Bloom!

O the deep, deep love of Jesus, spread His praise from shore to shore! How He loveth, ever loveth, changeth never, nevermore! How He watches o’er His loved ones, died to call them all His own; How for them He intercedeth, watcheth o’er them from the throne! O the deep, deep love of Jesus, love of every love the best! ’Tis an ocean full of blessing, ’tis a haven giving rest! O the deep, deep love of Jesus, ’tis a heaven of heavens to me; And it lifts me up to glory, for it lifts me up to Thee! ~ Samuel Francis (words) and Thomas Williams (music)

 I struggled to remain calm, to breathe calmly, too. My stomach felt strangely sick, unlike I’d ever felt before. I lay in my tiny tent in a remote village in the middle of nowhere. Oh, God, I need You! I need - I couldn ’t finish as I grunted and gasped in agonizing pain, making my teammates’ faces twist in worry as they prayed. I literally felt the strong poison travel up my right side, starting from my foot and making it all the way to my shoulder. Not only was half my body swelling dramatically, it was almost paralyzed as well. It had been an ordinary day in the rainforests of Panama, until I encountered a dangerous spider and began experiencing its poison as it ravaged my body. As I lay on the hard ground, I realized how dire my situation really was. I was hours and hours away from the closest civilized hospital. Even if I wanted to bring in an emergency helicopter, the darkness of the rainforest at night, combined with the fact that it would take a two hours hike to ...

Continuing our weekly conversations . . . The deal: Each Thursday, we announce a question of the week. We seek to ask questions that spark interesting conversations, whether it simply be about books, traditions, spiritual disciplines, more theological matters, or anything related to life in general. You can join in our conversations two ways: 1. Leave a comment with your thoughts! 2. Or, if you prefer, post an answer on your own blog and leave us a link to your post so we can comment and add to the conversation. If you post on your own blog, you are welcome to use the picture above as long as you link back to us somewhere in your post. This week's question... Last week Joanna shared about her mission trip to Panama. Now we'd like to hear from you - have you gone on a mission trip before? If you have, let us know what you did, who you went with, and how God used it in your life!

Jesus, be the centre be my source, be my light, Jesus  Jesus, be the centre be my hope, be my song, Jesus be the fire in my heart be the wind in these sails be the reason that I live Jesus, Jesus - Michael Frye

- It is 11:30 at night. I look at the clock and sigh; I should start getting ready for bed. My exhaustion presses around me like the darkness outside. And my to-do list doesn ’t make things any better. I feel like a failure. Instead of a glorious line of checks, there are only a few scattered ones. The paper that seemed so innocent this morning now glares up at me, a blatant reminder of all I have left undone. I fight against the tears that threaten my eyes, but it’s late at night and thus battles are futile. “It’s not even like I worked hard whenever I could but was gone all day or helping Mom or something,” I whimper. “I just…wasted…so much time. I procrastinated. And now look what I’ ve done!” Now I really feel like a failure. I brush the list onto the floor, and discover the slip of paper that had been under it. “Only God gets his to-do list done every day,” reads the quote from C.J. Mahaney . And it’s true, of course, and sort of comforting. But it’s also a nagging rem...

It isn’t exactly commonplace to have a flashlight for electricity, a river for washing, a two hour roundtrip up a steep mountain to obtain cell phone signal, a tent for your house, and mosquitoes for neighbors, especially for five weeks! Introducing Operation Mobilization’s Mission Extreme (ME) program in Panama! From July to September, I joined the ME team for an adventure of a lifetime. After some training and ministry in the city for several weeks, we ventured into the remote tribe of the Ngöbe Buglé (pronounced “No-bay Boo-GLAY”) people. The Ngöbe adults, for the most part, are incredibly shy and often will not look you in the eyes. One of the major reasons for this is that they have been neglected, made fun of, stereotyped, and mistreated for hundreds of years. You know what? I only know one Person who can take away all that deep pain and hurt that the Ngöbe have been through. What a privilege it was to bring Jesus – the Hope – to the villagers! Through Him, what was broken a...