For today

On that day
they will say to Jerusalem,
“Do not fear, Zion;
do not let your hands hang limp.
The LORD your God is with you,
the Mighty Warrior who saves.
He will take great delight in you;
in his love he will no longer rebuke you,
but will rejoice over you with singing.”

- Zephaniah 3:16-17

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving's just around the corner, and it seems like a good time to remember all we have to be thankful for.

Food

Income

Friends

Family

Health

Most of all give thanks to God, for a Savior willing to take our place on the cross.

But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

1 Corinthians 15:57

The Calvinist Salvation Show: a life of re-runs [Part 2]

Here's an (imperfect) analogy to refute Calvinist tenets:

It's estimated that approximately 160 billion human beings have lived on the earth since Creation. So let's say each one of those people is represented by a single DVD movie ... which amounts to about a 1.8 million years of constant movie-watching time in your private collection.

Let's also say every one of your 160 billion DVDs is a copy of the same movie, so you know beforehand all the action, all the dialog and exactly how each movie ends.

The problem is that only a small minority of those 160 billion DVDs play according to your expectations, while the vast majority will not ... so you decide to throw out all the skipping, scratched, blemished and flawed discs.

Now let's assume you already know which DVDs are scratched and which ones you'll select to keep, so here's the kicker:

Does it make sense to spend the next two million years watching re-runs ... copies of scratched, flawed and skipping copies of a movie you already know backward and forward to decide which ones to throw out ... when you already know before turning on the DVD player which discs you've chosen to keep?

I suppose to Calvinists, it makes a perfectly select sense.

The Calvinist Salvation Show: Notes on Being Born Lucky [Part 1]

Yesterday my friend Ken M. sent me this article about young Christians turning to Calvinism, which I found to be especially troubling.

The logic behind Calvinism is that since God is all-powerful and all-knowing, then God must know in advance who'll be saved and who will not. Which means every one of us is essentially "pre-destined" to a place in Heaven or in Hell ... which leaves Free Will entirely out of the question ... and there's not one thing we can do to alter our pre-ordained eternal destination.

The 'But It Makes Sense to Me' Argument

In previous posts I've written that what makes logical, ordered sense to Calvinists doesn't necessarily make sense or apply to God the Creator. God exists outside of human concepts of Space and Time, and Scripture doesn't assign we fallen beings the task of understanding the mind of God or permit us to second-guess His will.

Not that either of those obstacles has ever kept Calvinists from creating a theology that, at least from my perspective, subjugates God's grace and mercy and substitutes an automated assembly line salvation system in its place.

Could be because Calvinists enjoy identifying themselves as among "The Elect" so much.

Yes I'm Lucky, and Proud to Say So

The irony for Calvinists is that according to their own theology, no personal faith or works was required to achieve their favored position among the chosen ... because belonging to "The Elect" was pre-ordained before the Universe was created.

Excuse me, but if it's all about being born Lucky then why did Christ did on the cross to save us from our sins if Salvation was preordained for some, but eternally out of reach for others?

Starts sounding to me as though Calvinist theology has more to do with being born lucky than it does with personal faith in God's mercy and accepting Christ's sacrifice on the cross.