The One That Got it Started

This is the first Diary Entry that we published. It tells about Mike's motivation to go to College as a Seventy-year-old College Freshman and has some very interesting interactions with students and professors.

"...we are all just fizzing chemical reactions..."

How it began

Week after week, we met together in prayer with the church. We looked around us

and saw a devolving culture. We prayed for what we discerned as some of the root

causes and asked God what we could do about it as His servants. One problem

that stood out was the non-biblical perspective being perpetuated in our

colleges. Nearby we have a large university with thousands of students, and very

few of them, if any at all, will hear a biblical worldview in any of their classes. They

are being educated in every form of humanism, existentialism, pragmatism,

socialism, and tens of other “isms”, but they are not being given the light that the

Scriptures give to all subjects and practices. In regards to Christianity, it is

dark. And sad. Even most Christians on campus do not feel free to express their

perspectives without fear of backlash and frankly, many are just not equipped tostand against the formidable intellectual arguments being put forth by teachers and

other students.

The idea

That’s when God gave us the idea. Georgia has a program where seniors 62 and

older go to any state university tuition-free. What better way to reach this

unreached people group than to become one of them! If you can’t beat ‘em, join

‘em! (with a twist!) So Mike enrolled this fall at a local university as a Philosophy and Women’s Studies major. His first classes are in Philosophy and Ethics.

How it’s going

Being a devoted student of God’s Word for over four decades, God has equipped

Mike for just a time as this. One of his goals is to earn the respect of the teachers

and students by doing excellent work. He wants to learn what they are teaching

and respectfully and winsomely, bring a biblical worldview to all of his classwork

and class discussion. He desires to win the people, not just win the

argument. This is going very, very well. He is a 4.0 student and the students are

wanting to study with him and meet with him now as they see him as a willing and

wise resource. Also, the professors are intrigued by his confident intellectual

arguments from an unashamedly and richly biblical perspective. “I’ve never

thought of that” is becoming a common comment from many in his class, student

and professor alike.

No such thing as absolute truth

The year started out that as a functioning principle, “There is no such thing as

absolute truth.” Mike gently raised his hand and said, “Sir, is that true?” After a

pregnant pause, he said, “We will discuss that later.”

Bags of chemical reactions

In another class, a student was expressing her staunch views of evolution and that

we all evolved as bags of chemical reactions over the course of billions of

years. As the discussion continued, Mike said something and she blurted out,“Well, you’re just wrong!” Mike gently responded, “You have no basis upon which

to tell me I’m wrong. You have just said that you believe that you and I are just

masses of chemical reactions. Well, chemical reactions are not right or

wrong. When you do a science experiment, you don’t call the reaction evil or

good, just or unjust, or morally right or wrong. A chemical reaction does not have

moral value. It just is. Therefore, given your stated worldview, since we are both

just bags chemical reactions, you have no basis upon which to tell me I’m

‘wrong.’” The professor was stunned and said, “I’ve never thought of that!”

YOU'RE in the 1%!

Another time, the professor and most of the class were singing the praises of

Socialist Bernie Sanders because he was going to fund our country on the backs

of the 1% of the wealthy. Mike gently raised his hand.

“May I ask some questions for clarity?”

“Sure,” they said.

“Who is going to decide how this money you are taking from the 1% is going to

be dispersed?”

“The government,” they all agreed.

“Which government?” Mike asked. He continued. “You have all said that you

believe in open borders and a one world government. Is that correct?”

“Yes, it’s evil to have borders and keep people out.”

“Ok, then you want the money taken from the 1% globally. You do realize that

YOU are in that one percent! If you take into account the global economy, every

single person in this room falls into the category of the one percent of the people of

the world who are the wealthiest. When you factor in the people of Calcutta, India

and the many poverty-stricken peoples, you are definitely in the one percent of the

richest people in the world. So, just to be clear, you are saying that you want

YOUR income taken from you and redistributed to the people across the world, so

that you are brought down to an equitable level with everyone globally”

Needless to say, they were stunned. They stayed after to continue the

discussion where Mike unashamedly and unapologetically brought a Biblical

worldview before them, student and professor alike, and it was something they had

never considered before. It was wonderful.

Well Received!

Mike has gained the respect of the professors and students alike. They see his

diligent work and cooperative spirit. They see his respect for them and his deep

well of confident biblical wisdom. He is equipped to answer their arguments, and

he lends a purposeful, intentional biblical worldview to every discussion and every

paper. The professors love having a student who appreciates their class, is well

prepared and eager to learn and think. They are positively challenged by his

thoughts and are not put off by his delivery of them, in fact, Mike is welcomed into

most every discussion. In class, he has been able to give his testimony of how he

came to know Christ and has been able to relate the Gospel of Christ’s saving

work to topics in many discussions. One of the sweetest commendations has

come from a young Asian international student. Given their culturally high regard

for the elderly, she kindly said to Mike, “I would be glad to be old and wrinkled like

you if I could be wise like you.” Another girl brings him candy because she

overheard him say he had a sweet tooth.