Although I never met Ronnie, although he was not famous, although we lived thousands of miles apart, he had a significant impact on my life and my faith, and I felt compelled to write a few words about him.  Back in 2010 I saw a video of a sermon preached by a young man from an Acts 29 church in Texas.  It was not your typical sermon, but was rather a series of 47 portions of scripture put together, memorized and recited before the church by a man named Ronnie Smith.  Something about watching this 28 minute video moved me deeply.  I saw in what Ronnie had done, something genuinely beautiful.  And when you experience something you believe to be genuinely beautiful, you cannot help but to share it with others.

And so, I committed myself to memorizing this work, which Ronnie called “The History of Redemption”.  I must have watched this video 50 or 60 times.  And I must have talked about it so much, that pastor Rob eventually asked me to write a weekly blog post on each of these 47 sections of scripture for our church.  And so, over the course of 2011, that is what I did.  I invested countless hours in reading, listening to, memorizing and writing, all catalyzed by what Ronnie had done.  He was a young man, about my age, and I knew nothing else about him, except that he was a faithful servant of Christ who was a part of a church in Texas.  

Last week, Ronnie was murdered in Benghazi, Libya.  He was living there with his wife and young son, and was working as a chemistry teacher at the international school, and he was shot dead while jogging.  I believe that God called Ronnie and his wife to move to Benghazi, one of the most violent and broken cities on this planet, because He (God) loves those people.  And Ronnie and his wife went because they had been filled with a hope that extends into eternity and they desired to share this hope with those who have no hope.  Although I never met Ronnie, and I still know very little about him, I am quite sure that he understood they very real possibility of facing death in a place such as this.  And still he went, to love and to serve the people of Libya and to love and serve his God and Savior.  Ronnie paid the ultimate price for his obedience to Christ, and I am confident that in the moments following his death, he heard the voice of God Himself gently whispering in his ear, “well done, good and faithful servant”.

Although today we are saddened and grieve the loss of Ronnie, his life was not wasted.  And today, be sure of this, that Ronnie is not sad.  

I praise God for Ronnie’s life.  His was a life lived with absolute direction and purpose for the glory of God.   And as we have brothers and sisters in our church preparing to move to the Middle East, motivated by the same love that motivated Ronnie, this is a painful reminder to me, to not only encourage them and support them and pray for their fruitfulness, but also to pray for their safety, to pray daily, to pray without ceasing.  It is also a reminder to me that ultimately our hope is not in the length of our days or what we accomplish, but in a God who can and will use our lives to bring glory to Himself.  For He can use all things for good for those who love him and are called according to His purpose.  Ronnie’s life was a testimony to his love for God, and now our prayer is that God would use his death as a catalyst for the forwarding of the Gospel and the hope to which we cling.  This is a worthy cause.  There is no greater cause.  

Below is the video of Ronnie preaching “The History of Redemption”:

“Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints” - Psalm 116:15

photo credit: a7fadhomar via photopin cc

Advent, A Season of Joyful Longing

I know what your thinking. Thanksgiving hasn't even happened yet and there is already a blog post about Advent. Well Advent starts this year on December 1st and we wanted to give you some extra time to prepare something during Advent with your family or even if your single. These resources are truly helpful to get ready for the upcoming Christmas Season. Dads, these resources are especially for you, this time of year is about making memories with your family, taking the lead and planning out something like this and what a great opportunity to start during Advent.

If you don't know what Advent, it is a season of adoring Jesus. It is a season of preparation for that special day when we mark Immanuel’s arrival — the coming of our eternal God in frail, human flesh. Advent is a way of lengthening the joy of Christmas. This wonderful season expresses our joy of Jesus' arrival and our desire for him to one day come again. Advent starts this year on December 1st and ends on December 25th so we are giving you a few days to prepare.

Below are a few helpful resources and devotional's for anyone who wants help getting ready for Advent.

