From Samantha Brown's Places to Love Blog

With so many fantastic places to visit in Florida, it’s no surprise that most Americans make their way here at least once in their lives for a warm, sunny vacation! Crystal white beaches, bucket list worthy amusement parks, and all sorts of interesting history mean you could keep coming back and discover something new each time.

I’ve been down to Florida more times than I ca count, and I’ve always loved each trip. There’s a reason we’ve highlighted so many local destinations on “Places to Love!” Check below for some of my top picks.

Hurricane Ian 2022 Note: Did you know most of Florida bounced back rather quickly from Hurricane Ian? While news coverage would have you believe the entire state has been left in ruins, the only areas that really sustained significant damage were in the southwest. If you were thinking of escaping the winter for a Florida vacation this year, don’t worry about rescheduling. You’ll find many places barely had a scratch and are more than excited to welcome visitors once more.

Fantastic Places to Visit in Florida Right Now

Amelia Island

Less than an hour from Jacksonville, Amelia Island is an absolutely underrated family destination in northeast Florida. Ever since it was “discovered” by Jean Ribault while the Timucuan Indians were settled here in 1562, it’s been under control of the French, the Spanish (twice), the English, a group known as the Patriots, another group known as the Green Cross, a pirate claiming it for Mexico, the Confederacy, and, finally, the United States. Phew!

Be sure to visit Fort Clinch, which goes all the way back to 1736, and grab a drink at the Palace Saloon, Florida’s oldest bar. Enjoy the 13 miles of pristine beach and get on the water with Kayak Amelia. And if you’re traveling with any bird lovers, know that Amelia is the east gateway to the Great Florida Birding and Wildlife Trail.

Anna Maria Island

Slow down and step back in time at Anna Maria Island right at the southern tip of Tampa Bay. Everything about this place oozes with old Florida charm from the total lack of modern high rises to the preference for walking or biking instead of driving. Heck, if you don’t want to do too much exercise, they also offer up a free trolley to help you get around. Shop around cute boutiques or grab a long, leisurely lunch on the north side before soaking up the sun at a beach with sand so white, it looks like sugar. Really the only thing you want to make sure you’re on time for is the island’s famous sunsets.

Many call Anna Maria Florida’s best kept secret, so don’t say you heard about it from me!

Florida Keys

With one of the most scenic drives in America, the Florida Keys is the land of eternal vacation for good reason. All the way down at the southernmost point of Florida (and the continental United States), this is area is comprised of “keys,” aka small islands made from coral deposits. It’s the perfect place to plan a girls’ trip, a family trip, and even a romantic getaway. In fact, my husband and I booked our own honeymoon at Sunset Key Cottages back in the day.

While down here, take your time stopping off at the different islands to see what makes each so unique. Dine on authentic Cuban food, sample all sorts of key lime desserts (not just the pie), and be sure to learn about all the famous residents of the keys from Ernest Hemingway to Jimmy Buffet to President Truman to Judy Blume, who’s still living there today and owns a local bookstore, Books and Books. Don’t forget to make time to visit Dry Tortugas National Park while you’re here as well.

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Northern Hemisphere snow extent is currently indeed very high, now at about 41 million square kilometers, according to the NOAA/Rutgers Global Snow Lab. The most recent snow cover information is given in the image below.

The religion called climate change is about to insure the deaths of hundreds in the Northern Hemisphere areas of the globe. A disaster is brewing because the west is pushing bans on fossil fuels, leaving millions in the cold and without food. What they will need and not get is global warming!   Snow extent in the Northern Hemisphere at the end of November represents an important parameter for the early winter forecast. This year snow extent is running much higher than average and according to existing global estimates, it is now beyond the highest ever observed so far. Winter forecast, especially in its early phase and in Europe, might be strongly influenced by such a large snow extent, although many other factors need attention... MORE>>>>>

Author: Richard Rives

Today many would tell us that its all about grace and that to concern ourselves with the commandments of God is to be legalistic.

Nothing could be further from the truth.  We are to be doers of the word, and not hearers only, and are told that to do otherwise is to deceive our own selves.

Throughout the ages, many have decided what they want or need Christianity to be and have been so bold as to suppose that it will yield to their desires. In search of non-Biblical grace, rather than conforming to Biblical precepts and acting upon them, they wrest the scriptures to their own destruction.

