Collection of Education/collectionofeducationcarat1997.iso/SCIENCE/PWERSQR1.ZIP/TSTIMONY.DOC

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                            Testimony
                          John A. Marsh

     Have you ever wondered what the people are like who write

programs?  I have looked at thousands of programs, but have never

met any of the authors.  I am sure there are many I would like to

meet and get to know, but I don't know anything about them.  I

thought I would include this file so that you might know a little

bit about me, even if I never meet or hear from you.

     I have lived most of my life in Wyoming.  Contrary to what

some people believe, most of us are not cowboys, and we do have

indoor plumbing.  Much of Wyoming is not that beautiful (with

several astounding exceptions), but it is very spacious.  I lived

for a few years in Oregon, and that is where I would like to live

after I graduate.

     I attend the University of Wyoming.  I have a bachelor's in

Molecular Biology and am working towards a master's in Chemical

Engineering.

     I have learned a lot by going to school for so long, but the

most important thing I have found in my life is a relationship

with Jesus Christ.

     I never was really a "bad" kid (except for the time I broke

a window on the neighbor's boat), but I never really felt

complete.  My relationships with other people never seemed to

work out.  I even felt estranged from my family.

     I have enjoyed being a scientist since I was in kindergarten

(no kidding!).  In school I took all the science and math classes

I could.  At the same time I was mysteriously drawn to the church

my family attended weekly.  The things I learned in school often

opposed what I learned in church, so for much of my life I didn't

know what to believe.  I tried to compromise everything into a

single package, but I knew it simply couldn't work.

     My first year of college was miserable.  I dropped out of my

fraternity because of broken relationships and because I found

myself caving in to peer pressure.

     My second year of college was the beginning of a new life

for me.  I met a younger man named Parrish who invited me to a

Bible study.  There I met the first "true" Christians I had known

in my life.  They weren't pushy, and as I began to know them

better I found that they were not fakes.  Through that group I

learned that I could have a personal relationship with Jesus.  I

was skeptical at first, but I went ahead and asked Jesus to come

into my life the following Summer.

     Since then, my whole life has changed.  Jesus gave me a

reason to continue living.  He began to show me how to be right

with Him and trust in Him.  It certainly has not been easy, but

Jesus has given me the strength to make it through all the

difficult times.  I still struggle with many things, but as long

as I rely on Him I know I will make it through okay.

     It was not until I was in college that I had the time and

the skills to begin looking into scientific literature and the

Bible to discern what was true.  What I found astonished even me.

     In school I had been taught many scientific theories as if

they were fact.  When I began my own research into various

matters I found that many of the "theories" are either highly

disputed or false.  I was surprised to find that many theories I

had been taught in school had actually been rejected by the

majority of the scientific community.

     I also found out that science is very much like politics in

that unpopular theories are often thrown out whether or not they

are true.  I eventually collected enough information to determine

that such theories as evolution and uniformitarianism are false.

This is not to discredit many scientific discoveries.  Facts are

not the problem.  People's interpretations of the facts and their

dogmatic adherence to their theories is the problem.

     To be fair in the area of religion, I studies most of the

world's major religions.  I found three main things that told me

that Christianity was the right one.  Most importantly is the

resurrection of Jesus.  No other religion demonstrates so visibly

God's power as this act.  The evidence shows that Jesus was

certainly dead, but on the third day He came back to life.

     The second thing I found was that the Bible is highly

reliable.  It has come down to modern days almost identical to

how it was written.  It has stood thorough much criticism.

Archeological finds confirm that the Bible is historically

accurate.  Amazingly, many of the prophecies recorded in the

Bible were carried out and can be documented even today!

     The most important thing for me, though, is the very real

presence of Jesus in my heart.  He testifies Himself to me.

     All this came about because I decided to try to trust Jesus,

even though I initially had doubts.  I am not asking you to

believe me blindly.  Do your own research.  Try reading the Bible

(start with the New Testament and then go to the Old Testament).

Also, get any modern English (or your native language) version so

it won't be difficult to understand.

     Jesus loves you and wants you to know Him.  I wish you the

best in whatever decision you make.