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“Believe” is a Feel-good Film Just in Time for the Holidays

Finley Walker
8 Dec 2016
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Believe movie

  “Believe” releases in theaters just in time for the holidays, or should I say Christmas? It is a film by Billy Dickson (Ally McBeal, One Tree Hill) that centers in on the small mining town of Grundy, Virginia. For years, the Peyton family has provided not only jobs but the highlight of the year — the annual Christmas festival and pageant. Unfortunately, as financial hardships fall on the town, Matthew Peyton (Ryan O’Quinn) finds himself overwhelmed as business profits plummet. His workers begin to strike, his community support dwindles, and Matthew is forced to make impossible decisions concerning the […]

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Make Christmas Meaningful for Kids

Maritza Cosano
6 Dec 2016
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  If you are like most families, the Christmas season brings a certain anticipation of one, two or even twelve days filled with family traditions. From Christmas trees shopping adventures to decorating your house with mistletoes, candles and candy canes, baking delicious desserts and splashing the Christmas colors and twinkle lights everywhere from the family room to the front yard — in other words, the Christmas you have always imagined. For our children, this Christmas is still being written upon their future memories. So, how can we as parents make Christmas more about the reason and less about the season? […]

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A New Chapter in the Hanukkah Story

Dr. Susan Michael
5 Dec 2016
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The story of Hanukkah is often told with an emphasis on the evil ruler, Antiochus IV Epiphanes, King of the Hellenistic Seleucid empire, who was bent on the Hellenization of the Jewish people. Had he succeeded, it would have meant the demise of the Jewish faith and thereby, the Jewish people. God’s plan to bring salvation to the world through their Messiah would have died with them. In his attempt to force the Jews into compliance, Antiochus IV slaughtered 40,000 inhabitants of Jerusalem, murdered the High Priest and prohibited sacrifices, the service of the Temple and the observance of the […]

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Fort Lauderdale Christmas Pageant Will Honor American Heroes

Estefania Hernandez
30 Nov 2016
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From camels and new-born babies to flying angels, pyrotechnics and more, First Baptist Fort Lauderdale’s annual Christmas production has wowed thousands for more than 30 years. The Fort Lauderdale Christmas Pageant rises to the caliber and mastery of Broadway shows but with a different foundation. What makes this renowned event so special? Some may say the magic is in the scenery, while others can argue the actors hold the pageant to its high standards. One thing is certain. “When you have welcomed 40,000 people a year for 33 years, the impact is undeniable, as the real message of Christmas is […]

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Churches Work Together to Serve

Edwin Copeland
29 Nov 2016
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churches

If you’ve attended Church in Broward County in the last month, you’ve likely heard about Love South Florida — a month-long outreach dedicated to seeing churches unite for the sake of mission in our region. Whether it was filling local food pantries, serving single mothers, partnering with local schools, raising money, prison ministry or disaster relief, churches from varying traditions and denominations linked arms to demonstrate the love of Jesus in tangible ways during the month of November. For Juan Gallo, pastor of Holy CityChurch in Hollywood, “Love South Florida was a natural response to the larger expression of unity […]

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South Florida Supports Disaster Relief Effort to Haiti

Bob Woods
1 Nov 2016
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  Haiti has been struck by yet another natural disaster, only six years after being rocked by a 7.0 magnitude earthquake that leveled Port-au-Prince and Jacmel. The same Hurricane Matthew that barely missed the Miami-Fort Lauderdale area and came somewhat closer to North Florida, slammed into the southern peninsula of Haiti as a Category 4 storm, bringing almost complete devastation to many cities and towns, destroying many of the crops in the western plains of Haiti’s bread basket, and killing over 1,000 people. Local pastors and church leaders are stunned by the catastrophic damage of its impact. Streets have become […]

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Thanksgiving: The Legacy of an Unlikely Hero

Estefania Hernandez
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Almost four centuries have passed since America celebrated its first Thanksgiving, a day where two distinct groups of people — the Pilgrims and the Native American Indians — put aside their differences and celebrated the Pilgrims’ first corn harvest. As I have begun to learn more about its origins, the story behind the first Thanksgiving seems to be one of an unlikely hero who was able to bridge cultural differences and save a people group from starvation. In some ways there are even lessons for our generation. Fast forward to today and we celebrate Thanksgiving as a day when friends […]

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Burnout: Recognize the Signs Before the Flame is Gone

John Hawkins, Sr
8 Oct 2016
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Recently I read an article about a senior pastor, Pete Wilson, of Cross Point Church, who resigned from the multi­site mega church he founded 14 years ago in Nashville, Tennessee. The reason he gave was that he was, “tired, broken and had been leading on empty.” What he was describing was what we refer to as burnout. Now you may be wondering how can a pastor be burned out? All he has to do is preach a sermon on Sunday morning. The reality is there are a lot of stressful jobs and pastoring is right at the top. Depression and […]

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Study Finds Strong Families Contribute to High School Graduation Rates

Shelly Pond
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“The number of families headed by married couples is a more powerful predictor of high school graduation and school suspension rates in Florida than are factors such as income, race and ethnicity,” according to “Strong Families, Successful Schools,” a new study released in September by the Institute for Family Studies. “Accordingly, policymakers, educators and civic leaders should work to strengthen families as well as schools,” concluded W. Bradford Wilcox, Ph.D., a senior fellow at the Institute for Family Studies who shared his findings at an event hosted by Live the Life last month. An organization dedicated to strengthening marriages and […]

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When Jesus Attended the Feast

Dr. Susan Michael
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For centuries Christian churches had little appreciation for the biblical Feast of Tabernacles. They understood Passover was the foundation for Jesus’ atoning death on the cross, and they understood Pentecost, or the Feast of Weeks, was a Jewish feast on which the Holy Spirit was poured out on the early church. But, there was no Christian fulfillment of the Feast of Tabernacles for them to celebrate. This is because the Feast of Tabernacles is a forward looking Feast with a yet future fulfillment. The founders of the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem (ICEJ) understood this and that the prophet Zechariah had […]

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