From: 	 heb_roots_chr@mail.geocities.com
Sent: 	 Friday, June 27, 1997 1:48 AM
To: 	 Hebraic Heritage Newsgroup
Subject: A brave witness



From:         Michelle Bartlett
To:           heb_roots_chr@geocities.com
Subject:      brave witness

Hi y'all! Got this from a pastor friend, thought you'd enjoy it.  Michele

>
<< It Takes Guts to Say "Jesus"
>

 This is a true story of something that happened just a few years
 ago at USC.  There was a professor of philosophy there who was a
 deeply  committed atheist.  His primary goal for one required class was
 to spend the entire semester attempting to prove that God
 couldn't exist.  His students were always afraid to argue with
 him because of his impeccable logic.  For twenty years, he had taught 
 this class and  no one had ever had the courage to go against him.  Sure, 
 some had argued in class at times, but no one had ever 'really gone 
 against him'  (you'll see what I mean later).  Nobody would go against 
 him  because he had a reputation.
  
 At the end of every semester, on the last day, he would say to
 his class of 300 students, "If there anyone here who still
 believes in Jesus, stand up!"  In twenty years, no one had ever
 stood up.  They knew what he was going to do next.  He would say,
 "because anyone who does believe in God is a fool.  If God
 existed, he could stop this piece of chalk from hitting the
 ground and breaking.  Such a simple task to prove that he is God,
 and yet he can't do it."  and every year, he would drop the chalk
 onto the tile floor of the classroom and it would shatter into a
 hundred pieces.  All of the students could do nothing but stop
 and stare. 

 Most of the students were convinced that God couldn't exist. 
 Certainly, a number of Christians had slipped through, but for 20
 years, they had been too afraid to stand up.
  
 Well, a few years ago, there was a freshman who happened to get
 enrolled in the class.  He was a Christian, and had heard the
 stories about this professor.  He had to take the class because
 it was one of the required classes for his major.  and he was afraid.  
 But for 3 months that semester, he prayed every morning that he would have
the courage
 to stand up no matter what the professor said or what the class
 thought.  Nothing they said or did could ever shatter his faith, he hoped. 
 Finally the day came.  The professor said, "If there is anyone
 here who still believes in God, stand up!"  The professor and the 
 class of 300  people looked at him, shocked, as he stood up at 
 the back of the classroom.  The professor shouted, "You FOOL!!  
 If God existed,  he could keep this piece of chalk from breaking 
 when it hit the ground!"  He proceeded to drop the
 chalk, but as he did, it slipped out of his fingers, off his
 shirt cuff, onto the pleats of his pants, down his leg, and off his shoe.  
 As  it hit the ground, it simply rolled away, unbroken.  The
 professor's jaw dropped as he stared at the chalk.  He looked up
 at the young man and then ran out of the lecture hall.  The young
 man who had stood up proceeded to walk to the front of the room
 and share his faith in Jesus for the next half hour.  300
 students stayed and listened as he told of God's love for them
 and of his power through Jesus.
  
 "Yet to all who received HIM, to those who believed in HIS name,
 HE gave the right to become children of God--children born not of
 natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but
 born of GOD."
  
 "But HE knows the way that I take.  When HE has tested me, I will
 come forth as gold."     Job 23:10
  
  
 Please continue to pass this on from one Christian to the next as
 a message of encouragement and hope.
    
 "No pessimist ever discovered the secrets of the stars, or sailed
 to an uncharted land, or opened a new heaven to the human
 spirit."    
-Helen Keller >>

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