Author: River Falls Ministry

August 8, 2025 River Falls Ministry

The following is adapted from a teachings series on “Spiritual Warfare” by Pastor John Duncan:

Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. Ephesians 6:13 NKJV

Did you know that armor is an offensive weapon? That in the time that Paul said “put on the whole armor of God”, they had a breastplate. Everything they had was in front of them: they had no defense from behind. When the Romans put on their shoes, they had these shoes that were spiked so that as they were moving forward. They couldn’t be pushed back. The spikes were at such an angle that they could slide their feet forward, and when they would dig in it would hold them from backing up. Everything about armor is not to protect you so that you can go home and watch television. It’s to protect you because you are going in harm’s way.

The definition of offense is: “an aggressive advance on the enemy to take from him the objective.” To be on the offense is to be the attacker, not the defender. The aggressor in war has the advantage over the defender. When a army or a country is on defense, they have to constantly try to figure out when and where they are going to be attacked. They cannot concentrate their forces in any one place because if they do, the aggressor will come in a different place.

…you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. Matthew 16:18 NKJV

Jesus said, “The gates of hell shall not prevail.” Gates are a defensive mechanism. You don’t attack anybody with gates. What does that mean? What was Jesus saying? When Christians know what they’re about, Satan closes the gates and tries to hide. But he can’t hold us out. They cannot stop us. We infiltrate; we can walk right past the gates of hell. That is a promise from our Savior.

Jesus did not say, “Go home and relax and I’ll protect you.” Jesus did say, “Go ye into all the world” (Matthew 28:19). Take the gospel to every creature and I am with you always. To Joshua, God said, “I’m with you, I will not forsake you” (Joshua 1:5). But God said that to Joshua as when he was telling him to attack.

When God promises to be with you, it’s because he’s sending you on a mission.

The promise that Christians love to hold on to is, “I’ll never leave you or forsake you.” The command that comes with that promise is something people like to ignore. The command is, “go ye”. The promise is, “I’ll be with you.” When God promises to be with you, it’s because he’s sending you on a mission. He’s giving us the assurance that when we step out, he’s with us.

February 20, 2025 River Falls Ministry

From rolling out our coffee trailer to refreshing our space, we’ve had a season of newness. Here’s a quick look at what we’ve been up to lately.

In the fall, we closed our physical coffee location and shifted to a mobile setup with our new coffee trailer. This allows us to engage with the community and campus more meaningfully. We set up in the community including during RiverDazzle days, near the parade. Also, on campus we gave away free hot chocolate – a couple of times. We even had the opportunity to hold Street Level in the trailer. (If you are wondering, yes, we have heat.)

Meanwhile, our previous coffeehouse location has been transformed into a welcoming hangout and office space. We’ve held a few Street Level meetings and even some Wednesday rewinds at the revamped space.

We also relocated our Sunday evening church gatherings to Servant of the Shepherd Church. The church has been generous opening up their space for our use. Our meetings still look similar to what they did in the past, we are just in a new space.

As we step into 2025, we’re excited to see what God has in store for us!

February 10, 2025 River Falls Ministry

Have you ever found yourself longing for your own bed while away on a long trip? After a few nights at Aunt Ginny’s, returning home can feel nothing short of a life-reset. But our modern homes aren’t just where we sleep – they are personally-designed sanctuaries that give us solace from the wilds of the world. We fill them up with custom creature comforts to make us feel “just right”. Home sweet home.

 It’s notable that Jesus puts his finger on the topic of home when speaking of discipleship.

Now it happened as they journeyed on the road, that someone said to Him, “Lord, I will follow You wherever You go.” And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” Luke 9:57-58 NKJV

No doubt this was a splash of cold water to this would-be disciple’s face. Essentially, the Master seems to be telling this man that if he’s going to follow, he can’t be a homebody1.

How should we respond to this? Maybe the right path is to become a minimalist or a monk wandering the earth in sandals. I mean, Jesus didn’t even own a pillow, right? Perhaps if we had less things, we would find ourselves more spiritual. While there may be some truth in that statement, there’s more to it than that.

Jesus himself seemed perfectly OK with being home-less while on earth. He didn’t have his own cozy bed and he didn’t spend his time longing for one either. So why did he choose to live this way? Why not settle down? Well, Jesus knew when he left his home in heaven he was going on a long trip. For his entire life. That meant he slept in some strange places. That meant he went to some uncomfortable places. The bottom line is that Jesus was at home not in a place but rather in a purpose. That purpose was his Father’s will.

Homes are wonderful. But our love for them can keep us from God’s great purposes. It is entirely possible that the comfort + convenience + familiarity of our homes add up to become an immobilizing anchor on our lives. If we are truly interested in following Jesus, we must be willing to follow wherever he may go. We will need to keep on our feet. We can’t settle for being homebodies.

‌Reflection

  1. ‌Does your desire to stay home ever prevent you from serving others?
  2. When is the last time you went mobile for Jesus?

