A Question for Atheists

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Atheists often ask "How could you believe in a God that would allow so many bad things and so much suffering?"
My answer:  "How could you not believe in God when this life is so full of bad things and suffering?  If you don't believe in God, then all you have are the bad things and the suffering, with an ending of nothingness.  You have no hope that Someone is watching over everything, that He will help you through it all, that He will eventually fix all the broken things, dish out ultimate justice, wipe away all the tears, and make all bad things good again?"  
I'd rather have a hard life with God by my side and with hope that 'the best is yet to come' ... than have a hard life without God and with no hope of things ever being better.
(And they call Christians "crazy" for believing.  I think it's more insane - and discouraging and hopeless and irrational - to not believe.)
[Click here for Why We All Want There To Be A God.]

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"Defend Your Calvinism" Challenge (updated)

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A challenge f or Calvinists out there (or for those who just think they're Calvinists but haven't really studied it): If you are so sure about your Calvinism, then how about taking the "Defend Your Calvinism" Challenge:      1.   B efore you start this challenge, you have to pray.  Sincerely pray and ask God to open your eyes to the truth about what the Bible says and about what Calvinism teaches.  Ask God to reveal to you if you really are willing to see the truth, if you really are willing to find out   you might have been wrong   all this time.  If you are not willing, you won't be able to see the Truth. 2.   Read at least one of these blog posts of mine about it: "We Left Our Church Because of Calvinism (Things My Calvinist Pastor Said)"   "Why Is Calvinism So Dangerous?"    "Is Calvinism's TULIP Biblical?" Read them carefully, thoughtfully.  Write down the arguments against Calvinism.  Write down the verses...
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A Few "End Times" And "Christian News" Links

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There are a few "end times" and "Christian news" sites that I like to check up on now and then.   When it comes to the "End Times," I mainly prefer sites that give me headlines about what's going on around the world that may be related to the end times, such as major earthquake and volcanic activity, political and international conflicts, Israel news, etc.   I don't care much for the sites that are sensationalized - that make huge deals out of every tiny thing and that try to fit every little cosmic or world event into a Bible verse as some sort of "proof" that the End Times are here.  I'd rather read the normal news stories for myself and get an overall picture of how close we seem to be getting to the end. Of course, no matter how close we think we are to the end, it won't happen until God wants it to happen.  All we can do is wait for Him and live the way He wants us to, in anticipation of standing before Him someday.  An...
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"Becoming a Christian" and "Steve McQueen's Christian Testimony"

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A great, quick video from Pastor Greg Laurie on "Becoming a Christian" (4 minutes long) And a 2 1/2-minute one from Tony Evans: Salvation Through Jesus Christ Yes, it's that simple!  Eternal life, salvation, is that simple to get.  All of the work has been done for you by Jesus Christ on the cross.  And all you have to do is accept it. [Keep in mind that it's not the prayer that saves you, the words you say.  It isn't a "magic spell."  What saves you is your choice to believe in Jesus, your decision to make Him your Lord and Savior, to believe that He is God and that He came to earth to die on the cross and rise again to pay the price for  your  sins so that you can live, so that you don't have to pay the price for your sin.  You can live eternally in heaven because of what He did for you on the cross.  And all you have to do is accept it, believe it.  If you will believe (if you will accept it as truth, even if you don't "feel it" yet...
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Thank you, reddit/reformed. I'm honored!

