Practical Application

Bragging Rights

Elizabeth Mitchell
17 Oct 2018
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‘“Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.’ For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends” (2 Corinthians 10:17-18). They ooze out like sticky syrup, splotching conversation unnecessarily. Boastful words. Braggadocios challenges. Arrogant assumptions. Pride raises its puffed head and portrays pretentious imagery. Everyone discovers its nonsense, eventually. We are quick to speak of accomplishments, share where we’ve been and people we know, sort of. Photos depicting charmed lives elevate our status. We post and pose our perfect worlds as selfish pride points the camera on us; all […]

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Church United Holds Teacher Appreciation Lunch

The Good News
10 Oct 2018
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Four local churches, through Church United a partnership of local churches across denominations, hosted a teacher appreciation lunch on August 14 for the faculty and staff of Fort Lauderdale High School. With the help of approximately 40 volunteers, these four churches came together to provide lunch, teacher survival kits and school supplies for 175 teachers and faculty members to kick off the 2018-2019 school year. This event included inspirational programming and raffle prizes to show teachers how appreciated they are for investing in the students. Special thanks to Anthony’s Coal Fired Pizza for donating lunch, the United Way for donating […]

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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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The Power of We: Q Commons Encourages Hospitality Across Dividing Lines

John Houmes
1 Oct 2018
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Later that night, I texted my friend to apologize. I had not listened to her to understand, but rather to share my opinion and dismantle hers. I was out with old friends that I hadn’t seen in a long time. One friend and I began discussing a certain author’s theology. I was concerned that my friend found the author’s thinking to be compelling. I was apprehensive that she didn’t understand the implications of the author’s teachings. The discussion became a debate between friends, then a more pointed dismantling of the other’s opinion. We reached an impasse right as it was […]

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

Dr. Tommy Boland
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way

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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Praying with My Eyes Open

Rob Hoskins
26 Sep 2018
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I started 2018 with fasting and prayer. During an early prayer time, I felt God calling me to intercede like never before for my community. He asked me to grant these people, with whom I share proximity, a higher level of priority. I struggled with how to pray for my neighbors and their needs beyond a general covering thinking, “There’s gotta be an app for that.” An app for praying Not finding a “pray for your neighbors” app, I downloaded the Nextdoor app and began praying through daily posts. As I read each post, I brought my neighbors’ names and […]

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praying

Who’s Got Zach’s Back?

Stephan Tchividjian
12 Sep 2018
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zach

Imagine living your life in such a manner that increasingly no one wanted to be around you.  You were so self-obsessed and so focused on your own “so called” success that people and relationships did not matter. Now, imagine something happened that changed all that. Perhaps a book you read, perhaps a sermon you heard, perhaps a caring friend that spoke into your life, but you truly had a “scrooge moment” and woke up with a new perspective. You were different. You assumed everyone would be happy and excited and want to celebrate this new you. However, you were not received the way you thought you would be. Perhaps […]

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RUF Reaches College Students at FAU

The Good News
5 Sep 2018
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RUF (Reformed University Fellowship) recently kicked off  its third year of ministry on the Florida Atlantic University campus in Boca Raton. A ministry of the PCA denomination, RUF’s mission is to reach students for Christ and to equip them to serve the church. According to Campus Minster, Rev. Jeff Lee, who is also an FAU alumnus, College is a pivotal moment in a student’s life where questions of identity, purpose, meaning, and hope are constantly being discussed and explored.  For those reasons, RUF is committed to sending seminary trained, ordained pastors to campuses around the country in order to bring […]

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Jesus Never Said, “I am God”

Dr. Tommy Boland
4 Sep 2018
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i am god

When I talk with unbelieving skeptics, it is not uncommon to hear them object, “There is no place in your Bible where Jesus says, ‘I am God!’” And if you search the Scriptures for that exact statement from the lips of our Lord — “I am God” — it’s true that you won’t find it. But it is also true that Jesus declared that He was God in a variety of ways, and there can be no question that His first century audience clearly understood His claim to be God. To be sure, not all of that audience accepted Jesus’ […]

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What is Your Teachability Factor?

Dr. Gary Hewins
3 Aug 2018
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Humility seems to be teachability’s first cousin. These two family members seem to hang out together a lot. They are almost always doing something together. If you are fairly teachable, then you are fairly humble. If you are truly humble, then you have things to learn. As you think about your attitudes and opinions, consider your level of teachability and your level of flexibility. Dr. Ken Boa has a name for a condition that people who are less than teachable and flexible endure. Boa calls this rigidity “hardening of the categories.” Some people tend to prematurely place others in categories. […]

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