A Few Thoughts on Praising God

Christians are a unique people, especially when it comes to our singing. We gather in groups and worship God by singing praises to Him. I was recently reminded of this by Dr. James Boice when he said, “There is singing in other religions, of course; but it is usually mere chanting, which is itself a religious exercise designed to make the worshiper more ‘holy’ or bring him closer to the deity. Christians do not sing as a good work or as a spiritual discipline. We do not sing to find God. We sing because he has found us and we are happy about it.” How true. For those who have been born again by the Spirit of God the gospel has proven to be the best news imaginable. Do you think that way? Or has time tended to dampen your enthusiasm for what God has done in your life? Let’s take this a step further. It is because of who God is that we have reason to praise Him. The gospel is God. It is from God, through God, and by God that we have been snatched, as it were, from the fire of God’s judgment.

The gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ is the drum-beat of the book of Romans. This gospel is the only hope for this world. It is a call to offer praise to God publicly and privately for all that God is and what He has done us. We can do this in our corporate worship on Sundays. But we can also do this in our private, alone times. To help us in this direction I would like to offer some praise points. Use these praise-reminders some time during the coming week and devote yourself to nothing but praise to God. These praise points are taken from Psalm 107 which appeals to God’s people to “give thanks to the Lord for He is good; For His lovingkindness is everlasting.” The whole psalm pivots around this one theme of praising God for the deliverance (s) that comes from His loving and wise sovereignty over all things. The commentator, Derek Kidner, has entitled Psalm 107, “God to the Rescue.” The historical setting is Israel’s deliverance from the Babylonian exile. But the theology of God’s deliverance is bigger than Israel’s experience. It is that and more. Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist, saw Messianic implications in the psalmist’s words (Lk. 1:79).

The psalmist uses four illustrations to highlight the wonders of God’s rescue. Our own spiritual condition apart from Jesus Christ is etched in these vivid pictures of personal peril. In the first place, give the Lord praise for rescuing those who are lost in the wilderness (vv. 1-4). Before God brought us home to Him we were lost, hungry, thirsty, and exhausted sinners. We were wandering about in the wilderness of sin apart from God. Give the Lord praise for releasing those who are imprisoned (vv. 10-16). The picture here is of those who are in jail. But chains, bands, and bars are no match for an omnipotent God. Before we came to Christ we were behind the bars of our own unbelieving hearts. Rejoice in your new found freedom to serve the Lord who brought you out of darkness and misery (Lk. 4:18). Give the Lord praise for restoring the sick to health (vv. 17-22). The imagery now moves to those who are afflicted by the disease of their iniquities. Have you thought that way about your sin? It is like a wasting disease. It is death itself. Without God’s restoring work of grace you and I would suffer forever from the self-inflicted wounds of sin. Only God’s grace can heal our wounds of guilt. Are you thankful? If you are not, then something is terribly wrong. You may not be God’s child. Then, dear reader, call out to the Great Physician who alone can save you. If you are a believer, break the silence and praise God.

Give the Lord praise for rescuing those who are battered by the storms of life (vv. 23-32). This final peril is one of being caught in a powerful storm which threatens to drown you in the tempestuous waves. One can almost feel the howling winds and see the towering waves. But then there is God. He guides those who are being buffeted by wind and water “to their desired haven.” Can you not hear the calmness as the storm has been stilled? What is the psalmist telling us? It is God alone who is big enough to deliver us from the clutches of sin’s penalty and power. How could we, then, live a life devoid of praise to God?

In a summary chorus the psalmist describes God’s providential hand over all of human history. We are to praise Him because He is sovereign over good and evil, pain and pleasure (vv. 33-42). Boice says, “God sends sorrow as well as joy, hardship as well as material blessing – yet is not arbitrary.” No matter what kind of day you are having, it is the occasion for rejoicing in the Lord. Delight in the duty of gratitude. Revel in the perfections and infinite wisdom of God, not to get something from Him, but to savor His goodness.

