A ROCKY FOUNDATION

  A college professor, an avowed Atheist, was teaching his class. He shocked several of his students when he flatly stated he was going to prove there was no God. Addressing the ceiling he shouted:  "God, if you are real, then I want you to knock me off this platform. I'll give you 15 minutes!" The lecture room fell silent. You could have heard a pin fall. Ten minutes went by. Again he taunted God, saying, "Here I am, God.  I'm still waiting." His countdown got down to the last couple of minutes when a Marine, just released from active duty and newly registered in the class, walked up to the professor. He hit him full force and sent him tumbling from his lofty platform. The professor was out cold! At first, the students were shocked and babbled on in confusion.  The young Marine took a seat in the front row and sat silently.  The class fell silent waiting.  Eventually, the professor came to, shaken. He looked at the yo...

  Matthew Maury was a young naval officer in the 1800s. He was injured in an accident and forced to retire from active sea duty. But his mind was far from retired. During his recovery, he spent time reading his Bible, and something in Psalm 8:8 caught his eye: “...whatsoever passes through the paths of the seas.”“Paths of the seas?” he thought. “That sounds poetic, but what if it’s literal”? Maury did not treat the Bible like mere metaphor. He believed it was accurate and true in everything it said, even in its passing references to nature. So he began to search. And sure enough, he discovered consistent ocean currents and wind patterns, what we now call the shipping lanes and oceanic circulation systems. These “paths” in the sea have since saved millions in shipping time and fuel. His charts revolutionized naval travel. His work helped lay the groundwork for modern oceanography and meteorology. And what drove him to begin? -a simple phrase in an ancient book, belie...