Category Archives: Christianity

Better Off Dead: Life Beyond the Grave

Posted on June 10, 2017 by salooper57

Death has always been hard to understand – just try explaining it to a child. How strange it is to be speaking to a person you know one minute and find them absent the next. Their body is still present … Continue reading →

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The Tie That Binds Can Also Tear Us Apart

Posted on June 4, 2017 by salooper57

Most Christian churches include a ritual meal in their worship liturgy. They refer to it in different ways – participating in the Lord’s Supper, taking Holy Communion, celebrating the Eucharist – and they take part in it with varying frequency. … Continue reading →

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If Today’s Media Had Reported on Jesus

Posted on May 27, 2017 by salooper57

Everything the President of the United States says is news. If he belches, international stock markets drop. If he bellows, nations flinch. If his speech is aggressive – and how often this president sounds aggressive – ambassadors phone home. It … Continue reading →

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The Number One Rule in Great Story-Writing

Posted on May 13, 2017 by salooper57

A great storyteller can bring a character to life, metaphorically speaking. There’s no one who does it better than the novelist and poet Wendell Berry. His Port William “membership” is replete with memorable characters, and his Burley Coulter is one … Continue reading →

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The Virtue We Wish We Could Do Without

Posted on April 29, 2017 by salooper57

When the Tribune Chronicle stopped carrying Sydney Harris’s column, I abruptly cancelled my subscription. It was my habit to turn first to “Strictly Personal,” and only after that to check out the rest of the paper. Harris’s famous aphorisms and … Continue reading →

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Acquire Inward Peace, Change the World

Posted on April 22, 2017 by salooper57

Before “Wayne’s World” was a movie with Mike Myers and Dana Carvey, it was a Saturday Night Live comedy staple. The sketches were frequently based on some daydream fantasy of the stars – things that did not, and perhaps could … Continue reading →

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Good Friday Service

Posted on April 15, 2017 by salooper57

Below are the messages from the Coldwater Area Ministerial Evening Good Friday Service. I hope it will be an encouragement to you – it was to me! The area pastors are friends an co-workers in the kingdom of God – … Continue reading →

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Easter: More Than a Promise of Life After Death

Posted on April 15, 2017 by salooper57

Most pastors have more than a passing acquaintance with death and dying. They are frequently called to people’s bedsides at the time of death. They spend hours in rooms over which a pall has already been cast, where people speak … Continue reading →

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Is it Possible to Say Anything True About God?

Posted on March 18, 2017 by salooper57

Do a Google search for God and you’ll have over one-and-a-half trillion results to wade through. People think and talk a lot about God. What they mean when they talk about him, though, is not always clear. Who or what … Continue reading →

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Raise a Cup of Bile to Our Enemy

Posted on March 4, 2017 by salooper57

A recent study suggests that people bond more securely over shared dislikes than over mutual enthusiasms. Spouses will apparently attach more closely over a common hatred for hip-hop than over a shared love for Mozart. It’s the old, “The enemy … Continue reading →

Posted in Christianity, Church, In the News | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments