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Connecting Essay - “My Mother’s Favorite Child” - Rev. W. Douglas Hood, Jr.

Submitted by admin on Fri, 2007-08-10 23:00.

Preaching must be a living voice; a voice birthed from a sustained feat of the imagination where an ancient text is brought into conversation with popular culture.  Yet, the two conversational partners do not share equal authority.  Authentic Christian preaching accepts unflinchingly the supreme authority of the text, God's word revealed and recorded in the Old and New Testaments.  William Willimon once commented that it is quite remarkable that people would gather around a book that is over two thousand years old and listen as if it had some authority for their lives.  That they do suggest that the first qualification for the preacher is that she be convinced of that authority.  George B.  Wirth is one such preacher. 

My Mother's Favorite Child is an intelligent, touching and, occasionally, poignant message that breaks your heart in a dozen different places.  Where the sermon yields it greatest treasure, however, is at the end.  Here, Wirth calls forth a response from the congregation identifying no other authority than that of scripture, "that is what our Lord has called all of us to do. "

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Connecting Essay - "Bel and the Dragon" - Rev. W. Douglas Hood, Jr.

Submitted by admin on Sat, 2007-08-04 15:41.

Perhaps it's no surprise the number of persons today who think they know the Bible but, in fact, have absorbed mistaken notions popular today.  For instance, parents are sometimes heard telling their children the story of Adam and Eve.  As the story unfolds, an apple appears - and often it is a bright red apple.  Truth is, there was no apple in Eden.  The story of Adam and Eve doesn't even mention "forbidden fruit."  What the Bible does say is that Adam and Eve were not to eat the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

There are other widely held beliefs about the Bible that are equally mistaken: Joseph's garment was not a "coat of many colors" but, rather, a "long robe with sleeves" and we really have no idea how many wise men came to adore the Christ-child.  Matthew's Gospel simply states that there were three kinds of gifts brought by them.

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