May 20, 2012

9:30 a.m. Morning Service

Guest Speaker, Dr. Les Ollila

Chancellor of Northland International University

. . .

11:00 a.m. Bible Study for all ages

. . .

4:00 p.m. HCS Graduation Ceremony

Commencement Speaker, Dr. Les Ollila,

Chancellor of Northland International University

Asia Michaleun.

The public is invited, and nurseries are available for all services. Please accept this invitation to join us for this special video presentation.

In this glorious doxology (an expression of consummate praise to God), the Apostle Paul expressed the simple, yet profound premise that “God is Able!”

As I tried to demonstrate in this message, every true believer must begin with this simple, powerful concept. Click here to listen to this message.

Here is the message outline with some passages for additional study:

Praise and Exalt the God . . . Who is able.

This is the potential aspect – God’s capacity.

-         to do infinitely more

o       than we ask

o       than we think

Who is at work in us.

This is the practical aspect – God’s conducting

of His Work through us.

-         According to God’s Power

-         Presently working in us

Additional Study: Note the appeals for extravagant blessings: Philippians 1:9; 4:19, Colossians 1:9-11, 1 Thessalonians 3:11-12, 2 Thessalonians 1:3, 1 Corinthians 1:4-5

God is Able!

Matthew 10:28, Acts 20:32, Romans 4:20-22, 2 Cor. 9:8, Philippians 3:21, 2 Timothy 1:12, Hebrews 2:18; 7:25

the God of Heaven, and He were to ask you,

“What will you give in exchange for your soul?”

What would your answer be?

Read more…

Enjoying conflict? Fools meddle to keep strife alive.

3 It is an honor for a man to cease from strife: but every fool will be meddling.

Purity in posting. What are you known for?

11 Even a child is known by his doings, whether his work be pure, and whether it be right.

Who is reading your posts? The One who made eyes and ears.

12 The hearing ear, and the seeing eye,  the Lord hath made even both of them.

Do you know how to spot real treasure?

15 There is gold, and a multitude of rubies: but the lips of knowledge are a precious jewel.

Who are you fooling? Deceit seems sweet, but the taste won’t last.

17 Bread of deceit is sweet to a man; but afterwards his mouth shall be filled with gravel.

Can’t wait to share the latest secret? Talebearer alert! Beware of flatterers.

19 He that goes about as a talebearer revealeth secrets: therefore meddle not with him that flatters with his lips.

Blasting your parents online? Find your future here.

20 Whoso curses his father or his mother, his lamp shall be put out in obscure darkness.

Someone has hurt you and you want to pay them back? Trust the Lord to deal with them and save you – from yourself.

22 Don’t say, I will recompense evil; but wait on the Lord, and he shall save you.

It’s time to take a new look at the way you use social networking.

– Pastor Gordon Dickson

And here are a few thought from Proverbs 21 as well.

22 radio broadcasts (about 15 minutes each) describing the Life of Peter. This interesting series reminds us that “failures aren’t finished.” Click the program (podcast) player to begin.

Twenty-two Radio Broadcasts

Before you stand a big Hittite and a little Hittite. The little Hittite is the big Hittite’s son, but the big Hittite is not the little Hittite’s father. Who is the big Hittite?

Re-read the puzzle to be sure that you understood it and while you are thinking about it, I would like to help you with your problem-solving skills.

The Problem with Assumptions

So many of life’s puzzles are difficulties that we impose upon ourselves. Seriously. For instance, the puzzle above is a puzzle only because we make certain assumptions. It’s one thing to wrestle with the puzzle like the one above; it is quite another to wrestle with
life’s puzzles and problems.

Changing Your Assumptions

When you understand this, you understand why the Bible puts such an emphasis on the renewal of the mind. “Renewing the mind” helps you to challenge the assumptions that you have made or that have been forced upon you. Part of the problem of evil is that our lusts are “deceitful lusts.” That means that our hearts are perfectly capable of fooling us and frequently do so. As you know, the enigma of evil harbors horrible consequences for you and for all humanity. And the reason that we seem to bumble and fumble our way back into the same problem is that our assumptions lead us to do so.
So how do you learn to “think outside the box?” The whole world system is trying to force you into its mold – including its assumptions. Isn’t it time to break out? Isn’t it time to go back to “square one” and take a new look at some old assumptions?

Three Steps to Permanent Change

I’ve answered the “Hittite puzzle” for you in an audio file (click on the link at left). In this audio file, I will teach you Three Important Steps to Personal Change. Ephesians 4:21-24 has changed my life and I’m confident that it can do the same for you. Be prepared to challenge some of your most basic assumptions.

In this New Year, each Christian faces at least two powerful adversaries: Pride and The Devil. How should we confront these enemies?

Peter — the failure who wasn’t finished — explained how to be victorious over both of them. He explains this in 1 Peter 5:5-10.

The good news is that the God of all Grace is the believer’s Ally, and He gives us His Promises of victory. Let’s learn how to make this New Year a year of spiritual victory. You can listen to the audio message by clicking here.

With this goal in mind, I would encourage you to read through this sermon by C.H. Spurgeon.

