“I think it was very instrumental that God didn’t allow me to know much about the project as I was going into it. Looking back now, I’m able to see how God used my blindness as a benefit; but at the time, I was a little scared about not having enough information,” Matt said.

It was mid-December when Matt first received an invitation to work with Homes of Hope. With an increase in resident population, the organization wanted to start the process of designing and building a new kitchen, skills center, and information center. But they had trouble finding an architect who could put the organization’s needs above his or her own ideas. Mark Roche, founder of Homes of Hope Fiji, contacted Vision Abolition regarding his request.

Vision Abolition is an association of Arizona churches that support Homes of Hope Fiji by providing materials and money to the nonprofit and sending missions teams to Fiji. Brian Crawford, a local church leader affiliated with Vision Abolition, received Roche’s request for an architect.

Brian, a friend of Matt’s, thought Matt might be interested in the opportunity – and he was right. Matt approached the manager of the architecture firm where he was employed at the time with some uncertainty, because of the short notice. But he knew it was in God’s plan when his manager responded to the request with “Go for it.” Two weeks later Matt arrived in Fiji and met with Mark Roche to start drafting the plans for the new buildings.

“I was confident that I could do the job because of my prior experience.”

Earlier in 2010, Matt and eleven other graduate students traveled to Ethiopia under the leadership of Redemption Arcadia member Jack Debartolo III to draw-up the construction documents for the design of a new children’s home.

“Jack showed me through his way of working, a rare and remarkable example of someone who is using architecture to further the Kingdom,” Matt said. “That trip opened my eyes to the needs for design and construction around the world; I saw how my training and talents could be used to help meet those needs.”

Working on a project in east Africa prepared Matt for the south Pacific.

“It is always interesting for me to see different cultures as no two cultures are the same. I don’t want to be too universal, but a lot of architects bring in their ideas based on what they know and this is common in the Western culture,” he said. “I tried going in with an open mind – clearing out every preconceived notion that I had.

During his time in Fiji, Matt worked 15 to 18-hour days performing site analysis, programming, and material research to design three buildings that could meet Mark Roche’s expectations and budget limits. Surprisingly, Matt and Mark found that they agreed on many of the designs ranging from air flow to architecture. The two men decided to continue drafting the building plans even after Matt returned home.

Back in Arizona, Matt decided to seek out the mission opportunities in his own circle of influence.

“Wherever you are at you have a duty to be a light in the world, what that is per individual, I think varies; as for me -it is through my actions, through my conduct, what I do, what I say, how I interact with people – that’s constantly part of who I am,” Matt said. “I think there is a big push to go to third world countries and do missions but I don’t think that it is better or worse than staying here and telling others about God. I encourage people to find the areas that they have been blessed in and share that with others.”

Living by his own words, Matt prayed and felt God leading him in a new direction. Matt recently resigned from his architectural position to start a business that will give him more freedom to serve those in his community and at Homes of Hope.

“I don’t know what I’ll be doing exactly, but I know that this is a step in the right direction.” Based on his recent experience in Fiji, Matt understands that he does not need to know everything; he just needs to trust in the One who does.

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Story by Kelly Van Liere
Photo by Matthew Priestley

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Do you have a story that you would like us to tell? Click on the button below and tell us about it.

The story of Joseph is grand and complex, playing out in multiple contexts over multiple generations. Like all of our lives, Joseph’s is a tapestry of mistakes, lessons, relationships, opportunities and choices, all of which are bound together by a sovereign God who is accomplishing his purposes.

Our study of Joseph will serve as part 1 of series that we’ve titled Faithful; in part 2 we’ll study Daniel.

The title reflects our recognition that Joseph is a man faced with choices, the type of profound choices that set the course of one’s life. Will he choose character and humility even if leads to injustice being done to him? Will he choose reconciliation or revenge when confronted with those who have wronged him?

There is only one perfect hero in scripture and it’s not Joseph, it’s Jesus. Joseph is flawed, as we all are, especially in his youth. But it is our hope that as we study his life together we will learn from his example – both positive and negative – and that we will be inspired to be faithful, courageous men and women that “shine as lights in the world”. (Philippians 2:15)

DOWNLOAD THE ‘FAITHFUL’ STUDY GUIDE HERE
(right-click and save as)

Caroline said:

Our ultimate goal is to build community in our city and that the people we live among would say of us, “We don’t believe like they believe but they do so much good for our community and city that we would hate to have them leave.” To us, this is living out the Gospel and being a redeeming influence on our city.

