“We [churches] are in the business to do ministry to facilitate transformation …that is the only reason we exist.”

—George Barna, 11-6-2000, Barna 2000-2001 Seminars, San Jose, California Illustration by Jim L. Wilson

For more information on Barna’s seminars and other resources, go to http://www.barna.org.

Dressed in his blue, double-breasted blazer, red tie and tan pants, Bron arrived early for the college and career class at Applewood Baptist Church, and was startled by what he saw. Sitting alone in a neatly arranged circle of cold metal chairs was a bald-headed, extremely pregnant white girl.

When Bron saw her, he darted back into the hallway to regain his composure. Surely she's in the wrong class, he thought. What am I going to say to her?

He went in, sat next to her to strike up a conversation. When she reached out her hand to shake Bron's, he noticed two things, the pack of cigarettes she had under her chair and the word SKIN tattooed on the back of her hand.

After a few moments of small talk, Bron left the exited to his Sunday responsibilities, knowing this would probably be the last time he saw her. Why would she want to come back here? Bron thought.

The next Sunday she was back. This time more pregnant than the week before, wearing the same clothes and with another pack of cigarettes under her chair. Bron talked to her again. This time she shared some of her story. It turns out she attended Applewood as a child before she went to Idaho to move into a Neo-Nazi Camp with the mission of procreating the Aryan race. After getting pregnant with her second child, she fled the camp and was hiding from the skinheads but was searching for God.

One Tuesday night, someone came up to Bron and said, "There's someone out front smoking, will you go out there and tell her to stop?" Knowing exactly who it was, Bron responded, "I'd rather have her here and smoke than not have her here at all."

With time, Bron witnessed her transformation before his very eyes. She had the tattoo lasered off her hand, let her hair grow out and eventually married a wonderful man a Hispanic man who didn't speak English. She learned his language.

"Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come." 2 Cor. 5:17

Governor Jeb Bush of Florida recently dedicated the nation's first faith-based prison. Florida officials say about 38 percent of Florida's released inmates return to prison at some point. They hope the new program will lead to fewer repeat offenders.

The faith-based correctional facility will offer regular prayer sessions, religious studies, choir practice, religious counseling, and other spiritual activities each week. Participation is voluntary, and inmates are free to transfer out of the facility if they desire. When inmates at the northern Florida prison were told that their facility would be converted to a faith-based institution, 111 inmates transferred out. The space was quickly filled with volunteers from other prisons around the state.

Dedicating the facility, Bush lauded the inmates from 26 faith backgrounds for committing themselves "to a higher authority." The governor said, "This is not just fluffy policy. For the people who are skeptical about this initiative, I am proud that Florida is the home to the first faith-based prison in the United States."

—Associated Press, December 25, 2003. Illustration by Jim L. Wilson and Jim Sandell

Luke 4:17-19 NIV "The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written: The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."

In 1984,Vyacheslav Borisov was a General serving the Russian army in Afghanistan. Borisov and his soldiers were sent on a mission to find and destroy an Afghani leader. On that mission, the helicopter he and his fellow soldiers were on crashed in the Panjsher Mountains. Borisov was the only person on board who cried out for God's mercy as the helicopter went down, and he was the only person to survive the crash.

Borisov says in his first moment of consciousness after the crash he saw the bodies of his fellow soldiers and heard the sound of gunfire nearby, even then he felt an unshakable peace. Through a translator, Borisov said, "When I saw the fire from the helicopter, there was a great change that happened in me. I realized I was alive and at this moment, I realized that God truly exists because he saved my life." He adds, "I was the only one who cried out to God, and I thought he who calls upon God's name will truly be saved."

Borisov is grateful to the United States because his first Bible came from an American. The chaplain who gave him the Bible encouraged Borisov to grow in his faith and be more involved in God's work. Borisov has since left the Russian military. He is the first Russian General to be ordained as a minister of the gospel in Moscow. Today, he raises money that is used to purchase Bibles to be distributed to Russian soldiers.

