Lord, I Don't Know ... But Hallelujah Anyway!

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We don't often know why things happen the way they do or why God allows what He does, but that's okay.  We don't have to know, because God does.  ("Lord, I Don't Know" by the Newsboys)

And if we're going to be singing "Hallelujah" all eternity anyway, why not start now?  ("Hallelujah" by the Newsboys)


I've found that sometimes the only way to deal with feeling hopeless, downtrodden, and brokenhearted is to sing, even when you don't want to.  In fact, especially when you don't want to. 

Just sing anyway!

Most Popular Posts of the Week:

UGW #9b: Help For The Journey

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Understanding God's Will #9b: (No Calvinism information added to this post.) So, as seen in the point 9a, faith in God isn’t “claiming” something that He hasn’t promised, believing that He’ll do it just because we believe in His ability to do it.    Godly faith is trusting that He is the God that He claims to be in the Bible and that He will do what’s best, in His time and in His way.    And our job is to follow in obedience, not to lead.                And contrary to the “name it and claim” way, I believe that we are off-base when we are “claiming” a particular answer to prayer before He reveals it, when we tell Him the answer that we expect and that we are going to wait for.    I think we need to not be claiming specific answers or blessings as much as “instructions” or “help along the way.”              While we can and should pray what's in our h...
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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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Spiritual Warfare: Resources

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I'm not done with the Spiritual Warfare series yet.  Not even close.  (I totally intended it to be short and sweet, but ... oh well).  But I figured I'd share some resources now, in the middle of it.   I told a friend (whose young child recently experienced a probable demonic attack in the middle of the night: The child woke up screaming and thrashing around wildly, screaming that she couldn't control her body, and she continued doing this for an hour.  Nothing could sooth or stop her until the mom commanded demons to leave in Jesus's name, which caused the girl to calm down immediately and fall asleep.  The girl couldn't remember any of this in the morning.)... anyway, I told my friend that it can be overwhelming to search "Spiritual Warfare" online (or in books) because you get all sorts of different websites, and you're not sure who you can trust.  And so I thought I'd share some resources I like.  (Just because I recommend something doesn...
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Hardest Spiritual Lesson #7: Accepting Love and Forgiveness

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Another lesson that's really hard for many of us:  Letting Yourself Be Loved or Forgiven (note: there's a bonus section at the end of this post). Not everyone will face this lesson, but those with broken pasts will know what I’m talking about.    One of the hardest lessons I have had to learn in my spiritual life (and in my earthly life) is to let myself be loved by someone ... by Someone.   I come from a very dysfunctional home.    Three dads by the time I was 8.    And then another dad (after a  very messy  divorce) when I was in my late-20's/early-30’s.    I didn’t grow up with my bio-dad or his family.    I didn’t even really meet them until my teens.    And then after that, I’d see them about once or twice a year, sometimes less.    I never really felt like I belonged to a dad or had a place in my extended families (or that my mom was an emotionally-safe person, so I never went to her for enco...
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Why I Hate Calvinism So Much!

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  Wanna know why I hate Calvinism so much? Watch a few of these songs.  Listen to the words.  Think about how much Jesus sacrificed for us.  The incredible price He paid.  The love, grace, forgiveness, help, healing, and salvation He died to give us.  How true hope and life is found  only  in Him. Oh, What Love  by The City Harmonic I Am  by Crowder Hallelujah Christmas   by Cloverton Sweetly Broken  by Jeremy Riddle  (God draws  everyone  to Him.  He calls  everyone  to come out of death and into life!  Will we listen?  Will we respond?) Secret Ambition  by Michael W. Smith Fell Apart  by The City Harmonic Confession (Agnus Dei)  by The City Harmonic  (Calvi-Jesus did  not  take away the sins  of the world , but of just a few people.  But the Jesus of the Bible did!  And that's why I love Him!) Healing Begins  by Tenth Avenue North A...
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The Adults Ought To Be Prosecuted!

