The planting pastor of Refuge is Kellen Criswell. He became a follower of Jesus Christ in 2001 while living in Portland, Oregon at the age of 19. He has a beautiful wife named Jennifer to whom he's been married for four years. They have a wonderful daughter named Bennet Abigail Criswell who was born November 20, 2008.
Kellen has been in the ministry for four years. He spent just over a year as a worship pastor in West Point, UT, and later functioned as an assistant pastor for one year in Salmon, ID. Most recently he served as the senior pastor of Calvary Chapel of Salmon, ID, for two years. He has earned a theological degree from Calvary Chapel Bible College in Murrieta, California.
Throughout the past year and a half Jesus has been confirming His desire for Kellen, Jen, and their family to come to Ogden, UT to start a new church and work with existing churches in the area. They are excited to see what God is going to put together in the future through new and old relationships in the local body of Christ.
Check out Kellen's articles on his blog: www.ekklesiaforum.blogspot.com
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Friday, October 2, 2009
Refuge Mission and Vision
REFUGE
A CALVARY CHAPEL OUTREACH FELLOWSHIP
A CALVARY CHAPEL OUTREACH FELLOWSHIP
Followers of Jesus committed to Learning God's Word, living life, focusing on Jesus, and pursuing God together
Name Inspiration
There are two purposes behind identifying our community of believers with the name Refuge. First, followers of Jesus face constant opposition from the culture in which they live, as well as a real spiritual enemy every single day. They face this opposition because of their relationship with Jesus. In Part, Jesus designed His church to be a place where His people can come to Him together seeking refuge in their relationship with Him from the struggles they encounter. As they come to Jesus together they can be strengthened and sent out again enabled to successfully continue serving Him during the journey of life.[2]
Secondly, Jesus wants those who don’t yet follow Him to come to Him to find the refuge they need from sin, condemnation, and an ultimately unfulfilling, powerless life apart from Him. All people are destined to experience those things without receiving the forgiveness of Jesus, and entering into a relationship with Him. Relationship with Jesus is the only thing that can truly and lastingly satisfy the human soul forever.[3] Followers of Jesus in the local church are the instruments through which Jesus wants to call the world into a relationship with Him so people can find the Refuge they need.[4]
Simply put, Jesus is a Refuge for His people, and He desires to be a Refuge for the world.
Secondly, Jesus wants those who don’t yet follow Him to come to Him to find the refuge they need from sin, condemnation, and an ultimately unfulfilling, powerless life apart from Him. All people are destined to experience those things without receiving the forgiveness of Jesus, and entering into a relationship with Him. Relationship with Jesus is the only thing that can truly and lastingly satisfy the human soul forever.[3] Followers of Jesus in the local church are the instruments through which Jesus wants to call the world into a relationship with Him so people can find the Refuge they need.[4]
Simply put, Jesus is a Refuge for His people, and He desires to be a Refuge for the world.
REFUGE MISSION
At Refuge we find our mission in Ephesians chapter four. Writing about the mission of the local church the Apostle Paul said Jesus, “…gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry…”[5] With all His authority as Head of His people Jesus gave Spirit-gifted men to lead and build up His followers. His purpose in this is that His people would be spiritually equipped to serve Him with their lives. Through being spiritually strengthened in Christian community Jesus' people become able to help out other Christ followers, and effectively reach out to those who don't yet follow Jesus. Since that is the mission Jesus gave to His church we at Refuge don’t feel we need to come up with some other unique mission for the local church. It is our desire to simply implement the mission of Jesus.REFUGE VISION
At Refuge we believe that Jesus not only explained the mission of the local church in Ephesians, but that He also laid out the blue-print for how that mission can be accomplished in Acts chapter two. There we are told that the earliest Christians gathered together and, “devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, the breaking of bread, and prayers.”[6] As the early Christian’s gathered together regularly to engage in these things their lives were changed, other people came into relationship with Jesus, and their culture was totally transformed.[7] The life of the community of believers at Refuge will always be modeled after the Acts two portrait of the local church. We will devote ourselves to:
1) Learning God’s word together (apostles’ teaching): We will endeavor to learn the whole counsel of God’s word through the verse by verse teaching of the entire Bible and other learning opportunities.
2) Living life together (fellowship): We will develop Christ-centered relationships of love, encouragement, accountability. We want to eat meals together and get in each other’s homes. We want to have fun and enjoy the life God has given us together. We will enjoy the unique unity we have as followers of Jesus. After all, Jesus came to give us life more abundantly.
In addition to promoting strong relationships amongst those at Refuge we will also work to build strong relationships with other Jesus honoring, gospel believing Christian churches. There's been far too much division in the body of Christ with not enough unity in Jesus, and the gospel. No church organization or denomination is the one true church. The true church is comprised of all born-again followers of Jesus. Refuge will always be committed to finding ways to support and work with other gospel teaching Christ-centered churches while still valuing the distinctions that make us unique in our community.
3) Focusing on Jesus together (Breaking Bread): In the early church followers of Christ gathered regularly to eat meals and hang out. At the end of their meals which they called, "Love Feasts," they would take communion together and focus on the cross of Christ. They wanted to have the death He died for their forgiveness of sin and restoration to relationship with God as the center-point of their lives. This is in part what is meant by "breaking bread" in Acts two.
At Refuge we will follow their example by regularly taking communion together in a worshipful non-religious attitude. We will also make it our greatest effort to keep honoring Jesus, our Savior, God, and Friend, as the centeral focus of everything else we do.
