Calvinist Angel Brings Good Tidings to the Elect

Not for Bill and Greg back there...

Generally, I don’t post things that are posted here on Facebook. This video is an exception. Under the video are a few thoughts and things I didn’t share on Facebook.

I hope if you’re a Calvinist, you found that to be funny. There is something else I hope for.

Some background might help you understand where I'm coming from. When I was 53, I experienced a massive expansion of my faith's paradigm. I thought I knew everything I needed to know about God's word. That's different from saying my knowledge was immense or even adequate. It wasn't.

I discovered another way to see Genesis 6:1-4, Deuteronomy Chapter 32:8-9 (ESV), and Psalm 82. Those passages were linchpin verses and inexhaustible in helping me clarify many other bible verses.

You can teach an old dog new tricks. You can learn something new. Expounding on the journey those passages took me on now would take away from my main point in this post: at any age, you can experience or discover things that deepen your faith and give you a fresh understanding of God.

The video I posted above makes fun of Calvinism. It says the quiet part out loud. I've been studying and researching Calvinism deeply for at least six months. Calvinism, however, has been on the back burner of my mind for almost 20 years. There is a dilemma in Christianity about Predestination and Free Will. I don't have time or space to explore that now, but it's much broader than that. It's crystallized for me in the title of my fantasy fiction novel Blood & Soul. "Blood" equals DNA or determinism. "Soul" equals free will.

Over the last three or four years, Calvinism kept returning to my experience through friends and family. I decided to do a deep dive and once and for all get to the core of my problems with it. And my goal is to change your mind about it if you are a Calvinist. Why? Because I think it misrepresents God and has caused terrible problems for believers, Churches, and the lost.

If Calvinism were gone tomorrow, the Church would be better off, and Christ would still be our savior. Will you at least consider the possibility that Calvinism could be wrong? It could be a narrow lens through which you look at the Scriptures. The “proof text” may be screaming in your mind's ear right now. I assure you I know those texts, and I have looked deep into them. Have no fear, my friend.

You may ask, "Who are you, oh man," to criticize Calvinism? Well, we live in a blessed age. But the times are as cursed as they are blessed. The times we live in are like those described in the opening paragraph of A Tale of Two Cities. We have vast libraries of information at our fingertips. But it's a treacherous path as we type searches into our browsers. One must be weary and wise.

My quest led me to some crazy places and some beautiful places. As with my other quests about the verses, as mentioned earlier, it has expounded my view of God's word. It paid off in droves. Now, I am poised for other quests.

But back to the "who are you, oh man." To that, I ask, where did Socrates go to school? I am a laborer who's come late (Matthew 20:1-16). These last days, many have been like me. We are diligently searching those vast libraries to which we are blessed to have access. Minds worldwide are using the verse in Daniel 12:4 in many ways. "To and fro," or "back and forth." means to search diligently, as the raven in Genesis 8:7. My knowledge has increased, and so has my love for the word of God. And I want to show you what I have found in the coming year.