Called then into his Heavenly Father’s business, he began preparing to lead and disciple in ministry. Dick and Liz attended Westminster Seminary in Philadelphia and finished their degrees at Westminster Seminary in Escondido, California where they moved along with their three children to establish and pastor New Life Presbyterian church.

On February 18, 2023, Reverend Dr. Richard P. Kaufmann (March 14, 1946 – February 18, 2023) aka Poppie went home to be with his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Because his life was built on the victory of Jesus’s death and resurrection on that day he entered heaven to the words “Well done my good and faithful servant”!

Richard’s (Dick’s) life was all about his family and ministry and in his younger years his horse and football.
He was born in Atlantic City, New Jersey to Marie and Joseph Kaufmann and raised in Egg Harbor City along with his sister Susan. He graduated from Oakcrest High School Class of Alpha 64, where he was a leader on the field and in the classroom but most importantly where he met his high school sweetheart and love of his life Elizabeth “Liz” Elmer.
Dick went on to attend Bucknell University and graduated with honors in 1968. While at Bucknell he excelled in football and wrestling including being captain of both teams. He was later inducted into both the Bucknell Football Hall of Fame and the Wrestling Hall of Fame.
Dick and Liz were married June 24, 1967. In preparation for his call into the family businesses, he worked for Arthur Andersen accounting firm and earned his CPA. He received his MBA from Harvard Business School and graduated with honors in 1972.
Called then into his Heavenly Father’s business, he began preparing to lead and disciple in ministry. Dick and Liz attended Westminster Seminary in Philadelphia and finished their degrees at Westminster Seminary in Escondido, California where they moved along with their three children to establish and pastor New Life Presbyterian church.
He would go onto receive his Doctorate of Ministry from Fuller Theological Seminary in 1994. Dick and Liz then moved to New York City where he was Executive Pastor at Redeemer Presbyterian Church alongside Tim and Kathy Keller. The Kaufmanns remained there for five years until God called them to church planting in downtown San Diego.
Out of that grew the Harbor movement where Dick and Liz mentored church planters and their wives to start churches throughout the San Diego and Tijuana area.
Over the years Dick also traveled and taught in several colleges and seminaries including in the Doctor of Ministry program at Reformed Theological Seminary in Orlando, Florida.
Dick always had a love for the beach that was fostered by his mother and countless summers spent at the lake and beach including being an Ocean City Beach Patrol lifeguard. As a result, many of his favorite memories and relaxing times were spent with Liz and their family at beaches on both coasts.
The last four years his family has grown to include the loving and caring staff at Sunrise Senior Living in Henderson.
His love will live on through his beautiful wife, Elizabeth; his sister, Susan and her husband Dave Mullen; sister, Darlene Gilly; brother, Victor Petrilli and his wife Dianna; and his father’s wife, Doris Kaufmann.
His legacy will be carried on by his children: Kristi and her husband Scott McGihon; Kim and her husband Dave Merrill; Mike and his wife Liz Kaufmann; and eight grandchildren: Cameron and his wife Kendal Merrill, Courtney Merrill, Carson and his wife Ali Ann Merrill, Chase McGihon, Moses Kaufmann, Caden Merrill, Blake McGihon and Atlas Kaufmann; along with many nieces and nephews and countless spiritual sons and daughters he taught, mentored and loved.
A celebration of life and reception will be held this Saturday, February 25, 2023 at 1pm at Palm Boulder Highway Mortuary, 800 South Boulder Highway, Henderson, Nevada.
In lieu of flowers, gifts to Harbor City Church can be made at harborcity.church
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Written by C.R. Carmichael |
Monday, April 24, 2023
For the glory of God, let us blaze out from our obscurity and once more bring the Light of Christ to the world so they, too, can see with the “spiritual glasses” of faith, “to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me” (Acts 26:18).

