A Response to the Calvinism hidden in Christian Beliefs: Twenty Basics Every Christian Should Know by Wayne Grudem, and Elliot Grudem
By Rent-A-Friend 2000
The content should come as no surprise.
This book was assigned for a middle school Bible class, and I became aware of it because of one of the students in the class. I read through it and decided it needed a response. So, here is my response. In short, Calvinism makes everything worse.
To be clear, the authors never explicitly say they are talking about Calvinism, they don’t mention “Calvinism” and they don’t refer to “TULIP”. But as you will see, they are sneaking it in, and it ruins everything it touches, as I will explain in detail.
But once again you get to see Calvinism from the Calvinist so you can see I am not attacking a StrawMan. It matters because of what it does to the doctrines it touches. Enjoy.
It’s been just over two years since I wrote a post on this channel, and probably longer since I put anything on YouTube. And outside of my immediate family, I don’t think I’ve sold a single book.
However, one of the reasons I haven’t sold any books is that I have left all of them here for free download, and in that time 5,581 people have downloaded my books to enjoy on their own time! And you can too!
Or Visit the A Bit of Orange Bookstore on Amazon to buy actual paper copies, or digital Kindle copies. You’ll find all of the books we’ve worked on over the past couple of years except for this one. I helped design the cover.
Merry Christmas everybody, and remember, Jesus Loves you.
Just added to FREE BOOKS here on ABitofOrange.com and soon to be available on Amazon on paperback or Kindle!
The first novel to be published by A Bit of Orange books, and a real novel too. Not the kind of quippy sarcasm and cartoon illustrations you get from a lot of our other books. This one is like if CS Lewis wrote the Twilight series. No teen angst, no sparkles, but a lot more world view philosophy and all of the vampires. It’s rated 12+ on Amazon, because, while the language is mostly family friendly, there is some dark thematic elements, some death, and far more blood than the average family friendly entertainment. Because, you know, vampires. And while we’re not going to tell anyone else this, because we’re friends I’m going to let you know, that this story is secretly an allegory for the Gospel. Like Chronicles of Narnia but without the talking animals. Learn more and read or download below:
She paused to look at Tragedy and me, again probably hoping we would tell the story for her, but again she would be disappointed.
“Tell us!” demanded Chocolat in his heavy French accent. “Why would she wan’ to die? She was immortal, like us. One of us. Why would one of us wish for death?”
“She had seen the hunter!” Geo blurted out. “Like Finch! They had seen the eyes of the hunter, the Hound of Heaven! Their sins burning them worse than the sun, and they wished for death to end the torment!”
“That is enough!” Rage bellowed. Geo shrank back as far as tragedy would let her. For the moment, she was silent, but in the moment that followed the whispers in the room erupted into shouting of anger, mockery, and fear.
“There are no hunters!” shouted Trash. “She’s a liar!”
“She’s a fool,” shouted another. “She expects us to believe legends.”
“Enough,” said Rage. Even without shouting it, he commanded the room and they obeyed.
“Three of our kind are dead,” I said to Rage. “Somehow this story starts with the first.”
Vampires have only one, all consuming desire: blood. Everything humans want- money, power, love, drugs- Vampires use these things to get the one thing they want. The only thing they need.
Lane is a member of a community of vampires in a city where they live as ghosts, kings, and the gods of hell. He is immortal, in a murder of crows who feast on death. He has lived more lifetimes than he can remember. His world is made of the immortal gods of hell and the humans they feast on. The only death they know is the kind they give to harvest blood. He and a goth girl who calls herself Tragedy sit above the world and mock it from above, untouchable.
Until the night Lane sees one of his own kind die, and suddenly there are whispers of something real from what they thought was myth.
And another one of his kind is dead, and another…
Is Lane being used by the head of the city to establish dominance in some political game, or have the hunters suddenly become the hunted? Is war coming, or something worse? And can he unravel the mystery before it’s too late, and he loses everything? As his world unravels and immortality slips from his fingers, he discovers that he might always have been a murder of one.
“Promise me something,” I said. “What?” “If he does come here… don’t try and protect me. If he comes here, run.” “Lane…” “Promise me. Please Tragedy.” I looked into her dark eyes and whispered. “I don’t want to watch you die either.”
Selections from A Bit of Orange Books are now on sale via Amazon! Click the images below to visit the Amazon page where you can learn more and order paper back or Kindle versions of these books!
This book takes a rubber duck level look at the kind of philosophy it takes to understand the Christian Worldview. If you can understand a rubber duck, you can understand why you can be certain that the Bible is true from the very first page. Learn about God, reality, truth, knowledge and faith! Then, learn a few arguments that prove that the God of the Bible is real, and is the one true God. Finally, spend some time getting to know the GOSPEL! The Good News of the love of God. Jesus Loves You! Read all about it.
It’s still free here on the web site, but now it’s in paperback and coming very soon for Kindle.
Thursday Night Nachos (Defining Evolution Over Nachos with Friends)
Rent-A-Friend 2000 recounts the conversations he has with his friends at the local bar and grill, talking about Evolution. What is it? Is it science? How does it work? As they wait for their weekly pile of Nachos to arrive, the friends discuss the science and evidence in this sometimes complex issue and divide truth from fiction. If you want to see exactly what evolution is, and how Darwin fails the test of science, then this is the book for you!
Have you ever wished you had a way to introduce your kids to the wonders of life, including where babies come from, in a way that doesn’t boil down to “here are some weird things your body is going to do starting in the 5th grade”? Would you like to introduce your kids to the science and miracle of life by reading a cute story about a worm asking why red apples are red? Sure, we all have! And now you can!
This book explains the birds and the bees by first explaining apple trees, and then showing how reproduction in flowers is mirrored in animals, and then in humans. It also explains why humans treat mating differently than any other animal, and explains why the sacredness of being made in the image of God is part of why we don’t go around naked in public, and why marriage is a sacred vow till death do we part.
This book isn’t about puberty, it’s about reproduction, starting with flowers and trees, and then fish and frogs, and then chickens and cows, and finally humans, modesty, and marriage.
These are topics which could be updated indefinitely, but because of the cultural conversations, I’ve added more content to the gender identity/trans section. And I cleaned up the formatting because it looked terrible. I can admit that.
Read it here or download for free, and find more free books in the Free Books tab at the top of the blog.
In what is sure to be the reason I get kicked off of social media, I explain the debate over gay marriage, and why letting Pandas eat giraffes isn’t the loving thing to do. I explain how the American church has swung the reaction pendulum to both extremes of the LGBTQ debate.
I explain how the Transgender movement has failed so badly that I am Transgender (according to Google anyway) and yet the Transgender movement has literally made the rest of the rainbow flag into “bigoted oppressors”.
And we take a lengthy dive into the many ways a “LGBTQ affirming” church tries to use the Bible to teach things the Bible clearly does not teach. It’s a great lesson on how to start a cult. But the whole point is, whatever our sins, Jesus loves us. That’s the good news the Bible has for all of us, even when we’ve taken a few bites out of the giraffes.
A Bit of Orange 