Author: Ron Vanderwell

Ron Vanderwell recently became the senior pastor of New Life Church in New Lenox, Illinois. He has been a pastor for 22 years, serving as a church planter for the previous 12 years at The Gathering in Sacramento, California, and before that as a pastor in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Ron and his wife, Deb, have three sons: John, Adam, and Jake. Ron shares more of his reflections on “squinting” for God in his blog at www.squintforgod.com.

Devotions by Ron Vanderwell

Date Title Scripture Reference Topics
July 29, 2014 Living Without a Story Luke 12:13-21 Life, Christian Life, Story
July 28, 2014 The Importance of Telling Stories Mark 8:34-38 Christianity, Discipleship, Witness
July 27, 2014 One Page at a Time Matthew 6:25-34 Life, Christian Life, Trust
July 26, 2014 Spoiler Alert: God Wins! Revelation 21:1-5 Life, Christian Life, Story
July 25, 2014 Looking for Clues James 1:5-8 Life, Christian Life, Story
July 24, 2014 Resisting God: Pretending Isaiah 29:11-14 Life, Christian Life, Resisting God
July 23, 2014 Resisting God: the Silent Treatment 1 Thessalonians 5:16-22 Life, Christian Life, Resisting God
July 22, 2014 Resisting God: Defiance Luke 15:11-24 Life, Christian Life, Story
July 21, 2014 Wrong Story? Ephesians 2:1-10 Life, Christian Life, Story
July 20, 2014 Finding Your Story James 4:13-17 Life, Christian Life, Story
July 19, 2014 Just When You Think You Know... Acts 1:1-9 Bible, God, God's Kingdom
July 18, 2014 U-turn Acts 9:1-9 Christianity, Discipleship, Repentance
July 17, 2014 Trust in God’s Timing 1 Samuel 24:1-13 Life, Christian Life, Trust
July 16, 2014 Nervous About God’s Timing 1 Samuel 13:5-15 Life, Christian Life, Story
July 15, 2014 When God Shows Up Genesis 39:1-5 Life, Personal Growth, Purpose
July 14, 2014 God’s Long Story Genesis 12:1-7 Life, Christian Life, Story
July 13, 2014 God Is Faithful to His Story Philippians 2:1-13 Life, Christian Life, Story
July 12, 2014 A Death to Life Story Luke 9:21-26 Bible, The Gospel
July 11, 2014 Gospel Stories: Death, Then Life Matthew 16:21-28 Bible, The Gospel
July 10, 2014 Who Is My Storyteller? Psalm 139:1-4, 15-16 Life, Christian Life, Story
July 9, 2014 A Story or a Picture? Isaiah 43:1-4 Life, Christian Life, Story
July 8, 2014 Suspense in God’s Story Romans 8:18-25 Life, Christian Life, Story
July 7, 2014 Trouble in God’s Story Genesis 3:1-19 Life, Christian Life, Story
July 6, 2014 God’s Response: Writing a Happy Ending Revelation 21:1-5 Life, Christian Life, Story
July 5, 2014 Our Story With God: a Good Start Genesis 1:1-8, 26-31 Life, Christian Life, Story
July 4, 2014 Can We Trust God? Romans 8:18-28 Life, Christian Life, Trust
July 3, 2014 The Gospel Story: Good News! Mark 1:14-20 Bible, Good News
July 2, 2014 The Story of What God Has Done Romans 5:1-8 Bible, The Bible
July 1, 2014 Life Makes Sense: God’s Story of You Psalm 139:13-16 Life, Personal Growth, Purpose
June 30, 2014 Our Life’s Purpose: Part of God’s Story Jeremiah 29:4-14 Life, Personal Growth, Purpose
November 30, 2012 Squinting Into the Storm Mark 4:35-41 Christianity, Discipleship, Faith
November 29, 2012 Watching Faith Grow 1 Corinthians 3:5-9 Christianity, Discipleship, Faith
November 28, 2012 Second-hand Faith Lamentations 3:22-24 Christianity, Discipleship, Faith
November 27, 2012 Two Ways to Share Our Faith 1 Peter 3:13-18 Christianity, Discipleship, Faith
November 26, 2012 Sharing Our Faith Psalm 145 Christianity, Discipleship, Faith
November 25, 2012 Living Large Matthew 5:1-10 Christianity, Discipleship, Faith
November 24, 2012 Habits of Faith Daniel 6:6-16 Christianity, Discipleship, Faith
November 23, 2012 Finding the Familiar in the Fog Hebrews 10:19-25 Christianity, Discipleship, Faith
November 22, 2012 Forms of Surrender Ephesians 2:1-10 Christianity, Discipleship, Faith
November 21, 2012 Not Quite Saved? Acts 16:29-34 Christianity, Discipleship, Faith
November 20, 2012 "I'm Good!" Acts 16:16-34 Christianity, Discipleship, Faith
November 19, 2012 Saving Faith John 3:1-8 Christianity, Discipleship, Faith
November 18, 2012 The Need for Fog Psalm 1 Christianity, Discipleship, Faith