We believe that the whole of life is to be influenced by our faith and our job as Christians isn’t to convert people, but to live out the Gospel and love them. Love isn’t a feeling, it is a decision. And the Gospel changes us and enables us to serve, live in community with and love all the diverse people of the city of Phoenix that we come in contact with through urban farming .

For more information, go to the Boho Farm website. Caroline’s home will be a part of the Arcadia Edible Garden Tour taking place on Saturday May 12th. For more information click here.

Stacey Poterson is a Gilbert-based photographer who attends Redemption Tempe. More of her photography can be found on Stacey’s website.

Photos by Stacey Poterson
Story by Eugene Scott

(Photo by Timothy Boyd)

An appreciation of art, value of local business and support for downtown Phoenix were the impetus behind Pedal Craft, an event celebrating the Valley’s growing urban bike community.

The event held in April in downtown Phoenix was the brainchild of Redemption Arcadia members Jon Ashcroft (far left in above picture) and Jonce Walker (center in above picture). Jon is heavily involved in the Valley’s design community and is also the Creative Director for Redemption Church. Jonce works in sustainability and focuses on making downtown Phoenix more bike-friendly. Pedalcraft was simply a natural continuation of their existing interests.

“People constantly ask us if we put on this event to advocate for some all encompassing message or raise funds for a terminal disease. They can’t wrap their heads around the idea that we put so much hard work in so that people could come together for a couple of hours and have a good time celebrating a few common interests,” Jon said.

The Pedalcraft organizers believe that meaningful community exists beyond Sunday mornings. The desire to create an environment for people to do life together while highlighting the arts, loving on their city and celebrating relationships is rooted in their belief that Jesus places a high value on community.

“Jesus was all about community and helping people. Pedal Craft is all about community and joy. My personal work focuses around making places better for people and Pedal Craft is just an extension of that,” Jonce said.

To keep up with future Pedal Craft events, go to http://www.facebook.com/PedalCraft.

Also, you can see (and purchase!) the Pedal Craft posters at http://pedalcraft.bigcartel.com.

Photos by David Blakeman (unless noted)
Story by Eugene Scott

That’s a tragedy. Because God is at work and when we fail to acknowledge it we miss out on opportunities to worship him, as well as opportunities to be encouraged and challenged.

It’s for this reason that we’ve formed a team of people who are focusing on telling stories. They are writers, copy-editors, photographers, and videographers, working to reveal what God is doing in, through, and around Redemption.

In the coming weeks you’ll be seeing more stories. Moving forward it will be a central part of our communication efforts. This isn’t about celebrating ourselves, it’s about revealing the movement of God in our midst and equipping and encouraging one another to honor him.

Now, if you’re interested, allow me to paint a bigger picture as to why we believe this so important.

NO ONE IS AN ISLAND

English poet and priest John Donne famously said, “No man is an island…”

Donne understood that all of our lives are interconnected. You may think of yourself as autonomous, above influence, and/or invisible, but the reality is that your life has impact on others and is impacted by others. You can’t escape that truth, even by withdrawing.

What’s interesting about Donne’s statement is that it comes in the context of a meditation about the nature of the church. He references the Apostle Paul’s metaphor of the church as a body (1 Cor 12; Eph 4:16; Col 2:19) and makes the logical connection that if he’s a part of a body then the burdens of any member of that body are his burdens and the victories of any member are his victories. He says:

The church is catholic, [which means] universal, so are all her actions; all that she does, belongs to all.  When she baptizes a child, that action concerns me; for that child is thereby connected to that head, which is my head too, and ingraffed into that body, whereof I am a member.  And when she buries a man, that action concerns me…

…No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main; if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friend’s or of thine own were; any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.

The bell that he speaks of in that last sentence is the bell that rings from the cathedral and calls people to pray for those who are sick. Donne adds, “If we understand aright the dignity of this bell…we would be glad to make it ours… The bell doth toll for him, that thinks it doth.” In other words, if we embraced the beauty and wisdom of our connectedness, we would gladly allow ourselves to be impacted – even inconvenienced – by others.

