Tag Archives: theology

When Worlds Go Out of Phase: Physics, Faith, and the Fall

Posted on October 24, 2026 by salooper57

Of course, I am using the “phase” terminology metaphorically, but that does not mean it is merely an illustration. Something similar to phase differences in the natural order has occurred in the spiritual order. Its effects have been deleterious, inhibiting humans from hearing God and seeing him even when he came among them in the person of Jesus Christ. Continue reading →

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“Help My Unbelief”: How Great Figures in Faith Navigated Doubt

Posted on October 17, 2026 by salooper57

What most people don’t know is that a year after his Aldersgate experience, Wesley wrote in his journal, “I know that I am not a Christian. I know it because I do not feel that I love God and his Son Jesus Christ as my Savior.” Continue reading →

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The Church Since 9/11: What Is Going On?

Posted on September 12, 2026 by salooper57

Churches today are less full than they were twenty-five years ago – marking a nearly 30% decline in attendance. Smaller churches, according to the sociologist and pastor Ryan Burge, are on the verge of extinction. Continue reading →

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Could God Be Angry With You?

Posted on June 6, 2026 by salooper57

Does [God] use punishment as an instrument of control? Do we need to hold pro-God rallies (Sunday mornings at 11:00) and offer the Almighty extravagant praise, lest his wrath burst out at us? Is God some kind of cosmic tyrant who requires constant appeasement? Continue reading →

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He’s Still Our Father When We Mess Up

Posted on July 31, 2025 by salooper57

He not only didn’t look down on people at the lower end of the scale, he got rid of the scale – threw it out. In a society where even a child could distinguish between the reputable and the disreputable, Jesus’s disregard for those distinctions was scandalous. Continue reading →

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The God Who Is Light

Posted on July 16, 2025 by salooper57

He took all the things he ever heard Jesus say about God and, after spending decades thinking about them and talking to God about them, he summarized them in ten words (in Greek): “God is light; in him there is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5). Continue reading →

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Jesus: The Divine-Human Interlinear

Posted on June 14, 2025 by salooper57

We don’t see it because we think of glory as glitz and hype and notoriety. Glory, in our minds, is being selfie-stalked on the street, going viral on social media, entreated for interviews and autographs. Continue reading →

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The Big Picture (John 1:1-14)

Posted on January 14, 2025 by salooper57

When he speaks, suns blaze and planets twirl, and oceans swarm with creatures; dinosaurs romp, birds sing, and dogs howl at the moon. When he speaks, people think and laugh and love. My word, your word, is a poor, thin, anemic thing. His Word is robust and teems with life. Continue reading →

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It’s Time to Get Out of Line

Posted on June 9, 2018 by salooper57

By Martin Lewison from The Hague, Zuid-Holland, The Netherlands – Cedar Point and Oberlin’s CommencementUploaded by Themeparkgc, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=26787830 The church I attended as a teen had a gold-colored carpet, cream-colored walls, and a dark-stained wood trim. In … Continue reading →

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Better Choose Plan-A When There Is no Plan-B

Posted on July 15, 2017 by salooper57

Christian theology teaches that the church was founded by Jesus and is the world’s most important institution. Perhaps institution is not the best word, since the church is not exactly institutional; it is a movement. But it might be better … Continue reading →

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