Dr Paul Allen

Inside American evangelicalism is a paradox: many of the most respected leaders use their influence to steer denominations and institutions in a direction that is significantly more liberal than the people those leaders ostensibly represent. There is no shortage of examples of this. Congregations who would reject critical race theory have CRT spoon-fed to them by their leaders. While those in the pew eschew the LGBTQ+ movement, some of the most influential evangelical pastors in the country are exposing their congregations to “affirming” curricula.  The ERLC provides a great illustration of this paradox. While the government closed churches and banned singing during COVID, the “religious liberty commission” of the Southern Baptist Convention commended court rulings siding with the government, which directly opposed the ERLC’s supposed mission and the will of many Southern Baptists. The Daily Wire’s Megan Basham wants us to know that it is not a coincidence that church leaders use t...

Imagine a hypothetical scenario: It’s the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, and an opportunity emerges for the terrorists of Hamas to attack the heartland of Israel. Would they refrain from launching the attack to observe their holy month? Now, move from the hypothetical scenario back to reality. As the Israel-Hamas war continues, many politicians and media pundits have come together in a concerted effort to pressure Israel for a cease-fire in Gaza during Ramadan. Why exactly? It is a holy month for Muslims, we are told, so Israel must stop its military operation. The fanciful pattern is now predictable. A politician or a celebrity issues a demand and posts it on social media to millions of keyboard “followers,” who then repost and simply repeat the demand without the least intellectual effort to fathom its core. One may understand a push for a cease-fire for humanitarian reasons or tactical military needs. Still, this call for a cease-fire is directly linked to the advent of a Muslim rel...

When a wolf looks at sheep, what does he see? Food. His motivation for getting close to sheep is not to care for their needs or protect them from danger; it’s to feed on them. But in order to get close to sheep, a wolf employs deceptive tactics to keep the sheep from discerning his dangerous presence before he can achieve his aims. That’s why Paul called false teachers in the church “fierce wolves” who don’t spare the flock (Acts 20:29), a metaphor he likely adapted from Jesus, who described false prophets as leaders “who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves” (Matthew 7:15). What makes these leaders false is not merely that they teach false doctrines, but that they have false aims. Their aim is not “love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith” (1 Timothy 1:5) but something else. It’s an aim they hide from the sheep, an aim that causes them to view the sheep as a means of satisfying some ungodly appetite. Jesus, switching to a...

How did Jesus walk on water? How did he feed five thousand with five loaves and two fish? How did he raise Lazarus from the dead? Unless we have been carefully taught, many Christians would be quick to say simply, Because he is God! And he truly is. But is that how the New Testament answers these questions? If we follow the emphasis of the Gospels, we might say that what Jesus’s miracles show is that he is God, but how he, as man, performs these wonders, is not quite as simple as we may assume. In particular, what are we to say about the many texts that testify to the Holy Spirit’s presence in the human life of Christ? Did Christ, in His humanity, actually need the Holy Spirit if he performed such signs simply by virtue of his divinity? When we recognize the surprisingly recurrent theme of the divine Spirit’s relationship to the divine Son in his humanity, we might understand Jesus (and the Gospels) better, and freshly marvel at what grace Christ offers us in the gift of his Spirit. Je...

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 ...

How do your pastors handle their power? That’s right, their power. Does that make you cringe to think about pastors having power? If so, it’s understandable. When we talk about power today, we do so in a particular social climate. Even ordinary folks, unfamiliar with foreign names like Nietzsche and Foucault, have caught the drift, and the negative connotations of power. This is why it might sound jarring in many ears to hear about pastoral power. Power, however, rightly defined, is first a gift and blessing from God, not an evil to be avoided. Power, writes, Andy Crouch, is “our ability to make something of the world” in fulfillment of the charge God gave our race to be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion (Playing God: Redeeming the Gift of Power, 17). To be human is to have power. With brains and hands, minds and muscles — and a voice — God enables us to fulfill his call, and increases our power as we exercise it effectively, especially as we con...

On at least four occasions (arguably five) Luke describes, with a form of the verb pimplēmi, people who have already received the Holy Spirit as being “filled” with the Spirit . Each time this verb is employed to describe someone being “filled with the Spirit,” extraordinary things follow —an inspired proclamation of the Gospel (2:4; 4:8, 31), restoration of sight and subsequent proclamation (9:17), or authoritative denunciation (13:9–11).49 Whereas the phrase “full of the Spirit,” using plērēs/plēroō, is generally used to characterize a believer’s lifestyle , Luke’s use of the verb pimplēmi to describe a filling is reserved for temporary bursts of the Spirit’s power. Other instances of pimplēmi in Acts demonstrate the temporary nature of “fillings” described with this verb. In response to the healing of the lame man, all the people are “filled with wonder and amazement” (3:10). In response to the immense success and influence of the apostles (5:12–16), the high priest and S...

