"Walking in God's Plan"

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I just found this sermon by Charles Stanley, Walking in God's Plan.  It's a good look at the different types of "wills" God has, of the things we are responsible for and the things God is responsible for.  

Such as God has a "predetermined Will" - events that God has predetermined that we cannot change, such as His plan to send Jesus to the cross.  

But then there are things that God desires - His "desired Will" for our lives - such as His desire that all men to be saved, His desire that we obey and trust Him, etc.  And we have a choice about following God in those kinds of things or not.  God has given us the right and responsibility to make certain decisions in our lives, about certain things He desires for us.  And our choices will have a real effect on whatever happens, on whether God's desired Will for our lives happens or not!  

This is a good balance between God's sovereignty and our free-will, our responsibility to make choices.

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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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Turn it up even LOUDER!

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(Just for fun, slipped in between the spiritual warfare posts, and a week earlier than normal.)  You know those songs that you always have to play as loud as possible, and even louder if you could? I've got some of those.  [To name only five, there's  Numb from U2 and  Chlorine,   Downstairs,   Choker , and Jumpsuit from Twenty One Pilots, my newest musical addiction.]    And the only place I can play them as loud as I want is when I'm driving alone in the car.  That's MY time.  An introvert's dream vacation.  I can play my music as loud as I want and sing along... and there's no one to interrupt or complain. Which reminds me: You parents know what we're supposed to do when kids complain about our music, right? Yeah, that's right: TURN IT UP EVEN LOUDER! The ironic part is that they used to complain about me singing "Ice, Ice, Baby" which I know every word of, but now my 3rd son knows every word and sings along too...  ... an...
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A Calvinist pastor's 9-11 sermons (vs. C.S. Lewis)

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In "honor" of the anniversary of 9-11, I thought I'd share some quotes from my Calvinist ex-pastor's sermons about 9-11 or around the anniversary of 9-11.  (I've shared all these before, so skip them in you want to.)   I'm so sorry to share thes e.  Please don't read them if you were greatly hurt by 9-11, or any other tragedy.  [ And speaking of tragedy: It's absolutely horrible and heartbreaking that Charlie Kirk was assassinated.  It's just so senseless.  It's not like he was a powerful political leader who made laws or rules that people didn't like or that affected their families or anything like that.  He was just a normal guy who debated views and shared his opinions - opinions that some people didn't like.  And for that someone killed him!?!  Something isn't right here.  May God expose what it is, and bring about justice, and protect and care for his family.  My heart goes out to them!  Heartbreaking!]    B...
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Spiritual Warfare: Sword of the Spirit 3 (songs/sermons)

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Before I get to the list of my "sword of the Spirit" verses, here's a list I shared with my struggling family member  of some of my favorite songs to get through the hard times, the ones that encourage me and make me cry in a good way, in a needed way.  (Sometimes anxiety is a sign that we need a good, long cry.) When you have no energy left to even pray, let the worship songs from other people be your prayers: From The City Harmonic:  "Oh, What Love" ,  "Fell Apart" ,   "Honestly" ,  "Praise the Lord" ,  "Love, Heal Me,"   "My God,"  and  "Here and There."   ( Their music is what kept me from giving up completely when I was at my lowest.  Let their words be your prayers, your heart's cry, when you have no words of your own left.)   From  Tenth Avenue North:  "Worn" ,  "Hold My Heart" ,   "By Your Side" , and  "Healing Begins" .      From  Jeremy Riddle:  ...
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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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Jill 4 Today: Around the world in 80 breads

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While researching bread-baking around the world, I stumbled on this YouTube channel -  Jill 4 Today  - and I just have to say that I'm really enjoying her.  A lot of fun to watch.  And I love when older women do videos like these because it feels very homey, very grandmotherly.    I'm especially interested in her new series "Around the world in 80 breads."  And I love it that she makes some of these breads for the first time on camera, leaving in the doubts and mistakes and all.  Amusing and charming. Anyway, I'd love for her to actually do all 80 breads, but she doesn't think she'll get to them all.  So if anyone else is interested in this too, support her channel and send her some comments to encourage her to actually do all 80.  It'd be fun to see. Here are the three breads she's done so far: #1 No-knead French bread #2 Icelandic Rye Bread  (just listening to their reactions as they eat it makes me want to try it too) #3 German B...
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The Calvinist Gospel Project? (their podcast/the gospel)

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Since I added this update late to the end of my post " The Gospel Project: Calvinist or not? ", I figured I'd repost it here too (with some additional information), in case you missed it: Update: Here's something from Lifeway about (from?) The Gospel Project, answering the question  "How do human actions and God's plans work together? ":   "... God is in complete control over all things. This is what Christians mean when they call God 'sovereign.'...  the Lord’s plans go forward through the choices of human beings as moral agents, including our freely chosen sinful actions!   Everything we do is what we want to do, while also being a part of God’s plan. They are what we want   and   what God wants." To me, this is Calvinism.  It's a little veiled, but it's Calvinism.  It's  saying that all our actions - even our "freely chosen" sins - were wanted, preplanned, caused, controlled by God.   You see, in Calvinism, ...
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Alana L: 5l (educated into Calvinism)

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This series is  loosely   based on this 14-minute video from Alana L.:   5 Signs Your Loved One is Becoming a Calvinist   Point #5 Still:  (Update: I totally redid Points #5 and #6 on my other blog, but instead of changing the already-published posts on this blog, I am adding them after this series as it is.  Look under the "Alana L." label for the "updated" versions of these posts, numbered 5K-6Y, plus Z/Conclusion.   They'll be published between December 2025 and Summer 2026. ) L .   I agree with Alana that Calvinism contradicts the plain, clear, commonsense understanding of Scripture. And that we have to be taught to find Calvinism in the Bible because it's not there.   And even the Calvinists know this!   In  Doctrine of Election , Calvinist A.W. Pink says  " Unless we are privileged to sit under the ministry of some Spirit-taught servant of God, who presents the truth   [the doctrine of election]   to ...
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