HEALING IN THE MIDST OF TRAGEDY
byWednesday is the 23nd anniversary of 9/11/2001. I was 23 when I was at ground zero on that day. I must say there…
Exhortation
GIFTED with EXHORTATION motivating others to action, application and purpose
GRACE AND FREEDOM DURING RAMADAN
byPlease pray for Muslims to meet Jesus during Ramadan. Ramadan started 4 weeks ago on March 10 and it ends this Tuesday evening…
RAMADAN: AN OPEN DOOR AND A SWEET REMINDER
byRamadan starts tonight, March 10 and ends in 4 weeks on the evening of April 9. It is the month of the Islamic…
A YEAR COMPLETE
byAnother year completed! Another 365 days filled with the all-embracing moments of what truly makes a year complete. From the fresh scent of…
FINDING OUR MISSION
bySomething happened … we went from a very comfortable-typical American-Christian-homeschool (Classical Conversations)-boating-dirt biking-mountain biking-camping type family to something different. We went from living…
WHATEVER YOU DO, DO NOT RUN
byAfter 16 years pastoring a church in England, Belinda and I never imagined we would wake-up one day in Zimbabwe, Southern Africa, a…
GOD PREPARES US
byFor we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. Ephesians…
THE SECRET OF WAITING WELL
byEverybody talks about waiting for this and waiting for that, and although waiting can be painful, and quite honestly never ending, I have…
WISDOM OVER FEAR
byOne day soon afterward Jesus went up on a mountain to pray, and he prayed to God all night. Luke 6:12 I always…
THROUGH THE EYES OF PURPOSE
byI was born in Nigeria. I first began to grasp the understanding of Christianity through the eyes of PURPOSE. Your purpose as a…
A BOY, A DAD AND A BOAT
byWe all sail on the seas of life. Similar to that of the vast ocean, which can be serene, turbulent, unpredictable, or an…
HERE’S HOPING…
byWe have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure… Hebrews 6:19 Let me tell you about the hope of…
WORSHIP IN THE WRECKAGE
byMy hand was strumming with vigorous intensity, my voice resounding with a passionate plea to experience God, that familiar feeling came over me…
WHAT’S ON YOUR PLAYLIST?
byI once heard that “Friends know the songs in our hearts and will sing them back to us when we’ve forgotten the words.”…
HE’S GOT THE WHOLE WORLD IN HIS HANDS
byHe’s got the whole world in his hands, he’s got the whole world in his hands! If you grew up in church, you…
CHOOSE JOY
byLife has been a lot of things in recent months, but consistently, it’s been tough. The past 18 months have been a long…
REMEMBER… HE HAS RISEN!
byThis past week leading up to Easter, I’ve tried to read the Easter story every day and look for something new that I’ve…
WORSHIP THE KING
byOn coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened…
THE BEAUTY AND PAIN OF KINSHIP
byFor the beginning of this Fruitful Story, you may want to first read Teresa Ku-Borden’s LIVING IN GETHSEMANE This second Fruitful story by Teresa is excerpted…
MY HIDDEN YEAR
byI’m a millennial. I’m currently writing this on my MacBook Air, drinking a great cup of coffee, sitting on a daybed in the…
WHEN PERSECUTION GETS PERSONAL
byWe’ve lived under some “real” persecution. When I think of some of the situations my husband and I have lived through over the…
WITH HEARTS THAT LEAN TOWARD AFRICA
byCan you believe we’re here and doing this? During the past five years, my husband David and I have looked at each other often…
NOURISHED BY TRUTH
byEvery time we meet on this middle eastern university campus, we stop at the kiosk for three brimming paper cups of sweet mint…
COME TO THE TABLE
byTables… We have them in our homes, schools, work places. We fight to get a good space at one in a cafe and we…
THE EXERCISE OF EMPATHY
by“Move along, sister!” the police officer was firmly instructing me. I was standing in front of a scene I’d only ever heard about…
WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS NOW?
byWhat are your plans now? This question greets me nearly every day. It’s not a bad question at all. In fact, it is…
LIKE A CHILD
byI’ve been in Kenya a week. To be exact, 7 days and six hours. I’ve barely even scratched the surface of all that…
WHERE IS GOD THROUGH THE FIRE?
byWe were startled awake in the middle of the night by the persistent buzz of an iPhone going off near our heads. My parents…
ONE THING FOR CHRISTMAS
byIf you knew that there was just “one thing” you could do that would impact everything else in your life and bring about…
O HOLY NIGHT: BRINGING BACK THE WONDER
byWith a twinkle in his eye, my precious little newborn boy lets out the most delightful coo, his gaze fixed upon me. I…
EMMANUEL: THE GOD OF OUR MESS
byLast year at Christmas time, I spent two weeks at my in-laws’ dairy farm in Wisconsin. As a California girl, people kept asking me…
WHEN LITTLE STEPS ARE GREATER THAN LEAPS
byIt was just over a year ago now that my husband and I cut our long-term overseas mission plans short to move back…
IT’S NOT CERTAIN YET
byI’ve always liked to know what to expect. To know what’s coming next. I think I was born that way. Following a schedule…
WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN YOUR WORLD FALLS APART?
