The wonderful, incredible, and amazing Bride of Christ!

The Church of Jesus Christ is His precious Bride. This last month as I spent a time resting, reading, and seeking the face of God in the Word and in prayer I jotted down on a note pad various words that came to my mind that described the Church. This list is by no means exhaustive but it captures the essence of many of the ways the Church functions in our lives. I trust this is a blessing to all of you.

The Church is:

1. A Workshop

2. A Refuge

3. A Compass

4. A Foundation

5. A Temple

6. An Army

7. A Hospital

8. A Repair Shop

9. A Bakery

10. A Winery

11. A Library

12. A Hiding Place

13. A Kitchen

14. A Light House

15. A Home

16. A School

17. An Oasis

18. A Bride

19. A City

20. A Kingdom

21. A Dwelling Place

22. An Anchor

23. A Blazing Fire

24. A Witness

25. A Body

Now if you can think of other words that describe the church share them here as well! As I thought of each of these words I was able to think of many verses that could be applied to these descriptions and I thought of various ways that these words could be descriptive of the Church.

A great word of thanks to all of you for your prayers and encouragement during the last month when I was away. And I want to thank the office staff, our elders and deacons and of course Pastor Eric for all their labors for the Lord. Amen!!!

The pictures are of Kings Chapel in Cambridge, England.

My love to you all, In Christ, Pastor Dickie

Dear Bereans,


I trust that you are all well and enjoying your summer. Mary and I have been resting and spending our time off relaxing, reading, and meditating on the things of the Lord. I am looking forward to coming back in September to resume the ministry among you all. Thank you for all of your prayers and thoughtful words during this time of spiritual rest and refreshment. One of the things that I have been doing is editing and revising a book on the blood of Jesus that I am planning on publishing through The Emmaus Road Press. I am almost done with this project and I am very excited because I believe this book will be a great blessing to all those who read it. Keep me in your prayers as I finish this project.


Recently I was meditating on the text in Matthew's gospel 25:21 that reads, "Well done thou good and faithful servant, enter thou into the joy of thy Lord." These words were from the Lord Jesus. They represent what we trust you will all hear when you stand before God in the day of judgment. I want to share some thoughts with you on this text.

A life "Well done" is a life that was:

1. Lived for God's glory.

2. Filled with the Spirit.

3. Focused on the Lord Jesus Christ.

4. And conformed to the image of Christ.

This is the essence of a "Well done" life.

A "Good and faithful servant."

1. Only God is good in the absolute sense.

2.We are good only so far as we have been justified by God's grace. If God declares or pronounces us good then we can rejoice indeed!

3. Faithfulness is seen in our obedience to the calling of God and the will of God. We have been called into fellowship with His Son. We have been called to be saints, Romans 1:7. God's will for us is summarized in Micah 6:8 and Romans 12:1-2.

4. We are servants. First of all, we are servants to the triune God. And secondly, we are servants to our brothers and sisters in Christ. One of the great characteristics of the children of God is that they are servants. The attitude of joyful and humble servanthood characterizes all those who have been indwelled by the Holy Spirit.

"Enter into the joy of thy Lord."

1. It is the Father's good pleasure to give us the kingdom.

2. The Father is filled with joy at His Children's spiritual blessings and prosperity. When we enter the eternal state with all of its many blessings and privileges it will bring the Lord great joy.

3. The Lord Jesus went to the cross and suffered it's shame, reproach and the wrath of His Father with joy because of the knowledge that this death would secure eternal blessings for those the Father had given to Him. Hebrews 12:2, "Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God."

Here are some questions that this text calls us to ask:

1. Will you hear these precious words on the day of judgment?

2. Does our conscience, our friends, and the Holy Spirit confirm to us that we are "good and faithful servants?"

3. The joy of the Lord is not just a future in heaven. It is also a present reality right now as we daily walk with God. Is this the reality we are living in right now?

