We're Not Good At Marketing — Here's What You've Been Missing
VIDEO TRANSCRIPT
Mark Prater Podcast – Transcript
Topic: Sovereign Grace Resources — Books, Journals, and Monthly Content
Benjamin Kreps:
Hey everyone, and welcome to the podcast, where our aim is to connect our global family of Sovereign Grace churches with our Executive Director. Mark, there are a lot of resources being produced by and for Sovereign Grace churches. Ricky Alcantar, in charge of communications, is just doing a great job and really bringing us to a better place with more consistent resources. And Jared is doing a remarkable job when it comes to publishing. So some people might be aware of some of the things that are available, and others may not be. So to serve those who are checking out the podcast, let's talk resources, Mark.
Mark Prater:
Let's do it. Here's why: Sovereign Grace is not known for its marketing prowess. We don't necessarily do the best job of letting folks know what we're producing — an area we need to grow in. But I love that we're that way, actually. And as you just said, Ben — a shout-out to Jared Mellinger, who's leading us in publishing some really good resources, and Ricky Alcantar, who oversees our communications department and just has great stuff on our website every month. I was just looking at it and thought: are people aware of how good this is?
I want to start with the publishing department and mention some newer publications that, if you're not aware, are on our website. You can download the PDF for free. You can order hard copies from Ten of Those — you go to our website, click "order a copy from Ten of Those," and it'll take you to their website.
The first one I wanted to mention — I wanted to highlight this one a little bit earlier this year. We published it late last year, and it is an Advent devotional entitled Christ Our Glory, subtitled Devotions for Advent, written by Jon Payne — one of our own pastors and a man who serves on the leadership team with me. If you didn't use Jon's book last Advent season, consider using it. Whether it's for your family or if you're a pastor, you might even consider buying every household a copy and giving it to them as a Christmas gift — maybe in November so they can go through it during the Advent season.
There's also a book we just republished: Biblical Productivity, written by C.J. Mahaney. This was actually a series of blog posts about biblical productivity that C.J. wrote in 2008 and 2009. Those posts were then published in a paperback book and given out at the 2010 Sovereign Grace Pastors Conference. I still have my copy — and Ben, you still have yours, right?
Benjamin Kreps:
Yeah, yeah. The cover isn't attractive, but the content is outstanding.
Mark Prater:
And we've improved the artwork on that cover. So it has been republished. I think there may be people newer to Sovereign Grace, or younger generations, who aren't even aware of that book. When it comes to productivity, that is a go-to book.
And then the first book we published in our Shaping Virtue series. We have seven Shaping Virtues, and our hope is to publish one book on each virtue — not only to strengthen our souls, but to be used in a number of ways. That first book is entitled Encouragement, written by Jared Mellinger. Maybe you've read it — that's great. But consider who else might benefit. You could read through it for family devotions. Or if you've got new members coming to your church and you have a new members class of some kind, consider giving that book as a gift to them, because encouragement is one of our Shaping Virtues.
And then two more recent journals. The most recent is a journal dedicated to evangelism, with some wonderful articles. If you want to grow personally as a Christian in evangelism and outreach — or if you want your church to grow in that area — consider getting that and reading it. Again, you can download the PDF for free, or order it through Ten of Those. Pastors, consider making that available to those in your church who want to read on evangelism.
And then another recent one — I think we've published nine or ten versions of our journal — this one is dedicated to church planting, which is something we want to continue doing to advance the gospel. There are some wonderful articles in there. If you've ever thought about being on a church planting team, or about planting a church yourself, that would be the journal to get.
There's more out there, but I thought I'd mention those most recent ones, because I'm not sure enough people go to our website. That's where you'll find them, and I hope you do go and benefit from the resources.
Benjamin Kreps:
Yes. I'm looking forward to reading that church planting journal — I haven't had a chance yet. It is wonderful to see us getting our feet underneath us when it comes to regularly publishing books. Grateful for Jared's efforts in that regard. But we're really just getting started. There are more books in the pipeline. Talk to us about some books coming out soon.
Mark Prater:
These are books that are either being written or have been written and are in the editing process. Let me mention a few.
