It’s quite incredible that Philip, immediately after the brutal murder of his friend Stephen and the continuing persecution by Saul (v1), continued the brave work of preaching the gospel. Both Stephen and Philip had previously been appointed to attend to the needs of poor Greek widows and assist i…
Courage in the Face of Adversity (Acts 8) Read More »
What about your heart?
Right in the middle of defending the nation, Amaziah gets side-tracked into serving the very gods of the people he has just defeated. These gods weren’t able to deliver the Edomites, but incredulously, he brought them back and put them in his house – they became a BIG…
Amaziah – The King With An Imperfect Heart (2) Read More »
We often comment about the destabilising effect of good and bad kings throughout the history of Israel and the ongoing effect on the spiritual barometer of the people. But it’s not about highs and lows when we look at 2 Chronicles 25—it’s a chapter about the results of mediocrity—a k…
Amaziah – The King With An Imperfect Heart (1) Read More »
In our final article we bring to a conclusion our thoughts on this wonderful brother. His supportive work was mostly in the background rather than the foreground but, nevertheless, he made a considerable contribution to the building up of the ecclesia of God and the extension of the Gospel to the …
An Amazing Example of Fatherly Love (5) Read More »
The journey continues
Having experienced the shocking physical violence of the mob at Lystra, Barnabas would have tended to Paul’s wounds and bruises and comforted him with words of consolation and support as together they faced this frightening level of violence. Quite incredibly, the very n…
An Amazing Example of Fatherly Love (4) Read More »
While doing some research on the multiculturalism of the Antioch Ecclesia back in the 1st century, I was intrigued to note the unique emphasis on people from Cyrene. Acts 11:20 records, “And some of them (brethren fleeing from the persecution of Saul) were men of Cyprus and Cyrene.” A further …
The Cyrenian Connection Read More »
For he was a good man, and he was filled with the Holy Spirit and with faith,” says Acts 11:24. Previously, we noted that Barnabas had been sent to the Antioch ecclesia to investigate and assist in their development by creating a bridge of trust and fellowship with the Jerusalem ecclesia. …
An Amazing Example of Fatherly Love (3) Read More »
“For he was a good man, and he was filled with the Holy Spirit and with faith” Acts 11:24.
In our last article, we introduced Barnabas and his generosity of spirit in supporting the poor and in reintroducing Saul into the Jerusalem ecclesia. Another ten years have now passed without a…
An Amazing Example of Fatherly Love (2) Read More »
“For he was a good man, and he was led with the Holy Spirit and with faith” Acts 11:24.
Threaded through the early chapters of Acts and almost hidden behind the scenes is a shadowy sketch of a relatively rarely studied disciple. He is a man whom we may initially consider obscure, un…
An Amazing Example of Fatherly Love (1) Read More »
