Participants:
Series Code: TDY
Program Code: TDY230054A
|
00:01 ♪ ♪
00:05 ♪ I want to spend my life mending broken people ♪ 00:15 ♪ I want to spend my life removing pain ♪ 00:26 ♪ Lord let my words heal a heart that hurts ♪ 00:37 ♪ I want to spend my life mending broken people ♪ 00:57 ♪ ♪ 01:07 Hello and welcome to 3ABN Today. I'm Jason Bradley and I'm so 01:11 excited for our program today. I'm going to be talking to my 01:15 guest who used to be an atheist and he is now a Christian. And 01:21 so we're going to hear about his powerful conversion story. His 01:25 name is Michael John Marta and you used to be a former 01:30 literature evangelist and a Bible teacher and the author of 01:35 Christian books. Welcome to the program. 01:36 Well, thank you very much, Jason. 01:39 Yes, yes. I can't wait to dive into your story and I've had a 01:43 chance to kind of get a glimpse of your testimony. But before we 01:47 do we're going to be blessed in song. It's going to be by 01:51 Matt and Josie and it's I Love You Anyway. 01:55 ♪ ♪ 02:02 ♪ To my gentle searching eyes There have been no disguises ♪ 02:12 ♪ Nothing that you have done that you can hide ♪ 02:22 ♪ I've seen you in your darkest sin ♪ 02:24 ♪ And know the pain and guilt within ♪ 02:27 ♪ But the question on your mind am I worth saving anyway ♪ 02:33 ♪ I see you, child for who you are ♪ 02:37 ♪ Now that sin has left it's ugly scars ♪ 02:40 ♪ But I know who you were meant to be ♪ 02:43 ♪ And my love will set you free ♪ 02:46 ♪ So come weary child rest beside me for a while ♪ 02:55 ♪ I know your care, the burdens that you bear ♪ 03:02 ♪ Abide in my love hide in my love ♪ 03:09 ♪ Don't push me away ashamed and afraid ♪ 03:15 ♪ I know who you are and I love you anyway my child ♪ 03:24 ♪ ♪ 03:32 ♪ So bring me all your wants and needs ♪ 03:35 ♪ I promise they can't burden me ♪ 03:38 ♪ Most desperate one cannot exceed my care for you ♪ 03:43 ♪ And bring me all those doubts and fears ♪ 03:48 ♪ The hurt you haven't faced in years ♪ 03:51 ♪ The wounded heart you stuffed inside ♪ 03:54 ♪ The tears you tried so hard to hide ♪ 04:01 ♪ And come, weary child Rest beside me for a while ♪ 04:07 ♪ I know your care The burdens that you bear ♪ 04:14 ♪ Abide in my love, Hide in my love ♪ 04:20 ♪ Don't push me away Ashamed and afraid ♪ 04:28 ♪ I know who you are and I love you anyway my child ♪ 04:36 ♪ So come to me just the way you are ♪ 04:40 ♪ Though you've fallen hard and wandered far ♪ 04:45 ♪ So stop trying to be so brave, so strong ♪ 04:48 ♪ It's okay to cry, child, tears aren't wrong ♪ 04:55 ♪ Come weary child, rest beside me for a while ♪ 05:02 ♪ I know your care, those burdens that you bear ♪ 05:08 ♪ Abide in my love, hide in my love ♪ 05:15 ♪ Don't push me away Ashamed and afraid ♪ 05:22 ♪ I know who you are and I love you anyway my child ♪ 05:31 ♪ Yes I love you always my child ♪ 05:37 ♪ ♪ 05:53 Wow, what a powerful message. God loves you anyway. He desires 05:59 a relationship with you and you know Mike as I think about your 06:03 testimony, how you went from atheist to Christian. What led 06:09 to you being an atheist? 06:12 Well it's an interesting question I can tell you. I was 06:14 raised in a Christian home, but my mother died when I was 13 06:21 years old and because I'd heard all the Bible stories about how 06:24 God raised people from the dead I figured he could still do that 06:29 so I kept praying all through the funeral that God would raise 06:36 her from the dead to glorify himself and of course I wanted 06:40 to have my mom back too. And but it didn't happen so when we got 06:45 to the graveyard and they threw the dirt on I figured it wasn't 06:49 going to happen. The devil you know puts thoughts in your head 06:54 so I started thinking things like I wonder if there really is 06:57 a God. If there is one why would He do something like that to me? 07:01 And pretty soon I started suspecting that probably the 07:08 story about God was like Greek mythology, just a good story 07:13 that explained things and so I decided I was no longer a 07:18 believer. I was going out the other direction as far as I 07:21 could. 07:23 Yeah, so you said you were no longer a believer but then what 07:27 did you believe...So you were an atheist but like what was 07:31 your belief on the state of the dead or you know any of those 07:35 things. What happens when you die? 07:36 That's a good question. I actually didn't care. (Yes) When 07:42 you're an atheist you live for today and what you can get, what 07:47 you can do, how much fun you can have. You really don't think 07:52 about the future because as far as you know there is no future. 07:54 When you're dead you're dead. So that was my philosophy at 07:57 that time. 07:59 So you were living in the here and now. 08:00 Exactly, that's all you have. 08:05 Did you feel a sense of emptiness, I mean you know not 08:09 believing in anything? Did you feel empty? 08:12 Well, that's a good question. I felt busy. When you don't 08:23 believe that there's a God you entertain yourself, you stay 08:28 busy. And if you're busy and having fun like most of the 08:32 world does today it kind of takes your thoughts of God out 08:35 of the picture and you don't even worry about it. 08:37 Yeah, so you didn't really have any real rest. 08:41 No, no there's no peace. You just live for the moment what 08:46 you can. Enjoy life, so to speak 08:51 Did you encounter any challenges that stand out to you during 08:55 your time as an atheist? 08:59 Well there were a lot of challenges that would come up. 09:04 I actually, in my book I can tell you I had one near-death 09:09 experience after another and I pretty much attributed it to I'm 09:14 a really lucky guy. I worked out on heavy equipment and running 09:20 bulldozers and things like that and one time when we were 09:24 bringing a bulldozer back from Minneapolis to the Upper 09:27 Peninsula where I was working and it was on what they call a 09:32 high boy. It's about 40, 45 inches off the ground, not the 09:35 ones you can just...we had to put it on a loading dock to get 09:39 it on, (Oh okay) and the teamster who was driving the 09:42 truck was pretty much drunk most of the time so he showed me how 09:47 to drive. This was one time when he was driving. He pulled off 09:50 the road because he had to have a nature break and he went out 09:54 in the woods and when he came back found out the truck was 09:56 stuck in the sand on the side of the road. And he said Mike you 10:04 think you can twist the Cat around if we unchain it and 10:07 back up real quick and then push me out of this and then build a 10:12 ramp up so you can get back up. Of course, at that age, I had a 10:19 confidence totally. Of course I can do that. So we're at a 10:23 little bit of an angle on the side of the road and we undid 10:28 the chains that were holding the caterpillar down and I started 10:34 it up. The minute I lifted the blade it slid sideways right off 10:39 into about a six or seven-foot ditch and the caterpillar 10:47 started to roll on top of me. And all of a sudden, Leonard 10:52 told me, there was just like a giant hand pulled it back over 10:55 and it didn't crush me. It just came back the other way and so 10:59 Now I know that was God intervening to watch out for me 11:03 but at that time I thought wow am I lucky? 11:09 Wow! That is his hand on your life the whole time. 11:13 The whole time. I can't tell you how many near-death experiences 11:16 I had and God brought me out of every one of them. 11:21 Yes. You mentioned your book here. It's called God Want's 11:23 Your Shoes: The Journey Back. So we have God Wants Your Shoes: 11:33 The Journey Back. Excellent, excellent book here. How did God 11:38 change your mind about atheism? 11:41 Well, it was one step at a time. I can tell you I got married up 11:46 in the Upper Peninsula and my wife didn't want me to work in 11:51 the pipeline anymore because there was dangerous work. So we 11:55 moved down to the Appleton area in Wisconsin and I went to work 12:01 in the mill. We rented an apartment, I know now that we 12:09 found it in the paper but I know God led us to that 12:11 apartment because we were upstairs to a nice Christian 12:16 Baptist lady, Doris. And she was very friendly. We had to go 12:23 right by her door, she had a sliding door so it was a house 12:30 with an apartment built upstairs So every day I'd go up and Doris 12:34 was very friendly, talked to me, asked me how things were going 12:35 and I'd say fine. Then she started witnessing to me. 12:42 And I said, Doris, I'm not interested. I'm an atheist. 12:45 She said, Really, why would you be an atheist? I said well when 12:51 my mom died when I was 13 if God really loves me why did he 12:53 do something like that? And on top of that Doris, the Bible 12:56 contradicts itself, everybody knows that. And I went upstairs 13:01 and I thought that's the end of that. I'll never hear another 13:03 thing. She'll leave me alone like everybody else always did. 13:06 So the next day I came back from work. There's Doris standing 13:12 there at the bottom of the stairs with a book and a marker. 13:15 She said you know Mike, I've been thinking about what you 13:19 said about the Bible contradicting itself. And so I 13:24 want you...this is The Good News for Modern Man. I'm going to 13:27 give you this. It's a New Testament in simple English. I 13:31 want you to read it and take this yellow marker and you mark 13:34 every place you find it contradicts itself. If you find 13:38 it in three I'll be an atheist with you. (Wow!) I took the 13:43 challenge. I thought it was one way to get her off my back. So I 13:46 was working shift work. I'd come home I'd read that Bible. No 13:50 contradictions no contradictions I went through Matthew. 13:53 Actually, it was interesting. I had never really sat down and 13:57 read through the Bible before. So I read Matthew and I read 13:59 Mark. I read Luke. I'm starting to think this might be true. 14:05 I'm not finding any contradictions. And so 14:09 I got to the book of John about how much God loves each of us 14:14 It touched me. I never prayed for his Holy Spirit because I 14:20 didn't believe in it. But God touched me anyway. And when I 14:25 got through that I pretty much believed there was a God now and 14:29 I'd better do things differently And when I got to the book of 14:34 Acts I wondered why don't miracles happen anymore? Why was 14:38 it just back then. And that was a question I had. 14:46 Yes, yes. How has your life changed since accepting Jesus 14:49 Christ as your Lord and Savior? 14:50 It's a wonderful difference. Before when you had a struggle 14:58 you just had to tough it out. You had really no hope, it was 15:02 all on you, do it or don't. And you tend to blame other people 15:08 for your problems when you don't know God. And after I found God 15:15 and was able to talk to him about my problems just life was 15:21 so much lighter, so much better. Because I had a friend I could 15:26 talk to now. 15:29 And what were some of the experiences that took place you 15:31 know because as you accept Jesus into your life you know it's not 15:38 like all opposition stops or anything like that. You know you 15:43 start facing some other opposition as well. So what was 15:47 some experiences that you faced? 