Statement of Faith

There has been a remarkable trend in my Speech class, that I'm taking this summer, to speak openly about deep convictions of faith, and about God, and our pursuit of Him. I find this remarkable because my previous experiences in school have led me to see a lot of the branded Christianity that has no real effect on the human in which it inhabits. Often what is witnessed is a wholesale avoidance of speaking openly about what you believe no matter what it is, as if we aren't to tolerate thought or desire. Perhaps post-modern thinking has truly ruined what is means to be "merely human".
However, in my Speech class I've seen incredible statements of faith and admonitions that without God this person wouldn't be alive. All around me is the open reminder that God is alive and well and working in the hearts of men, and that to think God is irrelevant is a folly of the highest order. Diane, a 40-yr old mother of 3, today described one man's insistence and joy in the Lord, which ultimately brought her to faith, and eventually her husband to faith. They are now both in the ministry. Kiyomi is a student from Japan who is one of the few Christians in her country (now in ours), and has another amazing story of trusting God with the details. Tony is not a Christian but a thinker of the highest caliber who often reference some of the greatest thinkers of all time from Lewis to Chesterton to whomever. It's a new experience to speak openly about "The Abolition of Man" with a man who quite frankly is scared by its implications, which are, by design, the implications that life without God is fruitless and destined to hell. Then there is Carl, the devout Catholic with the most extreme of conversion stories. His religiosity, for lack of a better term, makes it hard for the Christians in the class to even relate to him and his stories of the virgin Mary and the "holiness" associated with that. But it's still incredible to me to see these people from all over the world acknowledging much about the heavenly realm. I too have been able to share my faith and love for Christ in this class and know that more opportunities will arise. This is not even to mention the plethora of other people in my class that during speeches have confessed their undying love for Christ or God's providence in their life. The stories are different, but it's a rare case to have heard people speak without some conviction of someone, somewhere watching them, holding them, guarding their steps. The purpose in the lives of all these beautiful people is profound and liberating from the sentiment of desperation that secular life will inherently provoke. Diane said it best today when she said, quoting Matt. 10: 32-33 "Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven."

Praise God for this small revelation....