Two Sweet Christian Testimonies: Hailey and Mia

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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)

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Let's just call it what it is: Wicked!

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Wicked and repulsive! What else would you call a Philadelphia ruling that would rather children not get a home than get a faith-filled home through a faith-based agency!?! Wicked and repulsive! And yet the left continues to think it's so tolerant and open-minded and all-inclusive and open-armed! Nonsense!!! This kind of thing shows who they really are.   May God overturn this ruling and turn the hearts of people back to Him, opening their eyes to their need for Him and to the true condition of their hearts and souls.  May they see how far they have fallen and the damage they are causing in our country! And if I may point something out:  This is not an attack on faith, but only on faith in the God of the Bible.  Because what they seem to forget is that everyone has faith in something.  Everyone stakes their eternity on something.  Even people who claim to have no faith ... have faith.  They just have faith in themselves, in chan...
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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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Another Serving of Anti-Calvinism Memes

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Some more of the memes I made up, just for fun! "Sovereignty" ... Special code Working for salvation? "Total Inability" But guess what? And so I said ... I told you ... WRONG! Santa Claus Hard To Swallow Pills How you feel when ... The Pie Chart - Theological Influences The Pie Chart - Calvinist Theology Calvinist theology - dead men I Tell You This Every Time ... Definitely "elected" How do we get them to believe ... Where do you get your theology from? You're right, Calvinist A Calvinist's Amazing Grace What if ...?
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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.  I'm addicted to Twenty One Pilots (musical geniuses)!  And so are my husband and sons.]    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.  (But I do worry that I might've butt-dialed someone and that they're listening to me sing loud and proud.) And this 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 LO...
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Alana L.: 4j (active belief; "anyone")

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This series is  loosely   based on this 14-minute video from Alana L.:   5 Signs Your Loved One is Becoming a Calvinist    Point #4 Still: J.  Alana states the obvious, simple, biblical truth that "We are made in God's image, and we have the capacity to think and determine things."  We have the ability to decide how we will respond to the gospel call.  We decide whether to reject/ignore it or to believe it.  And when we believe, we are saved. “Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes... Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”   ( Romans 10:4, 13 )   “And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation.    Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit...”   ( Ephesians 1:13 ) We have to hear and believe.    “Hear and believe” refers to a responsibility on our part...
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Yes! Jesus Did Talk About Hell!

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If someone says that Jesus never talked about hell or that He never talked about it being an eternal condition, they are not being true to the Bible. Jesus did indeed talk about hell.  And He talked about hell being an eternal place of punishment. But He didn't talk about hell to scare us or threaten us.  He talked about hell to warn us, to save us, to rescue us from the fire.   "Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.  Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell."   ( Matthew 10:28 ) "As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age.  The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil.  They will throw them in the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."  ( Matthew 13:40-42 ) "Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, ...
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"Water Colors" - Painting to Relax

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I was talking with a friend recently about ideas of things we can do to relax during these crazy days or during times of depression/anxiety.  Obviously, there's reading and baking and taking walks and gardening.  And drawing or painting have become quite popular.  (And I know lots of people were painting because all of Walmart's little bottles of acrylic paint were sold out for weeks during the lockdown in March.) And I was telling my friend that I always wished I could draw.  Goodness, if I could draw like this guy, in his time-lapsed drawing of Gandalf , that would be freakin' incredible!  (If I could have any piece of art out there, it would be this one.  I love it!)   But alas, even my stick-figures are sad and pathetic, hiding their heads in shame.  I simply cannot picture something in my mind and transfer it to paper.  It just doesn't work that way for me. But, I told my friend, I did find one way to paint that is relaxing and crea...
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Do You Believe?

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            I saw the movie Do You Believe? yesterday.   (This is a repost from years ago.)  Excellent movie.  Very well done!  (Bring tissues!  Be ready to be inspired and touched deeply!)             But one part stood out to me (although it all stood out . . . excellent movie!).  A lost, hurting, confused man was in a hotel room when he found a Bible.  And I thought about how sad it is that, nowadays in America, people are trying to get Bibles out of hotel rooms and to erase all references to God in public areas.             What about the hurting person who needs help?  The lost person who needs to be found?  The hopeless person who needs the Truth, Love, and Healing that only God can give?  How will they find the answers they are looking for (even if they don’t know they are looking for them) if we eradicate God from our society?    ...
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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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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.)
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