Nancy, we've come to the final day of our interview and I want to ask you about another major aspect of the work to which God has called you: writing. You’ve written numerous books
The Lord always uses the writing process to search my own heart and to sanctify me in deeper ways. However, to be honest, the only thing I really enjoy about the process of writing books is turning the final manuscript over to the publisher! For me, writing is an arduous, painstaking discipline that constantly requires me to say “no” to my flesh.
Dannah Gresh and I are co-authoring a book this year called Lies Young Women Believe. Our burden is to reach the hearts of 13-19-year-old girls with the truth that will set them free.
I am also in the initial stages of a new book on “gratitude,” which I hope to follow with a book on “contentment”—both of which are crucial qualities for Christian women to cultivate and are in rare supply today.
Recently I have sensed the Lord birthing in me another new book that I have been thinking about for nearly ten years—a call to Christian women to believe God for a counter-Revolution—a movement of biblical womanhood that will take back the ground that has been given over to feminist thinking over the past 50 years.
Are there any other major projects on your calendar for the coming year?
We have just finalized the decision to host a National Women’s Conference on October 9-11, 2008, in Chicago. FamilyLife Today and Moody Bible Institute will be partnering with Revive Our Hearts on this project. The purpose of the conference is to promote the mission and message of biblical womanhood. We are asking the Lord for 4-6000 women to join us for this special event. This is a huge faith venture for our small team. Please pray with us for the anointing of the Spirit on this undertaking and for God’s provision and enabling on every front. And pray about joining us for what I believe could be an historic occasion!
We are excited to hear about this conference and your upcoming books, Nancy, and we will be praying or you. On a different note, we'd love to know what you are studying in your personal times with the Lord. What is one aspect of God’s character you’ve learned about this past year?
For more than a year, I’ve been studying (and am now teaching) the life of Joshua. I was drawn into the study because my pastor preached a message from the last chapter of Joshua, which made me wonder how in the world he made it to 110 years of age, and was still a vibrant, faithful servant and lover of the Lord. (At that time, I was walking through some deep waters and wasn’t sure I was going to make it to 50!) I wanted to see how he stayed faithful all the way to the finish line, which is my goal.
It has been a wonderful study. When I got to Kadesh-Barnea with Joshua and Caleb (Numbers 13-14), the Lord opened my eyes to see the unbelief and rebellion that were at the heart of many of the struggles I had been having for months.
Finally, what in your opinion, is the most urgent need among Evangelical Christian women today?
To know Christ—really know Him; to trust Him enough to obey Him; to love and enjoy Him—“Christ in you, the hope of glory”; to “own” the Gospel in its incredible, life-giving, transforming fullness and implications; to be willing to lay down our lives for the sake of Christ and the Gospel.
Amen to that, Nancy. Thank you for your example of passion for Christ and the gospel. And thank you for allowing us to get to know you a little better over the past four days. We pray God will continue to bless your ministry and efforts to encourage women to greater love for our Savior!
Girltalk readers: more information on how to pray for Nancy and her ministry is available in an interview on the Revive Our Hearts website.
