ryan.the.calvinist

Disclaimer: This is a post originally from my Xanga Blog I also run. It was composed and posted January 6, 2006 @ 9:18pm. I thought I should migrate some of the more important posts I've done over here from time to time as well. The Top 33 Reasons I Am A Calvinist : Isaiah 6:8-10 (ESV) And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?" Then I said, "Here am I! Send me." And he said, "Go and say to this people: 'Keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing but do not perceive.' Make the heart of this people dull and their ears heavy, and blind their eyes; l est they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed ." Ezekiel 36:24-27 (ESV) [The Word of the L ORD came to me:] "I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the countries and bring you into your own land. I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be ...

This morning I wake up... and hit the snooze button on my alarm. But when I finally DO wake up and get going on my morning routine , I turn on my Fox News , and I discover this story being reported on Fox & Friends : Banning LEGOs Teachers at a Seattle day care center decided to ban LEGO building blocks — those colorful little bricks kids use to build such creations as robots, monster trucks, space ships and vast futuristic cities. The Hilltop Children's Center bills itself as a nationally recognized, non-profit, non-religious facility. So why did the teachers toss the LEGOs? We'll let them explain: "We agreed that we want to take part in shaping the children's understandings from a perspective of social justice. So we decided to take the LEGOs out of the classroom. The children were building their assumptions about ownership and the social power it conveys — assumptions that mirrored those of a class-based, capitalist society — a socie...

Currently Listening X Worship 2006 By Various Artists see related Matthew 18:32-35 (NIV) "[Jesus answered...] Then the master called the servant in. 'You wicked servant,' he said, 'I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn't you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?' In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured , until he should pay back all he owed. This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart." I have a problem that eats me alive if I let it. I think it is my friend, but it never is-- that is just a lie from the Devil used to deceive me and further my relationship with God. I use this "friend" to hurt others around me... even if I love them dearly. I use the "friend" to harm others and to attempt to make myself feel better and more superior than those who first hurt me. "Friend" and I cry ou...

Currently Reading The Gay Gospel?: How Pro-Gay Advocates Misread the Bible By Joe Dallas see related This afternoon I strolled into the room my brother has his many books and had a look. Spying Joe Dallas' The Gay Gospel? I decided to pick it up and read a bit, curious about what it had to say. I am very glad I did. I have only thus far read the introduction and first chapter. The book has yet to REALLY even get going, but I am anxious about reading this book. Already I have learned a bit... I'll summarize: Four of this nation's most visible mainline Protestant denominations--the United Methodist Church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, the Presbyterian Church USA, and the Episcopal Church--contain thriving pro-homosexual groups whose goal is to lobby their denomination to officially condone homosexual practices and ordain openly homosexual pastors. [pg 23] Former president Jimmy Carter (D), when addressing a meeting of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, c...

" [The Twelve apostles] went out and preached that people should repent. " --Mark 6:12 (NIV) " A Social Gospel is one in which the world is made a better place from which people go to Hell. " --Pastor Marty Haas Somehow I feel inadequate to fully grapple this topic. I am not as well read in this area as I wish to be... even though there seem to be ties to the Emergent Church in here somewhere. Still I heard this quote over the course of the weekend and it really stuck with me. Anyone who knows me would know I am not a fan of Rick Warren's views... The Purpose Driven Life is not exactly biblically-sound. But things have seem to have gone from Bad to Worse with Ricky's "PEACE PLAN." What is the P.E.A.C.E. plan? Well, a strategy to have every small group in Ricky's church, and then tens of thousands of small groups in other churches, become engaged in solving the five biggest problems in the world: Spiritual Lostness, Lack of Godly Leaders, Po...