| By Andy Moyle | 2 mins 21 secs | 0 Comments
Paul is in Jerusalem with the church there which is, uniquely, mostly made up of thousands of Jewish believers. He has told them of the Gentile mission, for which they glorified God. But they are not too happy that Paul has not being getting the Gentiles to follow the law (even though the Jerusalem council […]
| By Andy Moyle | 1 min 38 secs | 0 Comments
I believe the Scriptures are infallible as originally written and yet in this passage we have a clear example of a prophetic word that wasn’t 100% correct. The Spirit is giving us an example of the nature of New Covenant prophecy. We know in part and we prophesy in part (1 Cor 13:9-12). Prophecy was […]
| By Andy Moyle | 2 mins 43 secs | 0 Comments
I love the smell of the New Testament! Today’s passage exudes a beautiful aroma of friends on mission together, encouraging one another, spurring one another on and praying and imparting courage for the tough times ahead. There’s no dull lifeless formality – there’s such camaraderie that elders will travel 50 miles to see Paul one […]
| By Andy Moyle | 1 min 27 secs | 0 Comments
Paul was doing extra-ordinary miracles. I want to be doing more ordinary ones! There’s three things to note from these verses: 1) No formulae The seven sons of Sceva thought they had found the perfect healing formula – “In the name of Jesus, whom Paul proclaims”. They got a good kicking from the demon. “Jesus […]
| By Andy Moyle | 1 min 39 secs | 0 Comments
Priscilla and Aquila are my favourite couple in the New Testament. They keep popping up and making a difference. We first meet them in Acts 18:1 where they are migrant workers in Corinth, having been chucked out of Rome by the evil emperor Claudius. They hear the Gospel in the synagogue where Paul is preaching […]
| By Andy Moyle | 1 min 17 secs | 0 Comments
While Paul is waiting for his church planting team to join him he does some ethnographic research. You may be familiar with demographics – which is a statistical analysis of a place – population, age range, poverty indices and so on. Ethnographics is about getting a feel for a place. What is the culture? What […]
| By Andy Moyle | 1 min 54 secs | 0 Comments
In one sense the charges against Paul and Silas are not true. In both Thessalonica and Berea, it is the accusers who form a violent mob. Paul actually exhorts believers to live quiet and tranquil lives (1 Tim 2:2) and be subject to the authorities (Rom 13:1-7). But in another sense it should be true […]
| By Andy Moyle | 2 mins 2 secs | 0 Comments
Paul & Silas reach Philippi and employ their normal church planting strategy of preaching the Gospel with signs and wonders, causing a riot and finally leaving a greatly encouraged fledgling church. I’ve not done it that way yet, but there’s still time! The exploited slave girl has a demon, literally a python spirit and […]
| By Andy Moyle | 5 mins 7 secs | 0 Comments
There are a lot of things that can be drawn from this passage: I could talk about the concept of fathering, in the way Paul took Timothy under his care; about freedom, based on the ‘unnecessary’ circumcision of Timothy, or about not giving unnecessary offence, based on the same verses. Then the faithful praying women […]