Bloom!

It's almost 2015 and that means it's a great time to reflect on your Bible reading plans for the new year.  We thought it would be helpful if we reposted this list from last year of reading plans offered by three different ministries. Take a look below and pray about how the Lord would have you study His Word in this new year. Bible Gateway: Bible Gateway offers three different Bible reading plans that they will send to your email daily: - OT and NT in the NIV version, 365 days.  Readings sent daily to your email. - OT and NT in the KJV version, 365 days.  Readings sent daily to your email. - NT in the NIV version, 365 days.  Readings sent daily to your email. Ligonier Ministries: Ligionier Ministries, a ministry of RC Sproul, offers all the following Bible reading plans via PDF (plus more on their website): - 365 days, each day of the week dedicated to a different genre of the Bible - 5x5x5 plan - read through the NT in a year, Monday through Friday. -

It's almost Christmas Day and we thought it would be fun and encouraging to share some questions and answers from several of our Bloom! staff about Christmastime!  Enjoy! Victoria: What's your favorite Christmas tradition and why? The Christmas Eve service at our church.  It's special to me because we sing Christmas carols together and we light each other's candles and sing "Silent Night" at the end.  This is often a time when the reality of Jesus' birth sets in. Share with us a favorite Christmas movie or song and why you love it. One of my favorite Christmas songs is "O Holy Night."  It's awesome because the chorus calls people to remember the holiness of Jesus' birth and to still realize the specialness of each Christmas that follows. Joanna: How do you focus on Christ during Christmas, especially when it's so easy to get caught up in the festivities? Service!  Just as we talked about recently , I try to keep Ch

  It's Christmastime and wow, there's so much going on!  Between the sweets and goodies, the white elephant parties, and the Christmas caroling, concerts, and get-togethers, it's easy to get overwhelmed.  Either that or feel like superwoman as you attempt to attend everything, buy everything, wrap everything, and eat everything... Of course, we know Christmas is about Christ and celebrating Who He is to us as believers, but sometimes it's so easy to overlook that in the midst of the fun and busyness!  Recently Krista and I were talking about Christmas and how we really want this to be a time of service.  Yes, you read that right - we were talking about Christmas being a time of service.  That's usually not too high on the list of things to do during the holiday season.  But when you consider Jesus and take a look at Scriptures, it's clear He's about serving others ( John 13 ), putting others' needs above our own ( Phil. 2 ), and loving others ( Mark

 ***UPDATE***  Congrats to Melody V.!  Melody, you're the winner of "Counted Worthy" and have 48 hours to respond to the email we sent you.  If you don't respond in the 48 hours, we'll have to pick another winner, so make sure to contact us!  Thanks to everyone who participated - and so you know, the current price of "Counted Worthy" (Kindle) is at $1.99 (going up in a few hours), so check it out! I first heard about Leah Good and her new book, Counted Worthy , via The Rebelution .  My interest was piqued and I wanted to know more.  Then I knew Leah's book was going to be amazing when best-selling author Brett Harris had this to say about it: “Every generation must discover it’s own storyweavers. Leah Good is one of ours and we are fortunate. Counted Worthy is a thrilling work of inspirational fiction that perfectly complements the message of Do Hard Things. Grab a copy for yourself, grab a copy for a friend, and help spread the word abou