Active Faith

Appreciate Your Pastor This Month

Penni Bulten
14 Oct 2014
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Scripture exhorts us to regard pastors and elders who rule well as worthy of double honor, especially those communicating God’s word every week. “The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching” (1 Timothy 5:17 NIV). The pastor doesn’t just give the message every week; he often is the first to visit if a congregation member is in the hospital. He calls congregants who have been absent to see if everything is fine. He has a vital role not just in preaching and teaching God’s word […]

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The Successful Christian Life

Jeremy McKeen
9 Oct 2014
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How do you live a successful Christian life? What does that even mean? One of the most common metaphors for the Christian life is running a race. This metaphor is an important reminder that true Christianity is not an easy stroll free of any difficulties; it’s a hard race filled with many obstacles. This metaphor is also a useful tool in identifying what success looks like by asking two simple questions: What hinders you in the race? And what helps you in the race? What hinders you in the race? Isolation — One of the things that can hinder Christians […]

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Goldilocks Planets Myth: BUSTED

Bob Woods
9 Sep 2014
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For well over 2,000 years, since before the Apostle Paul wrote the letter to the Romans, mankind has been trying to find ways to deny the divine creation of the world and to worship the creation rather than the Creator. One manifestation of this presupposition is the research done by scientists seeking to show that the Earth and the intelligent life therein are not unique in the universe and are, therefore, a product of natural forces and random chance. On December 5, 2011, Science Daily reported that a team of researchers, including Carnegie’s Alan Boss, had discovered what could be […]

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Taking Israel Out of the Bible

Dr. Susan Michael
4 Aug 2014
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New Christians struggling to study their Bible are often taught to read the scriptures as though they were written personally to them, even reciting the scriptures using one’s own name in place of the verse’s subject. While it is important to apply scripture to one’s own life, it is equally important to not ignore the original context of the scripture and the original recipient of that particular promise. For example, a special verse that brings comfort to a person who may be experiencing difficulty is Isaiah 49:16 “See, I have written your name on the palms of my hands.” This […]

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The Grace of a Great: A Farewell to LeBron James

Tullian Tchividjian
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What is it about LeBron James that generates so much raw emotion and passion among his fans? Is it because of his two NBA championships, four NBA Most Valuable Player Awards, two NBA Finals MVP Awards, two Olympic gold medals, an NBA scoring title, and the NBA Rookie of the Year Award? His pure athletic greatness could be the reason he has so many die-hard followers. But for me, as of yesterday, he’s come to represent something much more. It wasn’t until he decided yesterday to return to his hometown and play once again for the team that drafted him […]

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Faithwalker

The Good News
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The smell of buttery popcorn filled the living room as the microwave announced its readiness. On cue, I procured the bag, ripped it open, shook it into a bowl and with a quick spritz of I Can’t believe It’s Not Butter, headed back to the couch to start the movie. It was “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug” and Bilbo Baggins was the unlikely brave hero. In this prequel of the classic Tolkien tale, Bilbo and his team were on a destiny quest. A journey of bravery into a land of danger to reclaim what was stolen: the right to […]

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The Privilege of Partnering with God

Dr. Susan Michael
10 Jul 2014
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God in His sovereignty has chosen to partner with man in the execution of His will. What a humbling and convicting thought that is. He is certainly not limited by man and can execute His will quite on His own, yet He has elected to work through and in partnership with us. C.S. Lewis once wrote concerning this partnership with God: “For He seems to do nothing of Himself which He can possibly delegate to His creatures. He commands us to do slowly and blunderingly what He could do perfectly and in the twinkling of an eye.” This helps to […]

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Partnering with God

Patriots Who Stood Firm in the Lord

Penni Bulten
2 Jul 2014
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The Founding Fathers were a diverse group; some signed the Declaration of Independence, some did not, but all had a part to play in the new nation. Abeka’s books, Of America, reveal much concerning the hearts of Nathan Hale and Samuel Adams. Hale Nathan Hale, in acccepting an undercover operation to obtain information from the British, knew well the consequences. A good friend, Captain Hull, begged him not to go as a spy, arguing, “Your nature is too frank and open for deceit and disguise! Neither General Washington -nor any commander- has any right to ask you to assume the […]

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Ministering Beyond The Four Walls

The Good News
4 Jun 2014
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The Refuge Ministry, Calvary Chapel, is an outreach program that has been ministering to the homeless in Broward County since 2006. The program was started by Jym Kaye, then pastor at Calvary Chapel Fort Lauderdale, about eight years ago. Dirk Ruyf took up the challenge to oversee the program about a year now since Pastor Jym left to overseer the satellite churches. Lifenet4Families provides meals at its facility located at 1 NW 33rd Terrace, Fort Lauderdale, from Monday to Saturday. This leaves Dirk and his very able volunteer staff to fill in the gap on Sundays. It is heartwarming to […]

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calvary chapel

Banning The Bible From Schools

Jerry Newcombe
2 Jun 2014
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banning the bible

In our own backyard, at Park Lakes Elementary in Broward County, has arisen a disturbing story of a twelve year old boy (Giovanni Rubeo) getting in trouble with his teacher for having the audacity of reading the Bible to himself during free time when the children were free to read whatever they wanted. But his fifth grade teacher, Swornia Thomas, singled out the Bible (a Christmas gift Gio treasures) because it was allegedly inappropriate to read in the school. In her own words, it was “the book he’s reading as opposed to the curriculum for public school.” Again, this was […]

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