Category Archives: In the News

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 →

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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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Watch Out for “Christian” Nationalism

Posted on June 18, 2022 by salooper57

Briefly defined, nationalism is an attitude that gives priority of place and standing to the nation. Nationalists subordinate other commitments to that of supporting the nation and seeking its wellbeing. This differs from patriotism, for a patriot can honor and sacrifice for their country without elevating its importance above other primary commitments. Continue reading →

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Is Prophecy Being Fulfilled Before Our Eyes?

Posted on March 5, 2022 by salooper57

(Reading time: 3-4 minutes.) The famous televangelist Pat Robertson came out of retirement this week to warn that the end times are upon us. According to Robertson, Vladimir Putin’s real intention in going into Ukraine is to secure a base … Continue reading →

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