Of shoes and life

Hi dear readers! Just a quick note to say that I think this calvinism vs. armenianism series is going to take a while, as it's taking a lot of time to study it. Also, since I don't want to have it dominate my day, I'm not working on it all the time, so the posts about it will probably be interspersed between other posts about other things. =)

I went to the store on Sat. and got two new pairs of shoes, one for church and one to replace my tennis shoes. And now we are babysitting mini schnauzers, a boy and a girl, for three weeks, and these dogs are soooo well behaved! They are also so light, you can pick them up easily and they are cute to boot! Our small dog, Lincoln (who is a boston terrier) is small like them, but he has short hair and is rather like a big muscle with legs attached, so he's not as fun to pick up. ;)

So about the shoes, I got a pair of Women's Benny Oxford. Here's what they look like:

picture credit from the link above

 And for church shoes, I got a pair which is apparently called Women's Edie II Stretch Step-In (whew, long title!). They look like this, except brown:

picture credit to website linked above

So a few things I should probably point out here (just because I don't usually write about shoes, and just because I can...):

1. Yes, both pairs are brown, and no I don't usually have brown shoes. But I like these, and I was liking the look of brown. =)
2. I'm not known to be the 'shopping' type of girl. But sometimes its fun.
3. I'm not a girl who obsesses over shoes either, and I def. don't usually blog about shoes. But, this is fun, so it's not turning out too bad.
4. I think my church shoes look kinda... well, not weird necessarily, but different. Like something that would be worn by a secretary at the capital, who also wears a button down shirt and black slacks. But, these shoes are so comfy (and I mean incredibly comfy!!) that I can deal with the look. Besides, they're not that bad. They don't slip off either, and I think it's because of the design.
5. I really really like my hiker-ish looking shoes!!!!!!! (well, how they look).
6. To tie up this thing, I like the look of my hiker-ish shoes better, but the feel of my church shoes better. (wow, I'm writing this like its a book review or something. hmmm)

Anyway, I have now successfully written a somewhat interesting-ish post (at least to me) about nothing significant. I don't usually do this, so let me know if it was even remotely interesting. =)

Calvinism - What I Believe - Point 1

If you want to know what this is all about, I wrote a short Introduction here. I should note that I will probably be looking at the points of Calvinism and Armenianism in different posts. (This one is about point 1 of Calvinism, and the next post should be about point 1 of Armenianism.)

Point 1 of Calvinism (with the letter "T" in TULIP) - Total Depravity or Total Inability

"When man fell, sin permeated his entire being. This fall was so complete that man had no desire for God and righteousness. Man is so totally enslaved by sin that he can only choose evil; he cannot choose good. He is incapable of choosing God and His salvation. Man is totally blind and deaf to the gospel. Apart from a supernatural intervention from God, the gospel message absolutely has no effect on a person. Total depravity is also called total inability."

(http://www.biblehelp.org/tulip.htm)

Here is another definition, that is similar but worded differently.

Because of the fall, man is unable of himself to savingly believe the gospel. The sinner is dead, blind, and deaf to the things of God; his heart is deceitful and desperately corrupt. His will is not free, it is in bondage to his evil nature, therefore, he will not - indeed he cannot - choose good over evil in the spiritual realm. Consequently, it takes much more than the Spirit's assistance to bring a sinner to Christ - it takes regeneration by which the Spirit makes the sinner alive and gives him a new nature. Faith is not something man contributes to salvation but is itself a part of God's gift of salvation - it is God's gift to the sinner, not the sinner's gift to God. 

(http://the-highway.com/compare.html)

So, what do I believe about all this? I guess I'll just go through and examine this thing.

   A. "When man fell, sin permeated his entire being. This fall was so complete that man had no desire for God and His righteousness." "Because of the fall, man is unable of himself to savingly believe the gospel. The sinner is dead, blind, and deaf to the things of God; his heart is deceitful and desperately corrupt."

I basically agree. (Jeremiah 17:9, Romans 3:10-12) Man would not, in and of himself, seek God or have any desire for God. So, were it not for Him, no one would seek Him.

   B. "Man is so totally enslaved by sin that he can only choose evil: he cannot choose good." "His will is not free, it is in bondage to his evil nature, therefore he will not - indeed he cannot - choose good over evil in the spiritual realm"

Man is definitely enslaved to sin (see John 8:34). Man sins, and therefore every man is in bondage to sin.

