Christian Testimony: Cyrus - "Why I Converted from Islam to Christianity"

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Here is Cyrus' Testimony (7 minutes): "Why I Converted from Islam to Christianity"
This is one enjoyable guy.  So fun to listen to.  And I am glad he shared his story, showing how God works in some of the most interesting, amazing ways.  

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A cool LOTR channel

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I just found this YouTube channel that takes deep dives into The Lord of the Rings, and I'm really enjoying it (even if it is AI sound and images): The Sundered Age I've only seen two videos so far, but they are insightful, profound, and quite touching.  If you are a massive LOTR fan like I am, check them out and see what you think. Here are the two I watched: Why Galadriel Was the Most Dangerous Person in Middle earth | LOTR Lore Gandalf Would Have Been Worse Than Sauron! | LOTR Lore These videos aren't from a Christian perspective or anything (at least I don't think so), but it still relates in my mind, illustrating how wise and good God is to create people with free-will, instead of dominating everyone with His sovereign control.  (And at the same time, it illustrates how wrong it is for the Calvinist god to deny people true free-will, to control our wills so that we can only think and do what he decrees us to do.)  
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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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Motherhood Matters To The Ones Who Matter Most!

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Motherhood: It's not just something to do while you wait for a "real job" to come along. Motherhood IS the job - the job that matters most. Pour your heart into it.  Give it your all, your best.  "Just a mom" is an incredible privilege and a blessed responsibility.  Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Y ou might feel like you don't mean much to the world, but you can bet that you mean the world to your children! Make choices that honor their love for you, that show how much you value your children and your role as the only mother they have. I am proud to be a mother!
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If They Mated ...

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I think I stumbled upon the perfect "If They Mated ..." scenario for who I look like and how I act.  (You know, when they take two people and morph their faces into one to show what their offspring would look like if they mated.)  I wasn't trying to figure this out or anything; it just came to me as I was watching The Hobbit recently.  And once I saw it in my mind, I couldn't unsee it.  Then after I thought about possibly sharing it with all of you, my mind won't let it go until I do.  And so here it is, much to my chagrin... I kid you not, if you mixed these three characters - their looks and their personalities - you would totally have me.   Frankie Heck from The Middle (Someone once told me I looked like her, when I was a lot younger.  Actually, it was when she was in Everybody Loves Raymond , but we're both a lot older now.  And I was told once I looked like Winona Ryder, for a split second.  Ah, to be young again!) Bard...
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Anti-Calvinism Links

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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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Sermons by Tony Evans (repost)

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Tony Evans is my all-time favorite pastor.  He always gives messages that convict, challenge, and comfort.  Find some great sermons on  his YouTube channel and be encouraged.   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. [Update: I removed the list of sermons I originally had here because most links were broken.]
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#2: Embracing Hope, Jan. 2016 (repost)

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[Reposted from my other blog, from January 2016.  This comes shortly after the "Wrestling With God" post, the summer when I found myself utterly discouraged by life, by gardening.  When it seemed like one thing after the next just kept going wrong.  This was my call to hope again.   Update:   I mentioned in the last post that my mom is currently trying to drink herself to death.  I got a call last night that she was found unconscious at a friend's house after drinking since 10 a.m. that morning and taking a bunch of Librium.  They called me last night to tell me that she was in the hospital with a blood alcohol level of 375, unconscious, and not breathing on her own.  (A couple days ago, she went in with level of 400.)  They had to put tubes in her lungs to keep her alive.  It's the fourth time, they said, that the ambulance was called on her in about a week.  I tell ya, it seems almost supernatural that she hasn't died yet....
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#3: My Panic Attack, June 2016 (repost)

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[Reposted from June 2016.  Sometimes, just when you think, hope, and pray that things are finally going to start looking up for you, everything gets worse.  So much worse.  As seen in the last numbered post , I started off 2016 with the word "hope," thinking that maybe it meant the year would be better than the previous ones.  And then ... I had the worst summer of my life.  A real life-changer, heart-changer.  I guess maybe "hope," for me, was the kind in Romans 5:3-5 .  It's starts with suffering, which brings perseverance, which creates character, which develops hope.  Hope in what exactly?  I'm not sure.  Maybe just hope that God is always with you, no matter what.  Hope that He will work all the good into bad.  Hope that you'll make it through one more day .  And so here it is - my panic attack.  The terrible summer that came after starting off my year with "hope."  If you've ever had a panic attack, maybe...
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Many are Called, Few are Chosen (Tony Evans' Interpretation)

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 There are some verses in the Bible that will always be confusing and cause disagreement.  And the "many are called/invited, few are chosen" verse is one of them. Matthew 22:1-14:   "The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son.  He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come.... So his servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, both good and bad, and the wedding hall was filled with guests.  But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes.  'Friend,' he asked, 'how did you get in here without wedding clothes?' The man was speechless.  Then the king told the attendants, 'Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.' 'For many are invited, but few are chosen.'" Some people th...
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