Every great story needs a great ending. Here's one of the best end-of-movie songs from one of the greatest movies ever made: Storybook Love from The Princess Bride. (You know it's true!) The lyrics have nothing to do with my story or my blog, I just really, really love this song and movie. (And I just watched it last night, so it's fresh in my mind.) :)
And now it's time to say goodbye!
Seriously, let's not stretch it out. It only makes it harder. Let's just get it over with. So ...
Merry Christmas, Everyone! May God bless you today and this next year. May He show Himself to you in new ways, to encourage you, to help you along the hard paths, to restore your faith in Him (or draw you to Him for the first time), to lift you up when your heart is broken.
Such a great sermon, one we can all learn a lot from and be encouraged by:
"Encountering God's Process" by Tony Evans
I am sending this "Through the Refining Fire" workbook to my relative who's in jail because she shares the Bible things I send her with other people on her floor. I figure it's one way I can try to help turn this whole bad situation (her arrest) around for good, at least for someone. She might not want what I send her, but maybe a fellow prisoner will get something out of it. Who knows? But it helps me to know that I'm not just wallowing in despair, but that maybe I can help some eternal good come out of this bad situation for someone, even if it's not her.
A favorite song of mine from Newsboys: We Believe
"He's coming back again!"
This song also plays at the end of my all-time favorite Christian movie, "Do You Believe?" Watch it, with tissues nearby.
To make it easier to find, I compiled the links to all the posts in the "Things My Calvinist Pastor Said: We Left Our Church Because of Calvinism" series. (That's right ... I'm not letting him or Calvinism off easy, not with the damage they do to God's Truth!)
Okay, so we all know that Grandma got run over by a reindeer ... but guess what happened next?
Grandpa's gonna sue the pants off of Santa
Who knew!?! I sure didn't, not till just a few years ago.
(I'm warning you now: This one will get stuck in your head.)
This song pops into my mind a lot (which drives my son nuts because then I'm always singing it out loud). But how could I not? In fact, I've found that singing, even when - especially when - I don't want to, uplifts my spirit and my mood like nothing else can.
So go ahead ... Sing a Song! Sing it out loud and sing it out strong.
Not for anyone else, but just for you. Just because it's fun!
(And what a cute video to go with it. Totally made me smile!)
Just putting this out there for you all to read and consider and make your own mind up about: Have The Globalists Overplayed Their Hand?
[Update from February 15, 2021: I am adding this note here because I don't know where else to put it. I just wanted to share this story which I believe confirms my idea that our online devices are indeed listening to us all the time, even when we don't know it. Our online service is used for our few tablets, phones, and laptops, but we don't have smart TV's or one of those always-on units that listens and responds when you ask it questions. Well, yesterday we had some friends over, and we got to talking about the movie "Return to Oz" from 1985, about how creepy it was. We talked about it for just a couple minutes, maybe 2-3. Well, a couple hours after they left, I turned on a tablet, looked at the home "news page" (through the search engine that starts with "goo" and ends with "gle") and - lo an behold! - there was an article about why Return to Oz wasn't a bad movie. I think there's NO WAY on earth that could be a coincidence, not when that's such an old, obscure movie. I think "they" are listening. Always listening. Even when we don't know it and didn't set it up that way. Creepy and disturbing!]
Update August 2021: I am also going to add these links here (and maybe more as I find them). I want them easily accessible for me if I want to refer to them in the future. You can think what you want about them, but there are interesting to say the least:
Here's hoping 2021 is better!
[Update: And now here's the new one for 2021. That didn't take long. But I'm glad to see we're trying to laugh about it.]
Get Back Up Again (God allows U-Turns! There's always hope, always forgiveness, always a new day.)
Hold On (The pain won't last forever. And His mercies are new every morning.)
Break Open The Sky (Amen, Come, Lord Jesus!)
I was talking with a friend recently about ideas of things we can do to relax during these crazy days or during times of depression/anxiety. Obviously, there's reading and baking and taking walks and gardening. And drawing or painting have become quite popular. (And I know lots of people were painting because all of Walmart's little bottles of acrylic paint were sold out for weeks during the lockdown in March.)
