Episode Transcript
It is all too often said that there are no miracles performed these days. Well, I'd like to challenge this idea with my story of from atheist to believer. Welcome to miracles in the 21st century. I'm Dr. Jason from the Advent Defense League, and this is my story. For me, I grew up in a relatively normal home, but it was missing a connection with God. My mom, she went to a Catholic church and she had me and my brother go with her every Sunday. My dad, he kind of went to church here and there. But there was a problem. I didn't know God. And when I would ask the questions, hey, why should I believe in God? My dad, who was very militaristic, he says, don't ask questions, just believe. And I never really liked that idea. And the more I would ask questions about why should I believe in this God? The more I was given the answer. Just believe, don't ask questions. And so it caused me to become an atheist because I said, I'm not going to serve a God who I can't even question. It doesn't make sense. A lot of what I see happening in church, a lot of this believing, just going to church, you know, doing all these things, it doesn't make sense. But here I am today, friends, I'll tell you the end of the story from the very beginning. I am now an elder for the Seventh Day Adventist Church. Not only that, I'm also a defender of the Bible and the truths of the Bible, where we answer questions for the Advent Defense League. I became a person that was told, never ask questions, just believe to a person that answers all questions and believes everything the Bible says. And I want to tell you how that happened. So around the age of 14, I first had my piano lessons. And by the way, I am a pianist, a concert pianist. I always wanted to learn how to play piano since I was five years old. But my mom says, no, you can't have piano lessons because your older brother had lessons and he didn't practice. I don't want to waste my money. Finally, When I was 14 years old, my mom says, okay, if you can find a teacher, you can have lessons. I found the teacher. Three years later, I met another teacher that saw me practicing at the school that I went to. And I practiced really hard, sometimes nine hours a day. He met me. He was very interested because he saw me playing very difficult pieces. And he says, you're really good. And I said, yeah, well, thank you. I want to be a concert pianist. And he says, oh, when did you start playing piano? I Started playing piano at 14. He says, you'll never be a concert pianist. Concert pianists start their training from five years old. I was devastated, but he said, he'll help me get better. So he became my teacher. I took lessons, and I really worked very hard. He told me about the school that I ended up going to, Manhattan School of Music. He told me, you'll never get into Manhattan School of Music. And I said, no, I think I want to. Now, I bring that up because during this time where I was having this conflict with piano, I had another friend that was saying, hey, I go to church on Saturday, and we have a basketball team that meets on Sundays. Would you like to come join us? I said, sure. I went to play basketball on Sundays. And he says, if you want to join the team, come to church with me on Saturdays. I said, sure. That's weird, but okay. And then I started hearing the gospel and, you know, they started answering my questions, and it was very, very weird. It's like, you know, don't take. They said this. Don't take our words for it. Study it for yourself. See what the Bible says for yourself. And I kind of listened anyway. That happened for several years until I met my girlfriend, who is now my wife. She was a Pentecostal. She went to church on Sundays. And as we had our relationship, I wasn't really fully a Christian. I just went to church just for the sake of playing basketball. I asked her one day, I said, what did you learn in church today? She says, oh, we learned about the mark of the beast. What did you learn? Oh, well, there's going to be a day when there's this secret rapture, and a lot of the people are going to go up to heaven, and you're going to have a credit card, and you won't be able to buy or sell unless you use that credit card. I said, that's weird. That doesn't sound like what the Bible says. And that's not what I heard at church. So I said to her, how about we study the Bible together? And that was the start, friends. I got hooked. I started seeing things in the Bible. And this was in 2011, 28 years old at that time, I started seeing those things in the Bible. And I was like, whoa, this is interesting. I didn't know the Bible says this. Started getting hooked to the words of God. But I still wasn't fully there yet because there were still some stumbling blocks until I heard a sermon from Pastor David Astrick on Daniel, chapter two. And in Daniel, chapter two, God, I Heard that God says, I am God. There is no one else like me. I can tell you the end from the beginning. And I said, whoa. Well, Daniel chapter two was explained. And it said, this is what's going to happen. There's going to be these four kingdoms. Babylon, Medo, Persia, Greece, Roman, Rome, Rome divided. And then Jesus comes. I said, wait a second. That was prophesied in Daniel chapter two. I can see this in history books. Are you telling me that God knows the end from