A Christmas Story For You

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Nearly 2000 years ago, Jesus Christ was born to bring us salvation, so that anyone can believe in Him and be saved.  He was born in a barn and placed in a manger because there was no room for them in the Inn.  Jesus - God the Son - came to earth as a poor, helpless baby ...
But that's the ONLY time He's going to do that.

 The next time He comes back, it won't be as a poor, helpless baby.

 It will be as a powerful King and righteous Judge - gathering His faithful people to Him and dishing out swift justice on those who have taken their stands against Him.

 Amen!  Come, Lord Jesus!

And have a merry Christmas!

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Anti-Calvinism Links

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This is the last half of the post "What's The Best Way To Make People Agree With Your Calvinist Views."   But I put it here in its own post so that it's easier to find. These are some links to posts which are against Calvinism, the belief that the Bible teaches God has predetermined from the beginning of time who goes to heaven and who goes to hell.  It's no secret from my writing that I strongly disagree with this view.  I believe the Bible clearly teaches that God offers us all salvation, that Jesus's death paid for everyone's sins, and that we have to decide if we will accept Him or reject Him.  And here is some of what others have to say about Calvinism: (FYI, I haven't read everything in all of these yet and I don't necessarily agree with every point they make, but I needed to link to them before I lost them online.  And for the record, I came to my belief about what the Bible says by reading the Bible, not extra-biblical books or articles...
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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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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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White horses and a cup of tea (part 2)

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(picking up where we left off in part 1 ...) And that brings us to this year.   This year I wasn't going to make any New Year's resolutions.  I was like "meh, who cares?" But then, two things grew naturally in my mind, goals for this year.  (The first one will take three posts, and then I'll share the second one after that.) (Plus, I think I'll keep trying the "talk less, listen more" resolution, too.   I could always use more of that.   And I think I'll add "try to stop speaking negative things."  That won't be easy.  I do far too much of that.): A Theme:   This is going to be my "white horse" year.   "What's a 'white horse'?" you ask.   Well, I'm glad you asked.  I'll tell you.   Here's the thing: I'm an overthinker.  A massive overthinker.  And it causes me lots of anxiety.  Of course, I have some very real things to be concerned about, but I also overthink little things and not-eve...
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Hardest Spiritual Lesson #7: Accepting Love and Forgiveness

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Another lesson that's really hard for many of us:  Letting Yourself Be Loved or Forgiven (note: there's a bonus section at the end of this post). Not everyone will face this lesson, but those with broken pasts will know what I’m talking about.    One of the hardest lessons I have had to learn in my spiritual life (and in my earthly life) is to let myself be loved by someone ... by Someone.   I come from a very dysfunctional home.    Three dads by the time I was 8.    And then another dad (after a  very messy  divorce) when I was in my late-20's/early-30’s.    I didn’t grow up with my bio-dad or his family.    I didn’t even really meet them until my teens.    And then after that, I’d see them about once or twice a year, sometimes less.    I never really felt like I belonged to a dad or had a place in my extended families (or that my mom was an emotionally-safe person, so I never went to her for enco...
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Are We At The Very End?

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I'm not the only one who thinks that we are at the very, very end: https://www.raptureready.com/2019/01/11/loving-exhortation-alice-childs/ At least, that is my prayer! Hallelujah! by the Newsboys In The Sky by Bob Carlisle and others Coming My Way by City Harmonic Break Open The Sky by TobyMac People Get Ready by Crystal Lewis I Wish We'd All Been Ready I Have This Hope by Tenth Avenue North Holy (Wedding Day) by City Harmonic Oh, What Love by City Harmonic. Sweetly Broken by Jeremy Riddle
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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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Some Problems With Predestination/Calvinism (And What I Think The Bible Really Says)

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(Part of the "Predestination vs. Free-Will" series) Calvinists (those who believe in predestination, that we don’t have a real choice about salvation) – say that we have to evangelize and pray because God told us to and because God knew that this is how the lost would be saved.   This is a pretty flimsy reason for evangelizing, given that (according to Calvinists) no one really has a choice about where their souls end up anyway.   (And actually, they'll say that we do get a choice, that we freely, willingly choose according to our nature.  But what they don't say is that God alone determines our nature, whether we get a new "saved" one or whether we have to keep the old "sinner" nature which can do nothing but sin and reject God.  This is still God determining whether we believe or not, whether we sin or not.  Don't buy into their double-talk.)              If evangelizing didn’t really make a difference, then doing it j...
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Anyone Else Worn Out?

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(Reposted from a year ago, but still so fitting.  Updated.) Can anyone else relate to the idea of being exhausted from the energy it takes to just keep breathing (the song  Worn , linked below)?   I've been there, too.  For a long time now.   [It dawned on me last night - after talking with one of my sons about anxiety issues - just how many big things we've been hit with in the last 5-10 years (most of them in the last 5 years): - getting out of a moldy rental that made us sick and buying this house that we thought was such a great answer to prayer - finding one big house problem after the next - depression over an abandoned, moldy, neighbor's garage which is 10 feet from our yard and blows all over us  (they've only just now - the fall of 2019 - started cleaning it up, after about 5 years of me being severely depressed over it) - several years ago, my only close friend at the time stopped calling me and it crushed me - I went into a long and deep depressi...
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The Case for Christ

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If you haven’t seen The Case for Christ , the movie based on Lee Strobel’s life, you should see it  ( here's the movie trailer ) .   It’s good.   It’s about his journey to Christ, from being an atheist who was very skeptical about Christianity and who only responded to “facts” to finally finding the evidence for Christ so overwhelming that he couldn’t help but believe.  [Here's the hour-long documentary: The Case for Christ. ]  What I liked about it was the two different ways that we see him and his wife come to Christ.   She came to Christ through her emotions, through the pull on her heart, as though she knew it was the truth without needing the facts first.   But he came to Christ through his mind, through researching the facts about Christ’s death and resurrection and the validity of the Bible. One was led by their heart, and one was led by their mind. I love that.   I love that God has different ways of reaching different people,...
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