Dr Paul Allen

Moses and Aaron before Pharaoh (painting by Benjamin West) (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) In modern stories people destined for greatness rarely start off privileged. They are dropped off at the doorstep of an orphanage or abandoned in the rain. This literary motif goes back to ancient stories, where writers use the abandoned child theme to identify a character that rises from obscurity to privileged hero status. It’s a motif found in the biblical account of Moses ’ birth. But is that really the whole story? Moses’ story begins when Pharaoh feels threatened by the growing Hebrew population in Egypt and commands that all Hebrew male infants be killed (Exod 1:16–22). Moses’ mother hides her newborn son for three months and then devises a risky but calculated plan: She sets him adrift on the Nile in a small basket made of bulrushes, waterproofed with bitumen and pitch (2:1–3). Moses’ older sister, Miriam, watches as the basket floats to where the daughter of Pharaoh bathes. God uses the...

“For our light affliction , which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.” ( 2 Corinthians 4:17) THESE words supply us with a reason we should not faint under trials nor be overwhelmed by misfortunes. They teach us to look at the trials of time in the light of eternity. They affirm that the present buffetings of the Christian exercise a beneficent effect on the inner man. If these truths were firmly grasped by faith they would mitigate much of the bitterness of our sorrows. “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.” This verse sets forth a striking and glorious antithesis as it contrasts our future state with our present. Here a light affliction, there a mighty glory. In our affliction there is both levity and brevity. It is a light affliction and it is but for a moment but in our future glory there is solidity and eternity! To discover the preciousness of...

Image via Wikipedia There's some good news on religious liberty coming from courts in New York and Washington State this week. Our friends at the Alliance Defense Fund scored a major victory in New York City last Friday, when a federal judge said the city has to allow churches to continue holding worship services in public schools for the time being. The city evicted churches from public school buildings in February, but the judge said churches are likely to prevail in court based on the First Amendment's promise of religious freedom. The churches, which serve primarily low-income and ethnic congregations, should be allowed to continue renting empty school buildings from the city on weekends, the judge said—just as every other community group is allowed to do. Also last week, a federal judge in Washington said a state regulation forcing pharmacists to dispense possible abortion-causing drugs against their religious convictions was unconstitutional. In fact, the rule was ...

Image via Wikipedia She Called You a "Coward"! This is the week the gay-marriage movement is trying to break you and me. Pushing forward full-bore in Washington, Maryland , New Jersey , New Hampshire —NOM has never had a week where we've sent out so many action alerts to so many people. This is the week we take up the gauntlet laid down by the First Lady of Maryland, who had the nerve to tell a gay rights group that those who oppose gay marriage are "cowards." (The governor had to go on an apology tour for that remark). Even as they threaten the jobs, the businesses, and the livelihoods of people willing to stand for the great truths of Genesis—even as they bask in the accolades of Hollywood and a complacent media—even as they wallow in the silver coins flung into their campaign chests by billionaire gay-marriage backers—they call you and me "cowards"? Here's how the people of Maryland responded , at a rally you'll never see on Fox News or AB...