Recent content by RiverOL

Scripture Reading — Exodus 40:34-38 Moses could not enter the tent of meeting because the cloud had settled on it. . . . Exodus 40:35 I first approached the Grand Canyon while holding the hand of my two-year-old son, Derek. He was energetic and loved exploring the world around him with little...

Self-Ambition Is a Cancer Self-ambition is a cancer. Yes, I can explain. Each of us is a member, a mere cell, in the human body. We’re not designed to stand alone. God has arranged the body with intention, assigning each part a task, a form, and a boundary. No one gets to define their role...

Who Are Your Heroes? [ 1 min read ★ ] Worship the Lord your God, and only him. Serve him with absolute single-heartedness—Matthew 4:10 We men like heroes. We like to look upward. We start early, as boys, looking up to men and women who do amazing things on grass and turf and...

Falling in Love Can be Easy but Staying in Love is Real Work Bailey, 36, and Kevin, 40, sat on my couch for their couples counseling session and shared their disappointment about their bickering and falling out of love. Bailey put it like this, “Kevin works long hours and when we do see each...

Newton: The Blade – How Grace enters the Human Heart I hope you have been enjoying our series of Modern English versions of Newton’s timeless pastoral letters. The former slave-trader turned pastor has so much more to offer us than simply the most well loved hymn in the history of the English...

Subjective Experiences with Peace subjective peace is questionable I totally understand the Old Testament concept of peace, transliterated shalom. It is the entire basis for community in the Hebrew Bible. Shalom is a shared peace, not necessarily subjective at all. It is the peace that we have...

Building New Gauges [ 1 min read ★ ] Do not be conformed to this world—Romans 12:2 We men love to measure things. And we have, at our disposal, highly accurate gauges for measuring just about anything, including the progress of our lives. I mean, we never have to wonder which...

Thoughts On Marriage I have been writing a weekly blog for almost eleven years now. Over that time, I’ve written several posts on marriage—but never on what might be the most significant issue in marriage. Let me begin with a humorous story. Back in 2013, the prominent author and journalist...

I’ve Told You What to Do “I don’t know what to do!” Jenna cried for the 10th time in between her sobs. She sat surrounded in the kitchen by spilled milk. Such a mess! What, oh what, was she to do? If only she knew! “Wipe it up with the rag right there,” her mother’s voice called out yet again...

Psalm 15:1-5 The Kind of Christian God Wants Me to Be Psalm 15:1-5 The Kind of Christian God Wants Me to Be is a sermon based on a previous simple thought devotional post I wrote. The book of Psalms also contains at least one such list of ten things that summarize good behaviour (Psalm...

Top 7 Bible Verses About Being A Warrior This life is full of battles. Threats to our faith are always present and, as Christians, our fight is against the powers of this world that call us away from God. The good news is that we have every weapon we need at our disposal. When we put on the...

Top 7 Bible Verses About Being A Warrior This life is full of battles. Threats to our faith are always present and, as Christians, our fight is against the powers of this world that call us away from God. The good news is that we have every weapon we need at our disposal. When we put on the...

Care Giving: Sacrificing for Another’s Comfort Surely God is my help; the Lord is the one who sustains me. Psalm 54:4 Some years ago, I answered the phone only to hear my almost always emotionally level friend, (a trait I was somewhat envious of through the years…) dissolving in tears at the...

With Friends Like These . . . [ 1 min read ★ ] My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ—James 2:1 We men tend toward partiality. Sometimes with forethought, many times with no thought, we give or withhold based upon characteristics of the...

Speak Responsibly [ 1 min read ★ ] Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love—1 Corinthians 16:13-14 Whether it’s two of us or twelve of us or more, when we gather in Christian community, we’re to speak...