My "When Anxiety Strikes" Playlist (repost)

-
In the post "Getting through the 'broken' times," I said that I had made a CD to listen to when anxiety hits.  It has some of my favorite Christian songs on it.  

Here are as many of the songs as I could find online, plus some extra.  Listen to some of them when anxiety threatens you.  It really does help to hear godly truths spoken out loud (and to speak them out loud yourself).  And personally, I think godly music helps repel evil, giving you some extra spiritual protection when you are most vulnerable.  They don't like to hear God being praised and Truth being sung!

(FYI: Videos are constantly being removed from online.  So if the video is no longer available, type in the name and artist and see if you can find it.  I simply can't keep up with replacing links.)


From The City Harmonic:
Love, Heal Me - The song that inspired the title of one of my blogs, Love, Heal Me - my heart's cry for the past year.

Fell Apart - One of the best opening lines ever!  These City Harmonic songs became my prayers at a time I was too broken to pray for myself.

Oh, What Love - One of my all-time favorites!  Always makes me cry. Grace, forgiveness, mercy, healing, hope, purpose ... it's all wrapped up in that amazing love!

Praise the Lord - This really is the key to getting through the trials with your faith intact, even if it's a bit battered and bruised. I love the way that City Harmonic's lyrics touch the very heart of being human, that crossroad where painful heartache and faith meet. I really do listen to their music practically everyday. I honestly don't know how I would have got through last summer without them. Such a God-send. Get their CDs. You won't be sorry!

Coming My Way - "Getting on with living" while waiting for God. Love that!

Confession (Agnus Dei) - I woke up once singing the line "Lamb of God who takes away ..." over and over again in my mind. I have loved it ever since.

Honestly - A new one I just found on-line, recently released on their newest album. So good and so right on.

Brand New - This heart, my heart, needs Him!

Long Walk Home - It's a long walk Home.  No need to rush it.  Just keep walking towards the Father.  Bit by bit.  Day by day.

Here and There - My favorite line ... "And if I'm barely hanging on ..."  I've been barely hanging on for years, crawling towards the Lord with every last bit of strength I have.

Holy (Wedding Day) - There's no greater hope than this!

My God - I know where my help comes from.  Do you?

Manifesto - Love it! Love it! Love it!  The first song of theirs I ever heard.  And I fell in love with it.  With them!  Oh my goodness, just buy their albums already!  You won't be sorry!




From Jeremy Riddle:
Sweetly Broken - Absolutely amazing!  It touched my heart so deeply that it became a theme song for my life and the inspiration for my other blog, The 'Sweetly Broken' Journey.  (BUT it's very concerning to me that Riddle went on to work at Bethel Church.  I have very serious concerns about them, which makes me question Riddle's discernment, and so I have not bought any recent albums from him.)

God Moves in a Mysterious Way - Love this song. The author of the poem it's based on - William Cowper - knew pain, to the point of attempting (or just contemplating?) suicide several times, so I've read. I treasure words of faith written by people who knew deep pain and yet still managed to cling to the Lord, who held on through life's storms and the darkest nights, who have learned that our God is a good, loving Father even when life is not good and that He can be trusted even when we can't trust ourselves.





From the Newsboys (old and new):

Blessed Be Your Name - I always said I want this one at my funeral, along with Sweetly Broken, Manifesto, and Oh, What Love.  (Oh, and I might add "The Last Goodbye" by Billy Boyd.)  What a way to go!

Hallelujah - Love it!

When The Tears Fall - It's okay to let the tears fall.  God doesn't ask us to be super-humans.  He asks us to be real with Him.

We Believe - Oh, how I wish all Christians could sing this out loud and really mean it!  Far too many have denied these very basic truths.



From Crowder:
I AM - God's always there holding onto us, calling us to hold onto Him.

Forgiven - Forgiveness is always available, no matter what you've done.

Come As You Are - You don't need to polish yourself up first, just come to Him as you are!

