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Welcome Detweiler

Welcome Detweiler (March 25, 1908 – March 31, 1992) was an American preacher, evangelist, and church founder whose ministry bridged his Pennsylvania farming roots with a vibrant Gospel outreach in North Carolina. Born in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, to Mennonite parents, Detweiler grew up on a 97-acre homestead raising registered Holstein cattle and Percheron draft horses. At 18, an open-air preacher’s charge to “go out and preach the Word of God” ignited his calling, though he initially balanced farming with Bible study. On May 26, 1931, he married Helen Lear, and they raised three children—Jerry (1935), Gladys (1937), and Cliff (1941)—while he preached part-time across various denominations. By 1940, Detweiler entered full-time ministry as a song leader and evangelist, leaving farming behind. In 1944, he joined evangelist Lester Wilson in Durham, North Carolina, leading singing for a six-week revival that birthed Grove Park Chapel. Sensing a divine call, he moved his family there in January 1945, purchasing land on Driver Avenue to establish a community church. Despite wartime lumber shortages, he resourcefully built and expanded the chapel—first to 650 seats in 1948 using Camp Butner mess hall wood, then to 967 in 1950 with a Sunday school wing—growing it into a thriving hub with a peak attendance of over 1,000. Known as “Mr. D,” he led youth groups and preached with clarity, often hosting out-of-town speakers in his home.
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Sermon Summary
In this sermon, the speaker discusses the concept of a heavenly city and how God conveys its description to us. He explains that God uses the known and the unknown to help us understand the infinite nature of the city. The speaker highlights the negatives of this world and emphasizes that those undesirable aspects will not be present in the heavenly city. He also mentions that there will be no sorrow in that city. The sermon encourages the audience to remember that this world is not their home and to look forward to the eternal city described in the Bible.
Sermon Transcription
A little bit of interlude in between because I want him to, I want to wear off a little bit of what I might say about him so he won't get mad at me. That's some way to introduce a speaker, to think that he's going to get up and be mad at you. But he won't be, because I've known the speaker that we gave a special invitation to, to come to Greensboro and be one of our featured speakers at this conference. I've known him and worked with him for a long time and he's been a tremendous force here in the Piedmont area. Now I know that in introducing a speaker we should not say anything that takes away from exhausting the Lord Jesus Christ first. That's foremost and sometimes maybe I make the mistake of seeming to do that. But I believe in what one prayed this morning, that we need good men and we need good women in our assemblies for them to grow and for them to have spirit and vision and for them to carry on. When we cease to have that kind of leadership, our growth ceases and then we do not carry on all the work of God that we are capable of doing. And we've had good men who came into the Piedmont area, used of God to preach the gospel and to minister the word and to teach us and to establish our assembly. One such person is our brother Welcome Detweiler from Durham, who has not only been used of God in a marvelous way there, but has had many other gifts and been used in many other ways. He was certainly one of those who began the Blue Ridge Bible Conference back in 1945, I believe it was, or 7. And then after it looked like we might have to move from there, and even before that, he exercised some of that good wisdom that God gives him and vision. And we started a second conference at Bristol, and he was the main force behind that, and God has certainly used that. He and Helen together have been used in a wonderful way in our camp program. And though on occasions he's been slowed down slightly through one reason or another, he always comes back strong, and that's because God has further work for him to do. And it's just been a real pleasure to have invited him to come and be one of our speakers today and for him to be able to do so. And in a moment, you'll have the pleasure of hearing him. Now those in Durham may get to hear him occasionally. We don't often enough. When you go to Bristol, he's always busy, running here and there, to-and-fro, seeing if everything goes all right. And we don't get any chance to hear him speak, but he can do that, and you'll see it in a few moments. So I know in a few moments you'll join me in thanking God afresh that our brother Detweiler has got this renewed strength and energy and vision to keep carrying on, and that he was able to accept our invitation to be here. And God blesses our special numbers, as he already has, and we're delighted to have Helen McKay and Kathleen Freeman come out and prepare our hearts for the message that will follow by our brother Detweiler. I'm already glad that I came to