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I'm sure you've already heard of him - the 11-year-old boy who is known and celebrated for dressing in drag.  Recently, he's been featured on news programs and recently been found dancing in a gay bar. This is horrifying !   And I think any adult or TV station who promotes this child for his hyper-sexualized cross-dressing ought to be prosecuted.  They should be slapped with "child endangerment" or "child pornography" charges for over-sexualizing a child, especially as he danced for grown homosexual men at a gay bar while they threw money at him.   How dare our country say it's all concerned with fighting against child trafficking and child pornography ... while basically pushing another child into it! Ask yourself this:  What if he was an 11-year-old girl, dressing up in over-sexualized clothes, dancing for grown men in a bar?  Would we allow that?  Or would we call it "child abuse"? But because this is a boy dressing in drag, it...
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The Last of the Anti-Calvinism Memes For Now

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(All memes created with  IMGFLIP ) Cuz I Still Don't Get It The Devil Made Me ... Why Not Just ... You Underestimate My Power So today this Calvinist ... Close Enough! Oh my goodness!... So what if ... How do you know a Calvinist ... In the farthest reaches of the earth ... So somehow I ended up ... Distracted Boyfriend Me at church ... What the Calvinist preacher said Sunday... (Do you know what their answer to that is?  "Because it brings God glory when we fight against those things that He's causing for His glory."  Insane!) Then why fight it ... Inspirational Calvinist Preaching: When God hears ... Of course Calvinism is true! 1 Of course Calvinism is true! 2 (Ahh, just cracking myself up here!) Of course Calvinism is true! 3 In the afterlife ... Saying goodbye ... How a Calvinist feels ... I know, I know, some low blows in some of the memes I've made.  But scold me later, 'cuz I'm having too much fun for now! I know some will take offense to these, sa...
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Psalm 5: A Prayer for Our Country and World

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Franklin Graham has called for a day of prayer and fasting tomorrow, October 25, for all believers to call on God for His help with the upcoming election.  I hope all believers will humble themselves before God, calling on Him for His help not just with the election but with everything -  the moral condition of our country, the breakdown of our society, the fear that haunts us all, the brokenness all around us as we humans implode and race towards wickedness and destruction, etc.  Everything is going wrong all over the place, and we need more than ourselves to fix it.  We need God.   Anyway, as I was reading Psalm 5 this morning, I realized what a fitting prayer it is for our country, our world, right now.  And so I am writing it here, altered slightly to be a prayer from all believers.   Sadly, I think we are past the point of repair.  I think our world has broken down so much that the only real hope left, unless God chooses to interv...
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9 Marks of a Calvinist Cult #4 (strategic tactics)

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[This series is  "The 9 Marks of a Calvinist Cult"  split up into smaller, individual posts.]   4. The Fun Stuff (Strategic Tactics) Besides their hidden "buts" and multiple layers, Calvinists employ a wide range of other tactics to hook, trick, trap, and reel us into Calvinism slowly, covertly.  (But they don't do it to just us.  They are victims of these tactics too, having allowed themselves to be tricked and trapped by them also.)   The tactics they use (no matter how unintentional they might be) are things such as:  ...  false dichotomies .         "Either God saves us, or else we save ourselves... Either God controls everything, or else He controls nothing... Either God is in charge, or else we are in charge."  It's super-polarized - and badly-polarized - on purpose, to force you to reject the ridiculous option and pick the Calvinist one.  See  Calvinist Bad Logic #7: False Dichotomies .   .....
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A Bible Study for Mature Christians

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I wrote a Bible study a while ago for mature Christians.  (I may repost it again here sometime.  I've already got it in three other places.  When it comes to sharing God's Word and Truth and getting others to talk about it, t he more places it's posted the better.)   The reason I say it's for mature Christians is because it's got a lot of hard, confusing topics and questions, not ones that can be easily filled in with a word from a Bible verse.  It's not about the basics of faith and the Bible.  It's a "wrestle with the hard things and think deeply about how you can apply it to real life" Bible study.   It is my hope that you would find a few other mature Christians to do this study with.  It's very conversational and personal in nature, with the intention of helping mature Christians sharpen each other, as Iron Sharpens Iron. So here it is:  The "Iron Sharpens Iron" Bible Study  
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