| By Andy Moyle | 1 min 17 secs | 0 Comments
Much like today, Rome was a tolerant society – as long as you believed the same things! Rome was tolerant of many gods so the Jews with their radical monotheism were initially a problem. The Jews had held onto monotheism under lots of different occupiers and wouldn’t change, so Julius Caesar made it a […]
| By Andy Moyle | 1 min 17 secs | 0 Comments
“Take Courage!” the Lord says to Paul. He needs it – four times he has been rescued by the Romans and this time he is headed finally to Rome. No scheme of man or hell can prevail against God’s will. Forty Jews have made an oath not to eat until they have killed Paul – […]
| By Andy Moyle | 3 mins 16 secs | 0 Comments
In these days of equality gone mad, it is often frowned upon if you feel superior to someone else. The general sentiment seems to be that everyone is equal. I often wonder where that comes from, as the Bible teaches us exactly the opposite. Yes, everyone is equal in worth: Jesus died for all […]
| 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 […]