The Bible Story Family

  A grateful “thank you” to all who have prayed for, encouraged and followed the saga of my first novel, Sunday In New York . The book is now available, on a limited basis, prior to official release on October 1. To order a copy, send $11.95 to Robert Allen, PO Box 28342, Minneapolis, MN 55428-3551. During this time I will pay the postage (domestic only). If you are nearby and the book does not have to be mailed, you can obtain it for a sale price of $10.00. CROSSLINK Publishers reminds me often that the best advertising comes from word of mouth. When you have your copy of Sunday In New York, please consider helping me in the following ways. --Post a picture of yourself with the book on social media (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Parler, etc.) --Personally recommend the book to ten friends. --After the official publication date, when the book is available through catalog orders and on Amazon, post a brief review on Amazon (even a couple words would be great.) Above all, e

  CREATIVE ADOPTION One of the beautiful pictures of salvation in the New Testament is that of adoption (Ephesians 1:5). We have been accepted into God’s family by faith in Christ. We have a new Father. We enjoy a new heritage, having become “partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light” (Col. 1:12). We have a new name, a new future, and a new family. It was our privilege to be part of an earthly illustration of that heavenly truth this week. Lucas Josiah Allen stood before a judge in Lincoln, Nebraska, and was declared legally to be a member of the family of Kent and Dorinda Allen. He became our fourteenth grandchild.   The judge asked if he would be granted all the rights and privileges of those born into the family, to which we all agreed. Kent and Dorinda were asked if they felt this was in his best interest, to which they responded with a resounding yes. They were asked why they wanted to adopt and told the judge they wanted him to be part of their family. Part of a

  When Mark Twain wrote about being as nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs, the phrase sparkled with originality. Repetition has reduced the one squeaky chair which remains until it poses no threat to even a roomful of cats. Good writers self-edit their manuscripts in order to eliminate corroded clichés. Only poorly written Westerns still have cowboys who raise Cain, dodge bullets and bite the dust. The result becomes a long cattle drive of tired phrases presided over by thread-bare Wranglers. Even our theology can become corroded by tired clichés. When a preacher spouts a familiar phrase and we react with an internal amen, it may cause us to quit thinking. He says “God is good—all the time” and the familiarity of that phrase turns off our mental filters so that we accept everything else he says without discernment. Don’t let your theology be reduced to a printed T-shirt slogan. God is good all the time doesn’t mean life is good all the time. God i