Transformed!

betsy · July 2, 2016

I had to create this topic since I didn't want another thread (Transgendered) to go off topic. You might as well know, similar topic was posted at another site, but not a copy/paste. It doesn't involve much of an effort to make an original OP....so here it is.

Even to this day, God is actively involved....even in our trivial, everyday lives.

Certain people like scientists and other prominent people - are transformed by God for His own reason. The Bible is an active tool of transformation - sometimes all it takes is reading a verse from it.

Millions of lives have been transformed, most can be described, miraculously. Obviously, I cannot possibly list them all here.....so let's just do the movers and shakers, the ones that people will tend to know, the ones who've been in the news.

This thread will be about the transformed lives (Christianity).

I've accidentally stumbled upon this testimony from the activist founder of VENUS magazine (Charlene Cothran) - which was the gay/lesbian magazine during its time. The sudden turn-around was amazing!

In this video she reveals the modus-operandi that they were doing in order to make gay/lesbian lifestyle become mainstream.

She was among the movers and shakers for gays/lesbians........until that fateful day when she stood before the convention of gays/lesbians, and dropped the bombshell.

The video starts with "gay pride."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQGA-n4JyOY

Charlene E. Cothran is an American journalist and the publisher of the magazines Venus and the defunct Kitchen Table News (not to be confused with the feminist, activist publishing company Kitchen Table: Women of Color Press).

Cothran founded Venus in 1995 in Atlanta, Georgia. Cothran, a former lesbian and gay rights activist, tailored Venus to the interests of LGBT people of African descent, especially African-American lesbians.

Following a religious conversion to Christianity in 2006,^[1] Cothran changed the editorial policy of Venus, and began to promote what is popularly called the ex-gay movement through the magazine. Cothran claims that her target audience remains the same.

Cothran's abrupt renunciation of her activist political views in favor of evangelical proclamations sparked a campaign by the gay community resulting in the loss of advertising revenue.^[2]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlene_Cothran

Below is a very interesting read.

Lesbian publisher, gay activist found deliverance in Christ
December 15, 2014

http://blog.godreports.com/2014/12/lesbian-publisher-gay-activist-found-deliverance-in-christ/

Edited July 2, 2016 by betsy

Bryan · July 2, 2016

There really is no controversy about conversion anymore. Sure activists do their best to smear the very idea, but more than enough people can and do "switch teams" in either direction, that it's obvious that you absolutely can make the choice to "convert" if you are motivated to do so.

Cothran is far from the first high profile pro-gay activist to do a complete 180 on their sexuality after a conversion to Christianity either. I've met several of them.

Edited July 2, 2016 by Bryan

WestCoastRunner · July 2, 2016

There really is no controversy about conversion anymore. Sure activists do their best to smear the very idea, but more than enough people can and do "switch teams" in either direction, that it's obvious that you absolutely can make the choice to "convert" if you are motivated to do so.

Cothran is far from the first high profile pro-gay activist to do a complete 180 on their sexuality after a conversion to Christianity either. I've met several of them.

Why is it a miracle? It's no such thing.

?Impact · July 2, 2016

I'm not sure I get the point of being "transformed". Obviously people make changes every day and in every manner. What exactly was accomplished?

betsy · July 2, 2016

I'm not sure I get the point of being "transformed". Obviously people make changes every day and in every manner. What exactly was accomplished?

Transform is associated with change, but usually in a good way. (according to Merriam).

July 2, 2016

The posts I made to intimate that I found the idea of a God being involved in Human transformations were removed, probably due to the English slant, so i just want to make it clear that I was simply stating that people make changes, they decide upon them themselves or they are made for them by circumstance, or chemistry, or some other reason that isn't supernatural.

No God. If there was, my buddy wouldn't have stopped supporting Arsenal and started supporting Manchester United. The very idea...

Edited July 2, 2016 by bcsapper

Bryan · July 2, 2016

Why is it a miracle? It's no such thing.

