Retired!
The end of the era came at 11:46 am Indian Standard Time, November 16, 2013 C.E. His teammates gave him a mobile guard of honor as they walked him off the field. The roar from the stands was ear-shattering.
Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar had played his last game of cricket for India.
Readers of this blog in years past will have noticed my affinity for that noble game and will have registered my affection for this pint-sized (he’s 5’5″) champion who is has
Mark 13:1−37
Dependence on God’s providence, the Spirit’s power, and the promise of the Son’s return enables the disciple to be faithful to Jesus until his return.
And what I say to you, to all I say, ‘Be alert!’”
Mark 13:37
The theme of this chapter continues Jesus’ anti-Temple stance in Mark 11 and 12. Israel, and particularly its leadership, has failed in its mission to produce fruit (11:12–26; 12:38–40); judgment would be inevitable. All the Temple’s stones were
Regrets!
Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war ….”
So declaimed Abraham Lincoln, on the afternoon of November 19, a century-and-a-half ago, in 1863, at Gettysburg, where, just four odd months earlier, about 50,000 had lost their
Crises!
It was in 1922 that British archeologist Howard Carter came upon King Tutankhamun’s mummy. The boy king had reigned for a decade till he died at 19, in 1324 B.C.E. For royalty, presumably well-fed and closely-protected, dying in the teens was perplexing. What did he die of? There were speculations, but no consensus. Epilepsy? Head injury? Malaria? A bone disease? The absence of any historical record of this king, besides hieroglyphics on the walls of his tomb, added
Mark 12:13−44
God’s absolute ownership demands the entirety of the disciple in utmost love for God and for neighbor.
“The things of Caesar, give back to Caesar, and the things of God, to God.”
Mark 12:2–3
Mark 12:1–44 focuses on the theme of loyalty to God and is carefully structured. Two illustrations bookend this central motif: a negative illustration (the tenants in the vineyard parable, 12:1–12), and a positive one (the widow in the Temple, 12:38–44). In both these
Face
Tara Fall suffers a strange affliction. She can’t recognize faces … even her own.
It all began ten years ago, when Ms. Fall underwent surgery to control intractable seizures. On the operating table, she suffered a stroke that damaged part of her brain. She completely lost her ability to recognize and remember faces. Her memory of events and conversations and facts is as good as anyone else’s. It’s only faces that trip her up.
Most of us can close our eyes and visualize
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
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.