Scholarship • Serving • Ministry – Ian Paul
(continued from the previous post here) Fourth, as we move from the united kingdom to the return from exile, the prophet Zechariah reinforces this perspective. Many people know the verse from Zechariah 4.6: ‘Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit’ says the Lord. But what is not always realised is that the re-establishment …
Events of recent weeks offer a serious challenge to our thinking about God and conflict. The video released by the ISIS group of militant Sunni Muslims fighting in Iraq included an British Muslim from Cardiff urging others to join him. In the video he makes three claims: that jihad (understood by some Muslims as a spiritual struggle) …
I recently came across a fascinating essay by George Orwell from 1946 on ‘Politics and the English Language.’ Orwell was such a remarkable character, with such insight, that anything he wrote is worth looking at. One of the most important things I did in my whole time in school was to have to read Animal Farm …
I have written a Grove booklet on Same-sex Unions: the key biblical texts which is available from the Grove website. It explores, briefly, all the main biblical texts in the Old and New Testaments which come up in the debate on the issue. Here is the chapter on the gospels and Acts. The material in the gospels …
I recently wrote about hidden codes in Tom Wright‘s latest tome and similar patterns in the New Testament. In the former, this took the form of a acrostic code, using the letters of the text, and in the latter took the form of numerical features of the text. In the comments, there developed an interesting …
Last week the Evangelical Alliance discontinued the membership of Oasis Trust, headed up by Steve Chalke. After many months of prayerful discussion, the Evangelical Alliance council concluded that a relationship between an organisation and one of its members in which the member felt it could not comply with a reasonable request from council, was not …
Last Saturday, with some misgivings, I gave in and went to see Noah with my 13-year-old daughter. Some commentators have noted that it is a dark film, but perhaps I was concentrated too much on analysing it to take that in. In fact, overall I found it an enjoyable film, with some stunning acting, and …
To my dear reader: I wonder if I could tempt you to reach for your copy of Paul and the Faithfulness of God by Tom Wright. (Don’t worry—just let that door close.) Turn with me, if you will, to page 1032, section (j) entitled ‘What then about Torah?’. Make a note of the first letter of …
I recently gave a short talk to the Nottingham Theology Network, part of UCCF’s work with students, on the question of tolerance. Having wondered how much I knew about the subject, I came to realise that it touches on some central issues of faith and mission. Here are my assorted reflections. First, it is interesting …
What would you say is the single most important thing in preaching—either as the person preaching or as someone who listens? I guess many people would suggest clarity of delivery, or humour, or connecting with the congregation, or being based in Scripture. All of these are of great importance, though of course all are open …
The Daniel Plan is the latest best-selling 40-day plan from the spiritual guru and one-man publishing phenomenon that is Rick Warren. Naturally, it comes with a book, a journal and of course a website. Without getting too cynical about the juggernaut of the US Christian publishing industry, I have to say that there are some …