Dr. Howard E. Dial
Berachah Bible Church

Get on Board

A river boat cruise which follows a route of historical significance can be a most enjoyable learning experience. If, for example, you were to take the 7-night St. Louis to Nashville cruise, you would be promised to walk in the footsteps of Lewis and Clark, listen to the tale of the Cherokee Trail of Tears, get a glimpse of pioneer living, and visit the Country Music Hall of Fame. It will probably not change your life, but it can all be very entertaining. I would like to propose another kind of cruise. This one takes you down the flow of the river of thought which has been given by the Holy Spirit which can change your life. But a certain river has to be chosen. I recommend the book of Romans river cruise. You can watch Bible truth unfold with each passing mile. Or, rather, should I say each passing biblical paragraph.

We are going to embark on a study of the book of Romans. There is a cruise down the river of Amos for the ladies. The shipboard experience through the Gospel of Matthew has already begun. It is not too late to get on board. You can catch it at Matthew 6:1-4 this Sunday evening. However, there is some preparation necessary if you are going to get the greatest possible benefit from a study of a book of the Bible. Take a few minutes and familiarize yourself with the following recommendations lest you waste the opportunity of a life time.

Going through a book of the Bible is not the only way to study the Scriptures but there is not a better way. Why is this so? The Bible tells us that it is a God-written book and most profitable for knowing how to live life God’s way (2 Tim. 3:16, 17). The Holy Spirit of God guided the writers of Scripture to say exactly what God wanted said (2 Pet. 1:21). When you read through any part of the Bible you are reading the words of God. In an exposition of Romans, Amos, Matthew, or 1 Corinthians, a detailed explanation of the text is given along with application of that truth to daily living. Going from verse to verse and paragraph to paragraph you are following the thought of the Spirit of God. There is no substitute for a consistent and disciplined way of handling Holy Writ. The mind of the Holy Spirit will confront and shape your thoughts. All this is vital to maturing in the Christian faith.

What then should be done while flowing down a river of biblical truth? Read the book you are studying and memorize portions of it. Read Romans straight through at one sitting. Read it multiple times. Drench your mind in its thoughts. Memorize Romans 1:16, 17; 3:21-31; 5:1-6; 8:1-6; 35-39; 12:9-21 and any other portions you choose.

In advance of each message read the text to be covered and pray over it (“Lord open my eyes to see wonderful things from your law.”). Take the outline and your notes on the message and pray through them the week following the message. Be consistent in hearing all sermons on Romans. If you have to miss a Sunday, listen to the sermon on the internet or get a CD from the tape room. Don’t let gaps in the flow of the book go unattended. After each message on Sunday discuss the passage preached during the ride home or during the dinner meal. Find some way of interacting with the truth that has been taught. Take notes during the message. This will help you to concentrate better and give you something to refer to when memory begins to fade (I don’t mean fading later in life. I mean the week after the message.). And, most importantly, don’t let the teaching of God’s Word go in one ear and out the other. Pray that your life will be transformed by truth. Write down ways in which you can take action; such as repenting of sin, changing wrong thinking, ways to communicate the gospel in your neighborhood, teaching the book to your family or some other small group, etc. But don’t not do anything (pardon the grammar).

The Bible is a double-edged sword and as such is active (powerful, Heb. 4:12). It is effective in fulfilling it purpose and has unlimited capability (e.g., It regenerates, opens eyes, changes lives, changes nations, brings revival). It is also discriminating (“sharper”). In this way it is penetrating in its operation as it probes and exposes. Scripture lays bear our motives and uncovers our self-deceiving tendencies. Come and hear what God has said in the book of Romans and submit to the convicting power of its message. Pray that the Holy Spirit will lift up the Lord Jesus Christ in all His majesty and glory. Revel in the glorious gospel of God. Get on board and let the river of God’s thought take you to the “life-transforming doctrines of Christianity.”

