Can You Lose Your Salvation?

Click here for the slightly updated version of the post: Can You Lose Your Salvation?

Most Popular Posts Of The Week:

How to Tell if a Church, Pastor, or Website is Calvinist (simplified version)

(For the extended version of this post, which I recommend, click here.  It is loaded with lots more information.  This simplified one is just the highlights.  And feel free to copy this and share it with others, to help them learn to identify Calvinism when they see it.  Just make sure to share the link to this blog so that they can find the original post.  Thank you.)

We just left our home church of almost 20 years because of the dogmatic Calvinist pastor who recently came on board.  (Read my "Letter to Our Elders Regarding Calvinism Growing in Our Church" here.)  

And I was thinking about what precautions I might take to make sure we didn't end up in another Calvinist church (that is, when we feel like searching again, which we don't for now).  What signs would I look for?  

And I figured I'd post my ideas here, in case they might help someone else too.  (Be aware that some of the links I provide are for pro-Calvinist sites and some are for anti-Calvinist sites an…
Read more

A Random Verse That Destroys Calvinism (And "Is The ESV a Calvinist Bible?")

In my normal Bible reading today, I came across a verse about "singleness vs. marriage" that destroys Calvinism in a few short words:

"But the man who has settled the matter in his own mind, who is under no compulsion but who has control over his own will, and who has made up his mind not to marry the virgin - this man also does the right thing."  (1 Cor. 7:37, NIV)

When you get past all the layers Calvinism wraps itself in to disguise the bad parts, it ultimately teaches - at the heart of it all - that God causes/controls everything, even controlling our wills and causing our sins.  (But He then punishes us for the things He caused us to do, which would make Him unjust, no matter how much Calvinists try to deny it and cover it up.  See this post for some links about that.)  Calvinism ultimately teaches that everything we do is because God preplanned it, ordained it, and compels us to do it.  That we have no ability to make up our own minds about things because God …
Read more

How to Tell if a Church, Pastor, or Website is Calvinist (extended version)

(For the simplified version, click here.  And feel free to copy this and share it with others, to help them learn to identify Calvinism when they see it.  Just make sure to share the link to this blog so that they can find the original post.  Thank you.)

We just left our home church of almost 20 years because of the dogmatic Calvinist pastor who recently came on board.  Unfortunately, our church was one of the best around, with some of the most biblical teaching.  WAS!  And so now we are struggling with where to go next.  

(I just heard that, apparently, the elders were aware of how dogmatic he was before they hired him.  And so even if he left the church, I would have a hard time going back until I saw who they hired next.  Because I don't think I can trust their judgment.  It seems that basically all of the elders and other pastors are Calvinists too.  We had no clue because Calvinism never came up with the previous pastor.  No one ever pushed their Calvinist views on anyone else …
Read more

End Times #7: Hell is a Real Place

Deep down, I hope all of this chaos (the virus, the riots, the fires, etc.) are signs that Jesus is on His way back really soon.  But until that happens, I'm just taking it easy.  Simplifying everything that can be simplified.  Staying away from the news.  And just trying to get through each day with my eyes on the Lord.  

(I've been rereading Just Give Me Jesus by Anne Graham Lotz.  I highly recommend it to anyone looking for simple messages of hope.  And I am reading the Lord of the Rings series for fun.  It's been so nice to get lost in Middle-earth for awhile each day.  And I find a lot of encouragement in this sweet woman's testimony - her writing and new YouTube videos - at Our Healing Moments.  And yesterday, for church, we watched this sermon from Tony Evans: A Challenge to Prioritize Your Priorities.  It's not about the crisis the world is going through right now, but it's still good and timely.  Especially if we are headed into the end times.  Getting …
Read more

Why Is Calvinism So Dangerous? (updated heavily)

Because it teaches the opposite of what the Bible teaches!

(FYI: If you only read one Anti-Calvinism post of mine, I think it should be this one.  But I'm warning you that this post is long.  Very long.  So pack a lunch and bring a sleeping bag.  But it has to be long because Calvinism is so deceptively convoluted that it takes time to peel off the layers so that you can see it for what it really is.  My hope is that with this one post, I can demonstrate the deceptiveness of Calvinism and show you how it contradicts the Word. Of course, this is only scratching the surface, but I want to give enough that you can learn to identify where and how Calvinism goes wrong, and the damage it does to God's character and truth.  That's why this post is so "full."  And for fun, I added a bunch of meme links.  Because they're too good to not share.  And you can find lots more by clicking on the "meme links" label on this blog.  For the original, non-updated versio…
Read more

We Left Our Church Because of Calvinism (Things My Calvinist Pastor Said)

Image
[A repost: Updated July 2020 with lots of new stuff, including memes.  (When do I ever write anything short?)  For the text-only version, no memes, click here.  For the memes only, click here.  For the links only, click here.  I will also be breaking this down into smaller posts for a "Things My Calvinist Pastor Said" series.  This is a very long post here, so you can wait for the smaller ones, if you prefer.  All memes were created with imgflip.]

The inevitable has finally happened, the day we hoped would never come: The day we officially resigned from our church because of our pastor's dogmatic Calvinist preaching (May 20, 2019).  (From now on, I will try to call him our "ex-pastor."  And for the record, it was an Evangelical Free Church, which are being taken over by Calvinism all over the place.  So be wary and educated.)

It's been a long road.  He came on board about 6 years ago, and began introducing his Calvinist views here and there.  Just a little bi…
Read more

Links to "Impossible Questions For Calvinists"

From Hoppers Crossing Christian Church, here are some interesting, thought-provoking questions that Calvinists can't satisfactorily answer, and this should make any thinking person doubt the legitimacy of Calvinism. 

[However, remember that Calvinist leaders don't really want you going around "thinking" too much, contemplating these conundrums.  That's why they always resort to "Well, we can't understand it, so we just have to accept it.  If you question this, then you're questioning God.  You only have three options about what I'm telling you: ignore it, get angry about it, or accept it.  And humble people have no problem accepting it and submitting themselves to God's sovereignty (hidden meaning: 'submitting themselves to MY view of God's sovereignty')."  This sounds more like a cult leader than a godly, Spirit-filled church-leader.]


Impossible Questions for Calvinists, Part 1

Impossible Questions for Calvinists, Part 2

Impossi…
Read more

Leaving Calvinism: Free to Decide

Free to Decide: Confessions of a Former Calvinistby Brandon Cox

This pastor tells us honestly how he was influenced into Calvinism, how it affected his ministry and pride, and how he came out of Calvinism.  

He also shows us how all the points of Calvinism hinge on each other, making it stable in itself but fragile if any one of those points should be disproven.  (Calvinism, I believe, hinges on Total Depravity and a wrong view of God's sovereignty.  And therefore, they will guard these doctrines with all they've got, which is what gives rise to all their word games, mind games, twisted verses, double meanings, etc..)

I appreciate that he took the time to share his story of how Calvinism gets entrenched, as well as how people can come out of it.  (I still have hope for those at my ex-church.)

I think this line says a lot:  "Formerly I had sought proof of Calvinism, now I simply wanted God's answers to my deepest questions."

If more Calvinists adopted this principle, a…
Read more