Brad Pitt and Zacchaeus

7 Dec

I was astonished yesterday to read in the newspaper about Brad Pitt, the actor, who has committed himself and a lot of his own money, to a re-construction project in New Orleans. Apparently Pitt came to love the city when … Read More »

A Nation’s Shame

4 Oct

I am once again ashamed to be an Australian.Yesterday, the Immigration Minister in our country  announced that the government has decided that it will allow no more Africans into the country. Notwithstanding the huge number of African refugees in camps … Read More »

Encouraging news from Washington!

2 Oct

Today I received the regular email news from the Washington head office of the Baptist World Alliance: but for once this was exciting. We have a new General Secretary, Neville Callam, who is from Jamaica, and in this his first … Read More »

Life stories bring life

11 Aug

I’m reading the autobiogrpahy of Barry Jones (born 1932), called A Thinking Reed.It’s interesting in a lot of different ways, and I think I will write several posts about it.But first I want to note again the value of stories, … Read More »

There’s a case to be made for Martha

3 Aug

I have to admit it: I have not succeeded with my plan to post, chapter by chapter, on Luke’s Gospel.No excuses. But I am still following the Year of Luke, in my preaching and reading, so here is something from … Read More »

More on ‘simple blessing’

19 Jul

At last I have had some time to finish Marilynne Robinson’s book Gilead.It is a beautiful tale, and the theme I noted in an earlier post continues to the end.The pastor, John Ames, is a man of deep, reflective faith, … Read More »

Through the fog and the tears

28 Jun

It’s been more than a while since I posted.There have been very good reasons. College life has been busy with the end of semester time. The amidst all that we had a tragic event, with the suicide of one of … Read More »

The pathology of piety

29 May

One of the classic insights of spiritual teachers, over many centuries and across all faiths, is to challenge what has been called spiritual blindness.There is something about religious fervour which actually blinds us to what is evident to others.Somehow, we … Read More »

Dealing with Dawkins

24 May

People everywhere are talking about Richard Dawkins’ argument about ‘the God delusion’.Dawkins has been a critic of religion for a long time now, but his recent work has gained a lot more public notice. Dawkins and a number of other … Read More »

The taste of new wine

14 May

The remainder of Luke 5 needs to be interpreted in the light of the end section.I say this, even though we know that the original texts did not have chapter divisions as we have them, so we can’t pretend that … Read More »