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Articles by Kyle Richter
Pastor column: Leaves but no fruit
One of the easiest things to do in the Christian life is to look healthier spiritually than we really are. A tree can be full of leaves and still have no fruit. In the same way, a person can know the language of Christianity, attend worship, serve in church, carry a Bible, and still have a heart that is far from God. That is the uncomfortable truth Jesus confronts in Mark 11:12–25. In that passage, Jesus approaches a fig tree that is full of leaves but has no fruit.
Pastor column: Faithful labor or anxious striving: Which are you doing?
Psalm 127 begins with a simple but searching truth: “Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labor in vain.” Those words are not just for builders, parents, pastors or leaders. They are for every person trying to build something with life. Some are building careers. Some are building businesses. Some are building homes. Some are building marriages. Some are building families. Some are building reputations, dreams or legacies. The question Psalm 127 asks is not whether we are building.
Minister's column: Running the race
Life can often feel less like a sprint and more like a marathon. There are seasons when we feel strong and steady, and there are seasons when we feel weary, discouraged and ready to quit. Hebrews 12:1-2 speaks directly into those moments with a simple but powerful message: keep running.
Minister's column: Finding peace when life’s storms rage
Mark 4:35–41 tells a familiar yet deeply personal story. After a long day of ministry, Jesus and His disciples set out across the sea. Suddenly, a violent storm arises. Waves crash into the boat, and seasoned fishermen panic, convinced they are about to die. Meanwhile, Jesus is asleep. In desperation they wake Him: “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” With a word, Jesus rebukes the wind and waves: “Peace! Be still!” Instantly, there is calm. Then He asks them, “Why are you so afraid?
Minister's column: Oh, holy light
Lights play a big role in my family’s holiday season, and we have already loaded up the minivan to meander through every street of Connie Maxwell several times. Light is also a theme throughout Scripture. The first words that God spoke that were recorded in Scripture were, “Let there be light.” God led His people through the wilderness by the light of a great pillar of fire. The prophet Isaiah told us the people walking in darkness had seen a great light, foretelling the coming Messiah.
Minister's column: Prayer requires discipline
I might as well be honest. I struggle with my prayer life. I could blame it on the demands of pastoring a church or trying to keep up with two young kids, but those are just excuses. It really is a heart issue. And my guess is that I am not alone in my struggle with the spiritual discipline of prayer. So, let’s learn from the best, Jesus.
Pastor column: Look to God for help with life's trials
We all need help in life. We try to take care of everything ourselves and we pride ourselves on being completely independent, but we just can’t do everything alone. Who do you go to when you need help? Do you have family who you call? Do you have friends in your life to call? Maybe you are to the point where each time you need help its help from EMS and you call 911. It’s good to have a support system in place, but we need to look further than that.
The Gospel that rescued William Cowper
“There is a Fountain Filled with Blood,” is an old hymn written by William Cowper. Now, you expect those who are writing rich spiritual hymns to be those with blessed lives. But, William Cowper lived a very difficult life. When he was 6, his mother died, and his cold and distant father sent him away to boarding school, where he was bullied by teachers and by older students. Life continued to be a struggle, and, when he was 21 years old, he attempted suicide.
Pastor's column: Two sentences that changed history
There are certain sentences in life that have a huge impact. When I was a kid living in Charleston, my dad gathered my sister and I together and said, “work is moving us to a city called Greenwood.” Huge impact, to say the least. When the pastor looked at my fiancé and I and said, “I now pronounce you husband and wife,” that changed my life in immeasurable ways. When my wife came to me on a few occasions and said, “I’m pregnant,” well, that was a game changer.
Minister's column: A love like no other
“1 Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. 2 And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” — Ephesians 5:1-2 Regardless of whether you love or hate or, like me, are a little indifferent to Valentine’s, it is a time when love is on the forefront of our minds. But, I don’t want to spend my limited words talking about romantic love today. I would rather use this platform to talk about a more pure form of love.
Kyle Richter: God's grace can bring us back from death
The Apostle Paul wrote a letter to the churches in the region of Ephesus and in chapter two, he presented them with the ultimate bad news/good news proposition.
Minister's column: On being spiritually malnourished
“ ... having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places.” — Ephesians 1:18-20 (ESV) Hetty Green was called America’s greatest miser.
Pastor column
One of Satan’s most sinister lies is that the Christian life is void of pleasure, whereas pursuing sin brings real satisfaction. I have heard multiple people describe God as some sort of cosmic kill-joy who seeks fun wherever it can be found and squash it. It’s ironic however, that the people I know who keep trying to find joy and fulfillment and pleasure in all kinds of earthly things, at the end of each attempt, seem quite dissatisfied.
Miinister's column: Important to remember
I am not good at remembering things. I would like to say it started when I turned 40, but I have struggled for more than just the last year. I struggle to remember names when I am telling a story and I get stuck in that awkward time of waiting until the name pops into my head or find my wife. I can be told exactly what to pick up at the grocery and between the house and the store, I will forget. And don’t even get me started on childhood; that is a blur.
