Asking a favour of my United Kingdom friends: Ashford Bible Conference

by Dan Phillips

I will bump this post myself later, but you brothers and sisters in the UK are awake and about long ahead of most of my other readers. So I speak unto you.

This September, I am to come to your lovely shores to join with two brothers in opening up the grand subject of...

This conference, the third annual Ashford Bible Conference, is to be held September 17, 2011, in (as you might guess) Ashford, England. My efforts will be joined with those of pastors Tom Drion and Anthony Forsyth.

My own assigned conference talks are an introduction to Messianic prophecy in the OT, and then a focused session on Messiah in Genesis. I'm looking forward to being instructed afterwards by the sessions with brothers Drion and Forsyth. The next day, I plan to preach on Christ and Proverbs. Plus, if I can figure out how to do it and DV, we may have some World-Tilting Gospel and the then-brand-new God's Wisdom in Proverbs for anyone who's interested, and who may want me to scrawl my "X" (tilted or non-tilted) on their copy.

In my first talk I plan a unique approach. I don't want to give it away, but I plan a frontal approach to our Lord's insistence that the OT was sufficient to condemn anyone who did not embrace Him as Messiah. I mean to open up and expound the truth of His convictions, to the best of my ability, and in a manner different than any I've seen to date in one talk. In other words, is Messiah all over the OT, or do we need special NT spectacles to see Him? Or is He not even there until we put Him there?

My session on Genesis will similarly be a bit off-path in that I do not plan to focus on familiar ground, but rather will highlight other significant ways in which Moses points us to Christ.

"You said something about asking us a favor favour," you say, uncomfortably, at this point. Yes, that's right.

Please help me get the word out.

I'm not there, and this is the best I know how to do. Here's what I am asking you: of course, most of all, come if you can. I would love to meet our readers, it is one of the facets I'm personally most looking forward to.

But if you can't come — and please, let's not fill this meta with folks explaining why they can't come — I'm just asking you to tell those who maybe can come if they only knew about it. Put it out there for them. Reach out, if you could, to non-Pyro/BibChr readers. If you don't mind, put up a word on your blog. Tweet it. Google-plus it. "Like" the Facebook page and share it. Email some friends. If you're a pastor and don't mind doing so, maybe put a word in the bulletin.  Or if you can come, better still: bring a group, make it a church activity.

From everything I've heard, the folks who run this conference are very gracious hosts, and a good time of Christian fellowship in the Word is enjoyed by all who come.

And before, during, and after, please also pray for the conference and for all of us involved. Nothing I've heard makes me think that the UK doesn't need more proclamation of the Christ of the entire Bible. You share that in common with us. I gladly come to add my mite to the labors of the faithful sisters and brothers already bearing witness to the best of their abilities, and hopefully to add an item or two to their arsenal.

Plus: I am a great believer in the usefulness of Bible conferences. I think they've done a lot of good here in the Colonies. For the tradition to take hold in the UK, events such as this need support. I'm really not persuaded by the naysayers; it isn't about creating "rock stars," it's about believers enjoying fellowship with each other, confessing their faith, and being built up. In fact, my dear wife and I count our time at Together for the Gospel in 2008 as one of the best things we've ever done, best times we've ever spent, together.

Thanks in advance, for everything you can do. I am grateful, and I do not take the least tiniest bit of it for granted.

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