Spiritual Warfare: If you don't believe in the devil ...

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I just found a great warning in an article ("'Nefarious': From strange ailments to car accidents, the spiritual warfare that occurred while filming") from the director of a spiritual-thriller movie who knew that filming a movie about demonic possession would lead to opposition from unseen forces (my paraphrase): 

If you don't believe in the devil - if you don't think you need to take him seriously - then just start opposing him and see what happens.  

Start praying more.  Start reading your Bible more.  Start memorizing Bible verses more and speaking them out loud as needed.  Start saying "no" to temptations.  Start confessing sins to God, asking for forgiveness.  Start forgiving other people.  Start thanking God for things, out loud.  Start cleaning up your lives, homes, and habits, getting rid of things that glorify evil.  Start listening to praise music.  Start obeying God in something, no matter how small.  Start saying "In the name of Jesus Christ, I command you to leave" when you feel demons are harassing or tempting you.  And if you're not a Jesus-follower but want to know if it's all real - if God, Jesus, the Bible, Satan, demons, angels, heaven, hell, etc. are real - then pray something like this out loud: "I want to know if You're real, God.  I want to know if Jesus is the Christ, the only way to heaven.  I want to know if I am unknowingly on Satan's side right now.  Please show me, and help me to see it."

If you don't think you need to take the devil seriously, then try taking a stand against him and see what happens.


(If Satan's not real, then what've you got to be worried about?  But if he is real, then shouldn't you find out now, before it's too late?)


A couple good songs: 

Don't Tread on Me by We The Kingdom

And Crushing Snakes by Crowder

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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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Alana L.: 2e (sufficient/efficient)

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This series is based on this 14-minute video from Alana L.:   5 Signs Your Loved One is Becoming a Calvinist    Point #2:   E.  Alana then pointed out how Calvinists say that Jesus's work on the cross was "sufficient for all of humanity, but it's not efficient [for all]."   It's only "efficient" for some, for the elect. I love it when she said this about "sufficient and efficient": "Okay, huh, new words, not in Scripture."  Priceless!   I think these bogus terms - which are  not  in the Bible - are merely a way for Calvinists to sound like they're saying one thing when they really mean another, to sound like they're saying Jesus died for all when they're really not.  They know that  if they outright said Jesus didn't die for all, it would contradict certain verses and set off people's alarm bells - and so they speak on multiple levels to obscure what they're teaching, to buy them time to slowly, strategically m...
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Why Is It So Hard For Calvinists To Get Free From Calvinism?

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This was originally on the end of my post "If Calvinism is true, then God is a liar."   But I think it deserves its own post (I recently updated it a little bit, March 2021): I read something once about how very few people end up freeing themselves from the clutches of Calvinism because of the strong hold it has on people.  I think this is partly because ... 1.   We (I am talking as if I were a Calvinist here) would have to admit that we were misunderstanding Scripture this whole time, and no one wants to admit they could be wrong. 2.   Calvinism appeals to us prideful intellectuals.  (And prideful intellectuals have the greatest aversion to admitting we could be wrong.)  It makes us feel special, like we alone understand the "deeper, hidden meanings of Scripture," while the simple-minded Christians can't understand it.  Calvinism (with all of its contradictions, word play, round-about reasoning, and multiple layers of meaning for verses) gives u...
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On this Good Friday

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Take some time on this Good Friday to remember what Jesus went through to bring us forgiveness, to offer us all eternal life - and then thank Him for it.   Some great songs and videos about it: Jeremy Riddle's  "Sweetly Broken"   Cloverton's  "Christmas Hallelujah" Michael W. Smith's  "Secret Ambition" Crowder's  "I AM" "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Jesus Christ. God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood." ( Romans 3:23-25 ) “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life   in Christ Jesus our Lord.”  ( Romans 6:23 ) “God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”   ( Romans 5:8 ) "This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us...."  ( 1 John 3:16 ) "Christ suffered for you... When ...
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Calvinism: Heresy At Its Finest!

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Okay, I won't say "Calvinism is hogwash" in this post.  So don't worry.  One thing you will definitely not hear me say in this post is that "Calvinism is hogwash."  I mean, I know I've said "Calvinism is hogwash" in many other posts, but I won't say it here. Okay, so now that that's out of the way ... Calvinism is heresy at its finest! It's man telling God how God has to be in order to be God.   It's "God has to control everything, or else He's not God."   It's "Jesus didn't die for everyone because Jesus couldn't die for those who would reject Him, because that would be a disgrace to Him and a waste of His blood."   It's "God has to be the cause of all evil and wickedness and murder and abuse, or else there's no purpose for it."   It's "God predestined Jesus to die for sinners, and so He caused Adam and Eve to fall because He needed sinners for Jesus t...
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She hit the nail on the head! Amen, come, Lord Jesus!

