Practical Application

Are You in Reactive or Proactive Mode?

New Year’s resolutions can often last into early February, but intentional planning can make a huge difference. Here are some tips for you to be a more effective person and leader in 2020. Next year is going to be so great, in part, because you took some time to think through a simple personal plan for yourself and your family. Spontaneity is great, but so too, is having some sort of relationship/family plan. Good leaders make good plans that give others a real sense of purpose and accomplishment. If you asked a son, daughter or spouse what the family wants […]

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Is Gratitude Essential?

The season of Thanksgiving is rooted in both religious and harvest celebrations. The Pilgrims and Indians of America celebrated in the 1600s, and George Washington declared it a national holiday in 1779. Several countries celebrate the bounty of the harvest season with a day of thanks, but setting aside periods of thanks and acknowledgment is well documented in both the Old and New Testament. Probably the most quoted verse is Psalm 100:4, “Enter his gates with Thanksgiving and his courts with praise. Give thanks to him and praise his name.” I’ve often wondered why there are so many verses telling […]

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Churches Join Forces to Love South Florida

Every November churches from across South Florida come together to demonstrate what unity for the sake of mission looks like. Linking arms with other churches in their region, God’s people are sent out to Love South Florida — to pray for, serve and give towards the flourishing of their neighborhoods, workplaces and cities. This year we are kicking off with Unsinkable, a region-wide sermon series. This series is meant to strengthen, catalyze and reorient Christians to the fact that THEY are the sleeping giant waiting to be deployed out to share faith, give hope and extend the love of Jesus […]

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This Calling It A Day For Christians

This Calling It A Day For Christians This Calling for TGIF. Everybody’s working for the weekend. If you really loved what you do, it won’t feel like work. Ever hear these words or utter them yourself? Is there anything wrong with them?  A very common cultural view of work is that our work is really a means to end.  The modern view is that you work to make enough money so you don’t have to work. It echoes a common religious view of work, which says that you work to make enough money so you can give it to the […]

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Why The Church Needs New Songs

Why do we need to write new songs? Aren’t the old ones good enough? We have hymn books that contain hundreds of songs, and many of them have endured for several centuries. These are the songs that past generations used in services week after week and many people feel they shouldn’t be thrown out now. But when we read the Bible, we find instructions like this: “Oh sing to the LORD a new song; sing to the LORD, all the earth!” (Psalm 96:1). “Sing to Him a new song; play skillfully with a shout of joy” (Psalm 33:3). “Oh sing […]

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The Hope of South Florida: But God.

The Bible reminds us that God uses the foolish things of the world to shame the wise – God always uses the B-team. In God’s economy, weakness and inadequacy are fundamentals to flourishing in the Christian life. However, so much of Christian culture today celebrates the A-team: the most gifted, the eloquent, the successful and the prosperous. Over and over again the Bible reminds us that the shared story of every Christian is not one of performance and gifting but rather one of God’s intervention. But God… You know what the two most powerful words in all of human history […]

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Worshipful

There is a place where you can go-a great expansive, yet intimate “room.” Expectantly and cautiously climbing the stairs upward through an open door, one can enter an ongoing celebration. At the epicenter of all things is a throne. From that throne emanates flashes of lightning and peals of thunder. The color is so very brilliant and intense, but not as beautiful as He on the throne. The area around the throne cannot contain the visual splendor. The colors and brilliance are reflected as in a failed attempt to diminish their intensity. There before the throne is sea of glass, […]

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Stephan Tchividjian Embarrassed by Some Christians

After speaking to Stephan Tchividjian he gives us this insight: Lately I have been embarrassed by some Christians. That bothers me because it’s like saying, “I am embarrassed by my husband, my wife or my kids” and that is never a good sign. I must also be cautious of feeling embarrassment in the first place. The concept of embarrassment is a loaded one, and it reeks of an unhealthy self-love and early signs of narcissism. Therefore, it has caused me to ask myself some questions, mostly around a simple, “Why?” Stephan Tchividjian continues to say: I look at our culture […]

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Unsinkable

I wish I could say that I took it in stride. But the honest truth is, I was shocked. I was sitting at lunch across from a young couple. They were both sharp professionals. They had asked me to officiate their wedding, and the purpose of the lunch was to find out where they were at spiritually. Over the course of the conversation, I said something like, “…that is why the resurrection of Jesus is so important.” I continued, but they interrupted. The groom-to-be said, “Wait, what did you just say?” I said, “You know, the fact that Jesus rose […]

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You Are Bountiful

In Christ, you have a grasp of the far-reaching implications of generosity. You know that you are never more like your Lord than when you give. “For God so loved the world that He gave…” (John 3:16). For you, faith, generosity and love are inseparable. Your faith is fully alive and fully energized by Spirit-led biblical generosity. While others think they own what they have, they can actually be owned by what they have. You are aware of the truth that the earth is the Lord’s and everything in it. You own nothing. God owns everything. You steward all that […]

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