However, my issue is with this - that he will not, and cannot, choose to ever do good. If you think about it, there are non-believers who seem pretty nice, or who are very giving of themselves, and helping others or working toward a good cause. (see Matthew 9-7:11 in which it mentioned that those who are evil know how to give good gifts to their children) Now, of course, anything that an unbeliever does that is good, is as filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6) but the law of God is on their hearts (Romans 2:15). So, while it is possible for them to do deeds that seem good, those deeds are not counted as good deeds because the person has not been redeemed, and those deeds do nothing to please God. (Romans 8:8)

If you take a look at Proverbs 21:4, you'll see it says "A haughty look, a proud heart, and the plowing of the wicked are sin." (NKJV)

Side note about the word plowing - If you look it up in NAS, it says lamp instead of plowing. But, the word for lamp or plowing, in both Greek and Hebrew (I believe Hebrew was the original language) means "tillable or untilled or fallow ground". This is the first case in which I have been disappointed by the NAS's translation, as this is obviously incorrect.

Anyway, plowing in and of itself is not necessarily wrong (as all it's doing is cultivating the ground with the purpose of raising crops). The reason why one would be sinning by doing it is if their attitude or motive in doing so is wrong.


   C. "He is incapable of choosing God and His salvation. Man is totally blind and deaf to the gospel."

As far as I can tell, man is incapable of choosing God apart from God. I believe that a conscience is evidence of the fact that God's law is written on man's heart. I also believe that the Holy Spirit can convict someone, without that person having the Holy Spirit indwelling in them. (see Acts 7:51-53. The people spoken of, who resisted the Holy Spirit, were ones who rejected Jesus as the Messiah and thus were not Christians. Also see John 16:8-11, which I believe could be what is referred to in Acts 7. The people in Acts 7 could've been resisting the Holy Spirit, because the Holy Spirit was convicting them, like what is described in John 16.)

   D. "Apart from a supernatural intervention from God the gospel message has absolutely no effect on a person."

Whenever someone is presented with the gospel, they react in some way. Whether they are happy, get mad, or have a nonchalant attitude about it, they do react, because it affects them in some way. If the above were true, then, logically that means that God is always supernaturally intervening whenever the gospel is shared.

"Consequently it takes much more than the Spirit's assistance to bring a sinner to Christ - it takes regeneration by which the Spirit makes the sinner alive and gives him a new nature."

I believe that regeneration by the Spirit happens when the sinner believes and that regeneration is done by the Spirit. (Titus 3:5) (I do not believe that a sinner has already been regenerated, and then as a result believes. Notice in Acts 16:31 it says "They said, 'Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.'" It doesn't say, believe because you have been regenerated already. see Acts 11:16-17 in which it refers to receiving the Holy Spirit after believing. I can maybe get into this more in another post since it would make this very long and I have these other points I'm studying right now.)

   E. "Faith is not something man contributes to salvation but is itself a part of God's gift of salvation - it is God's gift to the sinner, not the sinner's gift to God."

I do not think of faith as man's contribution to salvation, nor that it is a part of the gift of salvation to men. I do believe that it is required for salvation. (Acts 16:31 & Eph. 2:8-9) I also believe that God is somehow involved in the process in which a person obtains faith/comes to the point of believing in God.

This is something I will need to study more and come back and talk about later. For now, pertaining to this, I will just simply ask you a question as food for thought. Where in the Bible does it refer to saving faith as a gift? If any of you decide to study this also, let me know what you find!

So, a lot to think about, and I know I'll never be done studying the Bible (as you probably noticed, I said twice in this post alone that I have more to study!). =)

As you may have guessed, this series could take a while, as it's a lot to chew on and takes a while to study. But, it's well worth it.

Editted to say: As I am fallible, I could someday in the future find something that I missed, and my opinions/beliefs could change. But I always want to believe things based on the Bible, and do not want to ever believe something that disagrees with the Bible. I also realize that God has not revealed to us everything there is to know, and sometimes, we just won't fully understand things because we are not all-knowing. We should just try our best to believe based on the Bible, and have faith in what God has chosen to reveal to us. Always be sure to check what I say against the Bible, and only believe the Bible!! =)

Calvinism vs. Arminianism - What I Believe - Introduction

Hello friends!

I'm planning on doing a series called "Calvinism vs. Arminianism - What I Believe". I am neither Arminian nor Calvinist. I have beliefs that might be similar to one or the other, but even the points I agree with, I may agree with only partially. For my benefit, as well as for your interest (if you are interested), I'm going to post about each of the 5 points of Arminianism and Calvinism, and what I believe/don't believe about both.

