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Acts

Resurrection changes the world

January 28, 2019January 23, 2019 by Ian Paul

This is the third instalment of my notes written for BRF Guidelines Bible reading notes which have just come out and lead up to the Easter season. You can read the first instalment (…’creates a transformed community’) here and the second instalment (‘…the fulfilment of God’s promises’) here. If you are not encouraging those in your … Continue Reading

Categories Psephizo61 Comments

Resurrection is the fulfilment of God’s promises

January 28, 2019January 21, 2019 by Ian Paul

With the controversy about whether Jesus’ resurrection was bodily last week, it seems appropriate to continue to reflect on the meaning of the resurrection in Luke’s account of the early church in Acts. This is the second instalment of my notes written for BRF Guidelines Bible reading notes which have just come out and lead up … Continue Reading

Categories Psephizo9 Comments

Resurrection creates a transformed community

January 8, 2019January 7, 2019 by Ian Paul

You might be recoiling in horror at sight of Easter eggs already in the shop, knowing as you do that the Christmas season does not cease until Candlemas on February 3rd—and you might be shocked that, in apparently similar vein, I am already looking forward to Easter. The theological justification is that Easter is actually … Continue Reading

Categories Biblical Studies2 Comments

Is this the solution to our missional challenge?

October 5, 2018October 4, 2018 by Ian Paul

At the last Archbishops’ Council, I was rather startled to come across a slide in a presentation on some background issues about funding and mission. The slide offered an analysis of the proportion of the population attending Church of England churches against another factor (whose label I have, for the moment, removed), and there was … Continue Reading

Categories Life & Ministry65 Comments

Should we proclaim that ‘God is love’?

June 7, 2018June 4, 2018 by Ian Paul

If you had to sum up the core message that we had to proclaim in one idea, what would it be? My feeling is that, reflecting on things I have read and conversations that I have been involved in, there is a pretty strong consensus amongst Christians and Christian leaders in the UK at the … Continue Reading

Categories Biblical Studies, Life & Ministry51 Comments

What should we expect from God during Pentecost?

May 22, 2018May 21, 2018 by Ian Paul

One of our favourite family films was the 2004 cartoon The Incredibles—so we are very excited the the sequel is coming along this summer. In the original, Mr Incredible and his wife Elastigirl have been superheroes, but all the superheroes have fallen out of favour, and had to go into hiding, taking ordinary jobs and … Continue Reading

Categories Life & Ministry4 Comments

The dynamism of Pentecost

June 1, 2017June 2, 2017 by Ian Paul

Coming once again to the New Testament texts about Pentecost, I have been struck by the extraordinary dynamism which seems to be present in every aspect. In the gospels, Jesus is the dynamic focus of action—constantly on the move physically as a way of expressing the dynamic presence and movement of God in his ministry—and … Continue Reading

Categories Biblical Studies, Preaching4 Comments

Using images well in preaching

December 5, 2016November 30, 2016 by Ian Paul

Many churches these days have digital projection and a screen—so the question is, how to use this well in preaching? Many people use it to put up words, perhaps setting out the points they are making. This has some value, because it enables listeners to see and understand the shape and flow of what you … Continue Reading

Categories Preaching12 Comments

(How) does Acts 15 help us with difficult decisions?

August 24, 2016August 18, 2016 by Ian Paul

The account of the Council of Jerusalem in Acts 15 has been drawn on in a range of situations where Christians have argued for a radical change in our understanding of the church and salvation. It comes up frequently in the current debate on sexuality, but was cited by Dick France, late Principal of Wycliffe … Continue Reading

Categories Biblical Studies10 Comments

The movements of Pentecost

May 16, 2016May 14, 2016 by Ian Paul

Coming once again to the New Testament texts about Pentecost, I have been struck by the extraordinary dynamism which seems to be present in every aspect. In the gospels, Jesus is the dynamic focus of action—constantly on the move physically as a way of expressing the dynamic presence and movement of God in his ministry—and … Continue Reading

Categories Biblical Studies, Preaching2 Comments

Are the Acts of the Apostles examples for us to follow?

April 6, 2016April 4, 2016 by Ian Paul

One of the perennial questions about the nature of Acts is whether it is descriptive or prescriptive—that is, whether Luke is just telling us what happened, or whether he is telling us what happened so that we might imitate it for ourselves. In other words, is Acts a particular story about what God did, or is it also … Continue Reading

Categories Biblical Studies19 Comments
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Ian Paul

Ian Paul: theologian, author, speaker, academic consultant. Adjunct Professor, Fuller Theological Seminary; Associate Minister, St Nic's, Nottingham; Managing Editor, Grove Books; member of General Synod. Mac user; chocoholic. Tweets at @psephizo

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Recent Posts

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