heartstrings

I noticed that you didn't give a testimony of salvation which Dave W asked for...I find this something that most Calvinists avoid doing as well. I am asking for one now...this will make the second request for such on these forums.

I know the Biblical God and can testify to His character because I have been born of and indwelled with His Spirit and I have studied His Word. I don't "confuse" Him with Allah. I do equate the character of Allah with the false, manmade God(little g) of the fatalist religion called Calvinism .I don't "dictate" to God anything., But Calvinists do misrepresent His character.

1 John 4:16 "God is Love"
The very Character and essence of God is Love. God is holy, but He is not holiness. God is Love, and Love is holy. The holiest thing that exists in the Universe and beyond. God tells us in His Word to " love your enemies" so that you will "be like Him". Well, if that's the way "He is" then tell me how Love "personified" would "love" some folks enough to save them from Hell but unlove the rest enough to send them to Hell simply because he selected them on some unknown whim without giving them any remedy whatsoever? Don't give the "God's ways are higher than our ways" quote because you would be misinterpreting that scripture as well.
The Calvinist religion is not love, neither is it holy. It's narcissistic, sadistic and evil. it's closer to being like the Muslim god "Allah" because that is a fatalistic religion as well. 

1 John 4:16 "God is Love"
The very Character and essence of God is Love. God is holy, but He is not holiness. God is Love, and Love is holy. The holiest thing that exists in the Universe and beyond. God tells us in His Word to " love your enemies" so that you will "be like Him". Well, if that's the way "He is" then tell me how Love "personified" would "love" some folks enough to save them from Hell but unlove the rest enough to send them to Hell simply because he selected them on some unknown whim without giving them any remedy whatsoever? Don't give the "God's ways are higher than our ways" quote because you would be misinterpreting that scripture as well.
The Calvinist religion is not love, neither is it holy. It's narcissistic, sadistic and evil. it's closer to being like the Muslim god "Allah" because that is a fatalistic religion as well. 

I rarely post here, but this brings me to my favourite Calvinist question - surely you have an answer for me.
Can you show me a clearly stated testimony of salvation for Calvin please?
And whilst you are at it, you might give your own testimony of salvation.
I will not answer, for I have no interest in any sort of debate, but would dearly love for SOME Calvinist to give me a clear record of Calvin's salvation testimony. Preferably something in his own words, and not what others have said of him.
This should be an easy question to answer, and it requires no further clarity so there is no need for you to ask me all sorts of questions (which I will not answer anyway).
If you refuse to give such a reference, I will have to assume it is because you either do not understand salvation yourself, or you cannot find such a testimony for Calvin.
No one has yet provided any such thing to me, in spite of asking this question of Calvinists for the last 15 years.

I answered your question. You quoted Scripture and I said Scripture is never twisted. It is your interpretation of Scripture that is twisted; I said that in another reply.
You are so right Bro. Tony. As my old missionary pastor used to say: "All means all, and that is all that all means."

Of course Scripture is never twisted, it is the Calvinist interpretation of Scripture that is twisted, as is yours.

The term "election", as used in passages like Romans chapter 9, has nothing to do with choosing people to be saved. What it does refer to is God's purpose. The Jews, who Paul is addressing in Romans 9, for instance, actually thought that salvation only belonged to them only simply because of they were children of Abraham and because of their works. Actually, they were of a sort of "Calvinistic" mindset themselves. in the sense that they considered themselves and only themselves "chosen by God".
God's "elect" are those who have come to God by faith and lead others to do the same by that same faith, demonstrated by their works. Jesus is "elect", Israel is "elect" there are angels which are "elect". It basically means they are chosen to serve God's divine purpose. Another word, "predestination", has to do with being conformed to the image of Christ.
Neither term is used to refer to or address individuals(except for the "elect lady). God's "elect" and "predestinated" are referred to by the pronouns "us" we" "those" and "them"; always a group. God chose that His people(plural) would do His specific purpose, that is, believe by faith and win others by faith. and He chose that His people (plural) would be conformed to the image of Jesus. I, for instance, will one day be like Jesus. NOT by any of my own works, but by the all powerful and wise purpose; the "election" of God. But to get to that I heard the Gospel and trusted Jesus by faith. I could have said "no, some other time" just as Felix did, but I realized the Love and righteousness of Jesus, knew I was a wicked evil sinner, and didn't want to go to Hell. Believing on the Lord, in my experience, was a totally selfish act on my part. There is no goodness or merit in simply believing on Him in faith and repentance. None whatsoever.

