2016 in Review

By PAUL J. SCHARF, M.Div.

Editor in Chief

The week between Christmas and New Year’s Day is often regarded as a time to look back at the year that is almost ended and to plan for the new year ahead.

These are important and meaningful days, and they allow us the opportunity to evaluate our lives in accord with the words of Moses in Psalm 90:

For all our days have passed away in Your wrath;
We finish our years like a sigh.
The days of our lives are seventy years;
And if by reason of strength they are eighty years,
Yet their boast is only labor and sorrow;
For it is soon cut off, and we fly away.
Who knows the power of Your anger?
For as the fear of You, so is Your wrath.
So teach us to number our days,
That we may gain a heart of wisdom.

As we think of this year of 2016 in review, we find that it was one of tremendous activity for Dispensational Publishing House. Following are just a few of the highlights from our first full year of operation.

Foremost among our accomplishments during the past year was the publication of our first volumes: The Middle East Meltdown by Dr. Andy Woods and The Bible Graphically Presented by our founder and chief executive officer, Dr. Randy White.

We have also completed most of the work on several other books that will be released very soon—and have plans well underway for many other projects which, Lord willing, you will hear about as we move into this new year of 2017.

During the past 12 months, we have worked strenuously on our blog, and have been overjoyed at the amount of cooperation we have received from so many contributing authors who provided high-quality content for you, our readers.

The following authors, listed in alphabetical order, participated with us on our blog during 2016:

I have written 49 blogs to date in 2016, and we also ran 29 articles from Dr. Randy White.

A number of other important things happened on our blog during this year, and I will run through them in chronological order.

In February, we took four days to mark the passing of the great dispensational theologian and professor, Dr. Charles Ryrie. If you have not yet done so, I encourage you to go back and read these wonderful tributes:

In June, we launched our major interview series, called “A Dispensational Discourse,” which normally runs on the first Saturday of each month. During 2016 we talked to the following dispensational authors, teachers, preachers and leaders:

In July, we opened with a special emphasis on the Ark Encounter. We undertook this effort in cooperation with Answers in Genesis, providing many blog articles by numerous authors—including three reports that I wrote from the ribbon cutting and grand opening in Williamstown, Ky.

We still have more blog articles to run on this topic. The issue certainly is not going away—and neither is the Ark Encounter!

Lord willing, some of these blogs may form the basis of more substantial resources that we hope to work on in the future.

July ended on a sad note, as we memorialized Dr. Tim LaHaye upon his passing into heaven.

In August, we launched our Revived Classics series. This will be on ongoing effort which, Lord willing, will bear fruit in many ways in the future. Through the Revived Classics division of Dispensational Publishing House, we hope to republish some older books that are no longer in print—and even to embark on the exciting journey of creating brand new resources from work left unfinished by our Revived Classics authors.

It was our honor and privilege to announce our inaugural class of those Revived Classics authors, as follows:

It will be our regular pattern to utilize Revived Classics blog articles on Saturdays, as well as some Sundays.

August also included our first-ever DPH Author Hangout with Dr. Andy Woods.

The last quarter of the year has seemed to just fly by. December alone has been a whirlwind, as I spent the first week in Dallas attending and covering the 25th Anniversary Pre-Trib Study Group, and Dr. White led a major trip to Israel.

With God’s help, there will be many new initiatives and projects to announce and unveil in 2017. As previously stated, we hope to provide a number of timely and informative articles related to the 500th anniversary of the Reformation. For one thing, it will be our goal—from our unique perspective—to explore the relationship between dispensationalism and the Reformation.

We will also begin an additional interview series that will run on our blog on some Saturdays and Sundays, called “Prophetic Principles.” This series will ask probing questions of some of the leading Bible prophecy scholars and teachers of our day. Look for it to begin soon in this new year.

Please join us praying that the Lord will graciously expand our outreach in 2017, as He supplies both opportunities and His Divine assistance. If you enjoy the resources we provide, would you please take the time right now to share our website with a friend?

My prayer is that 2017 will be a year filled with great spiritual blessings for all of us. May we strive to live out the admonition of the Apostle Paul when he encouraged us to be: