Whetstone

Conference

2012

Our next Whetstone Conference has been tentatively scheduled for 2013.

In October 1779 John Wesley took up residence in a narrow, three-storied, brick Georgian house on City Road, London. Through its second-story, twelve-paned windows, Wesley could look up from his desk to glance across the dusty thoroughfare to Bunhill Fields, the dissenters’ cemetery in which his beloved mother, Susannah, was buried, less than a hundred yards away. A doorway behind him opened into a simply furnished bedroom. Through the bedroom’s rear wall, a second doorway gave access to a smaller space whose lone window looked over the backyard. In this intimacy, a coal grate, modest desk, and comfortable chair occupied most of the available space, making it the ideal closet for a single spirit intent on shutting itself away from any other living soul. Wesley loved this quiet nook. He wrote years earlier a description of the devotional habits which he transferred into this room after settling on City Road.

Here then I am, far from the busy ways of men. I sit down alone; only God is here. In His presence I open, I read His book. Is there a doubt concerning the meaning of what I read? Does anything appear dark and intricate? I lift up my heart to the Father of Lights. “Lord, is it not Thy word? Thou hast said, ‘If any be willing to do Thy will, he shall know.’ I am willing to do. Let me know Thy will.”

Every minister whose heart is right hungers for the felt sense of God’s presence that is obtained only at the cost of secreting himself away like this. We know from sad experience how helplessly dependent we are upon it. When God is near, all’s right with our world. When He’s not, nothing is.

But to our dismay the pace of modern life not only rushes secret time with God but insistently distracts our hearts, even when we’ve succeeded in making room for Him. We emerge disappointed and vulnerable. We enter our pulpits insecure and powerless. There’s no easy fix for this. The journals and letters of Andrew Bonar, Robert Murray M’Cheyne, John Newton, Francis Ridley Havergal, Amy Carmichael, Jim Elliott, and many, many others testify to that. But they also include records of conquest and triumph. That’s why generations of Christians have turned to them again and again for inspiration. They point the way to the happy possibility of a closer walk with God.

Whetstone 2007 is being held to promote that closer walk. We’re blessed again this year with the preparations and presence of a choice group of gifted teachers and preachers. They come, not as already perfected, but as also pursuing the same ideal. Together their topics embrace the major devotional disciplines of the Christian life as well as their major challenges. We’re going to pray and search the Scripture. There will be time to reflect and discuss. We’ll share book titles and resources. Sing and be sung to. Fellowship over good food and catch up on one another’s families and ministries.

Once again our church members are enthusiastic about hosting you. It’ll be our privilege to provide whatever you need for your stay: lodging, meals, babysitters, transportation, and whatever else we can do to provide spiritual refreshment. Your only expense is the cost of travel to and from the conference. For some, that alone is an almost insurmountable challenge, so we’ve begun praying for the Lord to supply your need if you’d like to come, and we look forward to hearing the testimonies of how He answers.

If you feel impressed to attend, please register on our website (whetstoneconference.com) or phone your reservation into the church office (864-233-1684). We’re trusting that the conference will nurture our faith and inspire renewed zeal for relentlessly pursing A Closer Walk with God.