The Everyday Club

7/20/10 Al, 44
I stopped to talk to an Asian man (Al, his American name) who was watching soccer practice at the park. After some natural talk about soccer, etc. I switched to a spiritual conversation by asking what he thought happens after this life here on earth. Al is from Laos and grew up in a Buddhist family. He has given up on any spiritual beliefs because he believes in science and has seen no evidence of God. "What would it take for you to believe in God's existence?" I asked Al. He said he would need to see a miracle that can't be explained by science. "How about you?" he asked. "Have you ever seen a miracle?" I told him of one example of a miracle I've witnessed, but emphasized that this happened after I became a believer. I had become a Christian by the miracle of faith, not because of some miracle I had seen. Then I explained how creation itself, which by its mere existence is a miracle that defies scientific explanation, is evidence that there is a creator. Why at some point in nothingness the Creator decided to create anything is evidence that he has a personality and makes choices. Al was very interested in hearing all about Christianity - he had only a vague idea from certain movies he had seen around Easter - so I presented the Gospel in logical fashion, not asking if he agreed with each point, but whether he understood each part along the way. At the end I said "We Americans are obsessed with choices, from 1000 ways to get your coffee at Starbucks to multitudes of products at the grocery store. We want to believe many paths lead to heaven, but one choice is al we need - our one choice for salvation - Jesus Christ. This was a lot of ground to cover for someone like Al coming from a Buddhist/atheist worldview, and outside of miraculous intervention by the Holy Spirit, I believe Al now knows that Christianity makes sense - that if it is true then a commitment to follow Jesus is the only reasonable response.