The Little Girl and the Atheist On the Plane

An atheist was seated next to a little girl on an airplane and he turned to her
and said, "Do you want to talk?
Flights go quicker if you strike up a conversation with your fellow passenger."
The little girl, who had just started to read her book, replied to the total
stranger, "What would you want to talk about?"
" Oh, I don't know," said the atheist. "How about why there is no God, or no
Heaven or Hell, or no life after death?" as he smiled smugly. "
OK," she said. "Those could be interesting topics but let me ask you a question
first. A horse, a cow, and a deer all eat the same stuff -grass. Yet a deer
excretes little pellets, while a cow turns out a flat patty, but a horse
produces clumps. Why do you suppose that is?"
The atheist, visibly surprised by the little girl's intelligence, thinks about
it and says, "Hmmm, I have no idea."
To which the little girl replies, "Do you really feel qualified to discuss why
there is no God, or no Heaven or Hell, or no life after death, when you don't
know crap?" And then she went back to reading her book.

Atheist No More By Marijo Phelps

Through a series of events that God had put together, this atheist of nine years found herself praying. I was praying to the god I wasn't sure was really there. Life was a mess. I was hurting those I professed to love. I was drinking too much and making terrible choices.

My younger sister has changed tremendously. I had to ask questions. I scoffed and poked fun at her but underneath that tough exterior I was thoughtful. As soon as I put her on the plane, I found myself at the Christian bookstore getting the book on Bible prophesy she recommended.

Three weeks after reading the book, my husband and I had gone for a walk in a nearby park. I was crying but instead of release, the tears felt muddy as they dribbled down my face. Life was a tangled snarl and I was even more tangled.

Later that day, I found myself getting ready for work, taking a bath and talking out loud, to god, IF he was there. I needed help.

"I've made a wreck of my life. If you're there, I need you to forgive me and to have you take over." This went on for some time. I am not sure what I expected, but nothing "weird" happened. I felt calm and peaceful, like a huge bounder in a backpack was lifted off my shoulders.

"Hey, JO, are you ok in there, you've been in there an hour and a half now?" questioned my husband.

It was then I realized I was sitting in a bathtub filled with stone cold water. But I felt free for the first time ever in my life.

There was a born again nurse's aide at work. I spoke with her much. I began to read the Bible. I still had so many questions: How did I know this was really the literal Word of God? How could I believe every word? What was just "good stories" and what was real?

Did you really inspire these writers? Is every word literal? Can I trust this book?

I found myself reading in the Old Testament and came across Isaiah 40:22


"It is he who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers; who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them like a tent to dwell in." (RSV)

Then it "popped into my head" that when we studied history "in 1492 when Columbus sailed the ocean blue" they all thought if he went too far, he'd sail off the edge of the earth this scripture was written way before Columbus. Yet, whoever inspired this writing knew the earth was a circle and it sounded like he was sitting above that circle.

Next I found Psalms 103:11-12: "For as the heavens are high above the earth, so is his great steadfast love towards those who fear him, as far as the east in from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us." (RSV)

I started thinking about this. If you go north pretty soon you are going south because the earth spins on its axis which is from north to south

However, if you go east you keep going east forever and never go west.

The lights were coming on just like the sun rises each and every morning.

The person who inspired this knew that the earth was a circle and rotated on an axis. Who but God?

Shortly after this I was reading in the New Testament and found two scriptures regarding end times: Matthew 24:40-41 "Then two men will be in the field; one is taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding at the mill; one is taken and one is left."

And Luke 17:34-35 (speaking of the same end times event) Í tell you, in that night there will be two in one bed; one will be taken and the other left. There will be two women grinding together; one will be taken and the other left." (RSV)

I mentally checked this out too. It was too early in time for electricity in the fields, no night lights, so those in the field and grinding had to be in the daytime. And those asleep, looked like it was nighttime. Showing the concept of an earth with part of it in day and the rest in night when this event happened.

Again, who but the Lord God knew about this at the time in history when these scriptures were written.

Thank you, Lord God, for caring enough to help me with my "issues" about the Bible. Thank you for looking upon my converted atheist's heart and teaching me, answering my questions and giving me much to think about in the years that followed.