We all think that we understand what it means to “read the Bible,” but I especially appreciated Spurgeon’s remarks about the way we read:

“But, now, beloved, our point is that much apparent Bible reading is not Bible reading at all. The verses pass under the eye, and the sentences glide over the mind, but there is no true reading. An old preacher used to say, the Word has mighty free course among many nowadays, for it goes in at one of their ears and out at the other; so it seems to be with some readers—they can read a very great deal, because they do not read anything. The eye glances but the mind never rests. The soul does not light upon the truth and stay there. It flits over the landscape as a bird might do, but it builds no nest there, and finds no rest for the sole of its foot. Such reading is not reading. Understanding the metering is the essence of true reading. Reading has a kernel to it, and the mere shed is little worth. In prayer there is such a thing as praying in prayer—a praying that is in the bowels of the prayer. So in praise there is a praising in song, an inward fire of intense devotion which is the life of the hallelujah. It is so in fasting: there is a fasting which is not fasting, and there is an inward fasting, a fasting of the soul, which is the soul of fasting. It is even so with the reading of the Scriptures. There is an interior reading, a kernel reading—a true and living reading of the Word. This is the soul of reading; and, if it be not there, the reading is a mechanical exercise, and profits nothing. “

You can read Spurgeon’s entire sermon by clicking here.

They probably thought of these Psalms with the same fondness that many people would savor Christmas carols.

With this in mind, I composed a piece of poetry, based on Psalm 123, for the service last evening. Together, we sang these words to the tune of “O Come, O Come Emmanuel” to try to capture the “holiday flavor” of the text. But this is not, by any means, a “candy-coated” approach to life.

Here is a real conflict as the travelers remembered the proud scorners who held them in such contempt. How should we crowd such contempt out of our minds for the upcoming holidays? Psalm 123 holds some blessed answers as we learn to lift up our eyes to the Lord and cry for His Mercy on us. As we study this psalm today, we learn what it means to be a Christian among the contemptuous crowds.

Finding Mercy among The Masses

A poem based on Psalm 123

To You, O Lord, To You we lift our eyes,

To Him, Who sits enthroned upon the skies

Behold! my eyes attend to your Hand,

To cry for Grace and Mercy in this land.

Give Grace! Give Grace! Oh Heavenly Lord,

we wait upon your mercy in this place!

Oh Lord, we find such hatred in this land

And all around, contempt on every hand

To You, O Lord, to You we lift our eyes

Oh hear us, Heavenly Lord, oh hear our cries

Give Grace! Give Grace! Oh Heavenly Lord,

we wait upon your mercy in this place!

Until we see Your mercy from above

We serve and wait upon our God of love,

We wait among the hateful scorners here,

Until your work of mercy shall appear

Give Grace! Give Grace! Oh Heavenly Lord,

we wait upon your mercy in this place!

- Pastor Gordon Dickson

“If Jesus Had Not Come”

A Musical Drama by Ken Collier and Mac Lynch
Directed by Dr. Gene Trantham
Sunday, December 18, at 6:00 p.m.

One of the Lasseter family’s Christmas traditions is watching the old black and white film, It’s a Wonderful Life. A famous line in the film reads, “One man’s life touches so many others. When he’s not there it leaves an awfully big hole.”
If the absence of an ordinary human life would leave an “awfully big hole,” just try to imagine what the absence of the life of Jesus Christ would be like. His absence from our lives would not only be sad, it would be tragic, as the Lasseter family soon discovers. This musical drama causes us to consider how rich we are because Christ has come!

Musical selections include works by Felix Mendelssohn, Dan Forrest, Craig Courtney, Brigette Smisor Shevy, and Mac Lynch.

The public is welcome. A nursery will be provided.

Christmas Eve Service, 6:00 p.m.

Christmas Day Service, 9:30 a.m.

Pastor Gordon Dickson
Calvary Baptist Church
2000 Broad Ave. in Findlay (on I-75)
419.422.6842
www.glimpsesofcalvary.com

We all think we are right. But check your thoughts by God’s Word for real wisdom. Helpful hint: Ask “what’s right about this?” before you post it.

2     Every way of a man is right in his own eyes: But the LORD ponders the hearts.

Want to get rich online? If it sounds too good to be true, it is.

6 The getting of treasures by a lying tongue is a vanity tossed to and fro of them that seek death.

Should you assume that strangers who contact you are “probably o.k.”? Think again. Or should you give everyone the ability to post things on your personal pages?

8  The way of man is forward [crooked] and strange: but as for the pure, his work is right.

What is really happening with people who constantly criticize others?

10 The soul of the wicked desires evil: his neighbor finds no favor in his eyes.

Social networking is often used to seduce the simple: “Hey, look at this link! ” Where are you “surfing?” What happens when you wander from God’s way?

16 The man that wanders out of the way of understanding shall remain in the congregation of the dead.

If I put these Proverbs into effect, I might lose all my “friends” online!

19 It is better to dwell in the wilderness, than with a contentious and an angry woman.

What are you really searching for online?

21 He that follows after righteousness and mercy finds life, righteousness, and honor.

Do you post whatever comes to your mind? Stop to think before you press “send!” Don’t post it unless you want to see it on a billboard with your name.

