Two songs for the election season

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I posted these for the 2020 elections too, but here they are again for this election season... because I am so done with all the political chaos.

A couple of Tim Hawkins songs as this election season gets under way, just for fun:

Jimmy Buffet for President

The Government Can

If you can't do anything about it, may as well have some fun with it!

Most Popular Posts of the Week:

My Everyday Prayer (part 1)

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            I want to share with you a prayer that I wrote, my personal version of The Lord’s Prayer with verses that mean something to me and reminders that I need.   And then I will explain this prayer over the next few posts.   I call it My Everyday Prayer.   It’s the one I go to in the morning, especially when I can’t think of where else to start.   (I don’t manage to do it every day, but I try to say it often.)   And then I just continue to talk to God spontaneously the rest of the day.   But I like to say this one first because every line means something to me and is there for a reason, and I’ll explain later.   So here it is, My Everyday Prayer:  
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My "When Anxiety Strikes" Playlist

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In the post "Getting through the 'broken' times," I said that I had made a CD to listen to when anxiety hits.  It has some of my favorite Christian songs on it.   Here are as many of the songs as I could find online, plus some extra.  (Fyi: I couldn't keep the song titles or font sizes looking the same.  Oh well!)  Listen to some of them when anxiety threatens you.  It really does help to hear godly truths spoken out loud (and to speak them out loud yourself).  And personally, I think godly music helps repel evil, giving you some extra spiritual protection when you are most vulnerable.  They don't like to hear God being praised and Truth being sung! (FYI: Videos are constantly being removed from online.  So if the video is no longer available, type in the name and artist and see if you can find it.  I simply can't keep up with replacing links.) From The City Harmonic: Love, Heal Me  - The song that inspired the title of one of my blogs, Love,
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Should "Satan" Be Capitalized?

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(reposted from my other blog)             I’ve read a lot of things lately where Christian people won’t capitalize the name “Satan.”   They say it’s because they don’t want to give him that much credit or attention.               And while I can appreciate that sentiment, why do I still capitalize his name?             Because the inspired Word of God does.   "Satan" is a name, not an adjective or a common noun.  But a name.  And names get capitalized.  And so if the Bible capitalizes his name, identifying him as an actual being, who  am I to act like I know better?             One author in particular said he barely talks about Satan because he doesn’t want to focus on him in any way.   He doesn’t want to give Satan that much “air-time.”               But the Bible talks about Satan and evil all the time.   It warns us about him, cautions us about him, tells us how to defend ourselves against him and his attacks.      
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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 as a Calvinist, I
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I know it sounds crazy but ...

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Okay, fine, I guess I'll officially start up this blog again, adding some new posts every now and then.  If I'm putting posts like these on my other blog, why not add the faith ones here too.  A neighbor (a recent believer) and I were talking the other day about the rapture and the end times, prophecy and the book of Revelation, etc.  And I found myself saying "I know it sounds crazy.  It sounds crazy to talk about things like this, about prophecy and Jesus coming back and the tribulation and things like that." We Christians know how it sounds when we talk about these things - like we should be wearing tin-foil hats, claiming  that the government is reading our thoughts, that aliens have probed us, and  that we've seen Bigfoot working as a cashier at the local convenience store.  I know that the Bible and its teachings - on how the world was created, on how it will end, on prophecy, angels, demons, the spiritual battle, on Jesus being God and coming to earth in a
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A Great Blog To Visit: Our Healing Moments (Testimony #1)

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I've recommended this blog before, but I'll do it again: Our Healing Moments (UPDATE: This blog has been deleted, so I took down the link.) I haven't really been reading other people's blogs lately (or even my own).  I've been trying to stay away from the online world as much as possible.  But I decided to check out her blog again because I like her writing and her heart so much.  You can see her sweet, gentle, godly spirit shining through everything she writes, even though she suffers from chronic, debilitating illness.   And the new posts I read touched my heart and brought tears to my eyes.  It's so nice to read something uplifting in this difficult, chaotic world.  From someone who knows pain and suffering.  Someone who has had to struggle to cling to the Lord.  I appreciate people and testimonies like that.  I understand them.  I learn from them and am encouraged by them.   [In fact, I have been aching to hear some good, personal, spiritual stori
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A Website Worth Visiting: Hoppers Crossing Christian Church

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I recently found a good website that has lots of information about the dangers and errors of Calvinism:  Hoppers Crossing Christian Church .  (Also try this link for blog post.) I decided to leave a comment for them, telling them a bit about my church's experience with Calvinism and thanking them for speaking against it.  It's always encouraging to find others who have come to the same conclusion about Calvinism that we did, simply by comparing it to what the Bible says.   And they replied with a long, well-written response which I think should be out there for people to read.  They gave me permission to post their response here.  And so here is our brief exchange on Calvinism.      My comment to them: Thank you for taking the time to research Calvinism so thoroughly and for being bold enough to speak against it.  I am currently trying to do the same thing ( https://mycrazyfaith.blogspot.com ).  I'm sure my story is similar to other ones you've heard.  W
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Calvinist (Bad Logic) Comment #4: Why Don't All Accept Christ?

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4.   A Calvinist says:   “What is impossible to explain – on the basis of free will – is why some will reject Christ when others, who are no different, accept Christ. If free will is valid, then one person accepting Christ should mean that all accept Christ as all are equally capable of understanding the gospel and their need for Christ.” My reply   (First, notice how they think all people are the same and so they would all have to choose the same thing if free-will is real.  Yet, in "Comment #1," note that a different Calvinist says that in Calvinism - where Calvi-god controls us - we all have different desires, unique to us.  Interesting!  So having free-will means we would all make the exact same choices, but if free-will isn't real, then we all have different, unique desires!?!  Where do they get this garbage from!?!) : It’s impossible to explain why some people reject Christ and others accept Him!?! Wow, that’s sad!   Do you really think p
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Do You Believe?

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     One of my all-favorite Christian movies is Do You Believe?   It is an excellent movie.  But it's very emotional.  I cry through the whole thing.  (Have tissues ready!)      The whole movie is great.  But when I first watched it, one part stood out to me more than the others.  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?  (Another reason I love this movie is that it shows that no one is beyond the grace of God.  Everyone has a chance for salvation because Jesus loves and died
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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 creative, that doesn't need me to
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