Here's my brief story for those who might be interested:
I have a B.S. in Geology from Birmigham-Southern College (BSC), and a
M.S. in Geology from the University of Tennessee. I am currently a
Senior Geologist with Law Engineering and Environmental Services, Inc.
The following is an update which was published in our alumni update book
for our 35th BSC Class Reunion this past May.
With 9-11 burned into our collective consciousness as a reminder of how
transient life is, I thought I would depart from the standard format to
relate the pivotal point of my life. I was raised in the church, but
drifted into agnosticism while studying geology at BSC. I may have been
slightly influenced by a burning desire to pursue, without a guilty
conscience, all those uproariously fun things we did. But probably not,
it was really an intellectual choice (right). I shelved my Bible in the
fall of my sophomore year at Southern and began to pursue through science
answers to those ultimate questions of our origin and fate. I went to
grad school at the U of TN, an experience that stood in stark contrast to
BSC. The music of life stopped; the fun faded. By the time I was 27, I
had spent 3 years in the Marines, biked through Europe, circled back
through UT to finish grad school, and worked as a geologist. I had it
all, yet I had nothing.
I had come to think of the Bible as a collection of fairy tales in the
same category as Santa Claus and Snow White. My best friend divorced his
wife, Carol, and four-year old son, and he and I got an apartment
together. I felt very bad that they had split up, so I went by to check
on them (yeah, we eventually got married and I adopted the boy, who is
now 32, but that's another story). Carol had become a Christian through
their divorce, as a result of her in-laws inviting her to a Billy Graham
Crusade in Birmingham. As she and I were talking, she told me of her
conversion, and so, gentle soul that I am, I began to pick at her faith
with my dozen reasons why Christianity couldn't possibly be true. She
responded by offering to set up a meeting for me with someone who might
be able to answer my questions.
I agreed, and that person did answer several of the objections I had. He
recommended a book that I devoured - Evidence That Demands a Verdict by
Josh McDowell. One paragraph in that book grabbed me: "We also have a
roundabout reference from Julian the Apostate, Roman Emperor from
361-363, who was one of the most gifted of the ancient adversaries to
Christianity. In his work against Christianity, he states: 'JesusÖhas
now been celebrated about three hundred years; having done nothing in his
lifetime worthy of fame, unless anyone thinks it a very great work to
heal lame and blind people and exorcise demoniacs in the villages of
Bethsaida and Bethany.'" It struck me as incongruous that Julian, while
attempting to discredit Christianity, accepted as fact the miracles I had
rejected as fairy tales. He was certainly closer in time to Jesus than I
was, and presumably would have had a better independent assessment of the
man's life than I could ever get. At that moment I leaned back, looked
at the ceiling and thought, "OK, God and Jesus, if you guys are really
there and if you want my life, you can have it; it's certainly no good to
me the way it is." That was it - no bells, no bright lights. I just
went back to reading my book.
A couple of weeks later I realized that, in my mind, the weight of
evidence had shifted from "no God" to "there really is a God." I didn't
say anything to anyone, but after another couple of weeks Carol said,
"You've become a Christian haven't you?" She could see the difference in
my eyes.
I no longer fear death; my heart is filled with a perfect peace and my
life has a sense of meaning and purpose. I would welcome the opportunity
to dialogue with anyone searching for answers to the ultimate questions
of life. I don't know all the answers, but I do know the One who does.
"Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins
be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like
crimson, they shall be as wool." (Isaiah 1:18)
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