Some Thoughts On Walking With God





Dear Bereans,

This month I am taking some time off to rest and replenish the spiritual wells of my heart. While I am away from Church I will be praying for each of you. I thought that as I am absent from the Church that it might be good to give some practical advice on walking with God that each of you might seek to pursue in your daily walk with the Lord. Here are some thoughts that I have had recently about the kinds of things that we each need to work on in our walk with the Lord. I am not putting these in any particular order but just as they come to my mind as I type this up for you.

1. To walk with God we need to live in the atmosphere of prayer and praise.


2. Walking with God means also that we must live in the Word. The Scriptures must nourish our souls on a daily basis. Feast on the Word of God!


3. Those who walk with God will develop a hunger for the Lord's presence. Do you hunger and thirst for the Living God? Walking with God means we are learning to live in God's presence.


4. Those who walk with God will be servants. Being a servant to our fellow man is not only an aspect of walking with God but is also part of what it means to be Christ like. Who have you served lately?


5. Be approachable! Those who are walking with God must not be angry or distant to those who would draw near. Are we the kind of people that others do not hesitate to approach with questions or concerns?


6. Be pleasant to be around. What kind of person are we in our interactions with those that we work or live with? Are we pleasant or are we snippy, feisty, and hard to live with? Do people enjoy our presence or do they sigh with relief when we leave?


7. Those who walk with God must also be good listeners. Jesus was a good listener. We must follow His example. Are you patient to listen to those in your family and those that you work with? Do you listen with good eye contact? Some people are always talking about themselves. They dominate every conversation with all that they have done, their accomplishments and what they think. Hey, let's each stop and just for once be good listeners to those around us!


8. Be an encourager. Nothing is more delightful than to be around those who are positive and uplifting. I cannot imagine someone truly walking with God who is not also an encourager. Jesus was such with His disciples. There are just two kinds of people: those who build up and those who tear down. Which one are you?


9. Show your love to those you live with by a tender touch or a hug. Today, in our world, we need people in the body of Christ to be huggers. Give those around you a hug. A smile would be a blessing as well! Those who walk with God have learned and experienced His love and must therefore share that love with others.


10. The people who walk with God must look for ways to affirm and to edify others. This is a discouraging world. What the Church often needs is to have a good number of praise warriors. Not just prayer warriors but praise warriors. Praise uplifts and encourages us.


11. I think that those who walk with God will also be those who will often be heard to say, "I love you." These words need to be heard every day in our homes and with those that we live and work with. How often do we say this to our wives, husbands, children or friends?


12. Those who walk with God will not poison those around them with negative words, rude behavior, scowling looks or a critical spirit. Those who walk with God will be filled with the fruit of the Spirit. You know...love, joy, peace, etc.


13. Those who are walking with God will not be a wet blanket to dampen every one's hopes and spirit. They will like a light to brighten up the room into which they walk. Let people see the light of Christ in our lives.


14. Finally, those who walk with God will be leaders. They will lead others to be like Christ. Study the New Testament and pour over its pages searching for every clue on how our Lord lived, walked, responded and behaved in His every day life. Let us all desire to be like the Lord Jesus Christ.





These are just some practical thoughts on what is involved in walking with God. May we each strive to walk with God every day so that our lives will be a blessing to all those around us.

Dear Bereans, please check out this link. Ken Ham of AIG had some nice things to say about you after his visit with us a few weeks ago! I am so proud of my Berean family. Keep up the good work of living for Jesus. You shine like lights in the night of this unbelieving world.

http://blogs.answersingenesis.org/aroundtheworld/index.php?s=homeschooler

Dear Bereans,

I would like to take this opportunity to share with each of you some of the major principles that have shaped my philosophy of ministry over the years. It has been my joy to serve the Lord in a number of different churches across the country. I have served the Lord in Flint, Michigan, Midland Michigan, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and then Grand Blanc, Michigan. I have been here in Grand Blanc since 1982. During these years I have tried very hard to live up to the principles that I have found in the Word of God. I trust that these thoughts that I will share with you will not only bless you but help you to think biblically in every area of your life.

