Winter Conference Opening Ceremony

I wanted to share from our opening evening at this years Winter Conference. First of all, we were just pleased to be here, having decided to leave Austin a day early on Monday, to miss the weather. 1100 miles of driving later, we reached our destination! We joined with 1,600 others for the largest conference yet for this 6 year-old mission movement.

The message was brought by The Most Rev. Datuk Yong Ping Chung (retired Archbishop of South East Asia). Some of you will remember him from when he came to speak at BridgePoint (he currently lives in Austin). The Archbishop's message was excellent ... and I believe very relevant to what the Lord is saying to us at BridgePoint. He referenced 3 particular Scriptures from which I give extracts;

(i) God's Heart
"Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your tent curtains wide, do not hold back; lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes. For you will spread out to the right and to the left; your descendants will dispossess nations and settle in their desolate cities." (Isaiah 54:2-3)
- the call is to a 'man-sized' work that was humanly impossible, but he quoted the father of the modern missionary movement, William Carey, who said, 'Expect great things from God, attempt great things for God'. God's heart is for those who are lost and we must reach out with the message of the gospel.

(ii) God's Way
"My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message ..." (John 17:20)
- Prayer was a top priority for Jesus. Effective ministry and mission must begin (and end!) with prayer, intercession for lost souls. This is how we unlock God's power and authority. he also quoted ... "Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know." (Jer 33:3), a favorite verse of mine that I actually have framed on my desk.

(iii) God's Praise
"I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name." (Rev. 3:8)
- Jesus holds the key and is THE way of salvation. God promises an open door, but it is not easy, we still need to walk through and discover what is on the other side!

The overall theme of the message and the conference as a whole, 'ENLARGE YOUR TENTS!'

Now I need to get some sleep so I am ready for the morning.

Mike.