Free The Secret Thoughts Of An Unlikely Convert Ebooks To Download
Rosaria, by the standards of many, was living a very good life. She had a tenured position at a large university in a field for which she cared deeply. She owned two homes with her partner, in which they provided hospitality to students and activists that were looking to make a difference in the world. There, her partner rehabilitated abandoned and abused dogs. In the community, Rosaria was involved in volunteer work. At the university, she was a respected advisor of students and her department's curriculum.Then, in her late 30s, Rosaria encountered something that turned her world upside down-the idea that Christianity, a religion that she had regarded as problematic and sometimes downright damaging, might be right about who God was, an idea that flew in the face of the people and causes that she most loved. What follows is a story of what she describes as a "train wreck" at the hand of the supernatural. These are her secret thoughts about those events, written as only a reflective English professor could.Rosaria's story was unknown until she was featured in a January 2013 Christianity Today article, which has been read by more than 1.7 million people. That same month she was interviewed by WORLD magazine's Marvin Olasky, and the video went viral.Also available in a newly Expanded Edition, ISBN 978-1884527807.
Paperback: 154 pages
Publisher: Crown & Covenant; 1st edition (2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1884527388
ISBN-13: 978-1884527388
Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches
Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (836 customer reviews)
Best Sellers Rank: #18,884 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #139 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Leaders & Notable People > Religious
This book was referred to be by a dear Christian sister. At the age of 18, I decided that I was gay....being brought up in the Catholic faith, I always 'suspected' that homosexuality was wrong; when I became involved with a woman, I went to a priest for council and he informed me that 'there was no hope for me'.....armed with that statement and convinced that God didn't like people like me, I proceeded to live as a lesbian for the next 22 years....Little did I know that God used those 22 years to bring me back to Him....as Dr Butterfield, I was an activist in the gay lifestyle as well...Like Dr Butterfield, I had a few Christian people sprinkled in my life thoughout those 22 years who became my friends and shared and allowed me into their lives 'with no strings attached'. My journey is similiar to Dr Butterfield's in so many ways and some of the questions she asks in her book could have (and did) come from my lips. I also experienced a train wreck as well,although mine was due to the fact that at the time of my conversion, I was very much still involved with a woman and the gay lifestyle and I left both cold turkey.I read this book in one sitting because I had never come across somone like me who had come out of a lesbian life like I did to claim Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. Her story very much interested me in how she coped with the 'break' from her homosexual past. As someone who has 'lived' her story with my journey, it brought back alot of the feelings and issues I dealt with in my own healing and how God's grace and mercy can cover a multitude of sins.
"How our lives bear the fruit of Christ's spilled blood is important" (ix). In her book, Rosaria Champagne Butterfield gives a testimony that truly glorifies our sovereign, loving, living God. I bought this for our church library, and as soon as I finished the last page, hopped on the computer to order five more.It's quite a different book. While Butterfield's testimony is a page-turner, it is much more than a testimony. The mouthful of a title is really conducive to the style of the book. It isn't really what I would have expected from an English Professor. That's actually one thing that I loved, her writing did not seem overly-edited or cleanly polished. It was like reading someone else's journal. There are some long paragraphs (and sentences), and you aren't going to find those helpful subdivisions within each chapter (think about it, our Bibles even have those now). And it's certainly not your typical testimony. She really does share her secrets thoughts. I found them to be gritty, convicting, and reflective.At first I was turned off by Butterfield's writing--the introductory sentences all began with "I was." It felt almost like a rough-draft, lacking in personal style. There are also some places that could have been cleaned up a little better. I was thinking (secretly) to myself, "This is all you've got as a scholar, already experienced in writing and publishing, and a previously tenured professor in the English Department at Syracuse University?" But then she turned some phrases, revealing the mind of a writer--not just a woman with a story. By page 10, I realized this was her style and personality--and I liked it!Butterfield's testimony begins as an established lesbian professor with everything she considered successful.
Dr. Butterfield's book detailing the love and compassion of Christ in her life is exceptional in so many ways. The book reminded me of what we as Christians confess together: "I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and Giver of Life." I am grateful for this honest and vulnerable testimony to the power of the Holy Spirit, the Lord and Giver of all life as He makes Christ known to His people!The book is also a testimony to the truth of Romans 5: 'Where sin abounds, grace superabounds!". There is much revealed in the book about what it means to have Christ's righteousness alone as one's hope before God, to know Christ and the power of His resurrection, His sufferings, and becoming like Jesus in His death, to truly understand the joy of living! (Phil. 3:9-12). Revealed in her book is the dear heart of a Christian that has been transformed by the grace of God, and knows the depths of her sin, and the heights of Christ's grace to all who call upon His name in faith (Rom. 5:19-21). There is the affectionate mother who loves her children and seeks to raise them in a manner worthy of her calling in the truth of Jesus. There is the faithful wife who serves and honors husband and family as the church serves Christ (Eph. 5:21-32). There is the concerned, compassionate, and caring friend who seeks to show the love and grace of Christ to those who don't believe, and who don't understand, and who quite frankly think Christians do better at hating, than loving. There is the learning disciple seeking to wisely know how to be Christ in a fallen and sinful world of misery. There is the confessional Christian who has committed herself to the objective truth of God's Word, who deeply holds these truths faithfully, and seeks the means of grace for Christ's Church that Jesus has graciously given us to grow.
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