Visit to 'The Holocaust Memorial' in Detroit

This week I went with a group from our church to the Jewish Holocaust Memorial in Detroit. It was a very moving experience. We took a tour of the facility and had a wonderful guide who gave us a passionate and informative overview of the Holocaust that happened in Europe during WWII. I could not help but wonder how it is that people could be so cruel and inhumane to other people. We are shocked by the atrocities that Nazism perpetrated on the Jewish population of Europe.

Yet today there are atrocities and genocide being committed every day. Humanity is surely sick. It is my conviction that the precious gospel of Jesus Christ is the only true antidote to the moral ills of our world. When people are changed by the good news of Jesus Christ they are transformed from being selfish, arrogant, mean spirited, and potentially dangerous people to those who are lovers and worshippers of God.

What makes this change happen? It is the gospel of Christ. By the preaching of the gospel men are transformed and made holy. Our lives are turned around and we are given the desire to treat all men with kindness and dignity. This is the miracle of the New Birth. Jesus said, "Ye must be born again." I am greatly saddened by all of the terrible suffering that the Jewish people endured during the Holocaust. And I am saddened by all of the tragic suffering that so many people are facing today. The answer to all of this, however, is to proclaim the unsearchable riches of the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ makes the difference in our lives. And Christ is the need for our country and for our world.

When I became a Christian the Lord taught me to love my enemies, treat all men with love and respect, to die to self, and to be like Christ in my dealings with my fellow man. The Gospel of Christ teaches us to walk with God, to be unselfish, to be generous, to be thoughtful, to be compassionate, to be approachable, and to be holy. This is the goal of Christian living. I pray for all of you to know the Lord and to be conformed into His image as you live your life in this fallen world.

God bless you all.

Happy Father's Day!

This Sunday is Father's Day. When Moses was leading the children of Israel through the wilderness he came to the Promised Land. Because of his own personal sins and failures the Lord did not permit Moses to enter into the Land of Promise. But He did allow Moses to help lay the ground work of their entry into the land. One of the things that Moses did was to remind the children of Israel of God's promises and of God's laws. In the Ten Commandments we read that we are to honor our fathers and our mothers. This is found in Deuteronomy 5:16. As we gather in church on this Sunday it is my prayer that we will all take time to thank God for His many blessings and gifts to us and that we will also take the time to thank our fathers for all that they have done for us as well.

Recently I read a wonderful book by Mark DeMoss on leadership principles. The book is called, The Little Red Book of Wisdom. This is a book that every Christian father, and leader should read. I was deeply touched by how tenderly Mark DeMoss spoke of his earthly father. Mr Arthur S. DeMoss died a number of years ago. After his death he left for the work of the Lord a large fortune that he had put into a foundation to ensure that the work of the Lord continued long after he had gone to heaven. Arthur DeMoss was a great man of God. His impact on his son Mark was very evident in this book written by his son Mark. In this book Mark DeMoss tells of three things his dad taught him that he never forgot and that changed his life forever. Here's what he learned from his dad:

1. Give to God the first hour of the day. Arthur S. DeMoss would spend the first hour of every day in his morning watch. He sought after God like a man seeking after some great treasure. His hunger for God made him come to the Lord every day to seek fresh manna from God.

2. Give to God the first day of the week. Arthur S. DeMoss set aside each Sunday to be a day of rest and worship. He made sure his family was in the house of the Lord each week. This was a lesson that Mark DeMoss never forgot. We do our families a great disservice if we neglect to take them to the Lord's house for worship each week.

3. Give to God the first dime of every dollar. Arthur S. DeMoss tithed on all that he made. To fail to tithe is to rob God and to lose many blessings that would have been yours if you had been obedient to God's command.

Arthur S. DeMoss was a man who loved God. May we each be those who love God as well and leave for our families a legacy of love, trust, example, and faithful Christian living so that those who come behind us will see our lives and be led to Christ.

