Oh, the ways this could go wrong!

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So apparently, China is starting a new program - a social scorecard , a rating system for all its citizens where your score determines what kind of things you have access to.  

 Yeah ... I don't see how this could go wrong at all, do you!?! 

Most Popular Posts of the Week:

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 4 (the sword)

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Okay now, onto the list of verses I shared with my family member for her to use in spiritual battles, when Satan's got us down and cowering in fear.  These were specifically chosen for comfort, encouragement, and strength (and I added a few extra here for different kinds of temptations or trials).  I suggest p rinting them out, reading them over and over again, writing them out, mem orizing some, taking a list with you wherever you go, etc.  Whatever it takes to get through the hard times. And when the attacks, temptations, or hard times come, turn them into prayers  (I'll share my own personal Scripture-based prayers in the next post)  or simply s peak out loud the ones that fit your particular struggle, trial, temptation, or fear.   Declare to yourself, to the struggle/temptation, and to the spirit world/the Enemy that "It is written ..." and then quote a verse that fits.  A nd let God's Word comfort and still your soul as the sword of the Spiri...
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Big Shocker: Liberal Elites Trying to Stop Those Who Oppose The Covid Vaccine!

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See this link: "Liberal Elites Trying To Stop Organic Covid-19 Opposition Groups From Growing As Distrust Of The American Media Reaching All-Time High" . And also read the comments to Bill Gates' Tweet here .  (Click on "view more replies" to see them all.)  Interesting stuff!  (And I love the sentence about how the guy who wants to reduce the human population - Bill Gates - is the same one who wants to "save" us with a vaccine.  Very insightful!  And it should make everyone pause and think!) I have distrusted the mainstream media for a long, long time, seeing as how biased they are politically, and who they are "in bed" with, and which information they allow us to see, and how they spin their articles, and which news stories they choose to report and which to hide, etc..  But it's only been recently, since Trump was elected, that their phony "unbiased, just reporting the news" mask has come off.  And now they don't ev...
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Maybe The Kiddies Should Visit "Drag Queen Story Hour"?

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Maybe we should let our small, innocent, impressionable children pop their heads into a "Drag Queen Story Hour" to see what it's all about. Because this freak-of-nature would scare the crap out of anyone.  And then - after seeing that - the terrified children would grow up wanting nothing to do with trans-gender-ness!   (However, the question then is what to do about the years of nightmares and how to afford the costly therapy!) Honestly, parents ... Is that who you want teaching your kids about morality?  About their bodies and sexuality and all that?   If you parents can't see what's wrong with that, I bet your kids can! And I, too, applaud the parents who are taking a stand against that!  Where have our brains gone that we ever even got to the point of allowing that in our public libraries!?!  Around the innocent children!?! Shame, shame, shame!
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Turn it up even LOUDER!

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(Just for fun, slipped in between the spiritual warfare posts, and a week earlier than normal.)  You know those songs that you always have to play as loud as possible, and even louder if you could? I've got some of those.  [To name only five, there's  Numb from U2 and  Chlorine,   Downstairs,   Choker , and Jumpsuit from Twenty One Pilots, my newest musical addiction.]    And the only place I can play them as loud as I want is when I'm driving alone in the car.  That's MY time.  An introvert's dream vacation.  I can play my music as loud as I want and sing along... and there's no one to interrupt or complain. Which reminds me: You parents know what we're supposed to do when kids complain about our music, right? Yeah, that's right: TURN IT UP EVEN LOUDER! The ironic part is that they used to complain about me singing "Ice, Ice, Baby" which I know every word of, but now my 3rd son knows every word and sings along too...  ... an...
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Beautiful Failure

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There’s another big thing that helped me through that “four-month funk.”   Another lesson that I remember every time I walk down our stairs.   And I smile.  (Also reposted from around 2014.)   When we first moved into this house over two years ago, the first purchase we made was new paint.   I had never owned a home before, never been able to pick out wall colors and make a place “my own.”   And I was really looking forward to this project.   But unexpected repairs came up that meant I had to put it off.   And so, two-and-a-half years later, I was thrilled to finally be able to engage in this wonderful right and joy of home-ownership.
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Spiritual Warfare: Sword of the Spirit 3 (songs/sermons)

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Before I get to the list of my "sword of the Spirit" verses, here's a list I shared with my struggling family member  of some of my favorite songs to get through the hard times, the ones that encourage me and make me cry in a good way, in a needed way.  (Sometimes anxiety is a sign that we need a good, long cry.) When you have no energy left to even pray, let the worship songs from other people be your prayers: From The City Harmonic:  "Oh, What Love" ,  "Fell Apart" ,   "Honestly" ,  "Praise the Lord" ,  "Love, Heal Me,"   "My God,"  and  "Here and There."   ( Their music is what kept me from giving up completely when I was at my lowest.  Let their words be your prayers, your heart's cry, when you have no words of your own left.)   From  Tenth Avenue North:  "Worn" ,  "Hold My Heart" ,   "By Your Side" , and  "Healing Begins" .      From  Jeremy Riddle:  ...
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My Testimony

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I've scattered bits of my story all over my blogs, but I’m gonna pull it all together here, about how I became a believer and some things I’ve gone through and how my faith has been affected.  (I’ll include links to posts where I explain things more fully.) Starting the journey:    I became a believer when I was eleven years old.    (I am now getting close to 50.   I don't know how that happened. )    At a Christian camp, on one of the last nights, they gave an altar call.    I wanted to go up but was nervous about standing up in front of everyone.    But being more nervous about the window of opportunity closing, I felt myself stand up and walk to the front.    I knew exactly what I was doing, that I was making a commitment for life.    And I meant it.    I really meant it.    I knelt down, asked Jesus into my heart, and have never turned back.    It hasn’t been an easy, carefr...
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An Overview of World Religions

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            I want to briefly present what some of the major religions of the world believe.   (I am not covering all of them, of course.   And I am skipping things like Wicca, New Age, and Humanism.)   I studied all the major religions once when I was considering if Christianity was really the only way.   And I came out of the study believing in Jesus all the more.               It is important to know what other religions teach so that we can know what they are really about, have real reasons for why we don’t believe them, and understand what makes Jesus and Christianity different.               (This is mainly written for believers, taken from my Bible study over at https://ironsharpensironbiblestudy.blogspot.com .)           ...
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How Would You Spend Your Last Day?

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Okay, so today (reposted from 9/23/17) is the beginning of the end of the world, according to a Christian numerologist.  As I went to bed last night, I was thinking, "What if the world really did 'end' tomorrow?  How would we choose to spend our last day?" As I laid in bed by myself last night watching Gilmore Girls for the 832nd time while my husband and kids watched a show together in the other room, I thought about how we all had eaten dinner together earlier (homemade BBQ chicken pizza) and how hubby and I had our "mommy and daddy" time and how we were all just chillin' now with each other, hanging out in our normal low-key way, eating mint chocolate chip ice cream.  And I thought, "This is exactly how I would want to spend my last day.  If the world ended tomorrow or if the rapture really happened and Jesus came back and took my family out of here, I would be happy to end my time on earth like this."  Actually, I can t...
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