Active Faith

When God Shows Off

Stephan Tchividjian
3 Aug 2017
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God

The idea birthed from a conversation Lisa and I had about what we could do for our kids at Christmas. Our family continues to grow with two sons-in-law, one daughter-in-law, three grandchildren and the random foster child here or there. Lisa thought laser tag in the front yard would be great fun…seriously laser tag in the front yard? I then suggested something a little more primitive, something so not us, something that would scream, “out of my comfort zone, nobody loves me.” Camping!   Camping The family, ours that is, does not have any experience in camping, no equipment, no […]

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Elijah’s Call to Pure Worship

Dr. Susan Michael
27 Jun 2017
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  Mount Carmel is at the tip of a beautiful 24-mile long wooded mountain range nestled inbetween the Mediterranean Sea to the west and the Jezreel valley to the east. “Carmel” means “vineyard of God” or “garden of God” and the Bible describes it as a beautiful and fruitful region. Most Bible students, however, associate the area with the famous confrontation between the prophet Elijah and the prophets of the Canaanite fertility god, Ba’al, found in 1 Kings 18. While there are no archeological remains to verify the exact place of this event, the Stella Maris Monastery is said to […]

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Advent Church Members Impact Lives at Village of Hope in Haiti

The Good News
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  “People always ask me, ‘Are things getting any better in Haiti?’ My reply is always, “At the Village of Hope in Haiti things are getting better every day, grace a dieu (thanks to God),” said Pastor Andy Hagen, of Advent Church in Boca Raton, who is speaking from experience. He has been leading mission trips to Haiti since 2003 and has travelled there over 25 times. “The situation in Haiti was not good even before the earthquake of 2010 that took the lives of between 200,000 and 300,000 people. But the quake and cholera epidemic that followed made things […]

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Heart2Heart Restores Hope, Love & Purpose

Shelly Pond
26 Jun 2017
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Americans are getting older. More than 10,000 Baby Boomers reach retirement age daily, creating a startling demographic shift. Currently one in eight Americans are 65 or older. By 2030 those numbers will rise to one in five. A popular retirement destination, Florida has the largest elderly population with 19 percent of Americans aged 60 and above. That number is expected to grow to 32 percent. Sadly many aging Americans end up in long term care facilities far away from family, and over 65 percent of those residents never receive visitors. Lonely and forgotten, their spirits fade away. Like all of […]

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Beyond Bountiful

Elizabeth Mitchell
8 Jun 2017
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“The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully” (2 Corinthians 9:6). In all likelihood, nothing fits in a fist closed tight. A clenched hand, fingers turned inward with nails pressed into palm will never hold a thing, will never be on the receiving side. Miserly and meager come to mind. If I view God as a hard taskmaster, I will be prone to measure carefully when asked to share. If I fail to recognize the Father as extravagant and gracious, I will protest and excuse myself from any generous […]

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Jesus in the Park

Robin Martin
1 Jun 2017
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As the two groups of people stood there, they both asked the same question: “Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison” (Matthew 25:37).When? Bewilderment must have begun to set in as every person in the room tried to take stock of their lives and questioned amongst themselves when they could have possibly seen the King, Jesus Himself. When did they see Him and help; when did they see Him and choose not to help? As I stood in Fort Lauderdale’s Stranahan Park on Friday, May 19, the […]

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Lessons Learned . . . Later

Dr. Tommy Boland
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learn

Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand” (John 13:7). Jesus uttered these words as He was washing His disciples’ feet on the night He would be betrayed. When Jesus came to Simon Peter and knelt to wash his feet, Peter was as confused as he was convicted that he was utterly unworthy to have Jesus Christ — the King of kings and Lord of lords — wash his feet. As Jesus said, Peter did not understand in that moment, but later the lesson was learned: In order to be a leader […]

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With Your Help the Solution to Foster Care is Within Sight

Shelly Pond
16 May 2017
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  At any given time, there are about 500 children waiting in shelters in South Florida without a family to care for them. For their safety, they have been removed from their homes due to abuse, abandonment or neglect by biological family members, and are innocent victims of a broken world. Faith-based foster care agencies such as 4KIDS OF South Florida, Place of Hope, His House and Mount Bethel Human Services are working hard to solve this crisis. However, kind-hearted people are needed who are willing to take in these children and show them the love of God. While many […]

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Forgiveness Restores Who?

Steve Davis
9 May 2017
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An ancient story is told of two friends who were taking a trip through the desert. In the course of many discussions, an unusually sharp disagreement arose over a mutually sensitive issue. In a moment of impulsive rage, the one friend slapped the other in the face. Responding with great restraint and sadness, the man stooped down and wrote in the sand, “Today my good friend slapped me in the face.” and they walked on in strained silence. Much later arriving at a shaded, cool oasis they decided to take a refreshing bath. After a little bit the one slapped […]

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The Believer’s Battle Cry

Dr. Tommy Boland
1 May 2017
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“All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves; for the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give all of you into our hands” (1 Samuel 17:47, NIV). 1 Samuel 17 recounts the God-glorifying story of David and Goliath. The Philistine giant Goliath was far bigger, much stronger, and vastly more skilled in battle than was David, the youngest of eight sons of Jesse . . . the shepherd boy. Goliath had every conceivable advantage known to man . . . except one, and that one advantage that David had […]

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