EVIDENCE THAT DEMANDS A VERDICT.

Tony Morphett script writer for the TV show ‘The Sullivans’ accepted Hinduism, Judaism, Buddhism, Islam, yet rejected Christianity as untenable for himself.

Only when he recognised that his work as a journalist and writer demanded accuracy and research that he realised his failure to really examine the evidence for christianity. And evidence demands a verdict.

Morphett read his Bible and his life changed.

As well, we shared our Sunday lunch with a young couple who recently converted to Jesus Christ.

‘Tell us about your conversion,’ I asked.

The husband smiled and began ,’ I was so frustrated and disillusioned with drugs, drink and dames during my university training. One day in desperation, I went into the den to find something to read. My dad died when I was young, but he left me a good library. On a high shelf, I found a New Testament,

( Phillips version) , which I pulled out, lay on the couch and began to read. While reading the gospels so full of miracles, I realised the incredible power of this man, Jesus. He also spoke with authority and almost like a lawyer when the leading, religious Pharisees tried to trick Him with their questions. His compassion for the oppressed touched me, and soon I began to understand that He really was the One He claimed to be – the Son of God. Who died on the cross to pay the punishment price for my sin.’

‘I felt ashamed as I realised my rebellion against God. I needed this Jesus, so I asked His forgiveness for my selfishness and humbly received Christ as Saviour.’

Encouraged by Jim’s story I thought of Jan who had never seen a bible, but when a friend gave her a copy for her birthday, she read it and said, ‘ This reached my heart. ‘ And she became a christian through faith in Jesus Christ.

My husband loaned a book to Mrs M. as she recuperated in hospital. Next morning she said to him, ‘Doctor, something has happened to me. God has come into my life since I read that book you gave me.’ He had forgotten to tell her it was a copy of the Bible. Although she had not previously seen a Bible, she knew that God had brought her light and life. God’s Spirit gave her the gift of believing faith and changed her life as she read of God’s love for her in the Lord Jesus Christ when He died on the cross as her sin-bearer.

I can still picture a 19 year old boy, Hari, drenched to the skin in a tropical downpour, when he came to our village home in Wlingi, East Java. We welcomed him in, dried him, and loaned him my husband’s three-sizes-too-big shirt and shots. While he drank hot coffee, Hari explained that he biked 20 kms to meet us, because he heard we had Bibles in the Indonesian language. Later when dry and warm he cycled home with the book in his pocket. Three days later Hari returned to say he had read the whole New Testament and obeyed the good news ( the gospel) by placing his faith and trust in Jesus Christ.

Later when we revisited East Java, we met a distinguished lady. By way of introduction she said, ‘ I am Hari’s aunty,’ and she recalled the conversion of Hari through reading the Bible. Hari then introduced his brother, Satria, to the Bible, and explained the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. As Satria read for himself, he felt convinced of his need to confess his rebellion against God followed by accepting God’s free offer of eternal life through Jesus Christ.

Another friend recounted how a young woman rejected her earlier christian training saying, ‘Now I have been to University I regard it as a load of piffle, and I don’t believe any of it.‘ However, a friend gently persuaded her to sincerely read the Bible again. Later this young woman rang her friend to say ,’I’ve read the bible and I’ve got hold of God. Certainly God took hold of her.

I once travelled to Canberra for a Christian Women’s Conference. I was the last passenger on the 7 am plane from Adelaide. The stewardess hurried me to my seat allocation. There I sat beside a young shaven-haired woman, who wore red and saffron robes. She was a 27 year old Buddhist nun. When I mentioned my christian faith she plied me with questions on original sin; did I believe in Adam and Eve ( I certainly did ) suffering, salvation, prayer, home life, meditation, etc.etc. After an hour she said tome rather wistfully,

‘You seem so sure of yourself,’ I explained I was not self-assured, but positively certain of God and His Son, and enjoyed a personal relationship with a living Jesus Christ, based on the authority of the Bible. This trustworthy book was also the focus for my meditation.

At the end of the flight I said to the young lady, ‘When you become dissatisfied with your religion ( which I discerned fromhe rearnest questions ), would you sincerely and honestly read the Bible?’

‘I have wished to do that for a long time,’ she told me, ‘ I promise.’

Later, when I explained the events to friends back home, one said, ‘ We were at the airport that morning and we prayed that a christian would sit next to that robed lady and talk to her about God.’

Faith in God’s ability to give eternal life through Jesus comes by hearing, reading, and obeying the Lord of the Bible.