Dr Paul Allen

Davy Ellis Anonymity is one of my fears in ministry, and I suspect my fellow pastors share my worry. We marvel at men like Luther, Owen, Spurgeon, and Packer. We spend seminary reading D. A. Carson, Thomas Schreiner, Alec Motyer, and T. Desmond Alexander. These giants have written numerous books, preached to thousands, or changed the course of the gospel cause in their time. Then we look at ourselves. We pastor churches of maybe 100. Anything we write will likely be read only by our mothers and spouses. A hundred years from now, we may be forgotten. In a thousand years, we will be forgotten. We feel anonymous. If we dwell on that thought for too long, we soon wonder what the point is. First Chronicles 1–9 can help. Desert of Names Preachers and laypeople alike often overlook the books of Chronicles. One reason is the long list of hard-to-pronounce, largely unknown names in the first nine chapters. There are about 200 names in Chapter 1 alone. Mark Dever designated these chapters a “ver...

Sometimes it’s better to show than to tell. Sometimes it’s more effective to rely on illustration than description. Maybe this is especially the case when we are distressed, ashamed, or sorrowful when emotions threaten to displace reason.  In those moments, God comforts us not only with descriptions of what he does with our sin but also with vivid illustrations. Are you distressed by what you’ve done? Do you hear whispers that you have sinned beyond God’s desire or ability to forgive? Let these illustrations comfort you. Listen to—no, see!—all that God does with your sin. God throws your sin into the sea (Micah 7:19) . Here is a clear reference to the Exodus when God rescued his people by drowning Pharaoh and his army in the sea. John MacKay says, “The Egyptians were prevented from catching up with the fleeing Israelites and reversing their deliverance. The freedom of the people of God will not be marred by some consequence of their past sin catching up with them to spoil their del...