Category Archives: Christianity

Going Out of Business: St. Paul and “the Body of Sin”

Posted on September 13, 2025 by salooper57

The new owner has given each of us the responsibility of closing down the business of sin that has been operating in our bodies. Continue reading →

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Pulling Out: Separationist Movements and the Bible

Posted on September 6, 2025 by salooper57

Wearing unfashionable clothing (without a smartphone in any pocket) might readily distinguish us in other people’s eyes, but maybe the point is not to distinguish ourselves in others people’s eyes. Continue reading →

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The Two-Stages of Human Gestation

Posted on August 30, 2025 by salooper57

We say that our friend has died and, from our perspective, we are right. But that kind of language belongs on this side of death, not the other. The other side, I suspect, sounds more like a maternity ward: “She’s here!” or “She has arrived!” Continue reading →

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Baptism: Is it Really Necessary?

Posted on August 23, 2025 by salooper57

Both the emu and the kangaroo can only move forward, not back. The emu’s three-toed foot causes it to fall if it tries to go backwards, and the kangaroo is prevented from moving backwards by its large tail.
People who are baptized have chosen the emu and the kangaroo for their coat of arms. Continue reading →

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Following the Call

Posted on August 16, 2025 by salooper57

The Divine game of Marco Polo goes on. If we are not hearing his voice, it is not because he has stopped calling but because we have gone in the wrong direction. In that case, it is best for us to call to him and then become silent, waiting for his answering call. Continue reading →

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Party at My House! – God

Posted on August 14, 2025 by salooper57

Jesus is telling us something about God in this story, and he is definitely not the cosmic killjoy that people (and the devil) make him out to be. If anyone ever loved a good party, it is the God and Father of Jesus Christ. Continue reading →

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Paths The Lead Nowhere

Posted on August 2, 2025 by salooper57

Humanity walks on a ruined earth, the result of Adam’s rebellion and the long, devastating war that followed. The paths we take frequently lead nowhere. We lose ourselves and we cannot find our God. Continue reading →

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He’s Still Our Father When We Mess Up

Posted on July 31, 2025 by salooper57

He not only didn’t look down on people at the lower end of the scale, he got rid of the scale – threw it out. In a society where even a child could distinguish between the reputable and the disreputable, Jesus’s disregard for those distinctions was scandalous. Continue reading →

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Poles Apart: The Realities that Make Us Who We Are

Posted on July 29, 2025 by salooper57

We were created with both poles – in that sense, we are all “bi-polar” – and we are only fully ourselves when we have a “current” within us that constantly moves between both. Continue reading →

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Fascinating Storytelling from Matthew 28

Posted on July 26, 2025 by salooper57

This is only one expression, and the least obvious, of the parallel lines of storytelling by Matthew in chapter 28. The twin storylines follow the women and the guards, and … Matthew structured his narrative this way on purpose. Continue reading →

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