Category Archives: Lifestyle

Living with Courage, Dying with Dignity

Posted on February 11, 2017 by salooper57

What does it take to die with dignity? If one looks at the website of the “Death with Dignity National Center” and “Death with Dignity Political Fund,” one will assume that a death with dignity involves certain standard components, among … Continue reading →

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Awash

Posted on February 4, 2017 by salooper57

I once asked a retired public school teacher friend what was the biggest change during his thirty years of teaching, from the sixties to the nineties. Without even taking time to reflect he answered: “The language people use – both … Continue reading →

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Should the Church Support a Political Party?

Posted on January 28, 2017 by salooper57

America is more sharply divided than it has been in my lifetime, and it is not just a political divide. It is an ideological one, and it has led to an almost compulsive distrust. Few on either side show respect … Continue reading →

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Is it Time for a New Morality?

Posted on December 31, 2016 by salooper57

Attitudes about the morality or immorality of various lifestyle choices are in constant flux. It may be that opinions about what is morally acceptable have always been fluid, but the current of change is moving faster today than ever before. … Continue reading →

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A Christmas Case of Mistaken Identity

Posted on December 17, 2016 by salooper57

You either love Christmas or you hate it, or you do both at different times. The playwright George Bernard Shaw clearly hated it. He wrote, “Christmas is forced upon a reluctant and disgusted nation by the shopkeepers and the press; … Continue reading →

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An American Brand of DIY Spirituality

Posted on December 3, 2016 by salooper57

For decades pollsters consistently reported that 40 percent of Americans were in church on any given Sunday. But a long-term count of actual attendance in real churches suggests that good Christian people weren’t telling pollsters the truth, and actual church … Continue reading →

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Christians, Creation and Environmental Concerns

Posted on September 24, 2016 by salooper57

Christians have often been disparaged for their lack of involvement in and concern for environmental issues, and that criticism has sometimes been valid. In an article at Bible.org, Ray Bohlin, who holds a Ph.D. in molecular and cell biology, suggests … Continue reading →

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The trouble with living a fantasy

Posted on August 13, 2016 by salooper57

When I was in college I had a brainstorm that caused a temporary power outage in my common sense. A bunch of us were hanging out and talking about what we could do for fun. Two of my best friends … Continue reading →

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I Resent That: The Art of Taking Offence

Posted on August 6, 2016 by salooper57

Once when I was preaching, two men stood up in the crowded auditorium and marched out. They did it in a way that was meant to draw attention to themselves. They wanted everyone to know they were offended. A week … Continue reading →

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Don’t Ignore the Past, Believe in the Future

Posted on July 23, 2016 by salooper57

There are two kinds of people at a party. There are those whose words and actions announce, “Here I am!” and those whose words and actions say, “There you are!” The “Here I am” person might be the life of … Continue reading →

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