An Amazing Fact: A teenager who went missing was recently rescued after she used hand signals she had learned on social media. While riding with her abductor in a car on the freeway, she used a well-known domestic violence signal to indicate to passing drivers that she needed help. Someone recognized the sign and contacted the police, who quickly pulled the car over, arrested the driver, and returned the teen home!
Jonathan was missing in action—spiritually. The 31-year-old soldier had been raised a Sabbath-keeping Christian, but while deployed in Iraq, he had fallen away.
In Luke 15, Jesus tells us three stories about lost things—a coin, a sheep, and a son—revealing God’s compassionate heart. How does God feel when His lost children turn back toward their spiritual home? The son, better known as the prodigal, “arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him” (Luke 15:20).
The father saw his son “a great way off.” Why? Because he was anxiously looking for him! And this father, who represents our heavenly Father, had so much compassion for his missing child—a lost soul abducted by the devil—that he cast aside all restraint.
Perhaps you have a son or daughter, or know of one, who has turned away from God. Shouldn’t we be doing everything possible to stretch out our arms to guide them back to the Lord’s house? That’s what you did for Jonathan …
Falling Away
Jonathan grew up in a Sabbath-keeping home that loved Jesus. As a young adult, he joined the military and was eventually deployed to Iraq, where he experienced the horrors of ground combat.
He explains that not long after, “I fell away from the Lord and doubted His existence.” It happens to so many who were raised in the church. Studies of missing members reveal the various reasons they leave—divorce, job loss, conflict with a church member, or simply the tempting pleasures of a fallen world.
When people step away from the Lord even just a little, they often stop reading their Bibles and praying. They soon quit going to church and associating with fellow believers. Eventually, their faith grows cold, opening the door for Satan to plant doubts. That’s what happened to Jonathan, who now questioned the very existence of God.
The Missing Peace
But one day, Jonathan realized that something was missing in his life; he felt it deep in his heart. Like the prodigal, “he came to himself” (Luke 15:17). The Holy Spirit was speaking to Jonathan.
Such turning points often take place during a crisis. For whatever reason these missing souls turn back toward home, you and I must be ready to lovingly provide them with sound Bible answers to their questions, to give them a reason to rejoin God’s family. This is how you helped Jonathan. He shares that in his pursuit to understand God’s existence, “My faith remained shaky and on the verge of breaking, until the Lord told me to take a look at the Amazing Facts website.”
And here’s what Jonathan says happened when he accessed AFTV.org, which broadcasts truth around the clock: “I watched the last two sermons of your Prophecy Encounter series. I was blessed beyond what I can describe—the Lord’s words speaking through you and the clearness of the truth I had long forgotten.”
Praise the Lord! God used these lifesaving programs you made possible to turn this prodigal back home to Him. And how heaven rejoices when lost sheep are found! “There will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance” (Luke 15:7). By making our evangelistic programs freely available all around the world through websites and on networks like History and Lifetime, you cause tremendous rejoicing in heaven!
And now I need your help. We must be ready for the wave of prodigals who will turn back to God as they look for answers when end-time events unfold around them.
Technology That Will Reach More Hearts
God has always provided the tools for you and me to conduct evangelism, and media technology is a key resource for sharing the three angels’ messages today. Of course, such electronic equipment can become outdated and make outreach more difficult.
You see, our media team has reached a critical point. Currently, it is a tedious, expensive, and time-consuming process to prepare and upload the numerous media files needed to broadcast on TV and stream online. To save time and automate our work to efficiently reach more searching hearts—giving them an up-to-date look and easier access—we must purchase a new AFTV playout and traffic control system, including much-needed storage for all our Bible-based programs. This will cost $350,000. That certainly is a lot. So, I’m asking you to stand with me sacrificially, putting every tool to use to rapidly send out essential truths that will prepare the world for Christ’s soon return.
With your loving gift of $20 today, you will help nearly 700 new seekers find God’s powerful truth and change their lives for eternity. Your sacrificial gift of $100 will help restore lasting faith in more than 4,000 individuals like Jonathan. And a gigabyte-sized gift of $512 will go a long way in providing the new system that will make God’s truth more readily available to ever more souls for His kingdom when it matters most.
Jonathan writes that when he heard my appeal to make a stand for Christ, he “stood and rededicated [his] life fully to the Lord.” I know it caused angels to burst into songs of praise! Will you help create even more rejoicing in heaven? Perhaps you have a prodigal son or daughter. It may be that by helping to reach the prodigal children of others that God will reach yours.
Seeking all God’s wandering children,
Pastor Doug Batchelor
President, Amazing Facts International