Worship God 19, Through Filipino Eyes
A report put together by Emmanuel Iluzada, a Pastor in Cross Of Christ Salvation Gospel Ministries (CCSGM) Kawit, Cavite, one of our wonderful partner churches in the Philippines...
"It is a deep scuba dive into the vast ocean, where there are both terror and beauty, an admirable conjunction of diverse excellencies”. That’s how one of the speakers described and proclaimed Christ at the recently concluded “Glorious Christ 2019 Worship God Conference" in Louisville, Kentucky. A conference that we were thrilled to attend.
We knew about the conference through the invitation of Pastor Dave Taylor. We’ve known him for the past two years through our Senior Pastor, Jeffrey Jo. Dave informed us about the Worship God Conference and so we prayed about it, prepared our documents, and the LORD made it possible for us to go in His perfect timing and provision.
My wife and I had a lot of first time experiences because of the conference. It was our first time in the US, first time to drive in a foreign land and first time to attend a major Sovereign Grace Conference. We were welcomed by Brittany Kauflin, whom we met for the first time in Sydney last year. We were invited to be part of the recording of SG’s latest album and we became part of the singing audience. We were so thrilled because we have often watched SG Music online and so to now become part of it! How cool is that!
The conference itself was set in a way that the general sessions were designed to teach the gloriousness of Christ: His supremacy, sacrifice, and diverse excellencies. The breakout sessions were then more technical in nature and made up of specific topics like songwriting, singing, instrument playing and sound engineering to name a few. We acquired a lot of learning in the technical sessions, which was then balanced or re-focussed onto Christ when we went back into the general sessions.
I particularly appreciated the songwriting sessions led by Steve and Vikki Cook. I had a deeper admiration of studying the structure, tone, and messages of different gospel songs. I developed a deeper passion to not just appreciate the current songs I know, but to also write gospel songs in our own language (Filipino). I was also greatly encouraged by Jordan Kauflin’s advice to write songs in our own tongue since this is the direction of the Word to us - That one day, every tongue will sing praises to the King of kings!
We made many new friends at the conference who each had an amazing story to tell. We met Ron, who blessed us with a recording workstation when he learned about my story of recording locally written songs for the congregation. We met JP and Abbi, a fellow Filipino couple from San Francisco, who were regular participants of the conference and part of the Shiloh Church Choir, who sang so heavenly during the conference. We made a lot of friends who encouraged us and who have now become partners with us for the gospel. We brought home a wealth of learning and unforgettable experiences!
We especially want to thank Bekah Scrufari, Joel Amunrud, Paul Medler and Dave Taylor. Thank you for your abundant generosity! Thank you also to Bob Kauflin and his entire family for the unsung labors that you have exerted for this conference.
Truly, in our moments of weakness, we can cringe in despair or we can look at the unfailing beauty of Christ, which makes the things of the world grow strangely dim. Beholding the glorious Christ is what our eyes should constantly exercise. That’s our hope. All the glory and thanksgiving be unto Jesus alone!
