On Campus in Jacksonville: UNF

Yesterday, Friday November 22, was the very last day of our travels for the semester. Early this morning, we all parted ways and flew or drove home. These past twelve weeks have been an incredible time of growth, learning, and desiring God more deeply in my life. I have had so many experiences that I wish I could share more in depth, but time has not permitted me this. If you would like to hear more, you can email or comment-or talk to me in person-and I'd be glad to share more! 

On campus at the University of North Florida last week, we all had several good conversations with students. Tom even had the opportunity to pray with several junior high students who were on campus for an event one of the days. 

Later on in the afternoon of the second day on campus, I had the opportunity to experience something we'd been talking about as a team earlier that day: On making the point of our lives, our actions, and our conversations on campus about loving others. 1 Corinthians 13 has often been called the 'love chapter' of the Bible, oftentimes used in weddings to illustrate the sacrificial type of love that needs to be demonstrated by both spouses in order to love as Christ did.

This love ought to be even more than a sacrificial love between husband and wife; it ought to be a reminder to every person who seeks to live like Christ. As a team, we read and discussed the meaning of this chapter and ways that we can more effectively love others in a way that communicates Christ's love to whomever we come across.

Megan, Duncan and I stood around the table discussing concepts of great doctrinal import. The foot traffic had slowed down quite a bit, but the last class break of the afternoon finally let out; a girl stopped to read the banners and I asked her what she thought.

"Hi, hope you're enjoying the---" I was abruptly interrupted by her.

"---I don't like them." she said, with a slight shake of her head. Upon my further inquiry as to what she didn't like, she responded with much profanity. "I hate Christianity-and I hate what it means and what it stands for. I think it's full of lies and liars. It's just a bunch of myths and fables." She turned and abruptly walked away. I uttered a silent prayer that she would come to find God personally someday.

Five minutes later, I happened to glance over to the opposite side of the banners, and there was the girl who had cursed me out earlier, intently reading! Without fail, something draws many people back to read the banners more thoroughly or ask more questions. No matter how angry they are, I've seen countless times where they come back after reacting in profuse anger-just to listen quietly for hours. Something is drawing them back. If all this is truly just a lie,or a relative truth, then why not just walk away and ignore it? That is the question. 

Now, I have had people on campus respond to me in anger before. But, I'm human (surprise!) and I really didn't want to get yelled at again. So, I carefully avoided the path this girl took around the banners, and for the next five minutes she read. I found myself on the other side of the banners as more students stopped by to read, and I welcomed a few students to read, telling them to let me know if they had any questions. Looking up, I noticed the girl standing up on the sidewalk, still gazing with intrigue at the banners.

Suddenly, without warning, I found myself moving closer to her and my lips uttered, "Can I ask you a question?" "Sure," she said, her eyes carefully avoiding mine upon realizing who had spoken to her. "If you hate Christianity so much, what do you find so interesting about the banners?" 

To be honest, I do not even remember what her response was. Perhaps she did not give one, but she did immediately jump to her belief that the Bible is inaccurate and full of myths and fables that mirror the religions of other cultures besides the Bible.

"For example, the Chinese culture has a story about Noah, same as the Bible does."

I was tempted to share the amazing fact that this discovery is itself evidence for the Bible, but I didn't. Instead, I just listened. Asked what religious back ground she had growing up in. She calls herself pagan now, explaining that it has a lot to do with earth worship, "Without getting into the whole peace symbols and flowers." I asked if she had ever thought about what if she is wrong in this belief. Her response is that she doesn't want to believe something just out of fear that she might be wrong.

Blakely claimed that what we had up on the banners about Creation was completely false because there is so much evidence for evolution. I quietly explained how evolutionists and creationists are looking at the same bit of scientific data, but through two different lenses. She didn't really have a response, so we moved on to another topic.

Throughout our discussion, Blakely's voice shook with nervousness-it didn't sound angry this time; I figured if it had been anger she would have thrown some more profanity into it, and she didn't. I have one theory about that. It might be right, and it might be wrong. But I think it was because she had no idea how to respond to me loving her. My conversation with her did not win her to Christ. She did not bend down and repent and ask Jesus into her heart. But God won from my conversation with her. Because I loved her. And I listened to her. I was able to explain points with a very laid-back attitude, never demanding anything or interrupting to tell her that she was wrong. And I think that was all I could do.

