Subject: Do We Have This Kind Of Courage?????

    Stand up For 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 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!