The Anti-Calvinist Rant

There are a bunch of ex-Calvinist testimonies (and those who never were Calvinists but who came face to face with it) in this post:  X-Calvinist Corner .   (It's an Arminian website, but I am not Arminian.  And to the people who run that website, if they happen to see this post: I couldn't find your email address to ask permission to repost these quotes from your website.  And so I hope you are okay with me going ahead and doing it anyway.  I will make sure to add a link to your website each time.  Thank you and God bless.)  I am going to highlight some of the comments that stood out to me the most.  Before I do that, I want to point out that every person (except one) who was a Calvinist and who said how they got into it said that they became a Calvinist through the teachings of other Calvinists, not through Scripture alone.  That is very telling!  And many of them said that they left Calvinism because they started to read the Bible plai...

[My plan was to add new posts only on Fridays.  I guess that didn't last long.  My new plan is to still post on Fridays but to also include songs I like and other random posts on Calvinism in between, until the end of the year.  (Remember that Google is removing the "follow by email" feature soon.  I'm not sure if that will affect my blog or not, or what it will do.  It's just FYI.)  In fact, since I've had a lot of time on my hands, most posts are already scheduled to be posted.  After praying and waiting for over a decade for my husband to get a puppy for our kids (I don't want one, but I want one for them), we finally got one in June.  Three days later, at 6 o'clock in the morning, I was carrying him over a small temporary fence we put up in the yard (something I warned my kids to never do!), and I fell and broke my ankle.  (See, kids, I told you it could happen, that you shouldn't step over the fence because you could fall and get hurt....

Picking up where we left off in the last Exposing Calvinism post , in the Soteriology 101 post "Frustrated by the state of the world?" , the Calvinist  Rhutchin says, "... Jeremiah can be read, 'something I did not command or mention, nor did it enter my mind [to command or mention].'” I replied:  I agree.  It never entered God’s mind to command child sacrifice.  But Calvinists would have to say that it never entered His mind to command it, but that He did irresistibly decree it anyway.  That He didn’t command them to sacrifice their children, but He did predestine it and cause it to happen.  And so, Calvinists would say that the people can be held accountable for doing something God said not to do even though He predestined/caused them break His command.  (So they disobey God’s spoken command in obedience to His hidden decree!  Isn’t that really just a different form of obedience?)  And that’s the kind of god Calvinists love, honor, worship,...

In the comment section of Soteriology 101's post "Frustrated by the state of the world?" , I pointed out that when a Calvinist says God "ordains" something, they mean that He "preplans/causes/controls" it. The Calvinist Roland replied: No, Heather, ... Calvinists read what the Bible says about God, believe what the Bible says about God, and teach what the Bible says about God.  It’s really not that difficult.  Also, ordained in Calvinism does not have the same meaning as “preplanned/caused/controlled.” Blessed are those you choose and bring near to live in your courts. We are filled with the good things of your house, of your holy temple.  Psalm 65:4 "God chooses, God brings near" is a clear reading of Scripture. But the plans of the Lord stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations.  Psalm 33:11 Our God is in heaven, he does whatever pleases him.  Psalm 115:3 The Lord does whatever pleases him, in heaven and on earth...

  I've shared this video before, but it's worth sharing again and again ... "My Jesus" by Todd Agnew What does your Jesus look like?  Which Jesus do you follow?  Is He anything like what the Bible says about Him? Do you really understand what He gave up for all of us, for  you personally ?   Do you know that it was His incredible love for  you  that held Him on the cross, that He chose to die for  you  so that  you  could live? Do you understand it enough to give it all up for Him ? We'll probably never be forced to die for our faith in Christ but ... I wonder ... Are we really living for Him? [And for the Calvinists out there: Who is your Jesus?  Is He someone who loves only a few people, who died for only a few people, who truly wants only a few people to be saved?  Do you really think this is the Jesus of the Bible?  And did you come to this conclusion reading the Bible on your own or because...

  I am breaking the  "A Random Verse That Destroys Calvinism (And 'Is the ESV a Calvinist Bible'?)"  post up into shorter segments so that each verse (or two) gets it own post. #12:    1 Peter 1:1-2  (NIV):  "Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to God's elect, exiles scattered throughout the provinces of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia, who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to be obedient to Jesus Christ and sprinkled with his blood ..." Let's see that in the KJV:  "Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered throughout  Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia.   Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ ..." And now  in the ESV :  "Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who are elect exiles of ...

I've been enjoying listening to some great songs I haven't heard in awhile.  And I thought you might enjoy them too.  And since I'm not adding new posts to my other blogs, I'm gonna put them on this one, sprinkled in between the posts on Calvinism.   Let's start with this one: "Hold Us Together" by Matt Maher As Matt says ... "It's waiting for you, knocking at your door." If God is knocking at the door of your heart, open it.   Today could be the "first day of the rest of your life." (FYI: I like to link to the search page instead of the YouTube page because it bypasses the YouTube ads.  And if they ever remove the YouTube video, you can still find other links in the bottom of the search page.) Enjoy the song!

I've written about this pastor - PJ - before.  First, I will repost what I wrote in previous posts ... and then I will add the new stuff. What I previously wrote:       For a Calvinist who’s a pro at playing word games and hiding information, see  this post  (I removed the link, see FYI below] about a pastoral candidate who outright lied - by omission and deflection - when he was asked directly if he is a Calvinist and told he wouldn't be hired if he was.  Even though he is a strong 7-point Calvinist, he skillfully played word-games with their definition of Calvinist ... and ended up getting hired.         [ FYI, added Oct 2021, I very recently tried to click on this link to read his article again, and instead of being able to see the article, I got a red X and a warning that my connection isn't private and that hackers might be trying to steal my information.  Suspicious!  This is why I saved a copy of it and wrote ...