15:49 Well I'm no different than anybody else. I had some friends 15:55 I used to after the shift work they'd come play cards at night 16:00 and drink. And when I quit drinking with them, I'd still 16:09 play cards but I quit drinking and they kind of started to 16:12 tease me a little bit. And when I began to really talk more 16:19 about my Christianity, they kind of left me by the wayside and 16:24 started calling me Holy Roller and things like that, but I took 16:29 it because I had a better way now. 16:30 Yes, yes, absolutely. Now this book you wrote here, God Wants 16:37 Your Shoes: The Journey Back. Where can people go to get this 16:42 book? 16:43 Well, it's available on Amazon... 16:47 Off of your website right, @Mike-Books.com 16:54 Yeah, www@Mike-Books.com, that's correct and there's testimonials 17:01 there from people that have read the book and in quoting the 17:06 Amazon editor who was not Christian who wrote a letter and 17:10 you can see it there how impressed he was with the way 17:14 that when I was working in literature evangelism the people 17:17 how they responded, how I was able to help them find God. It 17:20 was a...it kind of touched me, that somebody that wasn't a 17:27 total believer would write something like that. 17:29 Yes, will praise God. That was another witnessing opportunity. 17:32 Was it hard to write the book? 17:35 First I have to tell you why I wrote it. I have a pastor in 17:41 Sarasota. I go to Florida in the winter and Pastor Jerry 17:46 Rosario, I did a favor for him. He was selling his van so I 17:50 drove down to Inglewood and asked me if I'd come and pick 17:54 him up and drive back. I'd take him home to Sarasota. So I did 17:58 and on the way back I started telling stories about all the 18:02 miracles God had done in my life And he said, Mike, you need to 18:05 write a book. And I said, Pastor people have been telling me I 18:09 should write a book for 20 years And he said I'm going to tell 18:14 something different. He said, if you don't write a book to share 18:17 what God has done in your life and what he can do in modern 18:20 days, it's almost like sacrilege And that kind of hit me. So I 18:27 thought about it and I decided you know we don't know what we 18:31 can do until we try for God and so started writing down stories 18:35 that I had as a literature evangelist and things that had 18:39 happened in my life and pretty soon I had a book full. 18:45 Yes, yes. What are some stories that you can share? You know we 18:49 love story time, so let's have a little story time right now. 18:53 I'm going to tell you one. I might get choked up because it's 18:59 an incredible experience. I used to get cards for the 19:04 doctor's office, lead cards, right, for people interested in 19:06 the Bible Story. So I got a card it was probably a town 15 miles 19:14 from where I lived. So I went there. There was nobody home. 19:17 I kept stopping back through there for almost a year and 19:22 nobody ever was there. And one day had the thought as I'm 19:28 driving through...the town was New London, Wisconsin...I had 19:30 the thought I should go to that house again, this upstairs 19:35 apartment. But I pushed it off and kept on driving. I was going 19:38 to go someplace else. I went 10 miles down the road and it just 19:43 really started nagging at me that I need to go and knock at 19:48 that door. And I kept going. I went another 10 miles. I 19:53 couldn't take it anymore it was so strong. I turned around and 19:57 drove back. So I went upstairs to this upstairs apartment and I 20:00 knocked on the door. No answer. I thought Lord did I just mess 20:06 up. I'm sure you wanted me to knock on the door. So I knocked 20:10 again. No answer. I thought I was going to keep knocking, so I 20:14 kept knocking. All of a sudden I heard a noise inside the door. 20:18 So now I knew I was supposed to be...I'm knocking till that door 20:22 opens. So I kept knocking. Pretty soon the door opened and 20:26 a young gentleman came out, probably 35, or 36 years old. He 20:34 said, What can I do for you? And I said well I'm here with 20:38 information about the Bible Stories that you sent in. 20:40 And he said well I'm not really interested anymore. I said well 20:47 there must be a reason. Why don't you just let me step in 20:48 and talk to you and show you what it is and you can know 20:51 whether you're interested or not So he opened the door, kind of 20:54 sheepish looking which I couldn't understand. We sat down 20:57 at the table and I started showing the books and talking 21:00 about God and how good he was and he started crying. 21:04 I couldn't understand. I was taken aback. I didn't know what 21:10 to do. He said come with me, I want to show you something. And 21:15 so he took me down the hall... we were sitting at the kitchen 21:16 table...and on the right-hand side there was a doorway that he 21:23 had a big nail spiked in a belt and a chair. He was standing on 21:27 that chair getting ready to kill himself when I knocked on the 21:31 door. (Wow, wow, wow) We both got touched and I said well 21:38 let's go back and pray. So we went back to his table and I 21:39 started praying with him. And I said tell me why would you want 21:44 to do that. And he said well my wife and my children left me and 21:48 I've got no reason to have the books anymore. And so I just 21:54 going to do away with myself and I had this thought pop 21:56 into my head. I said 21:57 you know if you do something like that your children will 22:01 always wonder if they did something to make Daddy kill 22:05 himself. And I said you'll ruin their lives. Besides you don't 22:08 even know if they're coming back or not. They could come back in 