Sorry about the long wait folks! We posted a grand total of two times and then took a hiatus. Hopefully that won’t be a theme, but I have been fairly busy with my business and made a trip to Louisiana for some training, and I think Tony tried swimming in the gulf and drowned in oil.  Just kidding, I’m sure he’s most likely alive.

Anyways we have a story we’ll be posting tomorrow and another coming shortly after that so stay tuned and keep your eyes opened tomorrow.

Only a couple of days after the first story, and we have reached 100 fans/members of our Facebook page! If you are not yet a fan, you should be. If you are not on Facebook at all…that’s impressive actually.

If this is your first visit we encourage you to read Tony’s story. Also we have a little explanation of what we are doing that you can check out. But basically we want stories. We want to bless and encourage our leaders by sharing stories of how they have affected our lives through their ministry. So send them in to story@sgmletters.com.

We should be posting another here shortly, so stay tuned. And in the meantime, become a fan. You can also follow us on twitter.

SGM Letters

Welcome to sgmletters.com. Let us tell you a little bit about what this site is about; its purpose, structure, and how you can participate.

We are members of churches that belong to Sovereign Grace Ministries. You can visit SGM’s website to learn all about them, but basically it’s a family of churches related by common doctrine (reformed and continuationist) and a desire to plant churches and serve with training, music, books, conferences etc. It’s very relational in the way it operates, which is why it is called a family of churches, rather than a denomination. (This info was for the three of you who are not already in SGM that will stumble across this site.)

This website was born out of a desire to obey and honor Scripture’s instruction to honor our leaders and to be a joy to them. 1 Tim 5:17 says “The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching.” Hebrews 13:17 further instructs us to “Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you.”

These simple comments by the writers of Scripture, inspired by the Holy Spirit, can be easy to forget. In this day and age we can have instant and easy access to the preaching and teaching of a limitless supply of leaders. Just click a few buttons and you can listen to John Piper’s latest sermon on justification. Or you can go to a conference and hear Al Mohler wax eloquent about the Church’s role in society. We can get caught up in honoring and esteeming the superstars of Christianity (well, in our circles, the superstars of reformed evangelicalism) and lose sight of the fact that God has placed us in a particular local church for a specific reason and that, in fulfilling whatever our God-given role is, we are to be a joy to our leaders. Our local leaders, those who dedicate their lives to serving us by preaching and teaching and directing the affairs of our church, are worthy of honor. Does that sound strange to you? Isn’t God the only one worthy of honor? Yes, in a way. But one of the ways He is glorified is when we honor each other, because in honoring each other we are really saying “Look at the grace of God in that person.” Giving honor to a man, in this case specifically a pastor, does not diminish the honor that we give God. Scripture is clear that on the contrary, God’s glory is enhanced when we honor others for the work God has done in them.

Our pastors are very good at honoring other people, and each other. They are not as good at letting us honor them. At least publicly. So we decided to take advantage of the fact that the internet provides a public forum where we can say whatever we want and use it to tell stories of how they have affected our lives to the glory of God. SGM has been around for around 25 years (with various names), and its leaders have touched the lives of thousands of folks. We wanted to provide an opportunity for folks to tell those stories. We thought it would be a great way to use technology to practice 1 Tim 5 and Hebrews 13, and hopefully be an encouragement to folks. We want everyone to participate. Just email your story to story@sgmletters.com, and we’ll get it posted to the site. We also understand there will be those who can’t tell their stories for various reasons. The very nature of what pastors do means that some of the best stories will never be told publicly. But there are plenty that can be told. Let your SGM friends know about this website so that they can jump in. Feel free to comment on other stories, or anything we may post in between stories. We have no desire to idolize our leaders, and would hope everyone understands that we know our pastors are sinners, that they mess up at times, and that they aren’t a special class of Christian. If you have any questions about the legitimacy of running a site that intends to glorify God by obeying Scripture through honoring and being a joy to our leaders than feel free to email anyone of us.

Again, welcome to SGM Letters, and we hope you enjoy and are encouraged by reading stories of God’s grace as shown through the lives of the pastors of Sovereign Grace Ministries.

Nathan Ecelbarger and Tony DeSantis