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.")


Most Popular Posts of the Week:

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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Alana L.: 2e (sufficient/efficient)

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This series is based on this 14-minute video from Alana L.:   5 Signs Your Loved One is Becoming a Calvinist    Point #2:   E.  Alana then pointed out how Calvinists say that Jesus's work on the cross was "sufficient for all of humanity, but it's not efficient [for all]."   It's only "efficient" for some, for the elect. I love it when she said this about "sufficient and efficient": "Okay, huh, new words, not in Scripture."  Priceless!   I think these bogus terms - which are  not  in the Bible - are merely a way for Calvinists to sound like they're saying one thing when they really mean another, to sound like they're saying Jesus died for all when they're really not.  They know that  if they outright said Jesus didn't die for all, it would contradict certain verses and set off people's alarm bells - and so they speak on multiple levels to obscure what they're teaching, to buy them time to slowly, strategically m...
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War Rooms, Praying Scripture, and Spiritual Warfare (repost)

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I strongly believe that there are angels and demons.  That prayer matters.  That there is a spiritual battle going on around us all the time ... and that we need to get involved in it, actively and consciously.  (Something I haven't been doing lately.)   Regardless of if we want it or not, we are constantly facing spiritual battles.  But if we don't acknowledge it - if we stick our heads in the sand, refuse to get involved, fail to put on our spiritual armor or to use the spiritual weapons available to us - we open ourselves up to deceptions, to defeat, to being very vulnerable to the strategies and attacks of the evil one.  You can't win a battle you don't even know you're in.  You can't defeat an enemy you pretend isn't there. What I have done here is compile a list of posts on spiritual warfare, on praying Scripture, and on creating a War Room (or War Journal). Have you ever seen  War Room ? You should.  It's a great movie.  And it is...
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Merry Christmas 2024!

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Merry Christmas early, everyone!   Enjoy these two great Christmas songs:  Hallelujah Christmas   (by  Cloverton )   and   Little Drummer Boy   (My favorite!  By  For King and Country ) "Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the LORD." Luke 2:11 "For God so loved  the world that he gave  his one and only Son,  that whoever believes  in him shall not perish but have eternal life."    John 3:16 "... if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.... Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."   Romans 10:9, 13 [Yes, this is a repeat of the same Christmas post I've published before.  But you really can't do better than these two Christmas songs!]
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Songs to Encourage

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I woke up this morning with that sinking feeling of "Everything's going wrong in the world.  Everything is falling apart." Falling apart? Or falling into place? I truly think we are headed towards the end times.  In fact, I have been sure for years that it's almost here, whatever "almost" meant.  And so none of what's going wrong in the world surprises me.  I would actually be more surprised if the rapture doesn't happen by the end of the year than I would be if it did.  But that's just me. Anyway, these songs were on my mind this morning, a comfort in troubling times (godly music, along with prayer and immersing yourself in God's Word, is one of the best ways to fill your heart with hope when the world offers none): Lord (I Don't Know) by Newsboys  [We don't have to know what's going on or where it's all headed ... because it's enough that  He  knows!] Fell Apart by The City Harmonic  [One of my favorite ope...
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Why Is It So Hard For Calvinists To Get Free From Calvinism?

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This was originally on the end of my post "If Calvinism is true, then God is a liar."   But I think it deserves its own post (I recently updated it a little bit, March 2021): I read something once about how very few people end up freeing themselves from the clutches of Calvinism because of the strong hold it has on people.  I think this is partly because ... 1.   We (I am talking as if I were a Calvinist here) would have to admit that we were misunderstanding Scripture this whole time, and no one wants to admit they could be wrong. 2.   Calvinism appeals to us prideful intellectuals.  (And prideful intellectuals have the greatest aversion to admitting we could be wrong.)  It makes us feel special, like we alone understand the "deeper, hidden meanings of Scripture," while the simple-minded Christians can't understand it.  Calvinism (with all of its contradictions, word play, round-about reasoning, and multiple layers of meaning for verses) gives u...
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Christian Testimony: Kyle - "Suicidal Atheist Finds Jesus"

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Instead of reading the depressing news lately, I've been spending some time listening to hope-filled, truth-filled, uplifting testimonies from other Christians online.  It's been far too long since I've heard some good, godly, inspiring life-stories from other believers.  And we could all use every little bit of hope and inspiration and goodness we can get right now.   I really enjoy hearing people's testimonies of when and how they came to the Lord.  I like when they let us deep into their worlds, into their hearts, giving us a full picture of how they were before, what drew them to Jesus, how it affected them, etc.  And this guy's shares it all, from the heart.  I really enjoyed it.   Suicidal Atheist Finds Jesus (22 minutes long, and totally worth it!)   And here is the video of his wife's baptism (the YouTube channel these videos are on is hers).  It's beautiful. [And fyi, linking to someone's testimony does not necessarily mean...
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Little Drummer Boy #1

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My all-time favorite classic Christmas song has got to be the Little Drummer Boy.   If I’m listening to this song and start to think too much about it, I start to well up with tears.  Every time. My sons occasionally ask me why this is my favorite Christmas song.   “It’s stupid and it doesn’t make sense,” they say. I answer like this: “This song is about a little boy who’s poor.  And he wants to bring Jesus a gift.  But he doesn’t have anything to give him.  And so he gives the baby Jesus the only gift he has to give – a song.  And this poor boy is drumming his little heart out for the Lord, because that’s all he has to give.  But it’s enough.  And the baby Jesus smiles.” Usually, I am trying to hold back tears as I share this with my sons.  But they simply reply that it's still stupid, before running off to play. But that’s okay. I don’t expect them to get it yet.   And in some ways, I almost hope...
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How Can Calvinists Say "God Causes ALL Things, But He's Not The Cause Of Sin"?

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This is taken from the post "Do Calvinists Really Believe God Causes Sin?  Let Them Speak For Themselves!" (revised slightly for clarity): Calvinists believe that in order for God to be a "sovereign" God (their idea of "sovereign," that is) then He has to be the cause of all things.  All things!  This would include evil and sin.   But most Calvinists know not to accuse God of evil and sin.  And so they have to then find ways to deal with the contradiction of "God causes all things, but He doesn't really cause sin and evil." However, being the cause of ALL THINGS necessarily means that God causes all the evil and sins that happen.  Because if (according to their theology) there was one tiny thing that God doesn't cause/control, then He ceases to be God.  In Calvinism, an "in-control God" has to be an "all-controlling-everything-all-the-time God."   (Whereas I believe God can still be in-control and...
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Leaving Calvinism: Video - Former Calvinist Testimonies

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Here is an almost hour-long  "Testimonies of Former Calvinists"  video from  Soteriology 101 .  This is a website I highly recommend and one that my family and I have learned from immensely.  (I haven't finished this video yet, but I wanted to link to it anyway before time gets away from me.  If I have comments to add to this post after watching it, I'll add them later.)  
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