The reason Donne was so willing to make the afflictions of others his own is because he considered them to be “gold”. It’s not that he thought he could make a financial profit off of them. Rather, he knew that when God worked in others, even through tragedy, it had a profound shaping effect on him as well. “Tribulation is treasure in the nature of it,” said Donne, “but it is not current money in the use of it, except we get nearer and nearer our home, heaven, by it.” (Romans 5:3-5; James 1:2-4) Often the treasure goes hidden or ignored. But in bearing the burdens of others, said Donne, “this bell, that tells me of his affliction, digs out and applies that gold to me.”

In short, Donne’s primary concern was not comfort or self-protection; it was growing closer to his Lord. And he knew that the challenges, passions, questions, and blessings of the other members of the body were God-sent means to draw him close and grow him into maturity.

A DIVERSITY OF IMPACT

If you’ve ever sat beside a faithful believer on their deathbed or visited a family dealing with the loss or illness of a child, you know Donne’s words are true. God uses these things to shape the afflicted individuals, but also the communities around them. These types of shared burdens pull us out of our superficial patterns, get us past our filtered, well-crafted personas and profiles and help us engage with God and with one another in honesty. That level of honesty and transparency is a rare jewel and you know it when you find it.

But it’s not just the times of struggle or sadness that have this shaping effect. Honest, transparent testimonies are equally as powerful. They remind us that God is actually at work, saving people and redeeming his creation. In times of personal struggle and/or dryness a personal testimony can be the encouragement that we desperately need. In times of celebration they can add wind to our sails.

It’s also important to note that the shaping influence of others comes in more forms and in more places than the dramatic. In fact, it’s found most often in the mundane. Because God works in the miraculous but he also works on Tuesday mornings when we’re trying to get the kids to take a nap. Sometimes the most shaping influences we can have are those that give us a picture of real people working out their faith in the context of real life.

TELLING STORIES

Simply put, we need to tell stories because there is gold all around us, buried gold that God wants to use to shape and mature his church.

Of course nothing will ever replace genuine, personal relationship; that will always be plans A, B, and C for how we can have a positive shaping influence on one another. So pursue one another, care for one another, and learn from one another where you have opportunity.

Then tell your story to one another in your Redemption Communities and around your dinner tables. We’ll do what we can to make some of those stories widely available. We’ve already found that there are more stories than we can possibly tell, which shouldn’t surprise us.

Some of the stories we’ll be telling will be dramatic and miraculous and some will just honest portraits of real life. We will be telling you about events, but mostly about people. Not every story will have full resolution and we can’t wrap a neat bow on them all because, well, reality is in process.

We’re excited to present these stories to you. We pray that God will be glorified and that you will be challenged, encouraged, and inspired.

Stay tuned…

“You have multiplied, O LORD my God, your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us; none can compare with you! I will proclaim and tell of them, yet they are more than can be told.” (Psalm 40:5)

When East Valley Bible Church, Praxis Church, and Second Mile Church became Redemption Church in early 2011, we stated that our vision was:

…to saturate the State of Arizona with Gospel-centered, Reformed, Missional churches through campuses and church plants. We see thousands of people worshiping Jesus and living out the Gospel all over Arizona, equipped every Sunday with the same message and living out the same values everyday.

Our vision, in large part, remains the same today. We believe strongly that as a unified body we can serve as a resourcing church where leaders are trained, sent, and supported to plant healthy, thriving churches. Our conviction has always been that some of those new churches would function as Redemption Congregations, alongside Arcadia, Gateway, Gilbert, and Tempe. Some of them would simply be independent churches that have strong relational ties to Redemption. Where it makes sense to plant Redemption Congregations we would do that. Where is makes sense to send leaders to plant non-Redemption churches we would do that. Our heart is not to saturate Arizona and beyond with the Redemption brand, but rather with the Gospel, with disciples, and with healthy church communities.

We shared this vision with you all a year ago. We can, of course, have wonderful vision statements and well-constructed plans and God can choose to take us places we haven’t anticipated. He can shift our priorities and give us unexpected challenges to focus on. He does that often in fact. So we need to pursue our goals with passion but hold those goals loosely enough to allow God’s leading to be put first.

With all of that said, as we have sought God the past year, we believe he has confirmed the vision he originally gave us. And because it’s good to be accountable to your expressed goals, we want to give you an update on the state of Redemption Church’s efforts to see Gospel-centered, Reformed, Missional churches planted throughout Arizona and beyond.

SOME TERMS

Briefly, let’s define some terms for the sake of clarity. Think of a church plant as a congregation in seed form. A plant becomes recognized as a congregation once it reaches a certain level of participation, order, and stability.