I trust that you will all have a wonderful Father's Day this Sunday!

Book Recommendation...

May I recommend a wonderful book by Charles Spurgeon? It is C. H. Spurgeon on Spiritual Leadership. Every Christian who takes seriously the command to disciple the nations should read this book. There are keys to being a great leader that are often overlooked in many circles that discuss leadership. From a Christian perspective we must consider the things that matter most to God. This book will enable you to focus on these different aspects of leadership that are essential to being a truly great leader.

Here are some of the aspects of spiritual leadership that Spurgeon addresses:

1. Having a passion for prayer
2. Having a faith that endures
3. A committment to holiness
4. A heart for service
5. A love for the Lord and for His Word
6. A willingness to suffer
7. A passion for souls
8. The power of a single focus

Here are a few quotes from this book.

"The best spiritual leaders are those who are always learning. They're the ones who ask, How can I do this better? How can I have a greater impact? How can I inspire the people around me upward and onward in their Christian growth? How can I glorify God more?"

"If any of you should ask me for an epitome of the Christian religion, I should say it is in that one word--prayer."

On the subject of faith Spurgeon said, "Go in for great things, brethren, in the name of God; risk everything on His promise, and according to your faith shall it be done unto you."

On holiness Spurgeon said, "We are watched by a thousand eagle eyes; let us so act that we shall never need to care if all heaven, and earth, and hell, swelled the list of spectators. Our public position is a great gain if we are enabled to exhibit the fruits of the Spirit in our lives; take heed, brethren, that you throw not away the advantage."

I would encourge all of you to purchase this book and to devour its contents. It will be a great blessing and will transform your life and help you to become a better spiritual leader for the Kingdom of God in the days and the years to come. God bless you all,

Pastor Dickie

Reading The Bible

I want to share with all of you my method of reading the Bible. There are many different ways that people may choose to read their Bibles. One method of reading the Bible is to simply begin in January and read right through the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. Another method of reading the Bible is to use the Bible reading program that was put together by Robert Murray McCheyne. McCheyne's Bible reading program can be found by googling this on line. The method I use, however, is one that I have found to be very helpful for my spiritual growth and development. Here's what I do each day. Let's suppose we are beginning on January 1st. I begin reading several chapters in the Old Testament at the book of Genesis. I will also read a 5 chapters from the Psalms each day. Next I will also read one chapter from Proverbs that corresponds with the day of the week. Each month I will have gone through the Psalms and Proverbs. When I finish the Psalms and Proverbs I begin again with them. I also begin reading on January 1st in the New Testament at Matthew's gospel. I read several chapters of the gospels each day. When I finish with Matthew I go to Mark, then Luke and finally the book of John. When I come to the end of John's gospel I will go back to Matthew and start once again. So you can see I am continually cycling through the four gospels. Next, on January 1st I also start reading Acts. Everyday I read several chapters in the New Testament. When I come to the end of the New testament I go back to Acts and start all over again. This program keeps me rotating through the Bible on a number of levels. I am continually going through the Old Testament, the Psalms and Proverbs, the four gospels, and the New Testament. Some days I may read more than others. On Sunday, the Lord's Day, I read quite a bit more.

This method is really a feast for me. It is like a smorgasbord of Bible reading. Every month I am going through the Psalms and Proverbs. And throughout the year I am going through the four gospels and the New Testament. The Old Testament takes longer to get through. But by this method I am constantly exposing my heart and mind to the precious Word of God. One should do whatever works best for you. I have found that this method has fed my heart and kept my life enriched in the Word.

