Celibacy
Last week, I was at Moody Bible Institute, to speak at their Annual Pastors’ Conference. It coincided with the release of my new book Privilege the Text: A Theological Hermeneutic for Preaching.
I had been informed earlier that Moody Radio, specifically The Chris Fabry Show—a national affair that runs on several hundred Christian radio stations—wanted to interview me when I was up there. I assumed it was another publicity engagement for the new book.
But I
Turnaround!
Last week I was in Chicago, speaking at Moody Bible Institute’s Pastors’ Conference. Lots of fun.
I also had a free afternoon and I decided to take The Chicago Architecture Foundation’s River Cruise on the Chicago River.
Chicago, they say, began where the river meets Lake Michigan. Trade and industry flourished on its banks, and the city was born.
The river is memorialized on the flag of Chicago in the two horizontal blue stripes.
(Another noteworthy feature of the river
Cleansing!
For all of its fancy cathedrals and cafes, chocolates and cheeses, museums and emporiums, Paris, like any other city, has a dark underbelly.
And you can see it all in Le Musée des Égouts de Paris—the Paris Sewer Museum. The museum is underground—yes, in the sewers—and yes, the sewers are functional—but no, it is only moderately stinky—and at €4.50, certainly worth checking out.
(Proves that the French can make a pretty good museum out of anything!)
Until the
Head?
The left portal in front of the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris (the west façade) (Portal of the Virgin) has a number of saints on either side of the doors. One of them is St. Denis. The dude is easily recognized: he is carrying his own head!
St. Denis (or Dennis or Denys or Dionysius) was, in the third century, the Bishop of Paris. Denis had been sent from Italy to convert Gaul and was having quite a bit of success in Paris. This enraged the pagan priests in the vicinity.
Mark 6:7–32
Disciples’ commission from Jesus, that attracts the world’s opposition, is enabled by God’s provision.
And He [Jesus] said to them [his disciples],
“Come away by yourselves to a secluded place and rest a while.”
Mark 6:31
This pericope is another Markan “sandwich” (outer story: 6:7–13 and 6:30–32; inner story: 6:14–29).
Jesus and John are strikingly similar in description: both are reported as raised from the dead (6:14; and 16:6–7), both are “arrested”
Sacrifice!
Col. Welborn Barton Griffith, Jr., (1901–1944) of Quanah, TX, graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, Class of 1925, and was part of the WWII Allied action closing in on Chartres, France, which was in the hands of the Germans.
Chartres is the location of Cathedral of Our Lady of Chartres (Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Chartres), about 50 miles southwest of Paris. The cathedral, built between 1194 and 1250 is one of the finest examples of French Gothic
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.