How Far Will You Follow?

Tim Riter May 12, 2025

When we moved back to our hometown of Temecula some years back, we enjoyed savoring the flavors of local churches. Some pretty large, some pretty small, some in the middle, but the message at Oakstone Community Church caused me to think. Quite a bit. The text began with 2 Timothy 1:1, “Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God…” but then the pastor pointed out the difference from Paul’s first letter to Timothy, “Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the command of God…”

A change of just one word, but…

Caught

Tim Riter November 4, 2024

We all like options, whether the best flavor of ice cream or which house to buy. Something innate within us resists binary issues, where only two choices exist. Truly, most issues give a variety of options. But sometimes, our choices are binary. One or the other, not both. By their nature. Whether or not we like it. Let’s explore that…

Worshipping Worship

Tim Riter August 26, 2019

At its core, worship celebrates the reality that God has more innate worth than anything we can find in heaven or earth. Our English word comes from “worthyship,” so in worship by definition we focus on him. Get that well, it forms the foundation of all that will follow. Similarly, the most common Greek word for worship is “proskuneo” (Matthew 4:10 for one example), to fall at the feet in adoration, or to acknowledge that God is our superior. That concept scares me. Greatly.

Our Meaning in Life?

Tim Riter November 26, 2018

Typically, as we enter college or the workforce, we begin to ask “Who am I? Why am I here?” A bit over a month ago I read the Sartre quote, “Without God, we are condemned to be free... Everything is indeed permitted if God does not exist, and man is in consequence forlorn, for he cannot find anything to depend upon either within or outside himself.” So, take a look at the chart above, and where we get meaning.

Unconventional

Old Faith, New Following