My concern is that many people do not read the Bible on a regular basis. I will be finishing my next book entitled Living For Jesus. This book will have an entire chapter on the Word of God and the reasons why ones must immerse their heart and soul in its precious contents. As your pastor and friend I plead with all of you to read, read, read, the Word of God. Do not neglect this precious book. It is food for your soul. God bless you all. Love in Christ, Pastor Dickie

This Sunday we will be baptising the next group of people who have come through our membership class. I would encourage all of you to be in attendance as this is a great encouragement to those who are coming to profess their faith in Christ. By being present it also blesses each of us and strengthens our faith. How good our Lord has been these last few years in adding to our flock many who have come to faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.

Dr. John MacArthur of California gave these reasons why some people have refused to be baptised.

A person who claims to be a Christian and has not been baptized, fits into the following categories.

1. One, ignorance—that is, they’ve never been taught about baptism and that’s very possible in many, many places. From time to time, we have people baptized here who were converted years ago but never were taught the significance of baptism.

2. Secondly, pride is an issue. People who have allowed a long period of time to go since their conversion—they’ve named the name of Christ for a long time, they are involved with the church, they are known as Christian people, they have never been baptized—it’s a little bit embarrassing to acknowledge that failure and that disobedience for such a long time and so they’re not willing to humble themselves, admit they’ve been disobedient, and be baptized. So, it could be ignorance, it could be pride.

3. It could be indifference. There are plenty of people who just can’t be bothered—they can’t find a spot in their daytimer for it, it doesn’t fit into their schedule, it’s not a priority. They know it’s commanded in the Bible, but obedience isn’t the main thing with them—they have other priorities. That’s a sad situation—to be apathetic toward a specific command, to be indifferent toward a very direct command from our Lord, Himself, which brings honor to Him and blessing to the one who is obedient. But, there are people who are just indifferent—they just can’t get around to it, "I’ve been planning to do it, I’ve thought about it; it just doesn’t fit on the priority list."

4. And, then fourthly, could be the defiant people—those who basically aren’t baptized because they are just rebellious—they refuse to obey. Usually those kinds of people are sinning…they’re in a pattern of sin and it would just sort of elevate their hypocrisy if they were to have to come up and give a testimony of their faith in Jesus Christ and celebrate His wonderful redemption on their behalf. So, people who are defiant and rebellious and just won’t be baptized, generally are in a pattern of sinning.

5. Then, fifthly, it’s possible that you’re unregenerate—you’re just not a true Christian, you have no desire to make a public confession of faith in Jesus Christ because you don’t want to be identified with Him in a public way. You may come and you may like to kind of hang on the edges and on the fringes here, but you’re not about to take your public stand with Christ. Those are the only reasons I can think of. Either you’re ignorant, you’re too proud to humble yourself and be baptized, you’re apathetic and indifferent toward that matter of obedience, you’re defiant, or you’re not a believer. That puts the issue squarely where it belongs and it backs you, if you’ve never been baptized, sort of into a corner to sort that out. It could be a combination of several of those things in some cases, but you’re in there somewhere.

Come out to church tomorrow and support all those who are getting baptised! If any of you have not been baptised please let Heather know at the office and we will be pleased to arrange for you to make your profession of faith.

Happy Mother's Day

I trust that all of you had a wonderful Lord’s Day! Celebrating Mother’s Day is always a special occasion. You can hear our messages from today by going to our web site at Allgrace.com. I want to put a special tribute to mothers from Charles Swindoll on my blog. I trust that it will be a blessing to you.

Charles R. Swindoll
Insight for Living

If there's one attitude families are guilty of more than any other when it comes to mothers, it's presumption... taking them for granted... being nearly blind on occasion to the load moms carry. This was reinforced in my mind last week as I was thumbing through a row of crazy greeting cards at a local drugstore. Time and again the joke in the card drew its humor from this obvious attitude that pervades a household: Forget the housework, Mom. It's your day. Besides, you can always do double duty and catch up on Monday!