The doctrine of election is clearly a Biblical doctrine.  However, the question of dispute is how God's Holy Word actually defines the Biblical doctrine of election.  Among Bible students there are various systems of belief ("theories") concerning how God's Holy Word actually defines this Biblical doctrine.  Now, since these various systems of belief ("theories") contradict each other, it is certain that they all cannot represent the true Biblical doctrine of election.  
My primary dispute (although not my only dispute) with the Calvinistic system of belief concerning the doctrine of election is the Calvinistic teaching that the Lord our God predetermined for certain sinners to repent and believe by His sovereign will and for other sinners to have no ability or possibility to repent and believe.  I would contend that the Calvinistic teaching of unconditional predestination/pre-election is Biblically false, for God's Word clearly teaches that our Lord God's work of predestination/pre-election is conditioned upon our Lord God's foreknowledge.  I would contend that the Calvinistic teaching of irresistible/effectual calling is Biblically false, for God's Word clearly teaches that sinners can and do resist the gracious call of God.  I would contend that the Calvinistic teaching of regeneration life before and unto repentance and faith is Biblically false, for a multitude of passages in God's Word place repentance and faith as the prerequisites to regeneration life.

Nobody here is opposed to the doctrine of election just the zombie election Calvin taught (and had anyone put to death that opposed).
 

Care to address the person you TALKING about directly? This wreaks of haughtiness, and is exactly what many of us have come to expect from "Calvinists."  

He teaches that sodomites cannot get saved - but the Bible teaches they can repent and trust the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation.
1 Corinthians 6:9-11 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.
We are to hate sin - but NOWHERE IN THE BIBLE WILL YOU FIND ANY JUSTIFICATION BY GOD TO TREAT ANY LOST PERSON IN A HATEFUL MANNER. Part of loving the lost is preaching the truth clearly to them, denouncing their sin, crying aloud and sparing not. However, it is a sin for you to lie to others, slander them, have hatred in your heart towards them, speak crudely to them, treat them without mercy and grace, etc. and there are MANY passages in the NT that teach these things and others about our conduct towards the lost.
Matthew 5:43-48 Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so? Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.
We are to treat our enemies with love - that is how the Lord treated us and the only way they will ever be open to the truth and perhaps repent and turn from their sins to the Saviour. AND NO, loving our enemies doesn't mean we tolerate their sin or choose not to separate from their sin - and them - if they fit the passages where separation is commanded.
And for the record, nowhere in the Bible is a believer commanded to hate Esau - that is who God hated because he rejected God and the inheritance God had for him.

If you're really worried about it, there is still hope. If you really got saved, you cannot be lost again. 

If you're really worried about it, there is still hope. If you really got saved, you cannot be lost again. 

Commicrats....I have to remember that one. It's true.

1.6.21's "insurrection" is a great big nothing-burger that silly, foolish people have been convinced was a horrible riot of "Trump supporters" who were out to get folks like Pelosi.  Video footage proves that those who were involved in desecration were ANTIFA. But who cares about the truth? Let's just continue to promote lies that destroy this country.
Who cares what Cheney says? Liberals will quote him saying this date is so important just because he's a wimp who is trying to become relevant once again by pandering to the liars touting an "insurrection."
I'm deeply disappointed that the American people don't know/understand their constitutions enough to replace the liars and socialists currently in the public servant positions. I'm deeply disappointed that there are Americans who believe the lies coming out of DC about a lot of things, this non-insurrection to boot.

This is a commandment for ALL Christians and should be taught to even the babes Christ. Pastor or not, the command is for Christians.
Matt 5:44, But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
 
 

Nobody is saying to accept their lifestyles or allow people with such lifestyles to engage in the workings of the church. Still they should be welcome in the services or we've gone against our purpose. 

Words like "baptist" and "holy" are in the Bible. Never remove them.

And I hate to break it to you Bro. Tony, but not all that claim to be "Independent Fundamental Baptist churches", are. Anyone can claim to be anything, doesn't mean that they actually are.
You can put any name you want on a church, but if it doesn't preach the truth, it is not a church on the order of the church that Jesus instituted.