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[I'm sneaking this post in between the regular bi-weekly (every other week) posts on both this blog and my Anti-Calvinist Rant blog.  (Did you know that bi-weekly can mean both "every other week" and "twice a week"?  What the heck, those are like total opposites!)] Commenter Senior-Emergency-944   started a thread  on Reddit/Reformed   called  Part of me wants to affirm it. But how do you refute this?!  which linked to my post  "But Calvinists don't say God causes sin and evil!" , asking for advice on how to refute the Calvinist quotes I shared about God causing evil.  If I was able to reply to Senior (I don't have a reddit account), I would've said this... That's awesome!  Thank you.  I'm honored that you brought up this post for discussion among reformed Christians.  And I think it's great that you're willing to examine this issue and think deeper about it, to face the dark, uncomfortable truth of what Calvinists really be...
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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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On this Good Friday

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Take some time on this Good Friday to remember what Jesus went through to bring us forgiveness, to offer us all eternal life - and then thank Him for it.   Some great songs and videos about it: Jeremy Riddle's  "Sweetly Broken"   Cloverton's  "Christmas Hallelujah" Michael W. Smith's  "Secret Ambition" Crowder's  "I AM" "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Jesus Christ. God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood." ( Romans 3:23-25 ) “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life   in Christ Jesus our Lord.”  ( Romans 6:23 ) “God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”   ( Romans 5:8 ) "This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us...."  ( 1 John 3:16 ) "Christ suffered for you... When ...
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Late Summer for Gardeners

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I don't know about you, but all this heat and humidity has made my garden go crazy.  And consequently, I've been so busy shredding and freezing zucchini (or making zucchini bread and zucchini fritters) and canning homemade pickles and tomato sauce and crushed tomatoes and pickled peppers... and then busy cleaning up all the zucchini-pickle-tomato-pepper messes all over the kitchen... not to mention, giving away bags of fresh cucumbers and green beans because we're getting too many and can't possibly eat them all (I find it crazy that three of my kids hate fresh green beans - where'd I go wrong?😕)... and then doing it all over again just a little while later.   It's been like the movie  Groundhog Day , endlessly repeating the same day over and over again, except with vegetables!   And so, just for fun (and because I've been too busy to write real posts), here's something that all you gardeners out there might enjoy right about now.  I feel this one:
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Starting Your Own Relationship With Jesus (And Why We Need Him!)

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(Updated 3/11/20, to simplify it, add new stuff, and make it cleaner-looking.   I’ve been wanting to do this for a long time.) John 3: 16 : “For God so loved the world that he sent his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” God so loved the world.  He didn’t just love the world; He so loved the world .  He so loved the world that He (Jesus) would die in our place before He would miss out on an eternal relationship with us.  He knew that we would disappoint Him and hurt Him and fail Him, but He still so wanted a relationship with us that He made a way.  He knew that there would be many, many people that would reject His gift of love and salvation, but an eternity spent with those who would choose Him was worth the price of dying on the cross.  That is some amazing love! Let me ask you something: If you were to die today or if Jesus came back today, would you be ready?  Seriously...
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My "When Anxiety Strikes" Playlist

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In the post "Getting through the 'broken' times," I said that I had made a CD to listen to when anxiety hits.  It has some of my favorite Christian songs on it.   Here are as many of the songs as I could find online, plus some extra.  Listen to some of them when anxiety threatens you.  It really does help to hear godly truths spoken out loud (and to speak them out loud yourself).  And personally, I think godly music helps repel evil, giving you some extra spiritual protection when you are most vulnerable.  They don't like to hear God being praised and Truth being sung! (FYI: Videos are constantly being removed from online.  So if the video is no longer available, type in the name and artist and see if you can find it.  I simply can't keep up with replacing links.) From The City Harmonic: Love, Heal Me  - The song that inspired the title of one of my blogs, Love, Heal Me - my heart's cry for the past year. Fell Apart  - One...
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Sermons by Tony Evans (repost)

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(I recently fixed the broken links as well as I could, had to switch some out for others) Tony Evans is my all-time favorite pastor.  He always gives messages that convict, challenge, and comfort.  Here are some sermons that I have listened to or am going to listen to.  For more, simply go to his website by clicking here .  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. Reversing Anxiety Consequences Keeping the faith when life gets hard Trusting God in a storm How to have strength in your struggles How to overcome your worry How to Get Your Prayers Answered Trusting The God You Believe In God knows what He is doing How the enemy tries to distract you from God's plan Grab your sword The Secret to Powerful Prayer Spiritual W...
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