CHAPTER 2
Gene Pittman was born on March 27, 1945 at 7:02 A.M. to Darrell and Thelma Pittman. He was third of the six children that would make Darrell and Thelma’s life complete, or so they thought. Darrell had never gone to church or had any reason to go. He always thought that church was all a show. When his first child was born and old enough to understand and ask questions, he began telling him that when you die you cease to exist. Every child born into the Pittman family was taught the same thing, “Heaven and Hell do not exist.”
You might think that Darrell came up with that idea by himself, but that is not the case. You see, Darrell’s father and mother were taught from their parents that there were no real places which people called Heaven and Hell. When you die you ceased to exist. With the idea of no Heaven and Hell being taught to Gene and his brothers and sisters, is it any wonder that he would teach the same thing to his children?
The very existence of God is something that every good father should teach his family. Even if a father does not believe there is a God, he should give his children the opportunity to know about God and the idea of a Heaven and Hell. If the children don’t want to have anything to do with God after they are grown, that is up to them. Their eternal destiny will be on their shoulders instead of their parents.
If Darrell was going to be a good father, he should have told his family about God. However, He said he did not believe in God. Since he did not believe in God, he did not teach them about a loving God that had died on the cross for their sins. Some people have said that a “complete” family should have some knowledge of God and it would be nice if the family went to church on Sundays. But just having knowledge of God is not enough. It will always leave emptiness inside a person. The only way to fill that emptiness is to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and accept Him as your Savior.
Darrell had heard all the stories from the Bible from some of his friends, but he took them as fairy tales. He told Thelma that he would never believe that one person could die on the cross for ALL the sins of the world. Thelma knew there was a void in their life and she was always trying to get Darrell to go to church, but he always said he would rather die than to step a foot inside a church full of hypocrites. Well, that is the way it was for Darrell and all of his children. They all rejected.
The first day that Gene started to walk was another, very historic day for the Pittman family. Harold and Steven were the oldest in the family, so of course they were actually the first children to walk. On the very day that one of the kids began to walk, Thelma would put it in her diary. The first day for little Gene was amazing. He took to walking very quickly. As a matter of fact, he took to walking like a duck takes to water. Even though Gene was the third oldest, most of the time he did everything earlier than any of the children. If you were wondering if he was the first to die of natural causes of the children born to Darrell and Thelma, the answer is yes. You see all the other children died in ways that were not natural. Later I will tell you about all of the children born to Darrell and Thelma.
Seattle, Washington, is a very large city. Growing up in Seattle a kid could always find a church to go to if he wanted. Within ten blocks of the Pittman home, there were three churches; two Baptist and one Independent. Each church preached the Gospel and they were also having many people come forward and accepting Christ.
The family that lived next door to Darrell and Thelma were the Fishers. Each and every Sunday, they would get up early and go to Sunday School and to church. They even went to church on Sunday nights and on Wednesday nights. Many times they would ask Darrell if his family would like to go, but the answer was the same every time. “NO!”
The Fishers moved into their home two months after Darrell and Thelma had moved in. They were very good friends, even though Darrell did not think that church was necessary. Most of the time, they would go camping or fishing together and sometimes they would take their vacations together.
Bobby and Bonnie Fisher wanted a large family and it just so happen that every time Thelma would tell Bonnie that she was going to have a baby, Bonnie would report the same thing within weeks. Both families had six children and all of their ages were within seven weeks of each other. It seemed like the kids always had someone to play with.
The kids did everything together, except go to church. All of the Pittman kids thought that going to church was a waste of time. They said they would rather sleep until nine or ten on Sunday mornings.
While I, Professor Wilson, continued telling the story of Gene’s family, the Lord asked Gene if he remembered all of those things. Gene turned around and said, “Yes, Lord, I remember everything as if it happened yesterday. I just wish I had accepted when I was a little boy.”
“HUMANS LIKE TO KEEP STATISTICS ON EVERYTHING, GENE. HERE IS ONE STATISTIC THAT I WILL TELL YOU ABOUT. EIGHTY FIVE PERCENT OF ALL PEOPLE THAT HAVE ACCEPTED ME, ACCEPTED ME BEFORE THEY WERE EIGHTEEN YEARS OLD. ONCE A PERSON GOES PAST EIGHTEEN, IT BECOMES HARDER AND HARDER FOR THEM TO ACCEPT ME. AS YOU WILL SEE, MOST PEOPLE REJECT ME AFTER THAT AGE.”
