Recent content by RiverOL

The Cult Of More Why do we want what we already have? I was on the subway the other day and could not help but see the phone screen of the woman sitting next to me. She was in her sixties (I would guess) and was staring at her phone as if it held the secrets to the universe. I noticed she...

How The Apostle Peter Reconciled A Good God With Pain And Suffering In the first century, in the Middle Eastern province of Galilee, part of the larger Roman Empire, there was an uneducated, most likely illiterate fisherman named Simon. He spent his days sleeping and resting and his nights...

This Is My Father’s World . . . The urban garden at the College and School The beauty of the moon last night reminded me of the goodness of the world. When I walked over to the gardens, fields, and copse of trees behind the College and School, I saw beauty, design, and...

No, Actually, We Must Choose [ 1 min read ★ ] And he said to them, "Follow me"—Matthew 4:19 We confront two mutually exclusive, diametrically opposed if-then statements, each claiming to be true. The first...

The Choices That Steer Your Life Someone I respect once said: ‘If you want to know which direction your life is going in, look at the things you do every day’. You know when a single sentence cuts through all the noise and speaks straight to your heart? It was one of...

Sorry Tim Keller, People Reject Christ Because They Reject The Bible Tim Keller is no stranger to saying some rather enigmatic things on social media. Over the past few years especially, he has made some rather grand-sweeping statements that might betray a level of rhetorical flair for some...

Here’s a Little Heresy [ 1 min read ★ ] . . . what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world?—Matthew 16:26 "Life’s not all about success." Those are fairly heretical words for most of us men—men...

What Truly Motivates You? In this season of new beginnings, all of us are contemplating change to one degree or another. We all want to change. We want to feel better or be better or look better. We want more money, more friends, more free time. And all of these things are...

Justice Without Love Is Not Justice: Justice#5 Two weeks ago, in my post “What is Justice?” I examined the meaning of “righteousness” and “justice” and noted the prevalence of these terms throughout the OT. From Genesis to Malachi (or Genesis to 2nd Chronicles in the...

Your ‘Fur Babies’ Aren’t Children The pet industry in America is a booming industry. For the past several years, American pet owners have collectively spent nearly 100 billion dollars or more annually on their pets. While much of this can no doubt be accounted for with things like food, vet...

Counting Sin’s Costs Can Help Foster Sexual Purity My goal in this series of blogs is for us to wake up and do what it takes in our own lives, families, churches, and ministries to confess and repent personally, as well as identify what is going on in our midst that fuels...

The Danger Of Emphasizing The “Exciting” Testimony On August 28, 2008, the Lord put to death a man who was an atheistic, drug-addled dealer, womanizer, drunkard, liar, thief, idolater, and suffice it to say: the fool of fools; the laziest of sluggards; the chief of sinners. I have the...

Christ Is Grace! Christ Is Life! Christ Is Resurrection!: The Healing Prayer (Saint Ambrose) (Part 5/5) Today I had a long teleconference with some wonderful people . . .the kind that make you glad to be part of the Church. They were concerned about the world, but calm and...

You're Built for Opposition [ 1 min read ★ ] The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne—Revelation 3:21 Ever been in the middle of something tough, prayed for rescue, and heard . ...

The Theme, Just Now, Is Kindness Times were tough for Christians in Ephesus, times were pretty bad for Christians everywhere. The wise teacher suggested that this was just the time to let go of anger and be kind, tenderhearted, forgiving. A very good reason was that if martyrdom was coming...