Scholarship • Serving • Ministry – Ian Paul
The epistle for Trinity 19 in Year A is Phil 4.1–9. This reading follows on from the previous teaching about ‘having your citizenship in heaven’ and expounds what that means. But the passage starts with an extraordinary expression of Paul’s affection for his readers in Philippi, and concludes with a challenging expression of how he …
What does car design have to do with Christian faith? Actually quite a lot! Cars are designed to keep people safe when disaster strikes—and our faith should do the same. But to do so, we need to approach it in a particular way. There was a time when cars were build with rigid chassis which …
The lectionary readings for Easter 5 are 1 Peter 2.2-10 and John 14.1-14. In 1 Peter 2, we jump back to before last week’s reading (!) in order to line up with discussion about places to abide in John 14. This well-known passage is saturated with OT references, both implicit and explicit, which we need …
The lectionary epistle for Trinity 18 is 2 Timothy 3.14—4.5, perhaps the most theological dense passage of all Paul’s writings. He makes one of his clearest theological claims about the nature of Scripture, characteristically coining his own word to express this, and connects the truth of Scripture with salvation in Christ and spiritual maturity. And, …
The lectionary epistle for Trinity 6 is Colossians 2.6-15 (and the gospel is Luke 11.1–13, Jesus’ teaching on prayer). Paul continues to expand on the implications of who Jesus is for our discipleship. He draws strong parallels in his language with the Spirit in Ephesians 5, and deploys metaphors of plants, buildings, and athletes to …
Individual instruments playing on their own sound good—but there is nothing quite like the sound of a full orchestra to engage us. The same is true for our life as the church of God. Why would we keep young people in their own groups when we are intended to play together? In this interview, Gareth …
Andy Mason writes: Of course, as you get older in ministry you look back at where you’ve come from (I’m now 50). You can’t help but reflect on the things you have learnt along the way. And, boy, there are many things I wish I could’ve said to myself. I’m not sure I would’ve listened …
Whenever I have visited the US, many of the churches I have been to have had a very different pattern of meeting on Sunday mornings. Instead of having two services of worship, they have often had a range of teaching classes first, with perhaps three or four options for people to choose from, followed by a …
Dr David Ball leads the GOLD Project, which offers small-group-based learning about scripture, theology and discipleship. I met with David and was able to ask him about this fascinating project. IP: What is the GOLD Project? How did it get its name? DB: We are a small Christian Charity dedicated to providing courses and other …
From 15th to 19th May I am speaking at Lee Abbey in Devon on ‘Resilient Faith: coping with doubts, difficulties and disappointments’. You can find full details and book here. We are sometimes given the impression that a Christian faith will protect us from all the doubts and difficulties in the world. So when challenges …
There was a time when cars were build with rigid chassis which ran from one end to the other, with the bumper fitted on either end. The logic of this was that, if the car crashed into anything, surely it would make sense to build the car as strong as possible, so that it would …
