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.

Finding God at the bird feeder

Posted on May 17, 2014 by salooper57

A couple of weeks ago my wife bought oranges at the store, which I cut in half and placed on our shrubs and in the maple tree just outside our kitchen window. A few days later I hung the oriole … Continue reading →

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What heritage are you leaving your children?

Posted on May 10, 2014 by salooper57

Baby Boomer parents are confused about what to leave their children when they die. It was the goal of pre-war parents to leave their children as hefty an estate as possible, but Boomers are questioning the wisdom of such a … Continue reading →

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Recover Eternity In Order to Find Time

Posted on May 3, 2014 by salooper57

  There was an old farmer who wore a pair of overalls every day of the week, except Sundays. He was a wise, thoughtful, slow-speaking man. The changing fashions of the world around him didn’t interest him, but he thought … Continue reading →

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New sermons added to “From the Pulpit”

Posted on May 2, 2014 by salooper57

Check out the new sermons from the Storyteller Series and from Easter services. The message on 1st Corinthians 15, “First Stone in an Avalanche,” is one you’ll especially want to hear! Just go to the mast above and click, From … Continue reading →

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When did doubt become a virtue?

Posted on April 26, 2014 by salooper57

I don’t know when doubt became a virtue, but it has. “Doubt,” as the author John Eldridge puts, “is in.” Superman would have a hard time getting a job in today’s marketplace. Contemporary heroes are doubters: they doubt themselves and … Continue reading →

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How the Bunny failed to steal Easter

Posted on April 19, 2014 by salooper57

I once lived in a community where each Easter season a pastor, known to locals as “Burnin’ Vernon,” torched the Easter Bunny in effigy. Vernon was convinced that the bunny had stolen the resurrection from Christians and was determined to … Continue reading →

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The historical Jesus in the here and now

Posted on April 12, 2014 by salooper57

My wife Karen and I are just back from a trip to the “other Holy Land,” Turkey, which is home to many important biblical sites. We were on a tour of the seven churches of The Revelation with Taylor University. … Continue reading →

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Abandoning the stained-glass messiah

Posted on April 5, 2014 by salooper57

Vacations sometimes go wrong. One summer my family went to a remote lake in Northwestern Ontario, where we planned to fish for a week. When we arrived, we realized that no one had remembered to pack the fishing rods! But … Continue reading →

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The ideas that direct our lives

Posted on March 29, 2014 by salooper57

Ideas are shared assumptions about how life works. They are too imprecise to be defined exactly and their course through the history of thought is too uncertain to predict or control. But they are powerful. Ideas direct our lives, though … Continue reading →

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Hope for those who lack the “religion gene”

Posted on March 25, 2014 by salooper57

The look on his face was classic. It registered surprise and a touch of indignation, which was a little humorous. We were sitting across the table from each other and he had just told me that he “wasn’t religious.” Since … Continue reading →

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