|
There
was a professor of philosophy who was a deeply committed atheist. His
primary goal for the 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 the courage to go
against
him. Sure, some had argued in class at times, but no one had ever
really gone against him because of his 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 thing to prove that He is God, and yet He can't do
it." And every year, he
would drop the chalk onto the tile of the classroom
and it would shatter into a hundred pieces.
All
of the students would do nothing but stop and stare. Most of the
students thought 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 enrol. He was a
Christian, and had heard the stories about his professor.
He was required
to take the class for his major, and he was afraid. But for three 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 would 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 pleat 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, 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.
Now you have
2 choices:
1. Scroll pass this page and never look at it again.
2. Pass this along to your Christian
and non-Christian friends, giving them
encouragement we need every day.
If you chose option
2, you STOOD UP.
I'm standing up TALL!
|
