SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT

(especially for atheists, infidels, and skeptics)

By Vance Ferrell

Few men in Europe have tried to eradicate the Bible and the knowledge of God from the minds off the people as did the French infidel, Voltaire. The Christian physician who attended Voltaire, during his last illness, later wrote about the experience:

"When I compare the death of a righteous man, which is like the close of a beautiful day, with that of Voltaire, I see the difference between bright, serene weather and a black thunderstorm. It was my lot that this man should die under my hands. Often did I tell him the truth. 'Yes, my friend,' he would often say to me, 'you are the only one who has given me good advice. Had I but followed it, I should not be in the horrible condition in which I now am. I have swallowed nothing but smoke. I have intoxicated myself with the incense that turned my head. You can do nothing for me. Send me an insane doctor! Have compassion on me-- I am mad!'

"I cannot think of it without shuddering. As soon as he saw that all the means he had employed to increase his strength had just the opposite effect, death was constantly before his eyes. From this moment, madness took possession of his soul. He expired uner the torments of the furies."

Well, we have looked at the hour of death. But the rest of our life is just as revealing.

An American tourist, in France, went to the hotelkeeper to pay his bill. The French hotelkeeper said, "Don't you want a receipt? You could be charged twice." "Oh no," replied the American. "If God wills I will be back in a week. You can give me a receipt then."

"If God wills," smiled the hotelkeeper, "do you still believe in God?" "Why, yes," said the American, "don't you?" "No, said the hotelkeeper, "we have given that up long ago."

"Oh," replied the American, "well, on second thought, I believe I'll take the receipt after all."

It was over a century ago, and a man and his nephew were traveling west through the Colorado mountains. But they had lost their way, and finally came upon a cabin among the trees. The country was still wild, and they were nervous when they knocked on the door. Could they sleep for the night? They inquired.

As they prepared for bed, they heard low mumbling words in the adjoining room where the family (a husband, wife, and a grown son) were. Almost in terror by now, the men feared for their lives. They were carrying considerable money. What should they do? They only had one revolver..

After a time, they heard the chairs move, a shuffling, and more low mumbling. This must be it1 A plot was afoot to kill them. With beads of sweat on his old brow and hands, the nephew crept softly to the door and peered through the keyhole.

Coming back to the bed, his entire demeanor was changed. "Everything is all right," he whispered, and explained what he saw. Immediately both fell soundly asleep and did not wake until morning.

Through the keyhold the young man had seen the family kneeling. They had read from the Bible, pushed back their chairs, and were praying.

The two men knew they had nothing to fear; they were in the home of genuine Christians.

"Have you studied Voltaire, Tom Paine, Robert Ingersoll, or any of those fellows?" asked a passenger as he stood by the captain at the wheel of a steamship.

"No," replied the captain.

"Well, you should. You can't fairly turn down their argument until you have thorough investigated for yourself." the passenger replied.

"I've been captain of this ship a long time," said the captain. "The charts that work I work with tell me the location of the deep water, so I can safely guide the ship into port. When I first became a sea captain, I decided I would not investigate the rocks. The experience I've known other chaps to have with the rocks has been sufficient warning for me.

"Over the years I've watched the lives of men who haven read the Bible everyday and loved God. those were the men who had solid families, stayed away from drink, and helped other people in the community.

"And I've also seen the others: the drunkards, drug addicts, criminals, and all the rest. Those are the ones who have nothing to do with God and the Bible, and who never attend church.

"No, I've made my decision; I stay away from the rocks. My mother taught me the Bible when I was little, and I worship and serve the God of heaven who made all things. I'm not a bit interested in anything that Ingersoll, Voltaire, and Paine have to offer."

The preacher was on the street corner telling the passing crowds about Jesus Christ. A crowd had gathered and was listening intently. Then a hoarse voice spoke up from the back.

"Preacher, you've got it all wrong. Atheism is the answer to humanity's problems. People get into trouble and go crazy when they hear about Christianity. Relgion is bad for minds and ruins lives. Come on now,--prove to me that Christianity is reall, and I'll be quiet."

Everyone was interested to see what would happen next.

The preacher held up his hand for quiet, and then said this:

"Never did I hear anyone state, 'I was undone and an outcast, but I read Thomas Paine's Age of Reason and now I have been saved for the power of sin.' Never did I hear of one who declared, 'I was in darkness and despair and knew not where to turn, until I read Ingersoll;s Lectures, and then found peace of heart and solutions to my problems.'

"Never did I hear an atheist telling that his atheism had been the means by which he had been set free from the bonade of liquor. Never did I learn of anyone who conquered hard drugs by renouncing faith in God. '

"But I have heard many testify that, when as hopeless and helpless sinners, they had turned in their great need to the Son of God and cast themselves upon Him for forgiveness and enabling power to overcome sin--they were given peace of heart and victory over enslaving sin!"

Then, turning to the atheist, he said:

"Who started the orphanages, the city missions,, and the work among the poor? It is the Christians. Who owns and operates taverns, and manufactures the liquor sold in them? It is the atheists. Who risk their lives to help poor people in mission fields all over the world? It is the Christians. Who runs the abortion mills and the houses of prostitution? It is the atheists. Who are the most solid, kindly, industrious people in the nation? It is the Christians. Who operates the gambling halls and the crime syndicates? It is the atheists.

"Who are the swindlers, bank robbers, and embezzlers? It is the atheists. Who helps men put away their sins, live to bless others, and prepares men for death and eternity? It is the Christians.

"Yes, professed Christians sometimes do bad things. But it is infrequent enough to be newsworthy. If an atheist does a criminal act, it is to be expected. But, if a church leader does it,--it will make the headlines, because it is such a rare event.

"What leads men to throw away the bottle and stop beating their wives? It is Christianity, not atheism. What saves the wayward girls, the teenage boys, and the rest of us out of lives of sin? It is Christianity, not atheism.

"Christianity offers eternal happiness that begins now. Atheism can only offer doubt, skepticism, a miserable end, and eternal death."

Then the crowd turned to the atheist to give an answer, but he was gone. He had crept away without answering a word.

And then there is that business man that wrote an article which appeared in the American Magazine. He was a manufacturer, not a scientist. He had never seen the inside of a scientific laboratory, and had never heard of probability analysis. But that is what he was talking about when he gave this simple, but devastating, rebuttal of evolution:

"I have been reading about he wonders of the orbiting moons, planets, glaxies, with all their myriads of stars circling a common center.

"I am no scientist. But I have enough sense to know that evolution is foolishness. It takes a girl in our factory about two days to learn to put the seventeen parts of a meat chopper together. It may be that those millions of worlds, each with its separate orbit, and all blancing so wonderfully in space..it may be that they just happened. It may be that, by a billion years of tumbling about, they finally arranged themselves. But, frankly, the whole evolutionary idea really does not make sense.

"I am merely a plain manufacturer of cutlery. But this I do know, that you can shake the seventeen parts of a meat chopper around in a washtup for the next seventeen billion years and you'll never have a meat chopper."

Dear Friend, just now accept Jesus as your personal Saviour from sin. If you will cling to Him in the coming days, study His Inspired Word, and pray each day, He will give you, moment by moment as you trust in Him, enabling power to resist temptation and to obey HisTen Commandment law (Exodus 20).

"Then write and tell me that you have made this good decision, and I will send you some books in your Christian walk. --Vance Ferrell