Two Sweet Christian Testimonies: Hailey and Mia

-

Here are two sweet, honest, heartfelt testimonies from a couple of Christian women on how they came to faith in Jesus.  Thank you, Hailey and Mia, for sharing your stories, for opening up your beautiful hearts to us.

My testimony - Hailey Bleau (14 minutes long)

How Jesus saved me from anorexia, anxiety, and depression - Mia Dinoto (14 minutes long)

Most Popular Posts of the Week:

Updated: Alana L. 5K "sovereign"

-
Image
[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...
Read more

List of Calvinist Preachers, Authors, Theologians, Websites, etc.

-
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 ...
Read more

Feminism Nonsense (repost)

-
Image
(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...
Read more

Silencing The Transgender Truth?

-
So there's a study coming out that says that children are swayed into being transgender because of their "transgender" friends. Actually, I should say that it was going to come out.  But it's being "silenced" so that it doesn't offend or hinder the LGBTQ community. I find it funny that the LGBTQ community had to silence a study that is simply reporting common sense. Anyone who knows anything about human behavior knows that people - especially kids - are susceptible to peer pressure.  Anyone who knows anything will know that if we put "transgender" in the news more and more, and if we talk about it more and more in school, and if we normalize it and we tell people there is no gender and we celebrate those who come out as "transgender" and hold them up as some sort of posterchild ... then more and more kids are going to want to become transgender (or begin to think they are transgender).  It's the cool thing to do right now.  ...
Read more

Help for Anxiety, Depression, and Suicidal Thoughts (repost)

-
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...
Read more

Calvinist Hogwash #1 (God and sin/suffering)

-
Image
Subtitle:  "Calvinists say the stupidest things"  Sub-subtitle:  "Yes, Calvinists really do teach this stuff"  Sub-sub-subtitle:  "You're probably gonna wanna take a shower when you're doing reading"    This is the first of a series of posts o f Calvinist quotes that reveal Calvinism's true colors, that show what it really believes underneath all the sugar-coating, and that show how deceptive it is.   (I'll keep my comments to a minimum here, but I did add some emphasis,  in bold,  from time to time.  I'll post one whole long post at the end of the series.)   Have a filthy, stinkin' good time rolling around in this pig-slop.  (And then go take a shower.) But first... I want to start with some quotes from those who've been hurt by Calvinism, to show the damage Calvinism can do to people and their faith.  (Of course, Calvinists would probably just claim these are non-elect people anyway.).    A ...
Read more

Predestination Does Not Mean "No Choice"

-
(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...
Read more

Alana L.: 1c (faith/salvation); 1d (seeking God)

-
Image
This series is  loosely   based on this 14-minute video from Alana L.:   5 Signs Your Loved One is Becoming a Calvinist      Point #1 Still: C.  Alana  said that, according to the Bible, faith comes by hearing and believing the Word.        She's right.  The Bible teaches that faith comes by hearing the Word.  We hear the Word, and then we believe it, and then we are saved. But not in Calvinism.   In Calvinism, faith comes by election only, by being saved first.  As   Calvinist Loraine Boettner said in  The Reformed Doctrine of Predestination :  "A man is not saved because he believes in Christ; he believes in Christ because he is saved."    And  A.W. Pink  in  Doctrine of Election :  "... [faith] cannot be the cause of our election... the reason why any believe is because God gives them faith."   As he says:  "[faith] was a gift of God (...
Read more

#1 Wrestling With God, 2015 (repost)

-
[ I wrote this post in August of 2015.  But I am reposting it because I need to read it again.  I guess I need to read it again because life sometimes feels like one big "wrestling with God" match.  Wrestling with faith.  With life.   As I look back on these past several years, I am kinda amazed at how things turn out.  Or ... how they don't, I should say.  How real and raw and messy life can be sometimes.  These next numbered posts are taken from over these last few years, showing the progression of life, of the unexpected, of the "wrestling with God, faith, and life" moments.  This one goes up to August 2015, how beaten up I've felt over the years up till then.  And then comes the post about the hope I had that 2016 would be better.  And then comes 2016 - the worst summer of my life.  A life-changer for me.  And then, well, I'm not sure yet what I am putting after that.  But I'm reposting these because it's fasci...
Read more

When Calvinists say "But predestination!" (tiny, bare-bones version)

-
Image
[Here's the tiniest version of my "But predestination!" post.  The short version with more memes and quotes and information can be  found here , and t he longest version (a series of posts full of many more Calvinist comments, my Calvinist ex-pastor's sermons, and my replies to them, written for my own amusement and for my ex-church) can be found by  starting here .  But this tiny version includes only the most basic parts you need to know, with a few memes and quotes thrown in to spice it up and prove my points.  (I know this could be much tinier, but Calvinism has so many bunny trails, so many interlocking ideas, that it's hard to address one part without addressing more.  So this is as comprehensively tiny as I dared to make it.) ] 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 ...
Read more