The General turned preacher says he wants to encourage people that their past does not matter. He stresses that if he, a former atheist can believe in God's miracles, anyone can. Borisov says every day since the crash has been a miracle for him. He says, "It never ceases to amaze me about what God does and how much he's doing for his people."

—http:// tallahasee.com, Soviet General: 'God truly exists because he saved my life', Saturday, November 1, 2003. Illustration by Jim L. Wilson and Jim Sandell

2 Corinthians 5:17 NIV "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!"

In Putney, Kentucky, a community of largely conservative Christians, Michael Braithwaite was a novelty. Braithwaite owned a sex shop that sold leather goods and porn paraphernalia, but he now sells Bibles after he underwent a religious conversion. `”Morally, I couldn't sell it any longer,” he said. Neighbors have embraced the change, helping Braithwaite restock his 5-year-old store with Christian merchandise and buying groceries for his family until his new business begins to turn a profit.

He dropped the old name, “Love World,” and now calls his store “Mike's Place.” He covered the formerly bright red walls with a fresh coat of white paint. Braithwaite, with tears gathering in his eyes, said God persuaded him to close the shop, burn $10,000 worth of sex toys and open the bookstore. A pile of ashes in his parking lot is all that remains of his former inventory.

“I stopped and got 10 gallons of diesel fuel, and we packed load after load of stuff out of there,” said Frank Howard, a Church of God pastor. “We were hauling it out by the wheelbarrow.” Some of his customers have been shocked to walk into the building to find a shelf of Bibles where unmentionables used to be displayed.

“When the Lord gets a hold of you, you make some changes,” said Braithwaite, who still faces misdemeanor obscenity charges, brought at the behest of Concerned Citizens of Putney. Now that the shop has closed, the group's lawyer said he hopes the case can be resolved, perhaps with a small fine.

Braithwaite underwent his conversion last month during a prayer meeting and was baptized a few days later. “This shows that the Lord loves and wants to save everybody,” said Evangelist Shaun Aslinger, “even the man who runs the adult novelty store.”

Braithwaite's transformation reminds me that no one is beyond God’s reach—not a porn dealer, and not me.

2 Peter 3:9 (NIV) "The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance."

In their book, Shine, Make them Wonder What You’ve Got, The Newsboys write, “We will start being effective when we stop trying to change other people and instead change ourselves. To shine, you have to fill yourself with Christ. This means you first have to empty yourself, just as Jesus emptied Himself of His heavenly glory to come into the world. It’s not as if we’re going to rally a bunch of Christians together, get out the vote, put our man in as president, and that will solve everything. We could do all that and still not have changed anyone in the process. If we haven’t seen people transformed from the inside out, we haven’t really done anything that’s lasting.”

—Shine, Make them Wonder What You’ve Got, p. 50 Illustration by Jim L. Wilson

We can only change the world, when we’ve first been changed from the inside out, then by introducing the world to the one that made the spiritual transformation, so they can be changed too. The key is to stop focusing on behavioral modification and start promoting a radical, spiritual transformation.

John 3:3 NASB “Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.’”

For more information on Shine, go to: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0883687720/fm082-20

Recently, Dieter Zander, the pastor of the first GenX church in America, spoke at an Evangelism Conference about reaching people in the age of relativism. He cited a Barna study that asked people to use single words to describe Jesus. They responded, "wise, accepting, compassionate, gracious, humble." Then he asked them to use single words to describe Christians, they said, "critical, exclusive, self-righteous, narrow and repressive."

"There is a difference between knowing the good news and being the good news, Zander said. "We are the evidence! Everything counts—all the time."

"With previous generations, a strong preacher could give a good message, even if the church was hypocritical and critical and people would still get saved," Zander continued, "but not anymore. I'm seeing a change in what seekers are looking for. Not something they can relate to. They are looking for a transcendent God. They don't want to be entertained they want to be transformed."