I no longer wondered which parts of the Bible were "just good stories" and which were literal. I knew from that day on I could rely on what was written within those incredible and wonderful pages. And I knew that I would have these examples to share with anyone else who was questioning, like I was.

How much more could I be loved? How much more personable could my Lord and savior be? I came to find out that this was just the beginning, the very beginning. All these years later I am still learning and growing, daily thanking my incredible raboni, the Lord Jesus Christ.

About Self

Saved by His grace in 1974, from 9 years of professing atheism into His loving arms. RN for 23 years, missionary with YWAM then statistical analyst for Every Home for Christ over 9 years. Living with my husband in the middle of a mountain meadow. GRIN! Wanting to spread the good news

Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com-CHRISTIAN WRITERS-MAKE A WEBSITE

The Preacher and the Atheistic Barber

A preacher and an atheistic barber were once walking through the city slums. Said the barber to the preacher: "This is why I cannot believe in a God of love. If God was so kind as you say, He would not permit all this poverty, disease, and squalor. He would not allow these poor bums to be addicted to dope and other character-destroying habits. No, I cannot believe in a God who permits these things." The minister was silent until they met a man who was especially unkempt and filthy. His hair was hanging down his neck and he had a half-inch of stubble on his face. Said the minister: "You must not be a very good barber because you wouldn't permit a man like that to continue living in this neighborhood without a haircut and shave." Indignantly the barber answered: "Why blame me for that man's condition? I can't help it that he is like that. He has never come in my shop; I could fix him up and make him look like a gentleman!" Giving the barber a penetrating look, the minister said: "Then don't blame God for allowing the people to continue in their evil ways, when He is constantly inviting them to come and be saved."

Used Book Review: Chapter and Verse by Mike Bryan

I found this book (Chapter and Verse: A Skeptic Revists Christianity by Mike Bryan C.1991 Random House) in a used book store and thought it would be another book about an atheist that found Christ through studing the works of the New Testament. Like Josh McDowell, C.S. Lewis and others. But as I read it I found the narrative exciting. The Author was a skeptic and he let out at the being that he did not convert, but wrote a honest work on what a "Real" Christ is and what they believe. He also added the skeptic views along side of the Christian and it was enlightening. Sort of a peek into the atheist mind. All the atheist retorts and insults were not used. It was very refreshing and informational. For those Christians and their Pastors that just want people to "just read the Bible" this would be a good book. It would make a good text book for a apologetics class.

Have You Killed An Atheist Today?

“Posted For Christians Only, Not Intended For Others”

A while back I stumbled on an atheist blog on mySpace. He put out a challenge for Christians to go seven days letting everyone they knew think they had turned to atheism. This was to prove that atheists were being persecuted more than any other people like theists. On starting the challenge he took great pains to paint a picture of the suffering atheist that was being persecuted for his belief or lack of. When I read this I could not believe that he actually thought that more atheists have been killed than Christians through the years. So I smugly commented back for him to give me at least one account of an atheist being killed by a Christian.
Well his reply dropped my jaw. He gave me two, one on the comment page and one by email.
“Ashley John Appoo, 40, pleaded guilty in a court in Brisbane, Australia, to the manslaughter death of John Leslie McDonald, and to cause grievous bodily harm to McDonald’s wife, Alois, during an ax attack in November 2001. Appoo, a hitchhiker whom McDonald picked up and befriended, went berserk when Ms. McDonald mentioned they were atheists. Described as a “proud Christian whose bible was one of his most precious possessions,” Appoo grabbed an ax and began attacking the couple. Source: Daily Telegraph, Dec. 23, 2004″
And “On October 18, 2004, Arthur Shelton, a self-described Christian and Eagle Scout, murdered his friend and roommate, Larry Hooper, because Hooper didn’t believe in God.”

