Category Archives: Spiritual life

This Is Your Brain on Jingles

Posted on March 7, 2026 by salooper57

If we are spending more time with Sean Hannity or Rachel Maddow than with Jesus and Paul, it won’t be long before our thinking is out of kilter. Continue reading →

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All Things Are Yours: A Compelling Vision of the Christian Life

Posted on February 28, 2026 by salooper57

In Paul’s glorious vision of the Christian life, Jesus’s people have the power to force the world, life, death, things present, and things to come to serve their purpose. But Christians can only do this if they know their purpose and where they fit in the divine scheme of things. Continue reading →

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The God of Second Chances (Joshua 3-4)

Posted on February 25, 2026 by salooper57

When another chance – second chance or hundredth chance – will be helpful, it will be given. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is the God of Second chances. Continue reading →

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Friends in Unexpected Places: Jesus and the Pharisees

Posted on February 21, 2026 by salooper57

I think we can learn that the biblical story is more complex than we are sometimes led to believe. Those of us who teach must be careful not to oversimplify the story in our rush to improve people’s feelings or adjust their behaviors. Continue reading →

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Christians: Navigating the Approval Process

Posted on February 14, 2026 by salooper57

That symbol gives merchants and consumers confidence in the product they are selling and buying. God wants his people to have confidence in him and in his work in them. And he wants their friends, neighbors, and co-workers to be able to trust them. Continue reading →

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I Wasn’t Seeing Myself Accurately

Posted on January 24, 2026 by salooper57

Most of the photos were candids, though a few were posed. It was at least a month before I saw the pictures and, when I did, I was surprised by what I saw … of myself. Continue reading →

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Want to Know God Better? Do This

Posted on January 10, 2026 by salooper57

The equation goes like this: Doing good works God selected for you = knowing God better and more intimately. Continue reading →

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The Story of the Bible (as told on the Emmaus Road)

Posted on January 7, 2026 by salooper57

God, apparently, is not satisfied to stuff Scripture into our heads. He wants to burn it into our hearts. Continue reading →

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Heads Up

Posted on January 5, 2026 by salooper57

Over the years, I have heard the refrain, “I can’t understand the Bible,” many times. This is an effort to help people – including me – understand the Bible in a way that helps us live in the light of the good news. Continue reading →

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This Year, Punch Up Your Resolution

Posted on January 3, 2026 by salooper57

I walk out of a church service, thinking the preacher took forty-five minutes to say what he could have said in ten. My wife and I get in the car and before we leave the parking lot, she has commented on the “good sermon.” Continue reading →

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