About Us | Mackinaw City Bible Church

The blessing of a godly heritage is a gift that God graciously bestowed on Reid Eugene Nelson. Named after a grandfather who pastored for 37 years in Colorado, Reid was taught by a godly mother and father who both loved the Lord and faithfully served Him. Trusting Jesus Christ as his Savior when he was about ten years old, Reid remembers only one pastor growing up– Pastor Robert Rhodes. As a teenager he was privileged to have Pastor Les Ollila as his youth pastor. It was during those teen years that God lead Reid’s heart into ministry. Through the youth ministry of the church Reid was drawn into a relationship with Robin Van Vliet, both serving as youth group officers. Together they attended Bob Jones University to prepare for ministry.

After graduating from Bob Jones University in 1976, Reid and Robin were married and began serving at their home church, Calvary Baptist Church of Roseville, Michigan for the next eight years. Working with the youth he served as both Youth Pastor and then Assistant Pastor.

In May of 1984 Reid accepted God’s call to the pastorate at the Mackinaw City Bible Church at the northern tip of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan. This church has been in this tourist town since 1958 having been started by Pastor Lyle Hoover, the only other man to pastor this church. The Bible Church is the home of a number of faithful believers who love and serve the Lord. What a responsibility it is to preach the Word of God to these believers and watch them grow in the Lord and in their love for others. During the summer many visitors attend who are vacationing in the area. Since 1987, the Cheboygan Daily Tribune, a local newspaper, has allowed the truth of the Scriptures to be taught in a weekly column called “A Look at the Book.” Pastor Nelson completed a Master of Ministry Degree from Northland Baptist Bible College in 1995. In May of 2010 he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Divinity from Northland International University. He has continued serving in the Mackinaw City area for the past 30 years. What a joy and privilege it is to be a servant of the Master; it is the greatest work of all!

The Nelsons were blessed with four children, three boys and a girl, all of whom graduated from either Northland or Bob Jones and then married. These young couples, by God’s grace, are following the Lord. Reid and Robin are also presently enjoying eight grandchildren. The Lord has truly been good, allowing them to serve Him and to see His faithfulness year after year.

STATEMENT OF DOCTRINE

(A) – The Holy Scriptures

We believe the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be the verbally inspired Word of God, the final authority for faith and life, inerrant in the original writings, infallible and God-breathed. (II Tim. 3:16; II Peter 1:20,21; Matt. 5:18; John 16:12,13.)

(B) – The Godhead

We believe in one Triune God, eternally existing in three persons – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; co-eternal in being, co-identical in nature, co-equal in power and glory, and having the same attributes and perfections. (Deut. 6:4; II Cor. 13:14.)

1. We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ, the Eternal Son of God, became man, without ceasing to be God, having been conceived by the Holy Spirit, and born of the Virgin Mary, in order that He might reveal God and redeem sinful men. (John 1:1,2,14; Luke 1:35.)

2. We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished our redemption through His death on the cross as a representative, vicarious, substitutionary sacrifice and, that our justification is made sure by His literal, physical resurrection from the dead. (Rom. 3:24,25; I Peter 2:24; Eph. 1:7; I Peter 1:3-5.)

3. We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ ascended to heaven, and is now exalted at the right hand of God, where, as our High Priest, He fulfills the ministry of Representative, Intercessor, and Advocate. (Acts 1:9,10; Heb. 9:24; 7:25; Rom. 8:34; I John 2:1,2.)

(D) – The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit

1. We believe that the Holy Spirit is a person Who convicts the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment; and, that He is the Supernatural Agent in regeneration, baptizing all believers into the Body of Christ, indwelling and sealing them unto the day of redemption. (John 16:8-11; II Cor. 3:6; I Cor. 12:12-14; Rom. 8:9; Eph. 1:12,14.)

2. We believe that He is the Divine Teacher Who guides believers into all truth; and, that it is the privilege and duty of all the saved to be filled with the Spirit. (John 16:13; I John 2:20;27; Eph. 5:18.)

(E) – The Total Depravity of Man

We believe that man was created in the image and likeness of God, but that in Adam’s sin the race fell, inherited a sinful nature, and became alienated from God; and, that man is totally depraved, and, of himself, utterly unable to remedy his lost condition. (Gen. 1:26,27; Rom. 3:22,23; 5:12; Eph. 2:1-3,12.)

(F) – Salvation

We believe that salvation is the gift of God brought to man by grace and received by personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, Whose precious blood was shed on Calvary for the forgiveness of our sins. (Eph. 2:8-10; John 1:12; Eph. 1:7; I Peter 1:18,19.)

(G) – The Eternal Security and Assurance of Believers

1. We believe that all the redeemed, once saved, are kept by God’s power and are thus secure in Christ forever. (John 6:37-40; 10:27-30; Rom. 8:1,38,39; I Cor. 1:4-8; I Peter 1:5.)

