What Real Encouragement Looks Like Sometimes!

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Who would've thought that "encouraging each other in the Lord" would take the form of two hours of telling each other, "Yep, that crap's hard!"?

- A text I got from a friend after a long conversation about the trials we've been through, the heartaches we've known, and how difficult life can be sometimes.  It made me smile!

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Destroying Calvinism in 28 Easy Steps (tiny version)

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Here is the tiniest-I-could-make-it version of "Fending Off Calvinism (a.k.a. Destroying Calvinism in 28 Easy Steps)"  (from my other blog) - which itself is the second half of a post called "Calvinism's Systematic Theology (and how to fend it off)" - about the fundamental errors of Calvinism that trap well-meaning Christians into a very bad, very deceptive, very tricksy theology.  I cut out as much as I could here, so check out the longer posts in the links above if you want a fuller picture and more information.   [Despite the title of this post, I know there's nothing easy about defeating or debating Calvinism.  It's such a tangled web of errors, with a cult-like vice-grip on people's minds, that it can't be defeated with just a few verses or rebuttals.  Its errors are so complex, interconnected, and deep-rooted that it needs to be completely dismantled idea by idea, wrong definition by wrong definition, misinterpreted verse by misinterpreted...
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Christian Testimony: Elizabeth - "How I Came to Jesus (depression and anxiety), Part 1"

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Here is Elizabeth's 13-minute-long testimony: "How I Came To Jesus (depression and anxiety), Part 1" . Of all the ones I've seen so far, hers is probably the most touching, deep, heartfelt one.  My heart breaks for her.  But it's a great testimony about how n o matter how hopeless life feels and how lonely you are, God is always there for you.   As she says, no matter what hard trials life throws at you, “God is real.   And He has me…. God cares.” She says that she feels like she's lived 30 lives already, and yet she's only 22.  Wow!  So much wisdom, heart, and goodness ... and in someone so young, too! And she not only has a beautiful, touching story to share, but she's also got a beautiful, touching voice too!   Beautiful worship songs. God bless you and your ministry, Elizabeth!  Thank you for opening your heart and life up to us!
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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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John Calvin: Master Manipulator

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This is point #5 from "Problems in John Calvin's Institutes of the Christian Religion" : Calvin manipulates people into agreeing with him in subtle ways: reminding us of how small our minds are, how incapable we are of comprehending God and how God works (after, of course, teaching us all about his own grand, inspired ideas of who God is and how God works), and telling us that if we resist believing what he says, it's because we are rebellious or small-minded. Calvinists do this same kind of thing today.  They get you to agree with them (or at least to shut up if you disagree) by convincing you that you simply don't - can't - understand what the Bible really says and so you just have to trust them, that you are questioning God if you question them, that you are being proud and unhumble if you disagree with them, etc.  (See " Predestination Manipulation" and "What's The Best Way To Make People Agree With Your Calvinist Views" an...
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Sermons by Tony Evans

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Taking a break between the "end times" stuff and the upcoming "predestination" stuff: Tony Evans is my all-time favorite pastor.  He always gives messages that convict, challenge, and comfort.  Listen to some of his sermons from his YouTube channel and be encouraged.   There are so many great ones to choose from. You can't go wrong with any video of his.  I found him to be the most biblically-accurate preacher (especially as I researched Calvinism and found out how wrong it is), who is also great at helping us practically apply God's truths to life. [Update: I removed the list of sermons I originally had here because most of the links were broken.]
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9 Marks of a Calvinist Cult #2 (hidden agendas)

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[This series is  "The 9 Marks of a Calvinist Cult"  split up into smaller, individual posts.]   (Happy Thanksgiving tomorrow!) 2.  Hidden Agendas Not only do Stealth Calvinist pastors get into churches using deception, but they come in with the hidden agenda to reform the church, to slowly drag it into Calvinism without the awareness of the people. A post called  "The Church Infected with Calvinism"  shares this:  " This third scenario [of how Calvinism infects a church] is all too common.  There are websites that instruct Calvinistic preachers who accept calls to non-Calvinistic churches on how to gradually 'acclimate' the church to Calvinism.  I saw one website with a two-year, month-by-month plan for the stealth Calvinist to take a non-Calvinistic church into 'Reformed Theology' land.  It's almost cult-like and certainly deceptive...  While the Calvinistic pastor is crafting pulpit content to fortify his philosophical argume...
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Struggling? Pray and then Write the Truth!

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I need to say this out loud, get it out of my head.  I have been struggling with fear the past so many days.  And it's not even over anything huge, except that it's huge to me. My youngest son has a small cavity on the side of one of his molars.  And it's deep enough that it should get filled.  But after struggling through baby bottle tooth decay with my third son (and making all sorts of healthy food changes because of it), cavities and teeth problems have become one of my greatest fears. I wish it weren't so, but it can send me into near panic attacks when I know one of the kids has a tooth problem.   I have been treating the cavity with a remineralization toothpaste (but unfortunately, we are not eating as healthy as we used to so it's no surprise that he has a problem).  And I am so hoping and praying that the paste works, that it fills in the hole like it did for my other son. But it's taking a long time.  It's filled in about half...
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Calvinism's Misconception About God's Love and Salvation

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Calvinism is built on a foundation of many misconceptions and assumptions.   (For examples, see here and here and here .)  And a major one of those misconceptions has to do with the effect that God’s love has on salvation, a misconception which ends up totally destroying God’s character and Truth. Calvinism starts with the misconception that God’s love MUST necessarily lead to salvation, that if God really loves someone then it means that person WILL be saved.   And therefore, those who are saved (they call them “the elect,” those prechosen by God and predestined for heaven) are the only ones that God truly loves. Basically, they believe that if God truly loved everyone then He would save everyone.   And so since He hasn’t saved everyone (the foundational misconception here is that God decides who gets salvation and who doesn’t, not that we choose), it must mean He doesn’t love everyone the same. And so to harmonize their misconception (that God only tru...
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Yes, Christians Are Supposed To Judge!

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One thing I'm sick of hearing is "Christians aren't supposed to judge."  And we hear it all the time.  People (and even other "Christians") use "don't judge" to silence Christians from calling anything sin, from pointing out sin and error in anyone else's life. But is "don't judge" really biblical, the way people are using it?  Or are they misapplying Scripture in order to silence opposition? When Jesus says "Do not judge, or you too will be judged.  For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." ( Matthew 7:1-2 ), He wasn't saying to not call sin "sin" or to not stand up for His Truth.   He was saying to not unfairly condemn others, to not look down on them as if you are better than them or as if you don't have your own sins, to not be hypocritical.  Because the very next thing He says is to take the plank out of your ow...
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