When a new year dawns we may resolve to change our lives. Some of those resolutions may work out well; others not so well. But we should also look for the missing resolutions. The changes that we ought to make
Rotten royals
Many love a gossipy royal story, especially when it involves immorality, corruption, power and greed. Well, those were certainly part of the lives of the family of Herods who appear for the last time in Scripture here with King Agrippa
Slave to love
Jesus is God’s eternal Son (He 1:1-4). Yet his life on earth was slave-like (Ph 2:6-7), lived under the brutal authority of worldly powers and often utterly exhausting. Why? In order to save his people from sin (Ph 2:8; 1Jo
The church before the world
How did the first Christians see their relationship with the society around them? Here in Acts 24, we see three things in Paul’s words and actions which give a partial answer to that question Firstly, they saw themselves as witnesses
Final justice
God is triune, three who are one: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Hence, when God made man in his image, he made us not simply as solo creatures but for community. This means that others affect our behaviour. In our
Tertullus
Caesarea was a lavishly built port which King Herod developed on Judea’s coast. A very Gentile city, it was the main residence of the Roman governor of the land. At the time of Paul’s arrest this is Marcus Antonius Felix
Handle with care
Genesis describes the start of the world as good (Ge 1:31): a place where early humanity could live in innocence and peace (Ge 2:25). Society today is rather different! Sin has created division, disharmony and violence. The Lord has promised
Conspiracy!
In Jerusalem, Paul has testified to Jesus as the Messiah and been rejected. Now the Lord would have him move to Rome (v11) and so he arranges this in a quite unexpected way. Paul’s extraction will be triggered by a
Cat among the pigeons
The tower of Babel is the Bible’s true story of a very ancient and very arrogant human empire, which God pulled apart through a confusion of language (Ge 11:1-9). Later, the Bible records other sinful societies brought down by God,
Belt up!
Church leaders should be open to Christians raising concerns with them. Paul has shown himself to be like that on the way to Jerusalem (Ac 21:4). But if the leaders feel they must continue with a path despite advice, then