Listening?
A few weeks ago, here in my hometown of Dallas, Texas, a tragedy occurred. Bridget Alex had gone to funeral and was at her sister’s home afterwards. That evening, she got a panicked call from her friend, her six-month-old son’s babysitter and godmother, that Brandon had fallen off a day bed and wasn’t breathing. The babysitter called 911 at 5:55 pm and was on hold for 51 seconds. She hung up and performed CPR. She called again at 5:57 pm and was on hold, this time,
Veneration!
When I was in Greece last year, I stepped into an Orthodox church in Thessaloniki, in Northern Greece. It was pretty deserted, so I made my around the precincts, taking pictures, enjoying the solitude. That’s when a young guy came in, looked around in the foyer, and made his way to the open Bible on display right inside the main entrance.
And he proceeded to kiss it!
Kissing an icon in an Orthodox Church is quite a common practice, especially of Jesus. Folks will usually
Lonely!
We check Facebook—what are our friends up to? We scroll through Instagram—what did they eat for breakfast? And so on, and so forth.
Social media.
Well, it may not be so social after all. Or so claims “Social Media Use and Perceived Social Isolation Among Young Adults in the U.S.” published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, by authors from Center for Research on Media, Technology, and Health, at the University of Pittsburgh. They studied 1,787
Genesis 37:1−36
Agents of God’s blessing to others can expect misunderstanding and mistreatment from them.
The pericope begins with Joseph bringing to his father an “evil report” regarding his siblings (37:2). While the use of dibbah elsewhere indicates “slander” or “evil report” that may not be necessarily true (Num 13:32; Ps 31:4), in light of Prov 25:10 that employs the word to indicate a true (but disparaging) report, there is no reason to think that the dibbah
Showing!
A few months ago, Pope, Francis ordained about a couple dozen new priests in St. Peter’s Basilica, in Rome. His exhortation to them caught my attention, as he urged these novice shepherds to serve the flock rather than manage it.
Feed the people of God with heartfelt homilies rather than boring sermons. Let this be the nourishment of the People of God that your sermons are not boring, that your homilies reach people’s hearts because they come from your heart, because
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.