Links to the "Understanding God's Will" series (with Calvinism notes)

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For reference, here are all the posts in the "Understanding God's Will" series on my other blog, the one with the added notes on Calvinism:

Introduction part 1 and part 2

1.  Our Impact on God's Will

2.  Cause vs Allow

3.  God's Will is a Verb

4.  Taking Our Responsibility Seriously

5.  Prayer Matters

6.  But God Can Read Minds

7.  But God Knows What We Need

8.  Advice About Prayer

9a.  "Name It and Claim It" Nonsense

9b.  Help for the Journey

9c.  Considering Other Prayer Verses

9d.  Idolatrous Prayers

9e.  Unanswered Prayer

9f.  Maybe God's Not Listening

9g.  Other Convicting Verses

9h.  Summing Up Effective Prayer

9i.  Still Waiting for an Answer

10.  Why Do Bad Things Happen?

11.  Does Everything Happen for a Reason?

12.  God Works All Things for Good

13.  Limiting God's Power?

14.  Does God Cause Nations to Sin?

15.  Is God Sovereign?

16.  Can We Change God's Mind?

17.  But God Can't Change His Mind

18.  Our Responsibilities Regarding God's Will

19.  Praying for the Wrong Things

20.  Missing the Path

21.  Will God Lead Me to Where I Don't Want to Go?

22.  So What, Ultimately, Is God's Will?

Most Popular Posts of the Week:

Calvinist (Bad Logic) Comment #5: We Can Trust A Controlling God

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5.   A Calvinist says:   “That being said why would anyone trust in God who isn’t in control of all things that come to pass, the only way to have unreserved faith without doubt is to pray, hope and believe in God who is on the throne.” [My note:  Of course, all Christians believe that God is on the throne.  But what he means - what Calvinists mean - is "Why would anyone trust a God who isn't actively controlling all things?"  Like Calvinist James White basically says in this clip , we can supposedly trust and have faith only if we know that God is controlling ("causing") all those evil things, such as child rape.  But if they happen without God causing them, then they are supposedly meaningless evils and we would be left in despair knowing that meaningless evils can happen outside of God's "control." Umm ... yeah ... so instead it's SO MUCH BETTER to believe that we have a God who actively causes us to sin in ways He for...
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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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Is It Too Late For America? I Think So.

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I hate to say it, but I agree with this article: "Crossing the Rubicon."   In fact, I was just thinking about this kind of stuff the other day, before I read this.  I know that because of all the chaos in the world right now, lots of Christians are praying that God would heal our land, our society. But I think it's too late for that. I think the march to the "end times" has started, and it can't be stopped.  I don't think this chaos in the world is necessarily God trying to turn us back to Him (but all the better if it does turn people toward Him), but I think it's about getting all the final pieces in place before Jesus returns. I don't think it's about pleading with God for mercy and healing right now.  Because I don't think He'll listen or change anything, as He did in Jeremiah's time (see "God Would Never Do That!  Or Would He? ).  I think it's about getting our final affairs in order, working as hard as we can ...
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How to Tell if a Church, Pastor, or Website is Calvinist (simplified version)

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(For the extended version of this post, which I recommend, click here .  It is loaded with lots more information.  This simplified one is just the highlights.  And feel free to copy this and share it with others, to help them learn to identify Calvinism when they see it.  Just make sure to share the link to this post so that they can find the original one if they want it.  Thank you.   New :  For the super-short version,   click here .   And FYI:  I found a couple times when the Calvinist author of an article I linked to changed the article after I linked to it.  So if an article doesn't seem to match what I said about it, it may be because they altered it. ) We just left our church of almost 20 years because of the dogmatic Calvinist pastor who recently came on board.  ( Read my "Letter to Our Elders Regarding Calvinism Growing in Our Church" here.)   And I was thinking about what precautions I might take to...
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Spiritual Warfare: Satan's Schemes #8 (Deserts)

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(Reposted from something else I wrote, but it describes a big way Satan might try to attack or tempt us.  T his is long, but oh well. ) We're all going to go through "desert" times at some points in our lives - long, discouraging, spiritually-dry times when we see nothing happening and feel like God is far away, when our prayers seem to bounce off the ceiling and fall back down to us, unheard, unanswered.  And during these times, I think Satan would love nothing more than to get us to do two things: grumble and forget. When we read about the  Israelites wandering the desert after Moses rescued them from Egypt , i t seems that the two things they got in trouble for the most were grumbling about their circumstances (about God's care) and forgetting what God has done for them, what He's capable of doing for them, how He is big enough and faithful enough to handle their newest concerns. The Israelites had been through a time unlike any other in the history of mankind....
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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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Spiritual Warfare: Sword of the Spirit 1

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[I intended to do a post like this later in a Spiritual Warfare series, but since it's relevant right now to someone I know ... and since it's been so long since I've added to this series... I'll publish it now.   Previous posts in this series are "My Story" ...  "Be strong in the Lord" ...  Spiritual Warfare sermons by Tony Evans ... "Stay on the Path" ... "Underestimating ourselves/overestimating Satan" ... "Overestimating ourselves/underestimating Satan" ...  #1 Satan's Schemes (unbelief, sin, fear) ... #2 (fear, psychics, prayer) ... #3 (vulnerable in good times) ... Spiritual Warfare: Resources ... #4 (vulnerable in bad times )... #5 (innocence, naivete) ... #6 (half-truths) ... #7 (bad theology) ... #8 (deserts) ... #9 (bitterness, unforgiveness) ... and (for fun)  "Scariest Halloween decoration ever?" I'll break this post up into several parts over the next several weeks.  Much of these posts wil...
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So Chicken Sandwiches Hurt "Queer Kids" and Red Hats Are "Scary"!?!

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So, there's this article out (an opinion piece in the Toronto Star) about how "eating at Chick-fil-A will increase the suffering of queer kids."   And I say, " What? " First off, if chicken sandwiches have the power to hurt "queer" folk, then maybe those "queer" folks need to toughen up a bit.  Life is a lot more cruel than a chicken sandwich will ever be. And secondly, if chicken sandwiches from Chick-fil-A have the power to hurt queer people, it's only because the LGBTQ-community made it that way.   Guess what Chick-fil-A sandwiches used to be - before the LGBTQ-warmongers started freaking out about Chick-fil-A, before they turned chicken sandwiches into a political statement, before they started quivering, hyperventilating, and screaming at the top of their lungs about how hateful Chick-fil-A is?   Go ahead, take a guess?   That's right ... they were just chicken sandwiches .   And they would still be c...
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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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A Calvinist pastor's 9-11 sermons (vs. C.S. Lewis)

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In "honor" of the anniversary of 9-11, I thought I'd share some quotes from my Calvinist ex-pastor's sermons about 9-11 or around the anniversary of 9-11.  (I've shared all these before, so skip them in you want to.)   I'm so sorry to share thes e.  Please don't read them if you were greatly hurt by 9-11, or any other tragedy.  [ And speaking of tragedy: It's absolutely horrible and heartbreaking that Charlie Kirk was assassinated.  It's just so senseless.  It's not like he was a powerful political leader who made laws or rules that people didn't like or that affected their families or anything like that.  He was just a normal guy who debated views and shared his opinions - opinions that some people didn't like.  And for that someone killed him!?!  Something isn't right here.  May God expose what it is, and bring about justice, and protect and care for his family.  My heart goes out to them!  Heartbreaking!]    B...
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