For well over a year now, my friend Eric Turbedsky has encouraged me to start a podcast. I had a number of questions and reservations, including “I’m not sure I have anything interesting to say.” But Eric persevered and I now have a podcast and we are going live.

My goal is simple.

I want every Sovereign Grace Church pastor to see what I see.

My role as your Executive Director provides me with so many wonderful insights into God’s work among us. And this is what I plan on reporting to you in every podcast. I hope you enjoy the insights and updates. I pray you feel more connected than ever to our gospel partnership. Let me know if you find this helpful or have something you think I should be sharing with everyone.

If you are a pastor of a Sovereign Grace Church or employed by Sovereign Grace Churches, we have taken the liberty of subscribing you to my updates. You’ll get every episode delivered automatically into your inbox. However, feel free to unsubscribe or follow along via my blog or on Youtube.

Transcript:

Benjamin Kreps:

Hey everyone, my name is Ben Kreps. I'm the Lead Pastor at Living Hope Church, a Sovereign Grace Church in Middletown, Pennsylvania. I'd like to welcome you back to this podcast where our goal is to help connect our global family of churches with our executive director Mark Prater. How are you Mark?

Mark Prater:

I'm doing great man. How you doing?

Benjamin Kreps:

Doing great. Last year on November 4th at our Council of Elders, you gave our State of the Union address. We're not gonna actually getting the specifics of that. We'll put a link in the transcript. You can click cause it's actually on the Sovereign Grace Church blog. But the Book of Church Order mandates that you give a State of the Union address at our Council of Elders each year and you do, which is wonderful. But I wanted to ask you, how do you approach the task of writing that State of the Union each year and formulating your hopes and prayers and vision for Sovereign Grace in the year ahead.

Mark Prater:

Yeah, it's something I love doing each year since I've been the executive director. The Book of Church Order doesn't really give any specifics on what the State of Union should be. So being the first Executive Director, I really got to make it up basically. And I really wanted it to be encouraging, so I include a number of updates that are intended to encourage our pastors as well as communicate that we are truly a global family of churches. So the updates that I give are from different parts of the world, but I also wanted the State of the Union to be inspirational in nature, so that it would cast vision for our future. So when we left the Council of Elders meeting and then the Pastor's Conference that follows that there's a sense of vision casting that's happened and that our pastors and our churches are filled with vision walking into the new year.

Benjamin Kreps:

Yeah, so what about the nuts and bolts? So is this something that you're working on? You probably are working on this like on the plane and Orlando, I'm just assuming, but maybe not. So, uh, so what does it look like for you--your process of thinking through what you're going to be presenting to us at the council?

Mark Prater:

Well, the way I've approached it (I'm sure it can be different for different guys that will be in this role), but the way I approach it is I'm actually thinking about it throughout the year. I've already put in some thought to what I might even say in fall of 2020 at our Council of Elders meeting. And the reason I do that is as we go throughout our year, as I visit our churches, as I've talked to our pastors and even to the members of our churches, I'm just making notes of sort of the state of where we're at as a family of churches and from my perspective where we need to grow or how I can inspire us to continue on in gospel ministry. So this last State of the Union that I gave in November, I think I wrote the original draft in July, just to kind of get it down on paper, knowing that by November it may need to change some because of situations that would change in Sovereign Grace. But I actually wrote it several months before.

Benjamin Kreps:

You do visit a lot of churches. So you're going around, you're interacting with pastors and you're prayerfully thinking for months actually what you want to present to us at that Council of Elders.

Mark Prater:

Right. I am. Yeah.

Benjamin Kreps:

So do you get input on what you're going to say?

Mark Prater:

I do. One of the things I've done each year is I go to the Executive Committee retreat and I present them a draft version of the State of Union. I don't fully deliver it; I just kind of give them an abbreviated version and then they spend time giving me a lot of input. So that's nine guys on the Executive Committee giving me input. And I've always found that their input has really helped me improve it so that what I give in November is better than what I gave them in August.

Benjamin Kreps:

So they're not just rubber stamping. They're actually giving their thoughts to help sharpen and improve what it is that you're writing.

