The Power of Our Words

I love reading stories about how people came to their faith in the Lord. It’s humbling to see, time and time again, how God lovingly pursues us, calls us to repentance through the Holy Spirit and gives us the gift of His Son.

I want to share one such story with you.

In My Train Wreck Conversion, Rosaria Champagne Butterfield (photo courtesy of CT) shares her story of being a woman who, in her own words, was a “leftist lesbian professor” who “despised Christians.” Steeped in her postmodern intellectual worldview, she was convinced that Christians hated her – and she was going to attack.

As an English professor, Champagne Butterfield knew words would make for her best weapon, and decided her first assault would be through an article she wrote for her local paper.

A local pastor read Champagne Butterfield’s story and decided to write her. Pastor Ken Smith gently engaged her through questions that challenged the core of her worldview. This first outreach led to a friendship between Champagne Butterfield, Smith and his wife, Floy. For two years, the three engaged in open, honest conversations and shared time together, with Champagne Butterfield ultimately accepting Jesus Christ as the Lord of her life.

As you read Champagne Butterfield’s incredibly poignant and vulnerable account, you can’t help but put yourself in Smith’s place. Would you have been obedient to the prompting of the Holy Spirit? Would you have reached out to a woman who thought Christians and their God were “stupid, pointless and menacin