Life

A Modern-day Priscilla

We often look at women portrayed in the Bible and Christian women who have impacted history through their stories of formidable faith and think they are in a league of their own. But that’s not necessarily true. While we should look at Mary, Esther, Ruth or Mary Magdalene’s record, study the accounts of all their good works and learn how they sought a real relationship with God, how they responded to his call and stood for their beliefs, remember this: God is the same yesterday, today and forever. He assigns missionaries all over the world including our own backyards. As […]

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Parents Should Take an Offensive Stance for Drug and Alcohol Prevention

Raising teenagers in South Florida is challenging. Pressure for teenagers to smoke cigarettes, do drugs and drink alcohol are prevalent in society. The problem can be found in our schools, neighborhoods and parks . My neighborhood is a family neighborhood, which backs up to a large church. And yet, my teenage boys have been offered drugs while shooting hoops in the park. Church kids skip out on church to smoke pot in the park. Most public schools have accepted teen drug and alcohol use, and Christian schools are facing the challenge of binge drinking parties and marijuana use. The problem […]

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Adult Activity Center Combats Loneliness

Whether you’re a local senior searching for some new friends or a snowbird looking for an exciting, Florida-style adventure, First Presbyterian Church of Fort Lauderdale offers an excellent social outlet for seniors. Meeting Thursdays at the church’s Adult Activity Center (AAC), located next to a large, scenic park and canal, seniors 65-100+ can get a taste of food, fun and fellowship weekly and and sign up for monthly outings.  Not only does the Adult Activity Center offer incredible events and trips but according to one of the regular attendees, Fran Shaw, it provides an excellent diverse social opportunity. Alice Averill, […]

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Getting Out Of Debt… Really!

Forget consolidation loans, extended credit lines or fancy debt relief agencies. The best way to escape debt is the difficult and painstaking road of — hard work!  I know it was easy and sometimes quick to get into debt, but now it is time to get out of the burden of debt. Lets get busy! Stop charging and borrowing If you want to get out of debt fast, you have to stop using debt to fund your lifestyle. This means no more financing furniture, no more signing up for credit cards, no more test driving brand new cars that you […]

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Helping Your Kids… When You Can’t Be There!

When our children come home from school depressed and crying, wailing and sobbing, we hurt with them! We were not there to help them. Sometimes they acted out of a raging emotional storm in a not-so-positive way, and then were sent to the principal’s office. With that news, we hurt some more. We couldn’t be there. Kids face problems alone. Some issues include mistakes and embarrassment in class, teasing, name calling, mockery, fears and anxieties. What can we do to help them? Is there a good answer? Oh, yes! There’s a strong, proven, researched method to significantly help our kids […]

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What Were They Thinking?

Isn’t that the question you ask when your pastor runs off with a church member or your friend runs off with his/her trainer from the gym?   The verdict is in: Count 1:  Infidelity – Guilty Count 2:  Not thinking – Guilty What were they not thinking about? The consequences of their actions – the devastation that can never be completely overcome. Before you start shaking your head and pointing your finger, realize that we are all only one thought, touch, look, gaze or Facebook contact from a fall.   Think it can’t happen to you? That’s what most adulterers […]

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Different than what I Thought, Better than I Imagined

Sometimes we think we have life all figured out, until life’s journey takes a surprising turn from what we expected. During a Christian Women in Leadership Luncheon in February, Lynette Lewis, author of Climbing the Ladder in Stilettos and How to Hold Out, Hang On and Marry the Man of Your Dreams shared how God has fulfilled her dreams in unexpected ways and on His own time schedule. While attending Oral Roberts University, Lewis always assumed she’d meet her future husband some time during her senior year, they’d fall in love, graduate together and marry a year or two later […]

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How I Found Healing in a Hog Pen

Entrepreneur, marketing director, video producer and corporate president, this is only a partial list of my supposedly impressive credentials. Now, let me take off my mask. Without that mask I was a self centered, prideful alcoholic and drug addict. I was bound by all of the above for 31 long years. I have been in jail 16 times for alcohol or drug related offenses, twice divorced, went through three inpatient recovery programs and three suicide attempts. The last attempt I ingested 60 valiums in an alcoholic blackout. Yes that was the real me. Notice I said the past tense “was” […]

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Pretty Little Liars

At one point or another, as a parent there is a certainty that your child will lie to you. Guaranteed. If you haven’t caught junior in a whopper yet then either you’re blind to it or he’s not yet old enough to be speaking.   I remember telling fibs and outright tall tales to my parents. My dad had a nose for truth, and I never really got by with much. But the worst part of having told a lie was the inevitable “Now you have lost our trust and have to earn it back” speech. I’ve heard that scenario […]

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Why I Don’t Want To Raise an Obedient Child

It’s funny the things people will ask me when they discover I have 15 children. Most times, the questions are a barrage of “How do you do it?” and “Don’t you know what causes that?” Sometimes the questions are heartfelt: “How did you get to adopt four children?” or “Why have so many?” But one of the most important questions that rarely gets asked is “What’s the most important thing I can teach my children?” Of course the most vital thing to teach any child is the redemptive power that faith in Jesus gives us. But past this, most parents just tend […]

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