Mark Prater:

Their changes are represented in it. Even some of their own quotes are represented in it, and I really feel like they, they improve it. So it's a team effort in that regard.

Benjamin Kreps:

So it's the new year. And you had six exhortations to us in that State of the Union address last year. See the beauty of the glory of Christ, see the transforming power of the gospel, see the beauty of reaching the nations, see the beauty of God's provision, see the hope of future generations, see the beauty of our unity in Christ, which is all wonderful. We would all say amen to that. But if you could add or sort of crystallize a thought, one brief thing that you want to leave Sovereign Grace Churches pastors with as we enter into this new year and think about the year ahead, what would that be?

Mark Prater:

I think I would say this: I would say continue to faithfully preach Christ. And do that with even more faith that your preaching of the gospel every Sunday, of you reaching out to unbelievers in your community throughout the week. and hopefully having opportunities to share the gospel, doing that with a renewed faith or a strengthened faith of the gospel's power to save. As I approach the new year, one of my big prayers for Sovereign Grace is that we would reach the lost and people would be born again, and that the greatest miracle of regeneration that we will ever know would happen through the ministry of our churches. So be faithful brothers to preach Christ, and believe people will be saved.

Benjamin Kreps:

Amen. Thanks Mark. And as you're working on your thoughts already for this upcoming fall we look forward to hearing from you again at our State of the Union address at the Council of Elders in November. Hopefully I'll talk to you before then. Actually, I think next week. So everybody, thanks for taking some time to watch this podcast. God bless all of you and goodbye until we meet next time.

Transcript:

Benjamin Kreps:
Welcome back to Mark Prater's video podcast. My name is Ben Kreps. I'm the host and Lead Pastor of Living Hope Church, Sovereign Grace Church in Middletown, Pennsylvania. And today we're talking about Christmas. Merry Christmas, Mark. 



Mark Prater:
Merry Christmas Ben. 



Benjamin Kreps:
So I want to give you an opportunity to share some thoughts and encouragement for Sovereign Grace Pastors. It's an opportunity to hear from you about what we're navigating through in a very busy Christmas season. So what kinds of things have you seen in different Sovereign Grace Churches that you've enjoyed? Just to highlight perhaps a few different practices that might inspire or encourage us as we think through the Christmas season. 



Mark Prater:
Our churches do a number of different things during the Christmas season. So I would say most of our churches do a Christmas Eve service, which is a wonderful way to have people in your church who may not normally come to church. But there are some other churches that do some things that are related to Advent. They're very intentional about Advent. So Cornerstone Church in Knoxville has something called Lessons and Carols where during the singing of songs they bring a specific aspect of the advent that they want to highlight for the church throughout December. 



Benjamin Kreps:
Each sermon based on a Christmas Carol? Is that why it's called that?



Mark Prater:
I don't know. I don't know the answer to that. I don't think so. Uh, I think it's more recognizing and tying truth to a specific song they're probably singing during, during that. 

And then in Sovereign Grace Church in, in Marlton, New Jersey has Songs for the Savior that they have and they're actually preaching one of five songs each Sunday in December five Sundays that relate to the advent. And then on their website they give specific lists of resources their members can access for advent. 

So you see some churches emphasize Advent and specifically the meaning of Advent. Which is so, so important. 

Here at my church at Covenant Fellowship Church we obviously have a Christmas Eve service, but we do a Christmas concert every year. We just had this past weekend and there's all kinds of people that come in from the community that we don't typically see. 

It's just a fun time for the church. 

And we also do a ministry called boxes of love, where we feed probably around 300 people in our community that are in need. They're poor folks that we're just looking to care for. So members can pick up empty boxes and they fill it with a list of food. And then we typically add something like a frozen turkey to it. And then those people are invited to come to our church and pick up that food on a Saturday if they're able to. We'll also deliver it to them. But we like to bring him to the church just to help them get inside and become comfortable here.



Benjamin Kreps:
That's great. So I think it was, I saw a video clip from your Christmas concert where the lights were out and there were glow sticks and techno music or something playing. 