Footnote

  1. /ˈhōmˌbädē/ a person who likes to stay at home, especially one who is perceived as unadventurous. ↩︎
February 20, 2024 River Falls Ministry

This winter has been a season of newness for River Falls. We are thankful for everyone’s support and prayers as we started Church on Sundays.

Here is a snapshot of what we have been up to over the past few months.

Believers Church

Believers Church River Falls continues to meet at Juniors on Sunday evenings. We incorporate fellowship time into every Sunday by having a small meal together before. On New Year’s Eve, we also had a game night together.

Additionally, we have been diligently putting up posters, getting out into the community, and finding other ways to let people know we are around. Over the past few months, we continued to meet new people and have had a few return visitors.

Street Level Ministries / Believers Campus Church

Street Level ended the fall semester with a gingerbread house-making Christmas party. The talent levels varied, but we had a great time in fellowship before most of the students went home for winter break.

At the end of January, a new semester began. We continue to meet each Monday in the student center (Pete’s Creek Corner) on the UW-River Falls Campus. Also, we have been setting up regular tables on campus to let people know what we have going on. Throughout the last few weeks, we have also seen a few new faces at Street Level.

Blind Munchies Coffeehouse

We brought the coffeehouse into the local community and onto both college campuses in River Falls during the last few months. In January, we were able to do a coffee giveaway in the community at Dick’s Fresh Market. It was one of the few frigid days this winter, but we still had the opportunity to talk to a few people and invite them to Sunday church. Recently, we gave away coffee on the CVTC campus and hot chocolate on the UW-River Falls campus. We connected with students interested in learning more about the Bible studies and events we have going on.

Prayer Requests

  • That God will be working in the River Falls community and for the right people to connect with us
  • For maturity/growth in the people that have been joining us
  • For vision and direction from God as we reach out to the community & campuses in River Falls
November 19, 2023 River Falls Ministry

It has been an exciting time to be in River Falls this past month as we start a new season of ministry. Continue reading to find out more!

Believers Church – River Falls

We started meeting together for our first, open-to-the-public, church services. Located in one of the conference rooms at Junior’s Restaurant in town, we have now met a couple of times. We come together to pray as a community, eat a light meal, and then worship and study the Word. Pastor Jonah has started teaching from the Gospel of Luke. So far a few new people have joined us from the local community!

Believers Campus Church

On Wednesdays, we continue to study the book of Exodus. Through this, we are learning to apply God’s word to our lives and learning how these historical events are remarkably relevant to us in our walk with God today. There has been a consistent group of students who continue to attend on a weekly basis. We even had a guest teacher this last month, Pastor Ben.

WOTS Table on Campus

A couple of us went down to the University Center on Campus and set up a table to promote the newest issue of Word on the Street magazine. We asked students to select three words that best describe their generation. It was fun to engage with the students and see the words they chose. The top selected word was FOMO; an acronym for “Fear of Missing Out”. One of the college students who has been regularly attending Street Level also joined us for most of the time.

Movie night – The Chosen

Last Friday, we had our first movie night of the semester. Gathering at the Blind Munchies Coffeehouse, we ate popcorn and snacks and watched a couple of episodes of Season 2 of The Chosen. Even though many people were gone on break, we had a few people come. It was a nice time to hang out and fellowship.

Please continue to pray for:

  • For people to desire a real relationship with God, to get plugged into a local church community, and to contribute to the work of God’s Kingdom above and beyond when it is convenient.
  • We would meet new students and people from the community, and God would bring them into the meetings with open and hungry hearts.
  • The students would not get overly busy and distracted over the holidays and the second half of the semester.

September 20, 2023 River Falls Ministry

There is an ongoing debate in River Falls about what the best season is. While we may not agree on what the best season is (…of course it is summer…), we can all agree that we look forward to the college students returning to town for a new school year. With the return of the students, we have been spending time focusing on meeting new students hoping to build relationships with them.

We kicked off the school year with a couple of coffee giveaways on the UW River Falls campus. Some returning students and a few people from Menomonie joined in to help. Also, we were able to do a couple of tables on campus. We met a few new students during these events that have since checked out Campus Church or Street Level.

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Campus Church

We are back to regular meetings for Campus Church and Street Level. Campus Church is meeting in the same room as last year, right next to the dining hall on campus. During the last few weeks, a number of new people stopped in and checked out the service. Many of them stayed around after the teaching to hang out and get to know us.

Street Level UWRF

Street Level started meeting on campus this semester. We gather around a few tables in the University Center and have a Bible discussion. We have also had some new students attend Street Level the last few weeks.

Bonus: Some of us also got together to go on a hike near Glen Park.

Prayer Requests:

  • That God would be working in the college-age people/students in the River Falls area
  • Developing relationships with new students
  • Continued vision and direction for the ministry

https://www.streetlevelministries.com/uw-riverfalls.html