In the Midst of Unanswered Prayer ...

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A beautiful post about how even if the midst of unanswered prayer, of heartbreak, of turmoil, God is still there:

"Hard Times?  How To Hear God's Song Louder Than Any Hard Times"

Even if He doesn't fix our problems or do what we thought He "should" do, He's still with us, walking with us through the pain.  

(And if you can't find Him or feel His presence anywhere else, remember that He's always in His Word, waiting to meet you there.)

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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Maybe The Kiddies Should Visit "Drag Queen Story Hour"?

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Maybe we should let our small, innocent, impressionable children pop their heads into a "Drag Queen Story Hour" to see what it's all about. Because this freak-of-nature would scare the crap out of anyone.  And then - after seeing that - the terrified children would grow up wanting nothing to do with trans-gender-ness!   (However, the question then is what to do about the years of nightmares and how to afford the costly therapy!) Honestly, parents ... Is that who you want teaching your kids about morality?  About their bodies and sexuality and all that?   If you parents can't see what's wrong with that, I bet your kids can! And I, too, applaud the parents who are taking a stand against that!  Where have our brains gone that we ever even got to the point of allowing that in our public libraries!?!  Around the innocent children!?! Shame, shame, shame!
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Turn it up even LOUDER!

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(Just for fun, slipped in between the spiritual warfare posts, and a week earlier than normal.)  You know those songs that you always have to play as loud as possible, and even louder if you could? I've got some of those.  [To name only five, there's  Numb from U2 and  Chlorine,   Downstairs,   Choker , and Jumpsuit from Twenty One Pilots, my newest musical addiction.]    And the only place I can play them as loud as I want is when I'm driving alone in the car.  That's MY time.  An introvert's dream vacation.  I can play my music as loud as I want and sing along... and there's no one to interrupt or complain. Which reminds me: You parents know what we're supposed to do when kids complain about our music, right? Yeah, that's right: TURN IT UP EVEN LOUDER! The ironic part is that they used to complain about me singing "Ice, Ice, Baby" which I know every word of, but now my 3rd son knows every word and sings along too...  ... an...
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Big Shocker: Liberal Elites Trying to Stop Those Who Oppose The Covid Vaccine!

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See this link: "Liberal Elites Trying To Stop Organic Covid-19 Opposition Groups From Growing As Distrust Of The American Media Reaching All-Time High" . And also read the comments to Bill Gates' Tweet here .  (Click on "view more replies" to see them all.)  Interesting stuff!  (And I love the sentence about how the guy who wants to reduce the human population - Bill Gates - is the same one who wants to "save" us with a vaccine.  Very insightful!  And it should make everyone pause and think!) I have distrusted the mainstream media for a long, long time, seeing as how biased they are politically, and who they are "in bed" with, and which information they allow us to see, and how they spin their articles, and which news stories they choose to report and which to hide, etc..  But it's only been recently, since Trump was elected, that their phony "unbiased, just reporting the news" mask has come off.  And now they don't ev...
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Spiritual Warfare: Sword of the Spirit 3 (songs/sermons)

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Before I get to the list of my "sword of the Spirit" verses, here's a list I shared with my struggling family member  of some of my favorite songs to get through the hard times, the ones that encourage me and make me cry in a good way, in a needed way.  (Sometimes anxiety is a sign that we need a good, long cry.) When you have no energy left to even pray, let the worship songs from other people be your prayers: From The City Harmonic:  "Oh, What Love" ,  "Fell Apart" ,   "Honestly" ,  "Praise the Lord" ,  "Love, Heal Me,"   "My God,"  and  "Here and There."   ( Their music is what kept me from giving up completely when I was at my lowest.  Let their words be your prayers, your heart's cry, when you have no words of your own left.)   From  Tenth Avenue North:  "Worn" ,  "Hold My Heart" ,   "By Your Side" , and  "Healing Begins" .      From  Jeremy Riddle:  ...
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Spiritual Warfare: Sword of the Spirit 2 (the bedrock)

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It was hard to watch my family member struggle through her deep emotional pain (see previous post ), and I couldn't really do anything to stop her difficult trial or make it all better for her, especially since the battle was mostly in her head.  And I know what that's like: Anxiety is a bully who doesn't play by the rules.  Unfair, unruly, and aggressive.  Running roughshod over you, your mind, your life. I couldn't fix it for her because she was in a battle she was forced to fight herself.  But I could at least try to encourage her by letting her know that I understood, that I got through something similar and that I know she can too... but that she has to want to get through it, to fight it and not give in.  She has to refuse to succumb to the Enemy's lies and destructive tactics. And to help her do this, I shared with her one of the things that helped me get through my hardest times: My "sword of the Spirit," my own personal list of favorite verses tha...
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Spiritual Warfare: Sword of the Spirit 4 (the sword)

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Okay now, onto the list of verses I shared with my family member for her to use in spiritual battles, when Satan's got us down and cowering in fear.  These were specifically chosen for comfort, encouragement, and strength (and I added a few extra here for different kinds of temptations or trials).  I suggest p rinting them out, reading them over and over again, writing them out, mem orizing some, taking a list with you wherever you go, etc.  Whatever it takes to get through the hard times. And when the attacks, temptations, or hard times come, turn them into prayers  (I'll share my own personal Scripture-based prayers in the next post)  or simply s peak out loud the ones that fit your particular struggle, trial, temptation, or fear.   Declare to yourself, to the struggle/temptation, and to the spirit world/the Enemy that "It is written ..." and then quote a verse that fits.  A nd let God's Word comfort and still your soul as the sword of the Spiri...
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Are We At The Very End?

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I'm not the only one who thinks that we are at the very, very end: https://www.raptureready.com/2019/01/11/loving-exhortation-alice-childs/ At least, that is my prayer! Hallelujah! by the Newsboys In The Sky by Bob Carlisle and others Coming My Way by City Harmonic Break Open The Sky by TobyMac People Get Ready by Crystal Lewis I Wish We'd All Been Ready I Have This Hope by Tenth Avenue North Holy (Wedding Day) by City Harmonic Oh, What Love by City Harmonic. Sweetly Broken by Jeremy Riddle
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An Overview of World Religions

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            I want to briefly present what some of the major religions of the world believe.   (I am not covering all of them, of course.   And I am skipping things like Wicca, New Age, and Humanism.)   I studied all the major religions once when I was considering if Christianity was really the only way.   And I came out of the study believing in Jesus all the more.               It is important to know what other religions teach so that we can know what they are really about, have real reasons for why we don’t believe them, and understand what makes Jesus and Christianity different.               (This is mainly written for believers, taken from my Bible study over at https://ironsharpensironbiblestudy.blogspot.com .)           ...
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Sleeping On My Sword

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“Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil.   After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.   The tempter came to him and said, ‘If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.’ Jesus answered, ‘It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’’ Then the devil took him to the holy city . . . ‘If you are the Son of God,’ he said, ‘throw yourself down.   For it is written: ‘He will command his angels concerning you and they will lift you up . . .’’ Jesus answered him, ‘It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’’ Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor.   ‘All this I will give you,’ he said, ‘if you will bow down and worship me.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Away from me, Satan!   For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him onl...
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