Why make a distinction? Planting a church is missionary, entrepreneurial work that is done in faith. Sometimes God has different plans for the people and leaders who stepped out to plant and a thriving congregation never emerges. That’s not always a bad thing. But it’s helpful and good to make a distinction between the early season of tilling the soil and the point where new growth emerges in the form of a fully functioning body.

REDEMPTION WEST MESA PLANT

Under the leadership of Pastors Chris Amaro, Joel Chaira, and Josue Lopez, this plant is underway and thriving. Serving the largely Hispanic population of West Mesa and the Broadway Corridor they gather for bi-lingual Sunday worship services at 10:30am at Longfellow Elementary School (345 South Hall Mesa). Pastor Chris Amaro gives this update:

“…We are trying to create a place for the Gospel to go into families, equip men to lead, and have a worship service that serves the diversity in our community. Also what we are seeing is the Gospel breaking down cultural, ethnic, and language barriers and forming us into one body as people learn both Spanish and English.

If you came on a typical Sunday you would see a very diverse crowd. Every Sunday we average about 50 adults and around 25 kids. The majority of persons are Chicanos (Mexican Americans), who speak English. You will see a handful of Mexicans who only speak Spanish, whites, who are the second largest group, and we have a handful of African Americans. We also have diversity in age range with both singles and married. We have a good amount of young men that we are discipling right now and have more single young men than single young women. Currently we have 35 people who I would consider part of our core group. These are people that are serving, attending weekly, giving, and are in a Redemption community…”

• Click here to view a video highlighting Redemption West Mesa’s efforts in the Broadway Corridor
• Follow Redemption West Mesa on their Facebook Page here
• Email Pastor Chris Amaro at chrisamaro@redemptionaz.com
• Give by clicking here and selecting West Mesa Church Plant

REDEMPTION SAN FRANCISCO PLANT

Perhaps our most-publicized plant for obvious reasons, Redemption San Francisco is in the phase of building a team, making connections, and raising support. Pastor Justin Anderson and his family have now left to get established in the city. C.J. Bergmen and his family have already moved to the area and Pastor Ryan Eland and his family are looking to follow soon. Pastor Justin gives this update:

“We are spending most of our time fund raising right now and while we are making good progress, we have a long ways still to go. San Francisco is the second most expensive large city in America and we are all feeling the weight of that. Please be praying that God would bring all the necessary funds and that we would find places to live in the coming weeks.”

• Click here to view the Redemption San Francisco Prospectus
• Follow Redemption San Francisco on their Facebook Page here
• Follow Redemption San Francisco on Twitter here
• Email Pastor Justin Anderson at Justin@redemptionsf.com
• Give by clicking here and selecting San Francisco Church Plant

REDEMPTION AHWATUKEE PLANT

In mid-2011 we brought in a leader with church-planting experience to pursue a plant in the Ahwatukee area. As is sometimes the case, God showed us that he had different plans than the ones we laid out for both Redemption and the leader we brought in. We have learned lessons in this process and while we are not ruling out future efforts in this particular area of Phoenix, this plant is no longer happening.

REDEMPTION FLAGSTAFF PLANT

Pastor Vince Garvey has been called to plant a church in Flagstaff and is being sent with the full support of Redemption. Vince has served faithfully in a number of roles in Praxis/Redemption. He and his wife will be joined in their move by a team, some of whom have already secured jobs in Flagstaff. Pastor Vince gives this update:

“There is much work to still be done, but all is moving quite well for the Redemption Flagstaff plant. We are currently working on a scheduled “partnership blast” which will include a 6-month prayer guide, new website, prospectus, and vision video to be sent out sometime in April. One of our core couples is already up north and the rest of our core team, now at 14 people, will be moving the first week of June. Please continue to pray for unity, and good housing options for our team. Although, it’s not San Francisco, life in the mountains is more expensive. Our hope is that God would stir hearts to partner with Redemption Flagstaff in 4 ways: Pray, Give, Share, and Join.”

• Follow Redemption Flagstaff on their Facebook Page here
• Follow Redemption Flagstaff on Twitter here
• Email Pastor Vince Garvey at vincegarvey@redemptionaz.com
• Give by clicking here and selecting Flagstaff Church Plant

CHURCH PLANTING COHORT

We have a number of young leaders who are exploring the possibility of planting churches. They serve different leadership roles within the church and in the community in order to gain experience. They meet together regularly under the guidance of Redemption pastors and go through material to help equip them in theology and practical leadership. Healthy church plants come from God calling healthy, capable leaders. We want to do our part to prepare those leaders for whatever God has for them.