the conference, because I didn't realize that I was so great. It makes me feel terrific. I just wish Dick would have had more time to just continue the subject a bit longer. In fact, he didn't tell you all of it. He didn't tell you why I was so great. Being a child of the King, and he really didn't go far. If you haven't heard all of the greatness that is still in the future, I'm scheduled to reign with Jesus Christ. The only thing that makes me sad is that what is true about me is true about all the rest of you, so I just fit in with all of you. But isn't it wonderful? I don't think we can comprehend the greatness that God has showered upon us just by bringing us to our Lord Jesus Christ. And since this is such a beautiful, warm morning, I thought it would be nice to turn to a very delightful portion of the Bible, the second-last chapter of your Bible, the Revelation 21. I'm reading from verse 1. And I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away, and there was no more sea. And I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven, saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes, and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain, for the former things are passed away. And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, having the glory of God, and her life was like unto a jasper, a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal. And the twelve gates were of twelve pearls, every several gate was of one pearl, and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass. And I saw no temple of it, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it. And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it, for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it, and the kings of the earth do bring the glory and honor into it. And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day, for there shall be no night there. And they shall bring the glory and honor of the nations into it, and there shall in no wise enter into it anything that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie, but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life. And there shall be no more thirst, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and his servants shall serve him. And they shall see his face, and his name shall be in their forehead. And there shall be no night there, and they need no candle, neither light of the sun, for the Lord God giveth them light, and they shall reign forever and ever." God was blessed to us reading of this wonderful portion of his words. It's not uncommon for an employee to be called into the office of the president, the manager, or the boss, and perhaps with some hesitation he goes in and says, I wonder what's going to happen. And the boss is the man that is filled with diplomacy, and he says, we have looked over your record, and we are very well pleased with your accomplishments, and we are opening up another plant, and the board has felt that you are the man that would be able to manage this new plant. What a shock! Where is this place? Well, it's quite a distance away, but the remuneration, the raise that you'll get, will take care of it, so don't worry about that. Well, you are going to tell me where. Yes. It's Seattle, Washington. Seattle, Washington. Now, you don't have to decide right now. You can talk it over with your wife, and maybe the children, if they still run the house, and then you can come back maybe a week later, or whenever you can, and make the decision. You would expect him to go home, and to find his single wife, and tell the news to her. And, of course, he also has some diplomacy, and he says, guess what? I'm getting a terrific raise. Good! Good! Ah, then I can get some of those things that you've been holding back on me. Ah, are there any strings attached? Yes, I'm afraid. We'll have to move? Yes. Where? Seattle, Washington. Seattle, Washington? Two thousand miles away from Mama? No! No! You'd miss your mother-in-law if you were that far away from her. No. Well, we'll have to go. But, uh, Seattle, Washington. Do you know anything about it? Not that much. Where is it? Let's get the, uh, Britannica down, or the World Book, and look up on the rest. Seattle. Oh, there it is. Oh, it's a good, quiet city. Right on Puget Sound, and, oh, guess what it says? The temperature is never below sixty-five, and never above seventy-five. Hey, that means our affiliates won't freeze anymore, will it? That's delightful. I didn't know that. And, look what it says here. They have not found the slightest degree of pollution in the air. They can't understand it. It may be that the waters of the Pacific and then of Puget Sound cleanses all the atmosphere, but they have never heard the word intrasemen, or asthma, in Seattle. In fact, there are some people from all parts of the country who are coming to that city, and after they've been there thirty days, they have no respiratory problems at all. And besides that, they have found that folks who, uh, are subject to arthritis, their hands go up after they're there for a while, and they can't explain it. It may be chemicals in the water, whatever it