Christmas in July #2

-
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:

List of Calvinist Preachers, Authors, Theologians, Websites, etc.

-
I  found a lot more names to add to my list of known Calvinists (found in my various  "How to Tell if a Church, Pastor, or Website is Calvinist"  posts).  But instead of adding this huge list to all those posts, I am going to put it here, and I'll just provide a link on those posts to this one.  [FYI: I added a note at the bottom of this post on May 5, 2021.] So here it is, a "master list" of known Calvinists to help you be careful and discerning about who you listen to and where you get your theology from.  There are plenty more Calvinists out there, but these are just the names that I ran across the most.   These are either definite, self-professed Calvinists or "most likely Calvinist," in my estimation.  (I haven't heard of most of them, but it's good to know their theology before I do.)   After finding these names in various places online, I looked up each person to see if they are Calvinist.  If they did not self-identify ...
Read more

Praying Scripture: When Anxiety Strikes

-
          Prayer for when Anxiety Strikes             Psalm 55:22:   “Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall.”             Philippians 4:6-7:   “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.   And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”             John 14:27:   “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you.   I do not give to you as the world gives.   Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”             Lord, You say that we can present to You all of our concerns and needs. ...
Read more

Giggle Translate #1: Random Facts About Me (Skydiving, Flashlights, and I'm a WHAT!?!)

-
I'm bored.  So I've been running some paragraphs I've written through a bunch of randomly-chosen languages in a row with Google Translate and then back into English, just for giggles.  (I'm not serious, uptight, and a deep-thinker all the time.)  It's like a funny, terrible game of "Telephone."  (FYI: Bad word ahead.  Not my fault.  Blame Google Translate.  But I did bleep out a couple letters.)   Here are a few of the first ones I've done so far (the original writing was taken from my post  "Random Facts About Me, Just For Fun" ):
Read more

Be Wary Of The Christian Post

-
(Written 6/15/18)  Occasionally, I check in with the Christian Post to see what's going on in the world that specifically relates to Christians.  And generally, I've never really had any red flags go up about this website ... until now. A recent article by Stoyan Zaimov, with a title that starts "Christian Lesbian rock star ..." goes on to share this woman's story about being assaulted by a male priest when she was young.   However, I don't think the reason for this article is to talk about the abuse she suffered and her courage in speaking up.  I think this is a deliberate attempt to affirm Christian homosexuality.  The very fact that they put "Christian" and "lesbian" in the title makes it sound like it's indeed possible to be a Christian and a practicing homosexual who sees no need to change. And it seems to me that this article paints her in a heroic light, as though she is in the right and should be applauded and e...
Read more

War Rooms, Praying Scripture, and Spiritual Warfare (repost)

-
I strongly believe that there are angels and demons.  That prayer matters.  That there is a spiritual battle going on around us all the time ... and that we need to get involved in it, actively and consciously.  (Something I haven't been doing lately.)   Regardless of if we want it or not, we are constantly facing spiritual battles.  But if we don't acknowledge it - if we stick our heads in the sand, refuse to get involved, fail to put on our spiritual armor or to use the spiritual weapons available to us - we open ourselves up to deceptions, to defeat, to being very vulnerable to the strategies and attacks of the evil one.  You can't win a battle you don't even know you're in.  You can't defeat an enemy you pretend isn't there. What I have done here is compile a list of posts on spiritual warfare, on praying Scripture, and on creating a War Room (or War Journal). Have you ever seen  War Room ? You should.  It's a great movie.  And it is...
Read more

If They Mated ...

-
I think I stumbled upon the perfect "If They Mated ..." scenario for who I look like and how I act.  (You know, when they take two people and morph their faces into one to show what their offspring would look like if they mated.)  I wasn't trying to figure this out or anything; it just came to me as I was watching The Hobbit recently.  And once I saw it in my mind, I couldn't unsee it.  Then after I thought about possibly sharing it with all of you, my mind won't let it go until I do.  And so here it is, much to my chagrin... I kid you not, if you mixed these three characters - their looks and their personalities - you would totally have me.   Frankie Heck from The Middle (Someone once told me I looked like her, when I was a lot younger.  Actually, it was when she was in Everybody Loves Raymond , but we're both a lot older now.  And I was told once I looked like Winona Ryder, for a split second.  Ah, to be young again!) Bard...
Read more

Stupid Chipmunk!

-
If there's a chipmunk that sits five feet outside your dining room window every morning (where you like to sit in the quiet of the morning with your coffee and Bible, enjoying a few moments of peace before the day gets going) ... and this chipmunk chirps shrill-ly and loudly every 3 seconds for hours on end ... and you want to scare it off by throwing something at it ... let me tell you what NOT to do: Don't choose to open the window and try to throw a cardboard box at it to scare it off when you could just walk thirty feet around to your outside deck where you could throw a bucket of water on it. I opened the stupid window two weeks ago to throw a box at it because I was too lazy to walk around onto the deck ... and I swung as hard as I could (because cardboard doesn't fly very far) ... and instead of throwing the cardboard out the window towards the chipmunk, I smashed my hand full force into the wooden windowsill!  First thing in the morning.  Before I even had my co...
Read more

A Pre-Trib Rapture is the Most Merciful Option (repost)

-
(Repost, with some additions) Some people have a lot of trouble accepting the idea that God would rapture the church out but leave everyone else to go through the tribulation.    They think it is heartless and cruel of Him.    I, however, think that a pre-trib rapture is the most merciful thing God could do. In the movie   Left Behind   (with Nicolas Cage), a young woman who missed the rapture looks around at all the pain and heartbreak and devastation ... and she screams out about how the loving God her mother worshipped would never cause something as tragic as that to happen.    He would never take people away and let others be left behind to face the troubles of the tribulation. Or would He? The thing is, I think a pre-trib rapture shows just how loving and merciful and patient He is, how much He wants everyone to come to Him. [And I have to ask ...  If God created a way for us to be saved ... ... if He Himself, out of ...
Read more

Links to "Some Carman Songs for Halloween" and Posts on Spiritual Warfare

-
For some "fun" songs from my younger years: "Some Carman Songs for Halloween" And here is a bunch of links about Spiritual Warfare, from my post called "War Rooms, Praying Scripture, and Spiritual Warfare": I strongly believe that there are angels and demons.  That prayer matters.  That there is a spiritual battle going on around us all the time ... and that we need to get involved in it, actively and consciously.  (Something I haven't been doing lately.)   Regardless of if we want it or not, we are constantly facing spiritual battles.  But if we don't acknowledge them - if we stick our head in the sand and refuse to get involved, to put on our spiritual armor, to use the spiritual weapons that are available to us - we open ourselves up to deceptions, to defeat, to being very vulnerable to the strategies and attacks of the evil one. What I have done here is compile a list of posts on spiritual warfare, on praying Scripture, and on creating a War Ro...
Read more

Feminism Nonsense (repost)

-
Image
(Oh, how we love nonsense in our country!) We women are fighting so hard to be like men, to downplay femininity, to be perceived as more masculine, to overtake any "men's realm" we find.   Because it’s “cool” and “progressive” and “strong.” But do we not realize that we are not “leveling the playing field” so much as we are destroying ourselves , the things that make women special? Women can be strong, too.   And they don’t have to be like men to do it.   Trust me, I know.  I've had four children, one by c-section and three by natural, drug-free homebirth (with over 15 hours of labor for each one).  And then I work in the home every day, all day long.  No pay.  No vacation time.  No weekends off.  No bonuses.  No overtime pay. But I do it because my family and I value my position, my role.  Even if the world doesn't. W e women can be strong and capable and accomplished in our...
Read more