The Importance of Brokenness

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Such a great sermon, one we can all learn a lot from and be encouraged by:

"Encountering God's Process" by Tony Evans

(And here's a great 10-minute video from his daughter, Priscilla Shirer: "We're Desensitized to our Blessings."  It just seemed to speak so well to the crazy world we're living in right now, maybe because now seems like the perfect time to dig through all the distractions around us to find Jesus.) 
And it's funny because just the other day, I was updating and typing up a "Bible Study/workbook" thing I wrote years ago, called "Through the Refining Fire: Your 'Sweetly Broken' Journey," and the stuff Dr. Evans was saying in the beginning was almost exactly the stuff I had just typed up, about how God usually has to break us to rebuild us, how it's part of the process of spiritual growth.  

I am sending this "Through the Refining Fire" workbook to my relative who's in jail because she shares the Bible things I send her with other people on her floor.  I figure it's one way I can try to help turn this whole bad situation (her arrest) around for good, at least for someone.  She might not want what I send her, but maybe a fellow prisoner will get something out of it.  Who knows?  But it helps me to know that I'm not just wallowing in despair, but that maybe I can help some eternal good come out of this bad situation for someone, even if it's not her.  

Of course, all my efforts might not make much difference for anyone, might not help anyone find God's love, healing, truth, etc.  But if I don't send it then there's a 100% chance of not helping anyone.  And so I'd rather try, doing my part to get God's Word into a hopeless place that desperately needs it.  I mean, what an open door!  What a bittersweet blessing!  What a heart-breaking opportunity!  I'd be a fool to not take it, to not dive in as deeply as I can, to not go for broke.  How many people have someone "on the inside"?  How many people have an opening like that to get God's Word right into the middle of the mess, right into the hands and hearts of those who need it most?  

Yes, my heart is broken and I have to fight off anxiety every day (I am tired, so very tired), but there's work to be done, Kingdom work.  If you've got to walk the painful path anyway, why not do whatever you can to squeeze some eternal good out of it!  If you don't, then all you've got is the pain.  And so I'd rather try, praying that God can use it somehow, someday, for someone.  (Besides, getting busy doing what you're supposed to do and helping others are some of the best ways to fight anxiety.  That, and singing.  Out loud.  Even when you don't want to.  Another great way to fight off anxiety.)  

[Also, the officers have to read the mail that comes into the jail too.  So how cool is it to know that they are probably reading the letters I send my relative, all about God and faith and all the Bible verses.  Talk about a captive audience!  Talk about hitting two birds with one stone!  Not only do I have the opportunity to reach the inmates but also the officers (who, despite the fact they had to arrest my relative and make me testify against her, seem like really great people who I could've been friends with under other circumstances.  I have prayed for them too.).  That's my hope and my prayer anyway, that God's Word and Truth reaches whoever needs it, inmate or officer.  What an amazing, unexpected ministry opportunity.  Even if it's surreal and bizarre and disturbing and still doesn't feel like real life.]  

Anyway, I am updating this workbook, section by section, to make it shorter, more concise, and with better questions and verses.  If you're interested, check it out here.  (I will add the new sections as I update them.)  It's something you can do alongside another believer or just between you and God, but hopefully it will help you grow deeper in your walk with the Lord.  

Since I might not be adding new posts here for quite awhile (I've got a couple more scheduled for tomorrow, but I need a break, to be able to just rest and read, maybe paint or learn to draw, hopefully enjoy some snow, if we ever get any), I figured it might be nice to leave you with the link to this workbook.  Maybe it's something you can do as part of your New Year's resolution (as if we ever actually keep those).  Take care, and God bless.  And have a blessed Christmas tomorrow!


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Introduction Here's 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.   [Note: I am not judging the hearts of Calvin
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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 own ways. We can be strong in our feminine grace.   We can be confi
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We haven't set foot in a church for a Sunday service since we left ours in 2019.  We were just so burned out on churches after dealing with the Calvinism that took over ours (and discouraged about how much it's spreading to many churches) that we simply stayed home and watched Tony Evans' sermons online (and we met with another family for Bible study for over a year, until they found a church to attend).   But recently, we decided to check out a church, just to see.  And it was good.  Not perfect, but good.  We're not necessarily looking to make a church home out of it, but we just need a little something right now.  And this was good enough.  But on the way out, I saw a flyer for upcoming events at their church, and one thing they offered was a "Christian Yoga" class.  That, to me, is a huge no-no, something Christians should not engage in.  But they do.  All over the place.  With no sense of it being wrong.   In fact, at our last church, one of the female
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"But predestination!" (16B: sin, evil, suffering)

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In this series, I'm examining some things that Calvinists (especially my ex-pastor) say about predestination.   Here's the whole series on my other blog:  the pastor's sermons  ("When Calvinists say 'But predestination!'"), and my comments  1-4 (election)  and  5-6 (Romans and sovereignty)  and  7-9 (depravity, Book of Life, predestine)  and  10-11 (shaming tactics, Feb. 2015)  and  12-14 (dead, regeneration, born again)  and  15 (total depravity, manipulation)   and  16A (God's Will, babies)  and  16B (sin, evil, suffering)  and  17 (double-speak and the gospel) . Sixteen B (I broke #16 up into two halves, so picking up where we left off in the last post...) And now, moving on from the bulk of my comments to the bulk of the Calvinist quotes, showing you Calvinism in its full glory.  (And you thought you were almost done, that you already read the bulk of the Calvinist quotes.  Oh, no, we're just getting started.) Buckle your seatbelts, ladies and
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I giggle making these.  Helps me blow off steam. Only if you're elected ... So you're a Calvinist? Except for you ... "I love being a Calvinist" First I'll tell them ... Said Jesus Never! We Calvinists say ... The bookcase Researching John Calvin Snap Out Of It The Pro-Calvinism Meme Absolutely Sure ... Calvinist Lunatic If you want people ... Another Predestination Sermon It's called "Calvinism" Lucky Dude "All" Means "Some" God "In Control" "Total depravity" (AKA "Total Inability" - a concept NOT found in the Bible anywhere!) It's be
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