For all hurting or ashamed people:

(repost) 

To anyone who's done anything they are ashamed of and who wonders if there's any hope for them ...

Come to Jesus!  Find the forgiveness and grace and healing that only He can give.  Others might turn on you and might never offer forgiveness, compassion, or mercy.  

But Jesus is running towards you, asking you to grab His hand, to let Him love you and forgive you and make you new.

(And to anyone who's been hurt by others, who's been carrying around deep heart wounds that need healing ... 

Come to Jesus!  He's waiting for you, to heal your broken heart, to give you peace and joy and life.)

Who else can you turn to?

Who else offers healing and hope like that?

Who else can fix what's broken in your life and heart and soul?

A taste of what we Christians believe

about God's grace and mercy, forgiveness and love:

Two inspiring testimonies: Jim and Rob

I found these while looking up videos on forgiveness for the next Spiritual Warfare post I'm writing (on my other blog), but I wanted to share these in their own post:

"Jim Carrey: Shocking Faith Testimony 'Suffering leads to salvation'" (5.5 minutes long)

"Comedian Rob Schneider discovers Jesus, forgiveness: 'I needed...to be home" (17.5 minutes long - Well said, Rob!)

And here's a bit more about Rob's journey, including two great comments he posted.

It's so wonderful to see hurting people come to Christ!

For my new friend who's struggling:

 Thank you so much for talking with me yesterday.  For sharing your hurts, losses, and struggles honestly.  It was a real blessing for me.  Honest, real, vulnerable people are my kind of people, the kind I respect the most.  😊

To you (and anyone else who's hurting or struggling), I dedicate some of my favorite songs, ones that help me when I'm hurting and struggling.  I've had many of those times myself.

(You might also like this post: Healing your soul from Calvinism's damage.)

From my favorite band, The City Harmonic - the band that got me through my hardest times.  Their words became my prayers when I was so broken that I didn't have my own words to pray anymore.:

Honestly (I understand this)

Fell Apart (My favorite opening line in a song, ever)

Oh, What Love (One of my all-time favorites - grace, forgiveness, mercy, healing, hope, purpose, all wrapped up in His amazing love!)

Praise the Lord (This is the key to getting through painful trials with our faith intact, even if it's a bit battered and bruised in the process.)

Here and There (My favorite line: "And if I'm barely hanging on ..."  I get that!  "Barely hanging on"... but clinging to the Lord with every last bit of strength I have.)

When Sunday Comes

 First: The last scene of the Passion of the Christ (7 minutes long) 

Today, let's remember why Jesus came to earth, died, and rose again:

“… ‘Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the whole world.” (John 1:29)

"For what I received I passed onto you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day, according to the Scriptures," (1 Cor. 15:3-4)

“Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men.” (Romans 5:18)

"Jesus said to her, 'I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies," (John 11:25)

“In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace.” (Ephesians 1:7)

“Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me.’”  (John 14:6)

“Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.”  (Acts 4:12)

"I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life." (John 5:24)

"But these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name." (John 20:31) 

"if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.  For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.... ‘Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’”  (Romans 10:9-10, 13)

“For God so loved the world that he sent his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.  Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already ...”  (John 3:16-18)

And remember that Jesus only came to earth as a baby once.  

Next time, He's coming as a lion, a King.  

"And I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider was called Faithful and True.  With justice he judges and makes war.  His eyes are like blazing fire and on his head are many crowns.  He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself.  He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God.  The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean.  Out of his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations.  He will rule them with an iron scepter.  He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty.  On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS."  (Rev. 19:11-16)

"Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that 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 2:9-11)

Are you ready?

In the Sky (song by Carlisle, Cleveland, and Lee)

For more good stuff: 

Sermons: "The Death and Resurrection of Christ" and "The Real Meaning of the Cross" by Billy Graham

"The Journey - Resurrection Sunday", a 72-minute video from Tony Evans, on location in Israel

Songs: God's Not Dead by Newsboys, Oh, What Love! by The City Harmonic, and The Champion by Carman

My posts: "Atheism and World Religions" and "Starting your own relationship with Jesus"  

And I highly recommend finding and watching these two favorite movies of mine sometime (here's the trailers): Jesus Revolution and Do You Believe?

Have a great, blessed Easter!

It's Friday, but ...

Friday is the day of heartbreak and suffering and loss.