Gen Z’s Biggest Obstacles May Be Their Greatest Gospel Opportunities
By now, you’ve seen the headlines: Gen Z is the least religious generation in America. after study has shown this to be true. However, most don’t reject religion outright. They simply don’t think about it. With the surge of the “nones” (religiously unaffiliated) and the dechurching phenomenon in the U.S. (the largest and fastest religious shift in our history), Gen Z’s indifference toward religion shouldn’t surprise us. But it shouldn’t discourage us either. It should motivate us.
Minister's column: God has not left you; He is at work
As we embark on a new year, I have heard several “experts” offer their predictions for 2024. I have heard financial experts explain we have successfully soft landed from fears of a recession and 2024 will be a year of growth for our investments. I have heard other financial experts give doomsday predictions for 2024 that left me feeling I need to sell everything while I am ahead.
Minister's column: Finding contentment
I look forward to Thanksgiving every year. It is a time to reflect over the year and be reminded of all the ways God has blessed our family. Was life perfect over the last year? No. It had its challenges, but God was faithful and life is much more full and rich than we deserve. My family, like yours, has a lot to be thankful for as we sit down for our Thanksgiving meal next week. As we pause next week to be thankful, that sense of gratitude should lead us to a place of contentment.
‘Journey to Bethlehem’ and Christmas Cringe
Faith-based movies have been enjoying something of a renaissance lately—gaining ground not only in commercial viability but also in artistic credibility. To be sure, the bar has been low. Most of these movies are still not great; they’re just better than what we’ve come to expect. Sadly, the faith-based genre’s latest holiday movie sets the genre back—considerably. Journey to Bethlehem might still find an audience, in part because of thin competition due to the ongoing actors’ strike.
Introduction to the Life and Work of Tim Keller at TGC Netherlands
More Episodes Embracing God as Our Heavenly Father Draw Wisdom and Strength from God’s Word Faithfully Discern Truth amid Godlessness How to Live in the Fellowship of Christ’s Sufferings In his message at TGC Netherlands 2023, Collin Hansen examines Tim Keller’s life and ministry through the concept of “rings on a tree,” revealing the different influences that shaped Keller as a believer and pastor.
After ‘Roe’: The Pro-Life Movement’s Next 50 Years
Tuesday night was another blow to the pro-life movement as Ohio voted overwhelmingly to enshrine the right to abortion into its constitution. This was the seventh win out of seven such referenda, including in many conservative-leaning states. In Virginia, where Governor Glenn Youngkin promised to sign a 15-week limit on abortions, pro-life Republicans both failed to flip the Senate and also lost the House, largely on the strength of consistent pro-abortion messaging by Democrats.
Don’t Overlook Commuter-Campus Ministry
I was blessed to spend 13 years working in college ministry, mostly at two large residential universities in Virginia. Those were wonderfully sweet years of ministry for our family. We had the privilege of seeing students trust Christ, grow in their faith, become leaders, and be sent out to follow Jesus for the rest of their lives. Advertise on TGC On several occasions, our team attempted to launch a ministry at other nearby schools, typically commuter colleges.
Help and Hope When Church Leaders Fall
Our backyard forest is struggling to survive this year’s relentless Texas drought. Dead grass, withered leaves, and fallen branches litter the parched ground, and a massive hackberry tree fell this week. The familiar tree’s sudden death is sad, but most devastating is the damage left behind: saplings crushed, weaker trees bent in half with tips trapped under the trunk’s weight, and many mature trees suffering broken limbs, split trunks, and crushed crowns.
Aaronic Priesthood's Transformation
Let’s say you’re reading through Exodus and you get to chapter 40, where the Levitical priesthood is being described. There you read that Aaron and his sons were to be a “perpetual priesthood throughout their generations” (Ex. 40:15). Wait, what? Perpetual? As in, never-ending—the opposite of temporary? If the Levitical priests are supposed to be perpetual, then how come we don’t have them in our churches? This same question arises for other related issues.
A Search for Significance
Each verse in Peggy Lee’s 1969 song describes a life event, such as going to the circus or falling in love. Such things seemed so grand at first, but they all left something missing—something elusive that didn’t fulfill its promise of enduring satisfaction. Each verse leads to the same chorus: Advertise on TGC Is that all there is? Is that all there is? If that’s all there is, my friends, Then let’s keep dancing. Let’s break out the booze and have a ball, If that’s all— There is. Look around.
How to Feed Gen Z’s Hunger for Jesus
Our awareness of these generational hungers led us to recalibrate how we evangelize and disciple Gen Z. While those efforts cannot entirely account for the spiritual renewal we’re seeing—that’s God’s work, after all—we want to suggest five ministry practices that can help churches and college ministries reach America’s second-youngest generation. Advertise on TGC 1. Preach repentance and forgiveness as a way of life. Gen Z is hungry for transparency in a plastic, digitally perfected world.
