What made Dr. Donald Whitaker, a physician and a former atheist, turned to God? This is his story:
"It is very easy to be an atheist when you are successful. You have worked your way from Oklahoma welfare to be one of the most powerful men in your part of the country – one of the most powerful men in the state of Oklahoma, politically. It is very easy to be an atheist when you have done all of that. A man could sit back and say "I don’t need God. What is God?"
But it is very difficult to be an atheist when you are lying on the death bed, because you began thinking "what if these people are right?" There had been one man named Ron Short, that stood between me and the gates of hell. One man had witnessed to me about the love of Jesus for 5 years, before I became ill. I would debate him and I liked him, because he did what he said he was going to do. He was the only one that I saw that profess to be Christian and lived what he said he was going to do. I really respected him. I didn’t believe what he said but I respected him.
When I was lying on my death bed and knowing that I was going to die, guess who I thought about? I thought, "what if Ron is right? What if there is a Heaven and a Hell." Almost immediately the most pressing thought in my mind is how do I get saved. What is saved? How do I get saved?
So I sent people out to get Ron Short. I wanted him to come down because I wanted him to do whatever he had to do. I had no idea how a man hanging on a tree in Israel 2000 years ago could save me. What is that to me? But I knew he had something that I had to have. That night Ron wasn’t home, he was in Alabama. So I had people go and get Ron.
That night was the longest night that I’ve had in my entire life, before or since. As I am laying there in bed, I had begun to fade away into darkness. It was so, so dark. It was like the darkness just penetrated into your very being. I can tell you that I left my body because I remember coming back into my body. I don’t know where I was out of my body.
There are people that talk about a light, or floating above, a feeling of warmth or love. I didn’t feel any of that. I felt none of that. I felt untold terror, untold terror. I knew that if I went all the way, if I slipped all the way, I would never get back. In my being of beings I knew that. So I fought all night long.
But again when I would leave my body, I would be going down into deep dark terror. My skin began to get cold. Not the kind of cold you feel when you walk out in the air, no, this was bone chilling cold. And I could feel the coldness began to come up my legs.
Again I would begin to leave my body and would be in the darkness, in that void. I remember one time entering back my body, I felt my body thud, my physical body thud. Believe me, believe me, that was the most horrifying terrifying experience that I had ever encountered.
I fought all night long. The next morning around 9:30 or 10 o’clock, Ron came in. He said, “Dr. Whitaker, what do they say are your chances?” I said, “Ron, they tell me I have none.” He said, “Now is the time.” I said, “You're right.”
Before, I had cursed him, I had spit on him, but now it was the time because I had to have whatever he had. I had a short period of time left on earth and I didn’t have any idea when I might make that trip and go all the way.
At that time Ron simply led me in a sinner’s pray. I had no idea what a sinner’s prayer was, but I trusted Ron. He led me through the sinner’s prayer and told me that Jesus had died for my sins. He had died for the sins of the world. I didn’t quite understand that. He showed me in the word of God where that was written.
You have to understand that I am a man of books. I’ve spent big part of my life, 25 or 26 years of life in books, all types of scientific books. I have degrees in Chemistry, all the way up to medicine doctor to practical medicine.
He told me and I believed him because it said so in this book. It was a new book to me, it was called Bible. I had Ron lead me, and I said the sinner’s prayer. I can tell you one thing, there was a peace that came over me like I have never known.
I’ve searched for that peace in the bottles, alcohol, needles, drugs, and women. I’ve searched for it in all type of places. But there was no peace in my life. But once I accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and savior, I was no longer afraid. I still believed I was going to die because I knew the condition I had, and you don’t survive it. I knew that, I am a physician. I knew what I had you did not survive...."
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