Dr Paul Allen

FLABBY CHRISTIANS > NOT PHYSICAL BUT SPIRITUAL! I agree that often Christians in the West are immature. I agree our walk doesn’t always match our talk. But I also think the average Christian is about 3000 bible verses overweight. The way many leaders approach maturity is to assume that knowledge produces maturity. Since when? It’s wonderful that people understand what they believe, but knowledge in and of itself is not a hallmark of Christian maturity. As Paul says, knowledge puffs up. Love, by contrast, builds up. And some of the most biblically literate people in Jesus day got by-passed as disciples. The goal is not to know, but to do something with what you know.  I wrote more on why our definition of Christian maturity needs to change here. 7 TRUTHS ABOUT AUTHENTIC DISCIPLESHIP Here are seven things I believe are true about biblical discipleship church leaders today should reclaim: 1.  Jesus Commanded Us To Make Disciples, Not Be Disciples. The way many Christians talk,...

Adulthood is not just a function of age—it is an achievement. Throughout human history, young people have aspired to achieve adulthood and have worked hard to get there. The three nearly universal marks of adulthood in human societies include marriage, financial independence, and readiness for parenthood. Now, the very concept of adulthood is in jeopardy. Study after study reveals that young people are achieving adulthood, if at all, far later than previous generations now living. The average age of marriage for young - fifty years ago was in the very early twenties. Now, it is trending closer to age thirty. Why is this important to us all? A stable and functional culture requires the establishment of stable marriages and the nurturing of families. Without a healthy marriage and family life as foundation, no lasting and healthy community can long survive. Clearly, our own society reveals the delay of marriage and its consequences, but we are hardly alone. Many European nations ...