1. Live for the glory of God. This is the most important principle that we can use to shape our lives and our decisions. Paul says, "Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God." Whenever I make any decision for my life or for the Church I always ask myself, "What will bring God the most glory?" God's glory trumps everything in my life. That is the most important thing. We should all live with this foremost in mind in all that we do both in or out of the Church.

2. Let love be prominent attribute in your life. Jesus said, "A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another." John 13:34-35. Love is the one way that we can show the world that we belong to Christ. Love must be the most visible characteristic in our lives. Love should manifest itself in the following ways.

* Love your enemies.

* Love those who oppose you or disagree with you.

* Be patient with those who are stubborn and hard to work with.

* Be forbearing with those who are difficult to work with or who might annoy you.

* Be kind to those who are often unkind or mean spirited.

* Don't speak behind some one's back by gossiping, backbiting, or slandering people.

* Be slow to criticize, complain, grumble or pout.

* Be swift to forgive.

* Don't hold grudges, keep score, or judge people by what happened in the past.

* Give people the benefit of the doubt.

* Be approachable. That means be a good listener, empathize and care for people.

3. It is more blessed to give than to receive. This is taught to us by the Lord Jesus and was quoted by the Apostle Paul in Acts chapter 20:35. I have felt that God's people must learn the wonderful principle of what I call "godly generosity." God Himself was the most generous giver when He gave His Son to be our Savior. Being generous to the poor, the needy, and those people that we are able to bless when it is in our power to do so makes us truly godly. Generosity is just one attribute of being a godly Christian. If we are to err let it be on the side of being gracious and generous to our brothers and sisters in Christ. I have always tried to put the needs, the concerns, and the feelings of other people before my own. This is one principle that I have tried to follow over the years. One of the ways that I have tried to demonstrate this was by taking care of the Lord's servants. I have been on the receiving end of unjust criticism, hateful remarks and misrepresenting attacks. I have known the betrayal of those that I thought were friends. I have felt the wounds that unkind words can cause. Because of this, I have tried to be a friend to other ministers in a way that I often needed, but many times never received. Therefore, I have sought to honor God's servants every way I can. When we have been privileged to have some of the choice servants of God in our midst at Berean Baptist I have tried to have our church show them the respect, kindness, and generosity that is becoming to a servant of God. Of course this applies to all the body as well. Let us seek this godly and generous spirit to all that we meet in life both in the ministry and to all the family of God. Whenever we have an opportunity to help, to serve, to honor, to be thoughtful to those in the body of Christ we should do so and do it with joy. It is a shame when people look at some in the Church and say they are like Scrooge. Let us be like Christ!

4. Live in the spirit of praise. It is very important that we all live in the atmosphere of praise. God inhabits the praises of His people. That means when God's people praise Him He is pleased to draw near. This is one way to ensure that the presence of God is with us. We must be a praising people. It is always easier to be negative, critical, mean spirited, and be a complainer. Why is this so? I would suggest it is because it is in our fallen nature to be this way. Oddly, some people have actually thought that a critical spirit is being godly or Christ like. I think this is a mistake. There are times, to be sure, that we must correct, rebuke, and confront sin in the lives of those in the church. But we must aim at being a people that are positive, friendly, loving, and gracious with all that we meet. If you read the book on legendary coach John Wooden entitled "Wooden" one of the main things that comes out of that book is that this gracious Christian coach and gentleman lived in this manner. Wooden over and over again makes comments about this attitude of complaining, whining, and grumbling. We need to be seen as a different people. We are the people of God and need to live in the spirit and atmosphere of praise. I have tried to do this myself and I urge all of our church family to aim at this noble goal of being a people known for their praise and love of God. Let us live our lives in the habit of praising God. This means that we should not be found praising God while at the same time we are tearing our brothers or sisters down by our criticism and complaining.