Blogs and Devotionals 

An Advent Story: So, here’s the thing, forget everything you thought you knew about Advent candles and the local live nativity play and reading Luke 2 at your kids… Wait. Rewind. Don’t forget that stuff, it’s actually important, too. But it’s equally important that we engage with what scripture is saying about the meaning of Christ’s expectation and appearance to us. If we simply focus on the history of Christmas, we are inviting the same host of problems that attended the Pharisees—myopically pouring over dusty scrolls, refusing to see the living God right there in front of them.

Free Gospel-Centered Advent eBook: Advent is the season where we prepare our hearts for worshiping on Christmas Day as we celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus. We have developed a printable ebook to help you lead your family in preparing for this special day.

How Will You Make This Advent Special?: We’re now only five days from Advent, which begins this Sunday, December 1. Just a few minutes of forethought today could go a long way in making this year special for your family, or spiritually significant for you personally.

Behold the Lamb of God: An Advent Narrative Book: Via Justin Taylor from The Gospel Coalition. "If you are looking for an Advent devotional this year, I would recommend Russ Ramsey’s new Behold the Lamb of God: An Advent Narrative (foreword by Andrew Peterson). Russ is a gifted writer and thinker, and he currently serves as a minister of preaching and pastoral care at Midtown Fellowship, a PCA church in downtown Nashville."

photo credit: gato-gato-gato via photopin cc

Editors' Note: The Goal for this Interview is to paint a picture of what true discipleship looks like between a college age student and a family. I have received plenty of requests from college students expressing their desire to have someone disciple them. But we felt challenged to express where we think the best discipleship happens, by being integrated within a family. In these two blog posts we interviewed a family and the college student (at the time) and asked them both what discipleship looks like as their lives were interwoven.

Discipleship In the Eyes of a Student

Discipleship In the Eyes of a Family: Below is the blog interview that was done with Steve and Janine Kruyswijk.

How Can I Get Discipled?

*******

Before we start I wanted to get an understanding of what discipleship looked like to both of you before you came to Redeemer Church?

Steve:  I did not really even have a category for discipleship before coming to Redeemer.  I was not intentional at all, and never even thought of discipleship.  I thought being a Christian was being good and doing what you were told, and knowing enough of the Bible to be saved.  I was doing that and not really thinking about other people.

Janine:  I’ve never thought of it specifically before coming to Redeemer.  I’ve never really had someone take the time to disciple me, so I did not really know what it was or think about it at all.  I’ve heard of the concept, but have never had it play out in my life.

When Maddy came to you both and asked if she could come to your house and see what it's like to be a part of a healthy family, what did you both think this would look like or what did you expect to happen?

Steve and Janine: When Maddy first came for a visit, we figured it was just nice to have a friend over.  We knew her a little from church.  We did not start having her over to disciple her.  She had expressed an interest to Sierra to come visit for fun, play with the kids, make new friends.  I (Janine) got to know Maddy a bit before this while teaching at Redeemer Kids.  I knew she did not have a close relationship with her parents, and she told me this on Mother’s Day.  I did not have her over for reasons of pity, but to love her; my mother heart strings were being pulled.   And Maddy is young and fun, and a student, and kids love that and look up to that.  Other than getting to know Maddy better and enjoying visiting, we had no other intentions or expectations.  We saw this more as a chance for fellowship with a sister in Christ than a discipleship opportunity.

How has your view of discipleship changed, after spending the last few years with Maddy?

Steve:  Well, I don’t think someone gets discipled well if one is too intentional.  Chill out.  Want to learn about families?  Make friends with parents.  Hang out, become a part of the family.  We never considered Maddy more than a friend and as a sister, even today.  I don’t even think of it as discipleship today; were just doing life together.  We actually think of her as a part of our family, and we would never forget about her.  We feel very protective of her, we love her, and when you love someone, you have conversations, and you share your heart with each other, and you want to be together and help one another in any way you can.