This really chapped me. At first glance my response was typical,” These were not real “Christians”. But on giving it more thought. This argument is all used up. The person reporting on the Larry Hooper story, who was an atheist, and reported on how the “Christians” treated him during the trial, calling them devils and shoving their crosses in their faces like they were vampires and just plain hateful.
And although these are atheist sources, I say it is a shame that I have no problem believing they are true.
So I want to address this post to Christians. Have you all ever read the Ten Commandments, “Thou (that means you) shalt (you will not) Kill (stop the life of an innocent being). What part don’t you understand? God has told no one to kill anyone in His name. You say you read and follow the Bible, well let’s take a look at that:
Matthew 5:43, you have heard that it was said, “love your neighbor and hate your enemies”. But I (Jesus) say to you, love your enemies. Pray for those who hurt you.
1 John 2:9, anyone who says,” I am in the light,” but hates a brother or sister (even under Adam), is still in darkness.
1 John 4:20, if people say, “I love God”, but hate their brothers or sisters they are liars. Those who do not love their brothers and sisters, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. Get the picture? We are to love others, not kill them.
To kill a person whom God created is a serious sin against God. You will never have a good reason to do this. Although atheists have gathered us in mass and killed us like animals, so what?
They constantly insult us by telling us we are stupid and do not use our brains, so what?
You can’t even get on a Christian forum for encouragement without one butting in and insulting you, so what? You can’t watch a sit-com with your family without seeing a Christian depicted as a lunatic murderer, so what?
These would make a natural person want to attack back, but we are not to be natural.
We are not our own, we are bought with a price.
Jesus said, “If the world hates you, remember that it hated Me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as it loves its own. But I have chosen you out of the world, so you don’t belong to it. That is why the world hates you. Remember what I told you: A servant is not greater than his Master, If people did wrong to Me, they will do all this to you on account of Me, because they do not know the one who sent Me.” John 15:18-21
People, it would be better for us to die than an unbeliever.
The Bible says, “Say to them, as I live, says the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn back, turn back from your evil ways, for why will you die O house of Israel?” Ezekiel 33:11 King James
and “Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.” Psalm 116:15
Years ago I used to travel a little for a small company and I decided I would take a gun just in case I needed it. The Lord impressed on me the question,” Would I really kill someone and send them to hell instead of yielding and risk him sending me to Heaven?” I held on to the gun for a while joking with the idea that I would never kill, but it was surprising what someone could live through. I later got rid of the gun. My point is we are not to kill, if anyone was to be killed we should have the attitude that it would be better if it was us. This would give the Lord full time to reveal Himself to the unbeliever.
Now let us return to the murdered atheists. Who the hell are we to kill someone just because they do not believe? This makes me mad and we have seen above how God feels. He has no pleasure. God does not smile. You have given Him no pleasure. These impostors will have to stand before the Lord and give account of them. And the worst of it all is that some of you are more offended over me saying “hell” than over these two men killed. Repent. Change your way of thinking. Turn to Jesus and love your neighbor as yourself. For believe me, if you hate your neighbor you are not saved no matter how many times you walk that aisle and shed a few tears.
An Atheist is not our enemy. Not gays. Not any unbelievers!
“Our fight is not against people on earth but against the rulers and authorities and the powers of this world’s darkness, against the spiritual powers of evil in the heavenly world.” Ephesians 6:12
Have we forgotten these things? Or did we ever know? If you’re one of those who pickets graves of dead soldiers, bash gays or anything else you believe is God’s will, you’d better read all the Bible. Without the love of Christ operating in you are no different than the ones you hate. You just know how to speak religious and you hinder the Holy Spirit moving on the unbelievers.
It is real simple: Treat others the way you want to be treated”. Even atheists, gays and unbelievers can do this. And then all the hate crimes will cease. And I leave you with this: “You have heard that it was said to our people long ago, ’you must not murder anyone. Anyone who murders anyone will be judged.’ But I (Jesus) tell you, if you are angry with a brother or sister, you will be judged.” Matthew 5:21-22
Note: This post is intended for Christians, please all else hold your negative comments. Verses are from the New Century Version
Originally Posted: Friday, March 07, 2008

Reply to an Atheist wether Jesus was a Historical Figure

This post was written as a reply to an atheist that wanted me to prove that Jesus was a historical figure. I wanted to share it with you all.

