The True Woman conference is drawing to an end today. Several of the speakers are currently participating in a panel (kind of like The View but with actual morals) and in just a little while Nancy Leigh DeMoss will provide a final message. And that will be that. And then what? What’s really been accomplished here? Will it be shown to matter over time? This is something I always find myself wondering as a conference draws to a close.
Yesterday I spent some time in front of the business end of a video camera answering a few questions. One question the interviewer asked me was this: what’s the difference between a conference and a movement? It was an unexpected question that, but one that got me thinking a little bit. It got me thinking about this conference and every other conference I go to.
A conference is “just” a conference. Some of us tend to play them up, to make them into these pivotal, ground-shaking, life-sustaining moments in the Christian life through which God does so much of his work. Others downplay them, suggesting that conferences are little more than amusement, times for fun but not for serious growth.
The truth is that conferences vary a lot in intensity and in impact. They are sometimes life changing and are sometimes nearly inconsequential. I do not want to downplay the fact that they truly can be times where something clicks, where something changes in the heart or mind. Sometimes God chooses to act in a mighty way through something that is taught at a conference or sometimes even just through the atmosphere. And I’m sure I’ve seen some of that even this weekend as I’ve witnessed what’s gone on here, how the women have reacted to it and been touched by it.
But at the end of the day, conferences end. And then you’re left with real life, with the daily grind. You leave the place of refuge, the time of focus, and return to life with all its busyness and distraction and difficulty.
But in the case of this conference, a ministry stands behind it; and that ministry offers a lot of amazing resources. True Woman is a conference that is sponsored by Revive Our Hearts. And that ministry has a lot to offer to keep the momentum going, to maintain and further the growth.
There is a daily radio program featuring Nancy Leigh DeMoss. Nancy has written plenty of good books (Aileen is particularly excited about A Place of Quiet Rest, a book that discusses a healthy devotional life). There are several conferences you can watch and/or listen to. There is a True Woman blog that offers lots of really good content.
Perhaps most importantly (or most uniquely), there is a True Woman Manifesto. This manifesto is a call to believe and a call to take action. This video tells a little bit about it:
