In Ezekiel’s next vision, he is shown a useless vine. The wood of this vine is good for nothing if it does not bear fruit, unlike other woods from which many things are made for our use and benefit. This image is comparable to the image of Israel a...

This psalm is a communal lament by the temple musicians (the sons of Asaph), probably at a time when disaster had fallen upon the northern tribes. Coming together to lament before God, the Israelites recognise that they need God first and foremost, a...

The missional environment in Britain has changed, perhaps in more profound, challenging and hopeful ways than we yet realise. We are seeing a spike of interest in the Bible, in prayer, and in Christian faith.

Having urged the most confident in the Corinthian church to rethink their right to exercise their freedom in Christ for the sake of someone else’s weaker conscience, Paul now speaks personally about refraining from certain rights for the sake of hi...

The opening verses of this chapter are a touching admission of Paul's lack of self-confidence as a preacher and evangelist when he came to Corinth: 'I was weak and trembled all over with fear', he says (verse 3). But while he had no co...

Paul writes from the heart, not just the head. In this section, though he has tried so far to be diplomatic with the Corinthians, his irritation gets the better of him and he descends into sarcasm (verse 10). In their party strife the Corinthians are...

Ezekiel is taken by the Spirit to the east gate of the temple, where the 'glory of the Lord' had stopped before totally abandoning the sanctuary. This idea of the 'glory of the Lord' is a recurring Old Testament motif –'She...

This vision is a message concerning Jewish royalty and the world powers of Ezekiel's time. It is first presented as a riddle or parable of two great eagles, a cedar tree and a vine. The exiles with Ezekiel are given some time to make sense of it...

Absalom is in exile after killing Amnon; David won't bring him back, but was 'filled with longing' for him. The woman who tells David the sad story of her two sons is aiming for the same result as the prophet Nathan (chapter 12), hopin...

The death of George Floyd at the hands of police in the US – and more recently of Rayshard Brooks – has galvanised anti-racism activism under the 'Black Lives Matter' banner.

The Romans were in many ways a horrifyingly brutal people, but they were, much of the time at least, committed to the rule of law. A new governor, Festus, has inherited the problem of Paul from his predecessor Felix; again, the Jewish leaders were ba...

King Agrippa, before whom Paul defends himself in this chapter, was a client king of the Romans and had been brought up at the Emperor Claudius's court. He was Jewish in faith, though, and was more receptive to Paul's testimony than the tho...

This is one of the 'we' sections of Acts; Luke writes in the first person, because he was there. It's a fine adventure story – anyone who likes tales of the sea will enjoy this – but it also speaks to us about deeper things.

We might think the ending of Acts is rather curious. The last chapter finishes the story of the shipwreck and takes Paul to Rome. He is still under Roman guard, but not very strictly; it's house arrest rather than imprisonment.

At first glance, it looks as though Paul is accusing the entire Roman church of being wicked sinners. That isn't quite what he means. He is warning these Jewish believers against relying on their Jewishness to be right with God, and thinking tha...

Have you ever wondered if you’ve gone too far or sinned too repeatedly to be redeemed? Perhaps reading of ‘the sin that leads to death’ in verse 16 of this chapter fills you with anxiety. How can you be sure that you’ve been accepted and forg...

When some of the Gentiles (or non-Jewish people) began believing in Christ, some of the Jewish believers insisted that they had to observe Jewish customs such as circumcision in order to be saved.

Paul has just been rescued from great danger: a mob has nearly lynched him and he's been saved by a Roman commander, who – at the risk of starting up the riot again – gives him permission to address the hostile crowd.

Reading of Paul's adventures in Jerusalem we're struck by his courage and resourcefulness. He survives an attempted lynching, and faces the mob down. He uses Roman law to escape a potentially lethal flogging (22.25).

This chapter relates Paul's first appearance before the Roman governor, Felix. Accused by the lawyer Tertullus (verse 1) of riot and defiling the Temple, he defends himself clearly and factually: he is simply not guilty, he says.