23  Whoso keeps his mouth and his tongue keeps his soul from troubles.

Maybe one of your “friends” is using another name. Is his real name here?

24 Proud and haughty scorner is his name, who deals in proud wrath.

Are you really being productive online? Or are you just entertaining yourself?

25 The desire of the slothful kills him; for his hands refuse to labor.

Some people put on a really bold front. But are they really seeking wisdom for the way?

29 A wicked man hardens [emboldens] his face: but as for the upright, he directeth his way.

Spiritual warfare is a reality. Do you go online with a “military mindset?” Unrestricted access to the internet could destroy you. Get a filter in place and be accountable. Ask the Lord for safety.

31 The horse is prepared against the day of battle: but safety is of the LORD.

– Pastor Gordon Dickson

How do you carry out the Great Commission in your own home? Jesus Christ commanded us to “make disciples” (Matthew 28:19-20) and we can help you obey Christ’s command!

If you are like most of us, you feel a bit overwhelmed with your responsibilities and the hurried pace of modern society. But the Lord enables us to carry through on His Commands, if we will trust Him to do so.

This is where the Frontline program comes in.  (click here)

You can read Escape!

the true story of how one of our members escaped from armed kidnappers.

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Find the answer to this question:

“Which sin cannot be forgiven?”

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Learn how to find “Freedom from Fear.”

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Answer The Most Important Question You Will Ever Answer

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Learn how to run “Your Personal Obstacle Course.”

Take a few moments to watch this powerful story of the American Airlines pilot
who was supposed to fly Flight 11 on that fateful morning, September 11, 2001 from Boston’s Logan International airport.

Roll Call!

I think we all agree that our nation is in a desperate and dangerous condition. Throughout its history, God-fearing believers have turned to the Lord to ask Him for deliverance.

Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country.

Let’s turn the Congressional roll call into a call to the righteous to pray! Several votes will occur when the House and Senate are in session. During breaks and holidays, please use the rosters available on this page and pray for these representatives by name.

Will you join us in this project? Intercessory prayer will accomplish far more than your

Pray for the U.S. Senate

political indignation.

Through C-SPAN on cable and via the internet, we have a wonderful window on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate. The name of each elected official is read by the clerk as his or her vote is recorded.

Rather than sit through these roll calls mindlessly, why don’t we engage our minds and hearts in the great battles before our nation? Pray for our leaders! And send them a quick email to tell them that you are praying for them.

Even if no roll call is being taken, pray for the speaker or speakers at the lectern. Their names will be flashed on the screen as they speak.

Click on the icons in this post to be directed to a House or Senate session, and pray for the people involved. Or click on these links to see a complete list of these leaders. Make a special effort to pray for the people named in each roll call. At times, international conferences are featured on these links. On these occasions, use the Scriptures to pray for international leaders as well.

Here’s the idea:

Using the Scriptures (including the suggestions below), pray for each elected official as his or her name is called. By doing so, we can begin a series of national daily prayer meetings — uniting our souls in intercession for the individuals who lead our government.

Why Should We Do This?

The Scriptures remind us that it is especially important to pray for our national leaders:

“Therefore, I exhort first of all

that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence.” (1 Timothy 2:1-2)

Powerful Fuel for Faithful Prayer:

The Lord Jesus reminded us in John 15:7 that if we would abide in Him and His Words would abide in us, we should ask what we desire and it shall be done. Why not take this promise of answered prayer to heart? Use the Scriptures to pray.

Rather than merely praying, “Lord, bless them,” and “Lord, be with them” why not use the Words of the Scripture as a powerful fuel for more meaningful and more faithful prayer?

With your Bible open (see ideas below), meditate upon that verse in its context; savor it, and use it to begin a conversation with the Lord, interceding for our country. Then, unite these verses with their votes: crying out to the Lord for their souls and the spiritual state of our nation. Perhaps someone who is reading this could set up a means by which we could receive alerts when roll calls will be made.

What Should We Pray?

Verses to use to pray for our elected representatives. As each official’s name is called, use a verse to intercede with the Lord for that elected representative. Here are a few ideas:

2 Samuel 23:3 “The God of Israel said, The Rock of Israel spoke to me: ‘He who rules over men must be just, Ruling in the fear of God.’”

Proverbs 23:23 “Buy the truth, and do not sell it, Also wisdom and instruction and understanding.”

Psalm 9:20 “Put them in fear, O LORD, That the nations may know themselves to be but men. Selah”

Psalm 80:19 “Restore us, O LORD God of hosts; Cause Your face to shine, And we shall be saved!”

Psalm 85:6 “Will You not revive us again, That Your people may rejoice in You?”

1 Samuel 12:23 “Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD in ceasing to pray for you; but I will teach you the good and the right way.”

Ephesians 6:12 “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.”

To encourage your heart in the Lord, read through or sing through this Adaptation of Psalm 124, to the tune of “Now Thank We All Our God” and this Adaptation of Psalm 123 to the tune of  “O Come, O Come Emmanuel.”

Answers to Prayer

After you pray for these leaders, would you follow the news to see how the Lord is answering your prayer? Use that answered prayer as a time to rejoice over the fact that God answers prayer and thank Him for the verse that He gave you as powerful fuel for faithful prayer.