Lift Your Head Weary Sinner (Chains) - A song for all of us.



From Tenth Avenue North:
Healing Begins - One of the inspirations for this blog.

By Your Side - No matter where we are, He's always by our side.  No need to earn His love, grace, forgiveness, or help.  Just accept them!  It's already waiting for you.

Hold My Heart - This is totally my prayer!  What I've been feeling for a long time.

Worn - Can anyone else understand the feeling of being tired just from the effort it takes to "keep on breathing"?  He's there, reaching for you, waiting for you to reach out for Him.

I Have This Hope - A great follow-up for "Worn"



From other artists:

Living Water by Anne Wilson - one of my all-time favorites!

It's a Beautiful Day by The Kiffness - so sweet and easy to learn, so I can easily sing it when I need it

Crazy Faith by John Waller - The other inspiration for this blog title.  I was watching "War Room" when I began contemplating starting this blog.  And as I thought of what to call it, I heard this song in the background of the movie, and I knew I had my title.  

Lord, I Need You by Matt Maher - This one meant so much to me when we sang it at church while I was in a very dark time.

Strong Enough by Matthew West - I know I'm not strong enough.  But that's okay.  Because He is.

Better Than a Hallelujah by Amy Grant - It's okay to pour your pain out to the Lord. You don't have to hide it from Him.

Your Hands by JJ Heller - No matter how our world is shaking, we never leave His hands.

In the Sky by Carlisle, Russ, and Cleveland - It so helps to remember that life won't go on like this forever.  That day is coming soon when Jesus comes back to take us with Him.

My Jesus by Todd Agnew - That's my Jesus. It shows why I love Him. Why I follow Him. Why I want to be like Him. I love this song!

Secret Ambition by Michael W. Smith (Because everyone should watch this video at least twice in their life.)

Stuck in a Moment by U2 - Obviously, this isn't a "Christian" song, but I love it. And while I don't totally know what all the lyrics mean, I do know that it's about an imaginary fight between Bono and INXS's lead singer, Michael Hutchence, who committed suicide. Bono is arguing with Hutchence, trying to convince him that suicide is not the answer. While I never thought "I want to kill myself," I did get to the point last year - 2016 - where I understood why people do. And that's not a pleasant place to be. My heart breaks today for anyone who feels so hopeless and discouraged that they take their own lives. Remember that while the pain you're going through today might be enormous, it's just a moment in time ... and that moment will pass. God can always pull us out of whatever dark moment we are in, as long as we hang in there, seek help, and reach out and grab His hand.

Man of God by Audio Adrenaline - A great reminder that we are all human. And God knows it and loves us anyway.

What If I Stumble? by DC Talk - And guess what? We will all stumble. We will all fall. Thank God that He's here to pick us up and put us back together again.

Grace Like Rain by Todd Agnew - Grace is raining down on us all ... will you stand in the rain or hide from it?

I Need a Miracle by Third Day - Because we all need a miracle.  So thank God that He's in the Miracle Business. 

Forgiven by Sanctus Real - No one needs to live in bondage to sin or guilt or shame anymore.

Remind Me Who I Am by Jason Gray - You matter to the Lord ... enough for Him to give His life for you.

Flawless by MercyMe - He's paid the price so that we could be Flawless.

Forgiveness by Toby Mac - We all need forgiveness. We all need a Savior.

A Christmas version of Broken Hallelujah that I love: Christmas Hallelujah.



And three "Just For Fun" blasts from the past, for when you get discouraged because it feels like evil is winning:
Witch's Invitation by Carman

The Champion by Carman (Whoever made this did a good job trying to find clips to go with the words.)

Radically Saved (live) by ... you guessed it ... Carman (Remember this one, Older Christians! What fun!  And here is the whole concert.)








Most Popular Posts of the Week:

Scariest Halloween decoration ever?