is, but they start to. And the little wife says, you know Mother has arthritis, and it may be that I will inherit it. And, uh, I'm sorry that I said no. No. You know, it looks good. Maybe you should consider it. You look like a very brilliant audience, but you're running ahead of me. You are already making the application, and I don't like that, but it will save me some time. But you also look like a very critical audience. You see, the illustration doesn't fit at all, because we've got to move someday, and the description of that place is given, and you will not be asked whether you want to move or not. You will have to move someday. This is one thing that I want to impress upon our hearts, and, uh, we are slow at learning this. I guess we need to hear that spiritual, this world is not my home. I'm just a passing proof. If heaven's not my home, then Lord, what will I do? This is the truth that we must continually keep before us, because we are so ambitious to gain real estate, and antiques, and all these other things. And without intending, we almost live and rush day by day as if we're never going to move. This is it. This is our permanent address. But, of course, we know better. Our daily newspaper reminds us of that. We've got to move. Someday, we've got to move. And wouldn't it be natural, since we do have to move, that we should sit down the, uh, encyclopedia, and, uh, read about that place? And God didn't have to bother telling us about it. He could have treated us just as He treated Abraham. I want you to leave your country. I'm not going to tell you anything about it. You just follow me, and I'll tell you when you get there, and explain it in detail. But I'm not telling you anything ahead of time. He could have. But He didn't. I suppose I could say God really had a problem to convey to us what that city is like. But you'd run me out of here if I didn't explain that, because God doesn't have any problems. But from the human point of view, how would God explain the infinite to such limited, finite minds? How would He do it? Well, He uses one of the basic rules of education. He places the known and the unknown together, and, uh, He tries to explain the unknown from the known. And while you're reading this portion, you notice a number of negatives you know about this world. And He picks out the undesirable things, so far as this world is concerned, and He says, that won't be there, that won't be there, that won't be there. Now that's an interesting way, at least, to convey to us, with our limited minds, about this wonderful city. Let's look at it. There won't be any sorrow there. Do you know anything about sorrow? Do I have to explain that? Have you ever had to go to the dictionary to find out what the word sorrow means? You've had your share, and maybe some of you are saying, I've had more than my share of sorrow. This veil of tears, they tell us that everything in this earth, since the curse, is in the minor key, and that we're going to see in the major key, when we get to heaven. No sorrow there. No pain there. A groaning creation. Have you ever been through a rough home, where all these senior citizens, helpless, some of them groaning, some of them moaning, some of them calling for some relative, and so on. Isn't that sad? No pain in that wonderful place. No death, no funeral processions. I can't take that in. We're so accustomed to it. Day after day, it comes near to us. Sometimes in our family circles, sometimes in our neighborhood, sometimes with fellow workmen, but it's all around us, continually. A city, in which there's no sorrow, no pain, no death. Yes, and we're not through yet. No candles there. No need for man's efforts to comfort. No temple there. No special place for worship. And in other portions of the word of God, He still gives us some more negatives. No moth, no rust, no depreciation, no thieves, breakthrough and steal, no injustice. Justice will reign supremely. And of course, that means safe streets as well. No sun to scorch us. No moon with its silly influence. No moon shine in heaven. No night there. No need for rest of the body. You never get to the place that takes much more ache and bones. Oh, I just got to lay down. Never. Fresh as a daisy every day. I just can't take it in. No posters there. No big shots in heaven. Say, that'll be a relief for them. All these men who are walking, strutting around. No boat streets. This is wonderful. I don't want to spoil this scene for you who are gold conscious and gem conscious, but I must remind you that when you read from the book of Revelation, right in the beginning on doorstep you will read that there will be signs or symbols in this book. And that person who opens this book and reads it through and says, I believe everything in this book can be taken literally, he's going to have some problems before he gets through. And that person who reads the book and says, I believe everything in here is in symbol form and you can't take anything literally, he's going to have problems too. Some of the things can be accepted literally and some of them must be accepted as symbols or figurative language. How will you know