A science professor begins his school year with a lecture to the students, ‘Let me explain the problem science
has with religion.’ The atheist professor of philosophy pauses before his class and then asks one of his new
students to stand.

‘You’re a Christian, aren’t you, son?’

‘Yes sir,’ the student says.

‘So you believe in God?’

‘Absolutely.’

‘Is God good?’

‘Sure! God’s good.’

‘Is God all-powerful? Can God do anything?’

‘Yes.’

‘Are you good or evil?’

‘The Bible says I’m evil.’

The professor grins knowingly. ‘Aha! The Bible!’ He considers for a moment. ‘Here’s one for you. Let’s say
there’s a sick person over here and you can cure him. You can do it. Would you help him? Would you try?’

‘Yes sir, I would.’

‘So you’re good…!’

‘I wouldn’t say that.’

‘But why not say that? You’d help a sick and maimed person
if you could. Most of us would if we could. But God doesn’t.’

The student does not answer, so the professor continues.

‘He doesn’t, does He? My brother was a Christian who died of cancer, even though he prayed to Jesus to heal
him. How is this Jesus good? Hmmm? Can you answer that one?’

The student remains silent.

‘No, you can’t, can you?’ the professor says. He takes a sip of water from a glass on his desk to give the
student time to relax.

‘Let’s start again, young fella. Is God good?’

‘Er…yes,’ the student says.

‘Is Satan good?’

The student doesn’t hesitate on this one. ‘No.’

‘Then where does Satan come from?’

The student falters. ‘From God?’

‘That’s right. God made Satan, didn’t he? Tell me, son.
Is there evil in this world?’

‘Yes, sir.’

‘Evil’s everywhere, isn’t it? And God did make everything, correct?’

‘Yes.’

‘So who created evil?’ The professor continued, ‘If God created everything, then God created evil, since evil
exists, and according to the principle that our works define who we are, then God is evil.’

Again, the student has no answer. ‘Is there sickness? Immorality? Hatred? Ugliness? All these terrible things,
do they exist in this world?’

The student squirms on his feet. ‘Yes.’

‘So who created them?’

The student does not answer again, so the professor repeats his question. ‘Who created them?’ There is still
no answer. Suddenly the lecturer breaks away to pace in front of the classroom. The class is mesmerized. ‘Tell
me,’ he continues onto another student. ‘Do you believe in Jesus Christ, son?’

The student’s voice betrays him and cracks. ‘Yes, professor, I do.’

The old man stops pacing. ‘Science says you have five senses you use to identify and observe the world
around you. Have you ever seen Jesus?’

‘No sir. I’ve never seen Him.’

‘Then tell us if you’ve ever heard your Jesus?’

‘No, sir, I have not.’

‘Have you ever felt your Jesus, tasted your Jesus or smelled your Jesus? Have you ever had any sensory
perception of Jesus Christ, or God for that matter?’

‘No, sir, I’m afraid I haven’t.’

‘Yet you still believe in Him?’

‘Yes.’

‘According to the rules of empirical, testable, demonstrable protocol,science says your God doesn’t exist.
What do you say to that, son?’

‘Nothing,’ the student replies. ‘I only have my faith.’

‘Yes, faith,’ the professor repeats. ‘And that is the problem science has with God. There is no evidence, only
faith.’

The student stands quietly for a moment, before asking a question of His own. ‘Professor, is there such thing
as heat?’

‘Yes,’ the professor replies. ‘There’s heat.’

‘And is there such a thing as cold?’

‘Yes, son, there’s cold too! ‘

‘No sir, there isn’t.’

The professor turns to face the student, obviously interested. The room suddenly becomes very quiet. The
student begins to explain. ‘You can have lots of heat, even more heat, super-heat, mega-heat, unlimited heat,
white heat, a little heat or no heat, but we don’t have anything called ‘cold’. We can hit up to 458 degrees
below zero, which is no heat, but we can’t go any further after that. There is no such thing as cold; otherwise
we would be able to go colder than the lowest -458 degrees.’

‘Every body or object is susceptible to study when it has or transmits energy, and heat is what makes a body
or matter have or transmit energy. Absolute zero (-458 F) is the total absence of heat. You see, sir, cold is
only a word we use to describe the absence of heat. We cannot measure cold. Heat we can measure in thermal
units because heat is energy. Cold is not the opposite of heat, sir, just the absence of it.’

Silence across the room. A pen drops somewhere in the classroom, sounding like a hammer.

‘What about darkness, professor. Is there such a thing as darkness?’

‘Yes,’ the professor replies without hesitation. ‘What is night if it isn’t darkness?’

