Decisions, Decisions

As the Lord would have it, as I sit and write this article about godly decision-making, I am agonizing over one of the most important decisions I have personally had to make in quite some time. It is a situation in which there is no clear right or wrong path, one which involves some real risk and uncertainty, and one which has implications potentially reaching far into the future. I must be transparent enough to share that, up until I began preparing to write this article, I was passively waiting for the right choice to simply fall into my lap, […]

-Read More


What the World Thinks of Christians

We’ve all encountered it at some point or another–rolling eyes, dirty looks, the snide comment or some incredulous statement along the lines of, “Oh, give me a break…you’re one of those Jesus freaks?!”  As most Christians who believe that we are doing our best to shine the light of Christ and to impact the world around us for Him, we’re often left scratching our heads, wondering how we got such a bad rap!  One needs to look no further than the nearest television to see the mainstream media’s stereotypical portrayal of Christians as narrow-minded idiots–take shows like Family Guy and […]

-Read More


Dragonfly Darlings

The Russell Life Skills and Reading Foundation was founded in 1998 by former Miami Dolphins linebacker Twan Russell and his late mother, Corliss Ann Russell. The Foundation, whose motto is “Opening Books to Open Doors”, has a mission of eradicating illiteracy among our inner-city youth. The RLSARF reaches about 1,000 South Florida children annually, primarily through after-school and summer reading programs held at 12 centers around Broward and Dade counties. A couple of years ago Twan’s wife, Lysandra, began to develop a real burden not only for the RLSARF children, but also for the mothers and grandmothers who care for […]

-Read More


Are You An Approval Addict?

Friends, I have a confession to make: as a 30-year-old man, I can still find myself very concerned with what other people think about me. As a matter of fact, until very recently, I think I could have safely been labeled an “approval addict”. Sure, I think most of us can look back at our middle and high-school years and remember being extremely concerned with gaining the acceptance of our peers. We had to have just the right clothes, listen to just the right music, have that car or hang out with that group. Perhaps we even allowed peer-pressure to […]

-Read More


Three Women on a Mission

If you ever have the privilege of meeting Janet Colbert, Joy Saghy or Renee Doyle, you probably won’t find them zooming around the skies donned in brightly-colored capes and tights. However, spend a few minutes talking to one of them about their organization, STOPPNOW, and you may share my sentiment that these three ladies are real-life superheroes, going toe-to-toe with some very real South Florida villains–pain clinics. Janet, Joy and Renee are the leaders and founders of the grassroots organization STOPPNOW (Stop the Organized Pill-Pushers Now), and are intentionally placing themselves at the center of the prescription drug abuse epidemic […]

-Read More


Do The Sins of Our Parents Affect Us?

 “….For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments,” Exodus 20:5-6 (NKJV – emphasis mine). It is often said that people are a product of their environment.  While I definitely don’t believe that anyone can be freed from personal responsibility by blaming their upbringing, I certainly do believe that the environment in which one is raised does have a significant influence on their behavior.  Obese […]

-Read More


Bringing Hope Inside: Changing The Fate of Incarcerated Youth

Reuben Ramsaran is the pastor at Calvary Chapel Fort Lauderdale who oversees the Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) Life . This Life has the awesome opportunity to bring the hope of the gospel into Broward County’s juvenile correctional facilities. Having 5 children of his own, Reuben knows firsthand what it takes to impact kids for Christ in today’s day-and-age. We sat down over a cup of coffee a few weeks back, and I asked him to share how the Life is impacting these youthful offenders with the truth of Jesus. Justin Young (JY): Can you tell me what happens to […]

-Read More