“Lord, why didn’t I accept?”
“YOU HAD HUNDREDS OF CHANCES TO ACCEPT, BUT YOU HARDENED YOUR HEART TOWARD THE THINGS OF THE TRUTH. NOW, I WILL START TO SHOW YOU 'YOUR' MISTAKES IN YOUR LIFE.”
As I, Professor Wilson, continue with the life of Gene, we see the first time Gene had a chance to make the right decision.
A knock came at the front door. It was Mike. “Is Gene home?”
“Sure. Come in, Mike.” Gene came running from his bedroom when he heard Mike’s voice. Gene and Mike were the same age and they loved to discover all sorts of different things to get into. They put their arms around each other and out the back door they went.
“What do you want to do, Mike?”
“I don’t know, do you have any ideas, Gene?”
“Nope, I’d just like to find a shade tree and sleep like Rip Van Winkle.”
“Well, let’s go over to old man Bishop’s house and see if we can find any hidden treasure,” suggested Mike.
“That sounds like a great idea, but you know what will happen if he catches us.”
“Have we ever been caught before? I don’t think we are going to get caught this time either.”
On the way to old man Bishop’s house, Gene and Mike started to talk about the house and about old man Bishop. “Old man Bishop’s house is so old it’s probably older than he is,” Mike offered.
“I don’t like it. It’s always dark and gloomy. People say that he ‘lost all will to live’ when his family was killed in a fire at his in-law’s house.”
“Maybe that’s why everyone says the house is haunted.”
“When we get there, we can’t make a sound. Who knows, maybe old man Bishop has caught other kids and has killed them or kept them as prisoners.”
Mike looked at Gene and said, “That’s enough, I don’t want to hear anymore.” Talk like that always did get Mike scared.
One half block and Gene and Mike would be at old man Bishop’s house. The house looked like something out of a horror film. The house was always dark, with creaking boards and shutters. On Halloween, everyone talked about old man Bishop’s house, but no one ever went over there, because it was so spooky. As the two boys reached old man Bishop’s property, they both took in one deep breath and then let it out very, very slowly. Now came the time they both feared. One quick glance at the old haunted house, and at each other, and they both decided it was time to be men instead of boys.
Gene and Mike squeezed through the fence and, within forty feet, they were at the house. They had always gone in through a secret passage they had found one day while they were looking for treasure. “Be quiet,” Mike told Gene, “don’t make any sounds. Old man Bishop is probably sleeping.”
They had been through all of the rooms on the lower floor, but never on the second floor or the third floor. This day was going to
be special. If they were going to find any treasure, they both knew they had better go to the second floor.
One step at a time is what Gene told Mike. “Put your foot down very easy and, if it squeaks, move your foot to the right or to the left of the step. If we make any noise at all and we get caught, I know old man Bishop will shoot us.”
Looking at the second floor, Mike took the first step, then the second, and the third. Before long, they both were at the top of the steps. One quick glance down both hallways and their next move was to the room on the right. Mike reached for the door knob and turned it to see if it would make any noise. The door seemed as if it had just been oiled. Mike looked at Gene and Gene seemed to have that same look of bewilderment on his face as Mike had on his, as they walked through the doorway.
“I’m going to close the door,” Mike said. “Now put some of those rags next to the door.”
“What are you going to do Mike?”
“I’m going to turn the lights on. If old man Bishop comes down the hall and he sees the light shinning under the door, we are dead meat.”
Gene started putting the rags under the door as fast as he could. “Hold your breath, Gene; I am going to turn on the light. One, two, three.” The light came on to the astonishment of both boys. With the light on, the treasure hunt could start.
“This must have been some kind of reading room or something like that,” Mike replied. “Look at these magazines! They are old.”
“What do they say Mike?”
“How do I know? I can’t read all these big words. You know we’re only in the fourth grade. I sure do like the pictures, though. Maybe this is our treasure?”