22:12 a week or two and so you need to stay alive. I'm whispering 22:18 little prayers to God, help me I don't know what to do. And all 22:21 of a sudden, I had another thought and I started telling 22:25 him about how his life could affect other people in many ways 22:31 that he never even thought about So we prayed together and I said 22:36 would you talk to a pastor if I have a pastor come over and help 22:41 you understand that Jesus still loves you and he said, Yeah I'll 22:46 do that. So I tried to call my pastor and I couldn't get ahold 22:49 of him but I had an Assembly of God pastor who lives in the town 22:53 next to me and he needed somebody now. So I called him up 22:55 and he went over and started working with him and having 23:00 Bible studies. Somebody had bought Bible Story books from me 23:03 before so I knew them very well. I stopped after about a month 23:08 later because I wanted to give him time to get adjusted and I 23:11 knocked on the door again. This time a lady from across the hall 23:14 said he's not here, he moved. And I thought what if his wife 23:23 came back. I wonder about all those things. I'm a total optimist so 23:26 I felt that God sent me there that day to save his life and 23:30 that his life had probably turned around and who knows, he 23:34 might be up in a pulpit some place telling somebody how God 23:37 sent somebody to save his life that day. That just made me feel 23:42 awesome. I still get chill bumps when I think about it. 23:46 Yes, that is incredible. You know you never know...that's why 23:51 it's so important to answer the call that God places on your 23:54 life too, because you don't know how it's going to impact others 23:58 You know what if you didn't knock on the door. 24:02 I thought about that. In my book I wrote about that story that 24:06 said what if I would have neglected another 10 minutes 24:10 to turn around? He would have been done for. So when you feel 24:16 God urging you to do something just do it whether it feels 24:21 right or doesn't feel right you need to follow the impulse. 24:24 Yeah, yes, amen. Have any souls been won to our church once you 24:29 accepted God and started working for him? 24:32 I have given lots of Bible studies I'm going to 24:36 tell you just 24:37 briefly: I had a card that I went to...I have fair booths 24:43 always I give away a big family Bible and the kids would sign up 24:46 if they're interested in Bible Story books and so I had some 24:51 leads from the fair and it took a few months before I'm able to 24:56 get to them because I have so many of them. And the Post 25:01 Offices back there are wonderful They have post office boxes. I'd 25:02 go in there. The Post Master in Appleton called me Reverend and 25:07 I said no I'm not a reverend, I just work with Bible Storybooks 25:10 helping people find God. Well that's okay, you're reverend as 25:13 far as I am concerned. She'd give me addresses and how to get 25:16 there and everything. Well I went to this place out near 25:21 Black Creek, Wisconsin, and the lady opened the door. I showed 25:25 her the little card, obviously her little daughter had signed it 25:28 and she burst into tears. And I said I'm sorry. She said, 25:34 somebody just hit and killed Sarah, that was her daughter. 25:38 And they don't know who it is so it was hit and run driver who 25:42 lived in the country. And I said Oh, I'm very sorry. She said I 25:47 just can't talk to you now. Can you come back and so I said I 25:49 would in two weeks and so I went back in two weeks. Shared God 25:54 with them, prayed with them. I told them you know the nice 25:58 thing about this bad thing is that you know that Sarah the 26:03 last thing she had in her mind was she wanted to know about God 26:05 and the Bible. And I say, that should give you some kind of 26:09 comfort. And they were comforted by that. I prayed with them and 26:13 then I showed them the Bible Story books and they bought 26:15 everything I had which was a blessing. But before I left they 26:20 said you know Mike we have these nice Jehovah's Witnesses who are 26:26 giving us Bible Studies. Would you come and join us. It's a 26:30 Friday night and I said sure I'll come. So I came to the 26:34 Bible study. They had eight or nine different people around the 26:39 table, different families from the area, all with the Jehovah's 26:42 Witnesses. That particular night they were talking about the 26:48 second coming. And they said that it already happened. You 26:53 might not know that, I didn't either. But they said that Jesus 26:57 was already present in the books the Watch Tower Press and if you 27:05 have your eyes open spiritually you'd know that that's what he 27:10 wants you to read. It's his word I'm that kind of guy, I couldn't 27:16 keep quiet so I said what about Revelation 1:6 where it says 27:21 behold he's coming in the clouds and everyone will see him. 27:23 They said well everybody that's got spiritual eyes can see him 27:26 right now in this Watch Tower Press. I said what about the 27:29 rest of the verse that says the people would be afraid and 27:32 they'd hide and call for the rocks and mountains to fall on 27:36 them. And they didn't say a word Everybody at the table started 27:40 asking me questions and so I told them about Corinthians 27:44 where when Jesus comes he'll come in the clouds and people 27:46 will be raised from the dead. And Jehovah's Witness people 27:51 never said another word. Those people all started asking me 27:53 questions. They said Mike would you come back. And I said yes I 27:57 will. The Jehovah's Witness never showed up but I went there 28:01 for about a year every Friday night and