Blog
Honoring the Joy and Grief of Mother’s Day
Mother’s Day used to be much simpler to me. I had a wonderful mom and I truly enjoyed the chance to pause, remember all the ways she loved and cared for me, and tell her I was thankful. But two years ago I lost my beloved mom to suicide, and the Mother’s Day that...
A Prayer for Good Friday
From the Devotional: The Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers and Devotions MY FATHER, Enlarge my heart, warm my affections,open my lips,supply words that proclaim ‘Love lustresat Calvary.’There grace removes my burdens and heaps themon thy Son,made a...
The Cost of Following Christ
This is a guest post by Zack Chatterton. Zack is a good friend of Pastor Ryan. They served in ministry together in Phoenix, AZ. Zack currently serves as a volunteer leader at Phoenix Bible Church and is an Adjunct Instructor of Christian Ministries at Arizona...
The Grace to Live
At Redeemer, we recently finished a three-week study on the doctrine of sanctification. Sanctification is the formal theological word which describes the immediate act of a Christian being made holy through the forgiveness of sins and the transfer of Christ’s...
Does Church Membership Matter?
If you are a Christian, you should become a member of your local church. Perhaps I’ve already lost some of you by placing a should in that sentence. Why is that? One reason might be that we tend to think of church membership as “not a bad idea, but not all that...
Difficult Teachings of Jesus
Some of the things that Jesus said are hard. How many of us have come across some chunk of red letters in the gospels and discovered something that we either didn’t understand, or didn’t want to understand? We have company. Even a cursory reading of the gospels will...
Marriage and the Gospel
My husband (Tom) and I just celebrated our 35th wedding anniversary this past month. It is a beautiful milestone and an incredible evidence of God’s grace and mercy to us, and to our children and grandchildren. We both came from families plagued by alcoholism and...
Marriage Interview: John and Missi Wilson
John and Missi Wilson have been attending Redeemer Church since the very beginning. Through (almost) 17 years of marriage they have learned a lot about forgiveness, repentance, and the hope that comes from the gospel. I recently asked John and Missi Wilson some...
When Friendship Fails
Being a good friend isn’t easy. Friendships thrive when fostered in the presence of intentionality, devotion, and sacrifice. However, these things don’t come easily. Furthermore, there are countless situations that compound the difficulty of cultivating meaningful...
Do You Put God or Country First?
Our current political climate is as intense and polarizing as ever. It seems the right has moved further right, the left has moved further left and the centrists have lost all hope in the political process. Politics & Jesus Political obsession and preoccupation is...