“No, I want money or something that is worth something, I don’t want a bunch of old magazines,” Gene replied. They both continued to look on all the shelves and in the book cases. But the only treasure in this room was books; lots and lots of books.
Walking over to look in one last place, Mike kicked at a pile of magazines and one magazine flipped open. Mike looked down to see a picture of a man with a Bible in his hand. He then looked at the front cover and he read the name of the man who was on the front cover, “Billy Sunday. Look, Gene, it’s Billy Sunday!”
“Who?”
“Billy Sunday, who is probably one of the greatest preachers that ever lived, so my dad says.”
“Hey, don’t give me that religious stuff today. I told you I would go to Sunday School and church with you tomorrow, so don’t get going today with all of that accepting Jesus Christ stuff. I’ll listen to it tomorrow.”
“Gene, I am not trying to be religious or anything like that. This really is a magazine about Billy Sunday." Something told Gene to go over and sit down with Mike and look at the magazine. Mike turned another page and then it happened. The door bolted open and there stood old man Bishop. The thoughts of both boys started to swirl and the things that they had seen on TV almost became reality to them.
Gene had a quick thought about the horror movie called “The Thing.” He remembered when The Thing came through the door with a large wooden beam in his hand. He remembered how big The Thing was and how scared the scientist were when they were so close to death. As Gene looked up at old man Bishop, he thought that old man Bishop must be at least eight feet tall or taller. To a small child, sitting on the floor, old man Bishop would look to be taller than what he really was. Gene was also thinking that he and Mike would be breathing their last, now that old man Bishop had caught them in his house.
Mike was conjuring up all sorts of fantasies in his mind, too. He thought about the movie, “The Day the Earth Stood Still.” He thought about the giant robot that could destroy the world and he wonder about the height of the robot. As Mike looked at old man Bishop standing in the middle of the door, he started to wonder just how he was going to die. Would he be shot or would old man Bishop use a knife or hammer on both of them? The thoughts continued until old man Bishop made two steps inside the room.
As he came inside the room, they could get a better view of old man Bishop, with the light hitting his face. Old man Bishop had long, dirty hair, like it had not been washed or cut for years. It reminded both boys of an old rotten rug that had been thrown out and the weather had finally started to take its toll. His clothes were so old they were almost rags. The shirt was a light color such as tan or a dirty yellow. After looking at the shirt for a short while, they both realized it was really white. The smell of old man Bishop made both boys wonder if he was on the verge of death. They both decided in their own minds that his smell would make a maggot gag.
“What are you boys doing in here? Give me an answer right now. Don’t hesitate. I want an answer.” Both boys were totally scared to death. They were speechless. “I said give me an answer or I will.” He paused slightly to let the boys conger up all sorts of possibilities in their own minds.
Mike and Gene looked at each other and they both were thinking what had been said earlier about old man Bishop probably killing other kids he had caught. With both boys tongues tied, Mike looked down at the magazine and stuttered the words, “Billy Sunday.”
The words “Billy Sunday” seemed to melt old man Bishop on the spot. He looked at the boys and then he looked at the magazine and a change came over him in seconds.
“Billy Sunday was a very good friend of mine.”
“He was?”
“Yes, he was.”
“I heard that Billy Sunday was one of the greatest preachers in the whole world,” Mike said.
Old man Bishop replied, “Billy Sunday was one of the best. I was almost as good as he was, once.”
“You mean you were a preacher?”
“Yes, I was, but when my family was killed in a fire, I lost all my will to live.” Old man Bishop looked at both boys and asked if they both liked reading about Billy Sunday?
Gene spoke up and said, “We love reading about Billy Sunday. He then lied, “You see we both are very religious.”
“Maybe you boys would like to come back sometime and we can talk about church and great preachers and anything else you two would like to talk about.”
Mike looked at old man Bishop and asked a simple question. “Would you come to church with us tomorrow?”
“You mean you want me to come to church with you two tomorrow?”
“Yes, we do,” replied Mike, “and maybe if you like our church, you would like to come every Sunday.”
“Oh, I would love to go to church with you. Would you both like for me to read to you about Billy Sunday?”
“If you don’t mind reading to us.”
“I don’t mind reading to both of you at all.”