had Bible studies with 28:05 them. Eight people joined the Seventh-day Adventist Church 28:09 because of that. I wrote about them in the book because not 28:14 only them, the farmer. He was a farmer just not somebody that 28:24 could speak publicly or anything like that but when he found 28:28 Jesus as his personal Savior he would tell everybody. You 28:31 couldn't drive by his house without if you stopped somebody 28:36 he'd say do you love Jesus? He's just that way. And it's exciting 28:41 He actually...somebody came to sell him farm equipment and he 28:44 started to talk to him about it and Ken started him on a Bible 28:49 study and that person was baptized, Stan and Martha, and 28:56 they went on to become ministers someplace in the southern 29:02 conference. So no matter what talent you have God can use you 29:08 if you're just willing to I say stick your neck out. Because 29:11 sometimes you have to stick your neck out to see a miracle. 29:16 Miracles don't happen if you stay in your safe comfort zone. 29:19 You have to do something for God and he'll do something in return 29:23 Yeah, absolutely. When did you come into the Adventist faith? 29:28 You know I don't think we really touched on that part. When did 29:32 you learn of the Adventist message? 29:34 My grandfather, my grandfather was Seventh-day Adventist. I was 29:38 the first grandson and we fished together. I was just special to 29:44 him. And he was always talking about church and after my mom 29:48 died, that was my mother's father. And I said, Grandpa it 29:52 just doesn't work for me anymore I mean, I love you and we'll 29:58 continue but I'm just not interested. There is no God 29:59 as far as I'm concerned. 30:01 He never gave up on me. He kept talking to me about 30:04 God. One day there was an evangelism series coming and it 30:08 was a fellow from Alaska, Lynn Martell was his name and Grandpa 30:15 said Mike would you come? And I said Grandpa I, I, just you know 30:19 He said would you come for me? He said we're having slides from 30:24 Alaska. Grandpa and I like the outdoors, always interested in 30:27 that. So I said, Okay Grandpa I'll come just for you but I'm 30:31 shutting my ears off as soon as the slides are done. I don't 30:34 want to hear anything else. Well just so happened he was talking 30:39 about Daniel 2 (Oh wow) and I had my eyes opened to the fact 30:43 that God predicted the future centuries before it ever 30:47 happened. I kept my ears open. At the end of that series my 30:51 wife and I were baptized, became Seventh-day Adventists. 30:55 (Wow, wow) God worked with me all the time you know. 31:00 Yes, yes I see that and he was putting people in your path 31:04 to lead you back to him. 31:05 Even Baptist people. 31:07 Yeah. Yes, yes, yes. That lady she was in your apartment 31:10 building? (yes) Yeah that's incredible. Why do you think 31:16 people don't experience miracles today? 31:20 You have not because you ask not. I'll tell you it's a miracle I'm 31:25 here today. I'll tell you this. My car...I've got a Suburban. 31:34 On Thursday it started shaking really bad and I thought oh oh 31:35 is the universal joint or something going out. Of course 31:41 this was on Thursday night so I've got no place to take it. 31:44 All the mechanic shops are full so I took it to Walmart and 31:49 the change my tires and things like that and thought maybe that 31:53 was the problem so I drove it home and I was supposed to go to 31:56 a family reunion on Sunday so I went and it was still shaking 32:01 And I said Lord I have to go down to 3ABN. Can you just take 32:07 this shake away till I get back. And just like that, it quit. Just 32:14 because still answers prayers today. 32:16 You ask, He's there to deliver 32:18 just like he was in the Old Testament. 32:21 Absolutely. You know what I think that miracles take place 32:25 every day. People just don't attribute them to being miracles 32:28 sometimes too. They don't attribute them to God and I find 32:31 it fascinating that sometimes people will blame God for things 32:37 but they won't give him the credit for things. (Exactly) 32:41 That one kind of blows my mind. 32:45 Well that's the way the devil works. When something bad 32:49 happens he always elevates it to make it seem worse than it is 32:53 and if God really loved you, He would never let this happen. 32:57 That's the kind of...the way it goes. 33:00 What are some other miracle stories you can share? 33:01 Ah (sighs) Well those are pretty good ones. Other miracles. I can 33:05 tell you this. I drove a Datsun, (chuckles) I never had to do 33:14 anything to that Datsun mechanically except by changing the 33:19 oil. One morning I was supposed to see somebody...I'm kind of 33:22 mechanical. The starter wouldn't work so I dropped the starter 33:27 just two bolts in a Datsun took it into my house in the garage 33:30 and opened it up to see what the problem was, maybe it was just 33:33 dirty. And I opened it up and a handful of wires fell out in my 33:36 hand off the armature. I thought Ug, Lord I have an appointment 33:41 I have to see these people. Can you make this work? So I put it 33:45 back together just like that with the wires falling out. I 33:49 said Lord help this to work and I put it back in. Started like a 33:53 charm. I put 360,000 miles on that vehicle... 33:56 Three hundred and sixty thousand miles?! 33:59 I never changed the starter. Because God fixed it you know. 34:05 I didn't want to show a lack of faith. So he fixed it. I can 34:09 just relate miracle after miracle after miracle. 