Significant Things – Dispensational Publishing

By PAUL J. SCHARF, M.Div.

Editor in Chief

As noted in my previous article, Dr. Ed Hindson—speaking at this month’s 25th Anniversary Pre-Trib Study Group in light of the recent passing of conference founder Dr. Tim LaHaye—stated, “The Bible is filled with memorializing significant things.”

Indeed, the entire Pre-Trib conference was an overwhelmingly significant event—so much so that, a week-and-a-half after its conclusion, I am just now getting to my second blog entry to tell you more about it. Since I am already behind, I thought I would take some time in this article just to describe the conference—especially for those who have never attended one.

I have been aware of this conference almost since its beginning, but have never before had the opportunity and privilege of attending—although I have long been a member of the Pre-Trib Research Center.

The conference is held at the Sheraton DFW Airport Hotel. I flew into the Dallas/Forth Worth International Airport on Saturday, Dec. 3, to get settled in and ready for the conference. On Sunday afternoon, I went down to the large conference room where the meetings were held to claim a table for Dispensational Publishing House and to connect with other conference-goers. In short order, I saw a walking Who’s Who of pretribulational Bible teachers. And with that, my week was off and running.

I made an incredible number of contacts with people—some well-known, some unknown—and enjoyed numerous rich and thought-provoking conversations during my time in Dallas.

And that time was indeed full! Including mealtimes, the conference kept me busy from 6:30 a.m. until after 10 p.m. on Monday and Tuesday. Wednesday began the same way, but ended at 11:45 a.m.

I quickly learned that the days were so full—and the sessions so rich with content—that there is really no way to experience everything that the conference has to offer. Even though there are no breakout sessions—with the one exception of the Ladies Coffee on Tuesday morning—and thus you are physically able to attend every minute of the conference, it is nearly impossible to absorb everything that all the sessions have to offer. This is especially the case for anyone who has a display at the conference or who, like myself, was attempting to do a measure of work from the site. Probably for this reason, many people order the full slate of presentations on audio or video so that they can go back and review the material at their leisure.

The conference registration packet also includes a CD with information from each presentation, although these are not uniform. While some speakers prepare a complete academic-style paper on their subjects, others choose a different format, such as preparing only multi-media slides.

I noticed that there were almost always people in the display area adjoining the main conference room, even during presentations. In fact, many significant conversations seemed to take place in that way. In addition, I saw speakers getting prepared for their sessions, and heard of several other media interviews being conducted. Although I did not personally engage anyone in a formal interview at the conference, I was able to make plans for some that I trust you will be able to read here in the future.

Elbert and Patty White did a wonderful job of holding down the book table for Dispensational Publishing House, freeing me to invest my extra time in conversations with potential authors and others who wanted to know more about our purpose and plans.

It is my hope and prayer that our time and efforts at this year’s Pre-Trib Study Group conference will “bear much fruit” (John 15:8) in the days to come! Lord willing, you will see that fruit on this very blog, and in other resources that we will prepare to further the teaching of dispensational theology and the pretribulational rapture.

Next time, I will go into more detail regarding some of the conference sessions.

(Read Part 3)