Other Resources to Encourage Your Walk with God

Miscellaneous

We are putting together a toolbox of resources to help you grow in your faith. Here you will find a growing collection of articles, links, sermons and more.

The Good Person Test - We all like to think we are good people. Here's a quiz to help you learn the truth.

How to Get to Heaven - A simple ten minute exlpanation on how to go to heaven. A more thorough explanation is available here. (Sorry both are a bit dated!)

Not sure where to start in your spiritual journey? The "Begin in Christ" study is easy to do and helps lay a strong foundation for your beliefs. After that complete the series with "Grow in Christ" and "Mature in Christ."

Memory Madness - A memorization program of 250 verses to build the faith of the whole family.

Bible Reading Card - A simple tool to keep track of what you've been reading. Print it and keep it in your Bible.

Evidence of God the Bible and Jesus - A helpful resource for those looking for a foundation for their faith.

Baptism - An overview of what baptism is about. These short videos may also be helpful: Do I Have to Be Baptized? Should I Get Baptized Again?

Q&A

We all have questions about faith. From "where did Cain get his wife?" to "why do good things happen to bad people?", we all face questions when it comes to God. And too many of us have memories of a surprised Sunday school teacher or a disinterested pastor or priest unable to answer our questions.

Our goal is to restore church as a place where people can ask hard questions and get real answers. We'll be adding questions we ourselves have asked to this site in case you have wondered the same things.

If you have some questions yourself, feel free to email us and we'll get you an answer.

MEANING AND VALUE

• Does My Life Matter?      
• What Is My Value?     
• Does God Really Love Me?                        
• Can I Ever Feel Clean Again?                    

RELIGIONS

• Are All Religions the Same? 
• Do All Roads Lead to Heaven?   
• Is Sincerity All that Counts?       
• Catholic vs. Protestant Bible                 

STRUGGLING WITH TEMPTATION

• How Can I Overcome Temptation? 
• Are All Sins the Same?          
• Should I Deny My Nature?   

MORE SIMILAR PLAYLISTS:

• Definitions and Explanations
• Practices
• Philosophical Questions
• Evidence for God and the Bible

Links to sermons or videos that are a little longer:

How can there be only one way to heaven?
How could a loving God send anyone to hell?
Why do the innocent suffer?
Is Christianity degrading to women?
Does Christianity promote exploitation of the environment?
Does Christianity promote domination of other cultures?

Books You Should Read

Here is a collection of books recommended by the pastors of The Rio:

For spiritual seekers investigating Christianity:

• Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis
• The Case for Christ and The Case for Faith by Lee Strobel
• More Than a Carpenter by Josh McDowell

For Jesus followers wanting to go deeper:

• The Pursuit of God by A.W. Tozer
• The Cost of Discipleship by Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Some must-read biographies:

• Hudson Taylor's Spiritual Secret by Dr. and Mrs. Howard Taylor
• George Mueller: Man of Faith and Miracles by Basil Miller
• The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom
• Through Gates of Splendor by Elisabeth Elliot
• Bruchko by Bruce Olson
• God's Smuggler by Brother Andrew

Life-changing fiction:

• Safely Home by Randy Alcorn

Links

Here we provide a collection of links to a wide range of useful and interesting sites on the web.

Our Churches

The Rio is a member of the newly formed M28 Alliance and is historically connected with Great Commission Churches (GCC). We are united with other like-minded churches for advancing the gospel of Jesus Christ throughout the world. 

Gran Comisión Latino América
Some like-minded Latin American churches (Spanish).
English version.

Iglesia Gran Comisión Monterrey
The website of a Great Commission church in Monterrey, Mexico (Spanish).

Some Useful Bible Related Sites

Bible Gateway 
This website has lots of versions of the Bible in an online format, including Spanish version.

Faithwalkers Journal
An online version of Great Commission Church's daily devotional.

Bible.org
An extensive collection of resources to help you learn the Bible. Sermons, articles, Bible study notes, and much more.

Family Related Sites

Premeditated Parenting
Steve Nelson's parenting website, full of good articles about raising kids.

GCNW Dads
A website developed by author and pastor Rick Whitney. It is full of helpful articles for dads.

Plugged In
A good website full of movie reviews for parents, including detailed descriptions.

Opportunities to Give and Make a Difference

Voice of the Martyrs
An organization dedicated to meeting the needs of Christians around the world who are persecuted for their faith. You can help provide Bibles and other materials for use in countries closed to Christianity, support widows and orphans of martyred Christians, provide support for medical relief for those injured in persecution, and much more.

Samaritan's Purse
The ministry of Franklin Graham, the son of evangelist Billy Graham. This group provides spiritual and physical aid to victims of war, poverty, natural disaster, and disease.

World Vision
World Vision is a Christian humanitarian organization dedicated to working with children, families and their communities worldwide to reach their full potential by tackling the causes of poverty and injustice.

Counseling

As a first step to counseling, we’d like to encourage you to talk to your small group leader as he will know you and your situation and may have insights that a pastor or counselor wouldn’t. You are more than welcome to set something up directly with the pastor at any time. There is never a charge for pastoral counseling. It should be noted that all counseling done at the Rio will be based in an understanding of the Word of God, and not in the current wisdom of the world, or in the “expertise” of any particular field. We believe that the wisdom in the Word is fully adequate for all the problems we face (2 Timothy 3:16-17). For additional Christian counseling resources:

Living Hope Christian Counseling
Living Hope's calling is to offer hope, healing, and restoration to hurting people, marriages, and families, using respected therapy practices and solid biblical principles.

Going Deeper

We're putting together a collection here of online resources for those looking to go deeper with God.

Himself - A sermon and hymn by A.B.Simpson, founder of the CMA churches.

Precept Austin - The website of a Bible Study minsitry full of great resources for deeper study of the Bible - sermons, commentaries, Greek word studies, and more. It's not pretty, but the content is worth the look.

The Practice of the Presence of God - An online version of a really old book about living daily life in communion with God.