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Dan Betzer on the blessing of Heritage
Posted by ifphc on July 19, 2007
Dan Betzer, one of the most recognizeable people in the Assemblies of God, has served as pastor of First Assembly of God (Fort Myers, Florida), since 1987. He is also the assistant district superintendent of the Peninsular Florida District of the Assemblies of God.
He followed C. M. Ward as speaker on the Assemblies of God’s flagship radio program, Revivaltime, broadcasting from 1979 to 1995. Our younger readers will know him as the voice behind the Dan and Louie Bible stories that they grew up with.
He currently hosts “ByLine with Dan Betzer,” a two-minute program heard weekdays on radio stations nationwide. He also hosts the 60-second weekday ByLine Television commentary, which is aired around the world on over 900 television stations. Here is a reprint of his “ByLine” radio message from July 17th.
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“ByLine with Dan Betzer” Program # 3597
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
“The Blessing Of Heritage”
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Hello again, this is Dan Betzer. In our fellowship, the Assemblies of God, we have a periodical called Heritage. To us nostalgic types, the magazine is a blessing. We read stories and see pictures of the great men and women of the past who shaped our fellowship, heroes in the truest sense of the word. I think I have every issue ever printed. They are bound in huge volumes so they are easy to pick up and read.
Church members need to understand where they came from and who made them what they are. They need to know basic dates or time periods when these historic activities took place. Now understand, please, that I have actually lived through 75% of the entire history of the Assemblies of God, so many of these heroes were friends of mine, or at least I knew who they were at the time of their impact. They have made the proverbial indelible impression upon me. Heritage is a great name for the periodical because the lives of these men and women are exactly that: a heritage to each of us.
Now you may not belong to our fellowship. But how well do you know the history of your group or denomination? Today’s youth, and God bless them everyone!, want to be a part of the changing landscape of ecclesiastical movements, and well they should! But they also need to know where their roots are. They need to be aware of sacrifices made by their elders without which they would not even have a fellowship or denomination. God bless every man and woman who has contributed to who we are, to those who have successfully walked this way before us. Let us never forget them! Or our heritage!
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Thank you, Dan Betzer, for this positive review of Heritage!
Heritage magazine is now available as an annual edition. Back issues (over 3,000 pages) may be purchased as bound volumes or on CD-ROM.
The Summer 2003 edition of Assemblies of God Heritage included two feature articles on Revivaltime which are available online: “The Big Picture From the Long, Long Altar” by Barbara Cavaness and “My Seventeen Years as Revivaltime Speaker” by Dan Betzer.
The Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center also has several Revivaltime items for sale, including Revivaltime Favorites (CD of 22 songs), Revivaltime Classics (14 sermons of C. M. Ward), and video and audio copies of the Revivaltime Reenactments from the 2003 and 2005 General Councils.
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