Making You Think

JESUS AND THE FAMILY So was Jesus anti-family? The crowd was gathered around him, he was preaching to them and some came to him with a message, your brothers and mother are outside and they wish to see you. And … Continue reading →

Trinity Sunday is confusing to the modern scientific mind. We live in an age when telescopes can probe the depths of space, looking back in time to many millions of galaxies, many with their million upon million of stars, many … Continue reading →

When I was still a university student, I first witnessed the phenomenon of speaking in tongues. On that occasion I went as an invited guest to a Pentecostal service in Christchurch. The experience left me with two lasting impressions. First … Continue reading →

The Judas effect There is something almost therapeutic about great villains. To begin with they are not always easy to identify. Remember even Adolf Hitler in the period prior to the Second World War had many admirers in the West. … Continue reading →

Since the Christian faith is meant to make a difference to our relationships and since today (13 May) is on the calendar as Mothers’ Day I have a question…for all of us. Has our faith actually made a difference to … Continue reading →

It is inevitable that we must encounter Jesus through the filters of the Gospel writers. With perhaps three years of the Jesus ministry to generate the original events and memories on which the gospels were based – and a few … Continue reading →

It is inevitable that we must encounter Jesus through the filters of the Gospel writers. With perhaps three years of the Jesus ministry to generate the original events and memories on which the gospels were based – and a few … Continue reading →

Some images stand the test of time, but alas, the image of the good shepherd is not one of them.    Our 21st century knowledge of what shepherds do today must inevitably distort our picture of what a shepherd would … Continue reading →

Yes, I suppose the perceptive among you have noted that today’s lectionary gospel reading is from Luke – and this year’s Gospel is supposed to be Mark. Last year the focus was Matthew in year A, this year it is … Continue reading →

The Road to Emmaus A Parable about Jesus John Dominic Crossan, who to me is one the more interesting modern scholars of the Bible, once pointed out that as well as the parables we remember that Jesus told, there are … Continue reading →