- Jan 14, 2015
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This is for anyone who's ever taken a stand for God and found themselves suffering great loss for doing it: Remember, "the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole Earth, to shew Himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward Him."
2003 was a very difficult year. I had recently started attending a non-denominational church which taught 1 John 2:3-4 KJV: that those who willfully break the Ten Commandments prove by that they don't know Jesus no matter how much they wave their hands in church. However, when it came to the Sabbath commandment, they said that one had been changed. I asked where that change could be found in Scripture and was told there is no such commandment but it is a longstanding Christian tradition in honor of the resurrection.
Dissatisfied with the idea that man would dare to change what God wrote with His own finger in stone, I prayed and was eventually led to a radio broadcast which I later learned was Seventh-day Adventist. The speaker was unlike any other, not only explaining Scripture with clarity and consistency as I've never heard before, but exposing the unBiblical nature of the many popular teachings spread abroad in Christianity. After hearing for the first time that the Sabbath is still the same day today as it's been since Creation Week, and knowing what would happen if I told my employer, Bellsouth, that Saturday work was no longer optional, I fiercely searched the Scriptures for a way out. I examined all the arguments intently: the Ten Commandments were nailed to the Cross; the calendar was changed; we're only obligated to keep nine commandments; Jesus is our Sabbath rest so we don't need to keep the Sabbath day; etc., etc. Every time I thought one of these was a way out of this mess, a Holy Spirit brick wall would spring up in front of me.
Finally, I accepted my fate and was baptized into the SDA church. As one blessed as a "jack of all trades, master of none", I made deals with my co-workers to avoid working Sabbath. One came to me and said all four power windows in his car were broken, and if I fixed them, he'd work every Saturday for me for the rest of the year. This arrangement worked well until August 2005 when Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf South and we were forced to begin working Saturdays until further notice. The hours were incredible and no man was bringing home less than $10,000/month, which in 2005 was huge money. I was happy to work while the work was emergency work and donated every cent of Sabbath day gross pay, but when my assignments became routine work, I went to my boss and told him Sabbath work is now a problem. I was told I would only be allowed off if I took vacation time, so I did, but when it ran out, my options ran out. Around November, I told the boss I could no longer be here on Sabbath in any case. After a period of being written up and suspended, in January of 2006, I was terminated for what amounted to nothing but bogus trumped up charges...for simply wanting to be an obedient Christian. I have to admit, my faith was not very strong, and it was a struggle to trust God to lead me into an uncertain future.
For the first year, the insurance money for our storm damaged home paid our bills as I did all the repairs myself. After that, I had needed to find a job. Having given up on my career as a Bellsouth network technician, I looked elsewhere but was turned down by more than a few prospective employers because of the Sabbath, including a great job at the NASA Michoud Assembly Plant where they built the solid rocket boosters for the Space Shuttle program. I managed to find work doing freelance storm restoration jobs, which the Lord generously provided. Then, around November 2007 after almost two years, I got a call from the Union that my termination case was going to Precedent Setting Arbitration, which is a mega-huge deal. Many prayers had been sent up in behalf of my family and I, and it was time to see what the Lord would do. After the Company was found to have unjustly terminated my employment, they were ordered to return me to work and be "made whole" by returning all I'd lost: full seniority, two years full back pay at 7% interest, weeks and weeks of lost vacation days, paid holidays, retirement benefits, etc., a check of over $150,000!
But, the story doesn't end there.
Having returned to work, the Company once again put me on the Saturday work rotation schedule...however, this time I told them not only will I not work it, but if they needed someone to fill in for me it would be up to THEM to find a replacement. Again, they threatened me with discipline up to and including dismissal, but after seeing God come through for us time and time again, I was ready to go wherever God would lead, confidently trusting Him all the way. The day soon came when I was called into the office. Expecting to be fired again, I was shocked to discover the Company had other plans: They finally decided to do the right thing and give me the religious accommodation to which I and any other American has a right. They wiped my record clean of all discipline which cleared the way for a transfer into another department which didn't work weekends with a promotion to a position that paid more money!
I've been in that position since, and several times over the years, the Company has tried to mess with my desire to keep God's seventh day Sabbath, but I've always stood firm and they've always backed down, praise God. The supervisors who thought to destroy my career are all gone, but I'm still there standing as a witness for God that if a job can't be held by an obedient Christian, the job is simply not worth having, but until God decides it's time for you to look for another one, no man, HR director, or even CEO can do a thing about it. Stand strong for Him Who laid down His life for us!
