There’s a human trait which leads us to conform to what others expect of us. This social pressure can affect us individually and it can also affect whole groups: a herd-mentality can be created in a mob. A whole society,
Nobility
Rest is a lovely gift from God and, at times, a very necessary one for our well-being. The city of Berea (modern Veria) becomes a place where Paul, though still working as a travelling missionary, briefly has a more restful
The sound of silence
Keeping silent can, at times, be more powerful than speaking. Jesus took that approach with King Herod (Lk 23:8,9) and other authorities (Mk 15:3-5). In the proud Roman colony of Philippi, Paul adopts the same technique with its leaders when
Nine step strategy
Philippi was a Roman colony which gave, in Paul’s time, much adoration to the deceased Caesar Augustus. It was also a Macedonian city linked to the earlier emperors of Greece: Philip II and Alexander. So saying ‘Jesus is Lord and
Invasion
Landing on a heavily defended beach is the stuff of nightmares, as soldiers wonder if they’ll ever get off the sand alive. In a similar way, Paul & his team must have wondered how far they’d get when the Lord
Demolition gang
How do you look at history? Through dates? Politics? People? Social change? Local events? World events? We have multiple ways to picture history. For the first Christians, their focus was upon Israel – the nation whom God had chosen (De
Culture clash
In the early centuries after his resurrection, Jesus’ kingdom grew remarkably. The writer of Acts – Luke – shows us the foundation for that spectacular growth. Key to his tale is Paul, an apostle not from the original twelve (1Co
Hearing loss
The death of Herod Agrippa is the tragic tale of a king who will not listen. It takes place at a scary time in old Israel’s history, roughly 17 years after Jesus first appeared in public as the king whom
Two new arrivals
For nearly 2000 years Jesus followers have been known as ‘Christians’. Where did the name come from? An ancient city called Antioch (sited near to modern Antakya in Turkey), where not only that nick-name but also the first local church
It’s all clean
There are things we cannot do. Some are physically or mentally beyond us. But others we simply cannot face because of what they stir up within us: they are utterly off-putting. Yet, at times, we may have to do them