Dr Paul Allen

God is always at work in this world in everybody’s life. “He works all things according to the counsel of his will” (Ephesians 1:11). And when we come to Christ, we are given a perspective on that prior work that is true and helpful. It is a cause for thankfulness in us, and it’s a cause for the benefit to others. In other words, we experience it as worship, and we experience it, hopefully, as witnesses. Double Brightness Before we turn to Christ, there is, so to speak, a veil over our eyes so that we can’t interpret what’s happening in our lives in its proper relationship to God before we’re Christians. In a profound sense, we are blind to what God is doing in our lives. So we can’t tell any true stories about God’s work in our lives before our eyes are open to see what he’s really doing in our lives. But when we come to Christ, the veil is lifted, and we see our past life for what it really is, both in its darkness and in the bright light of God’s work in it. So here’s the text that ...

What kept the children of Israel out of the promised land after being miraculously delivered from Egypt ? It was a spirit of rebellion, which was fueled by an attitude of unbelief, which in turn was fueled by a persistent habit of grumbling and complaining. And so, one whole generation of Israelites wandered aimlessly in the desert for 40 years because, rather than being worshipful and thankful, they chose instead to grumble and complain. Can we learn from their mistakes? A Pattern of Complaining Looking back to the book of Numbers , we see this pattern unfold clearly in the space of four chapters. In Numbers 11 the children of Israel grumble and complain about the food the Lord was supplying for them. In Numbers 12 , Aaron and Miriam grumble and complain about the woman their brother Moses married. In Numbers 13 , 10 of the 12 Israelite leaders come back from spying out the promised land full of unbelief and fear. (For the record, can you remember any of the names of the 10 ...

When’s the last time you spontaneously stopped, turned your attention heavenward, and said, “ Thank you”? Songwriter Andrew Peterson has a song that explores a similar question. The song catalogs some of life’s good gifts — the sunrise, beauty, springtime, children, love, forgiveness — and asks, “Don’t you want to thank someone for this?” Of course we  want  to. But whether we do it or not is another matter. Peterson is perceptive. There are always a hundred reasons and more to be grateful. Yet we often focus on reasons  not  to be grateful. So instead of being defined by gratitude, God’s people give way to grumbling, and our thoughts and words are as discontent as our surrounding unbelieving world. What we need is a regularly scheduled restoration of our priorities. Thankfully, Sunday morning comes once a week. Fuel for Gratitude A loss of gratitude is a loss of sight. You know the feeling: you can’t see past today or beyond yourself, and the ...