I’ve finished reading Jim Walker’s paper, “Did the Historical Jesus Exist?” from nobeliefs.com/exist.htm. I looked up the references and persons quoted. I reviewed the paper in full. At first I thought you wrote the paper, and then it occurred to me that you did not. Which was not your fault, you never said you did. Just that you believed it. So it is sort of “You’re Bible”. Nowhere did Mr. Walker prove that Jesus never existed. You believe in hear-say evidence. Just as I do. The matter is ‘belief’. If I had realized that you were going by this hear-say, I would never had entered into this conversation with you and wasted so much time. The paper seems to be full of speculations. Like the persons could not have written the Gospels because the life span was only 30 years. If this was true then the Gospels would not have been accepted because of the stories of John the Baptist’s birth to an old couple. People took notice because she was past the age of giving birth not because she and Zeb were beyond the expected life span of a normal person. The story of Simeon the old man in the temple who was waiting for the birth of Christ is indeed possible. And Jesus telling Peter he would live to be an old man with John. How is that for speculation? The only truth between Walker’s and my argument is that the first century people believed them and most chose death instead of denial. And they believed when the truth of Jesus was well past the time of physical proof.

You wanted me to quote proof of His life. Here it is. I submit the names of the pagan and Christian historians listed as proof. It does not matter that they were later in history. I believe they are right and you believe they were wrong. The pagan historians had nothing to gain by speaking of Jesus. Pliny, Suetonius, Cornelius Tacitus (55 AD - 120AD Over 30 years old), Lucian of Samosata, Thallus, Phlegon, Mara Bar-Serapion and the Christian historians like Polycarp who was under the study of the Apostle Matthew. He later was instrumental in pointing out to other church leaders which text was of the disciples along with other leaders who sat under the teachings of other disciples. They in turn gave their lives instead of denying the truth just as their teachers. Knowledge, he gleaned from an eyewitness. You discount historians because they are not eyewitnesses of the events they report. Should we discount all of our other history books or believe the research the historians did. And if one historian was forced to choose death or deny what he has reported and he chose death. Wouldn’t you lean more in the direction of believing him? We should let the jury decide. The jury is in. More people that were aware of Him, even opposite religions and other atheists, believe He existed. Historians as a whole believe He existed.
And speaking of “Fakes, Frauds, and Fictions” Should I go into the Piltdown man and Nebraska Man being faked and one made up from the tooth of a pig. Come on guys.
You and Mr. Walker seem to lack enough knowledge of ancient customs of the time of the Bible or church history to interpret the Bible or Church historical events.
You all seem to push proof. Well, I agree that you cannot prove with archaeology. Although the oldest fragment of the book of Matthew was reported by the “The Times” of London in 1994 to have been found and proven to be written by a contemporary of Jesus. It was dated about 60 A.D. written in the Greek language of that day. Of course it cannot be proven that it is written by the Matthew, but it was written or copied by someone who could have known Jesus. Will we know for sure? No. Will you know for sure that he didn’t? No. So where does that leave us, by my faith that He did or your faith that He didn’t. It is—all faith.
Jesus left His disciples with an expectation that He would return to earth again. Therefore none of them felt a need to record on paper the events until later. We have history books dating, 100 and even 200 years old by people who did not experience what they wrote about but reported what others told them. Sort of what newspaper reporters do. We must choose to believe or not believe the reporter. If a person witnesses an event and waits 30 to 50 years to report it and then give his life before denying it, does that make his witness invalid? Like the fact that a person existed in history. I don’t think so.
I think your problem is how you perceive God or the lack of God.
Say you try to “will” yourself to believe just for a moment that God existed. You may see Him as an old man who creates a world and winds it up to let it run down and creates people with no purpose than to serve as a whipping post when they do badly. OR can you see a God that created a world for people that He loves. Saw how their sin was killing them, came down to live as a man and experience the pain of man, to offer Himself as a sacrifice for man to heal the gap in relationship between them. He had a free will also. He could have chosen not to die on the cross. He asked the Father if there was another way to fulfill the promise, but if not He would choose the Father’s will instead of His own. This is hard to understand by people who do not have Spiritual insight and revelation from God on how God can be a Father, Son and Spirit at the same time.
My point is that God is big enough to make sure the events of His life on earth could make it through time and in one piece. If He could not, then He wasn’t much of a God. I’m sure you will comment on this remark.
The church started small, governed by men locally in small groups. Jesus never intended for it to become some giant organization under the authority of one man that had the power over men’s life or death. Peter was not the first Pope. He had disagreements with Paul and it did not cost Paul his life. It was not until Constantine converted that this misguided church came into power. Jesus never said that a person could make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem for forgiveness of sins, which lead to the Crusades. That was never part of God’s plan. He ordained no other works that a person could do to gain forgiveness of sins. All He asked was faith in Him.
Faith, which brings me back to the proof you wished to have. One of the main themes of the Bible is that God will only take faith in Him. Not in the works of men, not in man’s power and not in any evidence of archaeology. He will not allow it. It is faith or nothing.