There is almost always a reason caused by pain in life that people choose to reject and deny God, and I still believe that. Blakely had a much less nervous, much quieter personality when we ended our conversation. A friend of hers came up and started talking to her, and I stood quietly by. When he apologized for interrupting us, she replied, "That's okay-we were just chit-chatting," and looked at me hesitatingly for a second. When he left, she was the one who continued the conversation.

One statement Blakely made was that she saw no evidence for God. To my question of what type of evidence would there be to convince her, the response was a typical one: if God came down and stood right in front of her and spoke to her, she would believe. 

Now, I could have responded by telling her that Jesus had done that. Because He had. But she had already heard that. She had already heard that Jesus loved her. She had already been called a dirty rotten little sinner. 

"I don't even care when people tell me I'm going to hell-I've had people tell me that," she admitted, flipping her hair out of her eyes that were keenly focused on the ground. I could have been mistaken, but I thought I saw her shoulders cower a little. Was she expecting me to give her yet another reminder that she was going to hell, I wonder? 

Blakely just needed someone to love her. I could tell from her eyes that barely met mine for our whole conversation that she was starving for it. God moved me-physically and in my heart-to show her love by engaging in conversation. Oh Father, speak to Blakely's heart. I pray she finds you. This need for love is felt by so many people in the world today. A callous covers a tender part of the skin to protect it from pain when the skin is ripped off. The human heart, as well, quickly learns to develop rough spots and callouses when pain is experienced in life as a mechanism to escape the suffering on a daily basis. Sometimes, loving another person can be the first step to gently approaching a sensitive issue and allowing that person to open up, be vulnerable, and accept that love.

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging symbol. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. 1 Cor. 13:1-3

Fun in Jacksonville

Saturday morning, Megan's family made plans to take us to see some sights around the area. After breakfast at  a local diner, we visited St. Augustine. This is the oldest settlement in the United States, and it was a cool place to explore and learn about. After a good hour or more there, we went to grab some pictures in front of a cross at a Mission a few miles down the road. Finally, the best moment of my day arrived, the moment I'd been waiting for: We went to the beach! Now, I've seen the ocean once before in my life: when I was three years old, and all I remember about the event is that a seagull stole my cookie right out of my hand and I was as angry as a three year old could possibly be about it. Nothing about the waves? Nope. Nothing about God's amazing creation. 

Well, I stuck around to let Joann, Megan's mom who is an amateur (i.e., really good) photographer, get some really cool pics of us. And then I was off. Running down to the water as fast as I could, as excited as a little kid.  At first, I just let the sea foam churl over my feet. And then my ankles. Well, it couldn't hurt to let my knees get wet-and then I shrieked when a bigger wave of cold water came up to my waist. I stood and marveled at this creation of God's that I was experiencing. And then, it happened. A bigger wave caught me and swept me off my feet back up to shore. I laughed, choked, and spit the water out of my mouth-and then started body surfing. I mean, I was already completely soaked-what did I have to lose?! 

Megan's family, in the midst of taking their family pictures, gave furtive glances in my direction when they realized I was allowing myself to be completely engulfed in the water. We were planning to eat at a seaside restaurant in a bit, and I hadn't brought any change of clothes! I had no cares in the world as I allowed the white-crested waves to sweep me back to shore over and over again. "All your waves and billows have engulfed me," says the Psalmist. Now, I know what it feels like to be completely engulfed in the billows. You. Are. Completely. Engulfed. 

To be completely honest, I could have stayed there all night. I was in awe of this amazing body of water stretching out in front me, marveling at the fact that it spanned hundreds of miles away from me and contained billions of sources of life. God, You are so amazing. I don't even have words. 

I heard shouting, but by this time my contacts had blurred and I could barely make out anything that wasn't about two feet from my face. After a second, Duncan came racing towards me to say that we were about to head to dinner. I dried off and changed the best I could-which consisted of wrapping myself in towels during dinner. Thankfully, we ate outside, so it didn't matter too much that I was covered in sand as well. After cavorting in the waves, I consumed a shrimp-loaded plate with a ready appetite.

Megan's parents are both incredibly funny and love to joke. I'd enjoyed being with them for the day and hearing their perspectives on different things. However, I was hardly prepared for what came next. 