Mark Prater:
Yeah. That was great. It was crazy. 



Benjamin Kreps:
I didn't immediately think of Christmas, but it looked like a lot of fun. 



Mark Prater:
Exactly. 



Benjamin Kreps:
So how would you encourage pastors when it comes to thinking through how to steward the Christmas season, which is such a big deal in our culture? There are many opportunities as every pastor is aware. A lot of churches in Sovereign Grace are smaller churches and so maybe there aren't Christmas concerts and dynamic programs. Maybe it is just a simple emphasis on the Sunday before because they can't even use the facility on Christmas Eve. But how would you want to encourage the pastors in Sovereign Grace during this Christmas season? 



Mark Prater:
Well, my first encouragement is actually to thank each of our pastors for working hard during the Christmas season. For most folks, life can slow down a bit during the Christmas season. That's not true of pastors. Life is very busy for a number of different reasons, especially up and through Christmas day. You may maybe get some time off after Christmas, but you're working very hard this time of year in ways that most people I don't think see or realize. But the Lord sees, and I believe he's pleased. And I just want you to know my heartfelt appreciation. 

I think the second thought is, and this is not a new thought, but just the opportunity that we have to reach people during this time of year who don't normally enter into a church. 



Mark Prater:
They don't come to church, but they'll come to Christmas Eve service or you can't have a Christmas Eve service they'll come to Sunday after Sunday before they call them Christmas. 



Benjamin Kreps:
They call them Chreasters: Christmas and Easter. 



Mark Prater:
That's right. The Chreasters. But don't miss the point that there's gonna be somebody that's going to come to your church and they're there out of duty maybe. They're there because their family brought them. Don't miss the fact that the spirit can work and do the work of regeneration while you're preaching the gospel either on a Sunday or on Christmas Eve. Pray big prayers that God would save the lost during this Christmas season. I think there are other Chreasters and they're looking for a place to rest at this time of year because life has been hard. Maybe this year has been hard for them and they're wanting to find a place where there's real community and love and peace. Your church will provide that cause Sovereign Grace Churches are like that. Look for the person who's looking for a respite and welcome them into your church family. 



Benjamin Kreps:
And you don't need to be a big church or have some dynamic program. Just your church being a gospel light and a place of unity and love is sufficient for God to use that church to draw people to himself. 



Mark Prater:
So true. 



Benjamin Kreps:
Well, I really appreciate how Twitter you just, I don't know if it's every day, but regularly you post how you're praying for our churches and specifically about opportunities we have with unbelievers. So thank you Mark for your prayers, and we'll be looking expectantly, as your prayers are joined to ours in this Christmas season, about what God will aim to accomplish in and through our churches. So thanks for your thoughts, Mark. 



Mark Prater:
All right, Merry Christmas everyone. Jesus came and we've got to celebrate that. So Merry Christmas.

Mark Prater: 
Merry Christmas. See you man.

Transcript:

Ben Kreps:

So we're welcoming everybody to another episode of Mark Prater's video podcast. I should comment for the small group of faithful pastors who've been following your podcast that the podcast has a new host, which is me, and my name is Ben Kreps. I'm the lead pastor of Living Hope Church in Middletown, Pennsylvania. It's been a Sovereign Grace Church for 30-something years. 

I don't know if guys are aware (I imagine they are) that Eric Turbedsky was hosting this. He's a fairly busy guy with a number of responsibilities. And so, I have a little bit of experience hosting a podcast of my own called The Gospel Culture Podcast. You can Google it (you'd find it with my name) for about half a year or so, and we thought, why not give it a shot and free Eric up and I can host it. So here we are. How are you Mark?

Mark Prater:

Good, I'm doing great. I'm so excited about you hosting this podcast. Tell me why you started your Gospel Culture Podcast. And are you seeing the results of what you hope for?

Ben Kreps:

Yeah, I'll be really brief. Eric warned me about you that you'll try to turn things back around, because you didn't want to talk about yourself. But we want to talk about you. 

