Dr Paul Allen

  PLAYING CHURCH OR FOLLOWING JESUS? “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it?”  (Luke 14:26–28) Following Jesus means a shift in priorities. He becomes first so that when it comes down to either-or rather than both-and, we choose Jesus. And making that choice beautifies us in God’s eyes. The call to follow Jesus is radical, and it might very well lead us down lonely paths. Are we willing to follow his call even if it means loss and the loneliness that springs from it? If we don’t consider all this beforehand, we are likely to turn back when the going gets rough. That’s why Jesus warned would-be followers to count the cost before starting out (Luke 14:...

Spiritual failure at this level — among those who love the world and thus abandon Christ for it — injects tremendous pain into families, into marriages, into friendships, into local-church communities, and into the ministries, these people leave behind. 1. Paul writes, “Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica” (2 Timothy 4:10). I think Demas was once a faithful partner because, over in Colossians, Paul says, “Luke the beloved physician greets you, as does Demas” (Colossians 4:14). And now he’s gone and he’s forsaken, Paul. That’s number one. 2. Just being alone in the ministry, not just forsaken, can be a trial. Paul says, “Crescens has gone to Galatia” (2 Timothy 4:10). I don’t think that means he forsook Paul. I just think there were some ministry things that Paul wanted him to do. “Crescens has gone to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia. Luke alone is with me” (2 Timothy 4:10–11). So once upon a time, there was quite a team here. And now it’s just ...

In one of the most dramatic scenes in all of the Bible, Pilate the political leader and Jesus Christ are face-to-face. Having been falsely accused and wrongly arrested, Jesus was in custody and treated like a criminal. As the men spoke, Jesus makes this curious comment in John 19:11, “Therefore he who delivered me over to you has the greater sin.” What in the world does Jesus mean by this? On one hand, all sin is equally sin. When caught in sin, sinners are apt to excuse themselves by comparing themselves to someone else whose behavior is worse. The goal, of course, is to make ourselves look better. But, God does not see a spectrum of people from good to bad.  Instead, God has two categories of people – perfect and imperfect, “You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:48). This is because obedience to God’s Law is not graded on a curve but rather a pass/fail scale where perfection is a passing grade and anything else is a failing grade: “wh...