Category Archives: In the News

Jesus: Liberal or Conservative?

Posted on October 19, 2024 by salooper57

When it comes to the question of whether Jesus is a conservative or a liberal, I think there is evidence for both, but there is no evidence that he is a Republican or a Democrat. He calls Republicans and Democrats to join his side. He will not join theirs. Continue reading →

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On the Razor’s Edge: The Church and the Sexual Morality Debate

Posted on June 24, 2023 by salooper57

Offended by the violence and discrimination, [the Church] may compromise long-held convictions by choosing to believe the Bible does not prohibit same-sex sexual relationships. Or it may join the culture warriors and make a do-or-die stand against LGBTQ advances. Continue reading →

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The Secular Creed (What the Bible Has to Say to American Culture)

Posted on April 5, 2023 by salooper57

Woke: is it good or bad – or both? Should Christians adopt, adapt, or wage war against what Rebecca McLaughlin calls “the secular creed”? In this class, we look at the Five Commandments of the secular creed (Black Lives Matter, … Continue reading →

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Beyond Social Justice: The Call for Spiritual Wokeness

Posted on March 25, 2023 by salooper57

Blues singer and guitarist Lead Belly recorded a song titled, “Scottsboro Boys” in 1938. It told the story of nine young black men who were falsely accused of raping two white women in Scottsboro, Alabama. In a spoken afterward to … 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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Why Abortion Is So Intractable

Posted on November 5, 2022 by salooper57

Thirty years ago, Bill Clinton stated that “Abortion should be safe, legal, and rare.” The issue of its legality is still up in the air, but abortion has never been safe – especially for the developing fetus – and no … Continue reading →

Posted in Family, In the News, Marriage and Family, Worldview and Culture | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Election Year: It Is Hard Not to Be Cynical

Posted on October 22, 2022 by salooper57

It’s hard not to be cynical in an election year. My wife just brought in the mail, which includes two political messages, one produced by conservatives the other by progressives. Both are irritating. The piece produced by conservatives is a … Continue reading →

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No Angst Over Declining Political Clout

Posted on September 24, 2022 by salooper57

What changes would the Republican Party make if Christians, who have been a key bloc within their base, could no longer deliver enough votes to compete with Democrats for national offices? How would the party react to a 12 percent … Continue reading →

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News Consumption May Be Affecting You Adversely

Posted on September 3, 2022 by salooper57

During the last few years, I have seen people break off relationships with family and church because they had been transported into pandemic-related stories, election stories, and war stories. This has happened among both liberal and conservative media consumers.

A critic might contend that something similar occurs among consumers of the Christian gospel. Continue reading →

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Abortion Is an Important, but not an Ultimate, Issue

Posted on July 23, 2022 by salooper57

With humans displaced from God (and, therefore, from each other), secondary errors are unavoidable. In the absence of God, humans invest penultimate things – many good and necessary in themselves – with ultimate standing, to their own detriment. As G. K. Chesterton noted long ago, “When a man stops believing in God, he doesn’t then believe in nothing; he believes anything.” Continue reading →

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