While “talking the talk,” they redefine Biblical Christianity to accommodate their own needs failing to recognize that true faith, as outlined in scripture, and as practiced by first century believers, is more than the recitation of Christian phraseology. It is walking the walk. It is a life-style of obedience to the commandments of our Creator, as recorded in the Bible, by the power of the Holy Spirit. That’s not being legalistic – That’s Biblical Christianity.

Earnestly contending for the faith once delivered to the saints,
I’m Richard Rives with Just the Facts.

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Much of Christian media not aware of it, nor reporting on it

(Photo by Joe Kovacs)

Moses with the tablets of the Ten Commandments, painting by Rembrandt (1659) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

By Bob Barney

 Christ warned us to be aware of false religion, customs and laws. These warnings have basically fallen on deaf years. We must all know and pay attention to the most important "sign" of Jesus coming again; it is the spread of false religion and religious practices that are contrary to God. Over the years, God's Law, THE TEN COMMANDMENTS, have been replaced by man's law. Our theologians call it being "saved by grace" when truly nothing of the sort is biblically sound or true of being saved in this manner.

Christmas, Easter, and Sunday worship actually pre-date the earthly ministry of Jesus! Yes, you read that correctly, these holidays have nothing to do with Christ and were being followed long before GOD became a man and walked among us. Even in the garden of Eden, the very first religious lie promulgated was the "immortal soul" doctrine. To this day, we believe the devil and that "we shall not die but be like God" and live forever as some spirit in heaven or hell. That is Satan's lie and almost every false religion has adopted it.

In Jesus' time, the Jewish nation, after years of captivity, began to adopt Babylonian ways. They took on the Babylonian calendar and "lost" God's true perfect one, and at the same time began the truly pagan observance of "evening days."  This simply means that, like the Babylonians, they began to start their day at sunset rather than sunrise. Like everything else, the theologians of the day twisted a few scriptures which may imply evening days and ignored hundreds of scriptures that proved that God's day starts in the morning. Most Sabbath keeping churches to this day follow this pagan start of the day and continue the practice of those lawless religious leaders that killed Christ! The same people He declared at his arrest were those who worshipped the DARKNESS, and darkness is when evil reigns! Yes, the nighttime is darkness and God IS NEVER in darkness! We read in Revelation that when Christ returns to Jerusalem, that where He is will always be in light! There will be no nighttime in the Holy City! Yes, it's in the same Bible that we all read. Revelation 21:23 "And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb [is] the light thereof."

In the very first chapter of the Bible, we read "And God said, Let there be light: and there was light." 

When did this happen, in the evening time? Is there light at night? Read on..."And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day. " See? He called the light DAY! It is clear, when GOD said "Let there be light" it became day! It was dawn!

Sabbath Day Readings from The Plain Truth's Message Board

THE SABBATH

By Bob Barney

Are we living in the last days? Are we in the END TIMES? Is the return of Jesus Christ right around the corner? These are the questions that many of us ask ourselves whenever we read the book of Revelation or the Gospel of Matthew.  How can we not want to understand the return of Jesus Christ and the awesome Kingdom of God that He will be bringing with Him?

Let us first discuss the misnomer with the term “end times”. Jesus was never talking about the end of the world and John in his book of Revelation wasn't speaking of the end of the world either; in fact, both men were talking about what is best described as “the end of the age” of mankind.

When God created man, Adam and Eve to be exact, a new age upon this earth began. It was the age of mankind, and it began approximately five to six thousand years ago as best we can tell. Adam was set up to rule this earth during this age but because of Adam’s sin he lost his right as ruler of the age of mankind. Many are not aware that the Bible plainly states that the Earth is much older than man. In fact, those who believe the earth to be billions of years old are not necessarily in conflict with the Bible at all! It is very possible that the earth is extremely old. In Genesis the correct translation of God creating the heavens and the earth is that God RE-CREATED the heavens and the earth after a cataclysm that is not mentioned. This former earth was under the rulership of the great archangel Lucifer, the angel who rebelled against God and became Satan. If Adam had not sinned, he would have been the ruler of this age and would have replaced Satan is the ruler of this age.

Believe it or not, the TRUE Gospel of Jesus Christ is rarely ever presented in the churches of today. What I am referring to is that Jesus as God is coming back to replace Satan as the ruler of this earth and usher in a new age. When Christ returns and brings the Kingdom of God with Him, it will entail a government that will have no end, and the age of man will actually come to an end. It would be a very important truth for the church to finally get on board with what Jesus was saying and meaning! Jesus was not merely talking about salvation, and He most definitely wasn’t talking about how to get to Heaven, the Son of God was talking about bringing God’s government to earth, complete with God’s laws and love.