Dr Paul Allen

We live in a lonely and anxious age. Major studies reflect the same dismal trend: people are increasingly isolated. A 2021 study by American Perspectives exposes the sharp decline in friendship in the U.S. over the past 30 years. They found that  10 per cent of women and 15 per cent of men report they don’t have a single friend.  The percentage of women with more than 10 friends has dropped from 28 per cent to 11 per cent. For men, from 40 per cent to 15 per cent.  We’re more and more isolated, and we feel it deeply. According to another report, 61 per cent of adults in America feel lonely, and the rates of loneliness are highest among younger people. In the U.S., life expectancy has decreased for the first time in many years. This context makes the words Jesus said to his followers shortly before his death more urgent: “By this, all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have a love for one another” (John 13:35). These words have permanently been binding on t...

By John Piper We all die. We all believe in the promises of scripture regarding eternal life. But what will it be like? The prophet Isaiah tells us in Isaiah 65:17 something pretty incredible. In the new creation, he says, “the former things” — the experiences of this life, it seems — “shall not be remembered or come into mind.” And that raises questions about eternity. In the new creation, are we mindwiped? Isaiah 65:17— Does this passage effectively say that we will be memory-wiped before we enter the new creation? How does it relate to Revelation 5:12,  which puts Christ’s sacrifice — the past-tense ‘was slain’ memorial of his crucifixion in this world — front and centre for eternity.  Well, here’s the quote. Let’s put Isaiah 65:17 right in front of us so that we can be specific. God is speaking: Behold, I create new heavens  and a new earth,  and the former things shall not be remembered  or come to mind. Does that mean a complete memory wipe — like, I assum...

We live in a world of pain, anguish, and torment, even though we only get glimpses of it—unless perhaps we work as a counselor or in emergency services. All around us are people in silent pain because of something in their nagging past, their anguishing present, or their dreaded future. Depression is no respecter of persons . Even one’s philosophical or religious views don’t seem to offer either immunity or susceptibility. Neither can depression be blamed on the modern technological age. Novelist William Stryon (1925–2006) called depression “a dreadful and raging disease” and likened it to “a veritable howling tempest in the brain.” He gives a conservative estimate that one in 10 Americans will suffer from it. Nobody is safe from depression—not even from “major depressive disorder,” the diagnosis I saw on my paperwork. What I Have Discovered I’m sure my feelings weren’t like those of every depressed person, but I know they weren’t unique. Fortunately, depression usually doesn’t strike ...

One of the main reasons why many people don’t share the Gospel is because they are afraid that if they do, they will ruin their relationship with that person. They enjoy their friendship, and they think that if they tell them the truth, they will no longer have the same type of relationship as before. Or perhaps they feel like it just isn’t time yet to open up and share the Gospel, and don’t want to burn the bridges for later on when that person might be a little more ready and willing to listen. I know that every situation is different and that it takes a lot of wisdom, but generally speaking, I think that Christians wait too long to share the Gospel with loved ones. I want to encourage you to consider the following points to see if these are reasons why you haven’t pulled the trigger yet, and if they are, I encourage you to overcome your fear and to obey Christ by sharing Him with your friend. You’re not guaranteed tomorrow There is a presumption in thinking that a pers...

“Henceforth I call you not servants ; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.” ( John  15:15 )   Some things in Scripture are harder to understand and believe than others. Christ , the Sovereign Creator of all things, the offended Judge who declared the penalty for sin to be death, the One who willingly died to pay that penalty and redeem us from bondage to sin, now calls us His friends. Certainly we would like to consider Him our friend; but are we really His friends? If He were telling someone about His friends, would He include us? Somehow this seems too much—too good to be true; but He insists it is.   Actually, Christ said, “Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you” ( John  15:16 ). We are His friends by conscious choice on His part, even though He knows more about our inward nature than we will admit to ourselves. He has demonstrated ...

Have you ever been shocked to life by the words of a friend? Recently, I was working out with a friend when I shared that my prayer life was dry, time alone with God was sparse, and my soul felt withered. After listening kindly to my half-hearted excuses, he paused our workout, turned to me and said, “Bro, I love you, but that’s unacceptable. People look to you. You need to be looking to Christ — it’s not optional.” Unacceptable. After the initial assault on my pride, a wave of gratitude and relief washed over me. Finally, the truth I had been evading — the God I had been evading — caught me. God used a friend’s honesty to awaken me from spiritual slumber. Wounds of a Friend When we think of friends, we often think of the people who we naturally like, who like us, and who like the same things we like. We hope for friends who will encourage us, comfort us, and support us — but what about praying for friends who are willing to wound us? Faithful are  the wounds o...

Therefore, my beloved brethren whom I long to see, my joy and crown, in this way stand firm in the Lord, my beloved.– Philippians 4:1 By examining each term of endearment that Paul lists in Philippians 4:1 - he describes his relationship to the believers in the church of Philippi uniquely. By looking at this example, we are enriching our understanding of the true nature of the fellowship which fellow believers enjoy with one another. We are borthers and sisters —marked by a unique, objective, familial bond as a result of our union with Christ. And we’ve seen that we are not merely totolerate our brothers and sisters, but to love them . A third term of endearment that teaches us much about the nature of Christian fellowship is best translated as a longer phrase: those whom I long for. The Greek word, here, is epipóthetoi, a very strong word that is found nowhere else in the New Testament in this precise form. It derives from the verb epipothéo, which speaks of intense longing or ...

Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. (Hebrews 10:19–22) The writer to the Hebrews commands us to draw near to God. This letter exhorts us to persevere, and this profound call to draw near to God is right at the heart. In the midst of difficulty and temptation, we’re told to come closer. To move in. To draw near. This command to draw near might be summarized as a summons to live in a rich God-accomplished relationship with God. Rich — And Accomplished by God It’s a rich relationship, not a mechanical one. It requires a “true heart in full assurance of faith.” This is a full and rich and satisfying relationship — one tha...