JOIN US

If you call Redemption Church your home you are very much a part of our church planting efforts. We are sending members of our own family out and, as a result, our family is growing. These leaders need your support in prayer, finances, word of mouth, etc. Please come alongside them as the Lord leads.

Here’s what we need to be clear on: religion is not the enemy of grace. Self-righteousness and works-based salvation are the enemies of grace. To be sure, formalized religion is a natural vehicle for self-righteousness and its practices can easily be confused as the means of salvation. But don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater. Religion isn’t the issue. Your heart is the issue.

I understand the sentiment of “I hate religion, but love Jesus” and “It’s not a religion it’s a relationship.” I’ve waved that flag, especially in college when I was reading certain authors who will remain nameless. But I think that sentiment really is more about a spirit of rebellion than it is about truth. And for that reason we need to realize that the problem of self-righteousness doesn’t get eliminated with a rejection of religion. Sometimes, what you think is a crusade for grace can really be about your pride. I’m not accusing Bethke of that. But to everyone who has their adrenaline rise up while watching the video, be careful.

In his poetry, Bethke places “religion” in opposition to Christ in no uncertain terms. But he doesn’t really define what he means by the term, and therein lies the problem. “Religion says do, Jesus says done. Religion says slave, Jesus says son. Religion makes you blind…” you get the idea. So what is religion and is it such an enemy of Christ? Did Jesus come to “abolish religion”, as Bethke says? The simple answer is, no.

The truth is, I think Bethke is really speaking against something else and that religion is just a poor word choice – albeit a common poor choice – to represent a superficial attitude and culture that plagues the church . We can’t treat the linguistics of it fully, but for the sake of clarification, let’s get a definition that we can hang something on. Any modern definition we find of the term “religion” will include some combination of these formalized, shared elements: 1) a set of beliefs 2) ritual observances or practices 3) a set of ethics or morals.

Now, here’s the question: did Jesus come to abolish religion as it’s defined here? Do these things rob Christ of his glory and hinder salvation?

While we may argue that crystalized doctrine has caused division and pride in history – and it has – firm, articulated beliefs are in no way in opposition to Christ. Look no further than “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6) A people that share this common truth and rally around it automatically become a community or faith-group. If you confess Jesus is Lord and Savior, you are a part of this faith-group, with all of its strengths and weaknesses. You are a Christian and Christianity is…a religion, with core beliefs. Doctrine is not opposed to Christ.

Let’s add ritual practices to the discussion. Did Jesus want to abolish those? We’ve got to remember that it was Jesus who instituted the Lord’s Supper and it was Jesus who went out to John in the wilderness and asked to be baptized. It was Jesus who repeatedly went off by himself to spend time in prayer. All of these are religious rituals, that is they’re formalized practices based on the core beliefs. Our Sunday services and – I hope – our personal lives as believers are filled with religious rituals. Jesus railed against the Pharisees and their rituals not because the rituals were evil, but because of the self-righteousness with which they practiced them and condemned others. When Jesus chose to go against the Sabbath law (Matthew 12), it’s not as a commentary on the wickedness of having a Sabbath. Rather, he has an opportunity to heal a man. The ritual is simply lesser than the opportunity to administer grace in that moment.

See, our rituals can serve as shared means for believers to receive, reenact, remember, celebrate, and pass on grace. But it is grace that gives them life; they hold no power on their own. Rituals aren’t bad, but when they get disconnected from their meaning and have no tether to the heart of the individual or group practicing them, they become hollow. Hollow rituals either need their life recaptured, with grace breathed in, or they need to be rejected. But we would do well to not throw ritual out across the board. They have tremendous value for the health of our spiritual lives. What’s more, rituals can connect us to the great witness of believers throughout the centuries that have shared our love for Christ. That’s a powerful thing and helps us break out of any self-focused, narrow perspective that we might slip into.

