Obsession!
The other day Reuters reported on Jian Yang of Singapore. He lives in a rowhouse, fairly staid and spartan on the outside. You have no idea what’s inside.
A pink living room floor. But that’s not all.
Six thousand (yes, 6,000!) Barbie dolls.
These replicated species of the most celebrate doll of its kind—a cultural icon that even Andy Warhol had to paint in 1985—fill Mr. Yang’s living room and spill over into the rest of the house. 6,000 of them!
He confessed: “When
Crooked!
Last week, in Southern California for a preaching conference, a colleague and I went out to eat in a restaurant in Newport Bay (on our way to experience the thrills of a moonlight kayaking experience—but more about that another time).
Well, we went out to eat. And one of us decided to check out the bathrooms of the restaurant to perform a pre-kayak maneuver. Said person returned laughing, with this photo on his phone.
I’m sure there is a story behind the tortuous shape
Mark 11:27−12:12
Fruit-bearing by disciples is their responsibility of stewardship towards God.
And he sent a slave to the tenant farmers at the right time [of harvest]
in order to receive of the fruits of the vineyard from the tenant farmers.
And taking him, they beat and sent [him back] empty-handed.
Mark 12:2–3
Mark 11:28 is the first instance of the appearance together of all three factions of the Sanhedrin—chief priests, scribes, and elders—denoting a critical juncture in the
Persuasion!
I’ve often wondered about this whole café atmosphere in modern-day churches.
A third of Americans under 30 are not affiliated with any religion, though most of these apparently believe in God and pray at least once a month. This spiritual-but-not-religious category is the target of many churches. And so we have Sunday “meetings” in movie theaters, schools, warehouses, etc. Even coffee shops. To draw more traffic.
Once has to be “cool,” you know. Mark Batterson,
Rock!
A few weeks ago, I had a most unfortunate episode.
A stone. In the kidney. Well, in the ureter actually, the pipe connecting kidney to bladder.
Any pain, you ask?
Let’s just put it this way: It was B.R.U.T.A.L.
I’ll spare you all the gory (yup, G.O.R.Y.) details of the workings (or the non-workings) of my innards.
I’ll just quote a medical textbook:
Acute renal colic is probably the most excruciatingly painful event a person can endure. Striking without warning, the pain
Mark 11:1−25
The community of disciples is characterized by prayer founded on faith and forgiveness.
“Have faith in God. …
All things for which you pray and ask, believe that you receive,
and it will be [so] for you.
And when you stand praying,
if you have anything against anyone, forgive.”
Mark 11:22, 24–25
In this final Act of Mark’s Gospel (11:1—16:8), Jesus enters Jerusalem to die. What is striking in 11:1–11 are the similarities with the elements of a triumphal
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.