Janine:  I feel the same way as Steve.  We can learn so much from each other, and we get to very practically apply the Gospel to each other’s lives and situations. We get to pray together, do family devotions together, she sees our needs, she sees we are not perfect, and we get to practice grace and forgiveness.  She helps me so much.  We get to know her friends, they come over with her sometimes.  She is such a blessing in our lives.  We have learned so much from her!  She is so encouraging, and has a great sense of humor, which I need with four kids.  Maddy has now had a huge amount of experience with kids.  She has seen up close what a Christian marriage is like.  We love having her as a part of the family.  I don’t know if we are helping disciple her more, or we are learning and benefiting more from her being a part of our lives.

What sort of things from both of you did you desire Maddy to learn while being with your family?

Steve:  When I think about this, considering that Maddy did not grow up in a Christian family, I desire her to learn how one Christian family operates, albeit very imperfectly and with huge weaknesses.  I do believe that we have established certain routines in our lives that keep us in the Word, and that keep us discussing the Word with each other.  Also, offering your children a Gospel-centered home is the best gift you can give your children and one of life’s greatest joys.  She desires to be a mom someday.  Establish routines that get you in the Word now so you can teach these to your kids, as well as have the biblical knowledge necessary to be able to teach your children at an age appropriate level.

Janine:  I also desire for Maddy to learn what a healthy Christian family looks like.  I would like her to learn from us how different roles in life (wife, daughter of God, mother, home maker, etc.) crowd into your life, and all this is difficult to keep prioritized.

I find Maddy to be a strong leader.  I really desire that she takes what she learns and experiences with us and disciples and teaches others as she herself puts them into practice.  I so hope that when she is married has children that she also has a “Maddy” or two that she is discipling out of a pure desire to do so.  Plus she will need the help .

Through this experience, how has Jesus become sweeter in your eyes, specifically because of the relationship you have had with Maddy?

Steve: Seeing how drastically Jesus has transformed Maddy’s life and is transforming her life now makes me praise His name, and gives me hope for the work of the Holy Spirit.  I thank God that we will worship with Maddy around the throne of God one day, and celebrate at the marriage feast of the Lamb, and live forever in God’s eternal Kingdom.  This motivates me to speak highly about my King, knowing he is doing an amazing work in our time here on earth.

Janine: Through being part of each other’s lives, Jesus has become more real, closer and sweeter to me by experiencing his forgiveness and grace.  We’ve needed to forgive each other, we’ve needed to remind each other of God’s amazing grace, and we’ve then had that blessed joy that comes when we both worship God and realizing there is nothing that can separate us from the love of God through Jesus.

This sort discipleship is very rare within the church, what sort of advice would you both give to college students who desire to have older mentors disciple them?

Steve and Janine:  Get to know the families you are worshiping with in Church.  Go talk to them, after or before worship.  They are people just like you.  See who you click with and build a relationship.  It really is not hard at all.  Before you know it, you are close friends and enjoying life together.

Another thing you could do is find out where there is a GC with lots of families and go join it.  You’ll be in their home with other people, and you’ll be able to see multiple families interact at once.

Lastly, what are some specific things you love and appreciate about Maddy?

Steve:  I love her sense of humor.  She can take it if I tease her.  She is like a younger sister to me.

Janine: I love Maddy.  I consider her one of my best friends, as close as I am to my own blood sister. I appreciate Maddy’s honesty and openness, and I love her goofiness and sense of humor.  I love seeing her grow as a woman of God. I love her generosity towards our family. The kids absolutely love her and look up to her. I want to come over and babysit her kids someday.

photo credit: swnktstic via photopin cc

Anchored in Truth: What's it about?

This year’s women’s conference is focus is truths of God. Truths that we need to turn to. Truths that draw us to worship and praise. Truths to anchor our souls.

Speakers:

Kati Berreth, Rachel Gross, Danielle Dow and Vanessa Cordero. 

Dates:

Friday Nov 15 5:30-8:30pm – Saturday 9am – 3:30pm

Location:

Redeemer Church – 211 Northshore Dr

Registration:

You can register on line starting Sunday Sept 29

Registration Form

or at the registration table at Redeemer Church after services. 