How about ethics and morals? Are we supposed to live a certain way and embrace a certain standard of right and wrong? Of course! Thankfully we have God’s word and the Holy Spirit to guide us in this. And let’s make this clear: obedience to Christ is not legalism. Similar to rituals, legalism happens when rules get disconnected from the heart. We are all for grace and we do not believe that our works save us. We can’t say that enough. Our works do not save us; that’s what the book of Galatians is all about. But a desire to be obedient to Christ is not in opposition to Christ. Jesus didn’t set you free through grace to do what you want. He set you free to follow him and live as you were intended to live, fully human according to God’s will. (1 John 5:2)

Again, I think that the heart behind what this Bethke is saying is true and good. He makes some great points like equating someone who claims to follow Christ because of superficial realities to some who claims to “play for the Lakers just because you bought a jersey.” I love what he says about wanting the church to be a place where people don’t have to hide their sin out of the need to project a certain image.

But Bethke, unfortunately, overstates his case with some poorly chosen language. Religion doesn’t “start wars”, wicked people do. Religion doesn’t “fail to feed the poor”, ambivalent people do. Jesus didn’t come to “abolish religion”, he came to fulfill it. (Matthew 5:17) Because he did fulfill it, our beliefs, practices, and ethics are not our hope of salvation but an acknowledgement and response to grace. There is richness in them that can stir our affections as God moves in our hearts.

My plea is simply this: don’t reject everything outright that is crystalized or formalized, whether doctrine or practice, as being in opposition to Jesus. There is such a thing as pure and undefiled religion (James 1:26-27) that is valuable and good. Know the difference between law and grace, obedience to God and legalism, and religion and self-righteousness.

For more on this, here’s another helpful post by Jared C. Wilson.

And if you like to read, here’s a one from Kevin DeYoung.

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Jefferson Bethke has responded to the criticism of his video in a way that should serve as a lesson for us all. In his passion to glorify Jesus he took a bold stance. I applaud his boldness, but his actions lacked some wisdom. Truth is, we can all point to moments where our actions lacked wisdom. What’s encouraging is that Bethke has enough humility to receive correction and learn from it instead of going on the defensive. Let’s all learn with him and from him.

Read his response to Kevin DeYoung here.

Warning: Do not let the sheer volume of options paralyze or overwhelm you. Don’t try to use ALL these resources at once. Be realistic.

“Blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the Lord!” (Ps 119:1)

MOTIVATION

“Please Feed Me More!” The Cry of Dying Faith (John Piper)

Slay Your Dragons Before Breakfast (Michael Hyatt)

Authentic: Discipline of Bible Study (James MacDonald)

A New Year’s Plea: Plan! (John Piper)

PHONE TOOLS

YouVersion – Free bible app for any mobile device

Commentaries – Additional insights on Bible passages by respected pastors and scholars

Bible Dictionaries – Look up background or topical information

Blue Letter Bible – One of the best free Bible study websites

Logos Bible Software – Free app from the leading Bible Study software

ESV Bible – A nice, free app is available for the version we use at Redemption

AUDIO RESOURCES

Audio Bible – Listen to any chapter of the Bible

Daily Audio App (iTunes | iPhone/iPad | Android) – Daily podcast reading from OT, NT, Psalms and Proverbs

Listener’s Bible – Buy CDs or mp3s of the Bible read by Max McLean

BIBLE READING PLANS

The Bible is a big book, consisting of 66 different parts written by several dozen authors. Readers who approach it like any other book—beginning with page 1 and proceeding toward the end—soon find themselves lost in a bewildering maze of ancient history. It helps to have a plan. Here are some plans:

BEGINNERS - Getting started in the Bible

30 Days With Jesus

30 Days for New Christians

The Essential Jesus – 100 carefully selected passages to discover who Jesus is and why he is so life transforming

Major Events – A 65-day tour through the Bible and the Major Events of our faith – from Creation to the End Times and all sorts of good stories in between.

Major Beliefs – A 65 day plan that focuses on some of our core beliefs in Christianity

5x5x5 Plan – Through the New Testament in 5 minutes a day, 5 days a week

INTERMEDIATE - Read the Bible all the way through in one year

Discipleship Journal Book-at-a-Time plan

Discipleship Journal Original (read 4 places at once)

Crossway has 10 Reading Plans you can read online, in print, or subscribe to in RSS or iCal

Ransom Fellowship’s “Bible Reading Plan for Shirkers and Slackers” (here’s an explanation)

The KINGDOM Bible Reading Plan

ADVANCED - For the highly motivated and disciplined

The M’Cheyne One-Year Reading Plan – OT once, NT/Psalms twice

Professor Grant Horner’s System – 10 chapters per day from 10 different books (related: The 3650 Challenge)

How To Master the English Bible – Choose a book, read it entirely, repeat 20 times, repeat for all books

OTHER RESOURCES

Here are even more reading plans.

