Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His godly ones. –Psalm 116:15

Brian Sean Fitzpatrick, 1960-2018.

The following is adapted from email conversations between my good friend and former AFTAH adviser Brian Fitzpatrick and his fiancée, Trinka Jeffery. The night of December 4, 2018, Brian passed away suddenly, at 58, to be with his Savior, Jesus. On a personal note, Brian was my best friend a really terrific guy who loved and served God. I am sad that we will no longer be able to talk, hang out and laugh together here on earth, but I know he is in a much better place. And I am grateful for what God did in his life. Minor edits, additions and web links have been made for the sake of clarity and to provide additional resources. I will see you again one day, my friend!  – Peter LaBarbera, AFTAH.org; Twitter: @PeterLaBarbera

Note: There is a memorial service for Brian on Saturday, Jan. 5th at the Philippine International Bible Church in Laytonsville, MD. Reception: 3:00 pm; service 3:30.
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Introductory note:

I’m Trinka Jeffery, Brian Fitzpatrick’s fiancée.  

Brian had a story that he would want you to know. Much of our courtship was in writing, and I’ve compiled his story, using his own words.

Please … will you enjoy a last little visit with Brian, with me?

I asked Brian how he came to know God the Father and his Son personally, and this is what he told me:

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From Atheist Scoffer to Christian Believer: The Testimony of Brian Fitzpatrick

As shared with Trinka Jeffery, August 13, 2017…

By Brian Fitzpatrick

I was not someone who would easily convert. It happened on a singles retreat, which I went to mostly because they were going to play softball. I brought a bat along in case somebody tried to baptize me in a river.

I grew up in a Catholic family, but at age 12 we studied Greek mythology in school, and it occurred to me that the Greeks believed in their gods just as I believed in Jesus and Mary, but both couldn’t be true.

My catechism teachers had no answers. So I decided to become an atheist. (OK … maybe partially so I wouldn’t have to get up on Sunday mornings.)

My parents weren’t pleased, and we fought over it for three years. At 14, I was required to be confirmed. I chose the confirmation name Thomas (for doubts), but this was forbidden because “it would kill your grandfather.” So I was confirmed as Michael because I thought the spelling was cool.

At age 20 or so, I read some philosophy and logic and learned that you can’t prove a negative, therefore you can’t prove God does not exist, therefore my atheism was irrational. So I became an extremely skeptical agnostic.

The first time somebody witnessed to me, it was a man from Campus Crusade [for Christ, later renamed Cru] during my freshman year in college. I was a rather bitter atheist, full of disdain for these hicks and very confident in what I didn’t know. I didn’t even let them in my dorm room. I stepped into the hallway and verbally fenced for 45 minutes or so: “How do you know this is true” and so forth.  Eventually they left and I went down the hall to the opposite stairway and ran ahead of them to the room of two fellow iconoclasts. “The God Squad is on the way!”