Paul Ellis's Blog, page 24

If a woman can’t be a husband, she can’t be a pastor, right?

Aimee Semple McPherson, founder of the Foursquare Gospel Church

What sort of person makes a good pastor?

In his letters to Timothy and Titus, Paul lists sixteen desirable qualities (see 1 Tim. 3:1-7, Tit. 1:5-9). Pastors or overseers or elders should not be new converts, he says. Nor should they be money-grubbing alcoholics prone to fits of temper. Ideally, they should be good parents because leading a church is like leading a family.

And apparently pastors should also be men – at least that’s t...

Is the King James Bible sexist?

Recently I asked the question, “Is the Bible sexist?” It is and it isn’t. It is in the sense that it records the sexist stories and laws of patriarchal societies. But it isn’t in the sense that it reveals God’s heart for equality and freedom.

Men and women were made equal in God’s image (Gen. 1:27). Sin opened the door to discrimination, domestic violence, trafficking and all the other evils visited upon women. But Jesus showed us that God’s heart has always been to elevate women to their right...

Women pastors in the Bible

Maryam Rostampour and Marziyeh Amirizadeh, God’s shepherds to Iranian prisons

What is a pastor?

A pastor is a shepherd. That’s what the word literally means. A pastor is someone who tends and guides spiritual sheep.

Can women pastor?

Let me answer that question with a better one: If God has gifted and called a woman to pastor, should we oppose him?

Here’s another: Since God empowered women to lead churches in the New Testament, is there any reason to expect that he has stopped doing that today?

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What’s so special about Christ’s right hand?

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While writing my book Letters from Jesus, I discovered a lot of gems in scripture. Some of these were hidden in the introductions Jesus gives his letters to the seven churches. Consider this introduction from his letter to the church in Ephesus:

These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands. (Rev 2:1)

This is a truly remarkable picture of Jesus. But what does it mean?

Jesus takes a selfie

If the Bible is an art gallery, the Re...

How to rule and reign here and now

Do you know that in Christ you are royal?

Most Christians do not know they are kings. They think that are going to be kings – one day, maybe, after Jesus returns – but they do not know that Jesus has empowered them to rule and reign here and now.

“One day I will be crowned but for now I am merely a humble servant in the courts of the Lord.”

Why are you standing out in the courts when you could be seated in the throne room? This sort of servant talk appeals to our religious pride but it is an ab...

Are we entering the Great Tribulation?

This has been one of the toughest years in living memory. At the time of writing close to 700,000 people have died from a disease nobody knew about nine months ago. In many cities there have been riots, looting, and other signs of lawlessness. People are suffering. Some fear the imminent emergence of the antichrist.

Not only that, but strange signs have appeared in the sky, such as this rare appearance of Godzilla…

Okay, that last one was a joke.

Seriously though, I am seeing something I have n...

Jesus at the door

Jesus knows us better than anybody. He speaks our language. He talks to us about things that nobody else cares about. He listens.

And he does all this because he loves us.

This was something I learned again and again while doing research for my book, Letters from Jesus. The letters from Jesus to the seven churches are full of idioms and local references that mean nothing to us. But they meant much to the people who heard them. Consider this well-known verse:

Behold, I stand at the door and knoc...

Faithful unto death?! What if I’m not

Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life. (Revelation 2:10c)

But what if I’m not faithful until death? Jesus remains faithful; you still get a crown.

A mind untouched by grace twists the promises of Jesus into tests that must be passed and commands that must be obeyed. “Jesus was faithful unto death; you’d better be faithful too.”

And in the richest traditions of the old covenant, proper behavior is incentivized with carrots and sticks. “Be faithful and you’ll get a crown....

Jesus – pioneer of women’s education

These days more women than men enrol in higher education, but it wasn’t always this way. Women did not begin studying at university in Britain until 1869. In the US, the first college to admit women was Oberlin College, in 1837. The University of Bologna in Italy was reputedly the first in the world to teach women. It began conferring degrees upon women in the 13th century. In the history of women’s education, these are significant milestones. Yet Jesus beat them all by a thousand years. Jesus w...

Are women more easily deceived?

Here’s a great question for your next Bible Study class: Why do female witches outnumber male witches twenty to one? Strange question? King James didn’t think so. When he wasn’t overseeing the production of the Bible that bears his name, James was torturing women he believed were witches. James was obsessed with magic and witchcraft. He even wrote a book about it. In it he explains why most witches are women: As that sex is frailer than man, it is easier for women to be entrapped in these snares...