5 Reasons Gen Z Is Primed for Spiritual Renewal
“God brought me back to him when I was hopeless.” “God helped me set aside drugs, alcohol and porn.” Advertise on TGC “God took the anger out of me.” “I found joy again.” After I (Kyle) had spent 16 years pastoring a college ministry in my local church, these handwritten stories of personal conversion and radical life change from Gen Z students brought tears to my eyes. They wrote them at the end of the 2023 school year as a testimony of what God did that year.
Minister's column: Seasons change, but God does not
I was startled this week. For the first time in months a chill ran down my spine. On Monday morning of this week, while it was still dark, I headed off to the “Y” to play a little pickleball (shout out to the early morning pickleball crew) and I experienced my first chill since last spring. It has been a while since we have seen a temperature below 60 degrees. It was a pleasant reminder that the season is changing from summer to fall.
Minister's column: Pray for blessings to be a conduit for blessing others
After I preach a sermon at the church, I stand at the back doors to greet people as they exit the sanctuary. I often hear comments like, “you really stepped on my toes,” or “convicting message,” or “that gave me a lot to think about.” It is encouraging to hear when people are impacted by God’s Word. And myself as a pastor, am not exempt from God using His Word to encourage or convict.
The Argument for Native Mobile Software Development
MartianCraft Staff MartianCraft has been an iOS-focused design and development agency for well over a decade. We had three apps waiting for approval when the App Store rolled out. So yes, we are biased when it comes to native iOS development, and Swift is our gold standard. With that said, we also understand the appeal of cross-platform development. It can seem like getting something for nothing - two apps from one development process.
MartianCraft's Syndicate Newsletter for November 2022
Subscribe to our newsletter By subscribing, you agree with Revue’s Terms of Service and Privacy Policy and understand that MartianCraft's Syndicate Newsletter will receive your email address. Nov 16, 2022 The end of 2022 is quickly approaching. At MartianCraft, we’re beginning our end of year planning, wrapping up final feature pushes with clients, and in the US, we have the Thanksgiving holiday next week (otherwise known as the beginning of the end-of-year holiday season).
Review: ‘Theoretical-Practical Theology’ by Petrus van Mastricht
How would you like to finally be able to read in contemporary English the set of books that Jonathan Edwards said was the best thing ever written besides the Bible? As pastors, we all know there are far too many good books being published that we should read, but I want to present you with a set of books that you must read. Why should 21st-century pastors want to purchase and read it? Here are three reasons.
Engaging Piper’s New Book: Are Affections Part of Saving Faith?
In 1987, George Michael announced, “I gotta have faith.” Needing some time off from the emotions of failed romance, Michael left those feelings, turning instead to faith as a seemingly dispassionate trust that everything would work out in the end. Although all Christians certainly disagree with Michael’s understanding of faith for numerous reasons, John Piper would also take issue with the idea that faith could be used to step away from any emotions.
Giving Back
At MartianCraft we are very passionate, about technology of course, but also about our world and all those that inhabit it. We believe that things can be better and we applaud those who dedicate themselves to making the world a better place. While there are many small ways to sacrifice and giveback to improve the collective good we believe that enterprises need to lead the way and effect change from within.
Learning to Treasure Jesus in a Distracted World
A few years ago, Salzburg, Austria had to take creative measures to stop an increasingly big problem in the city: smartphone zombies. People were so immersed in whatever was on the screen in front of them that they became unaware of their surroundings. In 2017, 40% of all pedestrian accidents in Salzburg happened because unsuspecting pedestrians were distracted by their phones. So, what was the city’s solution? Airbags around lampposts. Not kidding. It’s not just them, though.
Letter: Tragedy was preventable
By Kyle Richter, Battle Ground Published: March 13, 2020, 6:00am On March 6, there was another tragic fatality accident on Highway 503 (“3 die in Brush Prairie crash,” The Columbian, March 7). Three people, including a 5-year-old child, were killed. Why were jersey barriers not placed on this road? This heavily traveled highway is essentially a four-lane freeway, yet it has no divider to protect drivers. I pray for the families of this tragic and preventable tragedy.
The Hyper-Examined Life Is Not Worth Living in 2017
As we approach the end of 2016 and the beginning of the new year, many of us will reflect, even if briefly, on our lives and loved ones in the past year. For some, that will mean reliving warm and cherished moments, and for others, feeling yet more grief and pain. In either case, there can be no doubt that American culture, as distracted and unfocused as it often is, encourages a kind of serious introspection this time of year. Self-reflection is good.
The Force Quit Fallacy
As a former Apple Genius and independent Mac Certified Technician, I have seen my fair share of technology problems. Matters have only worsened with the rise of smartphones. Now it’s hard to remember life before smart devices. Yet there remains a lot of urban legends among smartphone users — from people using a microwave oven to charge an iPhone’s battery, to software updates that make an iPhone “waterproof”.
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