A Great Blog to Visit: Our Healing Moments (Testimony #1)

Yes, I know this is a blog dedicated to exposing Calvinism, but the world is in such a mess right now and we are all hurting for some "good news" that I've decided to include a few posts highlighting some of the good, inspiring Christian testimonies I'm watching online.  

Instead of just mindlessly surfing the web, stumbling upon one bad news story after the next, I've been typing in "Christian testimonies" into my search box to see what comes up, to find something that fills me with hope and joy and connection.  And hearing the stories of other people coming to the Lord is one of the best ways to connect with other believers (with those we'll be spending eternity with) and to be filled with hope and joy in a very messy world!  

And so here is the post I wrote on my other blog about the first testimony I want to highlight:
A Great Blog to Visit: Our Healing Moments (Testimony #1)
I've recommended this blog before, but I'll do it again: Our Healing Moments [UPDATE: It's been deleted, so I took the link down.]

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 stories from people.  It's been too long.  And so I am going to try to watch or read (and link to) a different testimony every so often.  It's so great to hear other people's stories, to hear what they've come through, how they found the Lord, and how it changed them.  And so I'll call this one from Rina at Our Healing Moments "Testimony #1".  Listen to and be encouraged by her story.]  

In this chaotic, hopeless, pain-filled world, it's so important to be reminded of and to focus on the simple, beautiful, soul-healing truths of the Gospel.  This world has complicated everything and messed everything up.  It's been flipped upside-down on its head, where black is white and white is black, where evil is good and good is evil.  It's emotionally and mentally overwhelming and discouraging.  And I know it feels like evil is winning.

But it's not.  Evil may win some battles, but it won't win the war.  And even the battles it does "win" can be and will be used by God for good, for His plans.

 Romans 8:28: "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."

 We can't fix this world.  We can't change other people.  We can't manage all that's spiraling out of control all around us right now.  

 But maybe if we simply focus right now on our love for God, on His love for us, on the truth of His Word, and on fulfilling His simple purposes for our own little lives, in whatever corner of the world we occupy, then we'll see Him work everything - even all the bad things we can't do anything about - for good.  

So don't lose hope.  Don't give up.  And stop focusing on the bad.  Take your focus off of the world and put it back on God.  Spend time with Him, getting to know Him better, growing your relationship with Him.  Get back to the basics of the Gospel.  Surround yourself with as much godly truth and encouragement as possible.  [For me, instead of being online, I have been reading my Bible first thing in the morning, talking with God throughout my day (even if it's just tiny, simple prayers), listening to my favorite City Harmonic music while I take walks and garden, watching Tony Evans sermons online for church, and finding hope and encouragement in other people's writing like Anne Graham Lotz's Just Give Me Jesus and Rina's blog, Our Healing Moments (UPDATE: HER BLOG HAS BEEN DELETED).  And I plan to memorize a few Psalms that speak to me.]

It's so important these days - in a world that seeks to swallow us up in despair and hopelessness - to set our minds on things above (Colossians 3:2).  To think about the things that are true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy (Philippians 4:8).  Your feelings will follow your thoughts.  So if you want to feel things that are helpful, healing, holy, and hope-filled, then you need to fill your mind with things that are helpful, healing, holy, and hope-filled.  And trust me ... you're not going to find that in the news or most on-line sources.  

 You'll find it - eternal hope and help - only in God, in Jesus, and His Word!

And one last note of encouragement:

 I know it seems like evil people are doing evil things and getting away with it right now, everywhere we turn, all the time.  But take heart and remember how it all ends ...

 "... at the name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."  (Philippians 2:10-11)

 "Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth ... And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, 'Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them.  They will be his people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God.  He will wipe away every tear from their eyes.  There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away."  (Revelation 20:1-4)

 Amen.  Come, Lord Jesus!

And listen to these songs from The City Harmonic when you get a chance.  Sometimes music says it best!
My God  (I know where my help comes from.  Do you?)

 Holy (Wedding Day)  (There's no greater hope than this!)

 Manifesto  (Love it! Love it! Love it!  The first song of theirs I ever heard.  And I fell in love with it.  With them!  They will always be near and dear to my heart.)




Most Popular Posts Of The Month:

List of Calvinist Preachers, Authors, Theologians, Websites, etc.

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).  [FYI: I added a note at the bottom of this post on May 5, 2021.]    And 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 Calvinists," 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 tried to figure it out based on the statements of faith of the groups/churches they belong to, the books they write, the things they say o
Read more

Why Is Calvinism So Dangerous? (re-updated)

Image
Because it  appears  to teach biblical truth while actually teaching  the opposite  - while using  manipulation and cult-like tactics to suck you in!  And it's spreading.  Stealthily, fast, aggressively. (We watched it happen firsthand in our church, which is why I wrote this blog.  See  "What's the best way to make people agree with your Calvinist views?"    Sadly, we ended up  leaving that church , a place we attended almost 20 years.) [ I updated this November 2022 to try to shorten it.  I failed.  But I hope it's more readable and streamlined at least.   If you only read one anti-Calvinism post of mine, I think it should be this one.  But I'm warning you, 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 long post, I can show the deceptiveness of
Read more

Is The ESV (English Standard Version) a Calvinist Bible?

