Dr Paul Allen

Children, and, sadly, many adults have the idea that history is boring, far too full of dates and politics to be of any practical use. After all, what point is there to knowing about the Peloponnesian Wars or whether Christopher Columbus really discovered America first? What many of us miss in history is the people. Each of those historical figures lived their lives as we do: birth, growing up, career, death, and all with a mixture of joy and sadness. And each of those lives had an impact on the world around them. Some are lost in the mists of time, while others were the movers and shakers of world events. Those people and their stories are what history is all about. Learn about the people, and the stories of history come together. Having said all that, why do we have to introduce children to church history? Surely there are more important things they need to learn first. History can wait. But can it? As Christians, we have duty to our children to teach them about their heritage as par...

Saul’s destruction of the Amalekites in 1 Samuel 15 is a tough passage of Scripture. God commands Saul to destroy an entire city—women and children included—and rebukes Saul for showing mercy to some residents. Many have called this a “text of terror” that condones a massacre and depicts a genocidal God. While I have no desire to dodge this being a difficult passage, I do want to offer five observations that give a more nuanced understanding of what’s happening. 1. History of the Amalekites The Amalekites were not your friendly next-door neighbours. They’re depicted throughout the Bible as muggers preying on the vulnerable. In Exodus 17, they attack Israel—a defenceless nation of homeless, wandering slaves who’ve just left Egypt. In Numbers 14, they attack Israel in the wilderness again. In Deuteronomy 25:17–18, Israel is told, “Remember what the Amalekites did to you along the way when you came out of Egypt. When you were weary and worn out, they met you on your journey and attacked a...

I don't know how many times I've heard parents who are members of churches say to me: I intentionally never discuss theology or religion with my children, because I want them to believe whatever they come to believe honestly and not because they've been indoctrinated by us in the home. I don't want them to be slaves to a parental tradition. I want them to experience reality on its own terms and come to whatever conclusion they are drawn from the evidence. Such sentiments mystify me because they are at such odds with the teaching of Scripture. Just consider Deuteronomy 6:4–9: Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You...

The Legendary Teaching on Titus 1 :6 We have a huge problem in our churches: men who are clearly unqualified to serve as pastors. First Timothy 3 and Titus 1 both list the qualifications for being a pastor. And if someone does not meet these qualifications, it is improper and unbiblical for them to serve in this way. One verse in particular illustrates the dire situation our churches are in with these unqualified men leading them: “If anyone is above reproach, the husband of one wife, and his children are believers and not open to the charge of debauchery or insubordination” (Titus 1:6 ESV ). This verse has five requirements to be a pastor, but I want to focus on one: “his children are believers.”  Learn more at www.hopecollege.com This phrase automatically disqualifies anyone from being a pastor if they have a child who is not a Christian. Why would Paul say you can’t be a pastor if your children aren’t saved? Because pastors are supposed to lead by example. If you put a ma...

“And [David] said, While the child was yet alive, I fasted and wept: for I said, Who can tell whether GOD will be gracious to me, that the child may live? But now he is dead, wherefore should I fast? can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me.” ( 2 Samuel 12:22-23 ) The death of a loved one is always a time of great sorrow, but the death of a beloved child is perhaps the keenest sorrow of all. Nevertheless, for the Christian believer, we “sorrow not, even as others which have no hope” ( 1 Thessalonians 4:13 ). Our text verse makes it clear that, when a child dies (even one born of a sinful relationship such as this child of David and Bathsheba), that child goes to be with the Lord in heaven. Jesus said: “Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven” ( Matthew 19:14 ). Heaven is thus a place where there are many “little children.” Their inherited sin-nature never yet had generated acts of willf...