which? Well, that's why you have all the rest of the Bible. The rest of the Bible will help you to figure out what can be accepted literally and what is in symbolic form. Since we have placed so much value on gold and sparkling gems and pearls and the things that are red, and I didn't read all the verses, you should sometime read over the whole thing, this appeals to us. And I think God again is trying from the positive side of things to show us the things that are so valuable to you on earth, even greater in heaven. But just to be sure that someday you'll be walking on gold cobblestones, well, don't be disappointed when you get there and it happens to be figurative language. I'm not sure. But I think it's wonderful that God has been pleased to tell us about this wonderful city. Again, in figuring out whether we want to move to Seattle, we should get a map down and we should find out how do we get there? What routes will take us there? And I think our interest should be not only there is a heaven and someday that will be my permanent address, we'll be there for all eternity, we've got to move. How do we get there? As near as I can tell, there are three entrances to heaven. Two of them are mentioned in Genesis chapter 5. The one route is, and he died, route. The other one is, and he was not, for God took him, route. They both go to the same place, but they are two separate routes. Now if you want to know about that upper route, about the area of the road that Enoch and Elijah took, you'll have to ask them about it. But it is a wonderful route. And because you already traveled that route, we are sure that there is a gate, an entrance into heaven by that upper route, and he was not, for God took him. And we are promised in our Bible that someday a company on earth who have believed in Jesus Christ will travel that upper route. A tremendous mass of people disappearing from the face of the earth at one time, all heaven bound. No clumsy rocket. No fear of the temperature being a little too hot when you get to the edge of the atmosphere and into space. Don't worry about that. It'll be alright. Enoch got through without any harm as far as we know, and we'll get through just fine. That will be wonderful. And we should keep this before us every day. I hate to tell you, but it's possible that you will never see your house again. It's possible you'll never see your dog. You'll never get home. It's possible Jesus Christ will come and honor the Greensboro country today. I'm not talking about some fairy tales. These are Bible facts, and we have to keep them before us. The fact that the precious blood of Christ has so cleansed us and made us fit that we are not in that category of people who are on the face of the earth who have to say, I hope I'll someday be in heaven, but to be able to say, I know that I'll be in heaven. That's terrific. I think it's the greatest possession that any person can have. It makes everything look different. Just for a moment, picture. We don't really know. We might get to heaven. Everything is dark and gloomy down here. Who knows? We may get a Democratic president after a while, and everything may go wrong. Nothing to choose. Who wants to live? There's really nothing to choose. As long as we have to say, I hope, I hope that maybe sometime I'll get to heaven. Anyone here just hoping? You haven't got it. You need to get one more step. It's delightful to say, I know. This is what I have been reading about. I am guaranteed on the highest authority that I'm going to be there. When, that's not important, but I'm going to be there. And whichever route I take is not important either. Maybe in examining this place as God has revealed it, I should have gone a little bit further and perhaps should have spoken about the persons who will be there. We are told in the word of God of the persons that will not be there. 1 Corinthians 6, you have a list of people. And in this, in the 8th verse, if I had read it, I skipped over that, but the fearful, the unbelieving, the abominable, the murderers, the whoremongers, the sorcerers, the idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake of Bernas-Forest with fire and brimstone, which is the second best. They won't be there. And that would be good reason. Who will be there? The angels will be there. Have you seen an angel lately? I've never seen one. I'd love to meet one someday. They're going to be there. God's servants who have never sinned, who are doing his bidding, and we shall see real angels when we get there. Our loved ones will be there. Those who have left us, we've had to say goodbye to them. They're there if they put their faith in Jesus Christ. And the separation is painful because we are human, but we do have a guarantee that we shall see them and know them again. They are there. And I guess what makes heaven precious to us is when we have mothers and fathers and relatives and friends there, we know that that separation that seems so bitter will be removed because we are guaranteed to see them again. But more than that, how about all these people that you've been reading about in this book? There will be Abraham and Isaac