Dr Paul Allen

Grayson Gilbert It is little wonder why a verse like Romans 8:28 is a rally cry to many Christians. We consider Paul’s words, “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose,” and apply them through various instances of life to find encouragement.  Yet the richness of this verse goes well beyond merely the fact that God does indeed work all things to good for those who love God. The specific framework Paul works within in the context of chapter 8 is set in light of the glories that await us beyond this earth. In Romans 8:18-25, Paul speaks of the reality of human suffering in a broken and fallen world that is eagerly awaiting the redemption of all things through Christ. While presently, this life is fraught with many trials and tribulations, the sufferings we experience are to be counted as incomparable with the glories to come. We groan, we wail, we suffer—yet with much hope as we persevere t...

By Randy Alcorn I first posted about “the problem of goodness” on my blog 14 years ago, but it is still relevant to conversations I’m having today with others (nothing has changed other than that I am 14 years older!). People always talk about the problem of evil, and how it threatens the Christian worldview, but they almost never talk about the problem of goodness and how it threatens non-Christian worldviews, including the evolutionary framework, survival of the fittest, materialism, and naturalism. That people would sacrificially do great good for the benefit of others—who naturalism sees as weak links in the chain that deserve to cease to exist—is absolutely extraordinary and cries out for an explanation. —Randy While atheists routinely speak of the problem of evil, they usually don’t raise the problem of goodness. But if evil provides evidence against God, then shouldn’t goodness count as evidence for Him? And wouldn’t that be evidence against atheism?  From a non-theistic vie...

It is not uncommon to find Christians who are confused and discouraged by the times. When things are difficult, it is easy to ask why they are so hard. There may or may not be specific answers to this question, yet the Scriptures remind us that the people of God have in every season faced opposition—yet not without purpose. Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, in his commentary on Acts 6, said: The Church has had to fight for her life from the very beginning. We have seen how the apostles were arrested and thrown into prison, how they were threatened, how they were commanded to stop preaching. From the moment it was born, the church has faced a world that has done everything it could to exterminate Christianity. Although this perhaps tempts us to be more anxious than anchored, it reminds us that what we face is, in fact, not entirely unprecedented. It also causes us to look to the early church to see how they faced difficult circumstances and remained faithful. The life of Stephen, in particular, c...

  In this episode of Q&A, Michael Kruger addresses five questions from the Gen Z audience on biblical authority and inerrancy. He addresses: Reasons why the Bible is trustworthy (0:00) The meaning of the Bible’s inerrancy (3:27) The Bible does not contradict itself (5:15) Do parts of Old Testament law still apply today? (6:25) The canon of Scripture and how certain books were chosen (9:05) Relevancy and reliability of these ancient writings (12:55) Encouragement for those who still have questions (16:05)

It’s understandable why people can get confused, if not frustrated, with hard sayings of the Bible—a gap of a few thousand years separates the ancient biblical characters and events in the Bible and our lives today, and modern culture and context are dramatically different. This can make interpreting some parts of the Bible . . . tricky. How would you go with the questions below? Here are just a few questions you’ll find solid answers for: Is the creation account in Genesis 1 and 2 poetic, figurative, or historical? Did God favor Abel over Cain in Genesis 4:3–4? Was Hannah right to bargain with God in 1 Samuel 1:11? Was David right to take concubines? Did the pagan King Cyrus believe in the God of Israel? How can a God of love and mercy be categorized as one who hates? (Psa 5:5) Is astrology biblical? (Matt 2:1–2) What does it mean that God has bound all to disobedience? (Rom 11:32) Does Paul really mean women should never teach in 1 Timothy 2:11–12? Who is the “chosen lady” in 2 John ...

Though there is no scriptural evidence that members of the heavenly host know a person’s mind or thoughts the way God does, the question of whether angels can read minds is not as silly as it sounds. The question becomes reasonable in the context of angelic appearances in the mind or consciousness of people via dreams of visions. Such instances, which are obviously scriptural, can be parsed as angels having access to the consciousness of human beings. If they have such access, then (some would argue) they by definition have access to the thoughts already in a person’s mind. The absence of any scriptural explanation for how angels appear in dreams leaves us only with speculation. On one hand, we could presume that angels have access to information stored in a person’s brain or consciousness. There is no way to demonstrate that an idea like this is valid. On the other hand, we are on the same footing if we speculate that dreams are nothing more than transmissions of informatio...