If you would like to correspond with me about this project, or receive this project by email, drop me a note at

info [at] cbcfindlay.org

Sincerely, for nationwide revival,

Pastor Gordon Dickson

To hear a message on what the Scriptures show us about the desperate state of our nation, please click here.

What is this all about?    Find the answers here…

9/11. March 2011 earthquakes in Japan.Tsunamis. Myanmar. Virginia Tech shootings. Samson, Alabama. Binghamton, NY. Air France flight 447. Ft. Hood, Texas. And earthquakes in Haiti, Chile and China.

When these kinds of tragedies strike, what are we supposed to understand? Is there a timeless message in a terrible massacre?

These horrible, earthly miseries carry a message for all humanity — even for those who were not victimized by the recent disaster.

These earthly miseries warn us about  eternal miseries, and the Gospel message shows us how to escape from the everlasting tragedy.

The answer came from Jesus Christ and can be found in the Gospel of Luke, chapter 13.

Click the player below to listen to a message on this text.

Sufficient Sweetness

That’s right. This is a sermon about “sufficient sweetness.” What do you do when your body sends you the “full” signal? Keep right on eating or call a halt? Part of the problem is that we have come to think of eating as a way to be entertained. Now it is clear in Scripture that good food is a wonderful way to have great fellowship with others. The problem is that we allow ourselves to think of eating primarily as entertainment rather than nourishment. When you view it this way, munching becomes a way to change your moods; cooking becomes your source of comfort.

Those Basic Assumptions

When our most basic assumptions about eating are out of whack, we can’t really expect to draw the right conclusions.

For instance, one summer evening several years ago, my family was enjoying a wonderful campout near Cincinnati. The children were asleep and my wife and I were reading under the dining canopy we had set up. In a short while, I read 50 pages of 1776 by David McCullough, and almost the entire time, I was munching away on pistachios. Those wonderful, salty nuts added real zest to the occasion and I thoughtlessly downed them while I was reading. Suddenly, in a start, I sat up and looked wide-eyed at my wife.

She asked, “what is wrong?”

I replied, “the Lord just spoke to me!”

She responded, “Well, what did He say?”

I answered by quoting Proverbs 25:16!

“Have you found honey? Eat only so much as is sufficient for you, lest you be filled therewith and vomit it up.”

You see, I was just reading a terrific book about the American Revolution, and suddenly the Lord spoke to me through the Scriptures. That kind of thing has happened to me frequently. On this occasion, it brought me up short and I pushed away the bag of pistachios.

What stopped my snacking?

So what was it about Proverbs 25:16 that stopped my snacking?

I was crunching away for contentment. I felt as if pistachios were giving me peace! And in a moment’s time, the Word of God helped me to arrest my impulses. My faith interrupted my feelings. Proverbs 25:16 emphasizes “sufficiency” instead of saturation. When I reach “full,” there is no need to go farther. Now if you begin to think in these terms, you will begin to re-interpret the signals your body sends you. You can begin to discern the difference between “hunger pings” and “hunger pangs.” But, as the verse warns, if you snack right on past sufficiency, be prepared to feel sick. I recommend that you memorize this proverb to see if the Lord doesn’t bring it to your mind as well. God’s Word has a marvelous ability to reign in our feelings and impulses.

In this proverb, honey can represent any and all food. (Have you found pizza??) We were created by God to live for His Glory and enjoy His Creation. We were not created to sicken ourselves with a saturation of sweetness.

So ends this sermon on “sufficient sweetness.” Hope you enjoyed this “Honey Homily.”

–Pastor Gordon Dickson, Calvary Baptist Church, Findlay, Ohio

www.cbcfindlay.org

www.glimpsesofcalvary.com

If you would like to download a copy of this prayer sheet, complete with a map of the nations within the 10/40 Window, the names of the countries within this window and some information about each country, please click the map below. If we really “L.O.V.E.” others, we ought to pray the way the Lord taught us to pray.

That is what the LOVE of Jesus Christ means for every one of us. In the audio message recorded here we will examine Ephesians 3:19. This is part of the magnificent prayer of Paul which he prayed for all of the believers at Ephesus. It can apply to every believer in every walk of life today.

The message begins with the puzzling phrase, “and to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge. . .” How can you know something which passes knowledge? In order to understand this phrase, it will be necessary to understand what else this letter to Ephesus tells us about love. Then, the revealed expressions of God’s love (especially in Ephesians chapters 1 through 3) call us to respond in order that we may experience this love which passes knowledge.

Click the icon at left for the message to begin or click the player below.

AND

THE EVANGELICAL CHURCH

By Dr. Richard L. Mercado
from the MGMI History page

The man who was left for dead

The history of MGM International begins with the story of its founder, Leonardo S. Mercado. Leonardo’s father, Gumecindo Mercado, emigrated with his family from Mexico City to northern Arizona during the Mexican Revolution. The family was traveling by railway pushcart toward El Paso, Texas. During one rest stop, they stumbled on a man who had been left for dead alongside the railroad tracks. Gumecindo insisted they do what they could to help the wounded man, and, despite some objections that adding him to the pushcart would jeopardize the onward journey, they lifted him to the cart along with all their baggage and renewed their travel toward the United States. Sometime later they were suddenly ambushed by a marauding group of Pancho Villa’s bandits. Just as those raiders were deciding what valuables to take with them and how to dispose of their captives, the stranger who had been befriended by the Mercados spoke up. “¡No! ¡No les hagan daño!” “No, don’t harm these good people. I was lying helpless by the tracks many miles back. These strangers picked me up. They’ve saved my life. Now you spare them.” As it turned out, Pancho Villa’s henchmen knew the wounded man, and, for the sake of their friendship, the bandits rode off, leaving the Mercados and their new friend to resume their migration northward.