Cost:

$35 until Oct 20. Late registration (after Oct 20) $40. You can pay on the City or the registration table. Scholarships are availble. 

For questions or more info please contact Vanessa Cordero at vanessa@redeemernw.org

Editors' Note: The Goal for this Interview is to paint a picture of what true discipleship looks like between a college age student and a family. I have received plenty of requests from college students expressing their desire to have someone disciple them. But we felt challenged to express where we think the best discipleship happens, by being integrated within a family. In these two blog posts we interviewed a family and the college student (at the time) and asked them both what discipleship looks like as their lives were interwoven.

Discipleship In the Eyes of a Student: Below is the blog interview that was done with Maddy Barden.

Discipleship In the Eyes of a Family

How Can I Get Discipled?

*********

Before we start, I wanted you to give people a background of your life. How did you understand the nature of “family” when you were younger, particularly before you started to follow Jesus?

 I grew up in a family of 4 – My Dad, Mom, and older sister, Heidi. We went to church until I was about 8 years old (for reasons I am unsure of) but don’t remember being brought up in the gospel or seeing my parents really love Jesus. I looked forward to church so that I could be with friends or turn in tokens I had earned at Sunday school for toys. My parents were divorced when I was 13, my mom stating that my dad no longer wanted to “have fun” and live her “free-spirited” type of lifestyle. I lived with my dad through high school along with my sister and my relationship with my mom suffered. Both of my parents are alcoholics, which was something I wasn’t as aware of as I am now but I can look back on my time when I lived at home with my parents as having a significant impact on my trust of others and how I functioned in my relationships.

A few years ago you asked the Kruyswijks if you could come over and be a student of their family and learn. What were your intentions for reaching out to them, and what did you hope would come out of spending time with them?

 I originally met Sierra (9) and Carson (7) during a church day-project cleanup when we re-did the garden area of Redeemer. The kids wanted to run around and help me with my different projects and it brightened up the work! I made the connection that Janine was their mom a few weeks later through volunteering with Redeemer Kids. I had been hoping to get in relationship with a family for a few months and already had made connection with a few of the members of their family. We got to chatting one day and she invited me over to dinner. I had heard from other friends and through various Christian blogs or posts that experiences with families helped them grow in their understanding of marriage, raising children and every day life in light of Jesus. My hope in spending time with the Kruyswijk family was to see how Jesus had changed their lives, share life together and to also grow in my relationship with their children so that I could be helping shape their hearts for the Lord as well.

You have spent a lot of time with the Kruyswijks and have sort of become a part of their family now. What sort of things has Jesus taught you about yourself that you wouldn’t have known if you hadn’t spent all this time with them?

 Oh man, loaded question! I feel like I have gone through so much with them since we started spending time together! I’ve mainly learned that life is beautiful and hard and that Jesus is the only rock that we can rest on. I remember Sierra having a severe allergic reaction at one point in time and praying for her and beginning to see parenthood in a different way. I remember Janine first finding out she was pregnant with Eden, seeing her belly grow and getting to share in some of the first hours of her life. I learned so much about seeing Janine and Steve’s love for one another from Christ and then also to their children. Seeing the vulnerability and trust they have in one another humbled me to see that I could only ever do marriage and kids if I rest in Jesus and find him as my source to do those things. Outside of that I would fall on my face and fail miserably.

Before my experiences along side of their family – the good times and the hard – I thought marriage and having children was much more self based, and I thought I was pretty set and had the capabilities to take it on. Now I see that I will never be able to do those things without the power of Christ in me, trusting in his grace and with the support of God’s family around me.  I’ve seen and learned more about how unappreciated moms are (and dads I’m sure as well) and how moms must be comforted that God sees their labors. What a humbling job that brings you to your knees in need of Jesus to sustain you.

