Just the other day...

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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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Alana L.: 1a (inability); 1b (belief is a work)

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This series is based on Alana L's 14-minute video:   5 Signs Your Loved One is Becoming a Calvinist    Point #1:   A.  Alana pointed out how Calvinists say "I could never choose God.  I would never choose God.  I can't even want God or seek God, so He had to choose me."    When Calvinists say this, there are (at least) two possible things going on: 1.  They're repeating what Calvinists have taught them to say and believe, convinced that it's what "humble, God-honoring" Christians believe and what the Bible really teaches.  It's part of their doctrine of "total depravity," that humans are so terrible - so "spiritually dead" inside - that they can't do  anything  on their own, not even think about God, want God, seek God, or believe in God - not unless and until God regenerates them by giving them the Holy Spirit who makes them born-again and injects saving faith into them, causing them to want God, seek God, and believe in ...
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"Self-Quarantine" - A Parody To Make You Smile

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A parody we can all appreciate, totally made me smile: “Self-Quarantine” (a parody of Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline”) I love seeing people make the most of this social distancing time.   That's a family that's doing it right! (And now someone needs to change Abba's "Dancing Queen" to "Quarantine."  That would be a good one too.)
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If They Mated ...

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I think I stumbled upon the perfect "If They Mated ..." scenario for who I look like and how I act.  (You know, when they take two people and morph their faces into one to show what their offspring would look like if they mated.)  I wasn't trying to figure this out or anything; it just came to me as I was watching The Hobbit recently.  And once I saw it in my mind, I couldn't unsee it.  Then after I thought about possibly sharing it with all of you, my mind won't let it go until I do.  And so here it is, much to my chagrin... I kid you not, if you mixed these three characters - their looks and their personalities - you would totally have me.   Frankie Heck from The Middle (Someone once told me I looked like her, when I was a lot younger.  Actually, it was when she was in Everybody Loves Raymond , but we're both a lot older now.  And I was told once I looked like Winona Ryder, for a split second.  Ah, to be young again!) Bard...
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Is Believing in Jesus Considered "Working For Salvation"?

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Calvinists define "believing" as a "working for salvation" thing.  And since we can't earn or work for our salvation, they say we can't choose to believe in Jesus on our own because that would be "working for salvation."   (This is why they say the elect have to be regenerated by the Holy Spirit first,  before  they believe, so that they  can  believe.  Essentially, in Calvinism, the elect are chosen for salvation first, before the beginning of time, then they get the Holy Spirit and He regenerates them so they can believe, and then they believe in Jesus.  So they are saved before they get the Holy Spirit, and they get the Holy Spirit before they believe in Jesus.   They are saved before they believe!  So very backwards from what the Bible says!   "Oh," they say, "but the Bible says faith is a gift God gives us, meaning He only gives it to those who get saved, the elect."  But is that really  what the Bible...
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Just Gotta Say I Feel Good Today

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I just gotta say that I feel pretty good today.  It's been awhile since I've felt so ... relieved, I guess.   And I think it really helped to vent the other day .  To complain a bit.  To not have to try so hard to filter everything I say.  (And yet, I did filter.  I was careful.)  But it felt good to be honest.  As honest as I could be. And it helped that an eye visit for two of my sons (right after I wrote that post)went well.   Given all the "waiting for the next pummeling" that I tend to feel every day, I have a really hard time handling some of the most basic things that other people can easily handle.  Last minute changes in plans throw me for a loop.  Too many things scheduled in one week (say, 2-3 things) stresses me out.  Being asked "How are you doing?" makes me want to activate my cloaking device.  Allowing the kids to drive in a car with anyone other than me or my husband freaks me out.  (I used to be...
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War Rooms, Praying Scripture, and Spiritual Warfare (repost)

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I strongly believe that there are angels and demons.  That prayer matters.  That there is a spiritual battle going on around us all the time ... and that we need to get involved in it, actively and consciously.  (Something I haven't been doing lately.)   Regardless of if we want it or not, we are constantly facing spiritual battles.  But if we don't acknowledge it - if we stick our heads in the sand, refuse to get involved, fail to put on our spiritual armor or to use the spiritual weapons available to us - we open ourselves up to deceptions, to defeat, to being very vulnerable to the strategies and attacks of the evil one.  You can't win a battle you don't even know you're in.  You can't defeat an enemy you pretend isn't there. What I have done here is compile a list of posts on spiritual warfare, on praying Scripture, and on creating a War Room (or War Journal). Have you ever seen  War Room ? You should.  It's a great movie.  And it is...
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The Last of the Anti-Calvinism Memes For Now

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(All memes created with  IMGFLIP ) Cuz I Still Don't Get It The Devil Made Me ... Why Not Just ... You Underestimate My Power So today this Calvinist ... Close Enough! Oh my goodness!... So what if ... How do you know a Calvinist ... In the farthest reaches of the earth ... So somehow I ended up ... Distracted Boyfriend Me at church ... What the Calvinist preacher said Sunday... (Do you know what their answer to that is?  "Because it brings God glory when we fight against those things that He's causing for His glory."  Insane!) Then why fight it ... What's the opposite ... Inspirational Calvinist Preaching: When God hears ... Of course Calvinism is true! 1 Of course Calvinism is true! 2 (Ahh, just cracking myself up here!) Of course Calvinism is true! 3 In the afterlife ... Saying goodbye ... How a Calvinist feels ... I know, I know, some low blows in some of the memes I've made.  But scold me later, 'cuz I'm having too much fun for now! I know some wi...
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"But Calvinists don't say God causes sin and evil!"

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  If you point out to Calvinists that Calvinism's view of sovereignty - that God fore-ordains and orchestrates everything that happens and we had no ability to do anything differently - makes God the cause (and truly the   only  voluntary cause) of all sin and evil, they'll probably respond with something like "That's not what we're saying.  You're putting words in our mouths.  And you don't understand Calvinism."   When they do that, show them a few of these quotes -  Ca lvinists' own words  about their beliefs of God's sovereignty and how He preplans, will, ordains, orchestrates, directs (code words for "causes")  everything  that happens.  And then ask them if they still think you're really misunderstanding them.  (Bold emphasis added) [And before reading the quotes, here's a great, satirical 4-minute video that I think everyone should see:  Hitler and Calvinism .  Awesome!] 1. R.C. Sproul Jr.  ( Almighty...
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