After we had paid our bill, Duncan left the table for a moment and Megan's dignified mother who I'd met less than 24 hours ago got the ingenious idea to run off and hide before he came back. I nearly wet my nearly-dry shorts as I bent over double, laughing hysterically as Joanne leaped over a fence to hide behind, urging us all to follow her. All seven of us ungracefully leaped over after her, landing with thuds in the sand below. All the other diners at the restaurant gave us all very disconcerting looks as we disappeared over the fence, peeking through the lattices to check for Duncan. "Here he comes! Here he comes! everybody quiet!!!"

A second later, Duncan went running past us on the way to the beach. the instant he was clear from view, we all burst out laughing again. In the deepening dusk of the evening, we could just barely make out a shape trotting down the path to the beach. Mr. Anderson turned the light on his phone and started walking down the path after the retreating figure. As I followed, he muttered that he was afraid that Duncan would jump out behind to scare him and would make him scream like a little girl. I laughed. Haha, right. That won't happen. 

We traipsed further down to the ocean and stood still for a few minutes. In the distance, the waves crashing against the shore was the only sound we could hear. A figure appeared a short ways off, apparently picking up shells on the beach. Why would Duncan be picking up shells on the beach, was my first thought, but my contacts were still blurry from the ocean water earlier and I couldn't make out who it was. A second later, I turned and glanced over my shoulder-only to utter a shriek at the top of my lungs. Duncan was shooting towards me, only six feet away before I saw him, and all I had time to do was jump out of his way as he leapt past me. My scream of terror died away, but there was still a scream ringing in my ears and echoing off the sand dunes nearby. That's right. Mr. Anderson hadn't been joking about Duncan making him scream. I fell over laughing as he started chasing Duncan, then picked myself up to help Mr. Anderson carry out some righteous indignation upon Duncan. This story has now become a highlight of our tails about Jacksonville. We headed home for the night to our temporary resting place of Megan's home, ready for a long night of sound sleep. 

University of South Carolina: Bonus Campus!

We wrapped up our week at UNC-Raleigh on Wednesday, Nov. 6 and Tom flew home for the rest of the week while the four of us interns all prepared to travel to Jacksonville that night. Pastor Burke Wilson got a wonderful idea: why don't we go to the University of South Carolina and set up for a day or two instead? A few phone calls later, and the plans were ready for the oven. The next morning we found ourselves bidding goodbye to our hosts and driving four hours south, setting up the banners in the absence of our fearless leader, Tom the Preacher.

God blessed our two days there on campus so much! Our host, Pastor Robbie McAllister, and Ray Vaughn met us on campus to help us find where to go and set up. Once the banners had been erected in a straight path along the sidewalk, we stood back and waited for a bite. After about thirty minutes of students walking past and hardly taking notice of the giant display that shared the sidewalk they treaded upon, one skeptical student stopped and began asking questions. His tone mocking, this young man's eyes barely left the ground to meet David's as my fellow intern engaged him in conversation. From this discussion, a crowd of at least 30 gathered for the rest of the afternoon, allowing David an excellent and engaging audience for preaching. There were several Christians who jumped in to share their thoughts as well, and David expertly guided the conversation back to the gospel truth of redemption and the need for repentance whenever a wayward theological point was harped upon.

Friday, the next day, we pulled up to unload and found a few Christians from the night before, Hampton and Miles, waiting for us. This day was slower than it had been yesterday, but we were still able to have quite a few good conversations throughout the morning and afternoon. Upon packing up the displays in the van, we settled in for our four-hour drive to Jacksonville, where Megan is from. We would spend a fun and relaxing weekend with her family as we waited to set up on the campus of University of North Florida on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, November 12-14. More on our exciting shin-digs of the weekend coming up next! Don't go away-we'll be right back ;)

UNC-Raleigh: The Unwelcome Truth

Our last day on campus at UNC-Charlotte got rained out, so we headed for UNC-Raleigh, in the midst of much rain and darkness, where we would be set up the following Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, November 4-6. Upon arriving, we engaged in some incredibly competitive games of pingpong at Pastor Burke's house, got hooked up each with our different hosts, participated in the friday night prayer meeting, and toured the incredibly grand, very modern, robotically-run library which is the only one of it's kind in the world. We didn't do too much over the weekend, although Sat. night did involve a game of 4-on-4 frisbee with an overly sized light-up frisbee. Sunday afternoon saw us out on the frisbee field again, this time with more people as we engaged in the excited and exhilarating sport of racing a plastic disc from one end of the field to another. 

