"More Fun" ... in church

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A really enjoyable and meaningful "sermon" from Willow Creek (from a comedian/actor who was in the movie War Room): 

More Fun in Play - Willow Creek Community Church

And wait till you see the video of his daughter moments after she was born.  What a cool, touching moment!

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Spiritual Warfare: Sword of the Spirit 5 (Scripture-based prayers)

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And finally, to end the "Sword of the Spirit" posts: When I was going through my worst, hardest times and was full  of anxiety, depression, hopelessness, and helplessness, there were a few things that helped give me some relief (herbal teas, herbal tinctures, homeopathic remedies, positive thinking, walks, mindless but relaxing TV shows, worship music, reading the Bible, saying verses out loud or writing them by hand, etc.).   But I could tell that my soul needed something more, something deeper, more powerful, more effective.   And so I decided to try something that I had always  been curious about: Praying Scripture back to God, turning verses into prayers, grabbing onto the truths and promises in Scripture that fit our need at the moment and praying them back to Him,  trusting Him to answer.   And when I did that, it calmed my anxious soul in a way that nothing else did or could.   Even just looking through God's Word for th...
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Three Guidelines For Christians Regarding Halloween (repost)

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Halloween is coming up.  And of course the question for Christians is "How much should we participate in Halloween, if at all"? Truthfully, I don't know. My personal choice would be to have nothing to do with Halloween, except for eating candy.  (Thankfully, my boys never wanted to dress up in costumes.)  I don't feel comfortable participating in anything that "celebrates" death, violence, demons, witches, the occult, etc.  Those kinds of things are very real in the world and shouldn't be encouraged, laughed at, or glorified at all . But I also don't think there's anything wrong with meeting with friends, having some good clean fun, eating candy, enjoying God's wonderful Autumn blessings, etc.  Even dressing up just for fun isn't inherently wrong.     But is that too close to "celebrating Halloween"?   (I will admit that I am uncomfortable with the idea of "dressing up" for Halloween.  To me that seems to be the ...
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"The Candid Calvinist"

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  My husband just found this "satirical" 6-minute video about what Calvinists say vs. what they hide.  It's called  "The Candid Calvinist"  and it's brilliant.  This guy does a great job covering some of the confusing contradictions and deceptive word-choices of Calvinism.  I hope he does more videos like this.  (And does he not remind you of a young Ben Shapiro?)
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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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My Testimony

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I've scattered bits of my story all over my blogs, but I’m gonna pull it all together here, about how I became a believer and some things I’ve gone through and how my faith has been affected.  (I’ll include links to posts where I explain things more fully.) Starting the journey:    I became a believer when I was eleven years old.    (I am now getting close to 50.   I don't know how that happened. )    At a Christian camp, on one of the last nights, they gave an altar call.    I wanted to go up but was nervous about standing up in front of everyone.    But being more nervous about the window of opportunity closing, I felt myself stand up and walk to the front.    I knew exactly what I was doing, that I was making a commitment for life.    And I meant it.    I really meant it.    I knelt down, asked Jesus into my heart, and have never turned back.    It hasn’t been an easy, carefr...
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Help for Anxiety, Depression, and Suicidal Thoughts (repost)

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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'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...
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Spiritual Warfare: Sword of the Spirit 4 (the sword)

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Okay now, onto the list of verses I shared with my family member for her to use in spiritual battles, when Satan's got us down and cowering in fear.  These were specifically chosen for comfort, encouragement, and strength (and I added a few extra here for different kinds of temptations or trials).  I suggest p rinting them out, reading them over and over again, writing them out, mem orizing some, taking a list with you wherever you go, etc.  Whatever it takes to get through the hard times. And when the attacks, temptations, or hard times come, turn them into prayers  (I'll share my own personal Scripture-based prayers in the next post)  or simply s peak out loud the ones that fit your particular struggle, trial, temptation, or fear.   Declare to yourself, to the struggle/temptation, and to the spirit world/the Enemy that "It is written ..." and then quote a verse that fits.  A nd let God's Word comfort and still your soul as the sword of the Spiri...
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Spiritual Warfare: Overestimating Ourselves, Underestimating Satan

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In the last post  of this series, we looked at the danger of underestimating ourselves and overestimating Satan.  Today let's look at the reverse: overestimating ourselves and underestimating Satan.  (This will be a little scattered because there's several angles I want to look at this from.)   While we shouldn't think Satan has more power than he does, we also shouldn't think he has less.  He  is the ruler, the "prince," of this world right now and has been given a lot of leeway (by God's permission) to move around and cause trouble.  Yes, God is still in control over Satan and has him on a leash, but he's still allowed to cause an enormous amount of pain and damage (just look at the world around us, maybe even your own lives).  So may we never be flippant about him or ignorant of his schemes and power.    Here are a handful of verses about Satan/demons (what he's called, what he does, what he's capable of): Satan is called "the pr...
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Links To Other Anti-Calvinism Posts

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Some of my thoughts and research on Calvinism (Why I believe it's not Scriptural!): Why is Calvinism So Dangerous? If Calvinism is true, then God is a liar! What's The Best Way To Make People Agree With Your Calvinist Views? Letter To Our Elders Regarding Calvinism Growing In Our Church Acts 13:48: Not As "Predestination" As It Sounds Sovereignty and Free-Will Working Together Anti-Calvinism Memes and Links Why Is It So Hard For Calvinists To Get Free From Calvinism? Can You Lose Your Salvation? Problems in John Calvin's  Institutes of the Christian Religion Are We Only Here For God's Glory? What About God's Love? So Job was a dimwit, huh? "Defend Your Calvinism" Challenge More Anti-Calvinism Memes.  Just for fun! Some of John Calvin's Contradicting Nonsense! How to tell if a Church, Pastor, or Website is Calvinist (extended version)  and the  (simplified version) You know what happens when you assume things!  A look at John Calvin...
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Spiritual Warfare: Satan's Schemes #7 (Bad Theology)

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Happy New Year, Everyone!  Here's the next post in my Spiritual Warfare series .  I plan on eventually finishing it, but my posts will be fewer and farther between in the new year.  I'd like to take some time off to focus more on reading than writing.   Satanic Deception: Bad Theology In the previous post  in this series, we looked at how we could fall victim to Satan's half-truths.  And in this post, I want to look specifically - and briefly - at the idea of bad theology. Through Satan's influence, Adam and Eve began to view God and themselves incorrectly, which led to them acting wrongly and sinfully, and then spreading error to their children. And he tries to do the same with us.  And so i f we don't have a correct, biblical view of God and His Word (by spending regular time with God in His Word), we could be easily led astray, creating our own ideas of what God says and what He's like and what He wants from us.  And then we'll make decisi...
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