Today's Text in Context

Bob Utley, Luke 6

Christos

Christós (from chríō, "anoint with olive oil") – properly, "the Anointed One," the Christ (Hebrew, "Messiah").

Chrestos

Chrēstós ("suitable, usefully kind") describes what God defines is kind – and therefore also eternally useful. "We have no adjective in English that conveys this blend of being kind and good at the same time" (M. Vincent).

Pentecost

In the New Testament, Pentecost was the occasion of the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles and other followers of Jesus, as described in Acts 2:1–31. Pentecost is described by some Christians as the "Birthday of the Church" but this hardly does justice to the irreplaceable importance of the gift of the Holy Spirit to believers.

Kindness and Health

In the book Meaning & Medicine (Bantam Books, 1991) Dr. Larry Dossey writes, "Altruism behaves like a miracle drug, and a strange one at that. It has beneficial effects on the person doing the helping - the helper’s high; it benefits the person to whom the help is directed; and it can stimulate healthy responses in persons at a distance who may view it only obliquely."

TED Talk on Kindness and Health

Dr. David Hamilton at TEDxHackney. A fascinating TED talk delivered in Scotland.

Kindness Begins at Home

"You're a whole lot nicer to people at church than you are to me sometimes." That's hard to take… because it's so often true." Practical ways to show kindness at home. Ralph Wilson, "Kindness Begins at Home" Renewal Ministries.

Be Kind Online

Social media posts can be inspiring and encouraging. Here are 22 examples. From the Kindness Blog.

Kindness and the Workplace

Marina Krakovsky, "The Psychology of Kindness in the Workplace: Scholars explain why a culture of caring and compassion must be cultivated" Stanford Business, June 10, 2013

Be Kind to Acquaintances

Brad Aronson, "102 Random Acts of Kindness – Ideas to Inspire Kindness"

Projects of Kindness

"Churches grow when there is a planned process of community outreach that meets the physical, mental, social and spiritual needs of people." —Robert Costa, Projects of Kindness. An exhaustive list of great ideas churches and individual believers can use to show God's kindness.

Kindness Toward Unbelievers

"There’s an old proverb about the sun and the wind competing to make a man take his cloak off. The stronger the wind blows, the tighter the man pulls the cloak around himself. The sun, however, smiles ever more warmly and gets the job done." —Charles Strohmer, "Reaching out to Unbelievers" Christian Research Institute

Eliminate Your Enemies

John Piper, "But I Say to You, Love Your Enemies" Desiring God

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