Christmas in July #2

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Just found this one!  Oh my goodness, it's amazing!  This has always been one of my all-time favorite Christmas songs:


Most Popular Posts of the Week:

Cindy's Comment on Theistic Evolution vs. A Literal Genesis

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(Happy 4th, America!  I'm sorry for what's being done to you.) There's a comment from someone named Cindy in the comment section of a post on theistic evolution vs. a literal Genesis.   (Actually, the post is really just a nasty attack on Ken Ham.)  Since the author of that blog stopped allowing comments on that post - it appears she didn't want any more opposing voices - I wanted to post the comment I like and agree with here, since I couldn't agree with it there.   [Note: I have linked to this blog before when it comes to Calvinism, but I don't like the tone the author is taking in the post I linked to above, her attacks on Ken Ham and those who believe in a young earth, that God created the universe in 6 days.  (For the record, I really like and respect Ken Ham, and I agree with him.)  I'm not sure what her deal is, but it bothers me.  And I find it a little concerning that after her strong stances against Calvinism, she would affirm a Calvinis...
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Alana L: 5l (educated into Calvinism)

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This series is based on this 14-minute video from Alana L.:   5 Signs Your Loved One is Becoming a Calvinist   Point #5 Still: L.   I agree with Alana that Calvinism contradicts the plain, clear, commonsense understanding of Scripture, and that we have to be taught to find Calvinism in the Bible because it's not there.   And even the Calvinists know this!   In  Doctrine of Election , Calvinist A.W. Pink says  " Unless we are privileged to sit under the ministry of some Spirit-taught servant of God, who presents the truth   [the doctrine of election]   to us systematically, great pains and diligence are called for in the searching of the Scriptures, so that we may collect and tabulate their scattered statements on this subject. It has not pleased the Holy Spirit to give us one complete and orderly setting forth of the doctrine of election, but instead 'here a little, there a little...  No novice is competent to present this subject ...
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#6: When You Don't Feel Like You're Enough, August 2017 (repost)

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[Reposted from August 5, 2017.  I had my panic attack the summer of 2016.  I remember it took me about six months to not feel absolute panic every morning, to be able to wake up without feeling terror at the thought that I had to face another day, another chance for something bad to happen.  And it took me even longer to be able to really smile again, to feel a little lightness in my spirit, to be able to breathe again.  I mean, of course, I smiled before that.  I acted like I was okay.  But I didn't feel like smiling or being happy for the longest time.  I was just too afraid of life - too discouraged by life - to be able to smile.  This post was written as I was still working towards being "normal," as I worked on protecting my faith after the previous summer.  The way I see it, my life has been marked by that panic attack.  It's now "BPA" (Before Panic Attack) or "APA" (After Panic Attack).  That summer was just such a life- and...
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Calvinism in the Evangelical Free Church

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Before we left our church because of Calvinism, we sent a long letter to the elders , expressing our concerns.  However, none of the elders cared enough or were concerned enough to do anything about it.  And so we left our church home, the place we had been at and loved for almost 20 years, the church we raised our kids in. After awhile, I became concerned that maybe the Evangelical Free Church, in general, didn't realize that there were dogmatic Calvinist pastors taking over their churches, blocking other views, manipulating people into agreeing with them.  And I thought maybe they would want to know this, especially since it seemed to contradict their "official stance" about this issue, which I believed was supposed to be a middle-of-the-road approach, falling under the heading of "significance of silence" (where they don't let the small controversial issues become big divisive issues).  I figured that if a pastor in one of their churches was manipulat...
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Napoleon's Comment about Jesus

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  I love this quote from Napoleon: "Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne, and I have founded empires.  But on what did we rest the creations of our genius?  Upon force.  Jesus Christ founded his empire upon love; and at this hour millions of men would die for him."  Sadly, I think many Christians are more willing to die for Him than to really  live  for Him.  Dying for Him is usually theoretical, but living for Him would require a lot of actual, real-life changes. Will you be counted among the faithful ones?  The ones willing to die for Him  and  live for Him? I know I share these songs often, but they're worth it:   Oh, What Love  and  Sweetly Broken .    And how about one more: Fearless . (repost)
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"The Last Goodbye" - A song for us Hobbits

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(a post from my other blog , from March 28, 2022) There's a song at the end of  The Battle of the Five Armies  (from the Hobbit trilogy) that's become one of my favorite songs.  I feel this song, especially the line about "Many places I have been, many sorrows I have seen..."  That's kinda been my last several years: many sorrows I have seen.   Many trials.  Many heartbreaks.  (Everyone who lives long enough will have many of these.) Most recently, I had the awful experience of being on the witness stand for three hours, giving testimony against my mom.  And after nearly a week of trial, she was found guilty of ... well, of something really bad.  (She insists she didn't do it, but we think otherwise.  It's not exactly like the prosecution says, but close enough.)  And now she will spend her life in prison.   Many sorrows I have seen. I don't know if I'll ever see her again.  The last memory I have of her cou...
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Should Christians Worry About Being Left Behind? (repost)

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This won't be popular or make people happy but ... Yes, I think Christians need to be concerned about the possibility of being left behind.  This is my opinion.  I cannot say for sure that it's what's really going to happen.  And I'm still considering it all.  But the more I read the Bible, the more I wonder if it shows that not all Christians will go up in the rapture. Of course, unbelievers will be left behind.  Those who have rejected Jesus's offer of salvation and grace and mercy, who have rejected the offer God gives the faithful church to be spared from the coming wrath. But I think it's possible that there will be Christians left behind, too, sp ecifically those who choose their life on earth over the Lord, those who are living disobediently and for themselves, those who compromise or alter Scripture so it says what they want, and those who think they are Christian but really aren't. And what Scripture is there to support this possibility? 1.  ...
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Nancy Antoinette and Airhead AOC

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Wow!  If Nancy (Antionette) Pelosi is "Let them eat ice cream," then Airhead AOC is "Let them eat ... nothing!"   https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2020/apr/21/nancy-pelosi-skewered-let-them-eat-cream-trump-ad/ https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/aocs-idiotic-suggestion-to-boycott-economy-after-coronavirus-shows-her-ignorance-again https://www.foxnews.com/media/aoc-boycott-work-coronavirus-shutdown
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No Masks Allowed!

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           I’ve talked before about the need to get real with God.   But I think that we Christians also need to do better at being real with each other.   Why can’t we Christians just admit that we are broken, hurting people too, that we are sinful and need help?               Why do we act like we can do it all on our own and like we can handle everything with grace and style and a smile on our faces?   Why do we spend so much time and energy polishing up our outsides?   Is it t o earn approval?   To make God happy and proud of us?   To impress others?   To feel better about ourselves?   To look better than others?             Honestly, all we are doing is hurting everyone.   When we are not real, we miss out on a genuine relationship with God and others. ...
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Little Drummer Boy #1

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My all-time favorite classic Christmas song has got to be the Little Drummer Boy.   If I’m listening to this song and start to think too much about it, I start to well up with tears.  Every time. My sons occasionally ask me why this is my favorite Christmas song.   “It’s stupid and it doesn’t make sense,” they say. I answer like this: “This song is about a little boy who’s poor.  And he wants to bring Jesus a gift.  But he doesn’t have anything to give him.  And so he gives the baby Jesus the only gift he has to give – a song.  And this poor boy is drumming his little heart out for the Lord, because that’s all he has to give.  But it’s enough.  And the baby Jesus smiles.” Usually, I am trying to hold back tears as I share this with my sons.  But they simply reply that it's still stupid, before running off to play. But that’s okay. I don’t expect them to get it yet.   And in some ways, I almost hope...
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