And I was telling my friend that I always wished I could draw. Goodness, if I could draw like this guy, in his time-lapsed drawing of Gandalf, that would be freakin' incredible! (If I could have any piece of art out there, it would be this one. I love it!)
I've always loved this song by Switchfoot, makes me happy and sorta bittersweet at the same time:
And another great one I just heard for the first time (and this is a great movie, watch it: Unbroken: Path To Redemption.):
[Along with the Scripture-based prayers I sent to my relative in jail, I also mailed this post that I wrote awhile ago. (I didn't tell her I wrote it, but that I found it somewhere.) I thought she might be able to relate and to find some encouragement in it.]
Genuine Faith is Messy
You know, if there’s one thing I’ve learned over these past depressing years, it’s that faith is messy sometimes. Faith hurts sometimes. It’s not as easy and predictable and “magic-wandy” as I used to think it was.
And I think a critical part of strengthening and purifying your faith – of learning humility - is going through the trials and learning to praise Him in the pain, regardless of what’s going on in our lives. Because it’s in the trials and the hurt and the messiness that I have learned to see God for who He really is and myself for who I really am. It’s where I learned more about His love, grace, faithfulness, forgiveness, all-sufficiency, etc. It’s where my faith grew (after much confusion and pain) and where my trust in Him was purified.
Okay, so I bought a ton of cooked, canned chicken during the lockdown in March, and now I need to find ways to start using it.
First I did a simple BBQ Chicken Pizza. [Either make your own pizza crust dough or buy a premade one, top it with BBQ sauce and some chopped onions and garlic, sprinkle on some cooked chicken (drained and pressed, if it's full of water from the can), and add a thick layer of shredded mozzarella on top. Bake till done. I make my own thick crust, so I cook mine for about 30 minutes at 350 degrees. If it starts to brown too much near the end, cover loosely with foil.]
(Reposted from a few years ago.)
(Published on my other blog in 2015. And it's only gotten so much worse since then.)
Some fun wildlife pictures in here:
The Finalists of the 2020 Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards
(I love the last one. It's like having "one of those days." Can you relate?)
As some of you may know, a close relative of mine is in jail right now awaiting trial for ... well ... for something serious. She is maintaining her innocence, while the rest of us think there's more to the story than what she's saying. There will be a trial coming up sometime in 2021, and I will have to testify against her. I'm really not looking forward to that.
Anyway, I know I can't fix her situation for her. I can't make it all better. All I can do is offer whatever support I can, even though I have to testify against her eventually. And even if I think she's not being totally honest with the authorities right now, I know that, deep down, she is a Christian. A Christian who, I believe, is running from the Holy Spirit's conviction right now.
One of the ways I decided to support and encourage her is to keep sending her Scripture-based things. Quotes. Bible verses. Bible studies. Articles. Etc. I do this partly because I hope and pray that maybe something will get through to her, maybe something will give her the conviction and the strength to be honest, regardless of what will happen as a result.
And I do this partly because I know she shares what I send with the women on her floor. They copy it and pass it around.
My husband found this cute video clip recently and has been loving it:
So sweet!
One of my favorite bands as a teen was DC Talk. And I am talking way back from their first album with "Heavenbound" and "Spinnin' Round" and their second album with "Nu Thang" and "I Love Rap Music."
(Wow, that really dates me! And wow, was it nostalgic to go back and watch these videos again!)
I even had (have) their video tape "Rap, Rock, & Soul." I tell ya, I was a fan! Always will be. (My friend and I even did a choreographed "dance" to "Spinnin' Round" in front of our Christian camp one year in matching blue button-down shirts and men's ties. Thank God there were no cell phone cameras back then.)
Here's one of their great later ones, one many people can probably relate to:
(And I've always loved these three also: "What If I Stumble?" and "Colored People" and who could forget "Jesus Freak." I don't get the videos, but I love the songs!)
I am just giving everyone a heads up: I will be taking a break from writing soon. I still have some posts loaded up in the schedule to be posted till Christmas, but after that, I will probably take a break from these blogs. A long break.
