Dr Paul Allen

If sharing the gospel sounds like we’re saying, “Come to Jesus for a better life,” we’re doing it wrong. In a day when religion is appreciated for its moral or therapeutic benefits, someone will hear us telling them about Jesus and presume we’re trying to sell them a version of personal, privatized spirituality. One good option among many. Even when that’s not what we say, that’s what people hear. Just Share Your Testimony? “Sharing your testimony” doesn’t avoid the problem; it sometimes makes the challenge more difficult. I once heard someone recommend a method of evangelism that relied solely on personal testimony. “No one can argue with your testimony!” he said. Exactly. That’s why it’s insufficient. If you talk to your neighbor about what Jesus means to you and how being a Christian has made your life better, how will you respond when your neighbor smiles and says, “I’m so glad Jesus has made your life better.  Here’s a mindfulness app that’s given me peace . . .” or “I’ve been...

“And they called them, and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus.” ( Acts 4:18 ) Every Christian knows that he or she should witness for Christ, but most are very reluctant to speak in His name very often. The most obvious reason for this hesitancy is fear. Sometimes we may be actually forbidden, as were the apostles, to teach of Him, but their courageous answer was: “We ought to obey God rather than men” ( Acts 5:29 ), and so they prayed: “Lord, behold their threatenings: and grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak thy word” ( Acts 4:29 ). More common than fear of physical persecution or personal harm, however, is fear of ridicule, or loss of prestige or position. Such fear is out of character for real Christians, “for God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind” ( 2 Timothy 1:7 ). If we love the Lord and those for whom He died, we must learn to conquer our fear of men. One of the sadd...

But in all things we commend ourselves as ministers of God (2 Cor. 6:4). Paul gives one of the most eloquent and specific descriptions of a blameless ministry. As we examine some of the points Paul makes, ask yourself whether you exhibit any of these qualities in your own life.  Can you say that you have endured afflictions with patience?  Have you manifested the fruits and gifts of the Spirit and remained committed to the Word of truth at all times?  Can you say with Paul that no matter what people think of you, you can rejoice in the Lord because you possess all things in Christ—happiness in the midst of sorrow, honor in the midst of accusation, spiritual riches in the midst of poverty?  Ask yourself these things as you study this testimony of the “least of the apostles.” Paul divides his marks of a blameless ministry into three categories: manifold trials (vv. 4, 5), graces and gifts (vv. 6, 7), and circumstances of evil and good report (vv. 8–1...

Christ in Gethsemane (Christus in Gethsemane), oil painting by Heinrich Ferdinand Hofmann (Heinrich Hofmann). The original is at the Riverside Church (Riverside Church, New York City). (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) “But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father , the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me” (John 15:26). Having just described the opposition that the apostles would lace in the world, Jesus encourages them once again with promises of the coming Spirit, who would testify of Him. Hendriksen writes, “In the midst of the wicked world , He will testify against the world. In the midst of mankind, He will bear witness concerning mankind’s need. In the midst of the church, He will comfort the church. The sphere of His testimony must not be restricted. Whenever a true servant of God bears witness against the world, this witness is the work of the Spirit. Whenever a simple believer, by word and example, draws others to C...