Just in case anyone missed this post (the longer title made it easy to miss the "ESV" part) ... "A Random Verse That Destroys Calvinism (And "Is The ESV a Calvinist Bible?") In that post, I write about a bunch of verses that I believe were intentionally translated to be more Calvinistic or based on manuscripts that were too corrupt to be trusted (click on it to see the verses).   And why would I think that the translators of this Bible version would do that? (From that post...) The ESV and ESV Study Bible are majorly preferred by Calvinists.  In fact, it's often considered "The Calvinist Bible."   Why?  And why would translators of a Bible make these kinds of Calvinist tweaks to Scripture? Wayne Grudem and J.I. Packer were editors on the  ESV Study Bible   (this is for the ESV Global Study Bible).  Grudem and Packer are both popular, strong, dogmatic Calvinists.  Very Big Names in the world of Calvinism.  Grudem in the General Editor and Packe
Read more

Leaving Calvinism: Comments from Ex-Calvinists #11

Here is the last of the ex-Calvinist testimonies.  The first one is from this post:  X-Calvinist Corner .   (It's an Arminian website, but I am not Arminian.)  I am going to highlight some of the comments that stood out to me the most.  If you want to read everything that everyone said, click on the link above: Dana Steele writes: I grew up in a Calvinistic Baptist church from age 11.  The 5-points of Calvinism (TULIP) were taught regularly with great enthusiasm ... But it wasn’t until college that I began to understand and embrace the “Doctrines of Grace” and TULIP more fully....  I also learned to love the doctrine of election because it meant that God loved me personally and specifically in a unique way.  Though it made me a little embarrassed to think that God did not love everyone this way, I was content to leave this as a mystery.  Who am I to question God?  I was just glad I was one of the lucky (I mean chosen) ones. ... [As A Calvinist]   I had developed a sense of theologi
Read more

As evil as it gets: Calvinism on babies and the unreached

Image
[A.k.a: Snippets to Ponder, part 4 (#19-20).  This is such a long "snippet" - too many horrific quotes, couldn't resist adding them - that I decided to just make it a whole post.  (I might break this down into smaller pieces in future posts.)  Topics in this post: Calvinism, babies, and unreached people. Click here for snippets  part 1 , part 2 , and  part 3 .] #19: Calvinist comments about babies   [ buckle up, hang on tight, and have a barf-bag ready] : About the suffering and abuse of babies and children:   [ And remember that these are not my words.  These are Calvinist's own words , and so you can see that we are not misrepresenting them or putting words in their mouths.  This is hard stuff to read.  Really hard.  But you need to read it.  To know that they really do teach this garbage.  (And "garbage" is the nice word.  I was gonna use a stronger one.  Oh, yes, I was!  Note: A ll bold emphasis in all quotes has been added by me. )] a.  Gordan H. Clark
Read more

The Cult of Calvinism

Here are links to a few posts that reveal the cult-like side of Calvinism: "Why Calvinism is a Cult" "Calvinism is a Counterfeit Christian Cult" "Calvinism, Cults, and Control" I left a comment at Hoppers Crossing Christian Church about their post "Calvinism, Cults, and Control."  I will also print my comment here for your information: I was reading your post "Calvinism, Cults, and Control" (2/02/20) and so much of what you said fits the Calvinist church we recently left.  Here are some of the cult-like things that happened after a Calvinist pastor took over our non-Calvinist church: 1.   From the beginning, he started laying the groundwork that disagreement with him (about his Calvinist view of predestination and God's sovereignty, in particular) was not allowed and that anyone who did disagree with him was unhumble and disagreeing with God.   Things like (paraphrases): "Humble people have no problem with God's sovereignty
Read more

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.  New : For the super-short version, click here .  And FYI: I found a couple times when the Calvinist author of an article I linked to changed their article after I linked to it.  So if their article doesn't seem to match what I said about it, it may be because they altered it. ) We just left our 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, whe
Read more

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

(For just the "Is the ESV a Calvinist Bible" part of this post, click here .) 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 Corinthians 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, ordai
Read more

When Calvinism Infiltrates Your Church

A note I recently added to my posts on "How to tell if a Church, Pastor, or Website is Calvinist" : On a personal note : After having seen firsthand how Calvinism stealthily infiltrates and takes over a church, I want to share with you something that Kevin from Beyond the Fundamentals said in the video   "Stealth Calvinism in Oklahoma"  (my paraphrase): "By the time you realize what's going on and start looking up information about Calvinism online, it's too late."   Calvinist pastors who set out to take over non-Calvinist churches are banking on the fact that most people don't know what Calvinism is, giving the pastors plenty of time to weave in Calvinism in sneaky, subtle, tricksy ways before people catch on to (and research) the red flags.  (*See note at bottom about deceptive pastors.)  By that time, too many people in the church have been suckered into Calvinism (without realizing it's called Calvinism), believing that they're just
Read more

The Bible vs. Calvinism: An Overview by Patrick Myers (a great resource)

A friend of mine recently sent me a link to an article that she says is one of the best overviews of Calvinism and its errors that she's read.  And after reading it, I agree.  I think it's a great one to share with others because it's got all the basics in one place: The Bible vs. Calvinism: An Overview by Patrick Myers There are some great rebuttals to Calvinist proof-texts in here, and some eye-opening quotes from Calvinists.  Something like this might help Calvinists understand what their theology really teaches and what the Bible really  teaches - and that these aren't saying the same thing.   FYI: If you click on the "about/contact" link at the bottom of the article, you can send him an email to request a PDF copy of his article.   And after I contacted him by email to tell him how much I appreciated his article, he graciously put a link to my blog at the bottom.  Thank you, Patrick, that was very kind of you. 😊
Read more