Category Archives: Lifestyle

Fascinating: the role of emotions in human life

Posted on March 14, 2015 by salooper57

Would Captain Kirk skip out on Mr. Spock’s funeral? Not on your life. So when William Shatner, who played Kirk in the Star Trek franchise’s television show and movies, missed Spock actor Leonard Nimoy’s funeral, people were outraged. No, Kirk … Continue reading →

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The boot is now on the other foot

Posted on February 28, 2015 by salooper57

During the 1990s, a person couldn’t turn around without bumping into the word “tolerance.” Tolerance was everywhere: tolerance for people’s sexual orientation, tolerance for people’s religious beliefs (or lack thereof), and tolerance for people’s choices regarding career and family, to … Continue reading →

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The power of love, the power of marriage

Posted on February 14, 2015 by salooper57

Too often people get married with a demolition permit in their back pockets, and for some reason it doesn’t dawn on them that their children will be in the home when it comes crashing down. It was never meant to … Continue reading →

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Give your message “street cred”

Posted on February 7, 2015 by salooper57

When my children were still young and I was pastoring in another city, my wife and I took the kids downtown one Sunday afternoon and walked around the square and up and down the street. Downtown was unusually empty that … Continue reading →

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Why does more wedding equal less marriage?

Posted on January 31, 2015 by salooper57

If you spend more than $20 thousand on a wedding, you are almost twice as likely to divorce as a couple spending between $5 and $10 thousand. Spend less than $1 thousand, and you are more than twice as likely … Continue reading →

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Salvation-lite: Great Benefits…Less Responsibility?

Posted on January 10, 2015 by salooper57

It was once quite common to hear people say, “I was saved in Vacation Bible School,” or “I was saved in a small group Bible study.” What did they mean by that? Saved from what? Saved for what? In what … Continue reading →

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Are you infected with “solution aversion”?

Posted on December 6, 2014 by salooper57

Duke University psychologists Troy Campbell and Aaron Kay recently published a paper in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology that suggests that a person’s deeply held beliefs may alter the way he or she interprets reality. When Campbell and … Continue reading →

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What is it I’m not getting about Ferguson?

Posted on November 28, 2014 by salooper57

After months of deliberations and thousands of pages of evidence, the St. Louis County grand jury decided not to bring charges against Officer Darren Wilson in the shooting death of Michael Brown. Officer Wilson is white. Mr. Brown was black. … Continue reading →

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Whatever happened to tolerance on college campuses?

Posted on October 18, 2014 by salooper57

It wasn’t that long ago (in the politically correct era of the ’90s) that everyone was talking about tolerance. In those days tolerance meant that the viewpoints of others, particularly those of the socially or politically stigmatized, must be granted … Continue reading →

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The Only Place to Start

Posted on October 4, 2014 by salooper57

Some people won’t do anything until they figure out everything. If they can’t do it perfectly, they can’t – or won’t – do it at all. And so of course they do nothing. Just try telling them what the English … Continue reading →

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