Good Luck, Ariana!

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Good luck defending this song when you stand before God, Ariana!


Most Popular Posts of the Week:

A Fresh Start

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I have several other blogs, all with a different purpose and target audience:             1.  Love, Heal Me and My Impressionistic Life (contains many posts about the struggles we encounter on our walks with God - written for the hurting Christian who wants raw honesty and deep thinking)             2.  The Sweetly Broken Journey (includes my life story, a Bible Study for mature Christians, and a "self-help" journaling guide-book to help people grow in their faith and through the trials)             3.  Heather's Garden and Home (includes recipes, posts on gardening and family life and faith, and some social and political thoughts - written for the average person, not just Christians)             4.  Iron Sharpens Iron Bible Study (contains only the Bible study I wrote for mature Christians)           ...
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List of Calvinist Preachers, Authors, Theologians, Websites, etc.

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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 ...
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Spiritual Warfare: Sword of the Spirit 2 (the bedrock)

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It was hard to watch my friend struggle through her deep emotional pain (see previous post ), and I couldn't really do anything to stop her difficult trial or make it all better for her, especially since the battle was mostly in her head.  And I know what that's like: Anxiety is a bully who doesn't play by the rules.  Unfair, unruly, and aggressive.  Running roughshod over you, your mind, your life. I couldn't fix it for her because she was in a battle she was forced to fight herself.  But I could at least try to encourage her by letting her know that I understood, that I got through something similar and that I know she can too... but that she has to want to get through it, to fight it and not give in.  She has to refuse to succumb to the Enemy's lies and destructive tactics. And to help her do this, I shared with her one of the things that helped me get through my hardest times: My "sword of the Spirit," my own personal list of favorite verses that I wou...
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So Chicken Sandwiches Hurt "Queer Kids" and Red Hats Are "Scary"!?!

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So, there's this article out (an opinion piece in the Toronto Star) about how "eating at Chick-fil-A will increase the suffering of queer kids."   And I say, " What? " First off, if chicken sandwiches have the power to hurt "queer" folk, then maybe those "queer" folks need to toughen up a bit.  Life is a lot more cruel than a chicken sandwich will ever be. And secondly, if chicken sandwiches from Chick-fil-A have the power to hurt queer people, it's only because the LGBTQ-community made it that way.   Guess what Chick-fil-A sandwiches used to be - before the LGBTQ-warmongers started freaking out about Chick-fil-A, before they turned chicken sandwiches into a political statement, before they started quivering, hyperventilating, and screaming at the top of their lungs about how hateful Chick-fil-A is?   Go ahead, take a guess?   That's right ... they were just chicken sandwiches .   And they would still be c...
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Spiritual Warfare: Sword of the Spirit 1

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[I intended to do a post like this later in a Spiritual Warfare series, but since it's relevant right now to someone I know ... and since it's been so long since I've added to this series... I'll publish it now.   Previous posts in this series are "My Story" ...  "Be strong in the Lord" ...  Spiritual Warfare sermons by Tony Evans ... "Stay on the Path" ... "Underestimating ourselves/overestimating Satan" ... "Overestimating ourselves/underestimating Satan" ...  #1 Satan's Schemes (unbelief, sin, fear) ... #2 (fear, psychics, prayer) ... #3 (vulnerable in good times) ... Spiritual Warfare: Resources ... #4 (vulnerable in bad times )... #5 (innocence, naivete) ... #6 (half-truths) ... #7 (bad theology) ... #8 (deserts) ... #9 (bitterness, unforgiveness) ... and (for fun)  "Scariest Halloween decoration ever?" I'll break this post up into several parts over the next several weeks.  Much of these posts wil...
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Why I Hate Calvinism So Much!

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  Wanna know why I hate Calvinism so much? Watch a few of these songs.  Listen to the words.  Think about how much Jesus sacrificed for us.  The incredible price He paid.  The love, grace, forgiveness, help, healing, and salvation He died to give us.  How true hope and life is found  only  in Him. Oh, What Love  by The City Harmonic I Am  by Crowder Hallelujah Christmas   by Cloverton Sweetly Broken  by Jeremy Riddle  (God draws  everyone  to Him.  He calls  everyone  to come out of death and into life!  Will we listen?  Will we respond?) Secret Ambition  by Michael W. Smith Fell Apart  by The City Harmonic Confession (Agnus Dei)  by The City Harmonic  (Calvi-Jesus did  not  take away the sins  of the world , but of just a few people.  But the Jesus of the Bible did!  And that's why I love Him!) Healing Begins  by Tenth Avenue North A...
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Giggle Translate #2: Chasing Slugs

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I took my post "Chasing Slugs" and ran it through several randomly-chosen languages with Google Translate and then put it back into English.  Just for fun!  Here is how it turned out.  Enjoy!  (I know it's long, but you don't have to read it.  I'm doing this for my own amusement.  And fyi, there's a bad word coming up in the translated version.  And yeah, I can see how it's kinda my fault.  But I bleeped some letters out.)
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A totally sweet little song: It's a Beautiful Day

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Oh my goodness, I'm totally loving this sweet little song (by The Kiffness and Rushawn):  It's a Beautiful Day  (click on it) Take three minutes today to watch it and smile! (Could you imagine how you would feel if you watched this song every morning or evening for the next month?  I might try it along with my Bible reading.  A New Year's resolution.)  
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Spiritual Warfare: Stay on the Path (Eph. 6:11)

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Do you remember the scene in  The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug  when the dwarves are about to enter Mirkwood?   Mirkwood is full of dangers, distractions, and deceptions that will try to confuse them and get them off-track, lost.  And so b efore Gandalf leaves to attend matters elsewhere, he instructs them about how to get through the evil forest successfully.  He tells them what they need to know about the dangers they'll face and the path they should take, and then he warns them,  "Stay on the path."   But while in the forest, it's up to them to do it, to be on-guard and wise, to remember and follow what Gandalf said instead of trusting themselves.   Well, life is our Mirkwood, full of spiritual dangers, distractions, and deceptions that try to get us off-track in life, away from God's best.  But God has created a way through, a path that He wants us to walk for the best life (and eternity) possible.   But w here is ...
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Is God Drawing Lines in the Sand (repost)

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(R eposted from a few years ago, updated slightly.  Part of the "End Times" series.) It’s amazing and disturbing how brazen our society is in attacking everything about God and everything He created:  marriage, monogamy, sex, family, sexuality, the scientific reality of gender, morality, modesty, the value of a person, the right to life, the existence of "right and wrong," the Bible, Jesus, and Absolute Truth.  Not to mention God Himself, His very existence. We are destroying everything associated with Him (except nature – we worship that), and then we call ourselves "progressive." But you know what I think about it all?   I think that God is letting it happen because He is drawing lines in the sand.  Through all these divisive issues and all the immorality, God is saying “Pick a side!  I am forcing you to decide which side you want to be on ... because I am coming back soon to take My people out of here.  So I need you all to decide: ...
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