-
So it's Halloween time again, huh?  Is it just me, or has there been a big increase in the amount of Halloween decorations in people's yards? I don't decorate for Halloween, nothing more than maybe a few pumpkins.  But a neighbor and I were talking the other day, and she inadvertently stumbled on what I think would make the best Halloween decoration.  Something truly terrifying.  And if I had more guts, I'd maybe consider doing it someday. She was reading out loud some reported quotes from famous atheists just before their death, and I thought Now that would make a scary Halloween display in your yard, a collection of tombstones with atheist quotes on them!    Quotes such as these: David Strauss , who spread German rationalism to erase people's belief in God: "My philosophy leaves me utterly forlorn!  I feel like one caught in the merciless jaws of an automatic machine, not knowing at what time one of its great hammers may crush me!" Thomas Paine , atheis
Read more

More "American Noise"

-
A Skillet CD (yes, I still listen to and prefer Cd's.  I'm that old!) is in the player of our van right now.  And because I hate switching CD's if I don't have to, sorting through dozens of them, trying to find one I'm in the mood for... I leave the Skillet one in the player and just keep listening to the same song over and over again (with a few other songs thrown in too): American Noise.   I really like this song. Anyway, it made me think of the post I wrote about it 5 1/2 years ago now (wow, time flies!).  And after re-reading that post, I decided to print it again, because it stills fits.  In fact, there's even more noise in America now - in the world - than there was then.  (Anyone else getting sick of it all too?) So here it is, the previous post on it: I was driving the other day, and this song began playing from a CD my husband had in the CD player.  I had never heard it before, but for some reason, it struck me.  I don't know why, but it did.  It s
Read more

The Bible vs. Calvinism: An Overview by Patrick Myers (a great resource)

-
 A friend of mine recently sent me a link to an article that she says is one of the best overviews of Calvinism and its errors that she's read.  And after reading it, I agree.  I think it's a great one to share with others because it's got all the basics in one place: The Bible vs. Calvinism: An Overview by Patrick Myers There are some great rebuttals to Calvinist proof-texts in here, and some eye-opening quotes from Calvinists.  Something like this might help Calvinists understand what their theology  really  teaches and what the Bible  really  teaches - and that these aren't saying the same thing.   FYI: If you click on the "about/contact" link at the bottom of the article, you can send him an email to request a PDF copy of his article.   And after I contacted him by email to tell him how much I appreciated his article, he graciously put a link to my anti-Calvinism blog at the bottom.  Thank you, Patrick, that was very kind of you. 😊
Read more

How to Tell if a Church, Pastor, or Website is Calvinist (simplified version)

-
(For the extended version of this post, which I recommend, click here .  It is loaded with lots more information.  This simplified one is just the highlights.  And feel free to copy this and share it with others, to help them learn to identify Calvinism when they see it.  Just make sure to share the link to this post so that they can find the original one if they want it.  Thank you.   New :  For the super-short version,   click here .   And FYI:  I found a couple times when the Calvinist author of an article I linked to changed the article after I linked to it.  So if an article doesn't seem to match what I said about it, it may be because they altered it. ) We just left our church of almost 20 years because of the dogmatic Calvinist pastor who recently came on board.  ( Read my "Letter to Our Elders Regarding Calvinism Growing in Our Church" here.)   And I was thinking about what precautions I might take to make sure we didn't end up in another Calvinist church
Read more

In "Honor" of Halloween: My Story of Demonic Harassment (repost)

-
Image
(Reposted from last year and retold in various other posts.  I may just repost this one yearly at this time of year.) In “honor” of Halloween (a day that deserves no honor), I’m gonna share with you why we don’t celebrate Halloween.   (We take our kids to a movie instead, or buy a movie they’ve been wanting and have a “family movie night” with candy and popcorn.   So no need to feel sorry for them; they are not deprived.)   I don’t expect anyone to believe me, but I’m going to share my story.    (And for the longer version of this story on my other blog, click here .)  It’s my story about how I came to fully trust in Jesus’s name and to passionately cling to Him, to never be able to doubt the existence of a spirit world, to place such a high priority on prayer and God’s Word, and to always remember my need for spiritual armor.   And once again, you don’t have to believe me.   (But don’t say I never warned you.   And if you are a skeptic and get nothing from this whole section, jus
Read more