Basically, the reality is, I mean if you pull up to a red light and look at the people all around you, they're just on their phones. Everybody's looking down at their phones. So we had a desire to meet people where they live, which is on their phone. And podcasts, I'm a big fan of podcasts. So it's an opportunity for me to serve my church and anybody else who wants to listen in, talking about a variety of things connected to what it means to live a gospel-centered life, and to look at life and ministry through the lens of the gospel. 

It's not setting the world on fire, but I have folks in my church that communicate appreciation for episodes here and there, and that they found it helpful. So it's working the way I was hoping it would.

So, on a sad note, we had a loss in the Sovereign Grace Family recently, and we wanted pastors to get an update so they would understand what's going on. So why don't you share that Mark.

Mark Prater:

Yeah, I sent out an email a few days ago, which maybe most of our pastors read, but Erin Radano has been my administrative assistant, in a very capable sense for probably at least 10 years now. And her husband Chris: We prayed for Chris and Erin two years ago at our pastors conference when he was fairly early diagnosed with an aggressive form of brain cancer. And then this past year at our pastors conference, Erin wasn't able to come. And we prayed for them there as well. He passed away on Thanksgiving morning. Chris ran a good race for Christ in this life. And he finished well. 

We just had his Memorial service on Saturday here at Covenant Fellowship Church. And I would say it obviously had moments of sorrow and moments of joy. We are sorrowful, yet always rejoicing, as Scripture talks about. But it was also, I believe, one of the most Christ-exalting memorial services I've been a part of, because that's what Chris wanted. 

And actually one of the moving aspects of the service was Chris wrote a letter that Jim Donahue read and he addressed his family, extended family, people in the pastoral team. He talked to Erin. And it was very moving and a reflection of Chris's heart for not only his family, but his church family. So we miss him. 

Eric and the girls are doing well overall, enjoying the support of our church family here. But pray for them. They're just grieving. They miss their husband and their father. So thank you for asking and thanks for praying.

Ben Kreps:

Yeah, well, I mean, if anybody's been around Sovereign Grace for any length of time they have in some way been served by Erin, whether they know it or not. Certainly very sad, but like you said, how wonderful that he's with Christ and his testimony continues.

So one of the things that I wanted the other other pastors at Sovereign Grace to be able to know about is just simply some of your background. I'm sure most of us know pieces here and there. But I personally don't think I know the story of how you even became a pastor, much less the Executive Director. So just to situate people (this is the beginning of the podcast). 

We've done a couple of episodes. Eric hosted those. We've done a few, but now it's going broader after a time of feedback (when we changed your camera so that we're not looking up your nose). But in order to give some context to all of this: The purpose of this podcast is for pastors to feel a connection with you and hear your heart. And so in order to give context to that, I thought it would be helpful to just share for a few minutes about your story. So how did you become a pastor?

Mark Prater:

Thanks for asking, Ben. I still can't believe I'm a pastor. It's still a stunning thought. I'm a pastor at Covenant Fellowship Church, which is in Glen Mills, Pennsylvania, a western suburb of Philadelphia. Jill and I and our three girls walked through the doors of Covenant Fellowship in September of 1990 and have been a part of Sovereign Grace since that time: 30 years next year. 

We had moved from the Midwest, which is where we're from. I was working for a pharmaceutical company at the time and I moved out here and had taken a different position within that company. A friend at that company invited me to church, and Jill and our girls came, and this has been our church home for obviously a long time now. 

We came here as Christians, as believers, but for different reasons (especially with my own heart and life) really marked by selfish ambition. I was not really following Christ in the way that Scripture commands us to. And what happened is that I heard preaching that was good expository preaching, but also helped me apply the gospel to my life. That along with the work of the Spirit that was convicting me of my pride and my selfish ambition, and the fellowship of the saints that we were enjoying here through our small group ministry, really what it led to was for me to make some changes within my career that allowed me to keep working for the company, but essentially what I did is I stepped off of the corporate climb. 

That was just a good thing for me, still not thinking about ministry. And just over the course of time, just something stirring inside of me, I would say maybe first a heart for and a love for the local church, my calling kind of emerged out of that first. And then I began to wonder about being called. And I didn't even really understand what all that meant. So I talked to the pastors here and they kind of looked at me and knew I wasn't ready for ministry. 

