A totally sweet little song: It's a Beautiful Day

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Oh my goodness, I'm totally loving this sweet little song (by The Kiffness and Rushawn): 

It's a Beautiful Day (click on it)

Take three minutes today to watch it and smile!

(Could you imagine how you would feel if you watched this song every morning or evening for the next month?  I might try it along with my Bible reading.  A New Year's resolution.)  

Most Popular Posts of the Week:

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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TULIP's Totally-Depraved Doctrine (a snippet)

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[This is a snippet from  another post (but slightly updated here) that will be coming up later.]  Calvinism's TULIP petals are all built on each other, one after the next.  And it all starts with "total depravity" (their bad definition of it) : R.C. Sproul  ( Total Depravity part 1 ) :   "... if a person really embraces the doctrine of total depravity, the other four points in this five-point system more or less fall in line. They become corollaries of this first point." And so if they can get you to buy into their view of total depravity (as "total inability"), they can easily get you to buy into their whole TULIP, ensuring that you will become a Calvinist. Because if we are "totally unable" to believe on our own, then God has to decide who believes (unconditional election)...  which necessarily implies a "limited atonement" because Calvi-Jesus wouldn't die for those predestined to reject him...   which then requires "irre...
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Anti-Calvinism Links

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This is the last half of the post "What's The Best Way To Make People Agree With Your Calvinist Views."   But I put it here in its own post so that it's easier to find. These are some links to posts which are against Calvinism, the belief that the Bible teaches God has predetermined from the beginning of time who goes to heaven and who goes to hell.  It's no secret from my writing that I strongly disagree with this view.  I believe the Bible clearly teaches that God offers us all salvation, that Jesus's death paid for everyone's sins, and that we have to decide if we will accept Him or reject Him.  And here is some of what others have to say about Calvinism: (FYI, I haven't read everything in all of these yet and I don't necessarily agree with every point they make, but I needed to link to them before I lost them online.  And for the record, I came to my belief about what the Bible says by reading the Bible, not extra-biblical books or articles...
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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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Sermons by Tony Evans (repost)

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(I recently fixed the broken links as well as I could, had to switch some out for others) Tony Evans is my all-time favorite pastor.  He always gives messages that convict, challenge, and comfort.  Here are some sermons that I have listened to or am going to listen to.  For more, simply go to his website by clicking here .  There are so many great ones to choose from. You can't go wrong with any video of his.  I found him to be the most biblically-accurate preacher (especially as I researched Calvinism and found out how wrong it is), who is also great at helping us practically apply God's truths to life. Reversing Anxiety Consequences Keeping the faith when life gets hard Trusting God in a storm How to have strength in your struggles How to overcome your worry How to Get Your Prayers Answered Trusting The God You Believe In God knows what He is doing How the enemy tries to distract you from God's plan Grab your sword The Secret to Powerful Prayer Spiritual W...
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Calvinist Bad Logic #16: Accepting Jesus?

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Bad Logic #16 :  In Calvinism, "accepting Jesus" is works.  They believe that God has to do everything for our salvation, even deciding who believes and who doesn't and causing the believers to believe, or else He's not really a "sovereign" God.  (Once again, it's all based on their faulty view of sovereignty.) And so they believe that we cannot "accept Jesus as Lord and Savior" because "accepting" is an action we do which would be us working for our salvation, instead of it being all God's doing.  According to them. And to get you to believe this, they accuse us - those who believe we decide whether to accept Jesus or not - of "taking credit for our salvation."  They mock us for acting like we "saved ourselves." But this is just manipulation!  Getting you to feel ashamed of the idea that we can accept Jesus as Lord and Savior. The fact is, the Bible is full of calls to believe in Jesus (which mean not...
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Calvinist (Bad Logic) Comment #3: We Do What We Want?

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3.   The Calvinist says:   “How does God do this [getting people to 'choose' what He willed them to do]?   By giving a person a specific set of attributes and then putting that person into an environment to which those attributes react.   Our desires reflect the attributes God gave us interacting with the environment into which God placed us.   Even you harp on this but never attempt to dispute it as even you know it is true.   You know that you have attributes with which you were born and you inhabit an environment that you did not create.   Your attributes interacting with your environment determine your desires and your desires determine what you do.   Who decided all this – God did.   Everything you [do] is what you want to do.” [My note:  Look at the great lengths they go to instead of simply saying "God controls all you do, and you have no choice about it."] My reply to the Calvinist: "Everything you [...
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Feminism Nonsense (repost)

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(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...
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Calvinist (Bad Logic) Comment #2: Evil Comes From ...

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2.   The Calvinist says:   "Under Calvinism, evil comes from the sinful nature of man that resulted from Adam's sin.  Evil actions are subordinate to God and always under God's authority and control.  Anything that happens (even the rape of a child, the hideous act of Hitler) could have been prevented had God wanted to do so, as God has the power and authority to do what He wants ... God's sovereign over all things, even evil things." My (Heather's) note before I look at a reply:  Notice the truths that he stated here: that evil resulted from the Fall, that evil is subordinate to God and under His control, that God has the power to prevent bad things if He doesn't want them to happen, etc.  All of this is true.  But you must remember that in Calvinism, God isn't just "in control" over all things; He controls (causes) all things.  Therefore, those evil things (child rape, Hitler's actions) were not just allowed by Calvi-god (it...
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Calvinist Bad Logic #6: All Animals Are Monkeys

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Bad Logic #6 :  Calvinists often operate by an "if all monkeys are animals then all animals are monkeys" logic.  (Illogic!) Such as, if the Bible shows God controlling one thing then they say that all things are controlled by Him.  Since God caused and controlled the creation of the heavens, then they say it proves that all things are created (read: controlled and caused) by Him.  If the Bible shows that God actively carried out a plan that He made, then they say it proves that all things that happen are because God preplanned them and caused them.  If God predestined the ministry of one person in the Bible (such as calling one to be a prophet), then they say it shows that God predestined the future of every person, including whether we go to heaven or hell. But just because there's an example in the Bible of one thing happening a certain way, doesn't mean this is the way it always happens.  To think this means we have to throw out all the parts in ...
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