Also the way you are trying to find proof is wrong. The Bible states, “That God is spirit and those who worship Him must do so in Spirit and in Truth.” God is not made of physical matter and any amateur scientist knows you cannot measure anything that is not matter. Can you prove emotions? Can you prove thought? Since you cannot physically prove these in science does that mean you have no feelings or you do not think?
Of course not, I can read the emotion when you write. And I can tell you think. Can you prove there is wind? You cannot measure it, taste it etc….. You believe in these three because you see the results of them. Also I believe in God/Jesus because I see the results of His work.
He created an atom that is held together by a force that science cannot explain. It is there. Look what happens when you split one. You can win a lottery every year for the rest of your life before an atom puts it’s self together and forms a living organism. Science and engineering says a bumble bee should not be able to fly. But it does.
The greatest evidence of Jesus’ existence is the tidal wave of change that occurred from His life. If He did not exist, who made up His name? Who persuaded people to give their lives as a testimony to His life? Where in history did anyone else have this influence? You speak of other gods and their similarities to Jesus. Who today believes in the Greek gods? God is so big that He could easily insert into other cultures, like the cannibals of New Guina, things that could be used by missionaries to teach about the true God when Jesus chose to reveal Himself to them. As written about in the book,” Eternity in Their Hearts”.
There is a saying, “You can tell a tree by the fruit it bears”. Through the influence of Jesus, all individuals received equal worth. Before Christ, children were deemed worthless until a certain age. It was a common practice to throw babies into the river or leave them for the beast in the woods if a child was not wanted. Not until Constantine did this change. Through the years many graves are filled by the killing of people deemed worthless or less evolved by atheist governments. Planned Parenthood was formed to do away with the black race through abortion. If you do not believe this read the journal of the founder.
Also before Christ the poor were discarded to the wayside to die on their own. Through the influence of Christ, people following His ideas reached out to the poor and lifted them up with dignity. Not in any natural or man-made disaster have I seen the “Atheist Relief Society” rise up to take care of the needy. If there is such an organization I do not know of, please enlighten me if there is such a thing. Also, During the U.S. depression, atheists and evolutionists believed poverty came through heredity, and had poor children, orphans and others put into institutions and forcibly sterilized. This turned out to be wrong and became part of the hidden history of America.
The one good thing that came from the dark ages is that the Bible was preserved for over a thousand years without being altered. When God chose to reveal Himself and the Bible became public, education became important to many. The influence of Christ brought about the rise of colleges and institutions of learning. You seem to enjoy bringing up the “flat earth” teaching and assigning it to only Christians. You must not know that everyone at that time believed in the theory and it was popular all over the world, except where they believed the earth sat on a giant turtles back and other beliefs. The Bible was tucked away from common people and left them to ignorance by the leadership of the perverted church at the time. Otherwise they would have read in Isa. 40:22, “God sits on His throne above the circle or sphere of the earth….” written 2500 years before the discovery of secular philosophers and believed. You seem to use this in the hope that we Christians look stupid and unlearned. How silly is it that the early evolutionist believed maggots on rotten meat proved “spontaneous generation”. We accepted the round earth when proven, but you all seem to stick to the SG myth although you have not been able to produce it in a lab for over a hundred years now. It is interesting that most of your major colleges in the world were started by Christians trying to improve the education of others. Then the atheists took them over and our U.S. education system is going down the tubes, while Christian home schoolers and students of Christian schools continue to score higher on SATs. More times than their secular counter parts. This is provable with just a little research.
So through history we have seen the fruits of the influence of Christ and the influence of atheism and those using religion for the gaining of power.
This Christian believes that no matter what proof we come up with, you all will not believe. But don’t trust me. Open your heart to believe for just a little bit to do a real search if Jesus is real. I agree with what Physicist Robert Morris Page says,” The test of a hypothesis involves the establishment of conditions consistent with the hypothesis to produce results predicted by the hypothesis on the assumption that the hypothesis is true.” In short you must believe in the hypothesis you are testing if only for the sake of the test to have a true answer to the hypothesis. You are like the black smith that did not believe that a ship made of iron would float. Surly, if iron would not float neither would a ship covered with it he argued. And to prove it he tossed a horseshoe into a barrow of water in front of the town folk and it sunk. Seeing the proof of brilliance he grinned pointing to the truth of his hypothesis. A little old lady tried to question his finding and was scorned as an ignorant old lady that does not have the ability to think of such things. She left them but returned with her iron kettle. Tossing it in, it floated. She believed the hypothesis therefore truth was seen.
We have seen what atheism will bring about in the world and we are aware that if they come to power in our county we may be looking at near elimination of Christians and others who do not believe as they do, the under evolved. It happened in other countries, why not the U.S. Although after the fall of Russia’s government there appeared a church that could not be crushed. In China, the Christian church is growing stronger than ever. Africa’s Christians although suffering murder, torture and bondage to slavery have hung to their faith. There must be more to Jesus than physical matter that can be tested in a test tube or found written on a rock.
If atheists come to power and the time comes for me to choose Christ or die you may use this at my trial:

