RaMbLeS: weekly musings on life and Scripture | More →
Swallowed?
A TikToker in Mexico thought her cough that wouldn’t go away was just a reaction to the changing weather. It wasn’t.
Instead, it was her own nose ring, lodged deep within her lungs.
The 26-year-old, Monica Deyanira Cabrera Barajas, recently went viral on TikTok, amassing 4.7 million views after revealing the freak medical accident.
Deyanira, who has a large number of piercings, didn’t initially notice the jewelry was missing. It wasn’t until she developed a chronic
Bixonimania?
Sounds like a disease, right? It is.
But it is not!
If you consulted “Dr. Google” (or any other chatbot) and entered “sore, itch, red eyes”, this is the answer you’d get: “Diagnosis: bixonimania.”
This condition doesn’t show up in medical literature. Because it doesn’t exist.
The prestigious science journal, Nature, did a news feature on this oddity.
Bixonimania was invented by a team led by Almira Osmanovic Thunström, a researcher at the University of Gothenburg,
Risen!
He is risen! He is risen, indeed!
And Elon Musk’s X (formerly Twitter) thinks so, too. There has been, since 2006, an X account for “Jesus Christ.” @Jesus, describing him as:
Carpenter, Healer, God”
Nope, he ain’t dead. He’s on X.
And what’s more, his is a “verified” X account—with the characteristic blue check mark validating that it was no bogus bot who created it.
The profile picture, however, seems to be AI generated: a broadly smiling and winking “Jesus”
aBeLOG: occasional thoughts on homiletics | More →
Psalm 4:1–8
God’s people in distress, when facing detractors who malign their faith, continue to trust God without wavering, seeking to redirect those carpers towards God, and looking only for the joy God provides, not for material abundance, for with that attitude of heart, they rest in peace and safety.
What exactly the psalmist wants God to do is to relieve him from his “distress” (4:1). The psalmist is in “distress” (literally, “narrowness”) and needs “relieving”
Psalm 3:1–8
Almost in a holy war, God’s people are often in danger of being annihilated by the myriad of their enemies, but their confidence in God is unbounded, their proximity to God unquestionable, and God’s might is unchallengeable, his deliverance inevitable, and his blessing incontrovertible.
Perhaps it is reflection of real life that the beatitude-laden and triumphal opening psalms of the Psalter (Psalms 1–2) are followed by a whole series of laments (Psalms 3–7). Life
Psalm 2:1–12
The refusal of rebelling, conspiring, or opposing rulers anywhere to submit reverentially to divine rule, the scope and extent of which has no bounds, meets with an appropriate response—dismissive, dreadful, and destructive—from God and his personally appointed Son-King with whom he is closely identified.
Psalm 2 is carefully structured with four stanzas of three verses each. Remarkably, there are also four specific references to deity’s representative, once in each
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Upcoming Speaking Engagements
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- February 1 and April 19, 2026 Grace Chapel, Englewood, Colorado
- May 18–19, 2026 Shepherd Academy, Indianapolis, Indiana
- May 20, 2026 Boyce Chapel, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, Kentucky
- June 2026 CliniX Preaching Seminar, Seoul, SOUTH KOREA
- June 2026 New Life Baptist Church, Seoul, SOUTH KOREA
- June 2026 Baptist Church Hyderabad, Hyderabad, INDIA
- June 2026 CliniX Preaching Seminar, Hyderabad, INDIA
- June 2026 CliniX Preaching Seminar, Chennai, INDIA
- August 2, 2026 Grace Chapel, Englewood, Colorado
- October 6–7, 2026 Nathan Maier Lectures, Dallas Theological Seminary, Dallas, Texas
- October 18, 2026 Grace Chapel, Englewood, Colorado
- November 2026 CliniX Preaching Seminar, Hyderabad, INDIA
- November 2026 CliniX Preaching Seminar, Chennai, INDIA
- January 2027 CliniX Preaching Seminar, Hong Kong, CHINA SAR
- January 2027 Yan Fook Church, Hong Kong, CHINA SAR
- January 2027 CliniX Preaching Seminar, Singapore, SINGAPORE
Past Speaking Engagements
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- January 8–10, 2026 CliniX Preaching Seminar, Singapore, SINGAPORE
- January 5–6, 2026 CliniX Preaching Seminar, Hong Kong, CHINA SAR
- January 4, 2026 Yan Fook Church, Hong Kong, CHINA SAR
- November 28–29, 2025 CliniX Preaching Seminar, New Delhi, INDIA
- November 24–25, 2025 CliniX Preaching Seminar, Guwahati, INDIA
- November 21–22, 2025 CliniX Preaching Seminar, Chennai, INDIA
- October 23, 2025 Alumni Memorial Chapel, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, Kentucky
- October 5, 2025 Grace Chapel, Englewood, Colorado
- July 13 and 20, 2025 Northwest Bible Church, Dallas, Texas
- June 29, 2025 Ninth and O Baptist Church, Louisville, Kentucky
- June 22, 2025 Open Bible Fellowship Church Andheri, Mumbai, INDIA
- June 20–21, 2025 CliniX Preaching Seminar, Mumbai, INDIA
- June 16–17, 2025 CliniX Preaching Seminar, Hyderabad, INDIA
- June 13–14, 2025 CliniX Preaching Seminar, Bengaluru, INDIA
- June 9–10, 2025 CliniX Preaching Seminar, Seoul, SOUTH KOREA
- April 6, 2025 Ninth and O Baptist Church, Louisville, Kentucky
Abe Kuruvilla is the Carl E. Bates Professor of Christian Preaching at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (Louisville, KY), and a dermatologist in private practice. His passion is to explore, explain, and exemplify preaching. 