Eshton's Story: The One Who Saved Me

By their fruits you will know them. Mt 7:20 As a child growing up in the Adventist church this was a verse I heard quoted countless times from the pulpit. I was born a third generation Adventist, my parents lived and died as Seventh-day Adventists. I was baptized at age 6 after I "understood" the Investigative Judgment properly. For the first thirteen years of my life the doctrines of the church were the only ones I had ever heard.

Even at such a tender age, I could sense something was wrong around me. I saw countless people confessing the truth and being baptized into the church but somehow not many of them remained in the church. I could sense strife and division in the church and I was confused. How could God's people behave this way?

In 2005, I started high school at a local Methodist high school and despite being warned that I was risking my salvation, I could not help but notice how these people were so different from us. We professed the same God in Jesus yet they were at peace while I was fearful. After attending a few of their services, I was confused and in that confusion I rebelled. I stopped going to church, stopped reading Bible and just lived. It was not long before my life became full of sinful addictions.

After high school I attended a local Catholic community college and it was here that God started to lead me back to Him. As part of my course requirements I attended two courses on theology. The first course, a basic study of the Gospels, blew my mind. I could not even believe we were using the same Bible! God used a nun (who was a part of “Babylon) to start to open my eyes. The Holy Spirit awakened a hunger in me but I was still weak, so God turned my life upside down: He gave a daughter.

I was no longer living for myself, I had a family. I needed to clean my life up. I went to counseling sessions, stop using drugs and generally pulled my life out of the gutter. As a father I took my responsibility to care for my family seriously but I realized I needed to finish my undergraduate degree. God stepped in again to turn the road back to Him. After months of applying to schools and searching for scholarships the Lord gave me a choice: accept a scholarship and university in China or switch my search from schools to jobs. I went to China.

A few days after I landed in China, a new friend of mine invited me to a multi-denominational church. In that service I felt the Holy Spirit move mightily, I felt the presence of God. I started attending that church regularly and joined a Bible study group that met on my campus. As I became more involved with the church, I felt guilty for not keeping the Sabbath as I had been taught. I felt like I was breaking one of God's commandments.

In February I was invited to attend a three-day revival in a neighboring city, there the Lord opened my eyes. I felt the Holy Spirit move in my life like never before and I began to feel at peace with God, but I was still hungry. Some weeks later I told God "Lord, I feel like I barely know You, I want to know You better.  Please help me to truly know You". He answered my prayers in ways I could not imagine.

God raised up one of the members of the church I attend to start a series of Bible dinner lectures. In one of those lectures, Dr. Campbell mentioned the Ten Commandments and Sabbath in passing in a way that piqued my curiosity. The next lecture he brought some books designed as an introduction to theology. One book, Who Needs Theology?, By Stanley J. Grenz and Roger E. Olson (especially the last chapter) had a profound effect on me. I was soon asking myself what I believed and more importantly why?

Since I still considered myself an Adventist I started with the official 28 beliefs online and contrasted them with the Bible. During my research, I came across several websites that pointed me to the truth. Carm.org, bibleprobe.com, sabbaths.org, nonsda.org were crucial to the truth God wanted me to see. As I read the material on each site, checked the Bible references and looked up the Greek and Hebrew meanings in concordances, it seemed to be repeating itself. I began to see the truth that Colossians 2 did refer to the Sabbath, that the entire interpretation of Daniel and Revelation by Adventists was faulty, that Jesus became Sabbath through which we find rest. I saw how Ellen White contradicted the Bible and herself multiple times and how she failed the tests of a prophet. I was overwhelmed by the truth, but I was afraid. I wrestled with myself. I prayed and prayed and asked others to pray for confirmation from God. 

Recently, I found a site called gentlybroken.com (now TruthfulGrace.com) with the studies on the materials I was going over. As I read through them I asked God to help my unbelief and to clear my mind. God removed the fear from my heart and replaced it with faith. I accepted the real truth and gospel that night, I accepted that Jesus' sacrifice was more than enough for my sins and I accepted Him into heart.

Today I am continuing my studies in China and I am reestablishing the truth in my heart daily. I hope to be baptized soon into the true gospel and to publicly declare that Jesus has saved me. The journey is almost complete and the victory is already won. All glory and praise be to the One who saved me.