"For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek." (Romans 1:16 KJV)

In the motion picture, "The Incredibles" a group of people with special abilities use those powers to make the world a better place. After a series of mishaps and lawsuits, the world decides that these "Supers" should assume their secret identities, and disappear into the population. The Parr Family has "Super Powers." Dash Parr has just gotten into trouble at school, as they drive home; Dash and his mother discuss finding an outlet for Dash to use his special ability, super speed. Though he wants to participate in sports, his family will not let him because his ability would become evident quickly. Dash complains that his parents always tell him to do his best, but they don't really mean it. His mother responds, "Right now, the world just wants us to fit in, and to fit in, we've just gotta be like everyone else."

God has given believers in Him the Holy Spirit, which gives us a unique position in the world. If we choose to fit in and not let our light shine, the world cannot understand how unique and special they are to God. If everyone conforms to the same low ideals, no one is special. We are called to live by a higher standard, by being transformed by God's power in us.

—"The Incredibles", Scene: Be Transformed 14:49-15:38. Illustration by Jim L. Wilson and Jim Sandell.

Romans 12:2 (NKJV) "And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God."

In 1995 Cali Colombia was known as the home of the world's largest drug cartel, and the murder capital of the world with an average of 15 homicides each day. Today the city is far more peaceful because one local pastor called citizens to pray for the city.

In 1995, Julio Ruibal convinced area pastors to support a prayer gathering at a local sports stadium and thirty-thousand citizens showed up for an all-night prayer-and-fasting meeting for the city of Cali.

The results were almost immediate. 48 hours later, the local newspaper ran a headline reading, "NO HOMICIDES." For the first time anyone could remember, Cali had gone an entire weekend without one murder. Then ten days later, one of Cali's main drug lords was arrested, and 900 cartel-linked police officers were fired.

The prayer meetings instantly doubled in size, and despite the murder of the founding pastor, the movement in Cali continued to grow. In March 1996, believers gathered to pray on buses as they circled the city a symbolic seven times. Two weeks later, the Colombian government sent in elite troops and arrested all six of the remaining drug kingpins.

Today, Cali's murder rate in the lowest in 18 years, corruption is down drastically, and kidnappings are down even more. Though Cali's murder rate is still 30 times higher than most European cities, the situation has definitely improved. Pastor Ruibal's widow Ruth describes says the city has transitioned from fear to hope.

—World Net Daily, How God is cleaning up 'worst city in world', by Jim Rutz, July 12, 2005. Illustration by Jim L. Wilson and Jim Sandell.

Romans 12:2 MSG "Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you."

One of the "bad boys" of Rock and Roll is working with a Christian University in the Phoenix area to establish a center where teens can get off the streets, learn to play guitar, shoot hoops and find Jesus. Shock rock legend Alice Cooper is teaming up with Grand Canyon College to open The Rock, which will be open to kids 12 to 18 years of age free of charge. Cooper says, "It's a sanctuary where they don't get shot, they don't get stabbed, they don't have to worry about somebody trying to sell them drugs." The project is still being developed and should open in 2007.

Cooper (aka Vincent Furnier) concedes that some parents might not picture him as someone seeking to bring morality and religion to America's youth. He says those who understand his act know that the show has always been a blend of farce and satire. Cooper's life was changed 16 years ago when he was born-again. Since 1995, he has overseen Solid Rock Foundation, a nonprofit organization providing funding for children's causes and college scholarships to Christian students. Cooper insists his stage persona is the opposite of his personal life. He's been married 30 years "without cheating" on his wife, Sheryl, and they've raised three children who are not criminals, druggies, or dysfunctional. Cooper is the son of a Christian minister and grandson of an evangelist. He says he is reaching out to the nation's youth because America "needs a good hypodermic needle shot of morality." He says he and his family will be regulars at The Rock, working with kids and helping produce shows.

—http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0731cooper-youthcenter31-ON.html. Illustration by Jim L. Wilson and Jim Sandell.

