Dr Paul Allen

 The Bible is clear that women followed Jesus—Joanna, wife of Chuza, Mary Magdalene, and Jesus’ mother are just a few. But did he have female apostles? Dr. Mike Heiser explores the answer in this article excerpted from his book I Dare You Not to Bore Me with the Bible. *** Paul’s final greetings to the Roman Church seem typical. We might just skim over the list of names without a second thought. But one name within that list has become the focus of controversy and heated debate: Greet Andronicus and Junia, my kinsmen and my fellow prisoners. They are well known among the apostles, and they were in Christ before me. (Rom 16:7) Junia is most likely the name of a woman. When you read the phrase “among the apostles,” you understand how a simple salutation has become a prooftext in the debate over the role of women in ministry. The evidence that Junia is a woman is compelling . It's Greek spelling (Iounian) could point to either a man or a woman. However, the addition of an accent mark ...

When it comes to understanding what it means to be a man or a woman, we live in a confused and confusing time. Distinctions that were obvious to previous generations are no longer so clear. The reasons for this confusion are complex, and addressing the question requires not only wisdom but also courage. When faced with confusion, our first goal is to bring clarity. We ought to attempt to make careful, biblical distinctions in order to better understand the lay of the land. When it comes to discussions of manhood and womanhood, I’ve found it helpful to think in terms of three intersecting types of authority: nature, Scripture, and culture. Three Witnesses to God’s Design Nature refers to God’s design and purpose embedded in the creatures and world that he has made. It includes the fundamental relations that each of us has by virtue of being made in God’s image. Each of us is a son (and therefore a potential father) or a daughter (and therefore a potential mother). Additionally, because ...

The LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him” ( Genesis 2:18). Throughout Genesis 1 we see God pronouncing His creation as good. Then in Genesis 2 we find God saying that something is not good: loneliness. Even though Adam had the fellowship of God, the situation was not good until he also had the fellowship of other human beings . Loneliness is a serious problem in our day, that has been further complicated by sin. Many of our technological advances only serve to increase personal loneliness and alientation. God made the woman from the flesh of the man and brought her to be his helper . It is difficult to discuss the role of the wife as helper to her husband because in our society men have so grossly perverted this function of the woman. The feminist movement is largely the result of the abuse and degradation of women in pornography, the increasingly widespread phenomenon of incest, and the failure of men to lovingly provide...

But who are you, O man, to talk back to God? “Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, ‘Why did you make me like this?’ ” [Rom. 9:20] The Bible tells us that humanity is a creation. How ironic, then, that we humans so fervently deny and resist the idea of being creatures. Satan tempted Adam and Eve in the garden by deceiving them into rejecting the limitations of creaturehood. They thought they could be gods. The atheistic German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche said that lust for power differentiates humans from all other creatures. People cannot stand the fact that they are creatures. Do you have trouble with authority? With humility? We have these problems because we want to be gods. We do not want to concede our dependence on anything or anyone else, and we do not want to be subordinate. Jesus Christ saves us from sin and makes us new creations, but he does not make us gods; even if he did make us gods we would be created gods, thus still creatures. There is a massive qua...

Raphael, St Paul Preaching in Athens (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Last Sunday as my wife preached, a person stood up and walked out. My wife and I pioneered the church and I am the senior pastor and elder. We were told he had a problem with a women preaching.  In 1 Timothy 2:12 , the apostle Paul sets forth the qualifications for church leadership, and he makes the statement, “I will not allow a woman to have authority over a man or to teach.” Now notice, he doesn’t say, “I will not allow a woman to be a pastor,” nor does he say, “I will not allow a woman to be ordained to ministry.” He says, “I will not allow a woman to have authority over men or to teach.” Therein lies the problem. The verb Paul uses in this passage that is translated “authority” occurs only once in the entire New Testament in this particular context. Because this word is only used once in the New Testament and rarely shows up in other Greek literature of that period that survives today, we’re not ex...

Image via Wikipedia EATING OUT ·  When the bill arrives, Mike, Dave and John will each throw in $20, even though it's only for $32.50. None of them will have anything smaller and none will actually admit they want change back. ·  When the girls get their bill, out come the pocket calculators . MONEY ·  A man will pay $2 for a $1 item he needs. ·  A woman will pay $1 for a $2 item that she doesn't need but it's on sale. BATHROOMS ·  A man has six items in his bathroom: toothbrush and toothpaste, shaving cream , razor, a bar of soap, and a towel. ·  The average number of items in the typical woman's bathroom is 337. A man would not be able to identify more than 20 of these items. ARGUMENTS ·  A woman has the last word in any argument.. ·  Anything a man says after that is the beginning of a new argument. FUTURE ·  A woman worries about the future until she gets a husband. ·  A man never worries about the future until...