Just for the record, here is a list of the 5 points of Calvinism, and the 5 points of Arminianism:

5 Points of Calvinism (commonly referred to as TULIP)
Total Depravity
Unconditional Election
Limited Atonement
Irresistible Grace
Perseverance of the Saints

5 Points of Arminianism (sometimes referred to as DAISY)
Deliberate Sin or Diminished Depravity (Free Will or Human Ability)
All-Encompassing Call (Abolition of true grace or election is conditional)
Infinite Love (Impersonal Ateonement or Universal Redemption or General Atonement)
Spontaneous Faith (Sovereignty of the sinner or man's will to turn away from God)
Yieldedness of the Saints (Yielding eternal uncertainty or God doesn't preserve us)

I'm planning on looking at each point, posting what I believe, and showing Scripture to back it up. Anyway, just letting you know what I'm planning. So, you can look forward to it, or stay away for the next few days. =P Haha. (I hope you stay around! =)

My latest sewing project

If you knew me well, you would know that I practically never sew using a pattern, unless it's a pattern I made up myself. As such, most of the sewing projects I do consist of taking something and turning it into something else, or making things from scratch. In this case, I took a jumper, which had several holes above the waist and not on the seam, and turned it into a skirt.

I cut it right below the armpits and made an elastic waistband.

What projects have you been working on lately?

National Procrastination Week

So apparently this week is our nation's procrastination week, in which procrastinators (or anyone really) can now make a substantial effort to stop procrastinating without feeling out of place. Hmm... perhaps that's why I cleaned part of my room today and worked on my novel (even though I didn't know that it was National Procrastination Week until after I had done both of these). I would not usually think of myself as a procrastinator, but let's face it. Everyone procrastinates at one point or another in their lives. (And sometimes at more times than others.)

In other news, we are living in astonishing times as the world is, according to the Mayan calendar, not even supposed to be around right now. Don't you mean starting 12.12.12? you ask.

No, I don't.

This appeared on Facebook today via a friend of a relative:

"There have been about 514 Leap Years since Caesar created it in 45BC. Without the extra day every 4 years, today would be July 28, 2013. Also, the Mayan calendar did not account for leap year…so technically the world should have ended 7 months ago."

and a picture of my ring just because

11 Questions Tag

Josiah, at Biblical Beginnings, tagged me. He has some really good questions, so this should be fun. =) Thanks Josiah!!

The Rules.

✔1. Post these rules.
✔(I'm opting out) 2. Post 11 random things about yourself. (although this one can be optional)
✔ 3. Answer the questions the tagger set for you in their post.
✔ 4. Create 11 new question for the people you ask to answer.
✔ 5. Go to their blog and tell them they have been they have been tagged.

Questions I am to answer.

1. What does where you live have to teach you in life?

Well, this could mean many things. Since I'm not sure which one you mean, I'll just mention several. We live in a situation right now where we can't easily move, even though we've wanted to move for a while out into the country. Once we almost moved but then the owners backed out of it. They were Christians and felt like God didn't want them to sell their property after all. This particular property was north of where we live. We now attend a church over an hour away south of where we live. God knew what He was doing not letting us move north because He knew we would be attending church south (and that wouldn't have worked if we had moved north).

I also live in a large family, and this has taught me how to live with people day in and day out, even if I don't always agree or we don't always get along. I think the family unit is an excellent place to learn about patience, brotherly love toward each other, and preferring others better than yourself. It's easier to do with friends every once in a while, but if you are living with someone, you are always around people who are imperfect (and they are around you... eek) and so you have to work harder at being a peacemaker.

As far as the actual location on planet earth, I don't know for sure what all I've learned from it, except that I'm very happy in the state I'm in. We only occasionally (very occasionally!) get earthquakes (and I only remember ever having 1), we have only one type of spider that we really have to watch out for, and we don't have any ticks, scorpians, other poisonous spiders. We have lovely weather (though I'd prefer more snow). Rain, drizzle, little of snow, some sun, and it's not incredibly hot in summer or cold in winter. It usually gets up in the 70s-80s in summer and down to around 30 in winter (sometimes lower or higher, though just not as a general rule of thumb).

2. What book would you most like to see as a hollywood-budget feature film?

Whew, hard question!! If I could only choose ONE, then it might be "Medallion" (Dawn L. Watkins). (Yeah, it is somewhat of a kids book...) Some other ones (since I'm not really having to choose in real life :) would be "The Bronze Bow" (Elizabeth George Speare), "Shield" (prequel to "Medallion"). Oooh, it would be really nice if they did a high-quality, faithful adaptation of The Shunning series (Beverly Lewis). They did a movie recently, but they aren't going very quickly with the next one, and it was not the most high quality, the acting wasn't the best, there were several details that were wrong... anyway, the most important thing would be keeping the adaptation faithful. It's disappointing when people have the money/opportunity to make a movie, and then they mess it up or don't do the book justice!!