5. Learn to die to self on a daily basis. Dying to self is one of the principles that I have tried to live by over the years. Dying to self means simply means we do not live by putting our wishes, our wants, our needs, our feelings before others. We must learn to die to these things. We must live by the great principles of Christ and always think of others first before we think of ourselves. It is not easy to die to self. It is very natural to demand our rights. It is a part of our fallen nature to want to seek revenge, to get even, to keep score, and to put our feelings first. But this is not the Christ like thing to do. Let us all aim to so live before a holy God that we will seek to die to self on a daily basis. The body of Christ is greatly honored and esteemed when its members live in this way. The great Christians of history have been people who have practiced this virtue of dying to self. Our heroes should be godly Christians who have modeled this noble behaviour that makes us like the Lord Jesus Christ.

6. Be filled with the Spirit. It should be the goal of the Christian to be filled with God's holy Spirit on a daily basis. Paul the Apostle lists the fruits of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-23. When a Christian is filled with the Spirit these fruits will be visible in their actions and daily life. This is crucial to everything that we do. Most of the problems we face in our marriages, our work, our families, and in all of our human relationships can be traced to a lack of being spiritual in this sense of having our lives conformed to Christ. A spiritual man or woman will have great advantages over the person who lives in the flesh. To be filled with the Holy Spirit means that we must ask God to fill us on a daily basis. We must pray and ask the Lord to take control of our lives, to enable us to live in the power of His holy Spirit and in the power of his presence. This is not an option. Every Christian must seek to be filled with God's Holy Spirit every day of their lives. The future and the glory of the Church depends on our obedience here. Many times the quarrels, the disputes, the wrangling, and the fighting in the Church are due to the fact that the parties involved are not filled and walking in the Spirit. Let us make sure that this is our daily goal. No one should serve in the Church in any capacity if they cannot make this commitment to be filled with the Holy Spirit and to walk in His power and in His presence on a daily basis.

These are just some of the principles that I am trying to live by. No one is perfect. We all make many mistakes and have many failures to be forgiven from and to overcome. But if we will seek to live for Jesus by implementing these simple principles we will see the glory of God fill our Church. To this grand end may we all live.

God bless you all.

Pastor Dickie

Happy 4th of July

I want to wish the church family a happy 4th of July. Travel safe and enjoy the holiday! We have a wonderful country and none of us should take it for granted.

One of the things that has made this a great country has been the powerful and convicting preaching of the Word of God. We need the Lord to raise up a mighty army of faithful preachers who will declare the whole counsel of God to our generation.

As a pastor I am always examining not only my life but the fruit and the actions of those who sit under my ministry. Here are some of the things that we all need to practice in our lives. If we are a holy people then this nation will have the kind of citizens that will lead it forward in this century.

1. We need to be spiritual people who display the fruit of the Holy Spirit. Gal. 5:22-23.

2. We need to be a people who walk with God in our daily lives.

3. We need to be prayer warriors for our families, our church and our nation.

4. We need to be committed to being honest, faithful, dedicated and compassionate in our dealings with our neighbors and friends.

5. We need to fear God and not man.

6. We need to live for the glory of God.

7. We need to practice the presence of God in our lives.

8. We need to abhor all that is evil and to love all that is good and pure.

9. We need to forgive our enemies and those who have hurt or disappointed us.

10. Most of all we need to love the Lord Jesus Christ supremely.

On this holiday may our blessed Lord have all the glory! In spite of all the concerns that we have as Americans let us never forget that as my late brother in law Del Fehsenfeld used to say, "As long as God is on the throne revival is as possible as the sun rising tomorrow morning!"

Keep the faith, and keep your eyes on Christ!

Yours in Christ,

Pastor Dickie

Filling the earth with the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea!

