Sovereign Grace, Leadership, and More

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I have always been reluctant to extend myself beyond my “borders” regarding leadership. So, I declined anytime an outside organization asked me to serve on a board. I did this because I want my time given to my family, church, and community. And when it comes to community things, I’ve limited myself to the game of baseball because that’s about all I can handle. I have also declined because I don’t “need” other leadership positions for my self-esteem or prestige. In my younger years, this would’ve been a huge temptation, and part of my declination over the years has been to guard my soul against any speck of selfish ambition.

But over the last several years, our denomination, Sovereign Grace Churches, has asked me to consider being on the ballot for the Executive Committee. And, like always, I’ve declined. Until last year when Jill and our elders felt that I should put my name “in the hat” for this committee, and whichever way the vote went was the Lord’s doing. Last November, the vote was taken at our annual Council of Elders meeting in Orlando, Florida. It took extra innings, but I was voted onto the Executive Committee when all the votes were counted.

The good thing was that my family and our church leaders were on board with this decision, and they felt that this was something worth giving my time and energy to. The other good thing for me was that this added nothing to my value, worth, or esteem. The growth in my soul from being a young, selfishly ambitious man has been good for me. I don’t “need” extra-local positions, which frees me to serve honestly, with joy, and with no sinful “attachments.”

Now, I say all this to update you on where I was last week and what your pastor did with his time:). Last week, I was in Louisville, Kentucky, for our annual Executive Committee retreat.

The Executive Committee’s job is like a non-profit organization’s board. We oversee the Leadership Team, our day-to-day directors, and pastors in our denomination. We make sure that the policies and procedures are being done correctly. And we ensure that there is financial integrity in the central headquarters. The Executive Committee serves to represent our denominational pastors and churches. It’s a big job, and I’m grateful to be a part of it.

Partnership on Mission:

One of the things I love about being a part of SGC is how interconnected we are and how interdependent we are. Here are just a couple of examples:

Sovereign Grace Music has been led for 25 years by Bob Kauflin. Some of you are old enough to remember Bob’s days in the band Glad.’ SGC Music produces worship music for the local church and equips and serves worship leaders in the local church. With the purchase of the new building in Louisville, SGC Music will now have its own recording and production studio. We benefit every Sunday from SGC Music because we sing lots of their songs. But also, Perry Sorensen and Ky Bendele before him have been helped by SGC Music through Worship Leader Intensives or Conferences designed to help worship leaders. Here’s a link to see what’s happening with SGC Music: https://sovereigngracemusic.org.
Globally is where things are growing. We are currently involved in 38 countries. But what we’re doing there is a tad different. Instead of sending pioneer missionaries to places (which we do), the main thrust of our global mission is through church planting and denominational organizing with key pastors already in these nations. Take Mexico as an example. In Juarez, our sister church, Iglesia Gracia Soberana, has faithfully preached the gospel and planted churches throughout Mexico. Led by Carlos Contreras, our Mexican churches will be launching the denomination of Sovereign Grace Churches-Mexico in the near future. This is one of the areas I work in, in the Philippines. As you know, I am heading to the Philippines in October to do oral examinations for elder candidates in churches throughout the Philippines. It is an exciting time.
As we add more churches to SGC, we’re moving rapidly towards developing Sovereign Grace Churches-Philippines. Here’s a link to read more about what SGC is doing around the globe: https://www.sovereigngrace.com/missions. On that link, you can read about Short-term mission opportunities, church planting, and what we’re doing in specific nations. Also, you can sign-up for the SGC Global Newsletter that will come directly to your inbox monthly. That’s found here: www.sgcmissions.org/blog-sign-up. One of the cool features to me is that if you go to this site: https://www.sovereigngrace.com, you can see different countries’ websites in SGC. I love just looking at, say, the Korean website in Korean. I don’t speak Korean, nor can I read it. But I know it’s cool…

New building:

I mentioned earlier that SGC purchased a new building where our central headquarters will be located. At this building, there’s enough room to house our Pastors College, led by Jeff Purswell and the aforementioned SGC Music. But we also partnered with Sovereign Grace Church of Louisville in this purchase. CJ Mahaney leads SGC Louisville, and their first meeting in the new building is this coming Sunday, September 4th.

But what was amazing about this building was how it seemed to fall into SGC’s hands. The previous owner is a car dealership, similar to Carvana. At one time, pre-pandemic, they had over 130 employees in cubicles in the building. They had cars on display, corporate offices, and a large breakroom. It’s a very open building. But their employees were forced to work from home when the pandemic hit. At the close of the pandemic, as their building re-opened, like many businesses, they gave their employees the option of working from home or in the office. Many chose to stay home. Today, less than 15 employees work in the actual office. It made sense, at that point, to sell the building because they didn’t need something that large.

And the odd thing about this is that the owners built the building with the idea of selling it to a church or a Christian non-profit. One of the VPs of the company, who led the way for SGC to purchase the building, is a solid Christian and has advocated for this purchase since last December. This building is truly a gift from the Lord.

Now, I say all knowing what we’re facing here at CLF. We need a new building. The Lord knows our needs. I was freshly reminded of God’s kindness while I sat in our meetings last week. And I was filled with fresh faith that God knows what we need, even before we ask, and He will help us.

Wield your influence well:

A few years ago, Dave Ruble and I were discussing extra-local leadership and taking on responsibilities like this. I’ll never forget that Dave’s advice was that whenever God places you in situations like this, it was important to “wield your influence well.” I loved how Dave said this because “wielding” gives the idea that you’re using a weapon. And seeing influence as a weapon for good and for the glory of God is extremely important.

In leading my family, caring for CLF, taking on this new EC role, in serving my fellow baseball coaches and my players, I have asked myself often, “am I wielding my influence well?” We can indeed wield our influence poorly. I’ve done it.

Influence is very important, and God has given each of us different spots and places of influence. We influence friends, our spouses, our children, our co-workers, our employees, and our family. We can influence leaders, executives, or committees. But are we wielding our influence well?

For some strange reason that only God knows, He has sovereignly placed people from CLF in all sorts of areas of influence. I pray that we wield our influence well.

Looking ahead:

This coming Sunday, we will begin a new sermon series called “Prophets in Exile.” In this series, we will study the Minor Prophets and cover 1 book at a time. We will begin with Hosea.

I’m looking forward to this series.

From the Cheap Seats:

And then Man U decides to rebound.
One week from tomorrow night…the NFL season begins. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWVY5qHMg-U… Let’s go!!
September means that we’re one month away from postseason baseball. “It’s the most wonderful time of the year”…is not a Christmas song! It’s a baseball song. And this is what it’s like: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0toCMwEBwLo. Had to had Vin Scully call it.
Erling Haaland…I’m not sure what to say. Watch these to understand: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DU_7qo4Hwpg & https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xuNNwhBma4M.