Monday morning saw us eagerly driving to campus with our precious cargo of truth-filled banners. After setting up in the Brickyard, I began looking for anyone to engage in conversation. I talked to Emily, who declared, 

          "I'm a Christian, BUT I believe in science." "Cool!" I told her. "So do I." (Translation: science for Emily meant evolution. Science for me meant creation). I began planting a few pebbles in her shoe of thought concerning evolution. Based off of her answers to my questions, I do not think she had genuinely ever considered these ideas before.
"What was the reason God created us?" I asked. 

"For us to love Him, and Him to love us," she replied. 

"I agree," I told her. "Now, I'm just curious as to why God would have waited billions of years for us to evolve in order to love us/be loved by us?" I also raised the question of original sin: Where did it come from? Because if evolution is true, then it has always been there. Even though Emily couldn't stay long and our conversation was brief, I was glad to have been able to talk with her and give her some things to think about. The more I learn and study, the more I'm excited to talk to people about science, creation and evolution. The reason? Because it makes total sense coming from the side of the Bible! The majority of the world accepts evolution as infallible, even with the incredible lack of evidence. As Mr. Short pointed out at dinner, evolution is the foundation of the majority's beliefs. If you disprove evolution, you are taking the legs of believe right out from under people, and they have no basis on which to stand. It is not fun watching someone fumble around for an answer, pulling whatever sounds good out of their behind. Instead, I want to be gently and humbly point out the errors in their arguments and help them come to an understanding of the Genesis account for creation through sharing the facts and evidences for such a belief. Emily took an Inspired Evidence book and said she was interested in looking into this more deeply. Lord, may you be glorified in her as she realizes who you are as the Creator of the universe, as well as her Savior!

One conversation I had with a student named MJ, a Muslim, involved whether or not atheists can go to heaven. Now, I know what you are thinking. Atheists don't even believe in God, let alone a heaven or hell. What would compel them to want to go there? Aptly put, my friend. Aptly put. MJ was confident in her role as a good Muslim who did everything she was able to do in following the teachings of Islam, and explained that the reason why she felt sure she would go to heaven some day is because she had been good enough. When I asked how she could know she had been good enough, she countered that everyone has different things they do that they feel are good enough, so surely God will see that we all tried our hardest. When I asked about Hitler's belief that he was helping bring good to the world by eradicating over six million people, she emphatically maintained that this was not the same concept. 

MJ continued to contradict herself about atheists going to heaven-"the ones who are good enough should be able to get in." She then waved her arms in the air and conceded that she did not know one atheist-and she admitted to knowing several-who was good enough. "No, they're all bad atheists that I know!" She laughed. MJ's own standard of righteousness repudiated itself. Indeed, I asked her why God would let an atheist into heaven if he or she denies that such a place exists-if God is all loving and all knowing, shouldn't he rather send them to another place, since allowing them into the place (heaven) which they've chosen to deny exists would be like punishing them by proving it's reality? MJ thought this was an interesting take on the whole perspective, and it was difficult for her to admit the truth in my statement, realizing that this meant that there was a moral standard. As we parted ways, I encouraged her to look more into the person of Jesus. She found it interesting when I told her that the Bible that Muslims believe is flawed, is in fact very wrong if Jesus is not who He said He was-the pure and spotless Son of God. 

1 Corinthians 15:14, 15, 17 And if Christ has not raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. 

What Does the Fox (Err, Hummingbird) Say?

Well, I'll suggest one thing I don't think the hummingbird would say. I don't think it would say that it came about by a random series of mutations over the course of millions of years. This past week, I've talked to many students who were able to talk to me with 100% more ease than a hummingbird could have conversed with. And those students all declared that we have evolved from a single cell over a course of billions of years. The more I discuss creation and evolution with students, the more I realize that it is, indeed, an incredibly important subject to consider because evolution strips value away from the creation and robs God of glory. Here are a few examples of conversations I've had with students recently. The responses they've given encompass the answers to evolution that most students give.

Last week, we traveled to Blacksburg, Virginia. We stayed with a wonderful family, Tony and Desiree Pierson, and their children. We spent three days at Virginia Tech, where many wonderful conversations happened between us and students, as well as the members of the church on campus there; Thursday morning we awoke early and departed for Charlotte, North Carolina, where we set up at UNCC. While there were students who came out just to argue, there was a resounding number who came by to read the banners and express how excited they were to see Tom and us with the banners on their campus. 

