Category Archives: Lifestyle

The Perilous State of Religious Liberty

Posted on July 9, 2016 by salooper57

Religious liberty in the United States is in peril. Many of the people empowered to decide which behaviors merit civil protections and which do not are not religious people. They fail to understand religious liberty because they do not understand … Continue reading →

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Why Is it so Hard to Live in the Moment?

Posted on July 2, 2016 by salooper57

My wife and I are just back from a week on a large lake in Quebec. We left our car in a gravel lot that was slowly surrendering its borders to the encroaching wilderness, loaded our gear on a boat … Continue reading →

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God Wants Our Nine-to-Five

Posted on May 14, 2016 by salooper57

According to a popular (and probably apocryphal) story, a man once came to Martin Luther and asked the great reformer what he could do to serve God. Luther asked him what he was currently doing for work, and he replied … Continue reading →

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Devotional practices that have stood the test of time

Posted on March 19, 2016 by salooper57

Many Christians from various doctrinal streams and denominational traditions practice some kind of devotional exercise each day. These exercises are known familiarly as “doing devotions,” or “having a quiet time,” and usually include Bible reading and prayer. Some people also … Continue reading →

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No one needs another reason to be angry

Posted on February 27, 2016 by salooper57

Pundits keep telling us that Donald Trump has succeeded thus far by tapping into a deep-seated anger within the electorate. A CBS poll seems to bear this out: Mr. Trump enjoys a double-digit lead among voters who self-identify as angry. … Continue reading →

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The well-tempered person

Posted on January 23, 2016 by salooper57

Controlling anger is a big issue for many people. “I’ll admit it,” they say. “I have a real temper.” But they’re mistaken. The problem is they have not been tempered enough. “Tempering” is a process that increases strength and elasticity. … Continue reading →

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Dignity is not the result of circumstances

Posted on September 19, 2015 by salooper57

Whenever I faced a challenge as a boy, my leatherneck dad would say to me: “You can do this standing on your head.” It didn’t matter what “this” happened to be – football tryouts, trigonometry, passing a driver’s test – … Continue reading →

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What Ashley Madison can teach us

Posted on September 12, 2015 by salooper57

The now-famous Ashley Madison website marketed itself with the slogan, “30 million members can’t be wrong.” Maybe they ought to rethink that. The site currently claims “Over 40,915,000 anonymous members!” One wonders how accurate that number is now, particularly the … Continue reading →

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Back to the present: how future Americans will see us

Posted on September 5, 2015 by salooper57

When reading European authors from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, one frequently runs across descriptions of America and Americans. Americans are either burly, uncultured, do-it-yourselfers or rich, ambitious, self-made men. As a nation America is emotional and reckless, … Continue reading →

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A rich and lasting heritage

Posted on August 22, 2015 by salooper57

I was a little anxious. I was guest speaker at our church’s youth group, sitting before a crowd of teenagers who had been encouraged to ask any question they wanted. They asked really good questions: Why does God allow suffering? … Continue reading →

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