Spiritual Pilgrimage

Arriving finally at Williams, Arizona, the Mercado family settled into their new environment with young Leonardo serving as an altar boy in the Roman Catholic Church. In time, a young Anglo neighbor boy who befriended Leonardo began inviting him to visit his Methodist Sunday School. Despite Leonardo’s objections and insistence that he couldn’t go there, that neighbor pal kept on, week by week, persisting in inviting him. Finally Leonardo went, he heard the gospel of salvation, and he received Christ as his very own personal Savior. That was the beginning of the spiritual pilgrimage that would eventually lead him to the Spanish-American Theological Seminary of Los Angeles, California, where somewhere around 1923 or 1924 he became one of the school’s first graduates.

Early Ministry

While still a seminary student, one day Leonardo and his father were walking down one of the main streets of San Pedro when they heard the strains of a gospel song. Following the sound of the music, they arrived at an old-fashioned gospel street meeting and there was an earnest and attractive young lady playing the little portable organ. Leonardo whispered to his father, “Dad, I’m going to marry that young lady.”

The young lady was Hazel Hawley, the firstborn daughter of Herbert A. and Gertrude Hawley. As the Mercado family was migrating north from Mexico City to Arizona, the Hawleys were migrating south and west from New England to Anaheim, California. Young Hazel graduated from high school and began to study at Biola, the Bible Institute of Los Angeles. One day, under the chapel preaching of Biola President Dr. R. A. Torrey, Hazel came under spiritual conviction of her need of personal salvation, she trusted Christ and passed from death to life. The Lord of the Harvest led her to study Spanish and to give herself to missionary service among the Mexican people of San Pedro, California.

God led the newly wed couple to serve the Lord in soul winning, discipling, and church leadership with the Northern Baptist Convention. The Mercados were assigned to the Phoenix, Arizona, field where Leonardo was to serve as pastor of the First Mexican Baptist Church of Phoenix and director of “El Centro Cristiano” (The Christian Center)—a kind of spiritual/social hub for reaching and teaching souls and meeting people’s social as well as spiritual needs. The Mercados served for several years in that capacity, but increasingly both Leonardo and Hazel became concerned about the inordinate amount of time and effort that some of the denominational leadership were insisting they give to the so-called social implications of the gospel, instead of what they felt was their primary calling: evangelism, discipling, and church planting. Even as early as the late ‘20s, Leonardo and his companion were very concerned about the modernistic direction of the convention. The day came when Hazel told her husband that she was prepared, if necessary, to cook tamales and help peddle them down the streets of the city if they could only be free to serve the Lord with the soulwinning burden and emphasis they both shared as the primary passion of their ministry.

Founding of La Iglesia Evangélica Mexicana and the Mexican Gospel Mission

Pastor Mercado announced to the church that he and his family were leaving, and he gave them some of the biblical and doctrinal reasons for their departure. A few of those dear people were likeminded, and begged him to come back and begin a new independent church. When the Mercados returned from California, they gathered together the “puñado” (handful) of committed brethren and begin meeting in the front room of deacon Carrillo’s humble home on Jefferson Street near the edge of downtown Phoenix.

Traditionally, the church and the mission, which sprang from those humble beginnings and in the midst of the traumas, trials, and tribulations of the Great Depression, have both celebrated their anniversaries on Thanksgiving Day, since it was precisely on the evening of Thanksgiving Day in the year 1930 that the little flock organized as a fledgling church, La Iglesia Evangélica Mexicana, a ministry of the Mexican Gospel Mission.

The only surviving soul of those who met together in those first weeks and months is Dr. Dick Mercado who, as a baby born on March 23, 1930, was present in most of those early services. In God’s great grace and good pleasure, the day came when Dickie grew up, received God’s call to serve with the church and the mission, and in 1970 succeeded the founder as senior pastor of the church, as well as general director of the mission, now known as MGM International.

How faithfully and mightily did the Lord Jesus work in those days, by His Spirit and through His faithfully preached Word! Soon rather notorious characters began to find the Lord. Bootleggers, gamblers, and gun-toting braggarts full of machismo and dangerous self-importance found their way to the foot of the cross and to a Savior who totally transformed their lives.

Word began to get out about what God was doing at La Iglesia Evangélica Mexicana. The congregation continued to grow. Locations for the church to meet changed numerous times. The founding pastor used to say, “We’re like the children of Israel on their way to the promised land, ever moving, as led by the glory cloud.” Services were held at 9th Street and Madison and in the basement at Tanner Chapel on 8th Street and Jefferson. Soon it became necessary to relocate from that basement to a rather spacious hall down on Jefferson Street which was rented to the church by the city or the Maricopa County officials.

