Sovereign Grace Journal #3: Our Statement of Faith
Benjamin Kreps:
Hey everyone. And welcome to the Mark Prater podcast where our aim is to connect our global family of churches with our Executive Director. Mark, as you well know, an initiative started by Jared Mellinger has graced us in Sovereign Grace over this past year, the Sovereign Grace Journal. And the third edition of the Sovereign Grace Journal just came out. Why don't you tell us about it?
Mark Prater:
Yeah, the third edition it focuses on our Statement of Faith and I'm just so excited about this Journal. Obviously, being on the editorial board, I've read and suggested edits for all of the articles. But they're just so well done. Again, written by Sovereign Grace's pastors for the members and pastors of Sovereign Grace's churches. That's our primary audience. And the articles in this particular Journal focus on the Statement of Faith or are tied directly to the Statement of Faith. Jeff's introduction regarding the Statement of Faith is just so well written. You've got to read that. Walt Alexander's got a wonderful article entitled, “What More Can He Say?: The Finality and Sufficiency of Scripture.” It's just really well written. CJ's got an article on election. All of those would be more tied to the content of the Statement of Faith.
And then there's articles that really help the reader bring application. Or help pastors to help members of your church to bring application of the Statement of Faith. So, some of those: Jimmy cannon has written a wonderful article, “Putting on Truth in a Postmodern World.” So how do we take the Statement of Faith and apply it in the postmodern world? Alex Chen wrote a really helpful article entitled, “The Value of Historic Creeds and Confessions.” And that's really good because our Statement of Faith sits within a long history where we're standing on the shoulders of men that have gone before us and written historic creeds and confessions that are really just so well done. So, you got to check out Alex's article. Warren Boettcher has written one on the enduring centrality of the church. And we love the church, the local church in Sovereign Grace. And I think Warren brings that out so well. So those are just a few of the articles that just to sort of whet your taste to make sure you read it and encourage the members of your church to read this Journal as well.
Benjamin Kreps:
Yeah. Some great book reviews too. I saw Gentle and Lowly, I think, and Living the Cross Centered Life.
Mark Prater:
Yes. And you've got to check out Jeff Purswell’s review of Systematic Theology, Edition 2 written by Wayne Grudem. That is a really well done book review.
Benjamin Kreps:
Excellent. Well, it's wonderful to hear from pastors from across Sovereign Grace, and I'm so grateful for these guys putting in the work to serve us by writing these helpful articles. Any thoughts about how we might not just read and be edified personally, as pastors from the Journal, but how we might potentially use the Journal in our churches?
Mark Prater:
Yeah, I do. I've got a couple of recommendations, and this is in the category of “Read these articles and think about how you can pastor your church with them,” or “How you can lead your church with them by suggesting that they read them.” So let me hit that first category, “How do you pastor them?” You know, the holidays can be hard for some people, and then you leave the holidays, and then you go into January. And some can wrestle with seasonal depression. The days are darker. They’re not as long.
Benjamin Kreps:
There are no more parties!
Mark Prater:
Yeah, that's right. The parties are over. Christmas is over. There's the letdown. Bill Patton has written an article that's really well done on the attributes of God. It's entitled, “Sustained by the Attributes of God.” So that would be an article I think you could give someone who just is down and discouraged, wrestling with whatever they're wrestling with, and their soul will be strengthened sustained by that article. So that would be a way to use the article pastorally.
And then in terms of leading your church, obviously one of the issues in our culture has to do with gender identity and specifically gender confusion. And so, Brian Chesemore has written an article, a really helpful article on gender identity, “Biblical Faithfulness in An Age of Gender Confusion” is the title of that article. And it’s really well written. And I would suggest that you encourage the members of your church to read that. But, in particular, parents who may have teens that are wrestling with gender issues. That will be really, really helpful.
One last article that I think is good for anybody to read is an article that Jared Mellinger wrote entitled, “Building Something That's Durable: The Value of Thinking Institutionally.” And he makes a case for the value of institutions, that God's established them. And in an age where people are suspicious of institutions or they just think institutions are too authoritative—I’m not saying those things can't be true—but this article makes a case for the importance and the good aspect of thinking institutionally. I think this will strengthen partnership among our churches. So, just a few thoughts on how you can pastor and lead your church with those articles.
Benjamin Kreps:
That's excellent. Well grateful for all the men involved in this Journal seeking to strengthen us locally as pastors, and, and you're doing just that. So thank you. And thank you, Mark, for your thoughts on this. I think we're going to try to record to podcast, but we'll see. It's Christmas next week! In any case, we'll see you soon. Bye for now.