By Clint Cook

Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve shared with you why I think attending conferences are so vital to successful ministry.  Not only do they allow you to make lifelong friendships, but they also provide opportunities to continue your education and sharpen your skills.  Today, I want to share perhaps my number one reason for attending GB conferences: the Mountaintop Experience.  I’m referring to the event recorded in Matthew 17, which tells us Jesus pulled the “inner three” aside from ministry demands and the hustle and bustle of life to share a special time with Him.  It is not hard to imagine that Peter, James, and John, like many pastors today, may have found it difficult to leave their assignments and ministries to go on what they may have thought was a simple trip-but there can be no question they were glad they did!  Verse 2 says, “he was transfigured before them and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light.”  This trip turned out to be life changing when the first of three miraculous events occurred: the transfiguration of Jesus.

Then, as if they transfiguration alone was not enough, Moses and Elijah appeared.  They talked with and ministered to Jesus right before the disciples’ eyes.  Through the years I have been ministered to by many Elijah-type and Moses-type men who made me want to stay with them and receive from them as much knowledge and encouragement as possible.

The final miracle is found in verse 5, when, “a voice from the cloud said, ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well please; listen to him.'”

Obviously, all three of these mind-blowing experiences up on that mountaintop proved to be well worth the journey, effort, and sacrifice of getting away from the demands of ministry to meet with the Master.

I am reminded of the many times I have gone to a conference expecting to be the one who feeds or teaches the word of God, and instead become the one on the receiving end, being challenged to listen instead of speak.  Sometimes this happened through the preaching of God’s Word.  Sometimes it happened through the dynamic worship of God’s people, being caught up in an indescribable Spirit-filled moment.  Sometimes it happened through special moments of prayer during moving response times.  These moments for me were just as unexpected as the encounters experienced by Peter, James, and John, and just as life-changing and meaningful.

These Mountaintop Experiences allow us to see Jesus in a whole new light, like bread that descends from Heaven, feeding our souls.  It’s like the Old Testament passage in 1 Kings: “‘Arise and eat, for the journey is too great for you.’  And he arose and ate and drank and went in the strength of that food ‘forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mount of God.'”  1 Kings 19: 7-8

In other words, God can feed us through Mountaintop Experiences at events like the General Baptist Minister’s Conference or the Mission and Ministry Summit, to sustain us until the next Divine Moment.  Are you hungry for that?  I am!  See you there!

The 2014 Minister’s Conference will take place this coming week-pray for Mountaintop Experiences for those attending.  The 2014 Mission and Ministry Summit will be July 21-23.  For more information about these and other General Baptist conferences, visit www.generalbaptist.com or call 573-785-7746