Dr Paul Allen

If I asked you to name a woman in the Bible, who would come to mind? How many could you name? Countless sermons have been preached about Esther and Ruth. We’ve scrutinized the woman at the well’s encounter with Jesus and celebrated Rahab’s strategic participation in the Israelites’ journey to the Promised Land.  Throughout Scripture, women have faithfully proclaimed the gospel, offered their time and expertise, ministered to the marginalized, and actively contributed to the life and growth of their communities and the church. What richness can we gain by studying the influence of women like Lydia and Priscilla, Miriam and Deborah, Anna and Phoebe? Mary, the Mother of Jesus, is an example of trusting through obedience -Luke 1:38 Mary, the mother of Jesus, plays an important role in God’s plan of redemption throughout the Gospels and is even depicted briefly in Acts during Pentecost (1:14). The Gospel writers consistently portray Mary as exemplifying faithful obedience and submission...

One of the things I love about the Bible is its sheer realism. The irony is that the world thinks the Bible is full of fairy tales. Yet, when you engage with its teaching, you find that it fits our humanity. The God who wrote the Bible “knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust” ( Ps. 103:14 ). The teaching of Scripture is wonderfully realistic. While studying Galatians in house groups, I was struck by this passage: “Let us not grow weary in doing good, for in due season we will reap if we do not give up. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith” ( Gal. 6:9–10 ). Paul has expounded the gospel, the glorious freedom that Christ brings. One hymn puts it like this: for those who are in Christ, “the terrors of law and of God with me can have nothing to do.” We must guard our hearts against falling back into a pattern of thought that thinks it is what we do, our external acts, that make us acceptable to God. I...