Saturday is the day of waiting and despair and hopelessness.

But Sunday... thank God ... Sunday is coming!

Hang in there, dear ones who are discouraged about life, who are exhausted from treading water, just trying to make it through, and who feel hopeless about the future.

Hang in there... because Sunday's coming.

Sunday's coming.

(Two great, encouraging songs for the hurting, exhausted people: Worn by Tenth Avenue North and Fell Apart by The City Harmonic.)

On this Good Friday

Take some time on this Good Friday to remember what Jesus went through to bring us forgiveness, to offer us all eternal life - and then thank Him for it.  

Some great songs and videos about it:

Jeremy Riddle's "Sweetly Broken" 

Cloverton's "Christmas Hallelujah"

Michael W. Smith's "Secret Ambition"

Crowder's "I AM"

"For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Jesus Christ. God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood." (Romans 3:23-25)

“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23)

“God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)

"This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us...." (1 John 3:16)

"Christ suffered for you... When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats... He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed." (1 Peter 2:21-24)

"For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God.  He was put to death in the body, by made alive by the Spirit." (1 Peter 3:18)

"Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted.  But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed." (Isaiah 53:4-5)

"God made him who knew no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." (2 Cor. 5:21)

"This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.  This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins." (1 John 4:9-10)

"He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world." (1 John 2:2)

"This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.  For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Jesus Christ, who gave himself as a ransom for all men..." (1 Timothy 2:3-6)

If you haven't done so already, come on down to the "Living Water" (song by Anne Wilson) and meet Jesus, who loved you so much that He died in your place for your sins because He doesn't want to spend eternity without you.

She hit the nail on the head! Amen, come, Lord Jesus!

 A neighbor just sent this link to me, a video clip (just a minute long) from a woman sharing how she is just done with everything, how she's on autopilot and just wants Jesus to come back again.

I absolutely get everything she said and have felt the same way for several years now.

Can anyone else relate?

Here's a transcript of what she said (I think she voiced what a lot of us have been feeling, like we've been treading water, just trying to get by until the end):

Do babies go to heaven or hell? A critque of Calvinism's answer

[This is an update of my original post on this topic.  I wanted to shorten it a bit, make it more readable, and add few notes, verses, and links.]

(Okay, so, I'm gonna try to contain my anger with Calvinism on this one, but I'm not going to do a good job of it.)

Let me start by saying that I believe that babies and mentally-handicapped people are not held accountable for being unable to trust in Jesus as Lord and Savior.  I believe that in their innocent state, God covers them with His saving grace.  As we age, though, we learn about right and wrong and become capable of making conscious decisions, and it is then that we become accountable for our decisions.

But Calvinism doesn't - can't - agree.  [Many Calvinists believe that babies who die go to heaven, but they are being inconsistent with their theology.  And I'll explain why later.]

I do not claim to know for sure what the Bible teaches about this issue or to be able to explain how everything works out.  This is just the best I understand it, based on what I believe the Bible says.  Also, please know that I've never lost a child, so this isn't coming from a place of emotional distress.  It's coming from a place of anger - righteous anger - for what Calvinism does to God's character, the Word, and people's hope, faith, and their relationship with God.

God's Greatest Priority (and why there's a hell)

Calvinists believe that God's greatest priority - His primary reason for making people - is to get more glory for Himself, and that He gets it through ordaining sin and predestining people to hell.  They think that this is why people are in hell: for God's glory, that He gets glory when He shows off His justice by punishing sin and evil.  And so He needed sin and evil and non-elect people to punish or else He couldn't fully display all His attributes to get praise and glory for them.  

[But remember that - in Calvinism - people don't actually get to choose whether or not they want to believe in Jesus.  God decides for them.  He decides who won't believe and prevents them from being able to believe, and then He punishes them for not believing, even though they never had the chance or ability to believe, by God's decree.  This is a far different kind of "justice" than punishing people who actually deserve it, who had a choice.  In fact, it's no justice at all.  It's injustice passed off as justice.]    

So many things wrong!

My 17-year-old son came into the kitchen the other day, pointed at his dirty water bottle on the counter (water bottles are the last dishes I clean, if I have time, because I hate cleaning water bottles) and said in a frustrated tone, "Mom, my water bottle's been sitting on the counter dirty for a month!  Seriously... a month!"

There's so many things wrong with this scenario that I don't even know where to start!