gilliansnotebook

So am I (glad that I didn’t chuck Christianity). But, on at least three occasions in his book, Dave Hunt expressed some empathy for atheists who are turned against God because of the damnable heresy of Calvinism. There are any number of verses that come to mind; reflecting WHY Calvinism has made a resurgence. John 10:10 The thief comes not but for to steal, kill and destroy… 1Tim 4:1 “The spirit speaks expressly, that, in the latter times, many will depart from the faith; giving heed to DECEITFUL spirits and DOCTRINES OF DEVILS.” What utterly puzzles me is how so many people, saved by the Grace and LOVE of GOD can turn around and insist that others don’t have the same right. It’s kinda like what Jesus said to the Pharisees. He said that they wouldn’t go into the Kingdom, themselves, and stood in the way of others, who wanted to go in. The ‘heaven’ of Calvinism is more like a country club, where those already in the club get to…or THINK they get to say who will be granted membership. If you like, you can use that definition I discovered; That HOW sovereignty (power and authority) is exercised depends upon the person who possesses it. And I don’t remember a single occasion in all four of the Gospels where Jesus turned ANYONE away. The rich young ruler walked away. Many turned away as soon as Jesus went from telling stories and giving out free meals, to getting down to DOCTRINE. But Jesus said, “He who comes to me, I will, by no means, cast out.” I COULD be wrong, but I believe He was testing the resolve of the Cyro-Phoenician woman, whose daughter was possessed. “Yes, Lord, but even the little dogs eat the crumbles that fall from the master’s table.” Jesus also did NOT say, “Woman, you are using the faith I gave you, well. He said, “Woman, great is YOUR faith!” We all use our faith/ trust in good and bad ways. We can put faith in a mate, or a cause, a belief, or even, as so many do, our gadgets. Sometimes the trust is rewarded. Sometimes it’s betrayed. If GOD was the one handing out faith, then it would ALWAYS be rewarded because it would always be for good. Calvinism is a good example of people putting their faith in something that BETRAYS, because it is faith in a man-made system, like the Watchtower, Marian Catholicism, or any other system that takes our eyes off the God of the BIBLE and focuses our attention on human efforts to enter heaven. My guess is that heaven is the reward for any one who can figure out the system of Calvinism. In that case, I better stock up on marshmallows and hot dogs. 😉 SORRY for the overlong letters. :'( But this issue gets me going! For the rest of my down-time, (recovering from breast cancer surgery…caught it in time, but still a long process) …anywho, during what’s left of my downtime, I’m gonna work on getting my project (Conscience vs. Calvinism) finished and uploaded onto my blog. I’ll send you a link when I’m finished. Bless you for CONTENDING FOR THE FAITH!