A book I've mentioned in a previous podcast — on complementarianism — will be in our Perspectives series. Books in our Perspectives series are a bit more theological in their approach. That book is written by Josh Blount. It's one I've read, benefited from, and endorsed. And you'll probably hear me say a few more times: I want every pastor and member of Sovereign Grace to read that book. It is really well done, and I think you'll find it a helpful and clarifying resource. It should be available this fall — and if not this fall, certainly by the end of the year.
Another book in our Perspectives series that Jared is working on is a book on partnership. Obviously, partnership is something we value in Sovereign Grace — not just relationally, but through our polity and through our desire to do mission together. That will be coming out sometime in the next year or so.
And then a couple of Shaping Virtue books in the process of being written or edited. One is on godliness, written by Walt Alexander. Another is on gratitude, written by Ricky Alcantar. And Jared has just completed the initial draft of a third, on joy, which is going through editing. Once those are all published, we'll have four of our seven Shaping Virtues covered in book form. Again — make sure you read those as a member or a pastor. And pastors, think about utilizing those with new folks who come to your church or in your new members class. They can be really, really helpful.
Benjamin Kreps:
Wonderful. Well, the journals and books are kind of the tip of the iceberg in some ways, because Ricky has also been working hard to provide a wide variety of regularly produced resources on our website. Talk about that.
Mark Prater:
Ricky Alcantar — by the way, he is a pastor in El Paso, lead pastor of Cross of Grace Church in El Paso, to be specific — he writes really well, he's a creative guy, and he's just taken our website and transformed it. What I want to draw attention to are the number of newer resources available to members and pastors of our churches, and to those outside of Sovereign Grace.
What Ricky has done is map out a whole year ahead of time, where each month has a theme. July's theme, for example, is worship. Last month — June — it was biblical masculinity. He'll take that theme and then provide resources around it. So every month there is a prayer for the month. For example, the prayer for July is on worship, written by Walt Alexander. It's a beautiful, wonderful prayer — it'll just serve your soul to read it, but you should also consider praying it.
The other thing he does every month is put together a playlist of worship songs related to the theme of the month. This month's playlist is entitled "Call to Worship," and there's a playlist every month you can listen to and benefit from. And then there's a best quotes post on the topic of the month — so "Best Quotes on Worship" this month, and last month it was "Best Quotes on Biblical Masculinity." Those are typically assembled by Asher Donohue, and he's doing a great job with those.
And then there's typically an interview that Ricky does with a Sovereign Grace pastor about the theme of the month. This month — because it's worship — he interviewed David Zimmer, who works for Sovereign Grace Music, in a piece entitled "Behind the Scenes at Sovereign Grace Music." Last month there was an interview Ricky did with Steve Whitaker on raising godly men, in keeping with the theme of biblical masculinity. So those are really, really good resources, and I'm not convinced enough people know about them. That's why I wanted to dedicate a podcast to this and get the word out — take advantage of these resources.
Benjamin Kreps:
Excellent. Yeah, I do love the themes he's bringing forward each month. And if I can add one more thing — the podcast that Ricky and I do, The Clash Vs., is also following along with the various themes as we move through the year. So look for that as well. And oh, by the way — Mark doesn't know what this is — Ricky is also working on a Substack, not only for The Clash Vs. podcast but for other podcasts that are in the works, to create a space for accessing all of that content as it gets produced in the days and months ahead.
Mark Prater:
Great idea. Actually, I didn't know what Substack was. So this is the old man/young man dynamic we've got going as we do this episode — somehow we can't figure out how we're not good at promotion.
Benjamin Kreps:
No, but we're glad we have Ricky, who knows what he's doing.
Mark Prater:
Yes. Thank goodness.
Benjamin Kreps:
All right. Well, thank you, Mark. Hopefully this served some people checking out the podcast who maybe aren't aware of these resources — or maybe have just forgotten, in the flurry of daily life, about the wealth of resources that are being produced for Sovereign Grace churches. So thanks to everybody who is working so hard to provide these resources. Thank you, Mark, for recommending them. And thank you for checking out the podcast. We'll see you next week, Lord willing. Bye for now.