Category Archives: Bible

“Everyone’s Insane Now” – and Then

Posted on December 10, 2022 by salooper57

(Reading time: 4 minutes) Peggy Noonan’s lede in her Wall Street Journal column from October 15, 2020 read: “Everyone’s insane now. I mean everyone in Washington.” It is not uncommon for people, even columnists for respected newspapers, to speak of … Continue reading →

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Fear and Greed: Luke 12 (Following Christ Today)

Posted on December 7, 2022 by salooper57

Jesus wanted his disciple to be free from the control of fear. Because greed is fueled by fear, he took the opportunity to address it as well (and, in so doing, shared one of his most famous stories). Get out … Continue reading →

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A Minute of Hope: No More War (Advent)

Posted on December 5, 2022 by salooper57

Each week in Advent, I will post these minute-of-hope video or audio clips. During Advent, our hope is renewed and invigorated – and do we ever need that!

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Have You Got the Time?

Posted on December 4, 2022 by salooper57

You will think that you have seen it all when you see your friends and family, and especially when you see yourself. You will be stunned and overwhelmed. “After this,” you will think, “nothing will ever surprise me again.” And then you will see him – him who made the worlds – and in that moment, you will know why you were made, why everything and everyone was made, and you will know that the making was good, was “very good. Continue reading →

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Never Fear (Following Christ Today)

Posted on November 29, 2022 by salooper57

Jesus was relaxed. He was able to speak truth in very difficult situations. He went through danger with poise and aplomb. How? He never let fear control him. Is it possible for us to be more like him in this? … Continue reading →

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Prayer in Action (Nehemiah 1:1-2:8)

Posted on November 27, 2022 by salooper57

We don’t know how long Nehemiah had served the king, but it was long enough for the king to notice that something was wrong with him, and he asked him about it. Nehemiah says that the king’s question made him “very much afraid.” Why? Because Nehemiah had resolved to ask the king to send him to rebuild Jerusalem, but it was on the king’s order that the rebuilding of Jerusalem had been halted.

Nehemiah was about to ask a Persian sovereign to do an about face, a 180 degree turn. The request itself might be taken as an insult. Nehemiah could be fired—or worse. He had good reason to be “very much afraid.”

But the God who had prepared Nehemiah had also prepared the king. Continue reading →

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The Golden Rule and the Narrow Gate

Posted on November 24, 2022 by salooper57
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Thanksgiving Is Not a Given

Posted on November 19, 2022 by salooper57

To become a grateful person, one must also believe in a God who loves unconditionally. Life will sometimes scream that we are unwanted, unloved, and unworthy. Our own failures will echo that scream. Gratitude can only be reclaimed in such moments if we are convinced that nothing “will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Continue reading →

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Prayer in Everyday Life (Colossians 4:2-6)

Posted on November 13, 2022 by salooper57

Paul is not talking about inner room prayers here. He wants Christians to take their praying on the road. As they go about their day, doing their normal things, he wants them to stay alert to God’s voice and be ready to interact with him at any moment. Prayer is not just something we do when we have something to pray about. It is something we do when God has something for us to pray about. That insight in transformative. Continue reading →

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Persecution, Real and Imagined, Old and New

Posted on November 12, 2022 by salooper57

Rod Dreher believes that “A time of painful testing, even persecution, is coming” upon Christians living in the U.S. Dreher, who is a senior editor of The American Conservative and the author of The Benedict Option and Live Not by … Continue reading →

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