Hey SUM family, Tiffany Here! During the leader's meeting on the Friday morning before the conference I said I would share a spoken word piece during the offering time. I didn't have anything prepared at the time of volunteering. In fact I just heard the words come out of my mouth. You know those moments when you realize after the fact that you were pushed into things by the Holy Spirit? Maybe it's just me. It happens quite often. *grin* The rest of the day seemed to fast forward pretty quickly. Filled with fellowship, food and fun. I was exhausted after the meet and greet at Lynn's house - in a good way - and went to bed shortly after everyone left. Saturday morning I wake up and realize that I didn't take time to prepare a spoken word! Out of desperation I laid flat on my back with my... Read more →

Friends, I will tell you that my Easter was strange. I attended my church on Saturday evening and was overcome by the presentation and the holiness of Jesus and what He gave to me. And then on Sunday morning, I attended my old church with Mike. It was weird and different and good. Read more →

Very early in the morning... Read more →

John 12: 24-25 Listen carefully: Unless a grain of wheat is buried in the ground, dead to the world, it is never any more than a grain of wheat. But if it is buried, it sprouts and reproduces itself many times over. In the same way, anyone who holds on to life just as it is destroys that life. But if you let it go, reckless in your love, you'll have it forever, real and eternal. ~The Message Read more →

Ann here! Lynn’s news last week was so amazing and today I just feel like speaking from the heart and sharing a little more about last week’s summit. Our summit intersected with a long-awaited baptism. What an almighty ROAR this was, one that we will now carry into our future. Our summit was called ‘Hear the Roar’, and our logo for the event was a lion. Well, the 'God winks' began when we arrived at Lynfield School and saw that its logo was a lion. We had fun taking photos of the lions adorning the school’s walls (here are a couple) and I still just keep coming across that word 'ROAR'. The whole Shortly before the event I developed a strong sense that this event was about the ‘whole’ of the SUM community. Alongside this, something crazy happened: Before I arrived at Lynn’s house, God gave me a picture of... Read more →

My dear SUMite Family, To write the title of this post, brings tears. I've waited since I began this blog in 2006 to write this very post. So with intentional honor to our Father, Jesus and Holy Spirit, today let me share my news, officially. Please hear me first, THIS IS NOT ABOUT ME. This moment was a lifetime of love of God for my husband. And I’m trying to remain low-key about it all. I’m allowing my husband to walk into this new season and let him take his time and find his own way forward in faith. And I’m still really processing. But for me, my I give all honor and glory to our Lord. He has been faithful. On March 14, 2019, on our 27th wedding anniversary, my husband, Mike, was baptized and made his confession of faith in Jesus Christ. In the last seven years I... Read more →

By Martha Bush God spoke to Abraham and said: “Leave your country, your family, and your father’s home for a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation and bless you. I’ll make you famous; you’ll be a blessing. I’ll bless those who bless you; those who curse you I’ll curse. All the families of the earth will be blessed through you.” (Genesis 12:1-3 MESG) In that day, going into Canaan, the place God was leading Abraham, was like going into Indian territory in the Old Wild West. There was no law; it was the survival of the fittest. It was not a land filled with good crops, a lot of it was barren wilderness. Nevertheless, God told Abraham “if you go that way, I will bless you and make you a blessing.” Abraham decided to go the path God directed him and, indeed, he... Read more →

Photos From the Summit Read more →

Jesus tells the story to His followers of the Prodigal son in the book of Luke 15. And there is so much more going on in this story than we comprehend. I hope you have enjoyed the posts about this passage over the past few weeks.But today, we are going to look at the Father in Luke 15. I’m so excited.There are so many things I love about this story. I often share on radio and television my personal story about my prodigal years and how I met and married my unbelieving spouse during that season. So, when I recount my return to the Father and how I see this story in Luke as my own, I become positively  emotional. Read more →

Image courtesy of Sura Nualpradid at FreeDigitalPhotos.net I was reading the story of Jesus feeding the 5,000 the other day and was challenged to reflect on it from the eyes of the boy who had the five loaves and two fish. If you wish to read along I used the version in John 6. I don’t think I’ve really even considered it from his perspective and with the SUMite Gathering this weekend I thought there were some wonderful insights to encourage all of you who will be attending. And especially for those of you who might be nervous or a little apprehensive as is very normal before such an event. Jesus asked the boy for his loaves and fish. Conceivably the boy could have refused the request. But he didn’t as I suspect Jesus, like he was with every child he met, was kind and considerate in making his request.... Read more →