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𝘾𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙙 𝙇𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙨: 𝘔𝘢𝘵𝘵 𝘚𝘪𝘷𝘶𝘭𝘢

Matt Sivula attended church for the first 20 years of his life before discovering Strong Tower Radio (STR). Growing up in his parents’ Lutheran church, he went through catechism and generally accepted what he was taught. He did read the Bible and asked questions as he studied.

One day, to Matt’s surprise, Anthony, a timber industry coworker who Matt didn’t think listened to Christian radio, Kam Ferguson, Development Director recommended that he listen to STR, 90.9 FM! As Matt started the day in his timber harvesting machine a couple of weeks later, he tuned in to 90.9 FM, as Anthony suggested. The impact was notable: you see, this timber machine’s radio had strange operating problems, such as going into ‘seek’ mode for 5 minutes or randomly deleting a radio
preset button’s setting. Matt set all the preset buttons to 90.9 FM, and soon, the radio deleted one of them. Yet Matt persisted in listening to STR, and within 4-5 weeks, the radio ceased its strange behavior!

Another coworker used the machine for a few days and changed the station, and the strange behavior immediately resumed. Only when returned to STR, 90.9 FM, did the radio again stay tuned without bizarre actions. During the past 5 years, the timber company employees testify that weird things only happen when that machine’s radio is NOT tuned to STR! Praise God for Divine radio intervention! Matt kept listening, and it took him a couple of months to determine that this was a Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) station. “Do I keep listening? They have all this Ellen White stuff on there.” He pondered, having heard various negative information regarding Ellen G White from numerous sources. An almost audible voice responded with the strong impression to “keep listening,” so he did! Praise God for the promised “still, small voice.”

Matt began listening to STR in late November 2018 and met Holly, now his wife, in January 2019. She also had a Lutheran background, though not into it as much as Matt was, and began attending the Lutheran church with him after they began dating. Matt shared STR with Holly, and she was glad he enjoyed it, though she initially didn’t share his zeal for listening.

As winter morphed into Spring in April 2019, Anthony invited Matt to visit the Wilson SDA Church. Matt visited while his parents were on their annual Spring vacation for several weeks, as he hadn’t told them he was listening to STR and was gaining answers to his Bible questions.

He shared with them upon their return from vacation that he’d begun to attend a local SDA church. They were upset and surprised. That surprise increased when, in
May 2019, Matt stopped attending the Lutheran church. Holly had begun to attend the Wilson SDA church and, after her first visit, said, “I don’t want to go back to your parent’s church.” Matt’s parents’ church had no youth or children and was cold, even stoic. Wilson SDA church has a broad age range, children and youth, and was warm and friendly and welcomed them. While Matt’s parents were upset, Holly liked attending the SDA church with him.

Not much surprised Matt as he listened to STR, yet a pivotal event changed his life direction. He first heard a series by Pastor John Lomacang, followed by an evangelistic series by David Kleindinst. This evangelistic series included two presentations on the Sabbath: “Why Observe the Sabbath?” part 1, and “Why Most Keep Sunday” part 2.

As Matt listened, his “jaw hit the floor.” He parked his timber machine and listened intently to the remaining 20 minutes of the message. “I had asked about the seventh day Sabbath before, but was given no clear response from the Lutheran church or anyone else. This was the first time I’d heard a clear answer from the Bible!” He was convicted.

It took Matt about six months to work through what the Bible says about eternal hellfire versus the conventional way he’d been taught. “It’s a long process to work through, with understanding the first resurrection, then the millennium, followed by the second resurrection, then the judgment of the lost to resolve and work out in my mind,” Matt states.

Of all the programs Matt heard on STR, Bible Answers Live most amazed him. He was fascinated by how pastors Batchelor and Ross could answer even random, off-the-wall questions from the Bible. He’d never before encountered the reality that the Bible has answers for everything. The two evangelistic series in the initial months of his STR listening laid a sound doctrinal foundation for Matt, and he states that “this was very important to him.” Doctrine makes sense now, it’s connected, linear, and logical. Prior to this, Bible doctrine he’d been taught had gaps, disconnects, and did not harmonize with all Scripture.

Most other things Matt heard on STR he believed from prior Bible study or quickly confirmed from Scripture and accepted. Matt shared with Holly that he expected to one day join the SDA church based on doctrinal integrity which was his primary
decision factor.

Matt and Holly had begun a Bible study series with then pastor Tom Hubbard and his wife Amy. That series, along with Matt’s desire to become an SDA, awakened in Holly a greater interest for truth. There were scheduling challenges to work through, as Holly works nights in the medical field. That Bible study with Hubbards and another with Aaron and Cindy Berger helped Matt and Holly to harmonize their Bible understanding. On September 20, 2024, they both signified their commitment to the everlasting gospel of Jesus Christ in baptism at Dave’s Falls, Wisconsin, and are now
members of the Wilson SDA church. Praise God!

Matt still listens to STR, also Ellen White audio series, and SDA sermons on YouTube. He and Anthony still compare notes from what they hear on STR and encourage each other in their listening. Glory to God for changing lives through the broadcast!