The church reached out, sending servants of the Lord to Canal Seco, to Peoria, to Campo Nuevo, to Golden Gate and Hollywood, to Las Milpas, to Santa Rosa, to Yaqui Town, and to Scottsdale (long before it became one of the premier resort areas of the United States!).

Deacon Ramon Carrillo and his wife Margarita pioneered a work in Nogales, Sonora, Mexico. Then Ramón Avilés and Nacho Espinoza and their families and others followed who planted churches in Hermosillo, Sonora, and other areas of Mexico.

Begun in the throes of the Great Depression when some of the earliest church members had to do their tithing by bringing lettuce heads, citrus fruit, and melons to the church, those dear saints, after many years of gathering in various meeting places, often quite humble and uncomfortable auditoriums, finally saw the Lord miraculously provide a beautiful campus and complex of buildings sufficient to house the Mission, the Church and the MCS day school—all glory to God! This home base for the church, the mission, and the school is located at 2925 W. Polk Street, two very short blocks just north of Van Buren and 29th Avenue—in the very heart of what is known as “Little Mexico”! God is not only very generous, but also very wise! As the four and a half-mile relocation was made from the east side of Central Phoenix to the west side of the inner city, our concern that some people might not be able to travel those four and a half miles proved unfounded. Not only did we not lose a single family but, within two or three years, the congregation doubled.

God gave us a vision of what could happen in “Little Mexico” with a strong bus ministry and soul winning outreach. Two of God’s choice servants who were such a blessing and inspiration to us as they led the church as bus ministry directors were Ray Miranda and Bill Clare, along with great help from their wives, Tracy Miranda and Mary Clare. Ray Miranda also served as Christian Education Director.

A brief history of the church would be incomplete if mention were not made of the numerous and varied outreach ministries that developed over the years. Beginning in 1939 with a weekly half-hour live broadcast from one of the major Phoenix stations—KOY, an uninterrupted radio ministry of the Gospel brought Christ to the Hispanic population in central Arizona for many years. The founding pastor delivered the sermons live from the downtown radio studio with an enthusiastic church choir up early on Sunday mornings to contribute their songs of testimony and joy.

Dr. Dick Mercado began his involvement in missionary gospel radio as a “boy-soprano” member of the church choir. As he began his preaching ministry at the age of 16, he would take turns at the microphone preaching and also providing scripts for a two or three-a-week, 15-minute Gospel series he called “The Adventures of Tio José.” These were aired on a new all-Spanish radio station KIFN. In time, Dr. Mercado was invited by a Phoenix Christian station, KFLR, to do weekly Saturday evening one-hour bilingual programs called, “La Hora Vespertina,” which many expressed brought blessing to their hearts and homes. While those broadcasts ended after about a 12-year history, the radio outreach still continues with numbers of missionary radio stations across the Spanish-speaking world still airing some of Dr. Mercado’s sermons and playing Dick and Margine Mercado’s recorded duets and Mercado family taped music. Again, how gracious and good the Lord is! From a boy-soprano radio choir member to still preaching and singing on radio—it all represents some 66 years of participating in missionary radio.

The MGM Mother Church has itself for a number of years had the joy of helping to send out missionaries to various fields, including various parts of Mexico, Puerto Rico, New Mexico, Africa, and even Mongolia.

The church and mission have collaborated in publishing gospel literature and music in Spanish and English and in institutional ministries such as prisons, detention centers, hospitals, and nursing homes. Working with Don Ross of Harvest Productions, Dr. Mercado and numbers of church members have helped with quite a number of Gospel films (now on DVD) in which the Gospel is made clear and compelling. One such film, No Greater Love, has been used of the Lord all over the world to lead countless souls to the Savior.

Instituto Práctico Ebenezer

In the early fifties, the mission founded the MGM Pan-American Bible Institute, which was located in West Tempe, Arizona. Early graduates included brothers Avilés and Espinoza, along with Rumaldo Nuñez, Faustino Cornejo, Bro. Becerra from Guanajato, Mrs. Romero, and Vangie Miranda. About 1968, some 15 or 16 dedicated and “on-fire-for-God” young people from the Independent Baptist Churchin Hermosillo pastored by Pastor Avilés clamored for more thorough Bible training. During those very months the Lord brought to the mission a former FBI agent, Les Walthers, who felt a special burden to begin a Bible Institute in Mexico. Thus it was that after 14 years of fruitful teaching and training in Tempe, the school was moved to Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico, and renamed the Ebenezer Bible Institute. Les and his wife, Loretta and their family moved to Hermosillo as MGM missionaries and served for a number of years as the original director of the Ebenezer Bible Institute. Adding the 14 years of the Tempe school to the years of Ebenezer Bible Institute history, we rejoice in marking more than 50 years of MGM efforts in seeking to train Christian leaders.

The Walthers moved from Hermosillo to the Phoenix field to help in the expanding work of the church and the mission, followed a few years later by Gail Ereddia. During that time, a third prong of the MGM ministries was developed, the K-12 Christian day school known first as MGM Evangelical School and, more recently, as Mission Christian School or MCS.