Some of my "advice for moms" after it's been run through many different languages with Google Translate [Any comments I make about the translation will be in brackets and in blue]:
1. Original Version:
It is perfectly acceptable to start crying over seemingly small things because you are so sleep-deprived that you can’t think straight. If you have to change the baby’s outfit again because they got some kind of body fluid on it again, go ahead and cry. If you just dropped the paper towel for the third time because you are too tired and weak to keep a grip on it, let the tears roll. Or if all of your children have taken up the tribal chant of “Mom, Mom, Mom, Mom” at the same time, but no one can hear your small, pathetic plea to stop talking because your head is about to explode, then curl up the fetal position in the corner of the room and sob. That’s not being too emotional; that’s being smart! If we didn’t let it out in a cry sometimes, we might explode in a fit of rage!
Did you ever wonder about Jesus? Was He real? Who was He? Does it really matter what you think about Him?
A short, powerful testimony from Korn's lead singer, Brian Welch (8 minutes).
No one is beyond the reach of God's grace and love, of forgiveness and healing.
To me, this video clip neatly sums up the reaction of liberal politicians and the liberal media to the possible election fraud this year (the accidents represent the fraud and the guy at the end represents the liberals):
Nothing to see here, move along
(Click here for a picture meme)
And in my Bible reading today, I found a great prayer for America during these uncertain times:
For a good look into the events of the End Times, see this post:
http://www.trackingbibleprophecy.org/rapturetoc.php
I haven't read all of it yet, but I agree (for the most part) with what I've read so far.
[A suggestion for Christians: Go to thrift stores and dollar stores and buy a bunch of Bibles to store in your home for those who are left behind after the rapture. You can bet that during the tribulation Bibles will be banned, stores will stop selling them, and they will be removed from the internet. So stock up on a bunch now, and pray that those who need them during the tribulation will find them and share them with others who need them.]
This is Evangeline's 23-minute testimony. This is her first YouTube video, posted October 27, 2020 ... so let's show her some encouragement!
In this video, she shares honestly and openly about how she grew up in a Christian home but drifted from the Lord, getting involved with drugs and men, making mistakes along the way. She shares how she realized that her self-worth was wrapped up in these relationships but that they were not truly fulfilling to her. At least not in the way we need to be fulfilled deep in our souls. Only God, only Jesus Christ, can do that!
I have always, always loved this song:
Secret Ambition by Michael W. Smith
I don't know why we don't hear it more often!
If we have a Lord and Savior who is big enough, good enough, and loving enough to face torture and death on a cross so that He Himself could pay the penalty that we owe for our sins so that we could be forgiven and spend eternity with Him, then we can trust that He is big enough, good enough, and loving enough to handle any fear or concern or trial we might be going through right now!
As I was listening to a Christian radio station, they interviewed a random woman on the street who said, “I think the writers of the Bible just made it up to get people to follow them.”
Here is Isabella's 17-minute testimony: How I found Jesus.
I think many of us can relate to it - about the struggle of trying to relate to the Lord, of drawing near but then falling away. She understands that a relationship with God takes time and effort. It doesn't just happen. You have to work at it.
And you can tell she has a heart to lead others to the Lord, to help them in their relationship with God. She gives a short, sweet "sinner's prayer" at the end, for others to follow. (Drink some coffee to keep up with her. She's a fast talker.)
[However, I do not agree with her that we can pray to the earth/universe. That's the mark of a false religion. But I understand what she's trying to say. She's trying to say that we shouldn't let not knowing how to pray or what to pray stop us from praying, from calling out to God. She's saying that God can meet you wherever you are, if you call out to Him. We don't have to know what to say or how to say it or polish ourselves up first. He meets us in our mess and confusion and brokenness. We just have to call out to Him, reach for Him, and He'll find us, wherever we are!
"The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit." Psalm 34:18
"I love the Lord, for he heard my voice; he heard my cry for mercy... I was overcome by trouble and sorrow. Then I called on the name of the Lord: 'O Lord, save me!' The Lord is gracious and righteous; our God is full of compassion. The Lord protects the simplehearted; when I was in great need, he saved me." Psalm 116:1-6]
Thank you for sharing your story, Isabella!
I found these good articles recently on the Rapture Ready website. Thought you might like them too:
In these uncertain days, when evil feels like it's winning and running wild, this song encourages me:
Jericho: The Shout of Victory by Carman
A great reminder that God is always bigger than any obstacle we face!
