by Caleb Hall

I bought a certain water bottle a couple years ago because a few friends had some from the same brand and they raved about how they were "virtually indestructible." One of my friends said she carried hers for self-defense. I even heard that someone drove a truck over one and it didn't creak! I had a great opportunity to put my poor bottle to the test when I was in North Carolina with some friends and we hiked to the top of a waterfall. Oh yes I did. I sent it over the edge. I think the waterfall is in the 50 - 70 feet tall range, and the bottle ricocheted off a rock at the bottom and cleared the entire pool of water before ending up in the woods. We tracked it down and sure enough, it survived the fall. All it had was a scratch down the side, a tiny scare considering the dive it took.

Hearing my friends talk about the attributes of the water bottle was enough for me to buy one, but putting it through my own test made me trust that the claims were trustworthy. The Bible makes some pretty extraordinary claims about what following Christ does in and for our lives. Growing up in solid churches under pastors that preached the gospel, I knew those claims. I knew I was supposed to believe them and faith was never very difficult for me, especially since I never had to deal with any big tests. Then everything changed, I became a cancer patient at nineteen. All of a sudden, my life was under a microscope. Hundreds (if not thousands) of people want to know how I was doing. How was I going to handle this? My pastor's faith didn't matter. My youth pastor's fath didn't matter. What other people believed didn't matter. What mattered was how I reacted and that the attention I received was directed to the truths that matter in peace and in turmoil: There is one God and He is in control. He loves His creation and He sent His son Jesus Christ to prove it. The excuses and the "yeah, but!"s won't get you very far, but faith is the only one to conquer death and will lead you through things scarier than you can imagine. 

I'm glad my friends bragged about their water bottles, but I hope I'm more outgoing about my faith. Both have taken a beating, and I'm darn proud of all my scars. 

(Caleb is a volunteer sales manager for New Earth Goods Coffee as well as lead baker/doughboy at Bagelheads. He is also the City Church Facilities Director and amateur drop-ceiling demolition consultant. He's the ldest of four from Cocoa Beach, a two-time cancer survivor, and collector of near-death experiences and scars. Caleb can be reached at caleb@negoods.com.)