The current downgrade of the visible church of Christ on the world stage is heartrending to watch with the naked eye. Surely everyone, including unbelievers, can see its conspicuous tumble from the heights of religious and moral influence, especially in the West where our current truncated Christian “message” is nothing more than an annoying gnat that our willful society can easily swat away.
The mainstream culture, in fact, hardly seems to bat an eye these days when Christians are persecuted or killed, instead focusing their sympathies on the poor perpetrators who are so offended by Christianity that they had no choice but to commit violence against these “obnoxious Bible thumpers.”
But is Christianity really fading away into obscurity? The Bible certainly speaks of the disappearance of the true Church into a hidden, inconspicuous wilderness (Revelation 12:6). According to John Gill, a major reason for this kind of vanishing act is because professing Christians become “vain, proud, ambitious, and careless” from riches and honors; and thus they obtain “false doctrine and superstition” which “obscures the true Church, makes it invisible, hidden in the cleft of the rock, like a person in a wood or wilderness, not to be seen, desolate and uncomfortable.”
So what exactly are we seeing (or not seeing) with Christianity these days?
The View from the Cheap Seats
It is not a pretty sight. Recently, the largest protestant group in Britain, the Church of England, became the latest institution to kowtow to the world with their decision to officially bless same-sex couples, but not officiate at same-sex weddings. This clumsy theological sleight-of-hand was no doubt performed to maintain some dubious appearance of Anglican virtue even though, as one wise critic observed, such a position still clearly rejects the “Biblical understanding of sex and marriage by departing from the apostolic faith we are called to uphold.”
Alas, this desperate attempt to “make nice” with the world by tossing aside the “mean ol’ Bible” has lately become the standard. Many of our most popular Christian leaders, while dressed in the fashion of “orthodox” sheep, seem more inclined to scratch the world’s itching ear with their wolfish claws. No wonder the world so easily shrugs off our message of salvation when some within our ranks have joined with unbelievers to downplay the sinfulness of sin. How does the Cross hold any significance for the sinner if their rebellion against God is considered but a trifle?
Sadly, it seems, the world may never again see the likes of a Peter, Paul or John, or any other great servant of God from the early Church who joyfully abandoned all prestige and creature comforts to proclaim the Gospel to the poor, the brokenhearted, and the captives of their day. These selfless disciples were without purse, scrip or shoes, and yet they lacked for nothing! (Luke 22:35).
Oh sure, many of today’s Christian pop stars would argue that they lack for nothing as well. With their mansions, private jets and social media influence, they can proudly say, “I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing,” yet they do not see that they are actually “wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked” (Revelation 3:17). Considering their spiritual blindness, we should not be surprised when these false professors are unable to guide the lost towards God or show them the Way to eternal life. Most assuredly, they are the blind leading the blind! (Matthew 15:14).
Wiping the Tears from Our Eyes to See
So where, pray tell, can the world still clearly see the men and women of God who stand firm in His revealed truth for the sake of Christ and His righteousness? Where can they observe the staunch defenders of the faith and the fearless trumpeters of the Gospel in the public square? Perhaps, if we wipe the tears from our eyes, step back a bit and squint intently into the distance, we might make out the faint outline of a multitude of witnesses to which we can point.
Undoubtedly, throughout history, we’ve been blessed beyond measure to behold notable preachers, missionaries and theologians that have held to the Biblical standard of truth and driven the Gospel further into the world. And even now, if we have ears to hear, there are strong voices in this present spiritual wasteland that rightly handle the word of truth and implore sinners on behalf of Christ to be reconciled with God (2 Corinthians 5:20).
The Holy Spirit, too, is ever present and moving like the wind to wherever He wishes (John 3:8). Trusting this sovereign Power, the Christian doesn’t need to hear about a “revival” being reported on CNN to know the Spirit is still at work convicting sinners and drawing them to Christ. Such newsworthy events can certainly be a boon to our faith when they advance the Gospel and bring forth fruit (Galatians 5:22), but the Spirit’s involvement may be absent if the unbelieving world can celebrate some of these “feel good” church stories without conviction or offense (John 16:8; 1 Peter 2:8).
Above all, we should pray that Christ’s name be exalted in these various unhindered moments of Christian spectacle (Mark 9:39) and hope that the watching eyes of the world might witness a true Spirit-led wave of believers who will go forth from the meeting house to spread the Gospel, saying like Peter, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation… Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38-40).
Spiritually Viewing the Things Not Seen
When looking to appraise the wellness of the Church, our eyes of faith need not be dependent upon witnessing a modern-day revival making the news. The happy fact is, there are many inspired men and women of God already out there, if we would only put on our spiritual glasses to see them. Peering through the demoralizing darkness and past the false professors that add to the shadows, we can clearly spy out the millions of unnoticed, yet hardworking disciples of the Church who are helping to expand His spiritual Kingdom as humble slaves to Christ.
As Charles John Ellicott reminds us, “There will be many folds, in many nations, in many ages, in many climes. But for all Christians there will be one true Shepherd who layeth down His life for the sheep, and all these differing folds shall, through living unity with Him, make one vast flock.”
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Written by T. M. Suffield |
Saturday, August 27, 2022
Receiving from God is what happens when we hear the word preached, when we worship him as the gathered church, when we eat bread and drink wine. Our pride, and our never-ending avaricious taking, has to die if we want to receive from God. It’s like hacking weeds so a tree can grow. But we must receive, because that’s the path of life.

Jesus told us to enter the kingdom like children. In fact, he was stronger than that, saying that if we did not receive the kingdom of God like a little child, we would not enter it (Luke 18). We’re familiar enough with it, and it conjures up doe-eyed sentiments of pudgy-cheeked children.
Except, should it? What was Jesus actually getting at?
We could make some “be childlike, but not childish” statements and say some helpful and true things while missing what he was saying.
Jesus was surrounded by a crowd pressing in on him and the disciples are starting to get concerned for his time and perhaps his welfare. Parents are bringing young children to him to bless, and quite likely sick children in the hope that he would heal them. The disciples rebuke them, and Jesus utters the famous remark.
This is not sentiment, because these aren’t cute kids gathering around his knees and the disciples acting like absolute killjoys. This is scared and noisy parents, all concerned that their child needs Jesus’ help, creating a racket. It’s not hard to speculate that it was starting to escalate into something entirely unmanageable. I would probably have made a similar ministry decision to the disciples.
So, what is Jesus trying to teach us? First notice that Jesus is surrounded by babes-in-arms, that’s what the Greek word translated ‘infants’ at the start of the passage means. They’re helpless. They’re needy. They have nothing to offer.
Larry Crabb in his book Shattered Dreams points out that babies are fundamentally recipients, they don’t give anyone anything, nor can they take it for themselves. I’m sure they would take if they could—we come out of the womb selfish. They’re like this not simply because they’re selfish but because they’re helpless. To approach Jesus like little children is to approach him as one who is helpless and needs to receive. Crabb suggests that Jesus was recommending what we generally avoid: brokenness.
By brokenness he means an acceptance of the reality of our position, a desperate need to receive help, and a desire to ask for it. It often takes being broken by circumstances for these things to arise in us—that’s what Crabb’s book is about. The Bible talks about it a lot, though not using this language. I’d suggest a good, Biblical word for it (if we need one) would be thirst.
Which doesn’t sound like I’m saying anything beyond the usual run-of-the-mill Christian proposition: you cannot save yourself.
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