I’ve learned a lot about grace and about the body of Christ. We are one and it’s beautiful. The Kruyswijks have extended grace upon grace to me and I’ve been able to do the same to them. I feel sharpened by them, encouraged by them and challenged and always accepted. I can come as I am and in my family growing up I couldn’t do that. We didn’t talk about the hard stuff, my parents didn’t talk to me about the hard things I was seeing on the news and I never felt freed up to tell them what I was struggling with. I’ve learned that it’s a joyous thing to share and to give grace so that others feel freed up to share as well.

What did the term discipleship mean to you before you started hanging out with their family? How has your view of discipleship changed, now after spending the last few years with them?

 Discipleship to me meant meeting randomly and talking theology, at least in the most basic sense. Of course I believed life should be spent together but that was more in the sense of talking about our lives but not actually living life together. It was also something that I thought of being very hard (which I still think it is but in a different sense). I thought of it as hard because I thought you needed to have all the right answers and spend a ton of time together. Now I think the hardest part of discipleship is being vulnerable. I don’t want people to know the depths of my sin, I want to ‘keep face’ with people and want them to think of me as the best person who ever walked the planet (SO NOT TRUE!!!).  Discipleship to me no longer takes on a formal sense and I am slowly learning how I can take my experiences of living life with the Kruyswijks and applying it into other relationships in my life. We definitely talk theology, I go over there on random days, and sometimes it is really hard. It’s the hard days that bind us together, we get to dwell in grace together and remind one another of the cross. It’s a beautiful thing to see them love and accept me as a sister and link arms with me and I am glad they allow me to speak truth to them and push them to love Jesus more. God has been gracious to us.

Through this experience, how has Jesus become sweeter in your eyes, specifically because of the relationship you have had with the Kruyswijk family?

Through my relationship with the Kruyswijks Jesus has become sweeter because I have seen his light shine through them onto me. When they show me grace, I am reminded that Jesus shows an even greater grace. It’s the same with when I experience love, acceptance, commitment, care and joy with them – Jesus is the sweeter and more permanent of each thing they extend to me.

Jesus has become sweeter in my eyes also because he has shown me how he has changed 2 weary sinners into a part of his covenant people (talking about Steve and Janine here) and is re-writing their family history starting now. I see them discipling and loving their children out of Jesus loving them and I want that for myself if I ever get married. My family history will no longer be ruled by money, alcohol, divorce, enmity or sin – it will be ruled by Jesus because he is my Redeemer. It’s been a gift and blessing to see how Jesus changes lives and how he will never stop chasing me as part of his bride.

What are some key takeaways you have learned over the years regarding (family and discipleship/mentorship)? (This is a two-part question)

  Family: 

• Family is beautiful. The love of a parent to a child shows a glimmer of God’s love for us as his children. It is a joy to be adopted into the family of God and the Kruyswijk family and get to experience grace there.
• Family is messy. Jesus claims the mess, gives you purpose in the mess and sustains you in the mess.
• Family calls you to lay down your life for others and trust that God sees your labor when it goes unnoticed. He calls us to obedience. Our labors out of what Jesus has done will not go unnoticed.

Discipleship/Mentorship:

• Discipleship is costly. What was the most costly thing? Jesus laying his life down for his enemies. As we give up things for the sake of others, we get a taste of what it meant for Christ to come and humble himself to serve. We get to taste and see that the Lord is good because he paid the biggest price for the most unworthy people.
• Discipleship brings out surprises! God fully knows us and we barely even know ourselves. Meeting with others and sharing life together brings out sides to us we don’t know. We were all built differently, have different experiences and opinions and I think God uses relationships as a means to teach us more about who we are and who he made us to be.
• Discipleship is worth every hour. Even if it feels like you learned nothing new, didn’t get to share any joy with someone or maybe that something became worse in your relationship with someone God is using everything for our good as believers. He wants us to be in community with one another, regardless of what our hearts tell us.

What advice would you give the young college age student, particularly women, who desire to have an older mentor in their lives?