Do you ever feel like Satan is beating you down with negative thoughts, temptations, trials, struggles, fears?
We don't often know why things happen the way they do or why God allows what He does, but that's okay. We don't have to know, because God does. ("Lord, I Don't Know" by the Newsboys)
And if we're going to be singing "Hallelujah" all eternity anyway, why not start now? ("Hallelujah" by the Newsboys)
I've found that sometimes the only way to deal with feeling hopeless, downtrodden, and brokenhearted is to sing, even when you don't want to. In fact, especially when you don't want to.
Just sing anyway!
Two powerful mini-sermons from Billy Graham (even though I've been a believer over 30 years, they still hit me deeply):
One Of The Most Powerful Videos You'll Ever Watch (5 minutes long)
The Speech That Broke The Internet - Most Inspiring Ever (11 minutes long)
Dear Heavenly Father,
Thank You that we live in a country that values democracy, that gives us the right to choose our leaders. This is such a privilege, even when things don't go our way. Thank You that You gave us a president these last four years who generally stood for Your values, who worked to stop our slide into godlessness and moral decay. Thank You also, Lord, for Your promise to work all things out for the good of those who love You. In Your hands, even all the bad, confusing, and messy things are turned into something good and beautiful and worthwhile. Let us who love You remember always that no matter what happens, You are a good, trustworthy, loving, powerful, wise Father who knows what's best and who is carrying out plans that we can't even fathom. I thank You that we who trust in You do not have to lean on our own pathetic power and limited wisdom, but that we have a big God whom we can pray to, who answers prayer, who will handle all the things we can't handle and who knows far better than we do about how things should go.
So right now, I choose to put my faith and hope in You, not in the results of this election. The answer to our prayers is ultimately not in the results of this election, but our answer is You, regardless of what happens in this election. Whoever is chosen as president is really just a pawn in Your hands, and You have Your reasons for why You allow certain people to get elected. It is Your job to work out Your plans; it's our job to trust You.
Here are a couple of Tim Hawkins songs. Just fur fun. I dedicate them to the upcoming election:
If you can't do anything about it, may as well have some fun with it!
Since we left our church in May 2019, we have been staying home watching sermons online as a family. And I've loved it. I could finally breathe and feel my soul starting to come alive again after years of being suffocated by and angry about the wretched Calvinism growing in our church. I would rather be home alone with my family every Sunday than spend one more week listening to that Calvinist garbage!
However, I have often thought that it would be nice to meet with at least one other family, doing like a "home church" thing, watching sermons online and discussing them, or just reading the Bible and discussing it amongst ourselves.
And thankfully, we recently met up with another family who has also wanted to do that too, to meet together in a home and just pray together, read Scripture together (verse by verse through a book of the Bible), talk about what we learn from God's Word, and maybe sing.
We met last week for the first time to do this ... and it was great. So simple, but so sweet. Just what I needed. We're meeting again today and will keep Sundays open for meeting whenever we can. (And I have one more family in mind who I'd love to join us, if they ever can or want to.)
And since we might like to include worship songs, I compiled some familiar worship songs with lyrics, and I am putting them here in this post so that I can find them easily when we need them. I'll try to add more as I find them.
For some "fun" songs from my younger years: "Some Carman Songs for Halloween"
A 3 1/2-minute encouraging (or alarming) video: "It's Friday, But Sunday's a Comin'"
(Apparently, that video was removed, so try this one or this one. Or google the title to find the sermon clip by preacher S.M. Lockridge.)
For believers: "Hang in there, it's almost Sunday!"
For non-believers: "Take warning: It's almost Sunday!" (See this post and this post)
I know many Christians won't agree, but this is an issue I feel very strongly about. So allow me to get up on my soapbox and tell you why I think no Christian should participate in yoga:
Is Yoga OK for Christians? (Here's a hint: It's not!)
I know this isn't exactly Halloween-related, but it is demon-worship related. So it fits right in with my "Halloween" posts.
Another "Halloween" post I wrote: "Three Guidelines for Christians Regarding Halloween"
Link to my post "Should Christians Watch Horror Movies?"
Of course, this is just my opinion, and I don't expect everyone to agree with me.
