Over the past few months, I’ve posted a series of articles that shaped our understanding of Biblical counseling, with more to come.  In the next two months, starting with this article, I will be highlighting books that shaped two of our shared values: complementarianism and gospel-centeredness - C.J. Mahaney’s The Cross Centered Life and Carolyn Mahaney’s Feminine Appeal: Seven Virtues of A Godly Wife and Mother.

Part of my motivation for reintroducing some of this older material has to do with the fact that I have only a few more months to serve as Director of Church Development, and there are certain things I want to make sure to leave behind.  I’m not indulging in a nostalgic longing for the past or a desire to return to “the good old days.”  Rather I have a sincere desire to make sure that those who have been around for a while don’t lose touch with this material and that those who are newer and those yet to come will benefit from these invaluable pieces of our history.

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The Cross Centered Life is available in paperback, hardcover, as an ebook, and translated in Spanish. Order here or purchase through Sovereign Grace Churches by contacting karen.ballinger@sovereigngrace.com.

This post originally appeared on the SGC Church Development blog as A Rich Gospel History?? A Rich Gospel Future!!, on May 10, 2021.

Mickey Connolly is the Director of Church Development on the Leadership Team of Sovereign Grace Churches, the Mid-South Regional Leader, and serves as an elder at Crossway Community Church in Charlotte, North Carolina.

“Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.”

When Christians think about persecution, we tend to think of being beaten, jailed, or even killed for our faith.  And rightly so.  These are the ways that the church historically has most often experienced persecution.  However, when considering any persecution SG churches in America and throughout the world will face in 2021 and following, I don’t think it’s going to be persecution as we classically think of it – though someday that may come.  I think the persecution we will face is being shamed and slandered because of historic Christian beliefs and values. The hostility created in these ways then leads to material harm – being silenced, marginalized, “canceled,” and perhaps even punished in some way.

In both the Psalms and the NT, a lot of the persecution against God’s people is verbal. In the Psalms, we see that the wicked lie, deceive and stir up strife.  They slander and accuse.  They mock, taunt, revile, deride and scorn.  The harmful effect of their words is likened to swords, razors, howling dogs, and a serpent’s venom.  The NT speaks of believers being reviled, insulted, slandered, spoken of as evildoers, and hated for Jesus’ name. 

We are increasingly seeing these sorts of verbal assaults and subsequent material harm happening. The cultural influencers -  universities, the media, the government, and social media platforms - are increasingly taking stands antithetical to Biblical values and truth.  

None of this should surprise us. So what are we to do? Thankfully scripture gives us answers.

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This post originally appeared on the SGC Church Development blog as Persecution?, on February 8, 2021.

Mickey Connolly is the Director of Church Development on the Leadership Team of Sovereign Grace Churches, the Mid-South Regional Leader, and serves as an elder at Crossway Community Church in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Our New Statement of Faith isn’t a document to be put on a shelf somewhere to collect dust, but a gift to our churches that can be used to guide, build and encourage our faith as individuals and local churches. To this end, I’m pleased to link these five videos by Jeff Purswell to help you share, study & learn more about what We Believe.

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This post originally appeared on the SGC Church Development blog as How to Introduce Our Statement of Faith, on January 29, 2021.

Mickey Connolly is the Director of Church Development on the Leadership Team of Sovereign Grace Churches, the Mid-South Regional Leader, and serves as an elder at Crossway Community Church in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Jeff Purswell is the Director of Theology and Training for Sovereign Grace Churches and the dean of the Sovereign Grace Pastor's College. He also serves as an elder at Sovereign Grace Church in Louisville, KY.

I look forward to you reading this testimony that one of our pastors recently sent me. It represents two things that I believe are to be central to our evangelistic efforts: building relationally with unbelievers so we might be able to eventually share the gospel with them and covering all our efforts with prayer.

Mickey Connolly, a Pastor at Crossway Community Church in Charlotte, North Carolina serves as the Regional Leader for the Mid-South Region and Director of Church Development on the Leadership Team of Sovereign Grace Churches.