The Carpenters: "Sing a Song"

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This song pops into my mind a lot (which drives my son nuts because then I'm always singing it out loud).  But how could I not?  In fact, I've found that singing, even when - especially when - I don't want to, uplifts my spirit and my mood like nothing else can.

So go ahead ... Sing a Song!  Sing it out loud and sing it out strong.

Not for anyone else, but just for you.  Just because it's fun!

(And what a cute video to go with it.  Totally made me smile!)  

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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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Feminism Nonsense (repost)

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(Oh, how we love nonsense in our country!) We women are fighting so hard to be like men, to downplay femininity, to be perceived as more masculine, to overtake any "men's realm" we find.   Because it’s “cool” and “progressive” and “strong.” But do we not realize that we are not “leveling the playing field” so much as we are destroying ourselves , the things that make women special? Women can be strong, too.   And they don’t have to be like men to do it.   Trust me, I know.  I've had four children, one by c-section and three by natural, drug-free homebirth (with over 15 hours of labor for each one).  And then I work in the home every day, all day long.  No pay.  No vacation time.  No weekends off.  No bonuses.  No overtime pay. But I do it because my family and I value my position, my role.  Even if the world doesn't. W e women can be strong and capable and accomplished in our...
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"Bring me pain, Lord, if it brings You glory!"

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(Reposted from my other blog.)  I’ve always found the statements of “I want the Lord to do whatever He wants in my life to bring Him the most glory possible, even if it means bringing me pain” to be inspirational … and a bit “off.” Wh en I was 21 (half my lifetime ago), I went to Papua New Guinea for a summer on a mission trip.    And I told my mom that I picked PNG over any other place because it was so remote and primitive.    I said that I wanted to have everything taken away to really challenge me, to grow my faith in new ways.    And I meant it.    I really did.    My heart was in the right place. But my mom said something wise, something that stuck.    She said, “Don’t ask for that!    Never ask for that!    Because He could take away everything – your legs, your eyesight, your health, your home, etc.” Wow!    So true. As I thought about it, I realized that I didn’t really want God to do...
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Help for Anxiety, Depression, and Suicidal Thoughts (repost)

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It's so sad to hear about all the celebrities who have recently committed suicide (or about anyone who has committed suicide, for that matter).  My heart breaks for them, for the pain they went through, and for the ones who love them, for the pain they are now going through.  It is truly a tragedy. To anyone who is hurting really badly, who is struggling with overwhelming anxiety or depression, who is considering taking their own lives ... I dedicate this post.  Please, take some time to look through some of the links here.  This is a round-up of some on-line resources or posts about dealing with anxiety or depression, particularly as a Christian. But first: Quick tips for help: If you are desperate for some immediate help and don't want to look through the links I have below, try some of these (or if it's really bad and you're afraid you might hurt yourself, call 911 or go to the emergency room): 1.   Put on a worship song right now.  Or sing a...
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Updated: Alana L. 5K "sovereign"

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[I redid Point #5 and #6 in the Alana L. series on my other blog (and re-lettered the posts).  But instead of going back and changing the already-posted points on this blog, I'll just add the posts in their own little "series."  Some of this stuff is in the already-published posts on this blog, but a lot is new and/or changed.  FYI: I've already got the posts in this series preset to be published every other week up into late 2026.  So there will be a long series of posts about Calvinism coming up, but with some non-series/non-Calvinism posts thrown in now and then for variety or fun.]   Point #5:  K : "Sovereign, sovereign, sovereign, sovereign."     Hahaha, Alana nailed this one!   And as she said,  "What many new Calvinists don't understand, and what they'll learn little by little by little - because if they were told this in the beginning they probably would catch on a little too quick and not follow the path  [Bi...
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Alana L. on how to recognize (and defeat) Calvinism (series intro)

