RaMbLeS
Welcome to RaMbLeS, a collection of weekly musings on life and Scripture. It all began in 2005 on Google’s blogspot as the aBeLOG (a name now recycled), a semi-autobiographical devotional that attempted to keep well-wishers abreast of my activities as I relocated to Scotland for a few years. Since my return, I’ve continued my RaMbLeS, and here’s its most recent incarnation on Homiletix, as random reflections usually based on current news articles and travel experiences and whatever else takes my fancy!
Strength!
A long time ago, in a place far away ….
Sometime in the early 1300s, somewhere in Toulouse, France ….
The parchment is officially called the “Decretals of Gregory IX,” collections of the Pope’s letters. The volume is striking for its splendid illuminations, characteristic of the medieval manuscripts.
Particularly stunning is a piece of art on one of its pages. This enigmatic figure certainly looks like “a certain little—and powerful—green guy” from the Stars
Wisdom?
One of the biggest changes in the smartphone universe is the absence of a headphone jack on Apple’s latest iteration of their communications device, the iPhone 7.
But help is on the way for the desperate.
YouTuber TechRax uploaded a How To video the other day:
Wassup guys! TechRax here. So lot of people have been complaining recently that the new iPhone 7 lacks the headphone jack, something that’s been on every generation model iPhone. It’s not there any more. … So
Greatness!
What with the election around the corner and all ….
A recent study has found that 21% of corporate executives are psychopaths. About the same rate as among those inhabiting our prisons.
psy●cho●path (sìke-pàth’) noun = A person with an antisocial personality disorder, especially one manifested in aggressive, perverted, criminal, or amoral behavior.
Clinically significant levels of psychopathic traits were found in one in five of 261 senior professionals in the United
Evangelism?
That’s the Areopagus in the middle, that prominent outcropping of rock, as seen from the Acropolis in Athens. “Areopagus” means the “Ares Rock,” Ares being one of the sons of Zeus who was apparently tried for murder on this rugged crag. Thus the place used to be a sort of court where certain crimes, homicide, particularly, were tried.
Later, the Romans called it “Mars Hill,” after the Roman god of war, Mars.
Paul delivered a sermon on this piece of real estate.
Renamed!
Until recently, he was Sir Maurice Joseph Micklewhite. No more. He’s now officially Michael Caine.
Yes, that Michael Caine. Sir Michael Caine, CBE. The British film icon, who has appeared in over 115 films, from A Bridge Too Far to The Dark Knight Trilogy. This guy is the ninth highest grossing box office star. Caine is only one of two actors ever nominated for an Academy Award for acting in every decade from the 1960s to the 2000s.
Faces!
If you commit a crime, don’t leave your DNA behind.
That’s the word from PLOS Genetics that recently published “Modeling 3D Facial Shape from DNA,” by a group of researchers from Belgium, Ireland, Portugal, Brazil, Australia, and the US.
Said the authors:
The face is perhaps the most inherently fascinating and aesthetic feature of the human body. It is a principle subject of art throughout human history and across cultures and populations. It provides the most significant
Imitation!
The other day, a guy got arrested for—get this!—“impersonating Jesus Christ.”
Ilya Novikov, 23, an artist and a filmmaker, was behind the stunt in Perm (Central Russia, near the Ural Mountains).
A video made by an eyewitness showed the bearded Novikov in long, flowing white robes, making his way down the road carrying a huge T-shaped wooden cross on his back. Motorists and pedestrians screamed insults at the Jesus-impersonator. The police was summoned, fearing Novikov
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.