One of the reasons I’m most excited to work for The Gospel Coalition is that I get to hear from church leaders around the country and world about what God is doing to advance his kingdom. Our TV broadcasts and news websites so often tell the discouraging stories of human depravity. But in the church, we also have the privilege of telling stories of redemption, reconciliation, and cooperation. I recently learned about one encouraging story in Arizona, where two growing, healthy megachurches have decided to merge. I’m not sure I’ve ever heard of anything like this before. East Valley Bible Church, founded by pastor Tom Shrader in 1991, and Praxis Church, founded by pastor Justin Anderson in 2004, did not need each other. They weren’t in danger of failing. Their leadership is strong. Nevertheless, they discovered shared affinities and vision, so they are combining to form Redemption Church, which will become one of the three or four largest churches in the Acts 29 network. Shrader and Anderson tell their stories in this compelling video.

Redemption Church has a vision to fill Arizona with gospel-centered, Reformed, missional churches. The merger will facilitate these efforts to start missions and church plants that will bring the redemption of Jesus Christ to a diverse, influential state. Just watching these videos stirs me to pray that God will glorify himself by blessing this unique effort.

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The Gospel Coalition has been blessed to play a supporting role in this merger. Redemption Church has adopted our foundation documents (Confessional Statement and Theological Vision for Ministry) as their own. These documents emerged from the careful consideration and fervent prayer of our council members, and we’re grateful that their collaboration could serve this dynamic, faithful church. Indeed, Redemption Church demonstrates on a local level the hope for evangelical unity and faithfulness that we cherish at The Gospel Coalition.

Churches often ask us if they can use TGC’s Confessional Statement and Theological Vision. Yes! We encourage this practice with attribution to TGC, even as we acknowledge you may need to add content here and there to suit your own local church’s specific beliefs on issues such as baptism. Especially new churches need strong foundation documents from the beginning that will help guide them and maintain a sharp focus in the challenges that inevitably arise with time. If TGC can serve churches in this way, then we’re fulfilling a key aspect of our vision.

So please pray with us for Redemption Church and celebrate what the Lord is doing to unify his church in common cause to make disciples of Jesus Christ.

Is there enough evidence for us to believe the Gospels?

In an age of faith deconstruction and skepticism about the Bible’s authority, it’s common to hear claims that the Gospels are unreliable propaganda. And if the Gospels are shown to be historically unreliable, the whole foundation of Christianity begins to crumble.

But the Gospels are historically reliable. And the evidence for this is vast.

To learn about the evidence for the historical reliability of the four Gospels, click below to access a FREE eBook of Can We Trust the Gospels? written by New Testament scholar Peter J. Williams.

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Collin Hansen serves as vice president for content and editor in chief of The Gospel Coalition, as well as executive director of The Keller Center for Cultural Apologetics. He hosts the Gospelbound podcast and has written and contributed to many books, most recently Timothy Keller: His Spiritual and Intellectual Formation and Rediscover Church: Why the Body of Christ Is Essential. He has published with the New York Times and the Washington Post and offered commentary for CNN, Fox News, NPR, BBC, ABC News, and PBS NewsHour. He edited Our Secular Age: Ten Years of Reading and Applying Charles Taylor and The New City Catechism Devotional, among other books. He is an adjunct professor at Beeson Divinity School, where he also co-chairs the advisory board.