"Jesus is calling 'Come to the Fire.'"
These words from the song Kim McLean wrote for the Come to the Fire conferences is the only explanation for what God is doing in this holiness women's event.
The conferences have one purpose—to challenge women to have, as Beth Coppedge, our keynote speaker, calls it, a "squeaky clean" heart. This message resonates with the women. After the first conference, a pastor's wife wrote, "After 34 years of serving Him, my life will never be the same. As Beth would say, I'm squeaky clean inside."
The messages center around God's desire to purify our hearts and challenge women to become lovers of Jesus, not just workers for Jesus.
Hundreds of women who attended the conferences have emailed testimonies of how God met them. For instance, Sheila Morse from Camdenton, Missouri, described what Jesus did for her at Come to the Fire:
"The Holy Spirit came and filled my heart and mind and freed me from my past hurts and revealed to me how great a love that Jesus has for me. I have attended church, volunteered and even attended Bible studies for years, but there was a void in my life that nothing would satisfy. While I was there I was changed and the stirring in my heart was for more of Him and less of me. It was very difficult to leave that holy place where the presence of Jesus filled the very air I breathed.
"I was afraid that somehow I would lose what I had discovered there. Well, I did not. From that time on I have been drawn into a love relationship with Jesus and I am learning to live for Him and his Kingdom. I love Him so much that I think my heart just might burst!"
Months after the conference, a pastor's wife wrote, "I continue to enjoy the warmth of embers still glowing in my spirit from flames of the conference. A deep, deep longing of my heart was satisfied: to sense His awesome presence during a time of corporate worship. My soul takes delight in times when the sweetness of His Spirit settles in on hearts."
In 2009 women gathered in the First Church of the Nazarene in Nashville for the fourth Come to the Fire conference. They packed the sanctuary and balcony and overflowed into Heritage chapel. Women traveled from dozens of states, Taiwan, Sudan, Singapore, France, and Ethiopia.
Speakers included Beth Coppedge, Carolyn Johnson, Linda Boyette, Linda Seaman, Laura Edwards, and Patsy Lewis. Eve Soulain came from France to testify with her mother Yori Taylor of how God brought reconciliation to their relationship. Kim McLean spoke of God's healing in her family.
Much prayer preceded this event. For forty days before the conference, registrants received daily devotionals and prayer requests and were invited to request a list of registrants for whom they would pray. Nearly 150 women responded with some asking for the entire list. During the conference, men gathered in another area of the church to pray.
Repeatedly scores of women came forward to pray. Women's emails tell the stories of God's faithfulness. God visited us and transformed lives. To God be the glory.
Aletha Hinthorn is Director of Women Alive Ministries and the Come to the Fire conferences and editor of the Come to the Fire magazine. She has written many books including How to Read the Bible so It Changes Your Life.
These words from the song Kim McLean wrote for the Come to the Fire conferences is the only explanation for what God is doing in this holiness women's event.
The conferences have one purpose—to challenge women to have, as Beth Coppedge, our keynote speaker, calls it, a "squeaky clean" heart. This message resonates with the women. After the first conference, a pastor's wife wrote, "After 34 years of serving Him, my life will never be the same. As Beth would say, I'm squeaky clean inside."
The messages center around God's desire to purify our hearts and challenge women to become lovers of Jesus, not just workers for Jesus.
Hundreds of women who attended the conferences have emailed testimonies of how God met them. For instance, Sheila Morse from Camdenton, Missouri, described what Jesus did for her at Come to the Fire:
"The Holy Spirit came and filled my heart and mind and freed me from my past hurts and revealed to me how great a love that Jesus has for me. I have attended church, volunteered and even attended Bible studies for years, but there was a void in my life that nothing would satisfy. While I was there I was changed and the stirring in my heart was for more of Him and less of me. It was very difficult to leave that holy place where the presence of Jesus filled the very air I breathed.
"I was afraid that somehow I would lose what I had discovered there. Well, I did not. From that time on I have been drawn into a love relationship with Jesus and I am learning to live for Him and his Kingdom. I love Him so much that I think my heart just might burst!"
Months after the conference, a pastor's wife wrote, "I continue to enjoy the warmth of embers still glowing in my spirit from flames of the conference. A deep, deep longing of my heart was satisfied: to sense His awesome presence during a time of corporate worship. My soul takes delight in times when the sweetness of His Spirit settles in on hearts."
In 2009 women gathered in the First Church of the Nazarene in Nashville for the fourth Come to the Fire conference. They packed the sanctuary and balcony and overflowed into Heritage chapel. Women traveled from dozens of states, Taiwan, Sudan, Singapore, France, and Ethiopia.
Speakers included Beth Coppedge, Carolyn Johnson, Linda Boyette, Linda Seaman, Laura Edwards, and Patsy Lewis. Eve Soulain came from France to testify with her mother Yori Taylor of how God brought reconciliation to their relationship. Kim McLean spoke of God's healing in her family.
Much prayer preceded this event. For forty days before the conference, registrants received daily devotionals and prayer requests and were invited to request a list of registrants for whom they would pray. Nearly 150 women responded with some asking for the entire list. During the conference, men gathered in another area of the church to pray.
Repeatedly scores of women came forward to pray. Women's emails tell the stories of God's faithfulness. God visited us and transformed lives. To God be the glory.
Aletha Hinthorn is Director of Women Alive Ministries and the Come to the Fire conferences and editor of the Come to the Fire magazine. She has written many books including How to Read the Bible so It Changes Your Life.