Jesus
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Two Birthdays
Yesterday I turned another year older. And yesterday SUM turned 20! Each year now feels like a milestone as significant and amazing things occur year upon year. I somehow believed as I grew older, life slows and becomes easier. And in some ways it has. Yet, the ministry continues to support thousands who land on…
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Vulnerability
VULNERABILITY When you’re building connections with one another, you’re building bridges of trust that can bear the weight of truth. Some of the personality characteristics we have studied thus far, prohibit authentic connection. Our greatest need is relationships where we are safe to be our authentic self. Below is a quick video where vulnerability researcher…
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The Upper Room
Today I would like to challenge you to read the Upper Room Discourse, John, Chapter 13-17. These chapters are some of the most meaningful, powerful and life-transforming in the entire Bible. I become lost in pondering these passages. For example, a couple of weeks ago one of my prayer clients asked me, “How to do…
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Easter, And A Break in Our Relationships Study
Easter is next Sunday so we will take a break from our Healthy Relationships Study. Let’s focus our time on the Greatest Event in History, the Holy Week. It’s Monday for most readers here at Sum. Today marks the Triumphant Entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. Jesus Comes to Jerusalem as King 11 As they approached Jerusalem…
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Long Term Marriage – Dismissive Avoidant
REMINDER: The information shared in this series of posts, Healthy Relationships, is to add to our understanding of our relationships and with some specifics to marriage. The information I share has been vetted to the best of my ability. I may not have the full scope of practices or ministries of which I’ve obtained information…
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Crisis & Resilience
Hi SUM Nation, Lynn Donovan here. Last November I was honored to share with my long-time SUMite friend on her Podcast, Warrior Words, about thriving in a mismatched marriage. You can hear that here. Heather invited me once again to share another story on her podcast. I share how our faith carries us through a…
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Seek to Understand; Not to be Understood
During the summer Bible study that Lynn, Ann, and Ian led on the book of Psalms, I wrote a guest blog entitled, King David’s Heart was Like a Pitcher, to show that David poured out all his emotions to God, both positive and negative. (Psalm 142:2) I also told the heartbreaking story of Maria and…
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It’s About to Get Very Real
Hi Sum Family, Wasn’t Ann’s post on Monday amazing? I’ve pondered and prayed to try to determine what to share about personalities, emotional health and healthy boundaries. I’ve undertaken hours of review and study from the psychological/educational pundits to gain some small understanding of the vast amount of information available. It’s a lot! What I…
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The Gift of Others!
Lent! We’re now 2 weeks into this annual pilgrimage to meet Jesus at the Cross and then to experience His resurrection of that wonderful Easter Sunday. For those of you who’ve been here for a while, you’ll know I love Lent. For me, it’s always a season to recalibrate, to assess my relationship with Jesus.…
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Gentle and Humble in Heart
Hello, everyone. Ian here from sunny Sydney. We trust everyone’s 2026’s have started well. With the beginning of a new year, it’s often a good time to re-set and re-assess our relationship with God. Perhaps more so with all that’s going on in the world. Much of it not good making these times a little…
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Prayers For War
Hi SUMite Nation, our Church without Walls, Lynn Donovan here. Well, we did it! I was able to relocate the websites to a new host and move most of the content over. It can still be found by using the search feature at the top of the website, just under the new menu bar. The…
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Eyes off or on Jesus
Hello friends, Ann here. Last week, I was impacted by a post that randomly came across my Facebook feed. I'll paste it below, and then will continue the conversation underneath: ** "Fix Your Eyes on the Bridegroom: A Warning to the Bride of Christ" by IAN JOHNSON Recently, I had a…
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Valentine’s Day- The Day of Love
Valentine’s Day Oh, the emotions that arrive with the mention of this day. I want you to know that God LOVES Valentines Day. He sees it as a day where we celebrate the most significant thing in the universe. God loves us. He loves us so much He died and rose to life in order…
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John Bible Study – The Last and Most Important Post
John 15:4 Abide in Me, and I in you.. One of the main topics that Jesus was trying to communicate to the disciples on His final night of ministry before the Cross is to abide. Several scripture verses in chapter 15, Jesus implores the disciples to abide in Him. And we have already covered the…
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Politics and the Unequally Yoked
Politics and the Unequally Yoked Lynn here. Politics in the Bible? John Chapter 14? I’m so glad you asked. Let’s quickly define the scenario that is often at hand in our mismatched marriages as it relates to politics (and religion). In our marriages we view life, morals, beliefs and purpose through the lens of God’s…
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Who Is This Man?
Who is this man? (Luke 8:25) Yeshua, the son of the living God. (Matthew 16:16) My brothers and sisters, while in prayer, I have sat on hundreds of beaches with the Lord, and with a hurting or a hungry person who seeks and receives His love, wisdom, and healing. I’ve watched as our Savior holds…
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And So We Reach Friday: Thank You for the Blood
Friday, the day of all days! Matthew 26:47-27:66, Mark 14:43-15:46, Luke 22:47-23:56, John 18:2-19:37 There’s a song I heard this week for the first time called ‘Thank you Jesus for the Blood’. Well, as we come together on this little place in the web, that’s what I want to say to Jesus today Thank you…
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Thursday, the Last Supper …
Jesus spends Thursday with his disciples. Matthew 26:17–29, Mark 14:12-25, Luke 22:7-20, John 13:1-17:26 No more crowds; it's just him and them. Round an intimate table he washes their feet and tenderly gives them bread and wine. He says this is something he has longed to do: He just adores them so much, and this…
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Tuesday, Three Days Before The Crucifixion …
My friends, we've reached Tuesday of Holy Week. Matthew 21:20-26:16, Mark 11:19-14:11, Luke 20:1-22:6, John 12:20-50. Honestly, so much happened on this day that it makes my head spin. It's not just the amount of things that happened; it was also the things that Jesus spoke that were particularly intense. You'll see what I mean…
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Sunday, Five Days Before the Crucifixion …
Hi friends, It's Ann here and I'm looking forward to diving into our journey through Holy Week. Let's start here: Following in Jesus’ footsteps, we find ourselves in Jerusalem five days before the crucifixion. It's Sunday. This day is described in Matthew 21:1-9, Mark 11:1-11, Luke 19:28-44, and John 12:12-19. And based on those four…
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This Principle of Faith is a MUST for the Unequally Yoked
Hi Sum Nation. Lynn Donovan here. I’ve been pondering the spiritual principals of the Kingdom of God. There are spiritual laws that are unbreakable and cannot be subverted. Just as there are laws in the natural (physical) realm there are principals set down by God, that when followed, result in a powerful life. For example,…