Here is a beautiful list of all chapters of the Bible, organized by genre that can be used as a checklist.

BIBLE MEMORIZATION TOOLS

“I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.” (Ps 119:11)

FighterVerses.com (iPhone/iPad, Android) – Weekly memory verses for fighting with faith

A Bible Memory Plan for Busy People

An Approach to Extended Memorization of Scripture – Memorizing entire chapters or books

Seeds Family Worship – Bible memory set to music (great for kids too)

Consider the promises that God makes through Isaiah.

He promises to the people of Israel that the weapons of their oppressors will be broken. War and violent bloodshed will be no more. An all-powerful king will reign – God himself – with perfect justice and righteousness and there will be no end to the peace on the earth. Note that these promises were made to a people who lived in war, captivity, exile, occupation, slavery, injustice, and political and religious tyranny. Consider the magnitude of hope that rested on these promises.

The scriptures are filled with the cries – often shockingly honest ones – of God’s people for deliverance from their present, dire circumstances. And who could blame those crying out? They lived in the kind of hardship and fear that many of us only read about. But while God repeatedly provided physical deliverance for the nation of Israel from present circumstances, through Isaiah he promises them something greater. He promises them a savior that will bring peace that lasts forever.

Understand that this is not simply peace in a political/military sense. This is the Hebrew concept of shalom, which Author Cornelius Plantinga Jr. describes in this way:

The webbing together of God, humans, and all creation in justice, fulfillment, and delight is what the Hebrew prophets call shalom. In English we call it peace, but it means far more than just peace of mind or ceasefire between enemies. In the Bible shalom means universal flourishing, wholeness, and delight—a rich state of affairs in which natural needs are satisfied and natural gifts fruitfully employed, a state of affairs that inspires joyful wonder as the creator and savior opens doors and speaks welcome to the creatures in whom he delights. Shalom, in other words, is the way things are supposed to be.

This is what God promises. What greater promise could be made? What greater hope could there be?

As I type this and as you read it, we are a part of the most comfortable nation the world has ever known. But even now, in our moments of deepest honesty and clearest sobriety, we know that things are not the way they’re supposed to be. Since Adam and Eve ate the fruit, hid in shame, and saw sin overtake the earth, we’ve all desperately hoped that it could all be undone. We’ve all been waiting for a savior to come and conquer the forces that we cannot. We’ve all been trying to get back to the garden, but sin keeps sabotaging our plans. We’ve all been crying out, like Israel, that if someone’s in charge of all of this, he needs to do something! He promised! What’s he waiting for?! This longing for shalom is the fire in every human heart.

Fast-forward 700 years from the prophecy of Isaiah. An angel appears to an insignificant young woman living in an obscure corner of Rome’s vast empire. In the most inconspicuous of settings, in relative anonymity and darkness, an angel delivers the news that shakes the foundations of history and treats the wound of every human heart: fulfillment has arrived.

“Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” (Luke 1:30-33)

A light shines in the darkness! The fulfillment of our most impossible hope takes form. In the most mind-bending, awe-inspiring reality there is, the creator of the universe becomes a fragile fetus in the womb of a scared teenager. Here is the king that will bring the peace we all long for.

“Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” (Luke 2:10-11)

This child is the embodiment of hope fulfilled. He is Jesus, the Christ (messiah, savior) and the Lord (master, king).

In Jesus is permanent victory over sin and death. We who live on this side of the cross know that he has already achieved this through his life, death, and resurrection.

In Jesus is our hope that all things will again be made right. We know that he has promised to return again and make all things new, wiping away every tear.

The cries of all creation and the hopes all of humankind  - past, present, and future – converge on this one child and he alone is capable of carrying the burden. The peace that we all long for is found in him and him alone. There is no greater fulfillment than that which is found in Jesus. So we join in a carol to sing:

“Joy to the world, the Lord is come! Let earth receive her King! Let every heart prepare Him room!”

Receive the gift of Jesus with gladness and to him be the glory, our savior, our king, our hope, and our peace.

Merry Christmas.

The pressing question facing us in this text is simply this: what is Paul referring to exactly when he talks about prophecy? Prophecy is a term that carries baggage with it – imagery, confusion, fear – but its exact definition is often a bit hazy for people. Whenever we come across a term like this in scripture we should strive to understand what the author’s intent is and what the context can tell us about the term’s meaning, rather than simply operating from what we’ve always thought or felt it meant.