2003 was a very difficult year. I had recently started attending a non-denominational church which taught 1 John 2:3-4 KJV: that those who willfully break the Ten Commandments prove by that they don't know Jesus no matter how much they wave their hands in church. However, when it came to the Sabbath commandment, they said that one had been changed. I asked where that change could be found in Scripture and was told there is no such commandment but it is a longstanding Christian tradition in honor of the resurrection.
Dissatisfied with the idea that man would dare to change what God wrote with His own finger in stone, I prayed and was eventually led to a radio broadcast which I later learned was Seventh-day Adventist. The speaker was unlike any other, not only explaining Scripture with clarity and consistency as I've never heard before, but exposing the unBiblical nature of the many popular teachings spread abroad in Christianity. After hearing for the first time that the Sabbath is still the same day today as it's been since Creation Week, and knowing what would happen if I told my employer, Bellsouth, that Saturday work was no longer optional, I fiercely searched the Scriptures for a way out. I examined all the arguments intently: the Ten Commandments were nailed to the Cross; the calendar was changed; we're only obligated to keep nine commandments; Jesus is our Sabbath rest so we don't need to keep the Sabbath day; etc., etc. Every time I thought one of these was a way out of this mess, a Holy Spirit brick wall would spring up in front of me.
Finally, I accepted my fate and was baptized into the SDA church. As one blessed as a "jack of all trades, master of none", I made deals with my co-workers to avoid working Sabbath. One came to me and said all four power windows in his car were broken, and if I fixed them, he'd work every Saturday for me for the rest of the year. This arrangement worked well until August 2005 when Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf South and we were forced to begin working Saturdays until further notice. The hours were incredible and no man was bringing home less than $10,000/month, which in 2005 was huge money. I was happy to work while the work was emergency work and donated every cent of Sabbath day gross pay, but when my assignments became routine work, I went to my boss and told him Sabbath work is now a problem. I was told I would only be allowed off if I took vacation time, so I did, but when it ran out, my options ran out. Around November, I told the boss I could no longer be here on Sabbath in any case. After a period of being written up and suspended, in January of 2006, I was terminated for what amounted to nothing but bogus trumped up charges...for simply wanting to be an obedient Christian. I have to admit, my faith was not very strong, and it was a struggle to trust God to lead me into an uncertain future.
For the first year, the insurance money for our storm damaged home paid our bills as I did all the repairs myself. After that, I had needed to find a job. Having given up on my career as a Bellsouth network technician, I looked elsewhere but was turned down by more than a few prospective employers because of the Sabbath, including a great job at the NASA Michoud Assembly Plant where they built the solid rocket boosters for the Space Shuttle program. I managed to find work doing freelance storm restoration jobs, which the Lord generously provided. Then, around November 2007 after almost two years, I got a call from the Union that my termination case was going to Precedent Setting Arbitration, which is a mega-huge deal. Many prayers had been sent up in behalf of my family and I, and it was time to see what the Lord would do. After the Company was found to have unjustly terminated my employment, they were ordered to return me to work and be "made whole" by returning all I'd lost: full seniority, two years full back pay at 7% interest, weeks and weeks of lost vacation days, paid holidays, retirement benefits, etc., a check of over $150,000!
But, the story doesn't end there.
Having returned to work, the Company once again put me on the Saturday work rotation schedule...however, this time I told them not only will I not work it, but if they needed someone to fill in for me it would be up to THEM to find a replacement. Again, they threatened me with discipline up to and including dismissal, but after seeing God come through for us time and time again, I was ready to go wherever God would lead, confidently trusting Him all the way. The day soon came when I was called into the office. Expecting to be fired again, I was shocked to discover the Company had other plans: They finally decided to do the right thing and give me the religious accommodation to which I and any other American has a right. They wiped my record clean of all discipline which cleared the way for a transfer into another department which didn't work weekends with a promotion to a position that paid more money!
I've been in that position since, and several times over the years, the Company has tried to mess with my desire to keep God's seventh day Sabbath, but I've always stood firm and they've always backed down, praise God. The supervisors who thought to destroy my career are all gone, but I'm still there standing as a witness for God that if a job can't be held by an obedient Christian, the job is simply not worth having, but until God decides it's time for you to look for another one, no man, HR director, or even CEO can do a thing about it. Stand strong for Him Who laid down His life for us!
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