Category Archives: Worldview and Culture

The Reason Art Got Ugly

Posted on May 21, 2022 by salooper57

The performance arts have also become enamored with ugliness, preferring darkness to light, and antiheroes to heroes. Today, antiheroes are artistically interesting, but heroes are boring. Antiheroes represent truth. Heroes are a fantasy. These days, no one is making films with “High Noon” plots or Will Kane-like heroes. Darkness – think of the recent Batman films – is in vogue. Continue reading →

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5 Things to Do When You Suffer (1 Peter 4:12-19)

Posted on March 14, 2022 by salooper57

This sermon explores the five instructions the Apostle Peter gives to Christians who are suffering.

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The Key to Ending the Culture Wars

Posted on February 5, 2022 by salooper57

Ukraine is and has been a divided nation. Each of its major regions has a unique history and a character shaped by long interaction with neighbors. There are language differences between east and west. In fact, while most Ukrainians can understand and speak Russian, most cannot speak Ukrainian. Such a conflict, rooted in differences in language, history, and values, might well be called a “culture war.” Continue reading →

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One Woman’s Journey to Faith

Posted on January 31, 2022 by salooper57

I am excited to share Jenny Wickey’s story with you. She told our church family about the journey she has been on from her atheist upbringing to faith in Jesus Christ. It’s a great story that you will want to … Continue reading →

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Pulling the Idols from Their Pedestals

Posted on January 29, 2022 by salooper57

At a friend’s urging, I once read a dystopian novel set in a post-apocalyptic era in which the civilized world, or, more precisely, the things about the world that made it civilized, had disappeared. History, philosophy, technology, and the knowledge … Continue reading →

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Secret Identity: 1 Peter 2:4-9

Posted on January 17, 2022 by salooper57

A biblical reminder of who Christians are and helping them to know what they should do.

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Presumptive Listening: Obstacle to Understanding

Posted on December 4, 2021 by salooper57

In response to that column, I received a highly critical letter. It stated: “It is telling that you complain that there are too many Muslims, Catholics (read: Hispanics), and Hindus who claim to be Evangelical. This is easy to translate. These nasty brown people are contaminating your lily-white movement.” Continue reading →

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Consider Yourself a Disciple of Jesus? Don’t Make This Mistake

Posted on November 21, 2021 by salooper57

If you spend five minutes a day with your Bible, spend less than five minutes with news media. If you spend an hour a day with your Bible, spend less than that – half of that – with news media. Mind your mind and the information you take into it. Otherwise, you will never “have this mind in you which was also in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 2:5). Continue reading →

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Evangelicalism Commandeered: A Cause for Concern

Posted on November 13, 2021 by salooper57

17 percent of American Muslims who attend mosque at least once a week now identify as Evangelicals. Despite the Evangelical label, they would not say the Bible is authoritative on all matters of faith and practice, nor would they insist on a decision for Christ.

he fact that so many American Muslims are now identifying as Evangelical is not the only surprise. The number of Catholics who identify as Evangelical has more than doubled in the past decade. Continue reading →

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Mission Trips? Go For Those Who Stay

Posted on October 20, 2021 by salooper57

I am just back from the Baja Peninsula. Not Cabo, or Mazatlán, or Acapulco, but Tijuana. We did not go to soak up the sun on a stretch of white sand beach or to get in a few rounds of … Continue reading →

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