4) Pursuing God together (Prayer): We believe God brings His kingdom and will on earth through the prayers of His people. He changes lives and circumstances through prayer. We also believe in all the biblical gifts of the Holy Spirit and are open to the exercise of them according to the strict biblical guidelines as the Holy Spirit enables and distributes them (1 Co. 12-14; 12:11). We choose not to emphasize the charismatic gifts during our main meetings, but to focus on worshiping Jesus through teaching the Bible, music, and prayer. We hold the manifestation of the love God in and through our lives as the greatest mark of the work of the Spirit of God in our midst.[8]
As the church of our roots engaged in the type of community defined above the Word of God says, “…the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.”[9] Evangelism was the by-product of a healthy community of followers of Jesus. As we engage in these things at Refuge we believe the result will be that Jesus will use us to build His church as we are spiritually strengthened, and empowered to serve Him in the world. We will strive to reach out to those who don't know Jesus Christ as their personal God and Savior by showing them what Jesus is like with our lifestyles and love, telling them what Jesus is like with our mouths if they are open to hearing, and inviting them into our relationships and local assembly. We will labor to serve our community by the leading of God's Spirit and trust Him to bring people to Christ as we follow Him.
Inspired from the mission of the church shown in Ephesians four and the vision of the church portrayed in Acts two we have chosen the mission/vision statement for Refuge:
“Building and sending the people of Jesus, for the worship of Jesus”
CONTACT US
MORE INFORMATION
If you would like more information about Refuge or the Calvary Chapel Movement check out these resources:
(Planting Pastor's Blog)
Literature
(Available for purchase from The Word for Today at http://www.twft.com/)
Calvary Chapel Distinctives by Chuck Smith
Harvest by Chuck Smith & Tal Brook
Calvary Chapel Distinctives by Chuck Smith
Harvest by Chuck Smith & Tal Brook
Refuge Statement of Faith
WE BELIEVE that there is ONE LIVING and TRUE GOD, eternally existing in three persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Each Person in the Trinity are equal in power and glory. The Triune God created, upholds, and governs all things in the universe.
WE BELIEVE that the SCRIPTURES of the Old and New Testaments are the Word of God, fully inspired without error in the original manuscripts, and the infallible rule of faith and practice.
WE BELIEVE in GOD THE FATHER, an infinite, personal Spirit. He is perfect in holiness, wisdom, power, and love. He concerns Himself mercifully in the affairs of people and He hears, and answers prayer. He saves from sin and eternal death all who come to Him through Jesus Christ.
WE BELIEVE in JESUS CHRIST, God’s only Son, conceived by the Holy Spirit. We believe in His virgin birth, sinless life. We believe in His miracles, teachings, and penal substitionary atoning death on the cross. We believe in His bodily resurrection, ascension into heaven, and perpetual intercession for His people as their exclusive and final High Priest. We believe in His literal, personal, visible return to earth.
WE BELIEVE that all people are sinners by nature and choice, and therefore under condemnation according to God’s justice. We believe that God regenerates by the Holy Spirit those who repent of their sins and confess Jesus Christ as Lord. We further believe that Jesus Christ baptizes His followers with the Holy Spirit and power for service.
WE BELIEVE in the UNIVERSAL CHURCH, the living spiritual body of true believers in Jesus Christ, of which Christ is the HEAD and all Regenerated persons are members.
WE BELIEVE that the LORD JESUS Christ committed two ORDINANCES to the Church: 1) Baptism, and 2) the Lord’s Supper. We believe in baptism by immersion, and the open communion celebration of the Lord’s Supper with all regenerated believers.
WE BELIEVE in the pretribulation rapture of the church.
WE BELIEVE in the personal, visible, premillennial RETURN OF JESUS CHRIST to earth. We believe in the literal establishment of His Kingdom on earth for a thousand years. We believe in the literal resurrection of the just and unjust. We believe Jesus will eternally bless His people who are righteous through faith in Him, and that He will enforce the eternal judgment of the wicked.
WE BELIEVE that the SCRIPTURES of the Old and New Testaments are the Word of God, fully inspired without error in the original manuscripts, and the infallible rule of faith and practice.
WE BELIEVE in GOD THE FATHER, an infinite, personal Spirit. He is perfect in holiness, wisdom, power, and love. He concerns Himself mercifully in the affairs of people and He hears, and answers prayer. He saves from sin and eternal death all who come to Him through Jesus Christ.
WE BELIEVE in JESUS CHRIST, God’s only Son, conceived by the Holy Spirit. We believe in His virgin birth, sinless life. We believe in His miracles, teachings, and penal substitionary atoning death on the cross. We believe in His bodily resurrection, ascension into heaven, and perpetual intercession for His people as their exclusive and final High Priest. We believe in His literal, personal, visible return to earth.
WE BELIEVE that all people are sinners by nature and choice, and therefore under condemnation according to God’s justice. We believe that God regenerates by the Holy Spirit those who repent of their sins and confess Jesus Christ as Lord. We further believe that Jesus Christ baptizes His followers with the Holy Spirit and power for service.
WE BELIEVE in the UNIVERSAL CHURCH, the living spiritual body of true believers in Jesus Christ, of which Christ is the HEAD and all Regenerated persons are members.
WE BELIEVE that the LORD JESUS Christ committed two ORDINANCES to the Church: 1) Baptism, and 2) the Lord’s Supper. We believe in baptism by immersion, and the open communion celebration of the Lord’s Supper with all regenerated believers.
WE BELIEVE in the pretribulation rapture of the church.
WE BELIEVE in the personal, visible, premillennial RETURN OF JESUS CHRIST to earth. We believe in the literal establishment of His Kingdom on earth for a thousand years. We believe in the literal resurrection of the just and unjust. We believe Jesus will eternally bless His people who are righteous through faith in Him, and that He will enforce the eternal judgment of the wicked.
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