I never said it was, and nothing in the post you quoted claimed that it was.

betsy · July 2, 2016

Christianity is spreading rapidly in a lot of Muslim countries. There has been numerous reports of Muslims claiming to have visions of Jesus. Thousands are claiming this phenomena. Thousands are converting.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNcPVNboooQ

Muslims claim hundreds of thousands are converting in Middle East after ‘Jesus appears in visions and dreams’
Muslims are claiming that without reading the Bible, without anyone trying to proselytize them, without the presence of any priest or knowing any Christians, without attending or even seeing any Churches, more and more of them are having ‘visions and dreams’ of the Christian Jesus (or Isa as they know Jesus) ‘calling for them’. This must be a dream come true for Christian proselytizers.

This surge of Jesus visions and experiences in the Middle East has created a wave of “hundreds of thousands” of Muslims silently converting to Christianity each year, according to the report.

https://themuslimissue.wordpress.com/2013/11/27/muslims-claim-hundreds-of-thousands-are-converting-in-middle-east-after-jesus-appear-in-visions-and-dreams/

Edited July 2, 2016 by betsy

betsy · July 2, 2016

There are underground Christians in China and a lot of Muslim countries.

The Top 20 Countries Where Christianity Has the Highest Percentage Growth Rate

1. Nepal
2. China
3. United Arabs Emirates
4. Saudi Arabia
5. Qatar
6. Oman
7. Yemen
8. Mongolia
9. Cambodia
10. Bahrain
11. Benin
12. Burkina Faso
13. South Sudan
14. Bhutan
15. Mali
16. Brunei
17. Guinea
18. Kuwait
19. Singapore
20. Turks and Caicos Islands

https://discipleallnations.wordpress.com/2013/08/25/the-top-20-countries-where-christianity-is-growing-the-fastest/

Edited July 2, 2016 by betsy

WestCoastRunner · July 2, 2016

I never said it was, and nothing in the post you quoted claimed that it was.

This is exactly what Betsy inferred.

WestCoastRunner · July 2, 2016

Transform is associated with change, but usually in a good way. (according to Merriam).

In a good way? Her transformation is not only a good thing but a miracle! Priceless.

betsy · July 2, 2016

Atheists who set out in an investigative quest to debunk, or disprove the Bible ended up converting:

Simon Greenleaf

Greenleaf, one of the principle founders of the Harvard Law School, originally set out to disprove the biblical testimony concerning the resurrection of Jesus Christ. He was certain that a careful examination of the internal witness of the Gospels would dispel all the myths at the heart of Christianity. But this legal scholar came to the conclusion that the witnesses were reliable, and that the resurrection did in fact happen.

http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/jesus/greenleaf.html

Frank Morrison

was an English journalist and author who set out to disprove the myth of Christianity over over 80 years ago. His book “Who moved the stone?” is a classic and has led many people to Christ.

https://askawiseman.com/skeptics/

Josh McDowell

I accepted my friend’s challenge, mostly out of spite to prove them wrong. I was convinced the Christian story would not stand up to evidence. I was a prelaw student, and I knew something about evidence. I decided to start with the Bible. I knew that if I could uncover indisputable evidence that the Bible is an unreliable record, the whole of Christianity would crumble.

I took the challenge seriously. I spend months in research. I even dropped out of school for a time to study in the historically rich libraries of Europe. And I found evidence. Evidence in abundance. Evidence I would not have believed with my own eyes.

Finally I could come to only one conclusion: If I were to remain intellectually honest, I had to admit that the Old and New Testament documents were some of the most reliable writings in all of antiquity. And if they were reliable, what about this man Jesus, whom I had dismissed as a mere carpenter?

I had to admit that Jesus Christ was more than a carpenter. He was all He claimed to be.

Not only did my research turn me around intellectually, but it also answered the three questions that started me on my quest for happiness and meaning.
Still Reluctant
You would think that after examining the evidence, I would have immediately jumped on board and become a Christian. But in spite of the abundant evidence, I felt a strong reluctance to make the plunge. My mind was convinced of the truth. I had to admit that Jesus Christ must be exactly who He claimed to be.

There were two reasons for my reluctance: pleasure and pride. I thought that becoming a Christian meant giving up the good life and giving up control. I couldn’t think of any faster way to ruin my good times, but I was really miserable. I was a walking battlefield. My mind was telling me that Christianity was true, but my will was resisting it with all the energy it could muster.

