"…to the praise of the glory of His grace…" Ephesians 1:6

Affiliations & Influences

Another way to understand Springs of Grace is to understand the churches and ministries we are most closely affiliated with and modeled after.

Springs of Grace Church began in 2001 as a new church under the vision and authority of Springs of Grace Baptist Church in Shreveport, LA (Pastor, Rex Blankenship, Elder Jeff Segner, Elder Cliff Roberts, Elder Ron Hodge) and Grace Church of Collin County (now known as Grace Bible Fellowship Church – Elder Warren Robbins, Elder Dave Dunbar, Elder Lyndon Shook). As Springs of Grace grew the “parent” churches gave full authority over to the elders and church leadership at Springs of Grace Church. Those “parent” churches remain dear “sister” churches to Springs of Grace Church.

  • Tim Keller and Redeemer Church of New York City have been a strong influence and encouragement to Springs of Grace over the past years through their commitment to faithful teaching/preaching of the Scripture and biblical thinking. His counsel on suffering, insight on justice, marriage, singleness and culture from a biblical world view resonates with the positions held at Springs of Grace..
  • Springs of Grace Church shares an affiliation, primarily for the purpose of missions, with the Southern Baptist Convention and in particular the International Missions Board, and their former president, David Platt. David Platt’s book Radical and his previous ministry through The Church at Brook Hills is one of the means God has used to has fan the flame for missions at Springs of Grace. We are not content for the world to have people who don’t know about the greatest treasure and pleasure of all – Jesus!
  • Desiring God Ministries has influenced Springs of Grace Church primarily through the writing and preaching of Pastor John Piper. Though we are not in formal affiliation with Desiring God, we share John Piper’s convictions about the Bible’s teaching on God’s sovereignty, salvation, racial reconciliation, missions, adoption, suffering, and the way one should live the Christian life. We do not share some of his positions that have brought him into affiliation with Joe Rigney and Douglass Wilson – particularly those positions on race and empathy and views of women that we would consider an extreme complementarianism.
  • The Lord used Francis Chan, former teaching pastor at Cornerstone Community Church, among many others, to awaken a passion for the poor that has become a central expression of our faith and the outworking of the gospel at Springs of Grace. The call to love and care for the poor has continued to take shape through the insight of Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert in When Helping Hurts. God’s passion for the poor, the orphan, the widow, and the stranger and our call to stand between the oppressed and the oppressor is a commitment at Springs of Grace fed by Tim Keller’s book Generous Justice and Myles Roberts’ teaching and ministry at Springs of Grace and at The Hub in Shreveport, LA.
  • The Gospel Coalition is a group of pastors and churches that exists to provide gospel-centered ministry and biblically-faithful resources for the church. Springs of Grace Church shares much of the doctrinal convictions and theological vision for ministry as outlined in their Foundation Documents. Thabiti Anyabwile of the Gospel Coalition in particular has helped us think through racial injustice issues, the implications of the gospel, and pastoral ministry in ways that have been profoundly helpful.
  • 9Marks Ministries, founded by Pastor Mark Dever, pastor of Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, DC, has been a consistent role model for the ministry structure and commitment to caring for the flock at Springs of Grace.
  • Don Whitney and his book Spiritual Disciplines is one of the great resources the Lord has used to establish our commitment at Springs of Grace to discipleship and the “one anothers” of Scripture.
  • Grace Community Church, The Master’s College, and The Master’s Seminary provided some early influence on the leadership of Springs of Grace Church primarily in shaping our handling of the Word of God and the priority of preaching. Though we would not be in agreement with some of their recent positions.
  • CCEF has been used by God to teach and train several on our staff in biblical counseling and through them influence many others in our church in lifestyle counseling.
  • Life Action Ministries, founded by Del Fehsenfeld, Jr., and particularly the ministry of Nancy DeMoss have been influential and a rich resource over the years to many in the leadership at Springs of Grace.

We rejoice in how God has used these ministries and many others to shape and mature the ministry family called Springs of Grace Bible Church. We don’t endorse everything in each of these ministries but in the particular areas mentioned they have been means of grace for the advancement of our faith and life as a church.  All of these role models in ministry (and many others) are valued because they depict something of the heart and passion of our greatest treasure and pleasure, Jesus Christ.

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