A New Podcast: The Clash VS.

VIDEO TRANSCRIPT

Benjamin Kreps:

Hey everyone and welcome to the Mark Prater Podcast — where our aim is to connect our global family of Sovereign Grace churches with our Executive Director.

Mark Prater:

Hey, I'm going to jump in right away here because this podcast is going to be a little bit different. I am actually going to interview you. I get to ask the questions and you give the responses. How does that sound? So let's give it a shot.

All right, here's why. You and our friend Ricky Alcantar have recently started another podcast. The title of that is "The Clash Vs." — it's just "Vs.", not the word "versus" — The Clash Vs. So I want to use an episode of our podcast to promote that podcast, because I think it meets a real need, and I'm so glad that you and Ricky are doing this. So tell us: why did you and Ricky decide to start The Clash Vs.?

Benjamin Kreps:

Well, Ricky and I have been friends for a number of years. He's a good buddy of mine. And we both very much enjoy podcasts and doing podcasting here and there — of course, I host this one.

We were talking for a while last year about what might be possible when it comes to starting a new podcast that would serve Sovereign Grace. So really the heart behind the podcast in the first place is the reality that Ricky and I love our family of churches, and we thought: we'd love to find a way to better serve this family of churches that we love — and perhaps find a lane that really hasn't been pursued when it comes to content or podcasts.

And so we started The Clash Vs. podcast. The reason why it's called that, by the way — some people checking out the podcast may remember from years ago, probably about 14 years ago, there was a worldview conference at Messiah University. I had just gotten out of Pastor’s College, and because I live near where this little conference was, I was invited to come and be a counselor there, which I did. It was very enjoyable. It was for young people, and really, as I said, it was a worldview conference addressing topics that were relevant when it comes to interacting with the convergence of our faith and cultural issues and so forth.

And so it was Ricky's idea really to resurrect the Clash name from that. I believe Jeff Purswell put together that conference back in those years. So in the name of that — a forgotten conference for many — we resurrected the name "The Clash," because we wanted to create a podcast where we interact with how our statement of faith, our shared values, our shaping virtues, how they connect with our lives and the way that we interact with this world — how they clash with the world. And by "the world," of course, we mean this fallen world in opposition to God, this sinful world, and how we walk through and interact with it.

And on top of that, we have this podcast — for instance, Mark — which we've been doing for many years now. This podcast does include updates, and we hope that members of our churches listen and learn from the updates you give on here. But we wanted to make a resource that was more geared toward the members of our churches, which we felt might be a little bit underserved in some ways, especially when it comes to a podcast. As we love Sovereign Grace and we enjoy podcasting and we want to serve — especially the members of our churches — we now have The Clash Vs. podcast, with a couple of episodes out so far.

Mark Prater:

Yeah, that first episode — you used the book of Revelation to illustrate a Christian's daily clash with the flesh, the world, and Satan. Why did you choose the book of Revelation to do that?

Benjamin Kreps:

Well, perhaps in part because Ricky preached through Revelation not too long ago, and I'm currently preaching through Revelation — so it's fresh. But also, it's one of the most compelling places you can go to in Scripture to find the dynamics of what it's like to seek to be a faithful Christian, navigating through a fallen world with all sorts of enemies, including our own indwelling sin — as you mentioned — and spiritual enemies.

And so Revelation really is far from being a sort of esoteric, chronological timeline of the days and media before our Lord's return — although there are certainly some wonderful realities presented about that sort of thing. It really arms us to think about our lives as Christians in the daily conflict we're engaged in.

The reality is that, sadly, some Christians have not been informed that there is a conflict. And those who have not been informed about the nature of the conflict — which begins from the very moment we're born again — are left ill-equipped to deal with it, to step into it, and to overcome in the way that is talked about in Revelation.

And so I think Revelation provides some of the most essential exhortations and really a kind of blueprint for thinking about how to navigate through this fallen world as, together, we make our way to a new heavens and new earth at the return of Christ. So that just seemed like a perfect place to land for our first episode — to get at why we're talking about having a conflict in the first place. Because we're not out to fight people. We're out to make war against our own indwelling sin, to stand fast in the face of the enemies of the gospel, and to faithfully follow. Revelation 14 describes Christians as those who follow the Lamb wherever He goes — and that means also into the daily conflict that we experience as Christians.

