______ Dr. Ben

"I just want to be a blessing ... really."
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About Me
I am a Baptist pastor in Northern Michigan. I pastor the Bible Believers Church, an Historic Baptist congregation in Mesick, twenty-five miles south of Traverse City. For your information, an "Historic Baptist" is a church that believes in the tenents of Baptists churches down through the centuries from Christ. We are not a modern-day Baptist church where almost anything goes in order to get a crowd. We believe in a pure congregation of saved, baptized believers, worshiping and serving God as a church, and leading people to a saving relationship with Jesus Christ.
 
I was saved at age seven at Camp Reveal, just north of Evansville, Indiana. I was a camper who came forward to receive Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior on Monday night of that first week of camp. I followed the Lord in Believer's Baptism when I was nine years old at Calvary Baptist Church in Evansville. I attended Stringtown Grade School and North High School in Evansville.
 
I am currently the Director of the Ecclesiastical Law Center in Mesick, Michigan. We help churches to be Biblically placed under the Lordship of Jesus Christ in every area of the church. We have always worked through the pastor of the church so as to set the things in order so that the church can be the church, and not a corporation. We have helped many churches to unincorporate over the twenty years that the Law Center has been in existence. Working mainly to educate behind the scenes, we counsel pastors and church leaders as to how to simply be a church. The Law Center website is here. Please visit us and see if we can be a blessing to your church. We do not advise individuals in legal matters, but we do work with churches.
 
My Church Background 
   When I finished Bible college, I returned to my home town of Evansville, Indiana, and became the music and youth director of the Evansville Baptist Temple. I was there for four years.
   During that time I started teaching at Mill Road Christian School. I taught there for four years. I was also the high school baseball coach.
   Then I became the Principal of Gethsemane Baptist Schools at Fairlawn Baptist Church. I was principal for two years before I moved to Louisville to be Associate Pastor at Metropolitan Baptist Church. I was also the music director at the church and the Academic Dean of Faith Bible College in Louisville.
   Here is my remembrance of my Ordination Service while at Fairlawn Baptist Church in Evansville, Indiana.
   After two and a half years in Louisville, I moved to Indianapolis and joined the staff at the Indianapolis Baptist Temple, where I was Music Director, Administrator of Temple Baptist College, taught in the high school, and was the head lobbiest for the Indiana Coalition for Religious Freedom at the statehouse in Indianapolis.
   After seven years there I moved to Mesick, Michigan where I was school superintendent of Heritage Christian School, and music director at the church. In 1993, I became the pastor of Bible Believers Baptist Church in Mesick. I have held that position for over fifteen years.
   In that time we have built a 170 seat auditorium (we recently had 210 for a wedding), have an orchestra of 16 people who play strings and woodwinds, have a Bible Institute, and host the ELC Bible Conference each year in August.
My Family 
   I have been married to Debbie for 32 years on March 19, 2009. In that time we have had four wonderful children who all love the Lord.
   Jennifer, our oldest, is now a missionary to the African country of Zambia. She has been there for a total of six years. You can find out a ton of information about her ministries there at her website, www.zambianorphanage.com.
   Jessica, our second born, is married to Brad Boonstra, who is youth director at Kingsley Baptist Church in Kingsley, Michigan. They have three children: Parker, who is five, Carter, who is four, and Faith, who turned two in September. Jessica works at the pharmacy in Mesick, and they live just two blocks away from us.
   Jeremy was our third-born, and our only son. He was a wonderful young man, and loved the Lord with all his heart. He went to heaven instantly when a semi hit our car head-on with four of us in the car. Jeremy was driving, and the semi driver, who fell asleep at the wheel, went right into the front, driver side of the car. Jeremy's Tribute Page is here.
   Bethany, our youngest, is the brightness of my life. She is now nineeen, and has learned to play the recorder flute, and also the guitar. She plays both in the church orchestra, but not at the same time. She has written and arranged music, and loves to practice to constantly get better. She also loves reading books, and not just any books, but a lot of the classics. She just finished "Les Miserables," over a thousand pages. She reads Jane Austin, and Charles Dickens, along with many other books. She keeps a wonderful blog of her life. You can see it here.