34:14 That's huge. Now you know you were going out, you were 34:18 spreading the gospel, you were sharing the gospel. How do you 34:21 recommend that someone share the gospel with someone else? 34:25 That's a good question. First thing is you have to pray that 34:29 God will give you a little bit of courage because people they are 34:35 afraid if they say something about God, they'll offend 34:37 somebody. So what I do is I try to make friends with people 34:42 first. It's like in sales. You make a friend, you sell a friend 34:46 So it's the same concept. You make a friend. You can ask 34:52 leading questions like Jason what do you think of the world 34:56 the way it is today? And get a response. Do you think if we 35:02 were more interested in God that it would be better. And you can 35:06 find out if they're interested. If they've got any interest at 35:09 all you continue with a conversation. And you talk about 35:13 Jesus. You don't talk about all the different doctrines we have 35:16 because if they don't accept Jesus first the doctrines are 35:19 immaterial. Hook them up with the power first and he'll give 35:24 you power to do what you need to do. I can tell you one more 35:28 story. If I have time. I was driving to see my loan officer 35:35 Jerry because I lived in the country and because I used to 35:40 be an operator on a Cat I wanted to build a little pond behind my 35:42 place. So I went in and I was selling Bible storybooks and 35:47 Jerry wanted to make sure I made enough money to be able to make 35:50 payments which is obvious. And so we talked about it and I 35:55 showed him what I had made because God really blessed me in 35:56 the literature evangelism work. And so he gave me the loan and 36:01 I saw on the desk he had a picture of a daughter and a wife 36:04 And I said Jerry you should let me come by sometime and show you 36:09 what I do. I think the Bible Storybooks would be good for 36:11 your daughter at least. He said, Okay, Mike. So we made an 36:16 appointment. And two weeks later I was supposed to show up, 36:20 canceled the appointment. Jerry couldn't make it. A month later 36:25 we made an appointment. Jerry canceled the appointment. 36:28 Couldn't make it. He's a busy guy. So it was almost a 36:31 year before I got to see him 36:32 and it was in the winter. And he said Mike I'm 36:37 going to take of Friday from work. I will be there to see 36:41 these books because I want to see what you do. And so he took 36:46 off and there was a big snow storm and I lived about 30 miles 36:51 away and it was deep slushy snow and I'm driving because I don't 36:56 want to be late because I'm an on-time person. So when I got to 37:03 a stop light in Appleton about three-fourths of a mile from 37:05 where he lived it just turned yellow and I went through it and 37:11 turned my wheels, but the car didn't turn. I ended up in about 37:15 a 10-foot ditch sideways. And as I landed there in the ditch it's 37:23 deep slushy snow I said, Lord I talk out loud like that. I 37:28 said Lord I need to see Jerry. What can I do to get out of this 37:32 ditch. And not even done and somebody knocked on my window 37:35 and it startled me and I looked. It looked like it was a young 37:39 lady, I have to tell you, it looked like a young lady about 37:41 110, 120 pounds I'm guessing. Maybe college-age, a little 37:46 older and she said would like us to push you out of the ditch. 37:50 And I looked at her. There's no way you're going to push me up 37:56 this steep ditch. And she said well let my friend and I try. 38:01 And so I said well okay. So I 38:04 put it in gear. They got behind my car and my car went right up 38:08 on the side of the road and I was just amazed. And I opened up 38:14 the door to get out to thank them and there was nobody there. 38:19 The only tracks in the snow were my car tracks where they had 38:25 pushed me out of the snow. And angels. Everybody says, angels 38:31 come as men I had a couple look like, one looked like a woman to 38:35 me. They pushed me out of the ditch so I contest that. 38:38 That is incredible! 38:41 So I went to the appointment and I told them about it and Jerry 38:45 was amazed. And so Jerry and Sue bought the Bible Story books. I 38:51 started Bible studies with them. Jerry and Sue were Catholic 38:56 before that and it just wasn't meeting their needs and so he 39:01 started studying with me and he said Mike I want to go to a 39:05 church where God sends angels to push you out of the ditch if you 39:07 go in (chuckles) Jerry became a deacon in our church and just a 39:15 fantastic person. His wife taught Sabbath School classes 39:19 and they were just a real joy. They both have passed away since 39:23 But that's another story where God was just able to help me and 39:28 something that only he could do. 39:29 Yes, yes, absolutely. You know I'm thinking about how you've 39:37 been spreading the gospel. I know that you have me by maybe 39:41 just a few years. You know you got a few years. 39:43 A lot of years. 39:47 So how do you go about talking to a younger person or can a 39:49 younger person witness to an older person. How do you 39:53 recommend they go about doing that? 39:55 Absolutely. I don't think there's an age barrier. Now they 40:01 told me when you're selling Bible storybooks look for 40:02 somebody that's within 10, 15 you know your best chances are 40:06 there. But I've had grandmothers and grandfathers. You relate to 40:11 people by being friendly to them by telling them what God has 40:18 done in your life. I start off with that. I was told that if 40:23 give them your personal testimony about what God has 40:25 done for you if they're receptive at all they'll listen 40:29 And they do. I've had mayors of cities. I had a U.S. congressman 40:35 that bought Bible storybooks an older gentleman for his 40:39 grandkids. And he said Mike I'm just buying these because I like 40:43 you. (Chuckles) And he said but would you do a favor for me? 40:48 He said I'm flying back to Congress. If I get reelected 40:52 I'm going to fly you out and have you talk to the 40:55 congressional prayer meeting and tell them some of the stories 40:59 about what you have done, what God has done in your life. 41:02 I said I'd be honored to do that I'd be glad to do that. But he 41:07 didn't get reelected and I think that's the devil's way of 41:09 keeping me away from all those people I could have shared God 41:11 with. 41:14 Yes, yes, yes. So speaking of which do you go to churches, 41:17 do you speak at churches? 