“Spirit and Truth?” by Cortney L. Haley for GoTell
“Engrave them on our hearts”
St John Chrysostom, Antioch, Syria 390 C.E.
Around the year 390 C.E., John Chrysostom, Bishop of Constantinople, preached eighty-eight homilies on the Gospel of John in the ancient Near Eastern city of Antioch in Syria. Homily 32, on the middle part of the story of Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well (John 4:13-21) provided the occasion for some serious reprimand of the faithful for not studying and internalizing the Scriptures.
The Bishop began by indicting church members for having “games and dice” in “most houses,” but not books (meaning Scriptures). He goes on to say that those few who do have books (Scriptures) don’t care about the contents, but just about the prestige of owning a book with fine parchment and beautiful calligraphy. In the midst of his lament comes a word for us today:
Actually, I hear no one priding himself because he knows their contents, but because he possesses one written in gold letters. Now, what profit is there in this, pray? The Scriptures were not given merely that we might have them in books, but that we might engrave them on our hearts.
Click here for the GoTell treatment of Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well
“Who do you tweet that I am?”
Theologizing in the Age of Image, Music and Story
Here in our part of the world the leaves are suddenly changing color. Where did summer go?!! Seems like just yesterday our good friend Father Joseph Palakeel came for a visit on his way back to India from California. He was in the States for a conference on Theology and Communications at the Summer Institute 2013 in Santa Clara.
Jose is executive director of the Syro-Malabar Church Internet Mission in Kerala, India and Vice Director of the MST General Council for 2013-2018 (pictured below, third from the left). Click here to download his paper in PDF: “Theologian as Imagineer: Theologizing in the Age of Image, Music and Story”
Celebrating the Word through Biblical Storytelling
Local Church Creative Arts Ministry Hosts Event
GoTell looks forward to an event organized and led by the CinDay Guild of the Network of Biblical Storytellers. The event is called “Celebrating the Word through Biblical Storytelling” and will be held at Mt. Moriah United Methodist Church in Cincinnati, Ohio on October 25-26. The Creative Arts Ministry of Mt. Moriah conceived the event and has been instrumental in its planning and promotion.
Guild members will perform an epic telling of Mark 4-8 on Friday evening. On Saturday GoTell will provide the keynote address and workshops, along with other members of the CinDay Guild. For more information, download the event brochure.