2005 Shepherd’s Conference in review
Fabian Saucedo
When I was younger, one of my most vivid memories is standing in the worship center at Grace Church while John MacArthur led us in a rendition of Great is Thy Faithfulness. It was nice to hear him sing again at the Shepherds Conference this year with his son-in-law.
The music during the Shepherds Conference was amazing and it is one of the things I enjoy most about the conference. The very first time I attended the Shepherds Conference during a general session, there were not that many pastors, and we were allowed to sit in the worship center. I will never forget how loud the hymns were sung, and I remember after I left, I told a friend that that is how I envisioned that heaven will be like.
The number of pastors seems to have increased with each year and the singing of hymns has just gotten louder. I enjoy this tremendously and I can not help but think that the Lord is pleased. One day we will go home to be with our Savior, and millions of people will be lifting up his name in worship. I imagine we will all know the words by heart, we will all sing on key, and Gary and David will not have to get up and use the bathroom… it will all be perfect!
Recently I watched the television show Frontline on PBS. This show was about the Iraq war and on it some soldiers were interviewed. During one interview, a Marine talked about how soon after he arrived in Iraq the reality that he was going to die in Iraq and never return home set in really quickly. He said that after a few days of fighting in the war, he went through so many emotions that he did not care whether he died or not.
As that Marine spoke, I realized that he needed to hear the Gospel. I would hate to be so close to death and not have the assurance of salvation. John MacArthur once said in a message that it would be a terrible thing to live your whole life thinking that you are going to heaven, only to die and realize that you are not. When he said this he was referring to Matthew 7:21-23.
This Shepherds Conference the teaching focused on the need for pastors to teach sound doctrine and a Gospel that is complete and not diluted. Although the majority of men at the conference were pastors, I realized during and after the conference the need for all of us to present the Gospel complete.
I am sure that we have all heard somebody say this familiar phrase, “I shared with a friend today!� Maybe it was a co-worker or a relative, regardless of who it was, the important thing is what was shared. Was it your testimony, or the fact that you attend church and bible study, was it some prayer that the Lord answered, or was it the complete Gospel?
Sharing a testimony, an experience, or something else that the Lord is doing in your life is not a bad thing, but if you would like somebody to become a Christian, then you must share the Gospel complete with God’s word. It was a great reminder to me of the responsibility that we as lay people also have not to dilute the Gospel. I would hate to think that someone would live their life thinking they were a Christian because they said a prayer one day without realizing the significance of their sin and depravity, or the significance of the Lord’s death on the cross. Ask yourself (I did), when was the last time you shared the complete Gospel with someone? You should have been at the conference… good teaching, good food, good times!
(By the way, for those of you who are new, Pastor Nam and Pastor Gary sang in front of the congregation many years ago… it was some old school rap, and definitely in the memory bank, but that’s another story)
Immanuel Bible Church