As old man Bishop sat down on the floor and started to read about Billy Sunday Mike and Gene looked at each other and they both knew what each other was thinking. They both were thinking that since he was so dirty and ‘groady’ looking, the smell they were now smelling was more terrible than anything they had smelled before. The smell was his breathe. They both knew that he probably had not brushed his teeth in at least five to ten years. Before old man Bishop could go any further reading, Mike told him that they had to go; their parents would be concerned about them.
On the way home, Gene looked at Mike and said, “That was a real good story I gave that old man.”
Mike glanced at Gene and said, “I know you’re going to say it was just a little white lie that you gave old man Bishop.”
“Well, I thought it was a real good story and it was just a little white lie. I couldn’t think of anything else to say. It kept him from hurting us!”
“Gene, you can never tell, once you come to church with me tomorrow, you just may become very religious.” “Don’t count on that, Mike. It would take a miracle for me to become religious.”
“I believe in miracles. Just look what happen to old man Bishop.”
At home, Mike told his dad what had happen
and that he and Gene had sneaked into old man Bishop’s house and found a magazine about Billy Sunday. He also told his dad about getting caught by old man Bishop and that old man Bishop was going to church with them the next morning.
Mike’s dad, Bobby, looked at Mike and said, “What did you say?”
“I said that old man Bishop is going to church with us tomorrow morning.”
“Old man Bishop has not been out of his house for years and you want me to believe he is going to go to church with us tomorrow morning?”
“Dad, I hope you aren’t mad at me for inviting him?”
Bobby thought for a moment and said, “No, I am not mad at you. You did exactly what you were supposed to do, although sneaking into his house was wrong.”
“Also, Dad, you won’t believe this, but old man Bishop said he used to be a preacher and that him and Billy Sunday were very good friends.”
“Old man Bishop was a preacher at one time?”
“That’s what he said.”
Sunday morning could not come quickly enough for Mike. His best friend Gene was coming to church and so was old man Bishop, if he was in front of his house when they came by to pick him up. Mike thought to himself that this Sunday morning was not going to be like any Sunday morning that anyone could ever remember. Old man Bishop would be in church, but more important was that Gene just might get saved.
Bobby looked at his watch and told Bonnie to round up the kids, it was time to go. With the kids and the wife in the car, Bobby drove to the Bishop’s house. Standing out front was old man Bishop, all dressed up and looking like he was going to a funeral. Mr. Bishop opened the door to the car and eased in and thanked Bobby for the ride. All the way to church, no one said a thing. It was as if everyone was waiting for Mr. Bishop to say something first.
At the church, Mike took Gene into the room that he was in which was the room for boys in the fourth through the sixth grades. The teacher was going to tell the story of King Agrippa.
Dan Davis was twenty four years old and just out of Bible College. He had been teaching the boys’ Sunday School class for four months. The other teacher was okay, but Mike liked Dan because he made the stories in the Bible come alive. He knew that when he told the story of King Agrippa, that maybe Gene would see the truth and a miracle would occur and Gene would accept.
“Mike, you brought a visitor to our class?”
“Yes, this is Gene Pittman. He is my best friend and he also lives right next door to me.”
“That is really great that you brought your best friend to Sunday School. Now let’s turn in your Bibles to Acts 25:13. Remember, Acts is the fifth book in the New Testament. “
Dan told the story of Paul appearing before King Agrippa and how he had met Christ on the Road to Damascus. He explained to the boys how religious King Agrippa was and how he knew about the things that Paul was telling him. Dan looked at the boys and said, “Even though King Agrippa had the knowledge of religion and he knew what the prophets told, he was not saved. Just look at what he says to Paul in Acts 26:28 - 'Then Agrippa said unto Paul, Almost thou persaudest me to be a Christian.'” Looking at each boy and making eye contact, Dan said that verse is the saddest of all the verses in the Bible. “King Agrippa was so close to eternal life, but he rejected and now he is wishing that he had accepted. What about you? Are you saved?”
Each boy examined his heart and those that were not saved said they wanted to know for certain they were going to heaven. “The only way you can know for certain is to accept Christ into your heart right now.” Three of the eight boys in the Sunday School class accepted when Dan lead them in a prayer of salvation. Now, Gene was the only boy in the class that was not saved.