Like this one: On the front of the card was a beleaguered mother. Draped over her neck were three unmatched socks and at her feet was an enormous stack of unwashed clothes. On the stove was a hot skillet burning the food. A cold, stained coffee pot needed attention. The refrigerator door was ajar and milk had spilled in it. The dishes, naturally, looked like a homemade Eiffel Tower reaching out of the sink. Inside the card was scribbled: "Look, lady, nobody said it was gonna be a free ride!"

But my favorite was a great big card that looked like a third-grader had printed it. On it was a little boy with a dirty face and torn pants pulling a wagonload of toys. On the front it read: "Mom, I remember the little prayer you used to say for me every day . . ." and inside, "God help you if you do that again!"

Jimmy Dean, the country-western singer, does a number that always leaves me with a big knot in my throat. It's titled "I Owe You." In the song, a man is looking through his wallet and comes across a number of long-standing "I owe yous" to his mother . . . which he names one by one.

Borrowing that idea, I suggest you who have been guilty of presumption unfold some of your own "I owe yous" that are now yellow with age. Consider the priceless value of the one woman who made your life possible - your mother.

Think about her example, her support, her humor, her counsel, her humility, her hospitality, her insight, her patience, her sacrifices. Her faith. Her hope. Her love.

Old "honest Abe" was correct: "He is not poor who has had a godly mother." Indebted, but not poor.

Moms, on Mother's Day Sunday we rise up and call you blessed. But knowing you, you'll feel uneasy in the limelight. You'll probably look for a place to hide. True servants are like that.

If you don't watch it, you'll be planning lunch during the sermon. But that would be a waste of time. Especially since you're going to be taken out to eat (which will add to our indebtedness!). But in all honesty, it won't come anywhere near expressing our gratitude.

So, live it up on Sunday. It's all yours.

My advice? Shake up the family for a change. Order steak and lobster.

This week Pastor Eric and I will be heading to a pastor’s conference in California. Please keep us in your prayers. We will see you all next Sunday! God bless you. Love in Christ, Pastor Dickie

Dear Berean Family,

This Sunday we will continue our series of messages on the Great Questions Of The Bible. In the afternoon service we will continue our study in the book of Hebrews. If you wish to look ahead to the text please read Hebrews 3:1 and Isaiah 44:1-8.

I have ordered a wonderful book that I highly recommend all of you to read. The title is This Way To Godliness by Stuart Olyott. We have 25 copies coming to the Berean book store. Please read this and let me know how it impacts your life. This book is on developing a godly life that is pleasing to the Lord. Walking in godliness is something that we all should have a passion to do. Here is a test for each of you. What does it mean to be godly? Who is the godliest person ever mentioned in the Bible? Is godliness something we do or don't do? Or does it involve both of those things or neither of them?

One important aspect of developing a godly life is the importance of prayer. I read something recently from an interview that a minister had with the late Oswald J. Smith. Dr. Smith made some comments on his early morning prayer time that he referred to as his morning watch. Here are the comments:

"How were you led into your prayer life, Dr. Smith?"

"I was led to observe the morning watch very, very early in my life, soon after I was converted, and from that day to this, I have observed the morning watch. I have written all about this in my book, The Man God Uses. I meet God before I meet man. I spend the first hour alone with God, first of all, pouring over the pages of the Bible, and then walking back and forth, up and down the floor in my study, pouring out my heart in prayer. Iv'e done that 365 days of the year for over 50 years of my life now, and I intend to do it the rest of my life."

Essential to our walk with God and developing a godly life is the habit of spending time with God in prayer. May the Lord enable all of us to develop our morning watch with the Lord Jesus! The book that Oswald J. Smith mentioned, The Man God Uses, was one of the books I read as a young ministerial student. It had a profound impact on my life as a new Christian. This book was one of the books that created in my heart a deep hungr for God. I can remember praying and longing to be a man of God, and also praying to be used by God to honor Him and to glorify His Son Jesus Christ. I would recommend that book as well for you to read.

God bless you all! Have a wonderful Lord's Day and a good week.

Yours in Christ,

Pastor Dickie