On November 12 and 13, we welcomed Nancy Guthrie to DSC for our annual Women’s Conference. This year’s theme, Holding On to Hope, was taken from her important book by that title. Nancy spoke from the book of Job to explore the meaning and significance of suffering for the Christian. She speaks as one who has experienced great loss, and will help all of us to better understand what Job meant when he said, “The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord” (Job 1:21).

The audio from the conference is now available:

• When Your World Falls Apart
• Holding on to Hope
• Q&A with Nancy Guthrie
• Hearing God Speak in Your Storms

Also, Collin Hansen recently interviewed Nancy Guthrie at The Gospel Coalition Blog in a post entitled, “Sad People, Safe Churches.” We included some of that interview in a previous blog post and commend the entire interview to you.

On Saturday, August 7, over 300 men gathered at Desert Springs Church for a men’s conference, The Man: A Call to Fight for Biblical Manhood. Dave Bruskas, this year’s conference speaker, preached to this group of men from three churches, including Mars Hill Church, Desert Springs Church, and Trinity at the Marketplace.

The audio for this conference is now available for download and includes two panel discussions and three talks with Dave:

• Session 1, Dave Bruskas: “The Man and His Lord“
• Session 2, Dave Bruskas:  “The Man and His Woman“
• Panel Discussion 1: Tim Bradley, Dave Bruskas, Daniel Schuman
• Session 3, Dave Bruskas: “The Man and His Church“
• Panel Discussion 2: Dave Bruskas, Ryan Kelly, Michael Kelshaw

In a sentence, Dave’s purpose was to show “everything it means to be a Biblical man has to do with the preeminence of Jesus.” In his third talk, Dave gave three word pictures to describe how men often treat the church:

1. Some people treat the church like a waitress. If a waitress brings us enough good stuff, you might even give her a tip.
2. Some people treat the church like maid. For instance, let’s say you’re on vacation, and you might think it’s okay for the kids to eat gooey chocolate in bed and leave towels on the floor and the kitchen a mess. You’d never do that stuff at home. This kind of person thinks it’s up to the church to clean up his mess. He’s strictly a “taker.” It’s okay to come to church broken, but it is not okay to stay broken. It’s okay to come deep in sin, but it’s not okay to stay deep in sin.
3. Some people treat the church like a porn star. That is, they treat the church like a virtual relationship. If a man has a relationship with an electronic image, he doesn’t have to pay for her dinner, raise kids with her, work through conflict and differences, etc. Some men want to stream a sermon podcast from a church across the country without investing anything in a church in town.

We’re pleased to welcome Nancy Guthrie to DSC for our annual Women’s Conference taking place today and tomorrow. This year’s theme, Holding On to Hope, is taken from her important book by that title. Nancy is speaking from the book of Job to explore the meaning and significance of suffering for the Christian. She speaks as one who has experienced great loss, and will help all of us to better understand what Job meant when he said, “The Lord gave, and the Lordhas taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord” (Job 1:21).

Nancy has worked in the Christian publishing industry for over two decades and is the author of seven books including several important books on the subject of suffering. In, Holding On to Hope, Nancy retells her story of losing a son and a daughter to a metabolic disorder through the lens of the book of Job. Two other books are worth noting as well. Be Still My Soul is a collection of writings from faithful theologians and pastors on the subject of suffering – its causes and how we can know God better in our suffering. In Hearing Jesus Speak into Your Sorrow, Nancy explores ten things Jesus said to hurting people for own comfort in suffering. We recommend visiting her site for a list of her other books and additional resources.

And, of course, you can purchase any of these books tonight and tomorrow at the conference.

Conference Schedule:

Friday, November 12
6:30 PM  Doors Open
7:00 PM  Session 1
Followed by Dessert and Coffee

Saturday, November 13
8:00 AM  Continental Breakfast
8:45 AM  Session 2
10:20 AM  Q&A
11:15 AM  Box Lunch
1:00 PM  Session 3
2:00 PM  Farewell

Tickets are available at the door for $25.00.