This article is based on the notes from the devotional given at Redeemer Baptist Church's member's meeting on July 23rd, 2026. So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart. Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies; you know that they breed qu...
To all our gospel partners, It continues to be my joy and honour to serve as the pastor of Redeemer Baptist Church here in Kelowna, BC, Canada. And I am so thankful that God has surrounded our fellowship with other brothers and sisters, even from around the world, who support our work. In the end, it is God's work through us, not our own. We labour...
[This article is based on the notes from the devotional given at Redeemer Baptist Church's member's meeting on May 5th] As many of you know I ran a rather long race a few days ago. It's the limping and the groaning that gave it away, right? However, I would like to point out that I limped into the pulpit the very next day and did not mention the ra...
"Amen!" You've heard it said in church, after prayer, after a song, even mid-sermon perhaps. You may have heard it said in the world, when some speaker says something really well or fitting. "Can I get an Amen!?" Incidentally, I remember as a kid thinking that what people were saying was "all men". And that seemed odd, and it would h...
These are the notes from the Principal's Message at the Redeemer Showcase Night on March 6th, 2026, at Redeemer Baptist Church (The East Kelowna Hall). 10 Theses on Classical Christian Education It has become a yearly tradition for me to give a talk about Classical Christian Ed. This began in the early years of Redeemer Classical Ac...
To our generous gospel partners, I count it a great privilege to serve God's people here in Kelowna, BC, Canada, at Redeemer Baptist Church. And it is on behalf of the whole church that I say thank you to all of our partners who pray for us and give financially to support the work. We are so encouraged by your generosity. It reminds me of Paul when...
[This article is based on the notes from the devotional given at the Redeemer Baptist Church AGM on February 6th, 2026] Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, "Why could we not cast it out?" He said to them, "Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say t...
This article is based on my notes from a recent talk that I gave at the first Glorious & Free event held in Kelowna, BC on November 15th, 2025. Today we are talking about Revival. The word is a simple word – it means to be made alive again. We use it in Christian circles to talk about those moments in history when God r...
By now I think it is safe to assume that the news of Charlie Kirk's assassination has reached most everyone, especially those in Christian and conservative circles who knew him best. Charlie Kirk himself was both a Christian and a conservative; and he really made his impact speaking to college students. I knew of him and watched some of his content...
[This article is based on the notes from Pastor Ross's devotional given at the August 15th Member's Meeting at Redeemer Baptist Church] And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. (Galatians 6:9) The Christian life and Christian ministry, in particular, require endurance. Endurance, persi...
[These are the notes from the talk given at a Redeemer Classical Academy Open House on March 14th, 2025. The Audio Recording has more content than the notes below.] The title for my talk tonight is Saving Western Civilization One Student at a Time. Full disclosure, I thought that I came up with that on my own, but apparently it's been use...
[This article is based on the notes from the devotional given at Redeemer Baptist Church's January 31st Member's Meeting.]"We want you to know, brothers, about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia, for in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of...
[This article is based on the notes from the devotional given at Redeemer's 3rd Quarter Member's Meeting - Nov. 8th, 2024] So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look no...
990 Sundays. Almost 1000. That is how many times I've worshipped the Lord with the people of God on a Sunday Morning. I could figure it out quite easily, because I started going to church in the middle of August, 2005, when I was first saved. And there have been 994 weeks since then. And because I have only been absent from church 3 or 4 Sundays in...
[This article was delivered as a devotional/exhortation at the 2nd Quarter's Member's Meeting at Redeemer Baptist Church] I want to write here about the glory of church planting. I want to encourage each one of you that being a part of the adventure of church planting is glorious. First, lets consider that word glory. what do you th...
Studies in Church History This is now the second in a series of articles that I am doing called Studies in Church History. From time to time I will post these short biographies for your encouragement in the faith. I believe that the study of Church History can serve us here in the present as we take inspiration, encouragement and even cor...
Studies in Church History This is the first in a series of articles that I am planning to do called Studies in Church History. From time to time I will post these short biographies for your encouragement in the faith. I believe that the study of Church History can serve us here in the present as we take inspiration, encouragement and even correctio...
[These are the notes from Redeemer's Quarterly Member's Meeting on April 19th.] Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you. (Hebrews 13:17) Very few people aspire to be a good fo...