The first thing we need to realize here is that Paul makes a distinction between the word of God and prophecy.

The inspired words of the OT Prophets and NT Apostles have been collected as Scripture, God’s inerrant communication to his people. Though written through human authors, they are to be accepted as God’s very words, 1 to 1. (more on that topic here) Prophecy, though also inspired by the Holy Spirit, is subject to the authority of the scriptures and is not to be taken as the very words of God. So, for example, an individual can receive revelation from The Lord, but that revelation can never contradict scripture, trump scripture, or add to scripture.

Where do we see this distinction in the context? In 1 Thess 1:6 and 2:13 Paul commends the believers in how they fully embraced the inspired words of the OT Prophets and NT Apostles – including himself – with the joy of the Holy Spirit as the very words of God. In 5:16-21, he encourages them to not despise prophecy. It would make no sense if in the course of one relatively short letter Paul encouraged the believers – more than once – for receiving a gift with gladness and then commanded them to not despise that gift. It’s clear that when speaking about the word of God and prophecy, Paul speaks about two different things.

When it comes to the authority of prophecy, as Paul describes it, in comparison to the authority of Scripture, Wayne Grudem makes an excellent point in his Systematic Theology. Similar to 1 Thess 5:16-21, in 1 Cor 14:29 Paul calls upon the believers to weigh or test any prophecy that is spoken. He commands them to test the validity of the alleged prophecy to determine if it is in fact from the Lord. Grudem states, “We cannot imagine that an Old Testament prophet like Isaiah would have said, ‘Listen to what I say and weigh what is said – sort the good from the bad, what you accept from what you should not accept’!” Isaiah said, “Thus says the Lord…” – 36 times to be exact – and it was to be received as the very word of God. Not so with the prophecy Paul is speaking of here. Grudem adds “[Paul] implies that prophecies contain some things that are good and some things that are not good when he encourages them to ‘hold fast to what is good.’ This is something that could never have been said of the words of an Old Testament prophet, or the authoritative teachings of a New Testament apostle.”

So prophecy, as Paul describes it, is to be tested and weighed. Just as it is right for us to test any teaching that we receive, any story that we here, and supernatural act that we witness, we must also test the words that people speak to us in the name of the Lord. We do this, very simply, because we want to make sure that they are in fact from the Lord. Anyone can say they have a word from the Lord, there are plenty of persuasive teachers, and in our day some pretty miraculous things can be conjured. Add to this the spiritual forces opposed to Christ working in influential, supernatural ways, and we must be careful to assure that we are holding fast to what is good and rejecting what is false.

Now, I hope you have made it this far in the post because this next point is critical. The main thrust of Paul’s communication to the Thessalonians is not that they should be skeptical and cynical, but that they should willingly embrace prophecy that is found to be from the Lord. We should not be gullible and tossed by every manipulative force, but we must realize that the Holy Spirit will continue to reveal and apply truth to our lives, sometimes through the words of other people. That is a grace of God. Scripture alone is sufficient for you and your ability to gain salvation and honor God with your life. But God’s word was not specifically written to address the nuances of your dating relationship, job scenario, or parenting challenges. The inspired words of other believers can offer targeted application of truth that gives us hope, perspective, conviction, and wisdom.

Do not despise the inspired words of believers who care for you. Test them, and if they are in accordance with Scripture, receive them with joy, even when they bring conviction of your sin.

I’ll leave you with this. In their book Doctrine, Driscoll and Breshears offer a helpful grid through which we can test such words. Ask yourself these questions.

1. Is the speaker/writer loyal to the LORD?
2. Is their word consistent with the Bible?
3. Is what they describe or predict accurate?
4. Is their character Christlike?
5. Does their word build up and encourage the church in truth?
6. Do the church elders affirm their word?

I would simply add this to their list. Does the alleged prophecy point to Jesus as Savior and King? Does it reinforce the sufficiency of his death and resurrection to save you unto eternal life? Does it glorify the Lord, you, or the speaker?

Test everything. Hold fast to what is good.

Please note: Redemption Church considers the issue of spiritual gifts to be an open-handed issue. This means that while individuals within our leadership and church may have convictions about the subject, we consider it a secondary issue where freedom should be given within our church to believe differently as long as the beliefs remain within the spectrum of biblical Christianity. This post is meant to supplement our study of 1 Thessalonians and in no way represents a full treatment of the subject.