November 17, 2012 What Does Sustain Us Psalm 1 Christianity, Discipleship, Faith
November 16, 2012 In Search of Comfort Psalm 1 Christianity, Discipleship, Faith
November 15, 2012 Sustaining Faith Psalm 1 Christianity, Discipleship, Faith
November 14, 2012 Asking Better Romans 8:26-30 Christianity, Discipleship, Faith
November 13, 2012 Finding God's Direction James 1:5-8 Christianity, Discipleship, Faith
November 12, 2012 Asking for Guidance James 4:1-3
November 11, 2012 Directional Faith James 1:2-5
November 10, 2012 Good Things During Bad Times 1 Peter 1:3-9
November 9, 2012 Connecting in a Crisis John 15:1-8
November 8, 2012 Crisis Faith Psalm 62
November 7, 2012 Wanting to Squint 2 Corinthians 5:6-10
November 6, 2012 Learning to Squint Hebrews 11:1-6
November 5, 2012 Why God Likes Faith Matthew 11:1-6
November 4, 2012 The Importance of Squinting Romans 1:8-17
November 3, 2012 Seeing What Was There All Along Hebrews 11:1-3
November 2, 2012 Is Faith a Verb? Mark 9:14-29
November 1, 2012 Thoughts About Faith Romans 1:16-23 Christianity, Discipleship, Faith
February 28, 2011 Free at Last! Psalm 32 Christianity, Discipleship, Life, Christian Life, Freedom
February 27, 2011 Church in Recovery? James 5:13-20 Christianity, Discipleship, The Church, Life, Christian Life, Community
February 26, 2011 Admit It Psalm 51:1-6 Christianity, Discipleship, The Church, Life, Christian Life, Community
February 25, 2011 Getting What We Ask For Galatians 5:16-25 Bible, Bible Characters, Christianity, Discipleship, God, God's Plan
February 24, 2011 Stories 1 Timothy 1:12-17 Bible, Bible Characters, Christianity, Discipleship, Life, Christian Life, Story
February 23, 2011 Surrender Psalm 51 Bible, Bible Characters, David, Christianity, Discipleship
February 22, 2011 Panic 2 Samuel 11:14-27 Bible, Bible Characters, David, Christianity, Discipleship
February 21, 2011 Trouble Romans 8:26-39 Bible, Bible Characters, David, Christianity, Discipleship
February 20, 2011 The Little Things 2 Samuel 11:1-13 Bible, Bible Characters, David, Christianity, Discipleship
February 19, 2011 What Do We Really Want? Psalm 63 Bible, Bible Characters, David, Christianity, Discipleship
February 18, 2011 Blessings and Challenges Psalm 23 Bible, Bible Characters, David, Christianity, Discipleship
February 17, 2011 Getting It Right 1 Samuel 16:1-13 Bible, Bible Characters, David, Christianity, Discipleship
February 16, 2011 Sinners Seeking God Romans 7:14-25 Bible, Bible Characters, David, Christianity, Discipleship
February 15, 2011 Wrestling Genesis 32:30-32 Bible, Bible Characters, Jacob, Christianity, Discipleship
February 14, 2011 A New Name, and a Limp Genesis 32:27-31 Bible, Bible Characters, Jacob, Christianity, Discipleship
February 13, 2011 Surrender, Jacob-style Genesis 32:24-28 Bible, Bible Characters, Jacob, Christianity, Discipleship
February 12, 2011 All-night Fight Genesis 32:22-26 Bible, Bible Characters, Jacob, Christianity, Discipleship
February 11, 2011 Stopped Genesis 32:1-21 Bible, Bible Characters, Jacob, Christianity, Discipleship
February 10, 2011 Too Fast, Too Busy to Notice Psalm 139 Bible, Bible Characters, Jacob, Christianity, Discipleship
February 9, 2011 On the Move Genesis 31:1-21 Bible, Bible Characters, Jacob, Christianity, Discipleship
February 8, 2011 On His Own? Genesis 28:10-22 Bible, Bible Characters, Jacob, Christianity, Discipleship
February 7, 2011 Hungry Genesis 25:27-34 Bible, Bible Characters, Jacob, Christianity, Discipleship
February 6, 2011 Fast on His Feet Genesis 25:19-26 Bible, Bible Characters, Jacob, Christianity, Discipleship
February 5, 2011 Telling Stories Mark 5:1-20 Bible, Bible Characters, Jacob, Christianity, Discipleship
February 4, 2011 The Search for Recovery Romans 6:8-14 Bible, Bible Characters, Jacob, Christianity, Discipleship
February 3, 2011 Rethinking Sin Romans 7:14-25 Christianity, Discipleship, Life, Personal Growth
February 2, 2011 Better Sinners? John 8:31-34; Romans 6:11-18 Christianity, Discipleship, Life, Personal Growth
February 1, 2011 Still Sinners Romans 3:21-26 Christianity, Discipleship, Life, Personal Growth