RaMbLeS: weekly musings on life and Scripture | More →
Mean?
A recent study in Scientific Reports, “Evolution of Moral Expression in Song Lyrics,” from researchers at Queen Mary University, London, and Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, claimed pop songs were getting meaner!
They analyzed the lyrics of several hundred thousand English-language songs, comparing two separate datasets, one from 1960 to 2010, and the other from 2011 to 2023. Expressions of immorality—things like harm, cheating, and rule-breaking—have, apparently,
Revenge?
National Public Radio (NPR) revently conducted an interview with attorney, James Kimmel, Jr., lecturer in psychiatry at the Yale School of Medicine, and author of The Science of Revenge.
Maybe a car cuts you off in traffic. Hey, let’s do the same thing to him at the next light. Apparently, we are rewarded by our brains for such revenge!
Kimmel:
Neuroscience has shown that revenge activates the same area of the brain that activates for substance use disorders, for, you know,
Internalization!
One might think, or have heard others exhort, that keeping a stiff upper lip and not bothering others with one’s troubles is a sign of strength and resilience. One would be wrong, according to “Stress Internalization Is a Top Risk for Age-Associated Cognitive Decline among Older Chinese in the U.S.,” published in The Journal of Prevention of Alzheimer’s Disease, by scientists from Rutgers and the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.
The study followed 1,528 Chinese
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Lying!
Study Finds, an independent agency consolidating interesting scientific studies and results, recently reported on an interesting piece of research recently, that sought to compare states in the USA and rank them based on fraud reports and on how many people confessed to lying.
Coming in at #1 was Nevada, America’s most deceitful state, with almost 60,000 fraud reports filed in 2024. Nearly one in five residents admitting they lie often in ye olde state.
But the big surprise
Psalm 6:1–10
Stricken with frailty and debility, terrified by impending mortality, dissolved by grief, and assailed by opportunists and opponents, the child of God makes bold to beseech God in persistent prayer for the gracious intervention of his lovingkindness, with the confidence that God will hear and take action.
In Psalm 6, there is evidence of divine wrath (“anger,” “rebuke, “fury,” and “chasten” in 6:1), of physical infirmity (“frail,” “heal me,” and “bones”
Psalm 5:1–12
The righteous, in a personal relationship with their God that involves reverential awe—having the assurance of access to God, of their prayers of distress being heard, and of being ultimately protected by God—rejoice in him forever as blessed ones, unlike the wicked who, with their evil words and deeds, are loathed by God, found guilty, and ultimately destroyed for their anti-God rebellion.
Strikingly, this psalm is entirely addressed to God, except for 5:6b, that has
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Upcoming Speaking Engagements
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- August 2, 2026 Grace Chapel, Englewood, Colorado
- October 6–7, 2026 Nathan Maier Lectures, Dallas Theological Seminary, Dallas, Texas
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Past Speaking Engagements
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- June 2026 CliniX Preaching Seminar, Chennai, INDIA
- June 2026 CliniX Preaching Seminar, Hyderabad, INDIA
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- June 2026 New Life Baptist Church, Seoul, SOUTH KOREA
- June 2026 CliniX Preaching Seminar, Seoul, SOUTH KOREA
- May 20, 2026 Boyce Chapel, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, Kentucky
- May 18–19, 2026 Shepherd Academy, Indianapolis, Indiana
- February 1 and April 19, 2026 Grace Chapel, Englewood, Colorado
- January 8–10, 2026 CliniX Preaching Seminar, Singapore, SINGAPORE
- January 5–6, 2026 CliniX Preaching Seminar, Hong Kong, CHINA SAR
- January 4, 2026 Yan Fook Church, Hong Kong, CHINA SAR
- November 28–29, 2025 CliniX Preaching Seminar, New Delhi, INDIA
- November 24–25, 2025 CliniX Preaching Seminar, Guwahati, INDIA
- November 21–22, 2025 CliniX Preaching Seminar, Chennai, INDIA
- October 23, 2025 Alumni Memorial Chapel, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, Kentucky
- October 5, 2025 Grace Chapel, Englewood, Colorado
- July 13 and 20, 2025 Northwest Bible Church, Dallas, Texas
- June 29, 2025 Ninth and O Baptist Church, Louisville, Kentucky
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. 