Showing results by narrator "Michael Paul" in All Categories

The Boy Who Shouted “Wolf!” But There Wasn’t a Wolf and Other Fables brings together more of Geoffrey Thomas’s short stories, each brimming with the big-heartedness, warmth and homespun humor that he is known for. From both the ancient and modern world, Geoffrey Thomas introduces a host of extraordinary characters in his fantastical tales based on Aesop’s fables: a slave escapes death in the lion’s den; a donkey and a dog compete for attention; the sun and the wind battle to see who’s stronger.

Der Autor gestaltet in Form einer Reportage einen Prozess, der vor der Seprema Corte in Rom vom 03.06.1947-10.06.1947 gegen den des Hochverrats angeklagten Grafen Giulio Riccardi stattfand. Es ist, wie es in den einführenden Worten des Gerichtsreporters heißt, ein Prozess, der alle angeht, die gezwungen sind, in einer Diktatur zu leben. Riccardi hat in seiner Amtszeit ein gefährliches Doppelspiel gespielt.

Das Stück schildert, wie eine königliche Familie nach langen Jahren der Trennung auf wundersame Weise wiedervereint wird. Der Titel spielt offensichtlich auf den märchenhaften Charakter des gesamten Dramengeschehens an. Er unterstreicht aber auch die im Stück durch Struktur und Bildersprache entwickelten Analogien zwischen der Dynamik des menschlichen Schicksals und dem Zyklus der Jahreszeiten.

Jesus didn't see a sick woman, he saw a daughter of God. He didn't see an outcast from society, he saw a child of Israel. He didn't see a sinner, he saw a person in the image of the Creator. Are we able to see others with the eyes of Jesus? Seeing rightly is the beginning of renewal, forgiveness, healing and grace. Seeing rightly, says Mark Labberton, is the beginning of how our hearts are changed. Through careful self-examination in the Spirit, we begin to bear the fruit of love toward others that can make a difference.

What's at stake in our worship? Everything. Worship is the dangerous act of waking up to God and God's purposes in the world. But something has gone wrong with our worship. Too often worship has become a place of safety and complacency, a narrowly private experience in which solitary individuals only express their personal adoration. Even when we gather corporately, we often close our eyes to those around us, focusing on God but ignoring our neighbor. But true biblical worship does not merely point us upward—it should turn us outward as well.

The most urgent call upon God?s people is to live as followers of Jesus. The most indicting critique against the church is as simple: its failure to do so. We long to renew our hope for a world broken and hurting. And it is we, God's people living in the power of the Holy Spirit, who are called to become this hope and flourish while in exile. Here is the crisis: we are made and redeemed for this calling, but it slides through our fingers.