Missouri

Our trip to the University of Missouri - Columbia is our shortest trip this fall. Justin and I drove there on Tuesday, and came back home Friday. For the two days we were there, I must say it was one of the most enjoyable times for me. Conversations I had with people made them truly think about what they believe and reevaluate the claims of Christianity and what they considered to be true. I talked with many people, but there were three that I really stuck out to me. First, Brian grew up with a very strong Catholic (legalistic) background. I shared with him how we can know for sure whether we are going to heaven - John 3:3. From there, we went on the Romans road, and it was awesome to see his hunger for what "the gift of God" is (Rom. 6:23). After time, he began to see what it means to trust in Jesus Christ and not in himself and his obedience (well, in truth it is the lack of obedience!) for salvation. I believe this conversation left a very strong impact in his life. These next two, although I do not deny any work of God in their lives, really built me up and strengthened me because of the content. First, I talked with another catholic that left that belief and is now open to other things. After talking for a while, I discovered that he is a deist - and therefore I learned how and why deists come to the conclusions they do. Utimately though, we got down to what truth is. Though I don't understand how he can believe this, he acknowledges the Bible as the Word of God - but not as authorative; truth comes from what he experienced, and therefore relative to him. Second, I had my first real encounter with a hardcore dedicated atheist. Generally, I stay away from them because they aren't open or willing, but I was already in a situation to talk to him, so we began. (and, afterall, they need Jesus!) Honestly, I loved it! I loved giving reasons and evidences for things I believe (creation/evolution, validity of the Bible, morality). Jim threw everything but the kitchen sink at me, and it was great! I loved it because I was challenged face-to-face, and responded with answers - though, I'm not gonna lie, I got stumped on 2 of his questions. However, I am coming to fear no question, because Christianity has answers! (I just need to find them! They are there!) I need not fear any question or assertion anyone makes, because God's truth is always true and reasonable and will prevail! I definitely enjoyed that talk, but moreover, Jim came one step - however small - closer to Jesus; there were certain evidences that he could not deny to be true!