We just got the first snow of the year! (I love snow.) And so to celebrate this moment and to counter Halloween (I hate Halloween), enjoy this excellent, little-known Christmas song:
Hallelujah Christmas (Cloverton)
Since Halloween is coming up, I am going to post links to some of my previous "Halloween" posts, standard ones that I would like to share every year, starting with: "In 'Honor' of Halloween: My Story of Demonic Harassment."
I love this!
Thank you, Sheriff Rick Jones, for saying what a lot of us have wanted to say to those celebrities who threaten to leave the U.S. if Trump wins (and who threatened last election). I applaud you, and I add my message to those celebrities (and anyone else) who think they have the right to demand that everything be their way or who threaten to move from the country if they don't get their way:
Franklin Graham has called for a day of prayer and fasting tomorrow, October 25, for all believers to call on God for His help with the upcoming election. I hope all believers will humble themselves before God, calling on Him for His help not just with the election but with everything - the moral condition of our country, the breakdown of our society, the fear that haunts us all, the brokenness all around us as we humans implode and race towards wickedness and destruction, etc. Everything is going wrong all over the place, and we need more than ourselves to fix it. We need God.
Anyway, as I was reading Psalm 5 this morning, I realized what a fitting prayer it is for our country, our world, right now. And so I am writing it here, altered slightly to be a prayer from all believers.
I've heard the story of Cliff before. And every time I hear it, my eyes fill with tears. He's a living illustration for us all about walking in faith through the dark times, about how we all - no matter how tired and broken-down we feel - can reach victory if we just keep going.
How to Keep Going When It's All Too Much Right Now by Ann Voskamp
I don't usually watch interviews with celebrities, but this is such a great one. It's so touching to hear about the journey Justin has been on over the years, going through such pain, to finding his way back to Jesus and healing and hope and wholeness.
Those who have been to the lowest depths and back have the most meaningful stories to share!
I'm really rooting for him. God bless him and his wife! (And say a prayer for them.)
Justin Bieber Talks About His Faith in Jesus (4 minute clip from the full video)
The full Justin Bieber - Zane Lowe interview (43 minutes, totally worth watching all the way to the end)
Two of the comments in the comment section really summed it up well (I fixed a minor misspelling in one):
"I don't see a man that is losing his way. I see a man fighting to find it. Encourage him."
And "Billions may know your name, but nobody really knows your pain"
A great, quick video from Pastor Greg Laurie on "Becoming a Christian" (4 minutes long)
And a 2 1/2-minute one from Tony Evans: Salvation Through Jesus Christ
Yes, it's that simple! Eternal life, salvation, is that simple to get. All of the work has been done for you by Jesus Christ on the cross. And all you have to do is accept it.
[Keep in mind that it's not the prayer that saves you, the words you say. It isn't a "magic spell." What saves you is your choice to believe in Jesus, your decision to make Him your Lord and Savior, to believe that He is God and that He came to earth to die on the cross to pay the price for your sins so that you can live, so that you don't have to pay the price for your sin. You can live eternally in heaven because of what He did for you on the cross. And all you have to do is accept it, believe it. If you will believe (if you will accept it as truth, even if you don't "feel it" yet) that Jesus is God, that He died for your sins, that you are a sinner and that you need Him to save you, if you will turn from your old life and embrace Him as Lord and Savior, you will be saved.]
Watch this 2 1/2 minute video to see one big reason why.
My husband just found this "satirical" 6-minute video about what Calvinists say vs. what they hide. It's called "The Candid Calvinist" and it's brilliant. This guy does a great job covering some of the confusing contradictions and deceptive word-choices of Calvinism. I hope he does more videos like this. (And does he not remind you of a young Ben Shapiro?)
I don't watch music videos often or go looking online for ones, but this one popped up on my feed and I was curious.
Lonely by Justin Bieber
I'm posting a link to it for several reasons.
One is because it's so honest. So heartbreakingly real. So haunting. My goodness! (Well done, Justin. My heart is aching for you. I wish I could hug you right now.)
Two is because I think many people can relate to it, to feeling invisible, like they don't matter, like no one really cares what they're going through or how badly they're hurting inside.
And three is because he uses some pretty heavy cuss words in it. Yes, that's right, the "bad" words are one of the reasons I'm linking to it, why I'm suggesting that people - church people - watch it.
