Seattle¡ªVision 2005 International Leadership Conference

Have an Infinite Dream in God
Pastors and Cell Leaders Prayed for Church RevivalThe message of hope was proclaimed in Seattle, the largest city in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. The Vision 2005 International Leadership Conference was held at Christian Faith Center (Senior Pastor Casey Treat) March 6-13.The conference was hosted by Christian Faith Center, and was supported by DCEM. During the conference, a total of 30,000 people attended. It was a precious time for people to have new vision and faith in the Holy Spirit.Dr. Cho spoke on March 10 and 11, and many missionaries, elders, seminary students, youth leaders, cell leaders, and church leaders from the Pacific Northwest came to the conference. He spoke on, "How to Minister Effectively," emphasizing worship, fellowship, and prayer. He said that the most important thing for church revival is the restoration of worship and fellowship, and he added that the restoration of worship and fellowship is accompanied with strong task prayer. He also stressed that church leaders must have a clear goal, pray for it, work on it with passion, have positive thoughts, and communicate with the Holy Spirit as they minister. Pray with a clear goal Seattle, Washington is nicknamed The Emerald City. It is surrounded by the sea on three sides and beautifully harmonizes with the natural beauty of the seas and mountains. Seattle is also well known for the headquarters of Boeing Airplane Company, Microsoft, Starbucks, and Amazon.com. The Vision 2005 International Leadership Conference held in Seattle with Dr. Cho in a hub city of culture and industry was recorded as a conference that sowed new dreams and hope in the hearts of pastors and missionaries in the Pacific Northwest. On March 10 and 11, Dr. Cho shared four secrets of church growth that he has learned from his 47 years of ministry. First, he emphasized that we must pray with a clear goal so that we can experience the work of the Holy Spirit. He said, "There are two kinds of prayer. The first one is Fellowship Prayer and the other one is Task Prayer. Fellowship prayer is to pray beautiful, flowery words. This prayer is general prayer, the kind we usually pray. However, task prayer is to pray with a clear goal and a burning desire to receive an answer, rather than just praying with flowery words." He explained the importance of prayer with a clear goal, using the example of the widow and the unjust judge in Luke 18. He said, "A widow who was faced with an unfair matter came to an unjust judge who did not fear God to ask for help in solving the matter. But the judge did not listen and ignored her. This widow before the judge did not beg for help through fellowship prayer. She had a clear goal to receive an answer and begged for it. She shouted, "Grant me justice against my adversary," over and over. This is task prayer. Task prayer must be accompanied with a clear goal and perseverance." Second, Dr. Cho said, "We must pray with a burning desire to reach a goal." He said that we need to have the attitude to go forth toward the goal in our heart as we pray with a burning desire. If we do not have a burning desire, we can ask for the anointing of the Holy Spirit. He mentioned that just as a small fire could become a huge fire by adding oil, our heart could be burning by adding the oil of the Holy Spirit. As for spreading the gospel of Christ and church growth were concerned, we must have a burning desire to establish a goal. Third, he emphasized, "Remind yourself of your vision and dream everyday, and go ahead in faith to reach your goal. We have to dream an infinite dream in God. If you set up a goal, you have to embrace the goal to fulfill it as you keep focusing on it. I call this the visualization of dreams. Jacob established his dream by using the visualization of dreams. When Jacob lived with his uncle Laban and worked for him, his uncle asked what he should give to Jacob, and Jacob told him not to give him anything, except that he wanted his own possessions. Jacob said that he would keep taking care of the flocks and watching over them, but for his wages, he wanted to remove every speckled or spotted sheep, every dark-colored lamb, and every spotted or speckled goat for his own. Laban thought, "How could a spotless sheep breed a spotted baby" However, Jacob applied the visualization of dreams in this. He placed peeled branches in all the watering troughs, so that they would be in front of the flock when they came to drink. As a result, when the flock came to drink and mated in front of the branches, they bore young that were streaked or speckled or spotted, and Jacob received those streaked and speckled and spotted flock from Laban. When we go forth with a clear goal, dreaming, the Holy Spirit begins to move greatly."Dr. Cho emphasized that Yoido Full Gospel Church had grown to a membership of over 780,000 because he ran to his goal, embracing his vision. He also testified that he taught and encouraged his disciples to have the same big vision, so now they all have borne great results of revival.Fourth, Dr. Cho said, "Don´t feel your faith, just choose it. Faith is not a substance that we feel through our emotions; it is a thing that we choose through our own freewill." The fact that Abraham at the age of 100 had a son was because he strongly chose faith without doubt. And Dr. Cho said, "This kind of faith makes impossibility possible." He encouraged the ministers, "Have firm and strong faith in our faithful God who will do great things in you as you minister."Overcome with new thinkingDr. Cho´s message proclaimed at Christian Faith Center the next day encouraged pastors to realize how important it is to have new thinking. On the morning of March 11, Dr. Cho preached for two hours and urged, "We have to get out of our humanistic thinking and change into creative thinking given by God." He emphasized the reasons why we need to have new thinking in Christ. He said, "We have become a new creation in Christ, and we must live by embracing new thoughts everyday. We must get rid of the thoughts bound by the past. We must run toward a goal and forget past things. Those who run toward a goal and embracing new thinking will be able to overcome obstacles easily. In the days of the exodus, God who delivered the Israelites wanted them to have a new status as His chosen people, not to have the past status of Egyptian servants. However, the Israelites longed for their life in Egypt and stood against Moses with complaints and dissatisfaction. God wanted them to embrace new thinking based on His words. The Israelites, however, lived without looking to God, longing for their old life in Egypt. Eventually, God made the Israelites wander around in the wilderness for 40 years and had them change their thinking. We must also change our status and thinking as a child of God or we will not be able to overcome our problems. Embracing creative thinking based on faith is one method to overcome our problems."Dr. Cho said that he went through many hardships and difficulties as he ministered for 47 years, and every time despair and breakdowns came, he looked to the Cross and received new strength. He especially stressed how important thinking, dreaming, and speaking are to those who believe in Jesus Christ. We have to think new thoughts like a child of God and embrace creative thoughts. Dr. Cho mentioned, "Creative thinking suggests a concrete design that achieves a purpose. Just as an architect could not build a house without a blueprint, to make a purpose concrete, we have to embrace creative thoughts." He went on, "Have faith to actualize the dream that you are looking for through creative thinking." Regarding faith, Dr. Cho emphasized, "Faith is a strong tool that generates God? miracles."Dr. Cho stated the importance of speaking. Like God who created the earth with a word, a word can make our circumstances prosperous or perish. He told the pastors to be a messenger of the Gospel of hope saying, "A negative word is an obstacle to success, but a positive word prepares a stepping stone to establish a dream."Rev. Casey Treat who hosted the conference introduced Dr. Cho during the welcoming address as the most respected man of God and his teacher. He also said that learning from Dr. Cho has helped his church grow tremendously. Since Rev. Casey Treat pioneered Christian Faith Center in 1980, it has developed various discipleship programs, which are suitable for all ages from children through adult. Eight thousand members come to worship in one place beyond denomination and nationality. Christian Faith Center has a good reputation for its various cultural programs for local residents, and Dr. Cho´s cell system is included in these programs. Other speakers at the conference included Rev. Casey Treat and Rev. Wendy Treat, Ray McCauley (Rhema Church in the Republic of South Africa), and Brian Houston (Hillsong Church in Australia).