‘You’re wrong again, sir. Darkness is not something; it is the absence of something. You can have low light,
normal light, bright light, flashing light, but if you have no light constantly you have nothing and it’s called
darkness, isn’t it? That’s the meaning we use to define the word.’

‘In reality, darkness isn’t. If it were, you would be able to make darkness darker, wouldn’t you?’

The professor begins to smile at the student in front of him. This will be a good semester. ‘So what point are
you making, young man?’

‘Yes, professor. My point is, your philosophical premise is flawed to start with, and so your conclusion must
also be flawed.’

The professor’s face cannot hide his surprise this time.
‘Flawed? Can you explain how?’

‘You are working on the premise of duality,’ the student explains. ‘You argue that there is life and then there’s
death; a good God and a bad God. You are viewing the concept of God as something finite, something we can
measure. Sir, science can’t even explain a thought.’

‘It uses electricity and magnetism, but has never seen, much less fully understood either one. To view death as
the opposite of life is to be ignorant of the fact that death cannot exist as a substantive thing. Death is not the
opposite of life, just the absence of it.’

‘Now tell me, professor. Do you teach your students that they evolved from a monkey?’

‘If you are referring to the natural evolutionary process, young man, yes, of course I do.’

‘Have you ever observed evolution with your own eyes, sir?’

The professor begins to shake his head, still smiling, as he realizes where the argument is going. A very good
semester, indeed.

‘Since no one has ever observed the process of evolution at work and cannot even prove that this process is an
on-going endeavor, are you not teaching your opinion, sir? Are you now not a scientist, but a preacher?’

The class is in uproar. The student remains silent until the commotion has subsided.

‘To continue the point you were making earlier to the other student, let me give you an example of what I
mean.’

The student looks around the room. ‘Is there anyone in the class who has ever seen the professor’s brain?’ The
class breaks out into laughter.

‘Is there anyone here who has ever heard the professor’s brain, felt the professor’s brain, touched or smelled
the professor’s brain? No one appears to have done so. So, according to the established rules of
empirical, stable, demonstrable protocol, science says that you have no brain, with all due respect, sir.’

‘So if science says you have no brain, how can we trust your lectures, sir?’

Now the room is silent. The professor just stares at the student, his face unreadable.

Finally, after what seems an eternity, the old man answers. ‘I guess you’ll have to take them on faith.’

‘Now, you accept that there is faith, and, in fact, faith exists with life,’ the student continues. ‘Now, sir, is
there such a thing as evil?’

Now uncertain, the professor responds, ‘Of course, there is. We see it everyday. It is in the daily example of
man’s inhumanity to man. It is in the multitude of crime and violence everywhere in the world. These
manifestations are nothing else but evil.’

To this the student replied, ‘Evil does not exist sir, or at least it does not exist unto itself. Evil is simply the
absence of God. It is just like darkness and cold, a word that man has created to describe the absence of God.
God did not create evil. Evil is the result of what happens when man does not have God’s love present in his
heart. It’s like the cold that comes when there is no heat or the darkness that comes when there is no light.’

The professor sat down.

Malachi 3:3 says: ‘He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver.’ This verse puzzled some women in a Bible study and they wondered what this statement meant about the character and nature of God. One of the women offered to find out the process of refining silver and get back to the group at their next Bible Study.

That week, the woman called a silversmith and made an appointment to watch him at work. She didn’t mention anything about the reason for her interest beyond her curiosity about the process of refining Silver.

As she watched the silversmith, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest as to burn away all the impurities.

The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot; then she thought again about the verse that says: ‘He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver.’ She asked the silversmith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time. The man answered that yes, he not only had to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on the silver the entire time it was in the fire. If the silver was left a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed.

The woman was silent for a moment. Then she asked the silversmith, ‘How do you know when the silver is fully refined?’ He smiled at her and answered, Oh, that’s easy — when I see my image in it.’

If today you are feeling the heat of the fire, remember that God has his eye on you and will keep watching you until He sees His image in you. Pass this on right now. This very moment, someone needs to know that God is watching over them. And, whatever they’re going through, they’ll be a better person in the end. ‘Life is a coin. You can spend it anyway you wish, but you can only spend it once.’

This story was submitted by my Auntie Trifina

Leadership is about change. If you need no change, you need no leader. In times of change, people seek  out more and better leaders. Those successful sought-out leaders embrace the following thought. “The best reformers the world has ever known are those who began with themselves.”

Mahatma Gandhi said, “We must be the change that we envision.”

Tolstoy said, “Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.”

