Tag Archives: Christianity

If Only (John 11)

Posted on April 1, 2026 by salooper57

His mom said, “I’ll have to vacuum it up.” Phin asked, “How does it get up there?” His mom, thinking he was talking about the bug, said, “They fly.” Phin looked at her in amazement and said, “Vacuums fly?” Continue reading →

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Seven-Storied World: The Stories that Compose Literature

Posted on March 28, 2026 by salooper57

The English journalist Christopher Booker published “The Seven Basic Plots: Why We Tell Stories” in 2004. He argues – some would say unsuccessfully – that all the stories we know belong to one of seven plot types. Continue reading →

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Kingdom Come (Mark 1:14-15)

Posted on March 27, 2026 by salooper57

Into this turbulent setting stepped a man who was larger than life. He seemed to be eight hundred years out of his time. He wore strange clothes, ate a weird diet, lived an ascetic lifestyle, and thundered like one of the prophets of old. Continue reading →

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Is This How Christians Can Reach the World?

Posted on March 21, 2026 by salooper57

We want to keep our dignity in place and our options open—and dignity and options are not characteristic of slaves and servants. (Or so people think who have never been slaves and servants.) Continue reading →

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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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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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The Passover: He Delivers (Exodus 12)

Posted on February 11, 2026 by salooper57

He did everything God told him to do … and things got worse! Much worse. And what’s more, the Hebrews blamed him (which is just what Pharaoh intended)! In frustration, Moses lashed out at God. He said (5:22), “Why did you [even] send me? . . . you haven’t rescued your people at all.” Continue reading →

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When Jesus Blew the Apostles’ Minds (John 4)

Posted on January 31, 2026 by salooper57

As she lowered her container into the well, she would have kept an eye on him. You can’t trust a Jew, she would be thinking. Continue reading →

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