1 Corinthians 6:9-11 (GW) "Don't you know that wicked people won't inherit the kingdom of God? Stop deceiving yourselves! People who continue to commit sexual sins, who worship false gods, those who commit adultery, homosexuals, [10] or thieves, those who are greedy or drunk, who use abusive language, or who rob people will not inherit the kingdom of God. [11] That's what some of you were! But you have been washed and made holy, and you have received God's approval in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God."

One of the founding members of the rock Metal band "Korn" has left the group, choosing to follow Jesus instead. Guitarist Brian "Head" Welch put an end to rumors that he was unhappy with the band's direction by announcing that he was leaving the group during an interview on a Bakersfield, California radio station. Welch said he had rededicated his life to Christianity.

During the interview, Welch said, "I can go up there and play those songs and those solos but... I distanced myself from Korn for probably a year and a half, two years. I just wanted to fade away, it was crazy. I was so gone." He added, "But I found my way out and I want to help anyone that wants to see the light at the end of the tunnel." Welch had apparently submitted a "letter of resignation" to the band's management saying he was leaving for several reasons including increased moral objections to the group's music and videos. He said he was especially unhappy with the way he was portrayed in a recent music video.

An official statement from the band said, "Korn has parted ways with guitarist Brian "Head" Welch, who has chosen Jesus Christ as his Savior, and will be dedicating his musical pursuits to that end. Korn respects Brian's wished, and hopes he finds the happiness he's searching for."

—Assist News Service, Brian "Head" Welch Leaves Korn for Christ, February 23, 2005. Illustration by Jim L. Wilson and Jim Sandell.

Romans 12:2 (MSG) "Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you."

In his book, The Shape of Faith to Come, Brad Waggoner writes, “Preaching that fills the head with a lot of biblical facts is vastly different from preaching that focuses on putting truth into practice. We must call the people of God to action, and they must see that we are practicing what we preach. I am not suggesting we lessen our emphasis on doctrine, but we must validate what we say with how we live. Are we authentic? Are we satisfied with informed people rather than transformed ones?”

--Shape of Faith to Come, 188. Illustration by Jim L. Wilson

Matthew 7:24-27 (NKJV) "Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall."

Scientists claim they have a new state of matter by creating a form of aluminum that is transparent to extreme ultraviolet radiation. The study detailed in the journal, Nature Physics, sound like something from science fiction lore. To create the new state of matter, a short pulse of high intensity laser light “knocked out” a core electron from every aluminum atom in a sample without destroying the metal’s crystalline structure.

Professor Justin Wark of Oxford University’s Department of Physics says the new form of transparent aluminum only existed for a short time, but could lead to new insight into the nature of matter, and harnessing the power of nuclear fusion. Wark said, “What is particularly remarkable about our experiment is that we have turned ordinary aluminum into this exotic new material in a single step by using this very powerful laser For a brief period, the sample looks and behaves in every way like a new form of matter.” Wark added, “What we created is a completely new state of matter nobody has seen before. …it’s almost as surprising as finding that you can turn lead into gold with light.”

Scientists Claim New State of Matter Created,http://www.livescience.com/technology/090728-new-state-matter.html, July 28, 2009, Illustration by Jim L. Wilson and Jim Sandell

1 John 1:5-9 (NIV) “ This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. (6) If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. (7) But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. (8) If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. (9) If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

Sociologist Robert Woodson, President of the Center for Neighborhood Enterprise and author of a new book, The Triumph of Joseph: How Community Healers Are Reviving our Streets and Neighborhoods, speaks to need for transformation. “If I’m killing myself, I do not need to be rehabilitated. I need to be transformed. I need to be another person. Therapy does not make you another person.”

When asked what he meant by transformation he replied, “Rehabilitation rarely removes bad stuff. Transformation replaces bad stuff with good stuff.”

If you want to know how to be another person, it is necessary to go back to the original creator and allow Him to make you over again.

