Commissional Corner: Attending Cross Con24

Dr. Mark Alexander and Master of Arts in Global Leadership student Glen Jones attended Cross Con24 in Louisville, Kentucky, over the Winter Break as part of MAGL 5336 Current Trends in Missions. Cross Con is a missions conference for college students and their leaders to learn how to make their lives count by making Jesus’ name known to all nations. Well-known speakers and authors such as John Piper, David Matthis, David Platt, Kevin DeYoung, and Trip Lee were among the speakers at this year’s conference. This year’s theme was how God uses opposition for His glory. Glen agreed to share his experience and takeaways from the conference.

Glenn's Reflections on Cross Con

Glen expressed, "Cross Con was a great time to join 10,000 other college students in worshiping God and studying His word." He appreciated the unique experience of listening to the authors of textbooks for classes, commenting, "Connecting with them through their speaking sessions and Q&A times helped bring more understanding and depth when reading their books."

Glenn's Takeaways

The biggest takeaway for Glen was that God can and does use opposition for His glory. He explained, "As believers, we are not immune to hardship and obstacles, but God works through these situations for His glory. We were not called to live an easy life, but through trust and faith in God, we can find joy in our trials."

For Glen, the conference highlighted the amount of spiritual lostness in the world. He realized that since everyone is commanded to go and make disciples of all nations, it is not a question of who will go but how God is calling individuals to make His name known to the lost.

The Cross Con24 conference impacted Glen’s ministry in that the conference helped connect his heart to an unreached people group through prayer. Glen shared, "Being able to pray for the groups by name and knowing even a few basic needs and cultural insights of the group helped me pray more specifically and helped burden my heart for the lost. I am thankful for the conference, which provided resources to continue praying in our homes and churches. I am excited to see how these resources help my church cultivate a prayer life and a burden for the lost." The MAGL program is grateful to Glen for sharing his experience.

Additional Information About Cross Con

For more information about Cross Con and future conferences, please visit the Cross Con website.