Manuscripts

OUR GOD, HE IS ALIVE by Tim Ayers Tim Ayers has been the local preacher for the Hwy. 95 N. Church of Christ in Taylor, Texas since September, 1992. Tim was baptized at the Dripping Springs church of Christ in 1971, and continued as a member of Dripping Springs until 1979. He graduated from the University of Texas-Austin in 1979 with a BBA in Accounting. Tim worked as a bank auditor, then enrolled in the Southwest School of Bible Studies, graduating in 1981. He began full-time preaching upon graduation, and has preached for churches in Wimberley, Matador, and Buchanan Dam in Texas, and the Cullendale church in Camden, Arkansas. He has spoken on a number of lectureships in the U.S. and overseas. He has preached gospel meetings in several states, and directed lectureships in Arkansas and Texas. He has preached on radio and television and has written in local newspapers. He is also a faculty member at the Southwest School of Bible Studies in Austin, Texas. Tim has taught personal evangelism classes and singing and song leading classes at various congregations. He has been active in summer Bible camps, teaching, counseling and directing at Camp Ida (Redwater, Texas) and Camp Hensel (sponsored by the Southwest church of Christ). Tim has also been active in the local community, coaching his sons in soccer, basketball, and baseball. Tim is married to Rosemary (Fullingim), and they have four sons: Joel, Jeremy, Adam and Luke. Rosemary teaches the three younger boys at home, and also teaches Bible classes. The oldest three sons are Christians, and are active in song leading, leading prayers, serving at the Lord's table, and being a positive influence in the Taylor youth group. I was in my late teenage years when I first heard this great spiritual song. Always desiring to be able to sing strong bass, I immediately liked the song because of the bass lead in the chorus. Sometime later I noticed the majesty of the lyrics and came to love the song even more. I was delighted when the assignment of this song was given to me. This great song incorporates many important Bible teachings. But mostly I like it because of the bold affirmation in the chorus: “There is a God, He is alive!” How wonderful it is to hear the male voices, young and old, of a congregation singing out proclaiming Jehovah’s existence! This song was written by brother A. W. Dicus. According to brother Gene Finley, Aaron Wesley Dicus was born May 30, 1888 in Festus, Missouri. He died September 2, 1978 in Tampa, Fla. … His marriage took place in 1908, the same year that he was baptized into Christ. On the occasion of his baptism, he made a vow to the effect that “If the Lord will allow me to get an education, I will use it in service to the Lord.” Almost immediately after his baptism brother Dicus began to prepare himself to become a minister and to pursue his education…He advanced from classroom teacher in a one-room schoolhouse to instructor in a large Technical High School. In 1918 he gave up his teaching to develop his invention, the turn signal. In the recession of 1922 the under-capitalized turn signal “folded,” and he turned all rights over to his financial partner. By this time his reputation and popularity had grown until he was offered the job of minister of a large church in Bloomington, Indiana. This afforded him the opportunity to attend the University of Indiana located there. Around 1925 he was offered a student instructor type of scholarship at the University of Indiana. By scheduling monthly appointments at several congregations, he was able to continue his ministerial work. By this time he was becoming much in demand for gospel meetings. He subsequently finished his B.S. and M.S. degrees, and in 1929, when he had most of the work done on his Ph.D., he was offered the job of Head of the Physics Department of Tennessee Tech in Cookeville, Tennessee. The depression years were hard on the young “Dr. Dicus,” and his family. At one period eleven months went by before the State of Tennessee could pay its college teachers. Meanwhile brother Dicus continued to pursue his ministerial duties. He would accept monthly appointments at small rural churches. Many times he was given the entire collection. Often it was not sufficient to pay for the gasoline used to get there. In the 1940’s he became involved in military training at Tennessee Tech …In 1954 he retired, but he was not content to remain inactive. He and his wife developed their small tract of five