If you are a parent, one of the most helpful chapters in the Bible is Deuteronomy 6, especially versus 4 through 15. Speaks first of the need for our hearts and affections and strength to be directed to the Lord. It’s foundational to our spiritual health. We must be well before we can lead and take care of other well, most notably, our own children.  It then immediately moves to the greatest calling in the world for parents which is the training of our children to love and fear God and to teach them to obey his commandments. It’s also one of the clearest examples that this is especially the responsibility of the parents and one that cannot primarily be abdicated to others. It then closes with a warning that assumes one of the greatest temptations for the Christian will be to forget the Lord and to worship the gods and idols of the people who are around us, our culture at large. The first thing it then says to do is to fear God (rather than man). I challenge you to spend a bit of time pondering the idols and gods of our culture, and the soberly recognize that Christians are not immune to be tempted to worship those same gods and idols. It’s syncretism, a blending of worship of the true God with the idols of the culture. And remember, God is a loving God who disciplines those he loves, and we are reminded at the end of this section of scripture that he’s also a jealous God, not like human jealousy, but a righteous jealousy for our affections to not be misdirected away from him.  Finally, obedience to this commandment cannot be faked, the same as our heart and motives cannot be hidden from the Lord. Our children, no matter our actions or words, can discern the idols of their parents hearts. Children are trained by the actions they observe day in and day out 10x more than the words that are spoken to them. If we seek to raise faithful children, we must first be faithful ourselves, and this starts at the heart level. May God give us grace to be humble and faithful. Deuteronomy 6:4-15 [4] “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. [5] You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. [6] And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. [7] You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. [8] You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. [9] You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. [10] “And when the LORD your God brings you into the land that he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give you—with great and good cities that you did not build, [11] and houses full of all good things that you did not fill, and cisterns that you did not dig, and vineyards and olive trees that you did not plant—and when you eat and are full, [12] then take care lest you forget the LORD, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. [13] It is the LORD your God you shall fear. Him you shall serve and by his name you shall swear. [14] You shall not go after other gods, the gods of the peoples who are around you—[15] for the LORD your God in your midst is a jealous God—lest the anger of the LORD your God be kindled against you, and he destroy you from off the face of the earth. 
My Dad passed away last night
(Post was from October 2, 2020) My Dad passed away last night. Our family was together. Much sadness, grieving, relief, and hope. We are going to miss our Dad tremendously. He was a big source of love, support, and joy in our lives. I still can’t believe that I’m writing these words, even knowing this was coming for years. My Dad was a big supporter of me and my siblings. He wanted us to succeed in every area of life and we could feel that. He was proud of us, even though we gave him every gray hair on his head. (at least us boys did) We always knew he was in our corner. We lost a tremendous advocate. My Dad was a kind man and a helper. He didn’t just help his family, but he really cared for his dental patients here in Roseburg, his friends, his church, and all those fortunate to know him. For example, I had a good friend who was ill and going back and forth from the hospital and a local long term care facility. Being that I lived so far away, I couldn’t be there in person to support my friend. So I remember asking Dad if he would be willing to visit my friend for me. Well, he ended up visiting him almost daily for months on end and the man quickly became my Dad’s friend as well. I’ll never forget that, his willingness and faithfulness to see our friend to the end of his journey. My Dad was a good friend. Several years ago I was living in Portland and Dad was freshly retired with lots of time on his hand. I was often out driving around town picking up and delivering appliances and would often call Dad and talk with him as I drove. It became part of our daily routine and we really bonded over those years. We both helped each other through some hard times. I remember getting ribbed about all those daily conversations with Dad, cause who talks with their Dad for an hour a day for hundreds of days on end? I don’t regret one of those conversations. As the Alzheimers started to progress, activities he’d enjoyed his entire life, he’d all of a sudden just lose interest in them. I remember when our phone conversations fell victim to the wretched disease. We had been talking only a few minutes and all of a sudden Dad just kind of cut the conversation short after just a few minutes and said he better get going. He did the same thing the next day and then slowly stopped wanting to talk on the phone altogether. At the time, I didn’t understand the changes were being caused by the Alzheimers. It was so hard these past years slowly saying goodbye. Dad loved Jesus and is with Him today not because my Dad was perfect, but because he put his faith and trust in a perfect God. My Dad’s two favorite songs were Amazing Grace and Ten Thousand Reasons. I have a video from a year and a half ago of him getting emotional as he sang these words at the end of the song. “And on that day when my strength is failing The end draws near and my time has come Still, my soul will sing Your praise unending Ten thousand years and then forevermore Forevermore” Forevermore Dad! Dad, thank you for everything, we miss you dearly and love you.
