Jesus calls Zacchaeus in Luke 19

The lectionary reading for the Fourth Sunday before Advent in Year C is the story of Zacchaeus’ encounter with Jesus in Luke 19.1–10, a story found only in this gospel. This short narrative episode has all the elements that make it a perfect Sunday-school story—the witty irony of the ‘big’ man who is too small … Continue Reading

The seven practices of evangelical spirituality

Evangelical identity is often thought to be best defined by the four aspects defined by David Bebbington in his Evangelicalism in Modern Britain: A History from the 1730s to the 1980s (London: Unwin Hyman, 1989; London: Routledge, 2003): There are four qualities that have been the special marks of Evangelical religion: conversionism, the belief that lives … Continue Reading

Redeemed from Racism

Savvas Costi writes: Anything which seeks to build bridges in a world that is already fractured and polarised is worth our attention. This is what is on offer when reading Thomas Tarrants’ gripping autobiography, Consumed By Hate, Redeemed By Love. It’s a page-turner difficult to put down! It could have been made into a blockbuster film … Continue Reading

Was Paul ‘converted’?

A few days ago, a friend linked me to an interview with a US pastor about Revelation and the end times. I spend a few minutes browsing some of this person’s other preaching, and in one discussion he asserted very definitely: ‘That’s why Paul converted from Judaism to Christianity’. It is not an uncommon assumption, … Continue Reading