Mark Prater:

That's great. So what are some of the topics that you and Ricky have planned to address — and in doing so, obviously bringing a biblical worldview to those issues?

Benjamin Kreps:

Well, one of the things that Ricky is doing in his role heading up our digital communications — and has been doing, in my opinion, a bang-up job — is that all kinds of helpful resources are just sort of pouring out of our family of churches right now. Thanks to Ricky.

And so, not really announced in a very specific way, but one of the things that Ricky is attempting to do is to highlight certain shaping virtues, shared values, and things from our statement of faith each month and emphasize them. And so we are picking topics that take those monthly emphases from our shaping virtues, shared values, and statement of faith, and then find ways to connect those with cultural issues and things that we interact with personally in the world.

And so the second episode dropped a couple of days ago — it's "The Clash Vs. Self-Esteem." In a world where the messages we are bombarded with from a very young age are just urging us to pursue self-love, self-affirmation, and self-esteem as the main stick of fulfillment and happiness, we simply want to say: God's Word and the gospel have a very different message for us. One that is far superior to whatever little bit of boost we might get from looking within to celebrate the very limited, native reserves that each one of us have.

So "Self-Esteem" just came out. We just recorded a couple more, so we're actually looking to release podcasts more regularly than once a month. Yesterday we recorded two — so here's a sneak peek: one is on materialism and consumerism and that sort of thing, and then "The Clash Vs. Cynicism," which we both agreed seemed very relevant in this day and age. How the gospel and God's Word clashes against the worldly ideas involved in those things, and then shows us a better way so that we can walk in faithfulness and joy the way that God intends us to.

There's also talk of a future one on biblical womanhood that we discussed briefly. So there'll be all manner of different topics, but the intent is to take all of the wonderful resources we have in our statement of faith — and everything connected to that — and then help folks to see how that interacts with the culture, and equip us to think faithfully as we walk through this world.

Mark Prater:

I'm so glad you're doing it. Those are great topics, by the way. So thank you to you and Ricky for being so thoughtful in how you can serve our churches — and as you said, not just pastors, but specifically members of our churches.

All right. How can anybody listen to this podcast? Where can they find it, and how can they subscribe to The Clash Vs. podcast?

Benjamin Kreps:

Yeah, well, thanks for asking. Please go and subscribe, and perhaps even tell your friends if you enjoy it. If you don't, don't worry about that. But if you like it at all, let others know, because we really do want to serve as many people as we can, if it does serve.

And so you can find it in all sorts of different formats. You can go to the Sovereign Grace Churches YouTube channel and you'll find it under playlists — there are different kinds of resources lumped together, and one of those playlists is The Clash Vs. podcast. You can go on Spotify — make sure you type in "The Clash Vs." on Spotify, because no, we are not a legendary punk band from the '80s, and so you need to put the "Vs." in order to find us. But I believe it's on Apple and basically wherever you listen to podcasts, you can find it. But "The Clash Vs." will get you there. 

Mark Prater:

That's great. And by the way, one other place you can go: if you go to the Sovereign Grace website and click on "Resources" and then click on "News," there are a couple of blog posts about this podcast that can give you some additional information as well.

So Ben, this has been fun — turning the tables and interviewing you. Really well done on your part. Why don't you just close this out?

Benjamin Kreps:

Well, thanks, Mark. And by the way, we are eager to hear — as we've been saying on these initial episodes — we're eager to hear from others. So if you enjoy the podcast and you want to hear us talk about certain topics, we are very eager to hear ideas about topics to address in the future. We are open to that. So let us know if you have something that you think would be interesting — ways to see how our statement of faith, our shared values, and our shaping virtues connect with a cultural topic.

So thanks, Mark. I don't necessarily love having the tables turned on your podcast, but I appreciate the opportunity to talk about The Clash Vs. podcast, because Ricky and I are very eager for it to be a blessing and we're praying that God will use it in that way. So thank you for checking out the podcast, and if you do check it out, thanks for checking out The Clash Vs. podcast as well. We'll see you here next week, Lord willing. Bye for now.