byIn 1980, Gerard Long had a dramatic encounter with God. Gerard and Jeannie married in 1981 and both felt called to serve in…
RECEIVE WISDOM FROM GOD
byAs I grew up, I had no idea that wisdom was being developed in me. I had listened to my mom speak truth…
BUILD IT AND THEY WILL COME
byMuslims… What pictures come to mind when you hear that word? Angry looking men with long beards Women whose faces cannot be seen…
OVERWHELMED BY THE UNGRATEFUL
byIt seems like such a small thing, yet it can cause great discouragement. I know I’m not the first to experience it, but…
YOU WERE ALWAYS MY FIRST LOVE
byWhen I was young, my father would place me on his shoulders and encourage me to “reach for the trees!” His unconditional love…
MY MOTHER’S DREAMS
byMy mother breathes adventure. Not the thrill-seeking kind of adventures you would find in someone like Bear Grylls as he undertakes the cliffs of…
HIDDEN TREASURE IN THE DESERT
byEvery heart is different, and the path that leads each heart to the gospel is different. Only God knows the path that will…
WHEN TIME STANDS STILL
byAs a child, I believed I had the superpower to slow time. There were moments throughout my day when I perceived the world…
PURCHASED OUT OF SLAVERY
byOne day I woke up and everything had changed. I used to be this tough guy. I thought I could handle anything and…
NOT BORN BY MISTAKE
byAbout Six billion people lived before the 1990’s when I was born in Nigeria. This gets me thinking every time I think of…
FAR FROM FORGOTTEN
byThere I was on my knees, tears streaming down my face as I poured out my heart to God for what seemed like…
THE ART OF BEING BUSY
byBusy has become the new fine. Casually ask someone how they’re doing today, and on autopilot, they might say they’re fine—but chances are…
A THANKFUL HEART
byThe remains of the turkey had long since been put in the fridge. The last of the mashed potatoes had been scooped up….
CHOOSING JOY WHEN LIVING IN DISAPPOINTMENT
byThis morning I realised that it’s been 10 years to the day since I crammed as much stuff as I could into a…
DO INTROVERTS MAKE BETTER PRAY-ERS?
byFor most of my childhood, I was painfully shy. So shy, in fact, that my parents had to make me a star chart…
THE OPPOSITE OF LONELINESS
byIn the English language, there isn’t really a word for the opposite of loneliness. A quick Google search puts the word “popular” as…
THE CURE FOR A TEPID LIFE
byI know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you…
MY PILGRIMAGE
bySome would call the Camino torture. Some would euphemize it to a nice walk. Some, like me, would call it meditation—just really really…
MIND THE GAP
byIf you have ever visited London and traveled on the underground tube, there is a common phrase you will hear over the bustling…
HOW MOVING ACROSS THE WORLD GAVE ME A BIGGER HEART FOR MY OWN CITY
byI have always been a firm believer that you don’t need to move across the world to make a difference in this world….
REMEMBER THOSE IN PRISON (HEBREWS 13:3)
byFor over 40 years I have had the joy of serving as a Family Life Pastor in several churches. My responsibilities were to model…
FIND YOUR MISSION, CHANGE THE WORLD
by“It’s already Monday morning…hard to believe we have only three days left. Difficult to sort through our thoughts as it’s all pretty intense,…
IT’S IN THE DETAILS
byYesterday, I went to a friend’s house for a concert they were hosting in their backyard. About 50 of us had gathered together,…
WORSHIPPING IN OUR DARKEST NIGHT
byThe church I get the privilege of working at has a daily reading plan through the Bible. One week ago, we happened upon…
LIVING IN GETHSEMANE
byLast weekend, I snapped a photo of my 15-month-old son sitting on my husband’s shoulders, as we walked leisurely on the pier of…
AN EXCEPTIONAL LIFE
byIn the field of special education, students with disabilities are often referred to as children with exceptional needs. As I reflect on the…
It is for Freedom that We Have Been Set Free
byToday is the 4th of July, the day the people of the USA celebrate as Independence Day. It’s a day where people gather and eat…
MY SEARCH FOR WORTH
byHave you ever asked the question: How do I prove myself worthy? Welcome to humanity. You are part of the global network of…
RESILIENCE IS KNOWING HOW TO REJOICE, DESPITE THE HARDSHIPS OF LIFE
bySwinging open my creaky kitchen cabinet doors, I began loading up our mismatched plates. Above the noise of ceramic clanging together, I turned…
5 Ways to Remember God’s Love
byIt’s pretty hectic out there in the world these days. Maybe you feel like the frenzy that characterizes these days we live in…
Your Dollar Can Make a Global Impact
byWelcome to Fruitful–we love practical ideas about how to live our gifts with intentionality. No, O people, the LORD has shown you…
THE PASTOR IN ME: HOW I CAME TO DISCOVER THE TRUTH AND FACE MY FEAR
by“You’re going to be a pastor,” God tells me in the summer of 2011 while working at a fishing lodge in the Haida…
GOOD FRUIT: Root for Each Other
byWhether your love language is words of affirmation, acts of service or quality time, we can all benefit from words of encouragement. To…