Transcript:
Eric Turbedsky: Hey, my name's Eric Turbedsky, Director of Communications for Sovereign Grace Churches, and I'm here with our Executive Director, Mark Prater on his podcast, which is all about giving you what you need to be a part of our global family of churches. And today, Mark, I want to ask you a question, as we're getting ready for the pastors' conference. Actually before asked this question, I've heard that you are both traveling and moving before this pastors' conference. Where are you right now?
Mark Prater: I'm actually in Texas. It's a personal trip. As you can tell, I'm in a hotel room. My sister has two boys both in high school who are running a big cross country meet tomorrow. And my nephew is the captain of his cross country team, so this is a really big meet for him. And I was looking to bring some family support. So Jill and I are in Texas cheering them on when we get back. We are moving, we're closing our house November 12th. But I made the leadership decision, which was not well received by Jill, by the way, to move all of our stuff out before the pastors' conference. So we're moving Saturday before the pastors' conference and we'll come back home after the conference, move the smaller stuff out, clean up the house, and close on November 12th. So that's how we roll right now in the Prater home.
Eric Turbedsky: Oh my. That is how you roll. And you're not moving far, I assume. You're moving to California? That's where I am.
Mark Prater: That's tempting. No, just a mile.
Eric Turbedsky: A mile. Very good. All right. Here's my question. We're all getting ready for this pastors' conference. We're part of Sovereign Grace Churches and here's my question: Why do we encourage prophecy (the practice of prophecy) at our annual pastors conference? We don't have to. It's just a conference. I'd say some might not even expect this or be wondering why. So why is it? Why do we encourage it? And how can we come prepared, desiring to be part of the prophetic ministry at our conference? So first, what is prophecy, and why do we do it at the conference?
Mark Prater: Well, we do it because, as you know, we are Continuationists in our Pneumatology. I believe that the gifts continue today until the return of Christ. And that would be all of the gifts, not just the gift of prophecy. And all of the gifts are given for the common good of the church (1 Corinthians 12:7), but prophecy in particular is given by God to the church to build up, to encourage--to even console--people in the church, which is 1 Corinthians 14:3. This gift uniquely has this ability to edify the church. So when pastors and wives gather and they come to a conference where we hope they don't have any responsibility (or, if they do, not much at all) our desire is to care for them in many, many different ways. One of them would be through the work and the activity of the Holy Spirit that can empower the gift of prophecy, where we hear prophetic words or impressions that are not equal with the authority of Scripture, yet can have the effect of edifying people. So I would say come to the conference expectant. Pray for the Spirit to move and to act and to empower the gift of prophecy, and that it would be prophetic words that would be specific in nature, because when that happens, you know that it's the spirit that's working and it's not someone's random thoughts. One of the ways that we've enjoyed prophetic ministry over the years at the conference has been prophetic songs that Bob will actually get in the moment, spontaneously. And they can speak right into a person's situation and comfort them, build them up, and encourage them. So I'm grateful for the gift and grateful that we look to practice it at our conference.
Eric Turbedsky: How does it practically work at a conference? We would be familiar with how it functions at a Sunday service in a local church. But you're at the conference... you believe the Lord is moving you to speak... What do you do? Grab a bull horn? Stand on your chair in the back?
Mark Prater: Yeah, that'll get you kicked out.
Eric Turbedsky: Okay. Got that. Duly noted.
Mark Prater: We would apply the same principles that are directed for the local church in 1 Corinthians 14. We would apply those at a conference. So there's a difference between a conference and a local church gathering. We've gotta make that distinction. But the principles are the same where you want to bring governance and leadership to the gift of prophecy. You find that in 1 Corinthians 14:29-31 where Paul is bringing order. Paul is not wanting prophecies to be spoken out one over the other, but rather given one at a time so they can accomplish the purpose of building up. That is a language that he uses there. So if someone has a prophetic impression or word at the conference, we have a ministry mic at the front. I assign one Sovereign Grace pastor to that mic, usually just in the evening sessions. So come to the mic and share that impression with the guy at the mic. This year it's Rob Flood on Tuesday night, John Payne on Wednesday night, and Walt Alexander on Thursday night--just guys that you might know that you could look for and bring that word up and they'll determine whether we have it shared or not. Typically, I'm interacting with Bob Kauflin who is leading most of the singing, although not all the time, just where we might take prophetic words or if he has any prophetic songs that he's been praying about. So we do all that before the meeting, just to be prepared for any prophetic words that might come.
Eric Turbedsky: What's your favorite memory of prophetic ministry at a Sovereign Grace Conference? Does one pop to mind?
Mark Prater: Well immediately what pops to mind is: I think it was a couple of years ago that Bob had a prophetic song for pastors who were weary and had experienced people leaving their church or their churches, which seemed to speak right into the situation of several churches in Sovereign Grace. And it was just comforting. It was faith building. I can remember in that moment thinking: This is amazing how specifically God the Father is caring for his people through the work of the Holy Spirit. That's the memory I have.
Eric Turbedsky: Oh, good. I've got a lot of good memories. What about the person that's coming and maybe they are a Continuationist, but maybe they're not experienced, maybe they're even a guest, a guest that's watching right now, and you're a little bit nervous about what this all looks like, that kind of thing? What do you tell the person that's sitting in the back... suspicious isn't the right word... anxious about the whole thing.
Mark Prater: I would say: I can relate. When we first came to a Sovereign Grace Church, which is Covenant Fellowship, back in 1990, we came from a Cessationist church (Jill and I did)--a faithful church that preached the gospel, but didn't believe in the gifts--so when we saw the gifts in action, it just raised all kinds of questions for us--not only questions but apprehensions and fears. And I would say some cynicism even on our part. So what it did is it drove us to study Scripture. And as we studied Scripture, we realized, okay, theologically we're not Cessationists. We're actually Continuationists, but what does that mean? And what really affected us was to see how the members of Covenant Fellowship actually used their gifts. They used them in such a way that didn't draw attention to themselves. They used them in a way that served others and drew attention to God. And so someone who's coming to the conference, who's never received prophetic ministry, or has a lot of questions about how the Spirit might work... I would say, first of all, just observe and watch how the gifts are used. And I think that will help confront or deal with some of the fears or anxiousness you might be experiencing.
Eric Turbedsky: So you're free to sit in the meeting and enjoy the ministry of the Spirit. And you're not going to be put on the spot, but at the same time, we'd encourage you to come expectant that God will minister not only to all of us, but even to you specifically. You'd say that to them all. That's helpful, Mark. Thanks for your leadership. Thanks that we are Continuationists and because we're Continuationists, when we gather together we come expectant and desiring and pursuing the work of the Spirit among us. So just so grateful for that. Thanks for your leadership. That's good stuff. Until we meet again next episode, thanks for watching. And thanks for being our partners in the gospel, Sovereign Grace Churches.
If you have questions or comments, Mark, would love to hear from you. For more videos like this, hit subscribe on YouTube or by email at markkprater.com.