Paul’s next statement could be called the thesis statement of the epistle: “I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes” (Rom. 1:16). That is one of the most potent, penetrating statements in all the New Testament. Paul equates the gospel itself with God’s almighty power! No wonder he says he is not ashamed of the gospel. The rest of the epistle is an exposition of this one statement, unfolding in brilliant detail the truth of the gospel and showing why it is so powerful. That’s why Romans takes such a prominent place among the Pauline epistles. Paul was so committed to the gospel that occasionally he referred to it as “my gospel” (Rom. 2:16; 16:25; 2 Tim. 2:8). Far from being ashamed of it, he spoke of it as if it were his own prized possession! But as Paul well knew, the cost of standing up for the gospel could be great. Consequently, too many Christians did behave as if they were ashamed of the gospel. Mockery was a...

I think the greatest weakness in the church today is that almost no one believes that God invests His power in the Bible. Everyone is looking for power in a program, in a technique, in anything and everything except where God has placed it: His Word.” He was right. Truth is the fundamental principle of any consistent attempt to navigate the world. What is true? By what authority? How can we tell? These are absolutely foundational questions. God’s answer to these questions is that truth is whatever conforms to His own mind. And He has revealed His mind to His creatures in the 66 books of the Old and New Testaments. Scripture is the sole infallible authority for all matters which it addresses.

“For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” ( 2 Timothy 1:7 ) The gift spoken of in the previous verse is based on a transfer of authority from God, and we are exhorted to “stir up” that gift ( 2 Timothy 1:6 ) because God did not give us a “spirit of fear.” The word fear (deilia) stresses timidity or cowardice, not terror. The gift does not function well if we are too timid to use it. The gift referred to is not power. That spiritual gift comes with dunamis—the innate ability to do the gift. Whatever the Holy Spirit has gifted us with upon our entrance into the Kingdom ( 1 Corinthians 12:11 ), that gift comes with the power necessary to implement and use that gift. The gift also comes with love. Again, love is not the gift. It is only part of the fruit of the Holy Spirit that comes with the gift. Were it not for the reflection in us of the unilateral and sacrificial love of our Redeemer, these supernatural gifts could well be misus...

In 1 Kings 11, the Bible does not depict Solomon as the sort of person to advise you on love and marriage. Author: Iain Duguid “The Bible does not depict Solomon as the sort of person to whom you should be going for relationship advice.” Solomon had deep patterns of sin and failure in his life — perhaps especially in the realm of his sexuality. Deuteronomy 17:17 forbade the king from multiplying wives, lest they turn his heart away from the Lord . Yet Solomon acquired no fewer than one thousand wives and concubines ( 1 Kings 11:3 ). In the ancient world, polygamy was a way to flaunt your wealth, ensure many offspring, and cement strategic alliances. On a human level, those reasons seemed wise, designed to give security to the royal house. But acquiring one thousand lovers is a sign of a heart determined to be self-sufficient and independent of God . A Flaming Fire Solomon paid a heavy price for ignoring what God had said in favor of human wisdom. Like Solomon, we ...

For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. 2 Timothy 1:7 NJKV Although the NIV ’s translation of “spirit” in this verse with a lower case s is possible (since the definite article is absent in Greek) and follows the traditional English versions (NKJV, RSV ), it is most highly improbable and quite misses both the relationship of this sentence to verse 6 as well as Paul ’s own usage and theology elsewhere.  That Paul is referring not to some “spirit” (or attitude) that God has given us (him and Timothy, but ultimately all other believers who must equally persevere in the face of hardship), but to the Holy Spirit of God is made certain by several items:  (a) the explanatory for that begins this sentence gives it the closest possible tie to verse 6;  (b) the close relationship between charisma (“gift,” v. 6) and the Spirit (v. 7) is thoroughly Pauline (1 Tim. 4:14);  (c) the words power and love are espec...

“And they were astonished at his doctrine: for his word was with power.” ( Luke  4:32 )   God’s words, whether spoken by Jesus or written in Scripture, are indeed full of power, and it is noteworthy how many and varied are the physical analogies used to characterize and emphasize its power.   For example, consider  Jeremiah  23:29 . “Is not my word like as a fire? saith the LORD; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?” The fire analogy is also stressed in  Jeremiah 20:9 , when the prophet became weary of the negative reaction against his preaching: “Then I said, I will not . . . speak any more in his name. But his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay.”   God’s Word is also called a sharp sword wielded by the Holy Spirit. As part of the Christian’s spiritual armor, we are exhorted to take “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” ( Ephesian...