3. If you could be any animal, what would it be and why?

Um. I don't really want to be an animal. Sorry. :/ If I HAD to be an animal, I might choose a bird, like a sparrow. Then I could sing (and sound good all the time), fly and see the world from above, and proclaim God's majesty through me. But, having said all that, I'd prefer to not be an animal. =)

4. What is your favorite mythological creature and why?

I'm def. not into mythology, so I'd probably say dragon, because it's the most realistic. (Besides, what's not to like about Elliot? It's a superb name!! =)

5. Where are three places you'd like to visit before you die?

1. the yurts in Oregon. I like yurts. =)

2. possibly Russia (they have 2.5 million orphans there)

3. maybe Scotland/Ireland/England if I went with my older sis

otherwise, I just like camping, and it would be neat to visit some other states in the US =)

6. What is your favorite man (or woman) in politics currently (state or federal) What has he done that matters to you?

I guess it would be Ron Paul. (see next question)

I also have liked what Daniel Hannan (from UK), and Chris Christie (NJ) have had to say.

7. Have you been keeping up with the Republican primaries? Who would you choose for president and why?

Somewhat. At this point, I would probably vote for Ron Paul.

He has stayed faithful in his personal life (demonstrated by his long marriage), faithful to the Constitution (look at his voting record in Congress), and holds some of the same values I do (pro-life, pro-traditional marriage). Because of this, I think he could make a good president. Check out this great article about him.

8. Pick your favorite (or least favorite) letter from the acronym of calvinism: TULIP, and explain briefly why you either agree with it or disagree with it.

Okay, so the acronym TULIP means:

Total Depravity

Unconditional Election
Limited Atonement
Irresistible Grace
Perseverance of the Saints

I actually have a problem with basically all 5 (not that I completely disagree with all 5, but just parts). Limited Atonement and Irresistible Grace are the ones that I basically disagree with completely, whereas with Total Depravity and Unconditional Election I just have problems with part of. Perseverance of the Saints I somewhat agree with, but would not say I completely agree. So, the point I will pick to briefly talk about is Limited Atonement (probably because it's the simplest to say what I disagree with).

One note about something I just realized is that this point is believed by Calvinists to be that Jesus only bore the sins of the elect and simultaneously that His sacrifice was sufficient for all. How can His sacrifice have been sufficient for all, if He didn't bear the punishment for all? Hmm...

Anyway, I believe that John 3:16 ("For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.") is true. That the world means the world.

That's pretty much it. I believe the world is comprised of Christians and non-Christians, therefore if God loved the whole world, He loved even the people who would never accept Him. He wants everyone to be saved, but some do not accept Him.

2 Peter 3:9 "The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance."

9. What 3 bands from 3 genres of music would you go see in concert?

I assume you mean 3 bands, each from a different genre, not 3 genres and 3 bands from each genre.

1. Sleepy Man Banjo Boys (bluegrass)

2. Straight No Chaser (a cappella)

3. Yiruma (not a band, but a solo pianist - has amazingly beautiful classical music! I like David Nevue piano music also.)

10. You're stuck in the desert with a pane of glass, a spool of string, and a backpack-sized rocket engine with fuel. What would you do?

First, I would probably panic. Then I would pray. Then I would see if I could use the pane of glass to focus the sun's rays and see if it's possible to burn sand and what happens when you do that. I would put the string in my pocket and the pane of glass too depending on it's size. If it's too big, I'd put it down. Then I would hug the rocket, turn it on, and fly as far as I can in one direction.

Or, I'd exchange the rocket with the first Arabian to come along (or whoever lives in that desert) for something valuable, like a place in their travelling party. =)

11. Have you ever had the opportunity to bring unity to the church? Did you take it? What happened?

Um, I don't think so, depending on what you mean. What about you, Josiah?

Here are the 11 questions I made up, and I tag Stephanie @ The Kings Bookworm and Sophia @ Revolving at Two Speeds.

1. What is your favorite topic to discuss?

2. What is your favorite website?

3. What is your favorite blog(s)?

4. Do you have any food allergies?

5. What are your hobbies?

6. Do you have any favorite songs?

7. If you could meet anyone alive in the world today, who would it be (someone you've never met) and why?

8. If you could meet anyone that is no longer alive, who would it be and why?

9. Your favorite book character comes alive; who is it?

10. The character in question 9 has 1 hour to spend with you. What is the first thing you ask them?

11. What is your favorite hairstyle and why?