acres adjacent to the small suburb of Tampa where they lived. During this time he preached full time for churches at Winter Haven and Miami, Florida. During this “retirement” period he wrote and published three books: Sermon Outlines, A Commentary on Hebrews and Romans and Church Leadership. All this activity was going on as he wrote and composed his songs. He wrote approximately thirty-five songs after he retired. Of the thirty-five, the most popular, and indeed, one of the most popular of all songs, is “Our God, He Is Alive.” Other songs include “Lord, I Believe” and “The Open Tomb.” (Finley, pp. 165-168) Now we will briefly analyze each stanza of the song. 1. “There is beyond the azure blue, a God concealed from human sight; He tinted skies with heavenly hue and framed the worlds with his great might.” Brother Dicus begins by taking our minds to a beautiful blue sky, which is specifically described by the word “azure.” But Someone is beyond that sky, although we cannot see Him with our human eyes. The Bible says no one can see God and live (Exo. 33:20; Jud. 13:22; Gen. 32:30; John 1:18; 5:37). He is “the invisible God” (Col. 1:15; 1 Tim. 1:17; 6:16; 1 John 4:12). But we know He is there because of the evidence of the universe. God created the earth with an atmosphere that separates the light coming from the sun so that we see the beautiful blue color spread out from horizon to horizon. I don’t fully understand how it all works, but I can surely enjoy the majesty of a clear blue sky (Psa. 19:1). The Bible teaches that God “created the heaven and the earth” (Gen. 1:1), and “he that built all things is God” (Heb. 3:4). “Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear” (Heb. 11:3). 2. “There was, a long, long time ago, a God whose voice the prophets heard. He is the God that we should know, who speaks from His inspired word.” Here we move beyond the creation to God’s dealings with man. “God, who at sundry times and in divers manners, spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets” (Heb. 1:1). The God of the Bible is the only “living and true God” (1 The. 1:9). “I am God, and there is none else” (Isa. 46:9). It is essential that we know God (2 The. 1:7-8). To know God is to obey His commandments (1 John 2:3-4). God speaks to us today through His written word (1 Cor. 14:37; 2 Tim. 3:16-17; 2 Pet. 1:21; 2 Sam. 23:2). 3. “Secure is life from mortal mind, God holds the germ within his hand. Tho’ men may search, they cannot find, for God alone does understand.” These words declare that the power of life belongs to God exclusively. Man can determine what sort of elements comprise the human body, and even the proper proportions. But if one were to mix those elements in a test tube, the result would an indeterminate mass of goo. No life would come from that mixture. Man will never figure out the secret of life. Cloning is not the answer. They start with a fertilized ovum and simply transfer the nucleus of that cell into another one. It is no more than cellular manipulation. Man will never create life. 4. “Our God, whose Son upon a tree, a life was willing there to give, that He from sin might set man free, and evermore with Him could live.” Here brother Dicus has summarized the Gospel of Jesus Christ in one stanza. The “tree” refers to the cross of Calvary. God gave His only begotten Son to die on the cross, to be the perfect sacrifice for all mankind (John 3:16; 1 John 2:2). Here we see the love, grace and mercy of God in providing our salvation so that His creation could live with Him forever in Heaven. “Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift” (2 Cor. 9:15). Then the chorus: “There is a God, He is alive, in Him we live, and we survive.” Again, this is a bold affirmation given the philosophical climate of our day, when many people believe that “God is dead.” But Christians know better! Paul wrote, “For in him we live, and move, and have our being” (Acts 17:28). “From dust our God created man, He is our God, the great I AM.” The chorus closes by reminding us of God’s creative power in making man from the “dust of the ground” (Gen. 2:7). When Moses wanted to know how to refer to God, he was told to say, “I AM hath sent me unto you” (Exo. 3:14). God is self-existent, with no beginning and no end. He always has been and always will be. “Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God” (Psalm 90:2). WORK CITED Finley, Gene, ed. (1980) Our Garden of Song (West Monroe, LA: Howard Publishing Co.)