2. We believe that it is the privilege of believers to rejoice in the assurance of their salvation through the testimony of God’s Word; which, however, clearly forbids the use of Christian liberty as an occasion to the flesh. (Rom. 13:13,14; Gal. 5:13; Titus 2:11-15.)

(H) – The Two Natures of the Believer

We believe that every saved person possesses two natures, with provision made for victory of the new nature over the old nature through the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit; and, that all claims to the eradication of the old nature in this life are unscriptural. (Rom. 6:13; 8:12,13; Gal. 5:16-25; Eph. 4:22-24; Col. 3:10; I Peter 1:14-16; I John 3:5-9.)

(I) – Separation

We believe that all the saved should live in such a manner as not to bring reproach upon their Saviour and Lord; and, that separation from all religious apostasy, all worldly and sinful pleasures, practices and associations is commanded of God (II Tim. 3:1-5; Rom. 12:1,2; 14:13; I John 2:15-17; II John 9:11; II Cor. 6:14; 7:1.)

(J) – Missions

We believe that it is the obligation of the saved to witness by life and by word to the truths of Holy Scripture and to seek to proclaim the Gospel to all mankind. (Mark 16:15; Acts 1:8; II Cor. 5:19,20.)

(K) – The Ministry and Spiritual Gifts

1. We believe that God is sovereign in the bestowment of all His gifts; and, that the gifts of evangelists, pastors, and teachers are sufficient for the perfecting of the saints today; and, that speaking in tongues and the working of sign miracles gradually ceased as the New Testament Scriptures were completed and their authority became established. (I Cor. 12:4-11; II Cor. 12:12; Eph. 4:7-12.)

2. We believe that God does hear and answer the prayer of faith, in accord with His own will, for the sick and afflicted. (John 15:7; I John 5:14,15.)

(L) – The Church

1. We believe that the Church, which is the body and the espoused bride of Christ, is a spiritual organism made up of all born-again persons of the present age. (Eph. 1:22-23; 5:25-27; I Cor. 12:12-14; II Cor. 11:2.)

2. We believe that the establishment and continuance of local churches is clearly taught and defined in the New Testament Scriptures. (Acts 14:27; 20:17, 28-32; I Tim. 3:1-13; Titus 1:5-11.)

3. We believe that the local church shall be defined as a congregation of immersed believers, associated by a covenant of faith and fellowship of the gospel, observing the ordinances of Christ, governed by His laws, and exercising the gifts, rights and privileges invested in them by His Word. (Acts 2:41; Matt. 28:18-20.)

(M) – Dispensationalism

We believe in the dispensational view of Bible interpretation, but reject the extreme teaching known as “hyperdispensationalism”, such as that teaching which opposes either the Lord’s Table or water baptism as a Scriptural means of testimony for the church in this age. (Matt. 28:19,20; Acts 2:41,42; 18:8; I Cor. 11:23-26.)

(N) – The Personality of Satan

We believe that Satan is a person, the author of sin and the cause of the fall; that he is the open and declared enemy of God and man; and that he shall be eternally punished in the Lake of Fire. (Job 1:6,7; Is. 14:12-17; Matt. 4:2-11; 25:41; Rev. 20:10.)

(O) – The Second Advent of Christ

We believe in that “blessed hope”, that personal imminent, pre-tribulation and pre-millennial coming of the Lord Jesus Christ for His redeemed ones and in His subsequent return to earth with His saints, to establish His Millennial Kingdom. (I Thess. 4:13-18; Zech. 14:4-11; Rev. 3:10; 19:11-16; 20:1-6; I Thess. 1:10; 5:9.)

(P) – The Eternal State

1. We believe in the bodily resurrection of all men, the saved to eternal life, and the unsaved to judgment and everlasting punishment. (Matt. 25:46; John 5:28,29; 11:25,26; Rev. 20:5,6,12,13.)

2. We believe that the souls of the redeemed are, at death, absent from the body and present with the Lord, where in conscious bliss they await the first resurrection, when spirit, soul and body are reunited to be glorified forever with the Lord. (Luke 23:43; Rev. 20:4-6; II Cor. 5:8; Phil. 1:23; 3:21; I Thess. 4:16,17.)

3. We believe that the souls of unbelievers remain, after death, in conscious misery until the second resurrection, when with soul and body reunited they shall appear at the Great White Throne Judgment, and shall be cast into the Lake of Fire, not to be annihilated, but to suffer everlasting conscious punishment. (Luke 16:19-26; Matt. 25:41-46; II Thess. 1:7-9; Jude 6-7; Mark 9:43-48; Rev. 20:11-15.)