Author Archives: salooper57

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About salooper57

Husband, father, pastor, follower. I am a disciple of Jesus, learning how to do life from him. I read, write, walk, play a little guitar, enjoy my family.

Good thing Jesus isn’t afraid of dirt

Posted on December 13, 2014 by salooper57

In 2013, a record 2 million people visited Bethlehem. It was estimated that there were 75,000 tourists in the Holy Land for the Christmas holiday, and most of them were expected to celebrate Jesus’s birthday in the city where he … Continue reading →

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Are you infected with “solution aversion”?

Posted on December 6, 2014 by salooper57

Duke University psychologists Troy Campbell and Aaron Kay recently published a paper in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology that suggests that a person’s deeply held beliefs may alter the way he or she interprets reality. When Campbell and … Continue reading →

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What is it I’m not getting about Ferguson?

Posted on November 28, 2014 by salooper57

After months of deliberations and thousands of pages of evidence, the St. Louis County grand jury decided not to bring charges against Officer Darren Wilson in the shooting death of Michael Brown. Officer Wilson is white. Mr. Brown was black. … Continue reading →

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He’s not the person I thought he was

Posted on November 22, 2014 by salooper57

“He’s not the person I thought he was when we got married.” Most pastors and counselors have heard that line from people in marital crisis. They usually mean the person they married is not as good, as kind or as … Continue reading →

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Breathe the fresh air of eternity

Posted on November 15, 2014 by salooper57

People are creatures of habit. I, for example, drink three-and-a-half cups of regular coffee a day. I drink one cup when I get up, one around ten o’clock, one after lunch, and a half-caf around mid-afternoon. I wake up at … Continue reading →

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A shadow in the shade

Posted on November 8, 2014 by salooper57

People often say, ‘I never forget a face.” I think there is something wrong with me. I never remember one. Well, “never” is an exaggeration. But I’m pretty sure my “facial recognition software” is faulty. I can recognize a picture … Continue reading →

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No-oh-oh, it’s not magic

Posted on November 1, 2014 by salooper57

A Kansas City Royals fan puts his lucky hat on the couch, five minutes before the first pitch – and it must be facing south. Another drinks only one kind of beer on game days. Still another watches a different … Continue reading →

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Is religion a do it yourself project?

Posted on October 25, 2014 by salooper57

The famous writer and Oxford don C. S. Lewis once walked in on a debate on comparative religions. The conferees were discussing whether or not there are any beliefs that are unique to Christianity. It seemed like incarnation and resurrection, … Continue reading →

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Whatever happened to tolerance on college campuses?

Posted on October 18, 2014 by salooper57

It wasn’t that long ago (in the politically correct era of the ’90s) that everyone was talking about tolerance. In those days tolerance meant that the viewpoints of others, particularly those of the socially or politically stigmatized, must be granted … Continue reading →

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More than Going through the Motions

Posted on October 11, 2014 by salooper57

When I was a much younger man I attended mass on a regular basis for several months. I went most often to Saint John the Baptist Church in Fort Wayne, Indiana, but I also visited some of the other, larger … Continue reading →

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