Dr Paul Allen

Sometimes the pain in our lives is so intense that we can barely breathe. It doesn't feel like we deserve the pain (and perhaps we don't), and it is unjust for God to allow us to walk through the darkness. One of the worst things that someone can say at that time is to quote Romans 8:28, so before those times come we need to decide whether or not God is all good all the time, and whether or not he works in all things for good. There is so much pain in this world, pain that far exceeds my own. Adult survivors of abuse — sexual, physical, emotional. I remember a single mom in our church trying desperately to find a family to adopt her three children before she died of cancer. But pain is our teacher, and I slowly learned the meaning of Romans 8:28–30. “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the fi...

498 years ago tomorrow, on October 31, 1517, Martin Luther famously nailed his 95 Theses to the Castle Church door in Wittenberg, Germany, kick-starting the Protestant Reformation. Nearly 500 years later, God’s people reserve this day to celebrate the rescue of His Word from the shackles of Roman Catholic tyranny, corruption, and heresy. The glorious Gospel of Jesus Christ as revealed in the sufficient Scriptures had been recovered, and it’s been doing its saving work ever since. Romans 1:16–17 stands at the heart of the Reformation, especially because of how central it was in Luther’s conversion . Luther speaks of how he had hated the phrase, “the righteousness of God,” because he understood it to be speaking only of God’s standard of righteousness by which He would judge unrighteous sinners. But eventually, he says, “I began to understand that the righteousness of God is that through which the righteous live by a gift of God, namely by faith. Here I felt as if I were entirely bo...

Modeling.  The first and most important element of your game plan is to  model the life that you want to export to others . A good way to think about this is by answering the following questions: What do you want your spouse to be? What do you want your children to be? How is your example helping them to become what you want them to be? One of the most common critiques from children, who do not walk in the faith of their parents, is how the faith of their parents was not clear and consistent representation of Jesus. If you want to kill your marriage  and your family, the easiest way to do this is to live a dualistic life. It doesn’t matter how smart you are or how successful you are, it’s your authentic life, good or bad, that will have the greatest impact on your family’s lives. If your goal is for your spouse and children to walk in holiness, then you must lead them by a clear, pure, authentic, and practical example. Whether you’re are the husband or ...

Definitions are simply descriptions of the way people use words. Words don’t have intrinsic definitions. They are given definitions by the way people use them. When I say I want to define joy for you, I am asking whose joy are we talking about, or what use of the word are we talk-ing about? I mean joy as the apostle Paul uses it in his letters, and particularly in the book of Philippians. I am not just asking about the meaning of joy in general. I am talking about Christian joy, as Paul the apostle describes it. So let me give you my definition, and then take it apart one piece at a time. Christian joy is a good feeling in the soul, produced by the Holy Spirit, as he causes us to see the beauty of Christ in the Word and in the world. A Good Feeling Christian joy is a good feeling. By that, I mean it is not an idea. It is not a conviction. It is not a persuasion, or a decision. It is a feeling. Or — I use the words interchangeably here — an emotion. One of the marks of the differenc...

Christ the Saviour (Pantokrator), a 6th-century encaustic icon from Saint Catherine's Monastery, Mount Sinai. NB - slightly cut down - for full size see here (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) “When therefore I have completed this and have delivered to them what has been collected, I will leave for Spain by way of you. I know that when I come to you I will come in the fullness of the blessing of Christ .”- Romans 15:28-29 In Romans 15:25-27 , we learn that Paul saw the collection of monies from Gentile Christians to provide for the Jerusalem church in its material poverty as an act of theological significance demonstrating the unity of the church universal. By giving to the Jewish Christians in Jerusalem, the Gentiles would be acknowledging their reliance on the Jewish nation for the spiritual blessing of salvation in Christ.  After all, Jesus was Jewish and Jewish Apostles were the first to bring the gospel to the Gentiles. We should not miss, however, that in receiving the ...