Category Archives: Faith

Pulling the Lever: The Content and Connection of Faith

Posted on July 15, 2021 by salooper57

Theology is not meant to fill our heads but to better our lives. Theologians tell us that when a person trusts in Jesus Christ a great transition takes place in his or her life. That person is literally connected to … Continue reading →

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It Is Time for an Insurrection

Posted on July 5, 2021 by salooper57

controversial University of Chicago philosophy professor Mortimer Adler was once part of a discussion group and the conversation was not going well. Opinions were expressed with which he disagreed. Things got heated, Adler got upset, left the room, and slammed the door behind him. Continue reading →

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The Church: Deconstructing or Deteriorating?

Posted on July 3, 2021 by salooper57

Today, many Christians, especially those under 40, are asking tough questions about the faith. They are questioning assumptions taught by, or caught from, their parents. This is particularly true of assumptions regarding sexuality and racial justice. The process is known … Continue reading →

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When Faith Is Hardest (It’s Not When You Think)

Posted on June 26, 2021 by salooper57

People have told me that life is so painful and unfair, there cannot be a God. But no one has ever said to me: “Life is so easy and painless, there must be a God.” Life’s hardships, not its comforts, turn people from God; and life’s hardships turn people to him.

Even people who have turned to God, who attend worship services regularly, pray, and support the church financially, find it difficult to trust God when hard times come. The ironic thing is: they find it even harder to trust God when everything is going well. When things are going well, few people feel the need to trust. Continue reading →

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God-in-the-Box

Posted on June 20, 2021 by salooper57
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How to Stay Christian After Graduation

Posted on May 29, 2021 by salooper57

In a study of peer influence, psychologists displayed three charts, each with three lines of different lengths, to groups of ten teens. The teens were asked to raise their hands when the teacher pointed to the longest line on each chart. The teens in each group, minus one, had been secretly instructed to raise their hands when the teacher pointed to the second longest line. 75 percent of the time, the lone teen, wanting to blend in, joined the others in casting a wrong vote. Blending in can be deadly to the spiritual life. Continue reading →

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Going and Coming: Christian Faith in America

Posted on May 22, 2021 by salooper57

From his perspective, religion is like a physical trait. People are born with it. Yes, a person can undergo a kind of spiritual surgery to change her faith, rather like a person can undergo surgery to change her nose. But, apart from such radical intervention, a person’s faith is the faith her parents gave her.

The Bible offers a different and more nuanced perspective. It is the news and entertainment medias and, frankly, uninformed academics, that present oversimplifications. The Bible offers a rich, multi-layered, intelligent exposition of faith. Continue reading →

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What it Takes to Change: Hope for a Better Future

Posted on May 20, 2021 by salooper57

If you’re going to change in a way that leads to even better changes and does not lead back into the bondage of old habits, these three elements must be in place.

First, you have to see the benefit that change will bring. You have to think it, feel it, want it, dream it, daydream it; you have to live with a vision of what your life will be. Without that hope, change won’t last. Continue reading →

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Can People Really Change?

Posted on May 19, 2021 by salooper57

I know alcoholics who have stayed sober for decades, but they stayed sober by changing and continuing to change – by growing. But staying sober is not the only thing that requires change; staying Christian does too. It requires progressive changes, one leading to another, across the span of a lifetime. Continue reading →

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Christian Hope: Does It Differ from Optimism?

Posted on April 23, 2021 by salooper57

He then told me something – and it was hard for him to talk, so I had to listen closely – that I have never forgotten. He told me that the last two months – since he had come over to Jesus’s side – had been the two best months of his life. I looked at him in wonder. Here was a man from whom everything had been taken. His former life was gone. His world was a bed. His body was a prison. And the last two months had been the best time of his life.

How was that possible? What had happened? Continue reading →

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