Dig Deep

Bad News Before The Good News!

Dr. Tommy Boland
15 Mar 2019
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(Scroll down to leave a comment on what the Good News means to you.) “The intention of man’s heart is evil from his youth” (Genesis 8:21 ESV). One of the fundamental biblical doctrines that creates some confusion for those who are unfamiliar with it is the doctrine of Total Depravity, which concerns mankind’s guilty inability to stand before God and claim any sort of inherent righteousness. The bulk of the confusion about this doctrine centers on the name: Total Depravity. “Wait a minute!” both Christians and unbelievers alike will protest. “Are you saying that someone who doesn’t know Christ as […]

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Why Are We So Slow to Fast?

Dr. Gary Hewins
15 Feb 2019
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If you were preparing your first sermon in a series of sermons that would revolutionize the current and future generations of the world, what would you say? What would you not say? Jesus had to consider these two questions as he prepared His “Sermon on the Mount.” In that first public sermon, He chose to emphasize the blessedness of the Beatitudes, the way to pray, the kingdom of God, and the three hallmarks of a disciple. Those who follow Him in the manner He desires actively give, pray and fast anonymously, so as not to draw attention to themselves. We […]

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We’re Gonna Need A Bigger Box

Stephan Tchividjian
10 Jan 2019
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Box of Mystery Years ago, when our children were younger, we used to schedule “mystery family vacations.” The idea was a brilliant one, I might add. The concept was simple. Lisa and I would devise a fun family vacation but keep it a secret. We would simply share with our children the date of departure, the date of return and provide them a packing list, inserted with a few decoys to throw them off. The first year our children complained that we were terrible parents trying our best to ruin their lives, (jury is still out on that one) but […]

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Church United: Fourth Year of Collaboration

Edwin Copeland
3 Jan 2019
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As a new year begins, the Church United story enters into year four of our mission to unite churches of our region for the purpose of seeing God’s kingdom descend upon South Florida. For the last three years pastors and ministry leaders have been connecting and collaborating together in their common desire to share faith, give hope and extend love. If 2018 taught us anything, it proved that we really are stronger together. As one local pastor put it at last year’s Love South Florida night of worship and celebration, “Church United is moving deeper into our hearts.” Looking towards […]

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A Christmas Post: Mary’s Message

Rob Hoskins
19 Dec 2018
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I love thinking about the Christmas story from Mary’s vantage point. Everyone remembers being a teenager… you’re figuring out your gifts and beginning to envision the future. Imagine teenage Mary and her prospects for the future as a poor, obscure Jew. Suddenly, she is visited by an angel and endowed with a mandate like no other in history! “In the Sixth Month God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David, and the virgin’s name was Mary. The angel went to her […]

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The Reason for the Season

Dr. Tommy Boland
3 Dec 2018
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It’s that most wonderful time of the year again! Throughout December it is likely you will see or hear the phrase, “The Reason for the Season.” There is only one true reason, of course, and His name is Jesus Christ. And that reason does not spring from an uninformed, blind leap of faith. To those who sneer that believing in the Babe in the manger is like believing in Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer, you can calmly and kindly reply that the birth of Christ is an historical event that is beyond contestation, which took place just over 2000 years ago […]

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Have You Thought Lately About the Blessedness of Subtraction?

Dr. Gary Hewins
12 Nov 2018
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Maybe there is an aspect of God that is far too unnoticed? God is a Taker. We want the Lord to add to our lives, but don’t we also want Him to be a “Subtractor?” Who doesn’t think about God as a Giver? We are never more like God than when we give, right? “For God so loved the world, He gave…”(John 3:16). But divine math accentuates subtraction. In October of every year, I take my staff through an annual planning process that charts a course for the following year of strategic ministry. Every year I emphasize three words that […]

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A Thanksgiving Apologetic

Dr. Tommy Boland
1 Nov 2018
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I have written several articles bemoaning the fact that far too many Americans see Thanksgiving as little more than a day for overindulgence in food and football, but I don’t believe I have ever written about the extent to which America’s Thanksgiving celebration bears wonderful witness to our Christian faith. In doing so, I want to acknowledge the outstanding work of David Barton’s WallBuilders ministry (www.wallbuilders.com), which was my primary resource for the historical information presented here. Thanksgiving tradition Virtually everyone knows that our Thanksgiving tradition began with the Pilgrims in Plymouth, Massachusetts. However, many Americans are not aware that […]

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Being Childlike in a Childish World

Dr. Gary Hewins
8 Oct 2018
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Imagine a humble, little first-century home existing within the New Testament era. Picture a dinner being prepared in a small, humble kitchen in first-century Palestine. A family is about to have a meal together. Out in the courtyard—outside the home—children are playing, running about and laughing. Just outside of the kitchen in the common area, there is a chair. In the chair is the head of the household, and he is sitting down after a long, hard day’s work, listening and peering out the window at his children as they play. His little girl in the front yard hears her […]

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Jesus Christ: One Way or The Only Way to Heaven?

Dr. Tommy Boland
1 Oct 2018
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One of the most common concerns that people raise with me is the exclusivity of the Christian faith. Many people in our postmodern, relativistic society want to believe that all roads lead to heaven. In 2016 Lifeway Research conducted a poll and found that 60 percent of all Americans believe that “Heaven is a place where all people will ultimately be reunited with their loved ones.” Only 40 percent of those surveyed agreed with the statement that “Hell is an eternal place of judgment where God sends all people who do not personally trust in Jesus Christ.”(1) Heaven or Hell? […]

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