and David and Job and all of these. Won't it be delightful to meet these people in person? They're going to be there. I heard of one preacher who was trying to convert a belief family. He mentioned that. He just said, just think about it. Isaiah will be there. Jeremiah will be there. Lamentation will be there. How nice to meet all of those in person. All these Bible characters. But I've got to go a little farther because there are so many of our hymns that will include this. All I need to know of heaven is that Jesus will be there. We sing so heartily, face to face with Christ my Savior. I've never seen him except by faith, and that's been wonderful. I've read about him and I have formed a picture from what I have read of this wonderful Savior, but I've never seen him. I promise that I shall personally be able to thank him for what he has done for me. The Lord Jesus Christ will be there, and that's going to make heaven just wonderful. But again, back to this wonderful day when God will raise all of those who are saved and smash them home. It could be today. I think perhaps I have met a few Christians who are a bit more spiritual than I am, and they are positive that they will never die. They are sure that they are going the upper route. I haven't reached that yet, and I'm not too much concerned about it, and I don't know just where they get their assurance from. They ask me, have you made a will? Oh no, no, I don't bother with that. I'm not looking for the undertaking. I'm looking for the upper truth. Do you have a cemetery lot? No, no. A Christian buying a cemetery lot? That's for sinners. No, I'm going up. I'm waiting for a shout. If I were to ask you, are you prepared to die? Oh sure, I'm saved. No, I don't mean that. I mean, since there are the two routes that I've mentioned, the upper route and the lower route, are you prepared for either one? Or are you so sure that if you're going the upper route, you haven't even considered the possibility that God has selected for you the lower route? Just think for a moment how few footsteps are on that upper route, only two so far. And think of the millions of people that are in heaven. How did they get there? They all went by the lower route. So it is really the heaviest traveled route. And I think perhaps as Christians we have sung, oh joy or delight, should I travel without dying? But I wonder, I think perhaps we can say there are some advantages of going the upper route, and there are also some advantages in going the lower route. And why should we be concerned which route we shall take as long as it winds up at the same place? When you come to a city you will find an arrow, business section, bypass. Well of course because we are very time conscious and we've got to rush. We don't usually take the business section, do we? We take the bypass. But after you get past the city, you come out exactly at the same place. So far as your destination is concerned, it wouldn't have made a bit of difference which way you went. And I think of believers, there should be absolutely no fear of death. Why should there be? Did David make this promise? Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me. But we say, supposing he doesn't go with me, that would be dreadful. That's a guarantee that he's going to go with me. Peter received a message from the Lord one day, when thou art old, they're going to carry you out and they're going to take you where you don't want to go. And do you know what that meant? It meant that I'm going to be slain by force. Peter could have walked around all the rest of you like, did you hear what the Lord said to me? Poor little old me, I've got to die, maybe they're going to crucify me, they're going to murder me. That's terrible. Did you ever read that? Peter goes right on. Oh he must have forgot about it. No he didn't. 1 Peter is it chapter 1? I know that what the Lord has promised me is now coming to pass. I'm reminding you of a number of things just before I leave you. And to him it was promised perhaps a holiday. It didn't bother him one bit. What about his friend Paul, who is so famous in the book of the Acts? He says I am in the straight which works through, having the desire to depart and to be with Christ, which is, that's right, far better. And didn't the second quarantine official say the same thing? As long as I'm absent from the body, in the body I'm absent from the Lord. I would prefer to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord. It really doesn't make any difference. How delightful to be able each day to live to this in mind that perhaps whatever route God chooses, I shall have the joy of being in his presence forever and ever. You may have heard these stories, I think all originate in Greensboro, about two men who hadn't seen each other for a long time. And then they met and asked a number of questions and among them, how's your wife doing? Oh you didn't hear? She went to heaven about a year ago. Oh I'm sorry. I mean I'm glad. But really what I mean, I'm surprised. Sometimes Christians come to me, I understand, these ties of nature are real. You know my aged mother, she's very, very sick and