Nick grew up as a problem child. He was an alcoholic by the age of 12 and was constantly in trouble in school. He joined the military to try to stay out of trouble, but he got involved with the wrong crowd—“the worst of the worst.” All the while, he knew something inside was dying.
Raised in a Catholic home, Nick had a strong sense of loyalty to his faith. However, while stationed with the U.S. Air Force in Germany, he happened upon a television program that shook his world. The speaker led him through the history of the world and its relationship to Bible prophecy, ending with a clear identification of the antichrist.
Nick wondered if this church had lied to him. Convinced that the evangelist was wrong in his interpretations, Nick started studying the Bible in earnest. “I even flew to Rome,” he says, “to see if the city really did have seven hills, just as the evangelist stated.”
Nick later discovered an advertisement on the web for the Amazing Facts Bible Study Guides and signed up. Every day after work, he rushed home to study more about what the Bible has to say about the future and the antichrist. The truths he learned changed his life, and soon he was contacted by an Amazing Facts representative offering to connect him with a local church.
Since Nick knew he would be stationed in Washington State, Amazing Facts put him in contact with a church member in Tacoma, who offered to provide transportation to church each week. This marked the beginning of a new chapter in his life, and eventually Nick was baptized. After leaving the military, he entered into full-time ministry.
Faced with a Dilemma
Fast forward about ten years, and Nick has been actively sharing with his community the truths he has learned. He also has a special ministry to high school students, in which he uses the Amazing Facts Study Guides. He has found them to be an effective way of teaching Bible truths. But God had more blessings in store for him.
Recently, while attending a Christian-sponsored extreme sporting event, he met up with a representative from Amazing Facts. As he learned about estate planning gifts and legacy giving, Nick asked the representative if people ever gifted anything out of the ordinary. One thing mentioned was precious metal collections. Nick says this comment made an unconscious impression on his mind.
A few weeks later, a series of circumstances inspired Nick to get radical with God. He prayed, “Lord, how can I get radical with You?” Instantly, he says, his gold and silver collection came to mind. Over the past decade, Nick had been collecting precious metals as a kind of insurance in case of a worldwide financial collapse. Now he faced a dilemma.
Meeting the Challenge
Immediately, the conversation with the Amazing Facts representative came to mind and, as Nick considered what he should do, he sort of regretted saying that prayer. So, he asked, “Lord, if you want me to give up my gold and silver, You have to show me beyond a doubt in Your Word.” Then he went to bed.
Early the next morning, he woke up with a verse in his mind, but he couldn’t remember where it was in the Bible. It went something like, “Try Me and see if I won’t open to you the windows of heaven.” Quickly, Nick got up and searched online for the verse. Sure enough, it was found in Malachi chapter 3. Starting from the beginning, Nick read, “Who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner’s fire and like launderers’ soap. He will sit as a refiner and a purifier of silver; He will purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer to the LORD an offering in righteousness” (Malachi 3:2, 3).
Nick was in a quandary. He says, “I put the ball in God’s court, and He served it right back! He provided a verse not just with silver or gold but both. But not only that, the chapter included a promise. “ ‘Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house, and try Me now in this,’ says the LORD of hosts, ‘If I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it’ ” (Malachi 3:10).
After reading the whole context, Nick was convicted. He stepped out in faith and contacted Amazing Facts to donate his collection of gold and silver coins. He says, “I figured there probably wasn’t a better verse in the Bible that God could give me—and you can’t out-give God, so I guess I have some promises to look forward to!”
Nick wants others to get radical with God, to take Him at His Word, to trust completely on His promises and not in the fleeting securities of gold and silver. Nick concludes, “Amazing Facts has had a tremendous impact in my life, and I couldn’t think of a better organization to choose for making this kind of sacrificial gift.”