Ryan Finlay
Our Broken Financial System
Growing up, I was always in wonder imagining how the ancient Egyptians got all their people to give of their time and resources to build the pyramids. Surely we would never be so stupid to allow our modern day rulers the power over us to do the same! But alas, the same is taking place today! We’ve given 12 unelected officials at the federal reserve the total power over monetary policy in the United States and it’s a policy with a foundation of theft. They debase our currency every year which is theft of our time and resources. The wild thing is people don’t even realize it’s happening. There is an incredible level of ignorance in how our monetary system works, and how corrupt it is. And so, most people don’t understand how destructive it is, and who is impacted the most, the poor. The wealthy are naturally incentivized to say nothing because they benefit the most from this broken system. Christians need to understand how broken it is and speak up on behalf of the poor. Read Lyn Alden’s book Broken Money. Lastly, the wicked in their pride, tend to boast of their great wicked deeds. As I was talking to the boys this morning, the illustration of the pyramids popped into my head. Then it occurred to me that a pyramid was put on some of our currency. The audacity! It also says in Latin “annuit coeptis” which means generally that he or Providence approves. No, God certainly does not approve of unequal weights and measures! Our money is built on a foundation of theft and it is entirely a broken foundation! The consequences and costs are far reaching, and you could spend a long time looking into them. Jimmy Song, a Christian brother wrote an entire book looking in to how Fiat currency ruins everything. Give it a read if you’re interested in understanding just how pernicious money printing, and our monetary debasement is. My encouragement to everyone, but especially Christians, is to understand how our financial system works and call out injustices when you see them.
Ryan Finlay
Celebrating Our 20 Year Anniversary
Twenty years ago yesterday, I married my beloved bride Candice. It was one of my greatest decisions of my life. We've raised 6 children together and she's an incredible mother to our children. We've homeschooled them all with our oldest two graduating from high school this past year. We've moved 9 times in three different cities in Oregon and Hawaii. It's been an incredible 20 years and I'm deeply grateful to God for you Candice! About 20 years and 6 months ago I remember praying to the Lord one night that he would send me a wife. The very next day Candice and I hung out for the first time and we never stopped! Proverbs 31:10 (ESV): "An excellent wife who can find? She is far more precious than jewels." Amen!
Ryan Finlay
Moses & Elijah Graduating From High School
Our son's Moses and Elijah are both graduating from high school this week. Candice and I homeschooled the boys all the way through. Moses started his journey of becoming a software engineer when he was 8, and has already started his career and is building a few software startups with me. Elijah developed a love for video production several years ago and has also already started his career in the field. Both boys plan on staying in Roseburg to live and work. Moses, Elijah, we are very proud of you both and are excited to see you launch into this next season of life! To all our friends, family, church community etc, thank you for investing in our boys. 🙏 (This post/video/website is hosted on our Tracker software platform that Moses and I have built over the past several years. Moses is the lead software developer of the project.)
Ryan Finlay
The Importance of Starting Each Day Well
For the past month or so, a portion of my lawn has been slowly turning brown and a few small patches even dying. I’ve been putting a lot of work into having a nice green lawn for the kids to enjoy over the summer so it’s been very frustrating to watch. I started watering the lawn a second time later in the day because it was acting like it wasn’t getting enough water, but that still wasn’t doing the trick. I fertilized it, put grub killer on it, and spent far too much time racking my brain as to why the grass hasn’t been flourishing. This morning, Elijah told me that when he went to adjust the automatic sprinkler last night he noticed that the sprinkler had been programmed to only turn on for 6 minutes in the morning, which was enough water for a portion of our lawn that gets lots of shade, but not the portion exposed to the sun most of the day. The extra water I was giving the lawn later in the day wasn’t enough to overcome for the lack of water early in the day before the grass would get blasted by the sun all day. It’s very important that the grass get enough water early in the day before the day’s heat. It’s such a good illustration for our often dried out souls. We need to spend time in the Bible every day, which is our living water as Jesus puts it, or our souls will start being impacted. It’s not even enough to just go to church on Sunday’s, just as as drinking water or eating food once a week isn’t enough. Also, I had delegated the sprinkler system programming to my son, but I had not double checked that it was doing what it was supposed to be doing, which is on me. The same goes for our souls. We often delegate the well-being of our souls to our pastors or churches, both of which are very important. But ultimately, we are responsible for taking care of our souls and we’ve been given God’s word and should spend time in it every day. Lastly, like many problems in life, things are often more simple than they seem. If we aren’t noticing the fruits of the spirit coming out of our lives, we probably aren’t getting enough water, or time in the Word. It’s just that simple.
Ryan Finlay
The US is in a debt spiral. The federal budget deficit in 2023 could go over 2 trillion dollars and it's rapidly accelerating. There are basically two ways out for the US. Hard default on our debts or print money like crazy and buy our own debt, leading to significant inflation or worse. We almost certainly will go the path of printing. Sensing the gravity of the situation, other countries around the world are starting to distance themselves from the US dollar as it's on the path to debasement. Things to watch are oil and gas and other commodities around the world being traded in currencies other than the US dollar and the emergence of financial networks outside the control of the US. There are more announcements almost daily of developments in both these areas. Why would other countries distance themselves from the US dollar? If the US must print trillions and trillions of dollars in perpetuity to prevent default, then the US dollar is going to increasingly lose more and more value each year, punishing everyone who holds US dollars with less and less purchasing power. James Lavish explains the latest Congressional Budget Office forecast very well in the following post. I highly encourage people to educate themselves on these matters as there are significant implications for just about everyone. https://jameslavish.substack.com/p/the-latest-cbo-report-taking-the
Ryan Finlay
Good encouragement!
Nov 25, 2025
It is a good passage to ponder & remember that the first parents hearing this admonition never made it into the promised land. The children of the adults who didn't get there were also listening and by the time their children became parents they would have clearly seen that what they were enjoying was obtained largely by or through someone other than themselves. Like us, they had soooo much to be thankful for, to God and others.
Nov 25, 2025