Last January I had the privilege of preaching in South Africa at an African Pastor’s Conference (APC). I have been invited to attend once again this coming January. While I am still praying and seeking the Lord’s will in this invitation I would ask each of you to pray with me that the Lord would continue to bless the conferences and raise up an army of godly men filled with passion and love for Christ.

We have been supporting conferences in South Africa, Brazil, Europe and Great Britain. My prayer is that the doctrines of justification by faith alone and the doctrines of God’s sovereign grace will be spread throughout the earth for the glory of the Lord.

Below is a report of the African conferences that I was able to attend and which we supported financially. I trust you are all encouraged by reading this report.

A Report on the APCs During January 2009
A report by Gary Morrison

Six African Pastors’ conferences were held in South Africa during January. My portfolio was to see that these conferences ran smoothly and that included organizing the display of the books which are sold at subsidized prices thereby bringing very considerable advantage to the pastors. This latter responsibility was made a pleasure by diligent workers at each conference who know the book trade. Cornerstone Baptist Church, Bolton, generously and whole-heartedly supported me in these travels in sunny South Africa. My first pastorate was in Mandini, Kwazulu and with that background I have great sympathy for the needs of African pastors who live in an economic climate very different to ours.

The first conference was held at Mseleni near the border between Mozambique and South Africa, Pastor Choolwe Mwetwa (Central Baptist Church, Chingola, Zambia) spoke very challengingly on ‘The marks of faithful ministry’, and Pastor Raymond Zulu, with the advantage of preaching in his mother tongue, soared wonderfully on the theme, ‘The Word of God as our sure foundation’.

Our second conference at Koinonia Conference Centre was nearby the town of Hillcrest which in turn is not that far from the city Durban. The Speakers included Choolwe, Raymond, Dennis Hustedt (Utah, USA) and myself. The response was encouragingly very positive. Such is the increasing interest and edification that the pastors are calling for an extension to this work to reach the youth and from them so seek to build up a future body of able ministers of the Gospel. We will have our work cut out to wrestle with this challenge and act positively.

Our third stop was in the Eastern Cape in at the city of Port Elizabeth, where Dr Paul Stoltz organized the three day conference. Pastor Bob Dickie (Berean Baptist Church in Flint Michigan USA) also expounded the awe inspiring subject of Worship. We also had an outstanding Q & A session. Some interesting topics were discussed including the role of women in ministry. This cropped up at most of the conferences. It seems to be a recurring theme that may need to be addressed sensitively in the future.

The fourth conference was near the beautiful city of Pretoria. This time the speakers included Pastor Irving Steggles (Birchleigh Baptist Church, Kempton Park). He spoke on revival and delivered the conference sermon (’Motivation in the Ministry’). The conference was a tremendous success under the very capable leadership and organizational skills of Irving Steggles. The Book table ministry was also a great blessing here. The three days and two nights, including six meals cost each person the equivalent astounding sum of 70 Rand (£5.00). This is an admirable demonstration on just how far money given by churches in both the USA and the UK can go towards financing more APC’s in future years.

The fifth conference was in the large Free State town of Welkom. This once rich gold-mining town is now not far from poverty. Even the local fire engines have been repossessed by the manufacturers. The local CESA (Church of England in South Africa which is a reformed denomination) minister, George van der Westhuizen, acted as host to the conference at his church building. There was tremendous response to the preachers Choolwe and Raymond. On a personal note heartbreak and challenge came to me the next day when the three of us visited Morning Star, a crèche for 85 local HIV positive children. What an inspiring work is done by the ladies there, especially Joan Adams who is responsible for running it.

Finally the last of the conferences took place at Newcastle. This was a first time event and was capably organized by pastor Paul Jacobs. Here we saw demonstrated what can be done when a whole church supports a conference like this. This practical backing came from the Newcastle Baptist Church. Apart from the books hardly any subsidy is needed when this takes place. Some were disappointed inasmuch that they did not have enough time to secure enough money to purchase more of the discounted books that were available. In Newcastle they all wanted us to stay on for a second day. Lord willing next year we will.