·         I am John Dewayne, aka Wayne Brooks, son of Frank Brooks from Dothan, Al. USA.

·         I believe in Christ the Savior of Mankind and God.

·         I believe He came to earth to live among us and to give His life to redeem us from our sins and save us from the penalty of it.

·         I believe He rose from the dead on the third day after His crucifixion and ascended into Heaven where He waits for the time when He will return to defeat the Antichrist and bring all believers to Himself. Leaving all non-believers to spend eternity without the presence of God.

·         I believe the book known as the Holy Bible to be the record of all the needed information to believe in Christ and comes from God.
With this confession I swear to live and not deny.

Your 7 day challenge http://www.myspace.com/7_day_atheist_challenge and statements of Jesus not existing seems to me just an attempt to gather data for your book and a chance to impress your Jesus Seminar buddies. The shameful thing is that Christians are not answering your challenge because they are not afraid or they have no proof. It is because most of them do not care if you believe or not. Well my whole motivation for getting involved with you is to just share the love of Christ with you this last time. It hurts me to think of you spending eternity alone without God with the arguments in your book going through your head over and over again thinking you are right. I know you’ve heard this all before. But I wanted you to hear it from me. I respect your choice and please forgive me if I have offended you in anyway. I do get to be a real smartass sometimes. Thanks for the education you’ve provided me. You’ve strengthened my faith in ways your will never know.
The good news for us is that in the end we both will get what we want, I will get eternity with Christ and you will get eternity without Christ. We both win?
I end with this and bid you fair well.

Notice: If any of this is used in any book out of context and without permission, I will sue you and use all the money to print Bibles for missionaries overseas. If you wish to reprint any of it for your blog, just ask and let me know which part. As long as you print it all in context, no problem.
(c) Wayne Brooks 2007

Posted: Sunday, October 21, 2007

Evidence of God for Atheist

I've been thinking of all the atheist blogs I have read through http://www.blogexplosion.com, and how they want proof of God. They want to sense Him with their five senses. They want Him to come down and reveal Himself to them. Know Him without faith. Then the other day while running my machine at work, I realized He had done just that. He came down and people touched Him. They smelled Him. They heard Him. They saw Him and they tasted Him in a kiss of betrayal.
It is all recorded in a collection of books written in a span of thousands of years by multiple authors of various backgrounds. All inspired by the Spirit of the God-Man.
Now atheist will explain away the Bible and say that it is not reliable. Although witnesses of the events around the God-man gave their lives to seal their witness that He was who He said He was. They sensed Him with the only sense that God can use to reveal Himself, Faith. No atheist has laid down their life to witness that God does not exist.
Oh Did I mention who the God-man was known as. Jesus.
Now the atheist wants Him to appear again so that they can sense Him for themselves.
I say with love for these persons. He will appear again in all His glory. He will be sensed by all.

Posted: Sunday, June 24, 2007