Dr. Howard E. Dial
Berachah Bible Church

A Reminiscence

We receive a magazine entitled “Reminisce.” A friend has given us a subscription to “the magazine that brings back the good times.” It is filled with pictures of days gone by. For example, you might find an article on the year 1921 revisited or a time capsule as it is called. Some of us find visiting the past quite interesting. The Eskimo Pie and the perfume Chanel No. 5 were new in 1921, just in case you were interested. Yes, this is trivia, but one may like to know what it was like when one’s grandparents and parents were alive. But a remembering of the past doesn’t have to be just about nostalgia, do-you-remember-when, and the so-called good old days. Remembering can be a useful exercise of mind in pondering the really important things in life. If you were to look up the word “remember” in a Bible concordance, you would notice this word is used thirty two times in the Book of Psalms. God wanted Israel to actualize His hand in their life as a nation. Worshipers of God need to be confronted with God and His acts and respond in faith. Remembering can be valuable to the extent that it opens up our minds to God’s mercies, faithfulness, grace, sovereignty over all of life, and the marvels of His redemption in Christ.

The occasion of dedicating a new building to the service of God is an appropriate time to do some reminiscing. This is not a tightly bound history of Berachah Bible Church, but rather thinking about some of the past experiences in its thirty-seven years of existence. The thought of starting a church came to mind in the summer of 1970. At the conclusion of a Sunday morning worship service, I was sitting next to one of my students from Carver Bible College. He had been attending church with me which had raised some eyebrows in an all white congregation. But this particular Sunday was different. At the end of the service my African-American friend went forward during the public invitation to present himself as a candidate for membership. This might not seem like a major event in the post-segregated South, but in 1970 it prompted a social, moral, and spiritual earthquake. Space does not permit the full story. However, after deliberation by the board of deacons a called conference of the church revealed a startling announcement. Tony Evans, the student, would not be accepted into the membership of the church. It was decided that he would be better served if he worshiped with fellow African-Americans. Such a conclusion seems so preposterous that it is embarrassing to repeat it. But that is what happened.

Our family could not remain in a church that was willing to compromise biblical truth and insult fellow members of the body of Christ. Beth and I withdrew our membership and contemplated what to do next. Out of this crisis came the thought of starting a church where God’s Word would be preached and no one would be excluded based on skin color. That seems like a very simple and unquestionable standard for a new church. But there were few churches that were committed to rigorous Bible exposition and racial inclusion. So the journey began. Bible studies were held in the home of Lew and Deanne Rabbitt in Red Oak. From there the developing church rented a school, and then leased an office building in East Point. It was in 1978 that thirteen acres were purchased in northeast Fayette County. It took another four years to start the first building. We did not want to incur any debt, so some years of patience were necessary. A new addition to our original building was completed in 1994. Six more acres were purchased and plans were begun for construction of a new fellowship hall and classrooms (the building that we dedicate today). It is with thanks to God that all this has been completed and paid for by His grace and the faithful giving of His people. The fact that debt has been avoided is not in praise of our church family, but it is a testimony to the way God has enabled us to give “not grudgingly or under compulsion; for God’s loves a cheerful giver” (2 Cor. 9:7). Grace giving is not a celebration of the giver but of God who provides. It has been the desire of our church to exemplify how Christians should handle their finances. Saving money, exercising patience, giving generously to the work of the gospel, and living within our means have been exercised through two land purchases and three building programs. Our personal finances and our church finances are to be governed by a passion to live in such a way as to lay up for ourselves treasures in heaven.

Laying up treasures in heaven means a lavish support of world missions. On Saturday, November 5, 1983 Dr. Robertson McQuilkin conducted a Great Commission Workshop for our congregation. During this time we evaluated our church’s involvement in world missions. We all agreed. There was a lot of work to be done. We were encouraged by Dr. McQuilkin’s messages on the Sunday following the workshop. We were challenged to prayer for missions and taken to Matthew 9:13 to be reminded of God’s compassion for sinners. These themes moved us to enlarge our commitment to reaching the ends of the earth with the gospel of Jesus Christ. By God’s grace, since the founding years of our church, hundreds of thousands of dollars have flowed into the support of missionaries and special projects. Families and individuals, such as the Sherwoods, Dawn (Scherer) Cagasan, the Jarnigans, and the Heinzes, have gone to the Philippines, Haiti, and Kazakhstan. The church has sent the pastor and usually his wife to seven different countries. Short term missions teams have ministered in Trinidad, Costa Rica, Kazakhstan, and Bosnia. At the present time two young couples in our church are setting their sights on missionary work in Africa and Eastern Europe. For all this we are supremely thankful to God for working in hearts and lives and setting before our eyes a world in desperate need of the hope of the gospel.

