Observations from the Word by The Barking Fox

What Love Is

We all want to experience love, but do we really know what it is? And if we don't know what it is, how can we give it - or receive it? 
1 Samuel 13:14; 2 Kings 23:25; Matthew 20:20-28; Mark 12:29-31; John 15:12-14; Acts 13:22; 1 Corinthians 13:1-13; 1 John 4:8
Two literary illustrations of love in action. Left: Sydney Carton going to execution in the place of Charles Darnay, in A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens (engraving by Frederick Barnard, c.1895, via JSS Virtual Gallery). Right: Humphrey Bogart (l) as Rick Blaine, with Ingrid Bergman (c) as Ilsa Lund and Paul Heinried (r) as Viktor Laszlo in Casablanca (Movie poster imaged by Heritage Auctions).
Music: "I Want to Know What Love Is," Foreigner, The Soundtrack of Summer, Trigger Productions, 2014. The music video is available on YouTube at https://youtu.be/raNGeq3_DtM.
Click here to download a transcript of this podcast: What Love Is.pdf

We Are Coming, But Are We Staying?

The Parable of the Sower seems easy enough to understand until we actually have to live it out. Oddly enough, most people probably have no idea they are living out that parable on a daily basis - not only in their individual lives, but in their families, congregations, ministries, and communities. 
1 Samuel 13:14, 24:1-7; Matthew 13:1-23; Galatians 6:1-10; James 5:7-11
Dress On The Colors, US Army Center of Military History.
Music: “We Are Coming Father Abram," Gettysburg College Singers, Songs of the Civil War, Vintage Music, 2013.
Click here to download a transcript of this podcast: We Are Coming But Are We Staying.pdf

Praying for Babylon

It's easy to pray for those in authority when they are good to us, but how do we pray for those we don't like, or who do us harm? Or is there any obligation to pray for them at all? 
Psalm 137:1-9; Jeremiah 29:4-14; Matthew 5:43-47
By the Waters of Babel, James Tissot, The Jewish Museum, Brooklyn. 
Music: “Rivers of Babylon,” Boney M, Nightflight to Venus, Sony Music, 1978/2007.
Click here to download a transcript of this podcast: Praying For Babylon.pdf

So Many Chickens

Choosing life rather than death sounds simple enough. Who would have a problem making such an obvious choice? But is it really that simple when the choice we make concerns the intrinsic value of another human being - especially when that person is someone whose value may be questionable in our eyes?
Proverbs 14:28; John 8:42-44; James 1:26-2:13
Dawn at the Alamo (1905), Henry McArdle, Texas State Library and Archives Commission. 
Music: “Yellow Rose of Texas,” Mantovani and His Orchestra, Mantovani Magic, Columbia River Entertainment, 2000.
Click here to download a transcript of this podcast: So Many Chickens.pdf

Only Following Orders?

It is said that evil triumphs when good men do nothing. Maybe it's more accurate to say that evil triumphs when good people get so caught up in the business of life that they stop pursuing righteousness. So if they are not pursuing righteousness, what are they pursuing? And what slips by while they're not looking?
Jeremiah 5:20-31; Matthew 26:40-41; 1 Corinthians 10:1-12 
Adolf Eichmann (in glass booth on left) on trial for crimes against humanity in Israel, 1961. Photo via Yad Vashem. 
Music: “Luftwaffe March,” he Band Of The Staffordshire Regiment (The Prince Of Wales's), Staffords: Music By The Band of the Staffordshire Regiment, MM Military,2012.
Click here to download a transcript of this podcast: Only Following Orders.pdf

The Trial of Not Knowing

The hardest part of any trial may not be the trial itself, but waiting for it to begin.
Psalm 79:5-13; Luke 18:1-8; Revelation 6:9-11 
"On Guard at Sunset," Peter G. Varisano, U.S. Army Center of Military History.
Music: “Gary Owen,” U.S Army Field Band, Duty Honor Country: Two Hundred Years Of West Point Tradition, Naxos of America, Inc., 2012.
Click here to download a transcript of this podcast: The Trial of Not Knowing.pdf
 

Justice On The Right Terms

We all want to see right prevail. Or do we? Maybe what we really want is to see right prevail as we define it. 
Leviticus 21:1-24:23; Ezekiel 33:10-11, 44:15-31; Matthew 5:38-42; Luke 6:27-38
Robert Earl Jones (L) as Luther Coleman and Robert Redford (R) as Johnny Hooker in The Sting, winner of the Oscar for Best Picture of 1973. Imaged by Heritage Auctions, HA.com.
Music: “Maple Leaf Rag," Scott Joplin, Stoptime Rag, Future Noise Music Ltd., 2008.
Click here to download a transcript of this podcast: Justice On The Right Terms.pdf
 

Defiance, or Definition?

Where do we draw the line between obedience and defiance to authority? Maybe that is not the right question. Maybe it's more a matter of who - and whose - we understand ourselves to be.
Daniel 3:12-18; Job 13:15-16, 19:25-27; Thessalonians 5:8-11; Revelation 12:10-11 
The Fiery Furnace, Gustave Doré.
Music: “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednigo,” The Abyssinians, The Abyssinians Live, Ackee Dist 2012.
Click here to download a transcript of this podcast: Defiance Or Definition.pdf