41:18 Yes, I do speak at churches. I have actually spoken at an 41:24 Assembly of God Church. I had a program where I said if I sell 41:30 10 sets of Bible storybooks I'll give you a set for your 41:34 library. And so I met this pastor who gave me his whole 41:38 list and lots of people gave me their church list and I just 41:41 went down the line and selling people. Well this Assembly of 41:44 God pastor in Osh Kosh who somebody actually had met years 41:48 before that as a child was now pastor of the Assembly of God 41:52 church. So when I got the 10 sets there he said Mike would 41:57 you come to our church and tell us what God is doing in your 42:00 life. And so he gave me the pulpit and I got up and shared 42:05 how good God was and how much he loves us and how he took me 42:07 from being a lost soul to bring me back as somebody who could 42:11 work for him. 42:12 Wow. And he knew you were an Adventist? 42:14 Yeah. He came and had meals with us on Sabbath. He told me, he 42:21 said, Mike, you know what, he said your church has got 42:24 something that no other churches have, the way you get together 42:27 on Sabbath and have meals together. He said other churches 42:30 when they're done with church they're just back to normal 42:33 activity. So he said I appreciate the way that you 42:36 handle things. It's God you know 42:40 That's great. You know I want to share your email address because 42:43 if somebody is watching this program right now and they're 42:46 like I need Mike to speak at my church. They can email you right 42:51 Yeah so your email address is MakeMarta49@gmail.com 43:00 That is correct. I'd be happy to In my own church, I preach and I 43:05 not just in different churches. They love it. They said tell 43:08 us some of your stories. But that's one reason I wrote a book 43:12 because I can't talk to everybody. Someday we're all 43:15 gone but the book can be there telling people about what God 43:18 can do... 43:19 Absolutely and I want to share how to get that book again. You 43:22 can get it at Mike-Books.com and you can order your copy 43:31 today. Mike this is incredible. I'm thinking now of that 43:38 individual that's watching this that's saying you know I want to 43:41 Share God with others but I'm afraid to talk to people. What 43:45 would you say to that person? 43:47 I would say Noah was probably afraid to come out of the ark 43:50 after the flood too because everything he had was in there. 43:54 It's good but you got to take that step out sometimes and 43:58 stick your neck out. God will not let you down. If you want a 44:02 real experience of what God can do in your life you have to take 44:07 a step and show him that you're on his side, that you love him 44:11 and that you want to share and just pray that he'll give you 44:15 the right circumstances because he always answers prayer. 44:18 Amen, amen. If you could start life over fresh what would you 44:23 change? 44:25 Well you know I spent a lot of worldly days out on the dark 44:32 side and I wish I could change that in one way. But you know 44:34 what Jason? Actually, God is able to use me because of those past 44:41 experiences I've had. I can tell people, I was where you are and 44:44 I had no hope and life was just what I could do today, what I 44:49 could get today. But there's far greater experience to be had if 44:53 you really turn your life over to God. So in one way, I got a 44:57 few chinks in my armor because sin does that to you but in 45:02 another way I can relate to people who have not met yet God 45:05 and they know because I was where they were that God can do 45:09 the same thing for them. 45:12 Yes. What would you say would be the best way to approach an 45:17 atheist with the gospel? 45:19 They're tough nuts to crack I can tell you that right now. 45:23 For me, I just told them I was where you were and I wasn't 45:30 happy. And I made 10 times more than anybody else back then and 45:38 money doesn't do it either. And things don't do it because 45:40 you've always got that time when you're wondering what really is 45:46 going to happen. In the back of your mind everybody knows 45:50 someday I'm going to die and... You know I had a stroke actually 45:56 two of them and God brought me back. But after my first stroke 46:01 I was trying to walk to my four wheeler. I got probably about 46:04 three-fourths of a mile deep and I couldn't walk straight. I knew 46:10 what was happening. I thought that might be it for me. I said 46:12 Lord if this is it you and I are good, I know that. But if you 46:17 give me a little more time I'd appreciate it. And I couldn't 46:21 walk straight. So I had the thought aim to the right, 46:24 I'm sure it was God, aim to the right and you'll get back to the 46:27 four wheeler. When I got back to the four-wheeler I was slumped 46:29 over, slurring my words. My son I had texted. He was there. Took 46:34 me to the hospital. But I got to share that experience with 46:39 four nurses, and a doctor. I told them I know God's going to get 46:43 me through this. So I don't worry about it. I said you know 46:46 what, it's not when you go, it's where you go. I'm sure glad I 46:52 had it because I'm able to share that experience with people and 46:55 help them to see, Yeah, we're all going to die someplace but 47:00 what happens afterward. 