Early in the afternoon, I caught sight of a girl to my left who was reading the banners with a deeply interested look on her face. "Well, I guess you could say I'm an atheist-that's what I've started telling people, just because it's the easiest thing to say," Brittany explained when I asked her thoughts on what the banners said. Our conversation lasted for nearly the next hour, and right before leaving she admitted to me that she'd had a friend waiting to meet up with her while we'd been talking. For some reason, she'd felt compelled to keep that friend waiting as we discussed aspects of the Bible, why we can trust it, who Jesus is, and why 'religion' is not the answer. 

Brittany had grown up in a Christian home, she told me, but after coming to college and learning more about her major, Biology, she decided that science answers questions a lot better than religion does. I raised a few questions to her concerning the proof for evolution. I shared an amazing detail involving the hummingbird that I'd just read about in Amazing Evidence, and how it flies backwards by means of a rotator shoulder blade. When I asked for her take on the fact that no fossil record shows evolution causing the rotator shoulder to develop, she paused. "Well, you can't just take the fact that there is no proof for that one example," she finally responded. "We have a lot of other records that show evolution-like which ones? Well, I can't really think of any right now..." her voice trailed off. Her responses were the same to a few more examples I shared with her. Now, I am not sharing this to prove that I won an argument against evolution. I share it to point out that most students who accept evolution do not understand that it is simply one way of interpreting science, and that many do not understand that evolution oftentimes tries to add to the facts of data in order to keep the idea of an Intelligent Designer out of the picture. 

I shared a lot of my personal story with Brittany, giving example after example of how I arrived at the conclusion that what the Bible has to say about God and His existence as well as the gift of Jesus Christ was real, even after what I'd experienced and seen in others who called themselves Christians but who were not living according to the Bible. We talked about how religion has done a lot of good in the world, but how it has also committed a lot of evil. I explained how anyone doing evil in the name of Jesus Christ was twisting the meaning of the Bible for their own advantage. "Having a relationship with the God of the universe is so much more than going to church and following a set of rules," I explained. "It is experiencing the Creator of the Universe, and discovering how much He loves you at a personal level." Brittany listened intently to what I had to share, and she even ended up taking-and promising to read-a copy of Inspired Evidence, which she had initially said she did not want. Lord, use the seeds of truth that I planted. Use the seeds of truth that I sowed, and cause her to think about You more deeply than she ever has before. 

My next conversation involved a student, Eric, who claimed to be a Christian. Strangely enough, he easily argued for the side of not only evolutionary thinking, but also the invalidity of the Bible, as well as for the side of atheism! By the end of our conversation, I had a much firmer grasp of what he meant when he said, "I go back and forth on being a Christian based on a couple things I'm not sure about." It turned out that he was unsure of a lot of things. Here is how our conversation started. 

After coming back from getting a bite to eat in the afternoon, I found a group of about eight students standing in a group in front of a banner, non of whom I recognized and all appearing to be deeply involved in discussion. Not wanting to miss anything, I approached the circle to hear Eric slowly and carefully explaining principles of evolution and why everyone in the world ought to believe in it and accept it as truth. I jumped in and asked if I could join. They widened the circle for me, and as soon as I could without being rude, I began raising questions. I again brought up the amazing architecture of the hummingbird: I pointed out that there is no fossil record for this shoulder having evolved; no evidence exists of an 'in between' rotator shoulder before it became fully functioning. His response? Eric began explaining how polydactyly works: a random mutation causes a 6th finger or toe to grow where there ought not to be one. "Somewhere along the lines, a random mutation just caused a hummingbird to pop out a weird bone in it's neck that made it able to fly backwards." Eric concluded.

Unfortunately for this answer, mutations need new information in order for the majority of them to benefit. According to Answers in Genesis book 2, "Virtually all observed mutations are in the category of loss of information. This is different from loss or gain of function. Some mutations can cause an organism to lose genetic information and yet gain some type of function. This is rare but has happened. These types of mutations have a beneficial outcome" (Bodie Hodge, 75). 

Now, I am NOT a scienc-y person. There is a reason I did not major in biology. There is a reason why I majored in English. However, I do understand certain aspects of science. And I was not buying Eric's explanation of the hummingbird's strange problem with polydactyly causing a perfect rotator shoulder to sprout out of nowhere, and somehow to cause the rest of the hummingbird's offspring to inherit this exact mutation in such an incredibly perfect way. Eric had declared himself to be a Christian who 'goes back and forth on certain issues.' Turns out, he goes back and forth on just about every issue. As I probed further, we got deeper into the discussion of God and evolution. Since Eric called himself a Christian, I asked, "If God created the world using evolution, why would He have waited billions of years before human beings evolved adequately enough to be in relation with him?" Eric stared off in to the distance for a few seconds. "Well, God works in mysterious ways! Right? Isn't that something people say?" Ah, my friend, He does. God does indeed. 

Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, or with the breadth of his hand marked off the heavens? Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket, or weighed the mountains on the scales and the hills in a balance? Who can fathom the Spirit of the Lord, or instruct the Lord as his counselor? Whom did the Lord consult to enlighten him, and who taught him the right way? Who was it that taught him knowledge, or showed him the path of understanding? Isaiah 40:12-14

Journal Entry: Hebrews 11

Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. Hebrews 11:1

Scripture: Verse 13: All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth.

Observation: These are the heroes of the Bible. These heroes are the ones who died not yet having seen on earth the fulfillment of their hope. Why? How could they leave their lives on earth happily when they had not yet seen the fulfillment of what they'd spent their lives seeking based off of what God had promised? Because they knew that God's plan was bigger than what they could see at the present time. They understood that even if things were not deeply understandable, God had a higher purpose in what He was working out. And that was the confidence they had when they died not yet having seen the fulfillment of God's promises.

Application: When I cannot see the fulfillment of God's promises, and it seems like destruction is lying in wait outside my door; when the tears would be swallowed up inside me and my soul goes numb; the promises of God still exist, and He will never fail. Perhaps I will die someday without seeing the growth or development of seed I've spent my entire life sowing. It will still have been worth it, because there is more to God's plan than what is seen now.

It is easy to say this now, at a time in my life where I am blessed to see the fruit of my labors and watch prayers be answered before my very eyes. However, I would humbly hope that I can still say this with full confidence if ever I am physically  or otherwise suffering. That my eyes would be on the promises not yet fulfilled, but spoken of in God's word, as happening in the future.

Prayer: Father, thank you for this thing called faith that I do not fully understand. Thank you that I can have full assurance in something I have not even seen yet. Thank you that You are working out my salvation and that someday I will be with you in heaven. This is what is promised! The heroes of the Old Testament recorded in Hebrews 11 yielded their lives over to You, and worked tirelessly for You while they were on earth, because they knew that someday their efforts would be worth it. That "someday" would not be known to others until hundreds, in some cases thousands, of years after they had died. Dear Father, thank you that your plan is still perfect even when I do not fully understand it. In your precious Son's holy name, amen.

Just a Good Man? Or God in Man?

We had planned to go to IUPUI this week in Indianapolis, but with bad weather in the forecast, Tom decided to take advantage of one of the last warm days in Columbus to set up on the Oval again. It was a sunny, blustery day in the mid 60's. What a wonderful day! We all had some really awesome conversations. 

At one point, I told a girl who had just begun reading the banners to let me know if she had any questions. Acknowledging me, she continued reading the banners, then found me where I'd retreated a bit to the side. Beginning with questions wondering how we can combine the Old and New Testaments, she told me that she is Jewish. We sat and talked for at least an hour, discussing sacrifices for sins, and the fact that the New Testament says that the law in the Old Testament is no longer valid based off of the final, perfect sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. 

Michal (Michelle) reminded me that as a Jew, she does not believe that Jesus is God. I discussed with her how the evidence points to Jesus either being a liar, a lunatic, or who He said He is. Evidence of this is seen when Jesus said, "Worship only God." If he was not God, then he could not have been a good man because he allowed himself to be worshipped (Luke 4:8) so, he was either lying about who he claimed to be, which wouldn't have made him a good prophet, or he was crazy. Or, he is who he said he was-the Lord God. 

One of Michal's questions about Jesus was, "Why would God have created another god?" Since the Jewish people do not believe Jesus is God, it was difficult for her to grasp the concept of God having more than one entity since one of the Ten Commandments says, "You shall have no other gods besides Me" (Exodus 20:3). I shared the analogy of Bill Gates living in the slums as a homeless man for a week-he's denying who he is, in order to experience another level of society. He is still Bill Gates; the fact that he still has the billions of dollars that he does, does not change the fact that he has altered his circumstances for that week. In much the same way, Jesus is God in the form of man coming down to spend 33 years on earth, experiencing the same things we experience without giving in to sin. He denied His rights to be honored and respected on earth in order to demonstrate His intimate love for us. He died on a cross that had once been a tree that He had created. This sacrifice is the most personal of all demonstrations of anyone that we have recorded in history. 