In order to carry out the work of the ministry these many years, God has generously supplied pastoral staff assistance. Paul Curtas gave invaluable help for nine years before he was asked to become the Director of the Fellowship of Christian Airline Personnel. Many in the church family were able to celebrate Paul’s marriage to Claudette, the answer to his prayers regarding a helpmate, by traveling to Switzerland in October 1995. Two of our young men, gifts from Nelson and Jody Wallace, Rob and Seth, gave us valued service in working with the youth and in pastoral assistance. In 2000 Bryan Ryan became our Minister of Youth and served us well through his commitment to the Scriptures and his love for God. In 2001 Justin Culbertson, newly graduated from the Master’s Seminary, joined the church staff as an associate pastor. He not only brought himself but gave us Brook, his wife, who fears the Lord and loves His Word. Justin and Brook are an answer to this pastor’s prayers. Beth and I and Betty Clark are the only charter members remaining at Berachah. A new generation is taking on the responsibilities that go with proclaiming the excellencies of Christ. That is as it should be. Praise God for faithful believers who carry on the work of God’s kingdom.

In the next few days a new chapter opens up for Berachah Bible Church. Wade and Natalie Grubbs will be taking their place among us as Wade serves on the pastoral staff. He will help with the youth, music, Sunday School, and other works of the ministry. Beloved, there is much work to be done. My continuing prayer for Berachah is that we will be a Bible-loving, Christ-centered, missionary-sending, gospel-proclaiming, mercy-giving, Spirit-energized, God-exalting, worshiping community of rock-solid believers. Reminiscing counts for something. It can be a way of reviving our zeal for God. Come. Let us go on to maturity and new frontiers with God.

Dr. Howard E. Dial
Berachah Bible Church

The Gospel in a Flat World

On Monday, May 18, 1998, Kevin, Molly, Lucy, Amanda, and Noah Heinz bid farewell to their church family and set out on a journey to Kazakhstan. This had been preceded by a special commissioning service on Sunday, May 17. The text for the message that morning was Romans 10:14 (“How Shall They Hear?”). Kevin and Molly Heinz wanted to take the gospel to a place where few, if any, churches were found. Kazakhstan, with its decades as a part of the Soviet Union and its Muslim population, offered a challenging opportunity to bear witness to the supremacy of Jesus Christ over all things. It was not easy making the adjustments from suburban life in American to the harsh realities of a new culture and a new language (actually two languages, Kazakh and Russian). In September of 2000 Beth and I visited the Heinzes in their adopted city of Almaty. They were in the early stages of planting a church and encouraged us with their zeal to reach the Kazakh people.

Seven years later on August 22, 2007 Beth and I again crossed through ten time zones and returned to Almaty, Kazakhstan. Kevin and Molly were there to meet us at the new airport. But this was only the beginning. We saw new automobiles, new construction, and newly paved roads everywhere. There is a wave of prosperity sweeping over this central Asian metropolis. But best of all there is a new church in the city. It is the Kalkaman Bible Church. On Sunday morning the little flock met in a newly renovated house a few miles from where the Heinzes live. The service started shortly after 11:00 a.m. with Byeram, a man whom Kevin has been discipling, playing skillfully on the dumbra (a stringed instrument) and leading worship in song. Lifting their voices in praise to God was Keray, age 72, holding his little blue hymn book close to his aging eyes joined by Kuderbye, the converted alcoholic, Goolmeira, Byeram’s wife, and others. There were testimonies and prayer followed by a message from Kevin from Exodus 20 explaining the purpose of the Mosaic Law in the redemptive plan of God. Molly helped Beth and me to understand what Kevin was saying because he was teaching in Kazakh. Only seven years ago Kevin and Molly were trying to function in the market place with incomplete sentences and halting Kazakh. One was teaching and the other was translating a language, which only nine years ago was an unknown tongue to them.