Mission Christian School
The genesis of MCS represents a wonderful answer to prayer. God burdened the pastoral staff of the church, as well as numbers of the parents of church children and young people, to pray that somehow He might open the way for those families to have their sons and daughters receive a Christ-centered, biblically based education. During an extended period of such prayer, the Lord put Mike Wentworth in touch with us, a recent graduate in both education and Spanish. The Wentworths, along with a number of volunteer parents, became the founders of a Christian school that, across more than 30 years, has seen graduates go on to a number of fine fundamental colleges and some on to the mission field and ministry for Christ. After the Wentworths, Mark DuBois directed the school, helped by his wife Lurene. For the past 25 years, Jim Crowther has headed up the school ministry, encouraged by his wife Linda, Dick and Margine Mercado’s firstborn daughter. God has raised up across the years, a corps of faithful, godly, and sacrificial faculty, all with true servants’ hearts and with a passion to impact their students for Christ and His cause. For years, MCS students have excelled in fine arts and academics, as well as athletic competitions, with some returning to their alma mater to become faculty members. How we praise the Lord!

Development of the Mission—Finances and People
In 1935 or 1936, Leonardo Mercado was given five minutes at the national GARBC meeting to share his passion for reaching the Mexican people of greater Phoenix, Arizona, with the gospel. His passion for souls, his tears and his unique smile won the hearts of many of the pastors attending that conference. As a result, many invitations came in to speak at missions conferences and local church meetings in many areas of the United States. It was thus that the Lord was pleased to provide prayer and financial support for a growing missionary work.

At just one such meeting in Waverly, Iowa, a young registered nurse named Winifred Lynes, heard Pastor Mercado’s challenge. She soon resigned her position, left the comforts of her Iowa home, moved to Phoenix and began a remarkable missionary career which included reaching many precious children and women for the Lord, not only in the Phoenix area, but all over Mexico. Evangelina (“Vangie”) Miranda joined with Miss Lynes and together they made a very effective team of missionaries reaching untold numbers of souls for the Savior. God used them in a special way in training many, many nationals in the ministry of evangelizing children and their parents.

In similar ways, God has raised up over the years many stalwart and faithful MGMI full-time missionaries and MGMI board members to serve in reaching the millions of Mexico—“Our Samaria To The South”—as well as among the multiplied millions of stateside Hispanics.

Some early MGM personnel who come to mind include Grady Parrott, who served as treasurer for the MGM Board of Directors for a time and then went on to be one of the founders of Missionary Aviation Fellowship. Rev. A. H. Woods, founder of Bible Chapel, for a time one of the largest and strongest fundamental congregations in Arizona, served for many years as a special friend, counselor, and active member of the MGM board. Naomi Edwards retired from her work with the VA hospital in Prescott, Arizona, and gave some 25 years plus in serving as a financial manager and administrative assistant to the MGM general director. We want to praise God for the many years of very important and faithful service other MGM board members have given. These include Pete Jacobson, Dan Bohlmann, Jack Miller, Wilfred Godinez, and Dick Mercado Jr. A few who are currently serving effectively as long-term MGM missionaries are Bacilio and Eunice Alfaro, Ron and Jackie Cochran, Keith and Lourdes Huhta, Sophie Weik, Cecilia Mercado, Roberto and Esther Estrada, and Dick and Margine Mercado. Other effective and loyal MGMI workers are more recent additions to the staff, and how we thank God for every one of them! They are Tap and Denise Hornor; Tap and Katie Hornor, Steve and Rosy Thomas; Jacinto and Rebecca Aguilar; Dan and Opal Wokaty; Sammy and Rebeca Schimansky, the Rubio brothers, Joey and Steve; and a number of dear national pastors and workers.

In Hermosillo, Sonora, Dr. Keith Huhta, and his faculty and staff at the Ebenezer Bible Institute continue to minister in the four-year Bible school where in recent years the student body now numbers approximately 100. Graduates have gone forth from this dynamic training center to evangelize and plant churches from one end of Mexico to another. Some IPE graduates are beginning to take part in helping to reap the harvest of souls for Christ stateside among the 40 to 50 million Spanish-speaking people now living within our own borders. These immigrants are the “strangers within our own gates” of Old Testament fame. Oh, that the Lord would help Christians across America, to rally to the cause of evangelizing these “strangers who sojourn among us” before the cults, and even Islamic forces, reach them.

Part of the church/mission evangelistic and missionary outreach has included supporting Dick and Margine Mercado’s itinerant preaching efforts. These crusades, retreats, camps, and Bible and mission conferences have taken them to many parts of Mexico and the United States, to Venezuela, Argentina, Peru, the Dominican Republic, England, and Spain. Since 1995, the church has named Dr. Mercado their “Pastor Representante” (Representative Pastor).

Changes—A New Name and A New Director

Three generations of the Mercado family have served as senior pastor of the mother church—Leonard Mercado (40 years), Dick Mercado Sr. (25 years) and Dick Mercado Jr. (10 years). Pastor Dick Mercado Jr. has followed the Lord’s leading for him to plant Westpointe Baptist Church in the exploding population of the far west Phoenix valley, and we are praying fervently that God’s choice of a fourth senior pastor for La Iglesia Evangélica may soon be called to the pulpit. Joey Rubio is currently serving as Interim Pastor. Pastor Rubio, along with his brother Steve, who serves as youth pastor, were saved as teenagers under the ministry of the Evangelical Church and received their training at the Instituto Práctico Ebenezer in Hermosillo, Mexico.

