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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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