Then there was the pride problem. At that time the thought of becoming a Christian shattered my ego. I had just proved that all my previous thinking had been wrong and my friends had been right. I couldn’t let go of the problem. I had to do something before it drove me out of my mind.

During my second year at the university, I became a Christian.

Somebody asked me, “How do you know you became a Christian?” One of several answers was simple: “It changed my life.” It is this transformation that assures me of the validity of my conversion.

https://www.cru.org/how-to-know-god/my-story-a-life-changed/my-story-josh-mcdowell.html

Edited July 2, 2016 by betsy

WestCoastRunner · July 2, 2016

Atheists who set out in an investigative quest to debunk, or disprove the Bible ended up converting:

http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/jesus/greenleaf.html

https://askawiseman.com/skeptics/

https://www.cru.org/how-to-know-god/my-story-a-life-changed/my-story-josh-mcdowell.html

Your posts are borderline spam.

betsy · July 2, 2016

In a good way? Her transformation is not only a good thing but a miracle! Priceless.

Where did I say her transformation was a miracle????

betsy · July 2, 2016

Your posts are borderline spam.

First, lift thy eyes to the title of the thread: TRANSFORMED!

Read the OP. Oooops, I forgot.....you have a problem with comprehension, so let me help you out.

That's what this thread is all about - transformed people!

Therefore, you'll see a litany of people, along with a little info on how they were transformed.

If you don't like what you're seeing - nothing stops you from leaving this thread.

Edited July 2, 2016 by betsy

WestCoastRunner · July 2, 2016

Millions of lives have been transformed, most can be described, miraculously. Obviously, I cannot possibly list them all here.....so let's just do the movers and shakers, the ones that people will tend to know, the ones who've been in the news.

This thread will be about the transformed lives.

Below is a very interesting read.

http://blog.godreports.com/2014/12/lesbian-publisher-gay-activist-found-deliverance-in-christ/

Here is your inference to her transformation as being a miracle.

WestCoastRunner · July 2, 2016

Read the OP. You have a problem with comprehension so let me help you out.

That's what the thread is all about - transformed people! Therefore, you'll see a litany of people, along with a little info on how they were transformed.

Uh no. Your thread is about a gay woman becoming straight and calling it a good thing and a miracle as if being gay is a bad thing. Oh right, it's a bad thing according to Christianity. Tell that to all the gay priests.

betsy · July 2, 2016

Lee Strobel was a journalist and award-winning legal editor for the Chicago Tribune. He's now an apologist and had written many books, among them is The Case For Christ.

Former atheist, award winning Chicago Tribune journalist and Yale Law graduate, Lee Strobel shares his powerful “Saul-to-Paul” testimony of how the living God supernaturally grabbed his heart and mind to reveal Himself. Lee Strobel began investigating the credibility of Christianity, as well as the Bible’s authenticity and inerrancy. Lee’s journey and research uncovered overwhelming evidence that he couldn’t ignore or deny.

http://godsnotdead.com/blog/lee-strobels-testimony-atheist-believer/

betsy · July 2, 2016

Here is your inference to her transformation as being a miracle.

Which part? I don't think she talked about a miracle.

WestCoastRunner · July 2, 2016

Which part? I don't think she talked about a miracle.

You inferred it was a miracle! You can't see the forest because of your own spam. Edited July 2, 2016 by WestCoastRunner

betsy · July 2, 2016

You inferred it was a miracle!

Bye-bye, WCR.

WestCoastRunner · July 2, 2016

Bye-bye, WCR.

Lol. Ok!

betsy · July 2, 2016

KORN metal rock band member, Brian Welch, talks about being saved by Jesus.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0MPcqfYTXE

Edited July 2, 2016 by betsy

WestCoastRunner · July 2, 2016

KORN metal rock band member, Brian Welch, talks about being saved by Jesus.

Celebrities transformed:

Javier Bardem was raised Catholic but is now an atheist. He doesn't believe in God. He believes in al Pacino.

George clooney was raised Catholic and is now atheist. He won't allow the only thing he knows to exist is his life and he won't waste it.

Bruce Willis is hostile to organized religion. He says it's a dying form and only existed when we didn't know why the sun moved or why the weather changed or why we have hurricanes.

It's a good thing and a miracle for these transformations!

Edited July 2, 2016 by WestCoastRunner