And then I just was in different discipleship groups (one led by Allen Redrow, one led by Dave Harvey), and over the course of a few years, I was really looking for external confirmation to this internal sense that I was called. And that was essentially determined. And that led to me planting a church in 1996.

Ben Kreps:

Was that in Pittsburg?

Mark Prater:

It was. We were sent here from Covenant Fellowship with, I think it was about 10 or 12 adults and a handful of kids to plant in Pittsburgh: Providence Church. That church is still there, no longer a part of Sovereign Grace. We thought in moving there we would spend the rest of our lives there. But the Lord had different plans and we moved back here in 2002, where I became the Executive Pastor here at Covenant Fellowship Church.

Ben Kreps:

And then all of that windy road ended up for you becoming the Executive Director of Sovereign Grace. So I mean, why did you want to be the Executive Director so badly?

Mark Prater:

Exactly! (Laughter) Whoever thought, I mean, let's be honest, whoever thought that I would be the Executive Director. Let's start there. Something I never wanted. It really is like this: In 2011-2012 when we've just had all kinds of things going on with Brent's accusations and the civil suits, bullets were just flying everywhere. It felt like that. And I think at some point the Permanent Board had the thought of: Who is dumb enough to take this role?

Ben Kreps:

And your name immediately sprung to mind.

Mark Prater:

Yeah, Prater's coming up to do this, so...

Ben Kreps:

Yeah. Well, I think I can speak for all the other pastors at Sovereign Grace about how grateful we are that you've agreed to become the Executive Director. You've done an outstanding job. You've served us so well, helping us navigate through a very stormy season--a number of years--into calmer waters. And you continue to serve us. So I'm personally grateful. I imagine all the other pastors at Sovereign Grace would also want to communicate that gratitude to you.

So here's the deal. It's a short podcast and we're done. That's the deal. So the plan will be to do a weekly podcast like this, about eight minutes long, something like that, where we'll give you an opportunity to share thoughts about Sovereign Grace and what you see and how you would want to connect and encourage the pastors. So we'll plan on doing another one next week.

Mark Prater:

Great. Looking forward to it.

Ben Kreps:

Yeah, looking forward to it. See you then.

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.

Transcript:

Eric Turbedsky: Hey, my name is 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 getting you ready and all you need to enjoy being part of our global family of churches. And this coming week is an exciting week, Mark, as we look forward to our Pastors' Conference. 

Mark Prater: Yeah. I can't wait. This is my favorite conference for a number of different reasons. And I'm especially excited about this conference. Let me just give you a few reasons why. First of all, just knowing that we have people traveling from—I believe it's 16 or 17 different nations to be there together—is a picture of the gospel and how the gospel unites us all in Christ. So we've got actually an evening plan on Wednesday evening where Bob Kauflin and Roberto Estupinian are going to lead singing together. We'll probably sing a couple of worship songs in Spanish, and I believe we're going to start that with a Scripture reading that will be done in several different languages. It'll be a visual reminder and an audio reminder when we hear the Scripture read of how Christ unites us from every tribe, tongue, and nation. And we're all represented in that room. So that's one of the reasons I'm excited is just the people traveling from different nations. 

Also, I'm very excited about the sermons—the main session messages—that you're going to hear that I believe will strengthen us. And we're going to end the conference with Rick Gamache reminding us that the sole purpose of life and ministry—the sole motivation of life and ministry—is the glory of God. 

Also just being together. I consistently get this feedback after every conference, every year, from guests who say this: I have never been around such a joyful group of pastors and wives. And there will be joy in that room because we love one another and we love being together. And I can't wait to be with you when we gather in Orlando. 

Eric Turbedsky: Oh, it is always just a wonderful time. Sometimes I go kicking and screaming. I don't want to leave my home and my family and church. But I always return really happy and always very encouraged to see its effect (the conference, every year) on the entire pastoral team of leaders and our church as we transfer all those things as we're being refreshed and encouraged and taught and bringing that all back to our local churches. So I'm really looking forward to it. 