I’d tell them to put themselves out there and ask the hard question of, “Can I come help you around the house sometime?” I think it’s hard to expect a mom to be able to take time off to disciple a college-age woman (but still totally do-able). Most college age girls have time to go out to a house once a week, jump into family life – and it also gives an opportunity to serve. Take the kids on a walk so mom can have a break, wash the dishes after dinner, read the kids a bedtime story and tuck them in. Whatever is appropriate to the family – be respectful. I know I wouldn’t have as much knowledge of family life from sitting down for an hour a week with Janine over coffee vs. going out to their house for dinner. Now that relationship has even turned into me going out there for days at a time, sometimes even spending the night or helping in times of transition (when Eden was born or with Carson and Sydney having surgery).

If a college student is desiring to be a part of someone’s life and learn from them, what sort of things must they be willing to do, particularly to help out the family generously, not just as a consumer?

 Jesus calls us to lay down our lives for the sake of others. A college student should be prepared to give up time. Maybe that is 2 hours a week. They must be willing to give up driving time and gas. You have to get to where you are going to serve and grow. If you don’t have a car, get two people to go together and split the cost. They have to be willing to go with the flow of the family and not have high expectations that all things are smooth-going at a home. You have to be flexible with the schedule (even if you are “starving”), with the crying or sick child (which makes things less pleasant, but, hey, it’s real life), or the tired parent after a long day (who may not feel up to listening to what is going on with your life for 3 hours).

It’s hard, but it’s a joy; a deep joy that is not only planting seeds in your heart that God will continue to cultivate, but you are given grace by God to plant seeds in their hearts as well.

Lastly, what are some specific things you love and appreciate about the Kruyswijks?

 They have extended grace upon grace to me. Late night talks over cups of tea and granola bars. They trust me with their children and put me right into their family life. That I have been graced with loving each of their children, have gotten to build a friendship with each child and look forward to knowing them for the rest of my life.  Their deep love for Jesus and desire to grow and trust him in his grace.

photo credit: kevin dooley via photopin cc

What is a Gospel Community?

People often (and rightly) wonder, “is there any real difference between a Bible study or small group and a Gospel Community?” Though Gospel Communities study the Bible and gather regularly, a Gospel Community (GC) is quite different from a small group or a Bible Study. To put it simply, a GC is a collection of regular people growing as disciples while making disciples.

Gospel Communities are really about a group of disciples growing as disciples while making disciples in their particular neighborhood as a family of believers serving Christ by serving others, learning as humble truth-seekers, and sent as witnesses of the Gospel to all people.

The Foundation of Gospel Communities

People often (and rightly) wonder, “is there any real difference between a Bible study or small group and a Gospel Community?” Though Gospel Communities study the Bible and gather regularly, a Gospel Community (GC) is quite different from a small group or a Bible Study. To put it simply, a GC is a collection of regular people growing as disciples while making disciples.

Gospel Communities are really about a group of disciples growing as disciples while making disciples in their particular neighborhood as a family of believers serving Christ by serving others, learning as humble truth-seekers, and sent as witnesses of the Gospel to all people.

A Big Goal For GC’s: One Degree Vision:

That every person in Whatcom County would be connected to someone in a GC. May we as a church pursue Christ, walking in response to His grace and allow that grace to push us out into the different contexts that God has us in. May our response to His grace be we want to know people who do now know Jesus and may we befriend our neighbors who don't know Jesus and show them that Christ is worthy of their worship.

Helpful Resources for Gospel Communities

These resources are for anyone who is leading a Gospel Community, are apart of a GC or simply just interested in being apart of one. If you are interested I hope these resources help you to understand what it means to be apart of community that is on mission. 

Jeff Vanderstelt and his Missional Community at Soma Communities share their heart for wanting to see Jesus glorified in their neighborhood and all of Tacoma.

From Strangers to Missionaries: A Strategy for Mission : Tim Brister gives us a great glimpse into the strategies it takes as a Gospel Community and as individuals to help us be more missional in our communities and our individual lives.