God

Over Spiritualizing Every Conversation is “Juking” Others

I first came across the word “juking” several years ago when my college-aged daughter brought it to my attention. On a visit home she explained the meaning of this interesting term. I was floored when she defined it as Christians “over spiritualizing” every conversation. In fact, juking is just that, somehow turning every piece of communication into a spiritual principle, direction or cliche. When she expounded on the subject further, I realized I myself had been guilty of juking. After all, that was the Christian culture; everybody juked. It was expected, especially from those in leadership. Adding a fitting spiritual platitude […]

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The Prophecy, The Palm and The Prince

This month I would like to sharpen our focus on three things as it relates to Easter season: The Prophecy, The Palm and The Prince! “The next day the great crowd that had come from the Feast heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting, ‘Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the King of Israel!’ Jesus found a young donkey and sat upon it, as it is written, ‘do not be afraid, O Daughter of Zion; see, your king is […]

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Guinness: This Unbelievable Age Calls for Unshakable Confidence in the Gospel

The times we live in have been referred to as the “Unbelievable Age,” according to Os Guinness, a Christian social critic and author of The Call. Speaking to a Lifework Leadership class in March, Guinness said, “No one would have thought 20 years ago that we would be seeing the things within American and around the world that we’re seeing now,” he said. “It is an incredible challenge for followers of Jesus to live with integrity and effectiveness and really be salt and light in our culture.” Many people are alarmists, filled with discouragement and even doom and gloom. But […]

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The Fourth Man in the Fire

My good friend Doyle Moore died on Sunday February 22nd, one hour after watching me preach on the Coral Ridge Live-stream from a hospital bed in Boston. Doyle was an elder at Coral Ridge, a Liberate board member, and one of my greatest encouragers. He had cancer. And he had been suffering with his cancer for years. I recently had the privilege of preaching at his memorial service. Another good friend, Dan Siedell, spoke as well. Like me, Dan had been on the receiving end of Doyle’s life giving joy and generosity. What Dan said was so moving to me […]

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Enjoy Your Life!

Does Christianity take the fun out of life? There are some people who tend to think so. They have this idea that following Jesus means the end of joy rather than the beginning of joy. In their opinion, the God of Christianity is sort of a harsh cosmic killjoy, just trying to keep people from really enjoying life. This couldn’t be further from the truth.   God wants you to enjoy life Remember where God placed Adam and Eve? God didn’t put them in a barren desert and tell them to endure it; he put them in a garden of […]

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A Word of Thanks to Those Who Volunteer

“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters” (Colossians 3:23 NIV). In no endeavor is this scripture more true than in volunteer service. When there is no personal gain to be had for work, it is truly an effort unto the Lord that we give. On behalf of HOPE South Florida and many other organizations who depend on volunteers, we would like to deeply and sincerely thank the hundreds of volunteers who make a such an impact in our community. We could not serve the many single mothers in […]

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Are Legalism And Lawlessness Opposites?

“Legalism in the church was a huge problem 7-10 years ago, but I honestly feel that the pendulum has swung in the other extreme full force, to a fault on the other side. Legalism and moralism is not the problem today; licentiousness is.” “It’s a mistake to say that every person needs to be rescued from legalism. I didn’t grow up in a legalistic church culture. I grew up in a liberal church culture where anything and everything was permitted. I didn’t need to be saved from legalism. I needed to be saved from lawlessness.” These are a couple of […]

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Artists in Church: An Untapped Resource

Let’s face it. The creative response to creation that we call art doesn’t play a prominent role in the church. As pastors and Christian leaders, we’re just not quite sure what to make of it. But taking art and the artist seriously can be more than organizing art museum visits, hanging paintings in the sanctuary, hosting an artist in residence or talking about beauty. Through my twenty-year career as an art historian, museum curator and art critic, I am convinced that the artist is an untapped resource. One of the most important needs of the artist is in the conversation […]

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Dealing with Death’s Reality

American culture does not deal well with the reality of death. Most people live in denial of it. We pretend it will never happen to us or to someone we love. When death touches our life in some way, most of us don’t know how to act, what to say or how to grieve. In other cultures death is accepted and confronted in all its reality. It used to be more so in our recent past. People would be cared for at home and often die there. The body would be viewed and the wake held at home over perhaps […]

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The Tale of Saint Patrick

March 17, known around the world as St. Patrick’s Day, is a national holiday celebrated in Ireland with great joy, and Americans join in as well. It is traditional for Irish Americans and others to commemorate the occasion by the “wearing of the green,” putting on clothing in the national color of Ireland, often in the form of a three-leaf clover. Catholics in Ireland and other countries regard St. Patrick’s Day as a day of holy obligation, that is, a day to worship through rest, just as one would rest on Sabbath. In Ireland, the day is a celebration of […]

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