Dr Paul Allen

According to Pastor Andy Stanley, Dr. Al Mohler’s “version of Christianity draws lines, and Jesus drew circles. He drew circles so large and included so many people in His circle that it consistently made religious leaders nervous. And His circle was big enough to include sinners like me, and I come from a long line of sinners like me.” Yes, “On one occasion, Jesus said, ‘Come to Me, all weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. You will find rest for your souls. All. That’s a big circle. That’s the invitation of our Savior. That’s the invitation of our church.” Indeed, as a church, Pastor Stanley stated, “We decided 28 years ago, we draw circles, we don’t draw lines, we draw big circles.” The truth is that Jesus drew both circles and lines and if we don’t do both, we hurt those we are called to help. On the one hand, God’s love, expressed in Jesus, is massive beyond words. Jesus died for our sins. He took the punishment for our guilt. He was pronounced guilty so that we could be p...

We are prone to make assumptions about God and his favor when life has us down due to sin, mistakes, or incomprehensible circumstances. Of all the Scripture passages we might turn to during these times, the bizarre vision that opens the book of Ezekiel would not register high on our list.  However, reading this passage with its original ancient context in mind reveals a powerful message for its original recipients and for every believer. The Babylonian context Ezekiel had his vision in Babylon as one of the captive exiles (Ezek 1:1–3). Comparing his vision to Babylonian iconography reveals that Ezekiel saw a divine “throne chariot” of the heavens—widely described in the ancient biblical world. Just as human kings had chariots, so did deities.  A deity would traverse the heavens in his chariot throne, inspecting his domain and exercising authority over it. In Ezekiel’s vision, this throne sits atop the “expanse” (רקיע, raqiaʾ, 1:26)—the same word used in Genesis 1:6–8 for the h...