A Favorite Song (or two)

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My all-time favorite Christian band is The City Harmonic.  And this is one of my favorite songs from them:  Praise the Lord.

 When you've learned to praise the Lord - even when it doesn't come out easily, even when you're heart is still broken and you're afraid and things look dark - then you've entered a whole new level of faith.  And it's a beautiful thing.  Painfully beautiful and beautifully painful.  But it's good!

 And I will keep reposting this one, over and over again:  Oh, What Love!  

 It doesn't get any better than that!

Most Popular Posts of the Week:

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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Feminism Nonsense (repost)

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(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...
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Be Wary Of The Christian Post

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(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...
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When Calvinists say "But predestination!" (tiny, bare-bones version)

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[Here's the tiniest version of my "But predestination!" post.  The short version with more memes and quotes and information can be  found here , and t he longest version (a series of posts full of many more Calvinist comments, my Calvinist ex-pastor's sermons, and my replies to them, written for my own amusement and for my ex-church) can be found by  starting here .  But this tiny version includes only the most basic parts you need to know, with a few memes and quotes thrown in to spice it up and prove my points.  (I know this could be much tinier, but Calvinism has so many bunny trails, so many interlocking ideas, that it's hard to address one part without addressing more.  So this is as comprehensively tiny as I dared to make it.) ] At the heart of Calvinism is predestination and God's sovereignty (among other things, like "total depravity"), which according to Calvinism essentially amounts to:  "God preplans and controls everything, even sin ...
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Guidance Comes Only When We Need It

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I feel so relieved this morning.  Relieved and nervous.  My oldest son has just graduated from homeschool high school this year.  And he is registering today at the community college. I strongly believe in homeschooling, but I am not my own best cheerleader or supporter.  I have had many doubts and fears (to the point of being stress-sick) about how well I am raising them, how prepared they'll be for the future, if I am going to fail them academically, etc.   And knowing that he's graduating and going on to college is scary, because now everyone else can see how I've done and judge me for it.  And now we'll find out if he has to pay a price for any inadequacies and failures of mine. Anyway, part of my fear came from not knowing how to direct him when it came to picking a major or classes or a plan for the future.  He hasn't been sure of what he wants to do.  He has a couple ideas, but he wasn't sure.  So at first, we told him to just ...
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Calvi-god's Will: Children Deserve What!?!

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(FYI: There will be lots of posts on Calvinism coming up in the next months, with some non-Calvinism ones sprinkled in between.)   I updated my comment on the R.C. Sproul Jr. quote in my post  "But Calvinists don't say God causes sin and evil!"   (which, incidentally, was featured in a  "reddit reformed" post ) .   And as usual, I made it much longer, adding more quotes (quotes I've posted in other places, so feel free to skip them if you've read them before).  But it's important stuff, the bottom-line of Calvinism (which is why I want them all together in one place and why I re-quote them often, as needed - because Calvinists' own words make the best case against them).    And I figured I'd repost my new comment here, too, because it's a whole post all on its own.  (Also  see my post  Thank you, reddit/reformed. I'm honored! ) 1. R.C. Sproul Jr.  (Almighty Over All) :   “God  wills  all things tha...
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Help for Anxiety, Depression, and Suicidal Thoughts

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It's so sad to hear about all the celebrities who have recently committed suicide (or about anyone who has committed suicide, for that matter).  My heart breaks for them, for the pain they went through, and for the ones who love them, for the pain they are now going through.  It is truly a tragedy. To anyone who is hurting really badly, who is struggling with overwhelming anxiety or depression, who is considering taking their own lives ... I dedicate this post.  Please, take some time to look through some of the links here.  This is a round-up of some on-line resources or posts about dealing with anxiety or depression, particularly as a Christian. But first: Quick tips for help: If you are desperate for some immediate help and don't want to look through the links I have below, try some of these (or if it's really bad and you think you might hurt yourself, call 911 or go to the emergency room): 1.   Put on a worship song right now.  Or sin...
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Heretical "Christian" Teachings

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            Not only do we have to be discerning about other religions, but we also need to be discerning about heretical teachings that are coming from “Christian” churches nowadays.   Here are some of these heretical teachings and my responses to them:           1.   “There was no virgin birth.   ‘Virgin’ meant she was a young woman or that she got pregnant the first time she had intercourse.   So Jesus wasn’t really God.”             If they can destroy the idea of the virgin birth, they can deny the deity of Jesus Christ.   They can make Him into just a man, just another good teacher you can choose to follow if you want to.
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Yes! Jesus Did Talk About Hell!

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If someone says that Jesus never talked about hell or that He never talked about it being an eternal condition, they are not being true to the Bible. Jesus did indeed talk about hell.  And He talked about hell being an eternal place of punishment. But He didn't talk about hell to scare us or threaten us.  He talked about hell to warn us, to save us, to rescue us from the fire.   "Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.  Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell."   ( Matthew 10:28 ) "As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age.  The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil.  They will throw them in the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."  ( Matthew 13:40-42 ) "Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, ...
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Support for Jesus and the Bible

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Although almost every other major religion out there acknowledges that Jesus really did live, there are still people who insist He is a fairy tale, like a mythological legend from ancient history.  Or they believe that He was a real man but never claimed to be God, that His followers made it up after He died.  And many believe that the Bible, though a good book, was written just from men’s minds and wasn’t really God-inspired. When trying to reason with people like this, many Christians quote Bible verses to try to win the argument, thinking it should convince everyone of God’s Truth.  But since many people, including atheists, don’t believe the Bible is true, they don’t want to hear the Bible being used to try to prove the validity of the Bible.  That’s “circular reasoning,” using the Bible to validate the Bible.  This is why it’s important to have sources outside the Bible that confirm that Jesus really did live and that Scripture is really reli...
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