the beginning? And I remember when David Astrick says, either this book is one sick joke or it's supernatural. And it made me think more about the prophecies of God. It made me think, huh, If a person is able to tell you one time something that's going to happen, that's a bit odd. But if they're able to tell you time and time and time again the things that are going to happen, that makes me think this is supernatural. And God was able to foretell 2000 years of history in one chapter to the absolute t preciseness. That is when I looked up in the sky that night and said, whoa, there's a God up there in heaven. And that was when I started reading his Word as the absolute truth. So, friends, the Bible speaks in Revelation chapter 12, verse 17, that there is a true church that Satan is angry with and has two characteristics. They keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus. Revelation 19:10 says the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. And that made me understand there is a church on earth that is doing what the Bible says. I found it in the Seventh Day Adventist Church. They believed in keeping the commandments of God, not changing any of them, especially that fourth commandment that says remember the Sabbath to keep it holy. They did that. They lived that reality. But more importantly, not more importantly, just as importantly to that, they also understood Bible prophecy. And I started to see that there was a pattern in the Bible of God just foretelling things so that we can believe. Jesus said In John chapter 13, I tell you these things before they happen so that when they happen, you can believe. And I started to see God's Word can be trusted. And now I'm even more hooked than even then. In 2011 and 2012, me and my girlfriend at the time, who is now my wife, we got baptized together. Soon after we got married, she found out the truth of the Bible. And we're a family that loves God with all of our heart and believe all of the promises of God. And so, friends, does God do miracles Today, well, yes, he did. A miracle of turning me from an atheist to a believer in God. About my piano story, my teacher who told me, you'll never be a pianist. I started to believe that promise in the Bible that says I can do all things through Christ, who gives me strength. I started to believe that I can be accepted to Manhattan School of Music, that I can prepare to for the audition. I passed a bachelor's. Mind you, I barely got in. And my faith at that time was growing. But as the years went by, I started to believe more in God. And the years went by, I got better at piano. Not only did I get in for my bachelor's, although barely. The very next year, I became a scholarship student. And every year after that, I was a scholarship student. I went back for my master's and I went back for my doctorate. And the teacher that helped me get there was my teacher all those years of Manhattan School of Music. She even became a believer. She grew up in Soviet Union, Russia. But as her days, and she did pass away, unfortunately in 2024, she wanted to know more about the God that I served. Because she saw there was something different. There was a belief, there was a joy, there was a gentleness. There was something that the Holy Spirit was doing through me to try to reach her. That's another miracle in itself for her to go from atheist from Soviet Union, Russia, to wanting to know more about the God that I served. And so I wanted to share that, that God does do miracles. I want to leave you with a couple of verses for those of you who may want God to do a miracle in their life. The Bible says this in Hebrews, chapter 13, verse 8, about Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and forever. The Bible says in Malachi, chapter three, verse six, about God, I am the Lord, and I change not. The Bible also says in First John, chapter 5, verse 14. And this is the confidence that we have in him, that if we ask anything according to his will, he heareth us. But it is important, friends, that it has to be according to his will. Is it according to his will that we live a happy life? A life of health, a life of joy, a life of peace? The Bible says, rejoice in the Lord always. What is preventing you from having joy? Ask God to fix that situation so that your joy in him can be full. If we look at Mark, chapter 9, verse 23, Jesus said this. Jesus said unto him, if thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth. There are many reasons to believe that God's word is true just simply trust him. I can tell you even more testimonies of the amount of times when I ask God God can you help me with this? God can you do this for me? Even though there may be silence he still hears those prayers and the amount of prayers that God has answered for me. I forgot about most of them and sometimes I have to remind myself wait a second I was praying for that for a long time and here I am today. God answered that prayer so I want to tell you that friends trust God God can answer all prayers. If you need a reason to believe in him ask God God prove to me that you are real God prove to me that your verses are true that I can ask and I will receive. Prove to me how great you are and God will do it for you Friends trust me. So that's where this testimony ends and I thank you for listening. God bless.