we're afraid she's going to die. Please pray to the Lord that she won't die. Lord, please don't let this mother go to heaven. That's what it amounts to, doesn't it? Oh I have difficulty. I can pray and say, Lord, you know which is best from our point of view and from the family's point of view, it would seem best that their mother could remain a little longer, but since you don't make any mistakes, all we can say is she's very sick, die will be done. If you call her into your, into her presence, she'll be far better off than she is now. Fear of death? No, not for the believer in our Lord Jesus Christ. That'll be a wonderful time when we shall be in his presence for all eternity. Some years ago, a train left New York station was heading west. On that train was an elderly man who had now reached his 90th birthday. Alongside of him was a younger man and they got into conversation and you would expect them eventually to get to the question, where is your destination? The old man said, I'm going to California. You're going to California? That's a long way on a train. Yes. And he'd already told him he was 90 years old. He said, that's strange. No one else, no one other family going with you? All alone? All alone. Yes, but that's a long journey for a 90 year old man. The old man said, the anticipation of going to a lovely planet takes away the sting of the long journey. I don't know where in California he was going, but I presume it was San Clemente. At least, let me repeat it. The anticipation of going to a lovely planet takes away the sting of the long journey. I tell you, it's wonderful to have this glorious city before us and a guarantee for going and I hope that each one of us can say, it really doesn't make any difference, just so long as we get there. I mentioned a moment ago that there are some advantages in going either way. Why do we prefer the upper route? I guess it's because we are pain conscious and we associate with death perhaps a long corridor of pain. And because of that, we make our preference. It would be nice just, goodbye Green Park, hello Heaven, everyone. But really if I understand death directly, it's exactly the same. By whatever means, there are certain moments when you leave wherever you are and you are right at home in Heaven. When the Lord made that prediction to Peter, he says, it reads in John 21, 19, This faith he, by what death he should glorify God. I didn't notice that. There's another verse regarding the Lord Jesus Christ that says, this faith he concerning what death he should die. But Peter doesn't say that. This faith he, by what death he should glorify God. There is a possibility of Christians glorifying God in their death. And that can't be done on the second coming of Jesus Christ. One advantage of going the lower route. Whenever there is a funeral held, I always like to think there are some sinners at this funeral who have up until now been disinterested so far as eternity is concerned. They are brought face to face, they can't help it. Someday I'll be in that casket. And where will I be then? And there will be a number of people like Isaiah who will be in Heaven because they attended the funeral. And at that funeral, at Isaiah's funeral, Isaiah was face to face with eternity and it led to his conversion. It would be nice to see the records in Heaven that no Christian ever goes home without some sinner being born again as a result of it. And I like to think that this can be multiplied many, many times. Glorifying God in your death. And then too, the many people that you can speak to during the time of illness. I had a glorious time six months ago in the hospital and the privilege of meeting a lot of people. I paid those nurses to take care of me. I paid the doctors to take care of me. I paid the orderlies. I paid the cleaning people to take care of me. They had to come in my room. And I had a standard question for them. What do you think is the worst thing that could happen to a person? And it was interesting to get all those answers. One intern said, I think perhaps to reach the place where no one would love me. Oh, I think he was thinking. Another doctor said, I think the worst thing that could happen to a person is to die without knowing Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. I was shocked. You don't often get that answer. That would be likely. A Catholic nurse said, I don't know for sure, but I think the worst thing that could happen is if I went to Hell. And if I don't change, that's where I'm going. But a number of them would say, that's a pretty big question. You have to give me some time to think it through. All right. Maybe when you come back the next time you'll tell me. They never offered to tell me. They still wanted some more time. What a wonderful opportunity. In fact, well, I hate to mention this, but the day I had to leave the hospital and go home, I had mixed emotions. Who am I going to see? Just the family circle, you know, but so far as sinners, how are you missing all those sinners that are coming in? All these opportunities. The girl at the desk said, she was a Christian, came to my room one day and said, you