M. R. De Haan

M. R. De Haan
1891 - 1965

"Do you realize that far more is said concerning the glorious second coming of Christ in the Old Testament than about His first coming in humiliation? For without His second coming, the first coming is sterile, abortive, barren and incomplete."


Martin R. DeHaan was born in Zeeland, Michigan, the son of a cobbler who had emigrated from the Netherlands. He graduated from Hope College in Holland, Michigan, and the University of Illinois College of Medicine.

 

In 1914 he married and soon became a successful physician in Western Michigan.

 

When Dr. DeHaan got the call to preach the Gospel, he gave up his medical practice and completed training at Western Theological Seminary in Holland, Michigan.

 

He pastored two churches in Grand Rapids which grew rapidly under his forceful preaching and his ability to make Bible truth simple and easily understood.

 

Then he began large Bible classes; and in 1938, as an outgrowth of one of these classes in Detroit, the Lord led in the expansion of this teaching by means of radio. The Radio Bible Class grew rapidly and was soon on two national networks.

 

In more than a quarter of a century, Dr. DeHaan saw the broadcast grow from a local venture on a fifty-watt station to a ministry of more than 600 selected stations around the world. During those years he spoke at many Bible conferences and wrote 25 books and numerous booklets. He also edited and published a monthly devotional guide, "Our Daily Bread."

 

Dr. DeHaan died on December 13, 1965, having sustained serious injuries in an automobile collision in July. His recovery had been slow because of complications of heart trouble. His strength gradually waned, and his death came as he rested at home.