October 2019
From Lost Sinner to Soul-Winner
An Amazing Fact: For 555 days, 25-year-old Stan Larkin lived without a human heart inside his body. Several years ago, he had been hospitalized in frail condition and was in desperate need of a transplant, but no donor hearts were available. So to buy him time, surgeons installed a “SynCardia,” a sophisticated artificial heart that fit inside a backpack, along with a battery-powered compressor. Pumping 24/7, it allowed Stan to live a semi-normal life as he waited for a heart of flesh. “I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh” (Ezekiel 36:26).
Dear friend,
Scott’s face was smeared with paint as he stepped onto the stage with his bass guitar. When he and his bandmates, whose faces were also painted with devilish masks, started playing, the noise was so deafening that he couldn’t even hear his own voice.
Incredibly, this Halloween night program was part of a church social!
At the time, Scott claimed to be a Christian. On Saturday nights, he drank with friends; then, still dazed from a hangover, he’d show up to church Sunday morning. In his mind, a Christian was just a sinner with a forgiveness permit from God that allowed him to live wickedly.
But something changed Scott’s heart—and you played a major part in it, transforming him from a lost sinner into a soul-winner for Christ! It all began when a friend invited him to Amazing Facts prophecy meetings.
For more than 50 years, God has changed millions of lives through Amazing Facts outreach, calling the lost “out of darkness into His marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9). Yet your sacrificial gifts have done more than bring people to Christ. You are also helping to multiply the everlasting gospel around the world by turning the lost into brilliant lights—into Bible workers, pastors, teachers, and evangelists—who are, in turn, bringing thousands of souls to God’s truth.
Soul-winners like Scott Ritsema …
In Name Only
Don’t you find it true that so many who wear the “Christian” label live as worldly as the lost? Yet the Bible teaches, “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him” (1 John 2:15). It’s pretty simple: If you’re not living like a Christian, you’re probably not one.
The arch-deceiver deluded Scott into thinking that he could live in sin and pretend everything was A-Okay. But “if we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us” (1 John 1:8). How can those who walk in darkness be “the light of the world”? (Matthew 5:14).
Amazing Facts doesn’t play games with God’s truth, and that’s one reason why so many light-bearers have been equipped by this ministry: We hold God’s standard high!
When a friend invited Scott to a series of prophecy meetings, he decided to attend one night. And he had to admit, the presentation was fascinating—unlike anything he’d heard about the Bible. Afterward, Scott discovered a row of pamphlets on a table. Each cover featured the words “Amazing Facts.” As an avid reader, he took a copy of each fascinating Bible lesson.
Scott spent the next few years finishing college, getting married, and becoming a teacher. But his spiritual life meandered as he and his wife stepped in and out of various churches. It was during this wilderness wandering, however, that God arrested their attention for good.
Amazing Facts Rediscovered!
Scott and his wife stumbled upon a radio program called Bible Answers Live. With a jolt of joy, Scott realized that this broadcast was from the same ministry that had produced that stack of pamphlets he collected years earlier: Amazing Facts.
He and his wife began eagerly listening on podcast, five programs at a time! They also poured over the wealth of resources on the Amazing Facts website. As more of their Bible questions were being answered, that “Christian” at the Halloween party was being changed by Jesus’ love and grace. Scott discovered that a true Christian was someone who had the heart of Jesus and was empowered to live a life that matched.
Soon, the two were attending a Sabbath-keeping church and were baptized! Scott has since put on the whole armor of God, engaging in full-time ministry (beltoftruthministries.org), even speaking against the lifestyle he once embraced. His presentations can even be found on Amazing Facts TV (AFTV.org). And Scott also shares the same Amazing Facts resources that helped bring him to truth. Praise the Lord!
Great Harvest, Few Workers
With eyes of faith, Jesus saw hungry souls scattered over the earth—souls longing for the Bread of Life. Yet He also said, “The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few; therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest” (Luke 10:2).
Friend, it is our divine calling to share the gospel and train carriers of truth who will reach people just like Scott, souls who are searching for light so they too can become a light of His Word. That’s exactly what happened when you invest in Amazing Facts’ work! Today, the evangelists and Bible students touched by Amazing Facts can be found around the globe.
From China to Chile, we hear, “Amazing Facts played a key role in my spiritual journey. Thank you for being there for me!” That’s why, this month, I’m asking you to send Amazing Facts a gift that will create more workers in the field. Your gift of $25 will put into the hands of soul-winners five sets of Amazing Facts Bible Study Guides. A gift of $85 will help broadcast a Bible Answers Live program on one radio station. Or you can sponsor one Amazing Facts Center of Evangelism student to enroll in our online course for $195.
Friend, Scott was a slave to punk rock and worldly parties. But because you cared enough to give, this lost sinner discovered God’s truth and was transformed into a soul-winner for Christ! When you give to the work of Amazing Facts, you cooperate with heaven by creating even more gospel workers for the kingdom.
Please send a gift today to multiply evangelists and disciple-makers throughout the world. Thank you!
A diehard soul-winner,
Pastor Doug Batchelor
President, Amazing Facts