The bell rang and as each boy walked out of the room, Dan asked if Gene would mind waiting for a minute. “I noticed that you were moving around and you seemed to be very uncomfortable. Gene, are you saved?”
“I don’t believe you have to accept Christ. My dad says that when we die, we just cease to exist. If I went home and said I had accepted Christ as my Savior, my dad would laugh me to death.”
“Gene, one of these days you are going to die and even if you do believe that you cease to exist, you won’t believe it the very second you die.”
“I know you’re going to say that if I don’t accept I will go to Hell. My dad said that people say that to him all the time and he just tells them that he will be with all his friends and buddies down there, drinking beer.”
“Gene, before we go to the church service, would you like to accept Christ as your personal Savior and know when you die that you are going to Heaven?”
“No. I don’t want to accept now or any other time. I don’t believe a word you have said.”
With a tear coming down his face, Dan looked at Gene and said, “I wish there was something I could do or say to convince you about Christ.”
“You are wasting your breath, I just don’t believe.”
“GENE, THIS WAS THE FIRST TIME WHEN YOU HAD A CHANCE TO ACCEPT, BUT YOU REJECTED. DO YOU REMEMBER HOW OLD YOU WERE AT THAT TIME?”
“Yes, Lord, I was 9 years old.”
“YOU ARE RIGHT, GENE. YOU WERE NINE YEARS OLD WHEN YOU FIRST REJECTED. YOU SAW THE TEAR COMING DOWN THE FACE OF DAN? THAT TEAR WAS THERE BECAUSE HE KNEW WHERE YOU WERE GOING TO SPEND ETERNITY, AND HE WAS VERY SAD ABOUT YOUR DECISION. YOUR SECOND REJECTION WILL OCCUR WITHIN THE NEXT TWO HOURS WHEN MIKE TALKS TO YOU ABOUT ACCEPTING.”
On the way home from church, Mr. Bishop said he was very happy that he went to church with the Fishers. “I can’t remember the last time I have been to church or even out of the house. I think it is time that I changed my life.”
Mike spoke up and said, “That is exactly what happens when Christ comes to live within a person; his life changes.”
Gene looked at Mike and thought to himself, "Here we go again with all of that religious stuff."
After lunch, Mike and Gene were outside playing, just like they always did, when Mike told Gene that he felt sorry for King Agrippa.
“Why would you feel sorry for King Agrippa? He was a king and he had everything a person could want.”
“The one thing he did not have was eternal life.”
“That eternal life is for the birds. I don’t believe there is a heaven or a hell. I keep telling you I believe once you die you cease to exist. Don’t you hear a word I am saying?”
“I hear what you’re saying, but you are totally wrong.”
“Remember what King Agrippa said to Paul?”
“No, I don’t remember, but I know you are going to tell me.”
King Agrippa said, “Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian. Gene, King Agrippa rejected when he was so very close to salvation. Don’t you want to accept and be a Christian?”
Gene looked at Mike and said,” Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian?” He chuckled and then Gene started to laugh.
“Yes, Gene, if I could I would. I want you to be with me in Heaven. Christ loved you so much He was willing to die for you. Why won’t you accept?”
“Mike, I have to be going. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“IN LESS THAN TWO HOURS, YOU REJECTED SALVATION TWICE. ALL THROUGH YOUR LIFE YOU REJECTED TIME AND TIME AGAIN.”
“Lord, I can’t believe I rejected all my life. Why didn’t I accept? Why didn’t I check to see if the things Mike was telling me was the truth or not. I can’t believe I kept my eyes closed to the Gospel and I can’t believe I did not want to have anything to do with Christ.”
“ALL THROUGH HISTORY MAN HAS REJECTED, EVEN WHEN THEIR EYES WERE OPENED TO THE GOSPEL. EVERY MAN HAS A CONSCIENCE THAT TELLS HIM RIGHT FROM WRONG. HE ALSO HAS A VOID WITHIN HIS HEART WHICH CAN ONLY BE FILLED BY ME, AND EACH PERSON KNOWS HE MUST MAKE THAT DECISION TO OPEN THE DOOR TO HIS HEART OR TO LEAVE IT SHUT. THOSE THAT SHUT THE DOOR WILL DO SO FOR ETERNITY.”