Ya know- I live in Colorado, and I know that this story is true.
It's not for me to decide if this is really an "act of God",
because I really don't know. I have been struggling with the
religion that I was brought up with (Non-denominational Christian)
for quite some time now...and there's a part of me that yearns for this
to prove that "God" really did do this... but another part of me says "whatever."
You decide.
If you have a personal relationship with Christ you will
understand this.
If not, it maybe confusing... I encourage you to take the time
to find out more. You maybe missing more than
you can ever imagine...
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 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.