Michal asked if I believed that everyone has to accept Jesus in order to be forgiven by God and go to heaven. She was somewhat taken aback when I shared that the Bible says that there is no difference between Jew and Gentile-that everyone must accept Jesus in order for the Father to forgive sins and allow us into heaven. We discussed how there has always been a mediator between man and God. In the Old Testament, that was always a prophet, and someone specifically chosen and anointed by God himself-such as Moses or Abraham. Never is there a part in the Old Testament where common man could communicate directly to God without first going thruogh the priest, who performed the ceremonial cleansing that God's law demanded. I shared with her how Jesus was the fulfillment of the law, not an entirely NEW law; Jesus, as a Jew, followed the ceremonial, civil, and moral laws from the Old Testament. However, he made a way for common man to communicate directly to God THROUGH him. One illustration of this is by the curtain in the temple being torn in half at the time of his death on the cross; (Matthew 27:51). God was essentially saying that Jesus is the final Mediator between God and man; that belief in sinless Jesus' death and resurrection created a line of communication directly to God as had never existed before. The curtain no longer separates us from the Holy of Holies, the inner chambers of the temple, when we seek God through Jesus Christ. 

At one point, Michal stated how God could have obliterated all of humanity if He had wanted to. Not only this, but if Jesus had been God, He should have been able to keep himself from being murdered on the cross. 

"So, why didn't he if he was God?" She asked.

 

"Well, the Bible says that Jesus could have called for thousands of angels to rescue him if he wanted them to" (Matt. 26:53). 

"Why didn't he?" 

"The reason he didn't? Well, it's because he loved us more than he loved himself. His love held him there, and allowed him to endure the terrible suffering that he did. His power never left him-he gave it up temporarily, refused to use what was his, in order for a greater purpose to be fulfilled-the ability of mankind to be saved through his death on the cross, if they will yield themselves over to him." 

Jesus allows both Jews and Gentiles to believe in Him and be saved, as evidenced in Romans 3:21-24 when it says, "But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus" (NIV).  

Another concept we discussed involved goodness. Michal shared that Jews do not believe that everyone has to be Jewish in order to be saved, like Bible-believing Christians believe that only those who accept Jesus will be saved. She believes that Muslims, Jews, and Christians (e.g., any religion) can be saved if they practice goodness to the best of their ability inside of their religion.

The Bible's response to this widely accepted belief about goodness is that God's standard of goodness never changes. He is holy and just, and demands recompence for sins. He provided Jesus as the means; Jesus is the only means because He was perfect, and we are not. The New Testament book of Hebrews tells how it is impossible for ceremonial practices to take away sin: 

"The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming-not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. Otherwise would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins. But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins. It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins" (Hebrews 10:1-4 NIV).

There are over 300 prophecies in the Old Testament that Jesus fulfilled in the New Testament. Psalm 22:16-18 says, "Dogs surround me, a pack of villains encircles me; they pierce my hands and my feet. All my bones are on display; people stare and gloat over me. They divide my clothes among them and cast lots for my garments" (NIV). This portion of scripture was written hundreds of years before crucifixion was invented. 

Jeremiah 23:5,6 says, "'The days are coming,' declares the Lord, 'When I will raise up for David (OR, up from David's line) a righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land. In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. This is the name by which he will be called: The Lord our Righteous Savior'" (NIV). 

I could continue listing more of these astounding prophecies, but a simple Google search will easily get you a list of the many verses in the Old Testament with prophecies that Jesus fulfilled. Even if you are secure in your belief of who Jesus is, I would encourage anyone to spend even a short time in study over this area. It is flabbergasting to consider the fact that Jesus fulfilled so many of these Old Testament statements 700, 800, and 1000 years after they were written. 

Michal and I could have talked all day, but she had to leave. We exchanged information, and hopefully we will be able to continue our discussion in the future.  

Let me close with a verse from my quiet time yesterday. I journaled about Hebrews 10:8-10.  

 "First he said, 'sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire. Nor were you pleased with them'-though they were offered in accordance with the law. Then he said, 'Here am I, I have come to do your will.' He sets aside the first to establish the second. And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all." Vs. 18: "And where these, (sins and lawless acts) have been forgiven, sacrifice for sin is no longer necessary."