Articles by Paul Ellis

6 awesome things that will happen when Christ returns

September 24, 2020 // 10 Comments

Judging by the number of books written on the subject, we ought to be able to predict Christ’s return down to the minute, but the fact is nobody knows the hour or day. Jesus could return before the end of the year, or he might return after you have died of ripe old age. Only God knows. From time to time a wave [...]

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

September 17, 2020 // 26 Comments

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 [...]

Is the King James Bible sexist?

September 10, 2020 // 17 Comments

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. [...]

Women pastors in the Bible

September 2, 2020 // 19 Comments

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 [...]

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

August 27, 2020 // 10 Comments

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 [...]

How to rule and reign here and now

August 20, 2020 // 12 Comments

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 [...]

Are we entering the Great Tribulation?

August 6, 2020 // 51 Comments

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 [...]

Jesus at the door

July 30, 2020 // 11 Comments

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 [...]

Faithful unto death?! What if I’m not

July 16, 2020 // 31 Comments

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 [...]

Jesus – pioneer of women’s education

July 9, 2020 // 13 Comments

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 [...]

Are women more easily deceived?

July 1, 2020 // 40 Comments

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 [...]

50 fictional fathers

June 20, 2020 // 39 Comments

For many people around the world, but not me, this Sunday is Fathers’ Day. This gives me an opportunity to do something I enjoy: make a list. Below is a list of 50 fictional fathers. It wasn’t an easy list to make. Initially I wanted to list 50 great dads, men like Atticus Finch and John Walton. But I [...]