My Crazy Faith

Here is my new Giggle Translate.  I ran a post I wrote about hatching praying mantises through many different languages with Google Translate, and here is how it came out: Original paragraph: Several years back, I bought some praying mantis egg cases to put in my garden.    But we wanted to watch them hatch (and raise one in a tank on our counter), and so we kept the egg cases in the kitchen suspended from a stick over a bowl.    For weeks they did nothing.    They just sat there, like dried-up walnuts.    I was beginning to wonder if we had a couple of duds.

(This "Things My Calvinist Pastor Said" series is a breakdown on this much longer post:  "We Left Our Church Because of Calvinism,"  which was written last year but updated July 2020.  They are almost exact quotes.  All memes were created with  imgflip .) 9.   "God shows His love by saving the elect.  And He shows His justice by damning the non-elect to hell."   (From my pastor's adult son, not my ex-pastor himself.)             That's strange, because my Bible says that God shows His love by saving sinners ( Romans 5:8 ), that we are all sinners ( Romans 3:23 ), and that God shows His justice by sending Jesus to the cross to pay for our sins ( Romans 3:25-26 ).  Actually, what really happened was this (taken from another  post of mine on this topic, edited a bit): My pastor's adult son (the creepy guy, who stares over his glasses and slowly points at the congregation as he preaches that "...

Are you having "one of those days"?  You're not alone. Worn by Tenth Avenue North ("I'm tired.  I'm worn.  My heart is heavy, from the work it takes, to keep on breathing ..."  Anyone else understand this feeling too?) I Have This Hope by Tenth Avenue North (I'm clinging to my hope, to the truth, that God will work all the bad into something good, that He will handle the things I can't handle and pick up the pieces I drop, that He'll carry me when I can't stand anymore, that He'll hold me when I hurt, and that someday soon Jesus will come back and take us home.) For more encouragement: "Help for Anxiety, Depression, and Suicidal Thoughts" My "When Anxiety Strikes" Playlist   And watch any video of Bob Ross painting (so relaxing!)

1.  The sermon we watched today was so timely: Encouragement That Calms Fear from Tony Evans.  I think it's one a lot of us could use right about now. 2.  And here's a sweet video of a  Blind Singer with Autism Singing "Lean On Me" With The Tenors .  It made me smile and get a little misty-eyed.

Here is Isabella's 17-minute testimony:  How I found Jesus . I think many of us can relate to it - about the struggle of trying to relate to the Lord, of drawing near but then falling away.  She understands that a relationship with God takes time and effort.  It doesn't just happen.  You have to work at it. And y ou can tell she has a heart to lead others to the Lord, to help them in their relationship with God.  S he gives a short, sweet "sinner's prayer" at the end, for others to follow.  (Drink some coffee to keep up with her.  She's a fast talker.)     [However, I do not agree with her that we can pray to the earth/universe.  That's the mark of a false religion.  But I understand what she's trying to say.  She's trying to say that we shouldn't let not knowing how to pray or what to pray stop us from praying, from calling out to God.  She's saying that God can meet you wherever you are, if you call out to Him....

A song that was faith-changing for me, very near and dear to my heart: Sweetly Broken by Jeremy Riddle   (However, I won't buy any of his new albums because he got involved with Bethel Church, in Redding, California, and they are messed up!) 

Understanding God's Will #8:   (I am combining three posts - 8a, 8b, 8c - into one post here.) 8a.   If praying for God’s Will is necessary, then do I have to know the specifics of what to ask for?    How do we pray so that His Will gets done? (This is just some of my own thoughts and advice on prayer.) I think that it’s okay to ask for certain things and to make specific requests, but I also think that  God doesn’t always need us to know exactly what to ask for.    Because it’s not always about how  we  want Him to act or answer.    God knows the best course of action, so we don’t have to have the details all ironed out before we pray.    But we do need to pray.    We need to share our concerns with Him and give them over to Him, to be transparent and authentic with Him, to confess our sins, to honestly share our wants and needs, to be sensitive to the Spirit, and to ask for His providence, His wisdom, and...