Dr Paul Allen

Is anything impossible with God? In arguably one of the best and most famous movies of my generation, The Princess Bride, Vizzini, a highly intelligent yet proud Sicilian mastermind, argues with Westley, the hero, that the idea of Westley beating Vizzini at a battle of the wits is utterly “inconceivable,” especially when death is on the line. After a clever game of deception, Westley does indeed beat Vizzini by having trained his body to resist the effects of a poisonous powder—to which the Sicilian mastermind unwittingly succumbs. By the end of the movie, Westley rescues his bride and, on more than one occasion, tricks death for the sake of “true love.” Our story in Hebrews 11:11–12 is a beautiful and tender one. It is also filled with poetic irony and “true love.” Sarah, by faith, conceives a child (Isaac, whose name poetically means “laughter”). What is truly “inconceivable” is the fact that when Sarah conceives Isaac, she is an old woman. The way of women had ceased to be with her ...

Is anything impossible with God? In the book of Hebrews 11:11–12 is a beautiful and tender one. It is also filled with poetic irony and “true love.” Sarah, by faith, conceives a child (Isaac, whose name poetically means “laughter”). What is truly “inconceivable” is the fact that when Sarah conceives Isaac, she is an old woman. The way of women had ceased to be with her (Gen. 18:11). If that were not enough to startle us, Abraham himself is one hundred years old when he and Sarah conceive Isaac together (21:5). This is truly inconceivable. But again, is anything impossible with God? Of course, God can do whatever He pleases, as long as it does not contradict His righteous nature. Yet the narrative sets a curious stage. In Genesis 12, God began to promise Abraham children. He echoed that promise in Genesis 15 and 17, yet it is not until many years later that Isaac was born to Abraham and Sarah. In the intermittent years, during a lonely stage of barrenness, Abraham and Sarah’s faith w...

We have much more than a friend in Jesus. In all of our talk about having a real, authentic, down-to-earth relationship with God, we’ve traded the almighty, sovereign, intervening Creator of the universe for a companion to chat with about life’s joys and challenges. We don’t really expect him to show up and change anything; we just hope he’ll keep us company along the way. Because we’re tempted to fall back into small, domesticated views of God and into small, short-sighted prayers, God wrote a Book. He gave us words to inject us again with wonder in the midst of the mundane, and in the face of the unique challenges in each of our lives. These [things] are written so that you may  believe  that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing  you may have life  in his name” (John  20:31 ). God has spoken, in the Gospel of John and everywhere else in Scripture, so that we would  believe , and so that we would be prepared to face an...