Hillsong Womens' Colour Conference : 15-17 March 2007

What an absolutely fantastic Colour Conference ... it was held in the Acer Arena, Homebush for the first time ever and there were over 17,000 women there!! Phenomenal ... the worship was ... well ... mind blowing really ... and the speakers were inspiring and challenging and funny!! We laughed, we cried, we worshiped, we prayed, we had great fellowship ... we even got pampered ... nails, massages, hair, makeup ... and we bought lots of great resources to help us more forward!

The main theme for 2007 was ... Imagine ... a REVOLUTION in Value!!



There was also a lot of LOVE going around ... Sister's, it is our time to unite ... for God and love the world into God's kingdom!



There was a big emphasis on "Sisterhood" this year where we could sponsor children through Compassion - over 1,100 kids were sponsored which was amazing and nearly 800 Boxes were filled for Operation Christmas Child to go to kids in Cambodia.



We were also challenged by the moving and emotionally charged documentary on the "Invisible Children" of Northern Uganda who have been caught up in the horrendous civil war and who are daily abducted by the "LRA" - Lord's Resistance Army who then turn them into child soldiers and ruthless killers! We heard from Marilyn Skinner, the founder of Watoto Children's Orphanage (see my previous entry about the Watoto Children's Choir who visited St Matts last year)

Colour Conference : Bobbie Houston

For those of you who were unable to attend this year, I want to share some key points from the conference which really made me feel inspired and challenged to keep my fire for God burning brightly! I also cannot encourage you enough girls ... go to Colour 2008 ... your life will be changed forever!!



Bobbie Houston is a really interesting character ... she's quirky, funny and a bit ditzy but she packs a powerful message in short sharp punches which hit the spot every time ... she is quite inspiring for her 50 years of age too! She told us that "Revolution = radical, complete and prevailing change". She also made 3 key points: (1) We need to know the hour of our visitation ie. we need to know our identity in the day and times in which we live. (2) We need to live as daughters of salvation - when we get God's revelation of who we truly are, breakthrough is achieved. (3) We need to live in the realm of our responsibility - knowing our purpose in God. When we respond with the ability we have, God will increase our ability to do more.

This is how radical, revolutionary change can be achieved!

Colour Conference 2007 : Key Note Speakers

J John was a fantastic speaker ... he was an evangelical version of Mr Bean ... hilarious ... but so brilliant too! God really spoke to my heart through his teaching ... here are some of the pearls of wisdom he imparted about evangelism ...

"Don't worry about what you don't know, get on with what you do know!

A lighthouse doesn't make any noise, but you can still see it - we need to visually communicate the gospel to the world ie. show God's love in a tangible way! If you're not an evangelist, you're a witness!

A missionary is not someone who crosses the sea, a missionary is someone who sees the cross!

I loved this next picture which Mother Theresa painted when she said ... "Every follower of Jesus Christ is a pencil in the hand of God, sending love letters to the world!"

Our job is to go into God's orchard and check which fruit is ripe, and when we find a ripe piece of fruit, we need to pick it but we must not pick it too early or too late because it may fall to the ground and become bad ...

Our greatest need in the whole world is forgiveness ... and that is why God sent his Son, our Saviour

The heart of the human problem is the problem of the human heart!

In addition, J John also talked about wanting 3 things from God: (1) God to reinforce what I already know and do. (2) God to remind me of what I should know and do. (3) God to reveal things that we don't know but need to do. We need to get God's purpose and not be like Christopher Columbus who, when he set out on his first voyage, had no idea of where he was going, when he got there he didn't know where he was, and when he returned, he didn't know where he had been!

Get God's perspective - No matter how lost or dirty or broken you think you are, you have not lost your value in God's eyes.

We need to PRAY ... we can't do it alone or in our own strength. When we pray, coincidences happen and we have HUGE potential. We need to be in Partnership ... if you think of a snowflake ... on it's own, it will melt within seconds of falling to the ground ... but together with thousands of other little snowflakes, it will stop traffic in the largest city in the world! We also need to Persevere and run the race in such a way that we keep the flame burning together. We only have enough time to do the Will of God, and if we don't have enough time, we are not doing the Will of God.



Charlotte Scanlin-Gambill also spoke this weekend with some powerful words of encouragement and challenge ... she took us on a journey regarding how God wants to give us gifts and He does this in the form of "flat packs", like you get at IKEA or any other furniture outlet these days, where you are required to put in a lot of hard work and effort with DIY to get to the actual piece of furniture you bought in the first place ... only God keeps throwing challenges out to us! Her 3 key points were: (1) Face your inadequacy and focus on your responsibility. (2) Take your rest. (3) Partnership is key.

Don't ask God to do what you can do, ask God to do what you can't do.

Later in the conference she told us about how to "Grow Up" in God where she explained that age is not the issue but how grown up you can be with God's word. She warned that we should be careful what we invite into our lives because we will be responsible for it and that we should make sure that we really, really, really, really want what we want because the price tag is expensive and costly to God and ultimately to ourselves.



Lisa Bevere was also an amazing woman who is after God's own heart. With only one functioning eye (she lost the other to cancer at an early age), she spoke with passion and powerful conviction ... enough to move us to tears and changes in our own lives! She told us that it is not about being perfect, it is about redeeming your mistakes. We were made to have no limits and to know the truth, so therefore fear, lies and doubt have no hold in our lives. You will never be powerful if you live a lie or try to be someone that you are not. Engrave God's word on your heart because He loves to face what you fear so that you can become fearless. Later, she continued her message which involved understanding that when you release what is in your hand, God releases what is in His hand. God is connecting people who are in the spirit and doing the Will of God.

Imagination = more important than knowledge (Albert Einstein)

Never use your strength against someone else's weakness, use it to build their strengths.



God is so Good!