Okay. So we call it the Pastors Conference. And to be clear, Mark, does "pastors" have an apostrophe like as in a possessive pastors' conference? How do you spell the pastors' conference? Guys want to know. Actually the Communication Director who wants to know. 

Mark Prater: It's a big debate actually in Sovereign Grace. You've got your grammar geeks who have an opinion on it. Actually we're gonna go with: Both are appropriate in Sovereign Grace. 

Eric Turbedsky: Oh, that's wishy-washy. Okay. Very good. Okay. Another one is that historically we've called it the Pastor's Conference or the Leaders' Conference. Why is it called the Pastors Conference? And the reason I'm asking because many of us are bringing our wives.

Mark Prater: Actually, to be more accurate we should call it our pastors and wives conference. But we call it a pastors' conference because it is a conference designed to serve and strengthen and equip and love on the pastors in Sovereign Grace Churches. And all of our guests who are pastors (or those who are in leadership in churches), we want to do the same for. But the ladies coming is so important because... Let me, just begin with this: why it's important for your wife to come if she's able is because I can't do what I do without Jill. And I think probably every pastor in Sovereign Grace would say that they can't do what they do in pastoring their church and leading their church without their wife. 

That doesn't mean you can't be single as a pastor. Please keep your theology right. But our wives are so key and so important to what we do as pastors for a number of different reasons. So the conference is a place for wives to come and to be encouraged and to be strengthened and to be cared for. 

There are certain aspects to pastoral ministry that wives experience very uniquely, that are sometimes difficult to talk about with members of the church. Not that you can't, but it all doesn't translate because they just don't have that experience. But you're coming to a conference where other wives are there and you can talk about some of the challenges in ministry and you know that person understands and can give you wise counsel and pray for you. 

So there's not just the care that we want to bring as a leadership team in the way we think about a conference. There's just being together with other wives and other women and talking about some of the challenges, not only in ministry but in your home as well. You can do so in a way that you can kind of let your hair down and speak very freely and yet receive very good care. So I just encourage wives to come partly for that reason. 

Eric Turbedsky: How do you prepare Jill for the conference? So Jill is going to go, and obviously you have a different role than many of us (or all of us) have. You're the only one that's the Executive Director, so you relate to all of us in a different way. But for the average pastor in Sovereign Grace Churches, yeah, your wife is coming. How do you prepare for the conference? 

And I'm thinking in particular many times: I'm busy. And so my wife is trying to navigate the conference without me at moments. But both the messages that are often directed towards pastors (and she's not a pastor, she's a pastor's wife) but as well sometimes she'll be without her pastor during the conference... What are some of the things you talk about with Jill before you go? 

Mark Prater: I have the advantage of seeing the registration report. So I've got a pretty good idea of who's coming. So I'm letting her know that she's going to see people that she's familiar with but doesn't talk to very often and just encourage her to look for them and engage them. I also let her know about guests that are coming and if they're bringing their wives and tell her, boy, I want you to meet so-and-so's wife. So Jeffrey Joe, who's not a Sovereign Grace pastor at the moment is bringing his wife, Virginia, literally from the Philippines this year. I'm telling Jill, I want an opportunity to introduce you to Virginia so that she has a chance to engage our guests and I want to prepare her for that. 

And then also, I have the advantage of seeing the sermons before they're preached and I'm telling her what's going to be preached and how it could really have application to what we're facing together as a couple or in our home or even in our church and just to help prepare her for it—for the sermons and how to receive from them and benefit from them. 

But the other thing I do with Jill: I think you've got to study your wife. I mean, that's something that CJ I think has taught us over the years so well. Study your wife. Know, your wife. And when I think about Jill, she brings joy into any situation she's in, typically. So I'm encouraging her to engage as many people as she can, because her joy just kind of spills out of her and can be contagious. A lot of times actually I'm waiting on her to leave the room to go back to our sleeping room because there are more people lined up to talk to her than to talk to me quite frankly—which I completely understand. She's a joy to be around. 

