Dr Paul Allen

A vibrant prayer life is possible for you. I know it may not seem this way, but the whole thing is rigged for triumph. That doesn’t mean that prayer will be easy or comfortable. It won’t. In fact, we should prepare for the long, slow haul of discomfort, confusion, and frustration, laced with joy, love, stability, and wholeness.  There aren’t a few techniques merely to pick up so that next week the struggle for prayer will be over. Instead, there are realities that we need to grasp that lead to pathways (rather than techniques) toward intimacy with God.  These realities—like the incarnation of Christ, our participation in Christ’s exalted status, and his participation in our troubled and lowly place—rearrange how we think about ourselves, God, and the world around us. This often means unlearning lies about ourselves, God, and the world that have shaped how we’ve lived and made decisions so far. That will take time because it’s not merely changing our minds or our perspectives b...

Keith A. Mathison Why in the world should I care about theology?  All I need is the Bible.  I can follow Jesus without having to learn all kinds of obscure words. Have you ever heard another Christian say something like these statements? Have you ever said something like that yourself? Ever thought of such things? If so, you’re not alone.  The vast majority of professing Christians have little to no interest in theology. In the minds of many Christians, there is no necessary connection between theology and their everyday Christian life. Theology, they believe, is irrelevant. The disconnect between theology and the church and between theology and the Christian has had disastrous results. One need only look at recent polls examining the level of theological knowledge among professing Christians to know that something has gone awry.  When large numbers of professing Christians start telling their friends and family, “You just have to read The Shack! I learned so much ab...

Why has Christianity grown so weak? It’s because of sin, and especially one in particular. Not the sin you’re probably thinking of, though. It's one you may never have thought was a sin. There’s nothing even slightly hidden about this instruction in the Bible. It’s the most frequently taught theme in the whole New Testament. It’s in the Great Commandment. Disobedience to it earned one group the most stinging rebuke in all the New Testament epistles. The Church as a whole is disobeying it right and left, yet totally oblivious to it. What is this long-forgotten sin? Intellectual laziness. It’s the failure to keep learning. To keep growing in knowledge. To pursue God with all our minds. And I’ll bet you never thought of that as sin. But it is. Yes, We’re Lazy The Church is definitely lazy. We’re not learners. We’re not disciples. (The word means “student.”) Most of our sermons are mere reminders of what we already knew, and besides, that, who remembers on Tuesday what the preacher sai...