47:03 M- hmm, M-hmm. You know I find great comfort when we study 47:07 God's word. Like you've learned about the state of the dead and 47:12 you're resting in the grave and then Christ returns and then 47:16 boom you know. 47:18 I had a Catholic friend in Bible study who was raised Catholic, 47:22 he's not a Catholic anymore and he's attending our church. He 47:26 said he kind of liked the Catholic version better where 47:29 when you die you go right to heaven. And I said you got to 47:35 think of the other side. If you don't go to heaven you're going 47:37 have an awful long time in the hot place so I don't think I'd 47:40 like those odds. It's much more comforting to know that you're 47:45 just resting waiting for Jesus to come and take you home. 47:47 Yes, yes, that's better. We'll go with the Bible version. 47:51 Exactly. That's right. I think that's the best way. 47:54 Absolutely. What has your family said because they've seen you 47:58 know they've seen you on both sides. They've seen as an 48:00 atheist and they've seen you as a Christian. How has your 48:03 journey impacted your family? 48:05 Well some family members, I just had one family member, it was my 48:13 cousin that we spent a lot of time together and he actually 48:17 read, I gave him the book before I printed it to read it. It's a 48:22 way to witness and actually... And he said, you know Mike you 48:26 have such faith. He said I am so blessed to read of all that 48:32 God has done for you. And he just passed away. And his wife 48:36 told me, Mike you increased Gary's faith so much. He never 48:40 had faith like that before he met you. And he didn't make all 48:45 the commitments but you know there's thief-on-the-cross 48:49 Christians who accept what they know and do what they know and 48:52 God knows their heart. He knows if they'll be safe to save or 48:56 not. And I fully expect to see Gary in the kingdom someday. 49:01 Absolutely. What are some other stories of some touched lives 49:05 that you can share with us? 49:07 Touched lives. There's so many Jason. I can...On the internet 49:15 I'll tell you this. I post a religious post on the internet 49:21 every day on my Facebook account And I put some nature pictures 49:27 and things like that and I have 30, 40, 50 people that like that 49:31 When I post my Christian posts it drops down to 10 or 15. When 49:38 I post something else they're back so I know they're reading 49:40 those posts. I've got lots of positive comments from those 49:45 about people of all different faiths because you know God 49:49 loves people in all different churches and he's calling them 49:53 to come out of her my people but they love God as much as any of 49:56 us do. They just don't have all the facts we have. That's why 50:03 when I go on the internet there's some of these 50:07 evangelists...I'll tell you an experience. One of these guys 50:10 there's thousands of followers was telling people that the 10 50:14 commandments are not valid anymore. I went on his site and 50:17 I started saying well what about where it says in Romans that 50:24 there's no sin until there is a law. So how could we know what 50:29 sin is? And I started telling him the 10 commandments are just 50:32 as valid today and you can't keep them on your own. But God 50:37 gives you the power to do that. And I tell you there was 50, 60, 50:42 I kept watching 70, 80 people started stepping up and saying 50:46 yeah the 10 Commandments are not gone. Don't believe that. He 50:50 deleted the whole website because there were so many 50:53 people that were accepted that and that's the way...People are 50:57 shy. They can go online and put some nice tactful little 51:01 comments in there and just another way to witness. 51:06 Absolutely. You know it's interesting how many people say 51:10 that you know like to 10 commandments have been done away 51:12 with. But really it makes no sense. Like how could the 10 51:17 commandments be done away with you know. If that's the case you 51:21 could steal whatever you want. You know. You could commit 51:25 adultery. You could do all of these things if there are no 10 51:30 commandments. So it makes no sense. The 10 Commandments and 51:34 then the fact that it was written in stone signifies 51:35 permanence. (Exactly) Even the fourth commandment "Remember" 51:38 the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou work and do 51:42 all thy labor. REMEMBER. Yet it's the one that's forgotten 51:45 the most. 51:46 Exactly that's the devil's plan. You know why? Because he was not 51:51 involved in creation so he's had a grudge against Jesus since 51:54 then. So everything has to do with creation or a memorial of 51:57 creation, The Sabbath, he wants to turn people away from that. 52:00 He doesn't want to remind them. 52:03 That's right. He's trying to lead people away from the Lord 52:07 and rest in Christ but I'm thankful that you've stepped up 52:12 and you're sharing Christ with everyone that you come in 52:14 contact with and I'm looking forward to talking to you a 52:18 little bit more in just a minute But we're going to have to take 52:22 a brief break. We're going to go to a news break and we will be 52:25 right back so don't go anywhere. Stick around. More to come. |
Revised 2024-07-10