Luke 8:22-25

One day Jesus said to his disciples, “Let’s go over to the other side of the lake.” So they got into a boat and set out. ²³As they sailed, he fell asleep. A squall came down on the lake, so that the boat was being swamped, and they were in great danger. (more…)

River Oaks had the pleasure of having Pastor Bodokpale, the president of the Evangelical Free Denomination in , Congo as a guest speaker this morning.  Check out his message on the River Oaks website.

Together, as a body, we sang the following worship songs:  “Sing Alleluia”, “Faithful” (recorded by Fee), God With Us (Mercy Me) and Chris Tomlin’s “God of this City.  It was great having guitarist Ed McKibbin with us this morning!  Ed and I played in a band together for many years, starting when I was in 5th grade and he was in 7th!  He’s a great talent (and  has a great heart).

My headline is a direct quote from Elvis Costello’s great song, which was actually penned by Nick Lowe.  If you don’t know the song, find it, listen to it, love it.

A scripture I “weekly” re-read is Philippians 2.

¹If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, ²then make my joy complete by being like-minded, (more…)

“I need You, Jesus, to come to my rescue. Where else can I go? There’s no other name by which I am saved. Capture me with grace, I will follow You”.  (Chorus Lyrics to “Rescue” by The Desperation Band).

What a great morning to come into His presence.  Our worship theme focused on the never changing “grace of God”.  For the first time together, we sang the song, “Faithful”, which was recorded by the group Fee.   We introduced this song a couple of weeks ago at our Easter Services. (more…)

For this Sunday after Easter, we had the same vocal team who sang for our Maundy Thursday service (Char Willet, Patty Thompson, Jeremy Doph and Carole West).  Our music focused around the theme of “redemption” and the “cross”. This mornings worship songs were:  “The Wonderful Cross” (Chris Tomlin), “Jesus Messiah” (Chris Tomlin), Grace That is Greater (one of my favorite hymns), “Hallelujah, What a Savior” (Tommy Walker) and the great hymn “Jesus Paid It All”.

1. Where Joy and Sorrow Meet -  Soloist: Laura Darnell

2. Let God Arise: – Soloist:  Rich Trowbridge (recorded by Chris Tomlin)

3. Glory to God  -  Congregational  (recorded by Fee) (more…)

I’m writing this the Saturday before Easter.  We just finished up our last rehearsal for Easter a couple of hours ago.  As always, our vocalists, musicians and techs have put great effort into this Easter service, and have all done an outstanding job.  During the rehearsal, God really impressed something on my heart.  (more…)

Great Palm Sunday at River Oaks.  We welcomed (and honored) Christ with these songs:  “Hosanna” (Brenton Brown & Paul Baloche), “Glorious One” (Fee), “Praise Adonai” (Paul Baloche) and “From the Inside Out” (Seventh Day Slumber). We closed the service with “Jesus You are Worthy” (Brenton Brown).  Hopefully this service of teaching and music prepared our hearts for the events of this Holy Week.