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Encouragement
Words of blessing to encourage and refresh the heartPhilosopher's Challenge
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 had
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 is
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 believes 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 his 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 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 shared 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.
Sometimes all we have to do is STAND UP.