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Introduction I'm starting a series of posts on a great new video from Alana L.:   5 Signs Your Loved One is Becoming a Calvinist    I've been wanting someone to make a video like this for awhile now - to help people recognize Calvinism when they hear it, to help them realize it's a big deal that they should take seriously and research, and to help them know why it's wrong and how it spreads. Those who've studied against Calvinism know how very tricksy it is.  But those who  don't know anything about it, or how to recognize it, or how it takes over, or how it sounds like it's teaching one thing when it's  really  teaching something totally different, or how it twists or misinterprets Scripture... well, they  are sitting ducks, fish in a barrel who become easy targets for a Calvinist pastor (especially a stealth Calvinist pastor) who slowly and strategically indoctrinates them into this twisted theology, before they ever see it coming, like boiling...
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Predestination Does Not Mean "No Choice"

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(These next four posts are reposts of my original, long, unbroken-up posts on predestination vs. free-will.  The previous posts on predestination all come from these posts, so you don't have to read these long ones if you don't want to.  For more on this issue, see "Links To Other Anti-Calvinism Posts." )             Imagine that I walk into your church and say, “I am taking a group of people on a mission trip with me.   We are leaving sometime soon, and you have to decide which group you’ll be part of: the one that goes or the rest that stay behind.   I have a destination picked out, a way to get there, I’ve already paid the price to take a group with me, and I’m now asking for those who want to go.   It’s up to you if you want to come or be left behind.   And if you do not deliberately choose to come with me, you will be left behind.”   This, in essence, is the way I view the whole “predestination or free-will” deba...
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When Calvinists say "But predestination!" (shorter, basic version)

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[I'm interrupting the Alana L. series for the much-shorter version - I said shorter, not short😉 - of my "But predestination!" series.   The longer version - full of many more Calvinist comments, my Calvinist ex-pastor's sermons, and my replies to them - can be found by  starting here .  But in this simplified version, I'm simply sharing the basics.  And I'll do a tiny version soon too, cutting out many quotes and memes.  But, oh, they add so much that it's hard to cut them out. ] At the heart of Calvinism is predestination and God's sovereignty (among other things, like "total depravity"), which according to Calvinism essentially amounts to:  "God preplans and controls everything, even sin and evil and all our decisions, and so He pre-picks who goes to heaven and who goes to hell.  He causes the 'elect' to believe in Him and be saved, but He made sure the 'non-elect' have no chance or ability to believe and be saved bec...
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Using Scripture in Spiritual Battles

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If there is one thing I have been learning as I have faced the spiritual battles of depression and anxiety, it’s this:   I NEED GOD’S WORD. I used to see God’s Word as a good guidebook for life.   And, yes, it is that.   And, yes, it is a history lesson and a prophecy of things to come and God’s message of love, redemption, and salvation.   But it is still more than all that.   Ephesians 6:17 identifies the Word as the “sword of the Spirit.”   Along with prayer, it is the only offensive weapon we have in the spiritual battle.   The other pieces of “armor” (read Ephesians 6) are defensive, meant to help us resist the attacks of Satan.   But prayer and the Word (and the Holy Spirit) are meant to help us advance against him, to strike back.   The Word is a sword . . . and yet so often I treat it like a pillow.   Like a nice soft, comforting, cushy thing to lay my head down on at night to help me sleep better.   I read...
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Help for Anxiety, Depression, and Suicidal Thoughts

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It's so sad to hear about all the celebrities who have recently committed suicide (or about anyone who has committed suicide, for that matter).  My heart breaks for them, for the pain they went through, and for the ones who love them, for the pain they are now going through.  It is truly a tragedy. To anyone who is hurting really badly, who is struggling with overwhelming anxiety or depression, who is considering taking their own lives ... I dedicate this post.  Please, take some time to look through some of the links here.  This is a round-up of some on-line resources or posts about dealing with anxiety or depression, particularly as a Christian. But first: Quick tips for help: If you are desperate for some immediate help and don't want to look through the links I have below, try some of these (or if it's really bad and you think you might hurt yourself, call 911 or go to the emergency room): 1.   Put on a worship song right now.  Or sin...
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