know, you've got some of these nurses stirred up, even at the dinner table. They're discussing this problem. What's the worst thing that could happen to a person? And I trust that perhaps some of them were concerned. Did you hear that at least one of those nurses trusted the Savior? A student nurse. I asked her this question. She said, I'm not a religious person. Never went to Sunday school. Never been baptized. Never joined a church. I'm 23 years old and I'm ashamed of it. I said, don't be ashamed of it. I said, I want to tell you the way of salvation. She had plenty of time and I gave her the way of salvation and I pleaded to believe she trusted the Savior. I lost track of her after I went home and about 6 or 8 weeks later I ran into her while I was visiting the hospital. She ran to me and said, I'm still praying. A person without a religious background. Really what I'm trying to do is to rob you of the fear of death. I heard a preacher say something, I think it's worth considering. He said, the Lord put into the heart of a Christian just enough fear of death to keep him from committing suicide to get to heaven. I think that's a pretty sensible thing to say. Here is something wonderful, just to trust our blessed Lord Jesus Christ and to say I'm heaven bound. It doesn't make any difference which way I go. Now I have left you under the impression that everybody is going to heaven and I didn't mean to do that because in a congregation of this size there is certainly a possibility that there is someone here who does not know the Lord Jesus Christ and all that I have said you might as well scrap. It isn't for you. But for you, yes you do have to move. Just like everyone has to move. And when you move, I tell you it will be worse than Seattle. Read the 16th chapter of Luke's gospel where our Lord Jesus Christ describes that other place. Those who do not know the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior, you will enjoy the, no you won't enjoy, you will be tormented with the extreme opposite. When we try to express opposites we use the expression poles apart. To us that's as far apart as you can get. But I think there is something beyond that. The distance between heaven and hell is tremendous. Isn't it sad when our Lord Jesus Christ shed his blood on Calvary's cross and made possible that no soul would ever be in hell except the devil and his angels, but not one of Adam's race. There was enough country to take care and to atone for the sins of every person. The only reason there are people in hell is because they have not accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. They might all have been in heaven had they received him as Lord and Savior. Would you like to trust that Savior and join with us with this guarantee when I die I'm going to be in heaven. That's wonderful. Far better than to continue in your sins and be lost for all eternity. I think my time is about up and it's very seldom that I can get people to come back the second time to hear me, but I'm going to try to hook you. I told you a little while ago that there are three entrances to heaven and only mention two. Maybe you want to know about that third entrance into heaven and I'll reserve that for the afternoon service. I don't know whether you enjoyed this. I know that there is one question you were asking. This is the Easter season. Now what has that got to do with Easter season? Oh by the way, the man who rose from the dead will be there. So I can connect it somehow can't I? This afternoon we shall continue just a little more to at least a related subject. The Lord bless you.
Easter conf.shannon Hills 01
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Welcome Detweiler (March 25, 1908 – March 31, 1992) was an American preacher, evangelist, and church founder whose ministry bridged his Pennsylvania farming roots with a vibrant Gospel outreach in North Carolina. Born in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, to Mennonite parents, Detweiler grew up on a 97-acre homestead raising registered Holstein cattle and Percheron draft horses. At 18, an open-air preacher’s charge to “go out and preach the Word of God” ignited his calling, though he initially balanced farming with Bible study. On May 26, 1931, he married Helen Lear, and they raised three children—Jerry (1935), Gladys (1937), and Cliff (1941)—while he preached part-time across various denominations. By 1940, Detweiler entered full-time ministry as a song leader and evangelist, leaving farming behind. In 1944, he joined evangelist Lester Wilson in Durham, North Carolina, leading singing for a six-week revival that birthed Grove Park Chapel. Sensing a divine call, he moved his family there in January 1945, purchasing land on Driver Avenue to establish a community church. Despite wartime lumber shortages, he resourcefully built and expanded the chapel—first to 650 seats in 1948 using Camp Butner mess hall wood, then to 967 in 1950 with a Sunday school wing—growing it into a thriving hub with a peak attendance of over 1,000. Known as “Mr. D,” he led youth groups and preached with clarity, often hosting out-of-town speakers in his home.