This Reminds Me...

I recieved the following story from someone recently, which I have read before (and perhaps you have too), but as I once again read it I was reminded of the newspaper reporters taken hostage a few weeks ago by Palestinian terrorists. Let me share some thoughts with you that I have had. My intention is not to judge these two courageous men nor to malign their characters in any way, but rather to ask myself what I would have to do were I found in their situation or the situation in the story below.

As you may have read and heard through newspaper reports, the men were "forced" at gunpoint to convert to the Muslim religion or die. Apparently they did swear allegience to this false religion though one of them reportedly resisted for a few moments. What a difficult position to be in.

What would I "HAVE" to do as a Christian were I to find myself in their situations. Could I concede out of fear and deny Christ and accept Mohammad in order to preserve my life and stand justified in the eyes of Jesus Christ? Would it be okay if I prayed to the Lord and made a deal with Him that I would deny Him in order to save my life, but then when I "got home", where I was safe, I would recant my conversion. What an incredible perdicament.

Jesus said if we deny Him before men then He will deny us before His Father in Heaven. I don't suppose anyone knows exactly what they would do when placed in this situation, but I do know what we SHOULD do. I believe we must begin preparing our hearts and minds to deal with these types of situations. We must recognize that we live in a changing world with changing world views different from any we have personally seen before and may face challenges we never dreamed we would face. Paul tells us that we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. The Hebrew writer relates horrific accounts of things suffered by early Christians by the hands of evil men. Yet, in all, they did not deny thier Lord and were given the crown of life. We must muster the courage to do the same.

But, perhaps even more disturbing, is the story retold below. How many Christians sit through situations where only their "reputation" or "ego" will be harmed and will deny Christ for that? Have we become cowards when faced with faith in Christ? Many of us have. It is just easier to deny Him than to claim Him. Revelations tells us that the cowards and unbelieving will have their place in eternal torment as well. We may never face the trauma the two reporters faced this last month, but we are daily faced with standing up for our Lord. How are you doing?

Dana Burk

(RETELLING OF STORY)
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 to prove that God couldn't exist. His students were always afraid to argue with him because of his impeccable logic. 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 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 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 enroll. 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.

You have 2 choices: 1. Delete this and never look at it again. 2. Pass this along to your Christian and non-Christian friends, giving them encouragement we all need every day. When you choose option 2, you have chosen to STAND UP. In light of the many jokes we send to one another for a laugh, this is a little different: This is not intended to be a joke, it's not funny, it's intended to get you thinking........... Isn't it funny how simple it is for people to trash God and then wonder why the world's going to hell? Isn't it funny how we believe what the newspapers say, but question what the Bible says? Isn't it funny how everyone wants to go to heaven, provided they do not have to believe, think, say, or do anything the Bible says?

Or is it scary? Isn't it funny how someone can say "I believe in God" but still follow Satan (who, by the way, also "believes" in God )? Isn't it funny how you can send a thousand jokes through e-mail, and they spread like wildfire, but when you start sending messages regarding the Lord, people think twice about sharing? Isn't it funny how the lewd, crude, vulgar and obscene pass freely through cyberspace, but the public discussion of Jesus is suppressed in the school and workplace? Isn't it funny how someone can be so fired up for Christ on Sunday, but be an invisible Christian the rest of the week? Are you laughing? ! Isn't it funny how when you go to forward this message, you will not send it to many on your address list, because you're not sure what they believe, or what they will think of you for sending it to them? Isn't it funny how I can be more worried about what other people think of me than what God thinks of me? Will YOU pass this on? I did.