City of Refuge Columbus

A message on Philemon.

The third message on the book of Habakkuk.

The second message on the book of Habakkuk.

The first message on the book of Habakkuk.

Healing and wholeness are integrally connected to our discipleship. We must emphasize the fact that we are both soul and body. Our embodiedness requires us to take seriously the matters of our emotions, minds, and bodies. This means that counseling, therapy, and medication are parts of God’s good gifts to us for healing and wholeness. We can only grow in Christ at the level that we also grow in ou...

Trust is earned through godly transparency. Trust cannot be forced or rushed, but it must be naturally earned through godly transparency. Every covenant partner has a right to know the sufficient details needed to make informed and conscientious decisions. Everything from the finances to the leadership decisions will be made humbly and through collaborative processes. Titus 1:5-9; 1 Timothy 3:1-13...

The local church is a household with rights, privileges, responsibilities, and obligations. There is no task that is insignificant in this household, and we seek to dignify, encourage, and thank forms of service no matter how small they may be. Sometimes, life in this household is the equivalent of deep cleaning a bathroom. Other times, it’s like having your birthday celebrated with your family. F...

The global and universal body of Christ finds expression in our church. We are a part of a global body in Christ that has existed for millennia around the world. We must be mindful of the ways we are contextualizing the Christian faith to ensure that we are not baptizing our cultures and ways as “normal” or more holy than others. To the best of our ability, we must incorporate the voices of the gl...

The Christian life is patterned after Jesus' special care for the vulnerable and oppressed. Here and now, we live the way of the cross, not glory. Those who have any power and influence must be willing to let it go for the sake of the most vulnerable and oppressed. We must imitate Jesus who has a special care for delivering the marginalized out of harm and into flourishing. This encompasses our po...

The church is where Jesus’ upside-down kingdom finds its expression in the world. Jesus’ kingdom upends the world’s hierarchies and power structures and redefines our understanding of equity. Both women and men are intentionally sought out and trained as co-laborers in Christ. Racialized minorities are intentionally sought out and trained as leaders for the sake of mutual submission between people...

The church is Jesus’ hands and feet for worship, mercy, and justice. The life of the church is not a Sunday-only life. The life of the church is both gathered and scattered, seeking to unite worship with mercy and justice wherever we find ourselves on a daily basis. True worship includes individually and corporately addressing the issues of mercy and justice for the vulnerable of our day, includin...

Discipleship is costly and requires life-to-life commitment and intention. We believe that discipleship is more than taking in information, but it is a transformation that happens when the Holy Spirit brings connections between disciples of Christ. This requires creating space and time to be in relationship with people in daily, trivial things in life. This looks like imitating one another as we i...

Jesus’ Great Commission and Greatest Commandment are two sides of the same coin. We love the Lord by loving our neighbors. We cannot make disciples without loving our neighbors and their neighborhoods too. We cannot shortcut Christian ethics for the sake of evangelism. The ends do not justify the means, but rather, we are defined by the means we pursue. Matthew 28:16-20; Mark 12:28-31