In America, the law is king. Not any human being. That law is to be rooted in the constitutions of the country and the individual states. When that law is not rooted in said constitutions, that law is moot and actually illegal...read the founders writings and find out just exactly the kind of government God ordained for the US. After the constitutions, WE the PEOPLE are kings. NOT OUR PUBLIC SERVANTS.
So many Americans today would have sided with the British in 1776. I'm thankful our founders didn't.
I honor the king in my country: the US Constitution, my state Constitution, and We the People. I do not support the current POTUS - he is a vile, evil man who should not be in the position he is in. He, in fact, should have been jailed long ago for breaking the laws - dishonoring our king - of this land (as should many other public servants). That doesn't mean I call him names, etc. And as I pray for him, I also pray that God would restrain and remove him...and protect us from Harris becoming POTUS, which will be much worse.
Disobeying laws not rooted in our constitutions is not despising authorities. Despising authorities is what Antifa and BLM are all about. Despising authorities is what our public servants do each and every time they mandate something, pass an unjust law, etc., because they are despising the constitutions of our land. There is no way God would have blessed the founding of this country the way He did if disobeying unjust laws - and overthrowing the human king's rule - were despising authorities. 
I do not support the current PEOPLE in our government because it is wicked and ungodly.  I do not support the socialism the current PEOPLE in our government are trying to push through. I do not support the current governor in our state because he has blatantly disregarded our state constitution - the one he swore to uphold. I do not support the current legislature in our state for the same reason. People need to stop using the Bible to justify sitting on their rear ends twiddling their fingers while their country is destroyed.
God gave us the gift of this country, and we are poor stewards indeed when we let it slip through our hands. Shame on us for not knowing the truths about our founding and supporting that.

Most of the regular members here use the Hebrew and Greek tools to help us understand the English of our King James Bible, not to correct it. I have seen you make a few assumptions based on an understanding of the words in a passage. At least we are going to sound lexicons (which are language dictionaries) and studying the meaning out instead of making up false doctrine to fit our misunderstanding.
And who cares if there are 24 different Greek texts (of which I doubt) - they may or may not be versions of the TR (you have not specified - you just threw out a blanket statement intending to slight all Greek texts), but when we go to Strong's Concordance, we are going to the Greek text that is the closest to the KJV - or to put it another way, going to the words underlying each actual passage in our King James Bible, regardless of which specific Greek text someone says a particular verse comes from.
If it ever really mattered, people here could probably discuss Stephanus' Greek text or Scrivener's, but it is apparent you have a disregard for those two primary Greek sources. Don't know what 22 other ones you have buried in your backyard.

Why should we not consider the Hebrew of the passage, considering that it is the very "jots and tittles" about which our Lord Jesus Christ promised would be (and has been) preserved for us unto this very day (and unto the end of the world)?  Indeed, the Hebrew IS that which the Lord our God originally gave and that which He has continued to preserve since that giving.  To disparage it or disregard it is dishonor to the preserved Word of God.
Ah, the wonders of our Lord God's promise to precisely preserve His very Word throughout the ages of the world.
(Note: A "jot" is a HEBREW letter, and a "tittle" is a small mark that distinguishes one HEBREW letter from another.)

Sheep relieve themselves wherever they happen to be when the need arises. They do so while they are eating as well. When they do so, in the grass for instance, they will invariably avoid eating near that spot. Therefore when I place piles of hay on the ground, I'm careful to avoid putting it on manure piles. I also place the hay piles about 7 to 8 feet apart, which exceeds the length of a sheep's body, so that they don't defecate into the next pile as they are eating. I don't just put out a roll of hay; I pitchfork it out in numerous piles. They waste far less of it this way.
I don't know of any way to motivate sheep to defecate in a certain place; they just go where they please. But I have my land cross-fenced into 8 pastures for the purpose of rotating the sheep into a clean pasture after a few days; ideally 3 or 4 days. But as to the lying down, they tend to lie down in the same area of any given pasture each night. So they foul that area up  pretty quickly as they do relieve themselves when they arise every morning. 
My point was that, for a shepherd in a semi-arid region of sparse/scarce grass, it would be foolish for him to allow his sheep to lie down and foul up perfectly viable "food" knowing that it would be rendered useless by the next morning. I don't believe that psalm 23 can be compared, at least not entirely, to how an earthly shepherd cares for sheep. I believe that an ancient Middle Eastern shepherd, upon hearing this Psalm read, would have been dumbfounded by the realization that this was something extraordinarily different.

In answer to your question. He raises sheep and is in the FL panhandle. Those pics are bedding areas of his own sheep.