Traveling to other countries, experiencing different cultures, and hearing languages which we cannot understand is an adventure. But the real joy of it all is spending time with God’s servants who have taken up their cross and followed Christ. This has led them to people who have not heard about the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ and how, through simple faith in Him, they may have the forgiveness of sins and eternal life. We call those who go cross-culturally to do this, missionaries. Some quibble over the use of this term and argue that all Christians are missionaries, or at least are supposed to be. In a sense that is true. All of Christ’s people are sent to tell the good news. But the word missionary has a time-honored use in describing those who have gone beyond the boundaries of their country to places and people around the globe. Some go and others send, but every believer in Jesus Christ is to be meaningfully involved in world missions. Thomas L. Friedman in his best selling book, “The World is Flat,” describes how ten forces have “flattened the world.” By flattening he means a new kind of globalization that has taken place in the last ten years, namely, one in which “people can plug, compete, connect, and collaborate with more equal power then ever before…flattening forces are empowering more and more individuals today to reach farther, faster, deeper, and cheaper than ever before, and that is equalizing power – and equalizing opportunity, by giving so many more people the tools and ability to connect, compete, and collaborate.”

The church of Jesus Christ has opportunities that were unimagined fifty years ago. Airline travel makes it possible to fly to a country like Kazakhstan, over eleven thousand miles away, in a relatively short time. It may not feel this way when you traverse multiple time-zones. Within twenty-five hours Beth and I were able to leave Atlanta and arrive in Almaty, Kazakhstan. Compare that to traveling by boat and train. Add to this the internet phenomena. Digitalized communication has changed everything. The Heinzes’ constantly updated Web site and e-mail accessibility have given them a virtual presence to us their sending church. Think of the days when missionaries “disappeared” for four years at a time, or even longer ago when they packed their earthly goods in coffins and never came back home. A new day has dawned. Now church members can visit their missionaries on the field and come back with a better understanding of how missions works and all within a matter of days, not weeks or months. Do you think this could make a difference in the degree to which a local church enters into world evangelization? I think so. This is not to say that technology can do things for us which only God can do. The early church didn’t have jets and computers, but it did admirably well in turning the Roman Empire upside down for Christ’s sake.

Berachah Bible Church has much to be thankful for. God, by his infinite grace and mercy, has moved a family out from our church and placed them half a world away as ambassadors of reconciliation. We can rejoice that the Heinz family is joyfully establishing relationships, building communication bridges, and sowing the seeds of the gospel for Christ’s glory. We stand along side Kevin and Molly Heinz in seeking to answer the four questions raised in Romans 10:14-15; “But how are they to call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent?” Because Jesus Christ is the culminating act of God in redemptive history, faith must be placed in Him if one is to be delivered from the wrath of God. There is no other way for sinners to get into God’s heaven other than through the saving faith in Jesus Christ. Since calling on the name of Jesus Christ is necessary for salvation, God has put in place the means by which the gospel may be heard and believed. Through His infinite wisdom God has made us as Christians instruments in His hands. There must be someone to proclaim the hope that is in Christ. God is not going to write the message of the cross in the sky. It takes a messenger who is sent. We in the church of Jesus Christ are both of these, messengers and senders.

God has flattened the world, as it were, by creating modes of transportation and communication that connect us to the nations on this planet in extraordinary ways. My prayer is that we will have the discernment and zeal to make the best of our opportunities in this lost world before we stand in the presence of Jesus Christ to be judged according to our faithfulness.

Dr. Howard E. Dial
Berachah Bible Church