A Broken Hallelujah

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The song that's making me wipe tears from my eyes this morning...

 I don't know what all the lyrics mean, but I do understand that life is often a broken Hallelujah.   

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Spiritual Warfare: Sword of the Spirit 2 (the bedrock)

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It was hard to watch my friend struggle through her deep emotional pain (see previous post ), and I couldn't really do anything to stop her difficult trial or make it all better for her, especially since the battle was mostly in her head.  And I know what that's like: Anxiety is a bully who doesn't play by the rules.  Unfair, unruly, and aggressive.  Running roughshod over you, your mind, your life. I couldn't fix it for her because she was in a battle she was forced to fight herself.  But I could at least try to encourage her by letting her know that I understood, that I got through something similar and that I know she can too... but that she has to want to get through it, to fight it and not give in.  She has to refuse to succumb to the Enemy's lies and destructive tactics. And to help her do this, I shared with her one of the things that helped me get through my hardest times: My "sword of the Spirit," my own personal list of favorite verses that I wou...
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Why is Calvinism so dangerous? (Introduction)

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[In this series, I'm breaking the long post "Why is Calvinism so dangerous?" into bite-sized pieces.] Why is Calvinism so dangerous? Because it  appears  to teach biblical truth while actually teaching  the opposite  - while using  manipulation and cult-like tactics to suck you in!  And it's spreading.  Stealthily, fast, aggressively. (We watched it happen firsthand in our church, which is why I wrote this blog.  See  "What's the best way to make people agree with your Calvinist views?"    Sadly, we ended up  leaving that church , a place we attended almost 20 years.) [ I updated this November 2022 to try to shorten it.  I failed.  But I hope it's more readable and streamlined at least.   If you only read one anti-Calvinism post of mine, I think it should be this one.  But I'm warning you, this post is long.  Very long.  So pack a lunch and bring a sleeping bag.  But it has to be long because...
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A Fresh Start

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I have several other blogs, all with a different purpose and target audience:             1.  Love, Heal Me and My Impressionistic Life (contains many posts about the struggles we encounter on our walks with God - written for the hurting Christian who wants raw honesty and deep thinking)             2.  The Sweetly Broken Journey (includes my life story, a Bible Study for mature Christians, and a "self-help" journaling guide-book to help people grow in their faith and through the trials)             3.  Heather's Garden and Home (includes recipes, posts on gardening and family life and faith, and some social and political thoughts - written for the average person, not just Christians)             4.  Iron Sharpens Iron Bible Study (contains only the Bible study I wrote for mature Christians)           ...
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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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Spiritual Warfare: Sword of the Spirit 1

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[I intended to do a post like this later in a Spiritual Warfare series, but since it's relevant right now to someone I know ... and since it's been so long since I've added to this series... I'll publish it now.   Previous posts in this series are "My Story" ...  "Be strong in the Lord" ...  Spiritual Warfare sermons by Tony Evans ... "Stay on the Path" ... "Underestimating ourselves/overestimating Satan" ... "Overestimating ourselves/underestimating Satan" ...  #1 Satan's Schemes (unbelief, sin, fear) ... #2 (fear, psychics, prayer) ... #3 (vulnerable in good times) ... Spiritual Warfare: Resources ... #4 (vulnerable in bad times )... #5 (innocence, naivete) ... #6 (half-truths) ... #7 (bad theology) ... #8 (deserts) ... #9 (bitterness, unforgiveness) ... and (for fun)  "Scariest Halloween decoration ever?" I'll break this post up into several parts over the next several weeks.  Much of these posts wil...
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Satan vs. Calvinism's god

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Hmm ... let me see ... 1.   Satan lies.   Calvi-god lies too - telling us that he loves all people, that he wants all people to be saved, and that he sent Jesus to die for sinners, when in reality he predestined most people for hell and gave them no chance to be saved because he only sent Calvi-Jesus to die for the "elect."  Not to mention that Calvi-god is the cause of all of Satan's lies. 2.   Satan is a master of half-truths and deception.   Calvi-god is a master of half-truths and deception too - telling people to repent but hiding the fact that they can't repent unless he makes them repent, commanding  them to be obedient but hiding the fact that he actually controls everything they do, commanding the "non-elect" to do things he made impossible for them to do (repent and believe) but then causing them to do things he commands them not to do (disobey, rebel, reject him).  Not to mention that Calvi-god is the cause of all of Satan's half-...
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So Chicken Sandwiches Hurt "Queer Kids" and Red Hats Are "Scary"!?!

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So, there's this article out (an opinion piece in the Toronto Star) about how "eating at Chick-fil-A will increase the suffering of queer kids."   And I say, " What? " First off, if chicken sandwiches have the power to hurt "queer" folk, then maybe those "queer" folks need to toughen up a bit.  Life is a lot more cruel than a chicken sandwich will ever be. And secondly, if chicken sandwiches from Chick-fil-A have the power to hurt queer people, it's only because the LGBTQ-community made it that way.   Guess what Chick-fil-A sandwiches used to be - before the LGBTQ-warmongers started freaking out about Chick-fil-A, before they turned chicken sandwiches into a political statement, before they started quivering, hyperventilating, and screaming at the top of their lungs about how hateful Chick-fil-A is?   Go ahead, take a guess?   That's right ... they were just chicken sandwiches .   And they would still be c...
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"Without You"

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For King and Country is fast becoming a favorite band of mine.  They have such beautiful music and such meaningful lyrics. I just found this song ... "Without You." It came out of a time of serious physical sickness, from wanting to not die, wanting to be able to stay with those you love.  But I think the deeper meaning is not wanting to lose God, even when we are struggling with our deepest aches and trials.  It's about choosing to cling fiercely to Him, being brought to our knees in humility, even when everything is bad.  It's about saying, "No matter what, I won't leave You."  I know how that feels.  In 2016, I went through my worst year ever .  I got to a point where I didn't want to wake up in the morning because paralyzing panic flooded my mind the moment I woke up, and depression enveloped me the rest of the day.  Where I couldn't pray anything but "Please, come back, Jesus.  Just come back now and end it all."  Where I wan...
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And Yet Again - 21 More Anti-Calvinism Memes

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I giggle making these.  Helps me blow off steam. Only if you're elected ... So you're a Calvinist? Except for you ... "I love being a Calvinist" First I'll tell them ... Said Jesus Never! We Calvinists say ... The bookcase Researching John Calvin Snap Out Of It The Pro-Calvinism Meme Absolutely Sure ... Calvinist Lunatic If you want people ... Another Predestination Sermon It's called "Calvinism" Lucky Dude "All" Means "Some" God "In Control" "Total depravity" (AKA "Total Inability" - a concept NOT found in the Bible anywhere!) It's be...
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2020: We Can All Understand!

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   2020 Version of Things Here's hoping 2021 is better! [Update: And now here's the  new one for 2021 .  That didn't take long.  But I'm glad to see we're trying to laugh about it.] [And another update from February 15, 2021: I am adding this note here because I don't know where else to put it.  I just wanted to share this story which I believe confirms my idea that our online devices are indeed listening to us all the time, even when we don't know it.   Our online service is used for our few tablets, phones, and laptops, but we  don't have smart TV's or one of those always-on units that listens and responds when you ask it questions.  Well, yesterday we had some friends over, and we got to talking about the movie "Return to Oz" from 1985, about how creepy it was.  We talked about it for just a couple minutes, maybe 2-3.  Well, a couple hours after they left, I turned on a tablet, looked at the home "news page" (through the sea...
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