"The Last Goodbye" - A song for us Hobbits

-
(a post from my other blog , from March 28, 2022) There's a song at the end of  The Battle of the Five Armies  (from the Hobbit trilogy) that's become one of my favorite songs.  I feel this song, especially the line about "Many places I have been, many sorrows I have seen..."  That's kinda been my last several years: many sorrows I have seen.   Many trials.  Many heartbreaks.  (Everyone who lives long enough will have many of these.) Most recently, I had the awful experience of being on the witness stand for three hours, giving testimony against my mom.  And after nearly a week of trial, she was found guilty of ... well, of something really bad.  (She insists she didn't do it, but we think otherwise.  It's not exactly like the prosecution says, but close enough.)  And now she will spend her life in prison.   Many sorrows I have seen. I don't know if I'll ever see her again.  The last memory I have of her could very well be her sitting in the courtr
Read more

List of Calvinist Preachers, Authors, Theologians, Websites, etc.

-
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 as a Calvinist, I
Read more

Calvinism doesn't rescue anyone

-
Image
Calvinism doesn’t rescue any sinner from hell.  Because the elect were never on their way to hell, never at risk of going to hell at any point in time ... and the non-elect can never be rescued from hell because Calvi-Jesus never died for them and because Calvi-god made it impossible for them to believe. All Calvinism does is convince some people that they’ve always been saved without ever having to do anything about it, not even choosing to believe in Jesus (because in Calvinism, we  can't  choose to believe), while convincing others that they can never be saved, that God doesn’t love them, that Jesus didn’t die for them, and that there’s no hope for them. A lie from the pit of hell.  Destroying the evangelical church from the inside out.  And it will cost people their souls. [A comment I left on the Soteriology 101 post  "(Re)Thinking through Romans 9" , with a few small alterations.  And of course, not all Calvinists will word things this way.  They will try to soften
Read more

I vote for ...

-
Here in America, it's election day again.  And I think we can all agree that it's a super-emotional, super-heated, super-critical election this time around.  Everyone's fighting over it.  Everyone's demonizing the other side.  Everyone's absolutely certain that their candidate must get in or else the country's going to go to hell-in-a-handbasket.  (Actually, I bet we're all thinking it's going to hell-in-a-handbasket anyway, no matter who gets into office.) And as I walk around the neighborhood every day on my prayer-walks, I see all the political signs in people's yards:  Harris!  Trump!  Vote for love and truth!  Don't vote for hate!  Make America great again!  Take back America!  Blah, blah, blah. But in all the political noise, I saw one sign that I could totally get behind, just one : Jesus 2024 - Our only hope!     Can I get an "Amen"!?!   Of course, I have an opinion of who I'd like to see in office, and I say my prayers abou
Read more

Why Would Anyone Follow Jesus?

-
As I was listening to a Christian radio station, they interviewed a random woman on the street who said, “I think the writers of the Bible just made it up to get people to follow them.” And I laughed out loud at the thought of that.  I wanted to ask her if she ever really read the Bible, if she knew what it teaches.  Because if she did, she would have to wonder why anyone would make up some of the things we find in the Bible and think it would cause people to go, "Oh yeah, that sounds great to me!" If you were going to make up a religion and try to get followers, you certainly wouldn’t tell us that ... 1.   We are sinful and cannot rescue ourselves. (How judgmental, discouraging and helpless sounding is that?) 2.   We need a Savior to rescue us. (How humbling!) 3.   Some of the early leaders of the faith were persecuted and killed for it, and we also should expect to be persecuted and hated by the world. ( Who in their right mind would want that?  Stephen wa
Read more