Heartwarming Stories of Adventist Pioneers: You Will See Your Lord a-Coming, Book 1

"You will see your Lord a-coming in a few more days...Hear the band of music which is sounding thro' the air." They look out at us from their portraits: earnest faces, still and sober for the photographer, above stiff collars and plain clothing. But who were they really, these strong-minded Adventist pioneers? James White's transportation on his first preaching tour was a borrowed horse. Neither he--nor the horse--would ever be the same again. Noted surgeon Amos Twitchell amputated 12-year-old Uriah Smith's leg in a 20-minute amputation performed on the Smiths' kitchen table--with no anesthetic. Joseph Bates was almost ridden out on a rail during one of his preaching tours. And who was the object of Annie Smith's unrequited love? "My lot has been to learn / Of friendship false, that bright will burn / When fortune spreads her wing of light, / but fades away when cometh night." Often hungry and usually penniless, they argued passionately and worked tirelessly, hammering out their beliefs on the anvil of the Scriptures as the "only rule of faith and practice," following it intelligently and willingly. None of them were perfect--but all of them did their best, by God's grace, to spread the message of Jesus' soon return and the good news of the seventh-day Sabbath. These are their stories.