David W. Daniels - You Don’t Know Jack. The Authorized Biography of Christian Cartoonist Jack T. Chick

by David W. Daniels

For a distributor near you, call (909) 987-0771, or visit www.chick.com

Copyright 2017 David W. Daniels

Published by:

CHICK PUBLICATIONS
PO Box 3500, Ontario, Calif. 91761-1019 USA

Tel: (909) 987-0771
Fax: (909) 941-8128
Web: www.chick.com
Email: postmaster@chick.com

Printed in the United States of America

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

ISBN: 978-0-75891-1865

Introduction

To the world, Jack Chick was an enigma. Some cast him as a purveyor of hate, angrily consigning all rotten sinners to a burning hell.

Others admired his consistency, volumes of gospel tracts with wide ranging stories, invariably ending with a single appeal to be saved.

His courage in exposing false piety and false religions won him notable enemies. But thousands flooded the Chick Publications mail box with gratitude, finally free from their bondage.

To his friends he was generous to a fault. But anyone attempting to divert his life calling met a steely resolve.

Gifted with extraordinary insight and communication skills, his stories rang true to the human heart. And the anointed message pierced deep inside the spirit.

In his death even his enemies begrudgingly acknowledged his impact. Over more than fifty years the tract, THIS WAS YOUR LIFE became recognized as the most widely read gospel tract in the history of the world.

Year after year millions of tracts streamed from the Chick printing press. The 50+ year total neared 900 million at the time of Jacks death. Late in Jacks life one reporter surmised that he was probably the most widely read author alive at that time surpassed only by a few dead ones in all of history.

Jacks heart for the lost responded to missionaries appealing for foreign translations by financing the design work for more than a thousand foreign language titles in over a hundred languages.

Files at Chick Publications contain thousands of testimonies sent in over the years. We can only imagine how great the crowd was at His welcome-home party on October 23, 2016, inside the pearly gates.

In life, some thought they knew Jack. But this book, by someone who knew him well (and researched the rest) goes a long way in setting the record straight. Even others of us who worked almost every day with Jack were surprised by some of the details that Davids research revealed.

Please read on to learn more about a man whose sole dedication in life was to persuade you to join him someday in the New Jerusalem.

In loving memory,

George Collins (Jacks Friend)

Jaaaaaaaack Chiiiiiiiiiiiiick!!!!!!

It has been nothing but the greatest pleasure to work with Jack Chick the last 16 years. This is a real man, a regular guy, and a deeply devoted Christian. I have to say is, because hes, right at this moment, with His Saviour in heaven.

I joked that he might need the Saviour to come over to where he is, because hes probably being mobbed by people who were saved through his Chick tracts!

People like this:

Just a testimony to let you know Chick tracts get results. I came across a girl named Carrie. She was very depressed and ready to commit suicide. I had a copy of Trust Me which I gave to her and witnessed to her. She accepted the Lord and changed her mind about ending it all. Praise God!

Or this one:

Your pamphlets have been a blessing to many of us. They provide an easy way to get the gospel to a person who can then consider it in privacy or in a spare moment.

I practiced law for 20 years. I kept the tracts on the lobby furniture and several on my desk. One day a young, good-looking flight instructor came in for an appointment: financial problems. Of course I shared with him and he left to go to the airport. On his way out he stole a GI Joe tract [ Holy Joe ]. When he got to the airport he had to wait for the mechanic to get the plane gassed up and ready for flight.

He intended to take it up as high as he could over Sky Harbor Airport here in Phoenix and then dive into the runway at a 90 degree angle.

While waiting for the mechanic to finish his tasks, the flight instructor reached in his pocket and took out the GI Joe tract. He read it and with a broken spirit accepted Jesus as his Lord. Sometime later, still under conviction he came in with a nickel and paid for the tract and with it led his buddy (another flight instructor) to the Lord.

These people were spared a Christless, agonizing eternity, because of a given, or well-placed, Chick tract.

I spent the last weeks grieving when we knew we were going to lose Jack. But now that hes in heaven with my praying Grandma, its hard to be unhappy for him. Im just being straight with you. Hes receiving his rewards in heaven. And to him, the greatest rewards are those people who got saved because Jack cared about them and followed the Lord to reach them.

A few weeks ago, when we were working on a dual-autobiography together, he called me over and said, Im convicted by the scripture, Proverbs 27:2: Let another man praise thee, and not thine own mouth; a stranger, and not thine own lips.

He said to me, I cant toot my own horn. So youre gonna have to toot it for me after Im gone.

I have told Jack for years how Ive watched movies and read articles by all sorts of people saying they knew him. And I told him, someday Im gonna write a biography of you. And Im going to say to them, I know Jack Chick. Ive worked with him for years. Jack is my best friend. And you dont know Jack.

Would you like to get to know Jack better, like I did?

When Jack first hired me, in August of 2000 (Ill tell you more about that in another chapter pretty miraculous stuff), the first thing he did was sit me down in his office. And then for the next three days he told me about his life experiences with Christians, Catholics, upbringing, Hollywood,the works. He told me the good, the bad, and the ugly, literally. And he also told me some basic things about himself.

For instance, he told me about Paul and Jan Crouch, when they were just starting out TBN, Trinity Broadcasting Network. They were such sweet people, very humble. Theyd come out in their little car, I think it was a VW, and pick Jack up and theyd go over to Santa Ana where they were filming their TV show.

Jack used to share his tracts on their show and talk about his desire to win souls for Christ. It was special. But, he said, they were not simple people, at all. They were very shrewd.

Just a few weeks ago we were talking about it again. Jack said he came to TBN to be on a show. He asked them, Is there a room where I can pray? He wanted some time with the Lord before he went on the air. So they directed him to a room.

Well, it turns out that the walls were more like paper. He was praying, when he heard footsteps in the next room. Paul and Jan walked in, talking numbers. He said that Jan was spouting numbers, statistics, figures, so fast, it amazed him. He told me, She looks folksy. But dont let that fool you. Shes a genius with numbers.

Jack learned never to assume anyone is simply like his or her appearance seems to suggest. It was amazing how he would catch what a person was about rather quickly. He had insights that amazed me, and that all went into characters in his tracts.

Jack with Paul and Jan on Praise the Lord, early 1970s

Jack was on Paul and Jans show a number of times. And they would always ask him about the new tract that he had made until he published The Gay Blade. Then the brakes went on. Paul went to Jack and said, NO! We cant put that one on the air!