Raw Materials

YEP, I JUST LAUNCHED ANOTHER BLOG!  HAPPY READING!

 BIEN OUI, JE VIENS TOUT JUSTE DE LANCER UN AUTRE BLOGUE!  BONNE VISITE!






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The Saviour of Sinners and Saints: a reflection for Day 35 of Lent

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“Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost.” (Luke 19.9-10)      Jesus and the disciples continue to journey towards Jerusalem. [1]   The number of people thronging around Jesus is increasing (Lk. 11.14, 29; 12.1; 13.22; 14.25; 19.1-3), and so is the tension between Jesus and the obstinate members of “his generation”.   Besides announcing imminent judgment, Jesus is feasting and telling stories.   Jesus’ “gospel” is bad news for the self-sufficient, smug and vengeful and good news for the poor, desperate and trusting.      The second episode showcasing the reactions of rich men to the challenge of the kingdom is found in Luke 19.   This chapter resonates with chapter 15, as Jesus once again dines with a (chief) tax collector, a notorious sinner from Jericho (Lk. 19.2, 7).   Also, the “punchline” of th...
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Apologetics & culture wars

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  1: The cross & the conversion of the imagination       The Church of Jesus Christ owes its very existence to “imaginative apologetics”. [1]   While for us, the challenge of apologetics may consist in finding imaginative “parallels” with the tenets of Christian orthodoxy (à la Aslan=Jesus) [2] or techniques to better communicate the gospel, for the apostle Paul, the irreducible content of his message demanded that his audience undergo what Richard B. Hays called “a conversion of the imagination”. [3]   As Paul himself points out, the message of a crucified Lord is an oxymoron, “foolishness” (Gr: moron ) to Greeks and a scandal to Jews (1 Cor. 1.18ff).   In God’s strange providence, Paul’s gospel did indeed accomplish its mission of converting imaginations and lives (cf. 1 Cor. 1.21; 2.1-5). [4]      Indeed, Paul’s gospel was not only logically absurd, it was also politically subversive.   Jesus’ crucifixion had not been...
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“How to suffer with purpose”: a sermon for the TWENTY-FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST (23 NOVEMBER 2025)

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       Haters .   Does anyone hate you?   We all have “haters”, don’t we?   Have you ever been lied about?   Have people gossiped about you?   Have people accused you of things that you didn’t do?   It hurts when this happens, and it can scare us into being very careful and cautious in what we say and do.   It can be quite frightening to be hated, to know that people are saying mean things about you, most probably behind your back or perhaps on social media.   Of course, most haters don’t have the courage to directly confront those they are hating on.   If we don’t make an intentional decision to continue to be authentic, to be our genuine selves, fear can easily make us hide – perhaps literally – to hide who we are and what we believe.      When we read the Gospel, we find that Jesus had many haters.   From early on in his ministry, there were people who despised him so much that they wanted to ...
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