God would NEVER do that! Or would He?

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God would never send a famine or economic distress to get our attention.

God would never send disease to open our eyes to our bad choices and to call us to repentance.

God would never use wars or violence to cause us to cry out to Him.

God would never use a tornado, earthquake, or tsunami to draw our hearts back to Him.


God is not like that.  He is a soft, squishy, feeble, always-lovey-dovey, ever-forgiving God who just wants us to be happy and who would never dream of punishing us or disciplining us or causing us any kind of discomfort or pain.  He’s all about giving us whatever we want and pouring out blessings and goodness on us and allowing us to live life on our own terms, because we are the center of the universe, right?  We are the lords of our own lives.  Aren’t we?  

Surely, in this day and age of rampant sexual diseases, violent wars, economic recession, famines, natural disasters, devastating consequences of our choices, etc., none of this has been allowed by God in order to open our eyes to our need for Him. 

God would never do that!
Or would He? 



Amos 4:6-12
“I gave you empty stomachs in every city and lack of bread in every town, yet you have not returned to me,” declares the Lord. 

“I also withheld rain from you when the harvest was still three months away. . . People staggered from town to town for water but did not get enough to drink, yet you have not returned to me,” declares the Lord. 

“Many times I struck your gardens and vineyards, I struck them with blight and mildew.  Locusts devoured your figs and olive trees, yet you have not returned to me,” declares the Lord.

“I sent plagues among you . . . killed your young men with the sword . . . overthrew some of you as I overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah . . . yet you have not returned to me,” declares the Lord.

“Therefore this is what I will do to you, ... and because I will do this to you, prepare to meet your God ....”
 



How many of His calls to “return to Him” have you ignored? 

Are you prepared to meet your God?  


“Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.  Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.”  (Matthew 10:28) 

“It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”  (Hebrews 10:31)





I do believe time is running out.  

"Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near."  (Isaiah 55:6)

 "But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve ... But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord."  (Joshua 24:15) 

And if you choose otherwise, then let this be a warning:  

 "But you have abandoned me [God] and have worshipped other gods.  Therefore, I will not deliver you again.  Go and cry out to the gods you have chosen.  Let them deliver you when you are oppressed."  (Judges 10:13-14.  Kinda blows apart our idea of God as soft, squishy, easily-manipulated, and focused on making us happy, doesn't it!) 




 (A post, slightly updated, that I first wrote in 2014, on my other blog.  If interested, also see "Starting Your Own Relationship With Jesus.")


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My Panic Attack (repost)

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(Reposted from my blog, https://myimpressionisticlife.blogspot.com , from 2016.   A really bad year for me.) I wrote this in the post called “Random Facts about Me.  Just for Fun!” on my other blog.  It’s #64 on the list.  But I think it deserves its own post.  So I am reposting it here, because it fits with the theme of this blog.   If you’ve ever had a panic attack, maybe you can relate.  I hope not, though.  Because panic attacks suck!             64.   I had a small panic attack three days ago (May 30, 2016).  It’s the first one I’ve ever had and I don’t plan on ever having another one.  [I also once had a minor nervous breakdown during my parents’ very messy divorce.  It was so bad that the only way I could start breathing and stop crying was to flee from everything, to jump in the car with my husband and two kids and run away to the middle of nowhere for a little while.]
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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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(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 Warfare playl
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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: 1.   Put on a worship song right now.  Or sing a worship song out loud.  (Or watch some Tony Evans sermons for encouragement, find a list by clicking here .)  If demo
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This is the next-to-last of the "Satan's Schemes" posts in the Spiritual Warfare series (and it's a repost from something I wrote elsewhere)... and then I'll  move on. John 10:10 :  "Jesus said, ‘The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy...'" To steal our peace, joy, and contentment.  To kill our hopes, passion, and Christian witness.  And to destroy our friendships, family, faith, and futures.  Among many other things.   And I think one of Satan's biggest tools for this is the snare of unforgiveness and bitterness.  If he can get us to focus on - and constantly ruminate on -  all our hurts, all the ways we’ve been cheated in life, the ways people let us down or treated us poorly, the ways God let us down, the ways we let ourselves down, all the things that've gone wrong, etc., then we'll grow more and more  bitter, discouraged, defeated, and closed-off... and farther and farther from God, His truth, other people, and any hope fo
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She hit the nail on the head! Amen, come, Lord Jesus!

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Is Yoga Ok For Christians? (Here's a hint: It's not!)

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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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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 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) that Jesus is
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 (Spoiler alert) Besides Christmas, Easter Sunday is the one day that many people will take their families to church - their young children all shiny and happy, dressed up in their Sunday best - even if they don't go any other time all year.   It's the day that seekers might dare to show up, looking for truth and answers and hope, even if they're too scared or stubborn to set foot in a church any other day.   And it also happens to be the day that the Calvinist pastor at my ex-church decided to pull back the curtain on a beloved Easter tradition to a room full of visitors and seekers and their small children, taking it upon himself to ruin childhood innocence and Easter-morning-fun all over the place.   I mean, seriously, imagine that you're a non-believer, a seeker, who - after all the fun of watching your children hunt for their Easter baskets and Easter eggs, and everyone's happy and hopeful - decided that for the first time, you'd bring your kids to church o
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