When the girls get their bill, out come the pocket calculators . MONEY ·  A man will pay $2 for a $1 item he needs. ·  A woman will pay $1 for a $2 item that she doesn't need but it's on sale. BATHROOMS ·  A man has six items in his bathroom: toothbrush and toothpaste, shaving cream , razor, a bar of soap, and a towel. ·  The average number of items in the typical woman's bathroom is 337. A man would not be able to identify more than 20 of these items. ARGUMENTS ·  A woman has the last word in any argument.. ·  Anything a man says after that is the beginning of a new argument. FUTURE ·  A woman worries about the future until she gets a husband. ·  A man never worries about the future until...

What separates successful leaders from average ones? What is the secret behind the accomplishments of high achievers? While there are many things that can contribute to success, there is one thing that is sure to prevent it every single time. What is it?  The absence of trying. Sound overly simplistic? It may seem that way, but there is pure genius in this principle that is so obvious, yet often overlooked. Every successful author, leader, inventor, and artist have at least one thing in common: they tried. They attempted something. The great hockey legend Wayne Gretzky said, “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” His point was that  nothing great ever happens without effort.  No author has accidentally written and published a great book. No artist has accidentally painted a masterpiece. It took effort. It took  trying. So what prevents us from trying and accomplishing great things? Lack of confidence.  Fear of failure paralyzes us. If you’r...

Image via Wikipedia All of us, I presume, change our minds from time to time. We know that we err, and we know that we grow in grace. At least part of that growth happens when we no longer believe the errors we once believed. Sometimes we add new information to what we believe. Sometimes we jettison old information. And sometimes we do both.  Paul commands that elders be sober-minded. I suspect that many of us give precious little thought to this command. Too many of us dismiss all of Paul’s qualifications. However, even if we try to apply them we often slide right over this one. We may assume “sober-minded” means the same thing as “not given to much wine.”  To be sober-minded, however, is to treat truth seriously and to have a healthy doubt as to our own understanding of truth.  A sober-minded person should think through the challenges of the incarnation. A sober-minded person ought to contemplate the law of God. But there are two things a sober-minded person d...