This sermon was preached on Sunday March 24th at Cornerstone Baptist Church in Kamloops, BC. Covering John 11:1-44, Pastor Ross goes through the story of Jesus raising Lazarus highlighting the glory of Christ.
These are the slightly edited and updated notes from the devotional given at Redeemer Baptist Church's Annual General Meeting on February 10th, 2024. There are many markers of success for a church. You can have healthy Christian families, generous giving, growing numbers, growth in sanctification, heartfelt and joyful worship, solid Bibl...
"Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. (1 Thessalonians 5:18) Rampant thanksgiving is one of the surest marks of spiritual health, and one of the distinguishing marks of a Christian. As our text says, this is the will of God for the Christian. The shape of the Christian life is that of thanksgiving. ...
In one week's time we will begin the season of Advent. Next Sunday, December 3rd marks the time when historically many churches would begin to focus their attention on the first coming, or advent, of Christ. This is a time for preparing our hearts for Christmas Eve and Christmas Morning. It is also a time to begin the celebration early, and to put ...
[these are the notes from the devotional given at Redeemer's quarterly member's meeting on November 10th, 2023] Recently I wrote on 1 Corinthians 15:58 about always abounding in the work of the Lord. 58 Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labour i...
In the past I've written many articles touching on the idea of consumerism in the church.Down with Consumerism was perhaps the main one; and that title should tell you exactly how I feel about the whole idea. The fact is, churches in Canada and the U.S. have become increasingly consumeristic. With the advent of the seeker-sensitive movement, mega-c...
[these are the notes from the message given at the Quarterly Member's Meeting on August 25th, 2023] Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain. (1 Corinthians 15:58) What is your life all about? What is your driving focus and your central...
There has been a lot of hubbub and hullabaloo lately about Christian Nationalism and Christendom. As far as anyone can tell the term Christian Nationalism came about as a pejorative term for Trump-supporting evangelicals in the United States. The left-wing media noticed that there were many evangelicals engaging in politics and claiming that Americ...
[This article was written jointly by Redeemer's elder's Ross Odnokon and Vince Kuipers] Redeemer is a growing church. And that in more ways than one. We have more people attending our services then we did a year ago and even more if you compare two years ago when we first planted. We are also growing in the depth of our fellowship, our sa...
[This article is based on the notes from the devotional given at Redeemer's Quarterly Member's Meeting.] I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3 eager to maintain the unity of the Spi...
I recently wrote on the broad idea of celebrating holidays as Christians. You can read that article, Lord of Our Years, here. In it I argued for keeping and celebrating the five main gospel feast days. If you grew up in a staunchly Roman Catholic community, or if you lived in early 16th Century Europe, you would be accustomed to all manner of ...
If you have been around Redeemer for a little while you might have noticed that we make a big deal about holidays. We ramp up for Christmas. We emphasize Easter – with services on Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday. We get invitation cards out, we have a big feast, and we preach special messages for these occasions. And as far as that goes, our pr...
[This is the recording and notes from the Redeemer Classical Academy Info Night, held on Friday, March 31st, 2023.] Redeemer Classical Academy Info Night Introduction Launched in the fall of 2020, (A crazy time to start a Classical Christian school, I know!) we have grown each year and God has been faithful to bless our efforts. Our vision remains ...
Introduction Right at the outset, let me state my purpose for this article. I do not aim to give an exhaustive and full treatment of the theology of music, the theology of worship, or anything as thorough as that. But what I hope to do is give a brief statement on the main points of what worship music is and engage with some points of dispute. Cons...
Introduction Today I am going to tackle a question that might not be on the top of your mind, but it is an important one for us to consider. This question is timely in light of our Sunday series through The Gospel According to John. Recently, we have read verses such as these: "unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the k...
Baptism is not something that many Christians think about all that often. For many it has faded into the rearview mirror of their Christian experience. But for us at Redeemer Baptist it is regularly in view. Why is that? Mainly because of our practice of weekly communion. Men, women and children hear the words each Sunday – "If you have repented an...
