“Why don’t you keep the fourth commandment?” Jack’s wife asked the pastor.
Jack watched as the Baptist pastor shifted uncomfortably in his seat. It was the second time he had visited their home and the second time Jack’s wife had asked him the question.
Jack eyed the pastor, who was still squirming. Finally, he relented. Going to church on Sunday, instead of on the seventh-day Sabbath as the Bible commanded, was just “a long-time tradition,” the pastor admitted. That was all it was—tradition.
It was as though Jack had been punched in the gut. That was not something he expected to hear. Instantly, the verse that he had read the night before came to him: “Thus you have made the commandment of God of no effect by your tradition” (Matthew 15:6).
His heart stirred, like that tingle in the air before a storm. But he shut it out. The pastor left. And that next week, Jack started an all-out rampage to prove that the seventh-day Sabbath was nothing but a farce.
Tug of War
How did a non-Christian, tobacco-chewing father become a Sabbath-keeping soul-winner for Christ? It was with your help.
Jack grew up with a mother and two brothers—and a father who abused every one of them. Jack’s father was a truck driver, so he was rarely around. When Jack grew up, he got into trucking too. He smoked and drank regularly; he chewed tobacco.
Although he was married and had four children, his life was grim. He had recently switched careers, giving up trucking for installing satellite dishes. He and his wife were not getting along; as for their children, they were sounding more like the foul-mouthed movies the entire family watched regularly.
Jack knew something needed to change, and he wasn’t the only one. When he mentioned church to his wife, she had the same idea. There was only one problem. Although he had been raised not going to church at all, she had been raised a Sabbath-keeper; despite not having practiced her faith since they had married, she was firm on going to church on Saturday.
Jack wouldn’t have it. So on Saturday, his wife and kids went to church; then on Sunday, the whole family went to a Baptist church. That happened for two weekends. The Baptist pastor came and went twice. And Jack began his personal war against the Bible Sabbath.
Dish-Watching
But that very same week, on Tuesday at lunchtime, Jack decided to leave work and eat at home. In the silence of an empty house, Jack sat in front of the television and turned it on. On the screen was a man teaching about the Sabbath day. Jack watched the rest of the program.
After it ended, all he could think was: “Wow—that made sense.” The next moment, he pushed away the thought. “The world can’t be wrong on this,” he scoffed.
But on Thursday, Jack decided to return home for lunch again. After making his lunch, he switched on the television as before and saw the same man. It was a different program, but the man was still talking about the Sabbath day! This time, he caught the man’s name: Doug Batchelor. Jack watched the entire broadcast.
By the end of the program, he was convinced.
On his knees, he prayed for God to reveal the truth to him. He didn’t know the Bible; he hadn’t grown up in a church. But he desperately wanted to learn. That very next Sabbath, Jack went to church with his wife and children—and he hasn’t stopped going since!
Jack says that the two days he had watched those Amazing Facts programs were the first times he had ever come home for lunch midweek. It also happened to be the only times during the week that Amazing Facts had been airing—and when Pastor Doug had been preaching on the subject of the Sabbath. God had miraculously answered Jack’s cry for help, even before he had thought to pray, even though he had not told a soul. And God had done so through you!
Since becoming a Sabbath-keeping Christian, Jack has been an active member in his church: a missionary, an evangelist, a musician, a church planter. For nearly three decades, he has dedicated himself to reaching the inmates of two prisons, often using the Amazing Facts Bible Study Guides during his visits. God has answered Jack’s prayer many times over, blessing him not only with truth but with a joy in sharing truth with others.
Thank you for your help in turning a Sabbath-hater into a soul-winner. Amazing Facts has been used by God to change countless lives for 55 years. Just in the last 10 months, Bible students have completed over 300,000 Bible lessons in English alone! Your generous gifts are placing Amazing Facts programs on hundreds of TV stations around the world and leading souls like Jack to the kingdom of heaven. There is an urgent need right now for even more stations to broadcast lifesaving Bible truths.
Will you help? Thank you!