“She was 17 years old. He stood glaring at her, his weapon before her face. ‘Do you believe in God?’ She paused. It was a life or death question. ‘Yes, I believe in God.’ ‘Why?’ asked her executioner. But he never gave her the chance to respond. The teenaged girl lay dead at his feet.”
This scene could have happened in the Roman coliseum. It could have happened in the Middle Ages. And it could have happened in any number of countries around the world today. People are being imprisoned, tortured, and killed every day because they refuse to deny the name of Jesus.
This particular story, though did not happen in ancient times, nor in Vietnam, Pakistan, or Romania. It happened at Columbine High School in Littleton Colorado, on April 20 1999. Do you believe in Jesus?” excerpt from Jesus Freaks Volume I.
The first time I read these words I had to put the book down. I had to wipe the tears from my eyes. It was December of 2000 and this was all I decided I wanted for Christmas. I set it back on the shelf in Wal-Mart in Colorado Springs and started to walk away. My husband came up behind me and asked what I was reading. I showed him and he asked if I wanted it, I said yes. He put it in the cart. That year, he not only gave me this book for Christmas but my husband also bought the DC Talk CD.
I have read every story in here. It has changed my life. I think the reason it changed me had to do with one particular quote from DC Talk on page 108 that says, “Some Christians haven’t even attempted to think about whether or not they would die for Jesus, because they haven’t really been living for Him.”
To decide to die for something or someone is a big thing. I know in my heart that I would die for my children, but to die for someone who lived 2000 years ago? Who was only a concept, in a way? Hmmm…. I had to examine my devotion. Was I truly so enamored by the sacrifice Christ made for me on the cross that I would also follow by giving my own life as the young girl in Columbine had? I realized I would have to make it personal for this question to be answered. Once I did that there was no doubt.
This book will change the way you view your own salvation. I think it is a must have for all Christians. The Bible says that we are surrounded by a cloud of witnesses. Isn’t it time we became acquainted with who those witnesses are?