Have you ever actually had a bee in your bonnet? How about one of those pokey burrs under your saddle? No? I didn't think so. Probably because you ladies don't where bonnets much these days, and you men don't ride horses. But you understand the picture. Both images point to a seemingly little thing that if left unaddressed causes a major problem. A...
Predestination and election are two words that in many circles cause a stir. The mere mention of these words often generates an atmosphere of suspicion, criticality, and defensiveness. Predestination and election, these are fighting words for many – but curiously not for the apostle Paul, or Peter, or James, or Luke or even Jesus for that matter. T...
[These are the notes from the pastoral devotional shared at Redeemer's 2023 Annual General Meeting] I recently wrote a series of blog posts on the One Another's of Christian fellowship. In the series I aimed to equip us and inspire us to really be the church. Calling us to live a life worthy of the gospel, worthy of the calling to which we were cal...
[This is the sixth of several articles in the One Another series] We have been spending our time lately on the one anothers of Scripture. We first looked at those 35 direct commands where that phrase is used – one another. I've since tried to organize them in a way that is easy to hold in our heads, with the three main headings love, unity, a...
[this is the fifth of several articles in the One Another series] Unity or Diversity, which of these do we want? In our world we often hear the praises of diversity sung. Ethnic diversity, sexual diversity, religious diversity – the call is for everything to be many and multi. We want multi-culturalism, we want many faiths to coexist, we want all t...
[this is the fourth of several articles in the One Another series] I have been writing lately on the one anothers of Christian fellowship. By my count we have at least thirty-five direct commands pertaining to how we treat one another within the body of Christ. And as we've seen, it's a tall order. A list that not one of us obeys successfully even ...
[This is the third in several articles in the One Another series] We have recently been looking at the thirty-five one anothers of the New Testament. And last time I categorized them into three main headings: love, unity, and humility. Now let's go backwards through that list, starting with a focus on humility. The verse to anchor this one another ...
[Adapted from a sermon preached during Advent in 2021, The Politics of Christmas]Why do the nations rageand the peoples plot in vain?The kings of the earth set themselves,and the rulers take counsel together,against the LORD and against his Anointed, saying,"Let us burst their bonds apartand cast away their cords from us." He who sits in the h...
[This is the second of several articles in the one another series]We have been looking at the thirty-five one anothers found in the New Testament. Last time we surveyed the landscape, and tried to put them in context. And in some ways we just took them all like a giant wave washing over us. But it can be hard to hold all thirty-five of these i...
[This is the first of several articles in the one another series.] You may have heard of a lone-ranger Christian. Someone who doesn't go to church, or share life with other believers, but claims to follow Christ. There are many things wrong with being a lone-ranger Christian. It is spiritually dangerous, it is not good for the soul, it is unwi...
In the life of a soldier at war there are times when life is "normal". You are sitting around with your mates drinking coffee, putting your boots on, talking about life back home. But then there are times when you are really in the thick of it, fighting hard and under attack. Or if you were a bomber pilot, perhaps for an hour or so you are seemingl...
I've written a lot this year on what one could call a philosophy of ministry. It may not be the subject matter that every believer thinks about on a day to day basis, but as a church planter it is always on my mind. And I share these thoughts with you, the church, because no one plants alone. It is good for you all to think through these things wit...
Our world has become rife with cancel culture. This refers simply to that environment in which someone who deviates from the zeitgeist gets pounced upon, denounced and shut out of polite society. If you are of a high enough profile, you can get banned from social media within mere hours just for saying a biological fact like "men can't get pregnant...
Lately we've been going through the major themes of Nehemiah as a church. And we've done it all under the banner of Build the Church. We have been taking the great story of Nehemiah, seeking to understand it in its original context, but then leaning heavily into application for us in the church today. We've talked about Building from the Ruins, Bui...
Whenever a man and a woman get married, they are proclaiming certain truths about God. Whether they believe in God or not, they are participating in His good creation, and showcasing His beautiful design. It is a wonderful thing to see a good man and a good woman get married, start a family, and love each other all the way into their old age. Seein...
[Adapted from a chapel message given at Redeemer Classical Academy] What does it mean to be a Christian in this world – to be a Christian institution, or Christian family, or a Christian businessman? Does it mean that in everything we do we make sure to pray first? Or if you were a Christian artist, you would make sure to add a cross onto all ...