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A neighbor just sent this link to me , a video clip (just a minute long) from a woman sharing how she is just done with everything, how she's on autopilot and just wants Jesus to come back again. I absolutely get everything she said and have felt the same way for several years now. Can anyone else relate? Here's a transcript of what she said (I think she voiced what a lot of us have been feeling, like we've been treading water, just trying to get by until the end):  "Does anybody else just ... I'm just, like, checked out of this planet.  I told God today, like, I'm ready.  I've been ready, but I'm like  ready ready.  I don't feel like there's anything that I care about anymore.  I just want to go home.  You know, I just want to be done.   I don't want to battle all of the little battles anymore.  I don't want to pay my taxes anymore - because I know where the money's going.  I don't want to go to the grocery store and spend $40...
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This One's For You! (A Christmas Sermon)

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Did you ever listen to a sermon where you felt as if God was saying "This one's for you"?  I've never looked up Willow Creek sermons before, but for some reason I decided to watch one yesterday.  And you know what?  This one was meant for me.  It really hit me in the heart.  Watch it; it's good.  In fact, I couldn't stop thinking about it all day and into the night.  (Skip to the 35-minute mark to start the sermon.) "Christmas at the movies: How the Grinch Stole Christmas (December 18, 2022)" (Willow Creek Huntley YouTube channel) Merry Christmas, Everyone! [FYI: I've written before about how I disagree with woman being head pastors.  And it seems that, at Willow, the head pastor is a man but there are several teaching pastors under him, including women.  To me, that's a gray area.  And I'm not sure yet what I think of it.  But  since it doesn't break my hardline, definitive "no woman head pastor" rule , I've decided to ...
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Rapinoe Really Bugs Me. Why?

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Rapinoe really bugs me.  Even just looking at pictures of her bug me. Why? This article neatly sums it up: her arrogance. The arrogant, in-your-face, I'm-the-best, bite-the-hand-that-feeds-you attitude that oozes from her, even in pictures. I think those who hate America so much should just leave.  They should go spend some time in countries where you have almost no rights.  Where women are forced to cover from head to toe.  Where they can't drive.  Where acid is thrown on them when they offend some man.  Where homosexuals are executed.  Where you don't get to vote for your leaders.  Where you are not allowed to speak out in the media.  Where you are prosecuted for saying anything against your country or leader. Go visit those countries for awhile ... and see if you don't come crawling back on your hands and knees, begging America to let you back in again, kissing the ground of the country that treated you so well....
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What Does The Bible Say About Homosexuality?

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So Christian musician Lauren Daigle says she doesn't know either way what the Bible says about homosexuality, whether it's right or wrong.  She says that if anyone finds out, let her know.   Okay, so there's several possibilities about what's happening here.  Among them are: 1.   She has never really read her Bible.  (Or she doesn't want to know what it says, so she isn't studying it very closely.) 2.   She is afraid to say what she really thinks because she knows it would destroy her career.  Maybe it's about her desire to be popular.  Maybe it's about money.  Maybe it's about fear of losing potential listeners that she wants to reach through her music. 3.   She doesn't want to say the truth because she knows it will hurt people (particularly her homosexual friends) and turn people off, and she feels bad about offending anyone.  Maybe she is trying to protect people from the sting of Truth, of out genuine (misguided) conce...
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Christian Testimony: Isabella - "How I Found Jesus"

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Here is Isabella's 17-minute testimony:  How I found Jesus . I think many of us can relate to it - about the struggle of trying to relate to the Lord, of drawing near but then falling away.  She understands that a relationship with God takes time and effort.  It doesn't just happen.  You have to work at it. And y ou can tell she has a heart to lead others to the Lord, to help them in their relationship with God.  S he gives a short, sweet "sinner's prayer" at the end, for others to follow.  (Drink some coffee to keep up with her.  She's a fast talker.)     [However, I do not agree with her that we can pray to the earth/universe.  That's the mark of a false religion.  But I understand what she's trying to say.  She's trying to say that we shouldn't let not knowing how to pray or what to pray stop us from praying, from calling out to God.  She's saying that God can meet you wherever you are, if you call out to Him....
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