Demons!
A couple of months ago, there was a strange gathering in Rome.
Two hundred wannabe exorcists. They were there for a week-long course in casting out demons.
Apparently, there is a high demand for the service among Roman Catholics. We don’t have figures but Professor Giuseppe Ferrari, who regularly teaches “Course on Exorcism and Prayer of Liberation” at the Pontifical Regina Apostolorum University in Rome, said:
The number of exorcisms has definitely increased over the
Appreciated?
A recent report described a nondescript free port zone in Geneva, blocks of warehouses protected by a barbed-wire fence, and surrounded by railroad tracks.
Apparently in these drab locations are more than a million of the most exquisite art works ever created: ancient Roman artefacts; old masters; at least a thousand works by Picasso.
Observed The New York Times:
As the price of art has skyrocketed, perhaps nothing illustrates the art-as-bullion approach to contemporary collecting
Preaching @ Northwest Bible Church
Quick note …
I am preaching at Northwest Bible Church, here in Dallas, on July 22 and 29, and August 5 and 12 (9:00 am and 10:35 am).
Doing some of the darker chapters of Judges, dealing with Abimelech, Jephthah, Micah and the Levite, and the Levite and Concubine.
Lots of blood and gore promised! Come one, come all!
[For other speaking events, see here.]
Happy?
Psyc 157, “Psychology and the Good Life,” was open for registration for Spring 2018 at Yale. A few days later, 300 students had signed up. Three days later it was 600. Three more days after that, 1,200. One-fourth of Yale’s undergrad student population had enrolled in Psyc 157!
Dr. Laurie Santos is attempting “to teach students how to lead a happier, more satisfying life in twice-weekly lectures,” reported The New York Times.
Said Santos:
Students want to change,
Fess!
Chinese traffic police in Dazhou, in the northeast corner of Sichuan (Szechwan) Province in southwest China, have come up with a novel punishment for minor moving violations: confession.
The scheme was launched a few months ago in one particular district and, if successful, will be implemented in other districts of Dazhou.
Those who want to avoid a fine are given the opportunity to make their mea culpas on social media. But that’s not all: their posts have to
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.