The following comments are about personal change:

1. One person cannot change another person.

When I started as a young leader, I thought that a leader could change the people; and boy, did I work at it. I said, “All right, I’m going to give them thoughts, ideas, and principles; and I’m going to change people.”

After several years, I awakened to the thought that the only person who can change himself or herself is himself or herself. You can change yourself, but I cannot change you. You see, I am responsible to you but I am not responsible for you; and there is a world of difference between those two. I am responsible for teaching you good leadership, I am responsible for sharing things that can help add value to your life; but you are the only one who can take responsibility to change yourself, and that is what this whole article is about.

2. Most people need to look at the way that they look at change.

How many times have you heard somebody say, “I sure hope things will change.” The only way things will change for me is when I change. It has nothing to do with hope. You can’t just say, “Well, I just hope things will change around me,” and expect results. The only way that things will change for me is when I change.

I have also heard this before, “I don’t know why I’m this way.” Well, you are the way you are because that is the way you want to be. Let’s expose it for what it really is.

3. When you make the right personal changes, other things begin to turn out right.

So when people say, “I’d like things to turn out better for me, I’d like things to turn out right, I’d like things to turn out better in the organization, or in my family,” I say to them, “Start by making personal changes.”

The following are six steps to successful personal change:

1. When you change your thinking you change your beliefs.

2. When you change your beliefs you change your expectations.

3. When you change your expectations you change your attitude.

4. When you change your attitude you change your behavior.

5. When you change your behavior you change your performance.

6. When you change your performance, you change your life!

A wealthy man and his son loved to collect rare works of art. They had everything in their collection, from
Picasso to Raphael. They would often sit together and admire the great works of art.

When the Vietnam conflict broke out, the son went to war. He was very courageous and died in battle while
rescuing another soldier. The father was notified and grieved deeply for his only son.

About a month later, just before Christmas, there was a knock at the door. A young man stood at the door
with a large package in his hands.

He said, “Sir, you don’t know me, but I am the soldier for whom your son gave his life. He saved many lives
that day, and he was carrying me to safety when a bullet struck him in the heart and he died instantly. He
often talked about you, and your love for art.” The young man held out the package. “I know this isn’t much.
I’m not really a great artist, but I think your son would have wanted you to have this.”

The father opened the package. It was a portrait of his son, painted by the young man. He stared in awe at the
way the soldier had captured the personality of his son in the painting. The father was so drawn to the eyes
that his own eyes welled up with tears. He thanked the young man and offered to pay him for the picture.
“Oh, no sir, I could never repay what your son did for me. It’s a gift.”

The father hung the portrait over his mantle. Every time visitors came to his home, he took them to see the
portrait of his son before he showed them any of the other great works he had collected.

The man died a few months later. There was to be a great auction for his paintings. Many influential people
gathered, excited over seeing the great paintings and having an opportunity to purchase one for their collection.

On the platform sat the painting of the son. The auctioneer pounded his gavel. “We will start the bidding with
this picture of the son. Who will bid for this picture?”

There was silence.

Then a voice in the back of the room shouted, “We want to see the famous paintings. Skip this one.”

But the auctioneer persisted. “Will somebody bid for this painting? Who will start the bidding? $100, $200?”

Another voice angrily said, “We didn’t come to see this painting. We came to see the Van Goghs, the
Rembrandts. Get on with the real bids!”

But still the auctioneer continued. “The son! The son! Who’ll take the son?”

Finally, a voice came from the very back of the room. It was the longtime gardener of the man and his son. “I’ll
give $10 for the painting.” Being a poor man, it was all he could afford.

“We have $10, who will bid $20?”

“Give it to him for $10. Let’s see the masters!”

“Ten dollars is the bid. Won’t someone bid $20?”

The crowd was becoming angry. They didn’t want the picture of the son.
They wanted the more worthy investments for their collections.

The auctioneer pounded the gavel. “Going once, twice, sold for $10!”

A man sitting in the second row shouted, “Now, let’s get on with the collection!”

The auctioneer laid down his gavel. “I’m sorry, the auction is over.”

“What about the paintings?”

“I am sorry. When I was called to conduct this auction, I was told of a secret stipulation in the will. I was not
allowed to reveal that stipulation until this time. Only the painting of the son would be auctioned. Whoever
bought that painting would inherit the entire estate, including the paintings. The man who took the son gets
everything!”

God gave His son 2,000 years ago to die on the cross. Much like the auctioneer, His message today is, “The
son, the son, who’ll take the son?”

Because, you see, whoever takes the Son, gets everything.

Author Unknown