Eric Turbedsky: Okay, one last question is this: What do you say to the wife or the pastor who would like to have brought his wife to the conference, but they're church planting and they don't have much of a budget or they've got lots of young children and they can't make it, but they're not going to be there. How can they take advantage of the conference even though they're not there? And obviously being there is a big part of it. 

Mark Prater: It is. Well, a couple of things come to mind. I think if you're there without your wife, call her right after a session where you've got a few moments and just tell her what happened. I think most of our wives just really like to hear updates on the testimony that was shared. Carlos Contreras is going to be giving an update about Mexico next week and you're just going to love that. So call and tell your wife what he said. Tell her about the sermon that you heard and how you've benefited from it and you can't wait to get back home to listen to it with her so you can discuss it. 

Which is the second thing I would do is: Once you get back home make some time to listen to the sermons if you can together. I know that's really hard, but certainly if you can't, then have her listen to it or watch it on video, and then take some time to discuss it. 

And I think one other thing that does come to mind: You will encounter other ladies who are going to ask about your wife and how she's doing. Make sure your wife knows that those women asked about her, because that can just be a meaningful connection and make it more personal, even though she's not at the conference. 

Eric Turbedsky: Oh, that's good. Those are encouraging notes when people remember you and notice when you're not there. And there sure are going to be women in different seasons that are making a huge contribution locally. And some of that is seasons, just caring for young children or caring for aging parents and just can't leave. And we want them to feel the effects of our union together and our fellowship as pastors and partners in the gospel. 

Very helpful, Mark. Thanks so much. Thanks for your leadership. Good stuff. Until the next episode when we'll meet again, thanks for watching. Thanks for being our partners in the gospel and 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.

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.

Transcript:

Eric Turbedsky: Hey, thanks for tuning in. This is Eric Turbedsky, Director of Communications with MarkKPrater.com. 

Mark Prater serves as our Executive Director, and this morning I want to ask him about our Council of Elders meeting coming up next month, first week of November—but look back first: 

We had quite a Council of Elders meeting back in August, the special one. So Mark, fill us in: Thoughts on the Council of Elders meeting in August, especially as a couple hundred of us are preparing to attend and participate in another one here in November? What would you take away from August?

Mark Prater: What I took away from August: 

I thought there were a number of encouraging things from a strictly polity standpoint. I think the meeting was an illustration that our polity is working. I'm so grateful for that. Even though we're still learning our polity, the polity is working, and what I mean by that is that the council (where you've got 74 guys there debating and making decisions and voting) is I think functioning in a very Presbyterian way. There were votes and the votes were so clear and decisive. 

I think the other thing coming out of the meeting is that we have a lot of clarity and I think some momentum coming out of the special Counsel of Elders meeting. So from a polity standpoint, I was really, really encouraged. 

In terms of the nature of the meeting or the essence of the meeting, if you can say it that way, I thought it was probably our best meeting that illustrated how we're learning to debate in a godly manner. I thought guys were very gracious with one another, even though they strongly disagreed at some points. I think our meeting overall would have pleased God because of that. So I'm really grateful for that. 

The second thing is, along with that, I saw a number of guys, who hadn't went to the mic before, go to the mic. And I just want to keep encouraging that. And it was a mix of ages. That really encouraged me. So if we can bring more of that into the Fall, I think that'll be really, really great at our November meeting. 

Eric Turbedsky: Hey, Mark, if I may interrupt you right there, what percent of the Council of Elders, do you think, were part of Sovereign Grace for 30 years and this is all brand new? Half?

Mark Prater: I'd say half. Yeah, probably half would be my guess. 

Eric Turbedsky: So to get up to the mic, when, for three decades there was no mic (there was one mic, a few folks speaking at the meetings)—there's just a radical departure in just a few years. Now we have a broad participation: people making presentations in our Leadership Council setting. So that is an evidence of growth and change and maturity for us as a denomination. 

Mark Prater: Yeah, it is. And the guys in, you know, different age groups. Some of them came with prepared comments, some came to the mic with comments that were spontaneous. But I think in every case they were shared in a gracious way, which I think you want in a Council of Elders meeting in Sovereign Grace. 

