Gospel preacher and song writer. "The beloved brother and faithful minister and fellowservant in the Lord." (Col. 4: 7.) A. W. Dicus was born near St. Louis, Mo., May 30, 1888. He obeyed the gospel in the fall of 1908, and became a member of the Normal congregation, Grant County, Ind. Brother Dicus received his education in the state of Indiana; he received his B.S. degree from the Marion Normal, 1912; and later he received the following degrees: A.B., M.A., and Ph.D, from Indian a University, Bloomington, Ind. Brother Dicus is a teacher by training and practice. He taught in the high schools of Indiana and Illinois. He taught seven years in Indianapolis. He then was elected to teach science in the State University, Bloomington, Ind. In January, 1930, he came to Cookeville, Tenn. and has been professor of physics and head of the department of science at T. P. I., Cookeville, Tenn., since that date. In addition to his teaching, Brother Dicus has done much preaching. He began regular work in the summer of 1913. He held his first protracted meeting in the summer of 1915. He has filled regular appointments at Cloverdale, Crawfordsville, Traders Point, Bloomington, Bedford, and Indianapolis, in Indiana. For two years he has done regular preaching at Ridgedale Church, Chattanooga, Tenn., and Rossville, Ga. --- H. Leo Boles, Gospel Advocate, Dec. 4, 1941, 1162.

"There is a God, He is Alive" was written by brother A. W. Dicus. According to brother Gene Finley, Aaron Wesley Dicus was born May 30, 1888 in Festus, Missouri. He died September 2, 1978 in Tampa, Fla. His marriage took place in 1908, the same year that he was baptized into Christ. On the occasion of his baptism, he made a vow to the effect that "If the Lord will allow me to get an education, I will use it in service to the Lord." Almost immediately after his baptism brother Dicus began to prepare himself to become a minister and to pursue his education…He advanced from classroom teacher in a one-room schoolhouse to instructor in a large Technical High School. In 1918 he gave up his teaching to develop his invention, the turn signal. In the recession of 1922 the under-capitalized turn signal "folded," and he turned all rights over to his financial partner. By this time his reputation and popularity had grown until he was offered the job of minister of a large church in Bloomington, Indiana. This afforded him the opportunity to attend the University of Indiana located there. Around 1925 he was offered a student instructor type of scholarship at the University of Indiana. By scheduling monthly appointments at several congregations, he was able to continue his ministerial work. By this time he was becoming much in demand for gospel meetings. He subsequently finished his B.S. and M.S. degrees, and in 1929, when he had most of the work done on his Ph.D., he was offered the job of Head of the Physics Department of Tennessee Tech in Cookeville, Tennessee. The depression years were hard on the young "Dr. Dicus" and his family. At one period eleven months went by before the State of Tennessee could pay its college teachers. Meanwhile brother Dicus continued to pursue his ministerial duties. He would accept monthly appointments at small rural churches. Many times he was given the entire collection. Often it was not sufficient to pay for the gasoline used to get there. In the 1940's he became involved in military training at Tennessee Tech. In 1954 he retired, but he was not content to remain inactive. He and his wife developed their small tract of five acres adjacent to the small suburb of Tampa where they lived. During this time he preached full time for churches at Winter Haven and Miami, Florida. During this "retirement" period he wrote and published three books: Sermon Outlines, A Commentary on Hebrews and Romans and Church Leadership. All this activity was going on as he wrote and composed his songs. He wrote approximately thirty-five songs after he retired. Of the thirty-five, the most popular, and indeed, one of the most popular of all songs, is "Our God, He Is Alive." Other songs include "Lord, I Believe" and "The Open Tomb." (Our Garden Song, Finley, pp. 165-168).