Praise The Lord

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How I'm feeling today:  Praise The Lord by City Harmonic and Blessed Be Your Name by Newsboys.

A hard lesson to learn  - learning to praise in the pain.  I still stink at it sometimes.

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Spiritual Warfare: Sword of the Spirit 5 (Scripture-based prayers)

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And finally, to end the "Sword of the Spirit" posts: When I was going through my worst, hardest times and was full  of anxiety, depression, hopelessness, and helplessness, there were a few things that helped give me some relief (herbal teas, herbal tinctures, homeopathic remedies, positive thinking, walks, mindless but relaxing TV shows, worship music, reading the Bible, saying verses out loud or writing them by hand, etc.).   But I could tell that my soul needed something more, something deeper, more powerful, more effective.   And so I decided to try something that I had always  been curious about: Praying Scripture back to God, turning verses into prayers, grabbing onto the truths and promises in Scripture that fit our need at the moment and praying them back to Him,  trusting Him to answer.   And when I did that, it calmed my anxious soul in a way that nothing else did or could.   Even just looking through God's Word for th...
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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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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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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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My Everyday Prayer (part 3)

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            “Pour out on us Your love, grace, and mercy, for we are bankrupt without these.   Protect us from evil and surround us with Your Heavenly angels, for we are desperate for Your care and protection.   We cannot fight this battle without You!”             I have a hard time praying that God pours out His blessings on us, like the “prosperity gospel” preachers teach.   Instead, I am learning to pray that He helps me be content with the life He has given me, to notice the blessings that are already there.   To find Him in it.
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To All Who Are Ashamed or Hurting ...

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T o anyone who's done anything they are ashamed of and who wonders if there's any hope for them ... Come to Jesus!  Find the forgiveness and grace and healing that only He can give.  Others might turn on you and might never offer forgiveness, compassion, or mercy.   But Jesus is running towards you, asking you to grab His hand, to let Him love you and forgive you and make you new. (And to anyone who's been hurt by others, who's been carrying around deep heart wounds that need healing ...  Come to Jesus!  He's waiting for you, to heal your broken heart, to give you peace and joy and life.) Who else can you turn to? Who else offers healing and hope like that? Who else can fix what's broken  in your life and heart and soul? A taste of what we Christians believe about  God's grace and mercy, forgiveness and love: Forgiven by Crowd...
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If They Mated ...

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I think I stumbled upon the perfect "If They Mated ..." scenario for who I look like and how I act.  (You know, when they take two people and morph their faces into one to show what their offspring would look like if they mated.)  I wasn't trying to figure this out or anything; it just came to me as I was watching The Hobbit recently.  And once I saw it in my mind, I couldn't unsee it.  Then after I thought about possibly sharing it with all of you, my mind won't let it go until I do.  And so here it is, much to my chagrin... I kid you not, if you mixed these three characters - their looks and their personalities - you would totally have me.   Frankie Heck from The Middle (Someone once told me I looked like her, when I was a lot younger.  Actually, it was when she was in Everybody Loves Raymond , but we're both a lot older now.  And I was told once I looked like Winona Ryder, for a split second.  Ah, to be young again!) Bard...
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Spiritual Warfare Sermons by Tony Evans

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Some basics The Nature of the Battle part 1   (audio, 25 minutes long) The Nature of the Battle, part 2   (audio, 25 min.) The War Revealed and Strongholds Defined   (video, 29 min.) Finding victory over Satan's tricks and traps    (video, 44 min.) How the enemy tries to distract you from God's plan   (video, 50 min.) Armor of God The Belt of Truth   (video, 31 min.) Breastplate of Righteousness   (video, 31 min.) The Shoes of Peace   (video, 32 min.) The Shield of Faith   (audio, 25 min.) Helmet of Salvation, part 1   (audio, 25 min.) Helmet of Salvation, part 2   (audio, 25 min.) Sword of Spirit, part 1   (audio, 25 min.) Sword of Spirit, part 2   (audio, 25 min.) Igniting Kingdom Prayer Series (all are video, 28 minutes long each) Touching Heaven to Change Earth   The Prayer for Spiritual Power   Claiming Your Legal Rights   Understanding Spiritual Authority   Praying in Jesus's Name   Pigg...
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"But predestination!" (my comments 1-4: election)

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Okay, so here's my comments 1-4 on the pastor's predestination sermons ( in the post "When Calvinists say 'But predestination!'" ).  I'll have more posts with more comments coming up.  I don't cover all the sermons or go in order, but I do want to address some of the more important points. This series was written mainly for my ex-church, so they could see the Calvinist pastor's own words, and why I think he's wrong.  In the posts following this one, I will examine in more depth some of the things he preached. Here's the posts in the whole series:  the pastor's sermons  ("When Calvinists say 'But predestination!'"), and my comments  1-4 (election)  and  5-6 (Romans and sovereignty)  and  7-9 (depravity, Book of Life, predestine)  and  10-11 (shaming tactics, Feb. 2015)  and  12-14 (dead, regeneration, born again)  and  15 (total depravity, manipulation)   and  16A (God's Will, babies)  and...
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When You're Mad at God

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What do you do when you are mad at God?   If you are a “good Christian,” you might try to deny the way you feel.   You might smile and take it, trying to put up a good, pleasing front to convince God that you are handling it in a “good Christian” way.   After all, you wouldn’t want to offend or displease Him, would you? If you are not a Christian, you might think that God wants nothing to do with you if you are angry at Him.   You might keep your distance from Him because you think that He would never allow an angry person in His presence.   Who do you think you are, anyway, that you should be angry with God?   Doesn’t that deserve lightning bolts? Or maybe you feel like you might hurt God’s feelings?   Or make Him angry with you?   Or cause Him to reject you?  
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