One of the things I took away in terms of where we need to maybe grow (and I put it in the area of growth because I think we're just learning our polity—we're only six years in, and to be able to do what we've been able to do I think is rather remarkable and God's kindness towards us)—but I think we have to learn how to debate better. 

This particular meeting was a hard one to use as a litmus test, so to speak, because we were talking about issues that had an emotional component to them. So you know, you're going to have guys that are feeling strongly about what they believe, which isn't wrong. You can't remove emotion from debate. I think that'll always be there. But I think we've got to learn to debate a little bit better. 

That would include just presenting perspectives in a thoughtful way that then somebody can understand and then respond in a thoughtful way. I'm not saying that there were thoughtless conversations. But I just think it's something we'll just learn to do better in the years to come and hopefully that'll happen in November. 

Eric Turbedsky: Yeah. What do you tell the guy who walks away from the meeting saying, "Man that one vote didn't go the way I wanted it to go. And how do I process that?"

Mark Prater: Yeah. Well, I mean, on any eldership you're going to be a part of a meeting where you lose a vote or you're the minority voice. And you walk away—of course you're gonna be disappointed—but I think you've got to learn to trust the men that are around you and entertain the idea that you could be wrong, which you have to do. And maybe these men are right, and I can just follow them in that. Or entertain the idea: What if I'm right and they're wrong and we made the wrong decision? I'm going to own this with them. And if it turns out it was the wrong decision, I'm not going to play the card of "I told you so." I just think that's the right way to think about losing a vote. 

Eric Turbedsky: It might be harder to do it this way than just someone roll out all the decisions, because we all got to, we all got to walk out. Everyone walks out with some compromises and it's a little difficult with the heart—and probably a little bit better results (or much better results) with the collection of wisdom from many men. 

I'm looking at the agenda for the Council of Elders. There're some exciting things. Roll call... A rules committee... 

What are you anticipating for November? Are we kicking off the 2019 Sovereign Grace Pastors Conference with a roll call and the rules committee? 

But the Council of Elders: What do you anticipate with this one coming up? We've got some guys maybe coming in a little gun shy. There were some fireworks in August.

Mark Prater: What I'm excited about with the Council of Elders meeting is it does give me the opportunity to give the state of the union, and I've been thinking a lot about that. And I just want to point us forward and help us to sort of lift our eyes off of all of our troubles and what we might be distracted by and just look at what God is doing (and I believe will do) in and through Sovereign Grace Churches. 

So I'm really excited to cast vision for that, basically. Hopefully that will happen by the grace of God at the Council of Elders meeting. The other thing that I think is unique this year is there are only five BCO amendments. And before, I think in the years previous, which is somewhat understandable, there were anywhere between 20 and 25, roughly. So I think it tells you that we're refining the BCO over time and now it may need less refinement. It'll always need some refinement, maybe less refinement. 

And I'm really excited about the last three sections of the Statement of Faith being presented. Even though it'll be given provisional approval before (with the theology committee saying let's do the final approval next year—which I think is really wise) I still think it's going to mark a moment for us as a council to say, "Man we worked all the way through the Statement of Faith." 

And now we've got to just work through it again and sort of clean it up a little bit so it's consistent in the way it's presented. But man, we've got a good Statement of Faith and, and celebrate that a bit. 

Eric Turbedsky: Oh, that is very encouraging. Thanks for how you lead those meetings. I'm looking forward to that moment. You've got a body of men that are around the globe who have written a new Statement of Faith. We don't do that very often in our churches (thank the Lord), but it's going to be finished and that is something to celebrate. That'll be a moment in that room. Thanks for chairing it. 

Do you like chairing the Council of Elders sessions? Is this one of your favorite parts of being Executive Director? 

Mark Prater: I wouldn't say it's one of my favorite parts, but I'm learning to do it. I don't know how good I am at it, but I'm learning to do it and I'm glad to serve in that way. 

Eric Turbedsky: Now you have led us through some of the most important ones, the first ones. So thanks, Mark. 

Mark Prater: Yep. Good to talk to you.

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.