In 2003 the name of the mission was changed from Mexican Gospel Mission to Mission Gospel Ministries International (MGMI). This reflects the broadened scope of the mission, which includes Hispanics in America, as well as Spain and Latin America.

In 2005, at the age of 75, Dr. Richard Mercado stepped down as the General Director and was named International Representative for MGMI. The new MGM International general director, Dr. David R. Shumate, has come with a vision for encouraging and assisting both English- and Spanish-speaking churches in their efforts to both reach Hispanics with the Gospel and to identify and train the next generation of Spanish-speaking pastors.

Over the years numbers of earnest men and women also found Christ in one of the church or Mission ministries and have gone on to serve the Lord in other parts of the Spanish-speaking world. A harvest has been and is still being reaped for God’s glory. Numerous churches have been planted in Arizona, California, South Carolina, and in many areas of Mexico.

I will remember the works of the Lord: Surely I will remember thy wonders of old. I will meditate also of all thy work, and talk of thy doings…
WHO IS SO GREAT A GOD AS OUR GOD?

Psalm 77:11-13

TO GOD BE THE GLORY, GREAT THINGS HE HAS DONE!

Please register by July 9.

June 27-30

Around the World

9 a.m.-noon for children

Kids, ages 8-11, are encouraged to bring their friends with them as they jet around the globe making dishes from Latin America, Asia, India, and the Middle East. They will learn important food and kitchen safety, proper table setting, and good etiquette. Puppet plays, songs, and food-science experiments will add to the fun as they learn!

. . .

Rescue from the Restaurant Routine

6:30-9 p.m. for adults

Would you like to break away from the notorious “restaurant routine”? Come, bring your friends, and join this adult cooking camp to learn fresh food-preparation techniques; experiment with spices and herbs; make breads, main courses, and luscious desserts. Head home with tips to make your time in the kitchen very enjoyable!

visit: www.SummerCampsFindlay.com

TIME: 6:30 – 8:30 p.m.

Guest Speaker, Pastor Jason Knight

Get ready! Here it comes! Family Camp will soon be in session here at Calvary. Each evening, weather permitting, we will have special activities for all ages on the back parking lot and soccer field.

Then, on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday evenings, we will gather in Spurgeon Hall, for some “down home fun” with games, skits, songs and funny gags. These have been the highlight of previous family camps and we know that you won’t want to miss this fun time. After the fun time, Pastor Jason Knight, our church-planting missionary, will be delivering a life-changing message!

(Click here for more details)

Please click here for more information…

I hope that this message will mean as much to you as it has meant to me. When I think of messages  such as this one, I think about the “20/20 vision” articulated by Moses in Exodus 20:20. When the people of Israel expressed the wish that God would not speak to them because they were afraid they would die (Exodus 20:19), Moses responded, “Fear not, for God is come to prove you that His fear may be before your faces.”

This may seem confusing to some, but Moses was appealing for them to embrace the Fear of God. This is not a fear that alienates, but the fear that attracts. One who has the Fear of God has admiration and respect for God that attracts him to the Lord. Those without the Fear of the Lord will be driven away by their own fears. It honors the Lord for us to dwell “in the Fear of the Lord” with the result that His Fear is “before our faces.”

Sincerely,

Gordon Dickson, Senior Pastor, Calvary Baptist Church, Findlay, Ohio

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This is a fascinating, scientific description of our universe from a startling perspective.

This is an Illustra Media production.

_______________________

From the website

The Search for Purpose in the Universe

Many scientists and philosophers have claimed that Earth is an ordinary speck of dust adrift, without purpose or significance, in a vast cosmic sea. Yet current astronomical evidence seems to suggest just the opposite.  We now know that a rare and finely-tuned array of factors makes Earth suitable for complex life.

Through stunning computer animation, interviews with leading scientists, and spectacular images of Earth and the cosmos The Privileged Planet explores a startling connection between our capacity to survive and our ability to observe and understand the universe. Is this correlation merely a coincidence? Or does it point to a deeper truth about purpose and intelligent design within the cosmos?

Narrated by John Rhys-Davies (The Lord of the Rings).

These Bible rallies for children will feature

Creation Creatures

Multi-media presentations, replica dinosaur fossils, Bible stories, games, songs and prizes.

Amazing migrations: Monarch butterfly
A flash of color: hummingbirds
Special creations: woodpeckers
The ugliest fish: the hagfish
God’s grossest recycler: the dung beetle
God’s record in stone: dinosaur fossils
The tiniest Mammal: the Least shrew
The amazing Pederson cleaner shrimp
Amazing migrations: the Black Poll warbler
The Australian incubator bird: Mallee Fowl
A bold fisherman: the kingfisher
What you think you see: illusions & the human eye

Dr. Whitely will begin this presentation on Sunday, March 20 at 9:30 am, 11 am and 6:00 pm. The rallies will continue Monday through Thursday, 6:30pm – 8:30pm each evening.