2 Corinthians 5:17 (CEV) “Anyone who belongs to Christ is a new person. The past is forgotten, and everything is new.”

-- Forgotten God: Reversing our Tragic Neglect of the Holy Spirit p. 32 Illustration by Jim L. Wilson

2 Corinthians 5:17 (NIV) Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!

Liz Murray’s drug-addicted parents raised her and her sister in poverty in New York—really raised isn’t the right word, they had to care for themselves. Her father was an intelligent man, quite gifted, but lived a diminished life because of the drugs. Her mother suffered from mental illness along with her drug addiction and was content to live from one high to the next that she paid for with her government check and prostitution.

What makes Murray’s story remarkable isn’t her dire upbringing—unfortunately, these stories are all too common. Her story is remarkable because she rose from these circumstances to graduate from Harvard and is the author of Breaking Night and the subject of a Lifetime movie, From Homeless to Harvard.

In her book about her experience, Breaking Night Liz Murray writes, “If life could change for the worst, I thought, then maybe life could change for the better.”

2 Corinthians 5:17 NIV "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!"

In The Divine Commodity: Discovering a Faith Beyond Consumer Christianity, Skye Jethani writes, “In Consumer Christianity, our concern is not primarily whether people are transformed to reflect the countercultural values of God’s kingdom, but whether they are satisfied — often measured by attendance and giving. An unhappy church member, like an unhappy customer, will find satisfaction someplace else.”

Romans 12:1-2 (CEV) (1) Dear friends, God is good. So I beg you to offer your bodies to him as a living sacrifice, pure and pleasing. That's the most sensible way to serve God. (2) Don't be like the people of this world, but let God change the way you think. Then you will know how to do everything that is good and pleasing to him.

In the Power of Habit, Charles Duhigg writes, “Scientists have studied the brains of alcoholics, smokers, and overeaters and have measured how their neurology—the structures of their brains and the flow of neurochemicals inside their skulls—changes as their cravings became ingrained. Particularly strong habits, wrote two researchers at the University of Michigan, produce addiction-like reactions so that ‘wanting evolves into obsessive craving’ that can force our brains into autopilot, ‘even in the face of strong disincentives, including loss of reputation, job, home, and family.’”

Most of us know the struggle to break a bad habit—to get out of the ruts that the habits have “ingrained” in our minds. We know the feeling of helplessness when we fall into the bad habit again. That’s why our minds need to be renewed—the autopilot of our minds need to be reset, then we can break the bonds of the old and pave the way for the new.

Romans 12:1–2 (HCSB) Therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your spiritual worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.

"We don't claim to be a Christian business," say Dan Cathy President and COO of Chick-fil-a. Many years ago, he heard Christian businessman Fred Roach say, "There is no such thing as a Christian business. But as an organization we can operate on biblical principles. So that is what we claim to be. [We are] based on biblical principles, asking God and pleading with God to give us wisdom on decisions we make about people and the programs and partnerships we have."

Chick-fil-a invests in Christian growth and ministry through its WinShape Foundation and also marriage training. Cathy added. “The company has taken lots of fire and criticism for their biblical stance.”
When asked about the company’s stance Cathy responded, "Well, guilty as charged,” "We are very much supportive of the family -- the biblical definition of the family unit. We are a family-owned business, a family-led business, and we are married to our first wives. We give God thanks for that.” -- Jim L. Wilson and David Powell

--'Guilty as Charged,' Cathy says of Chick-fil-A's Stand on Biblical & Family Values http://www.bpnews.net/bpnews.asp?id=38271; (accessed 2-28-13)

Dan Cathy and other Chick-fil-a leaders are people who’ve been transformed by Jesus. The gospel affects how they think, how they make decisions, how they conduct their business. It determines how they how they lead their lives.

Acts 9:15-16 (ESV) (15) But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. (16) For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.”

Engineers from the Colorado School of Mines have found a new way to get minerals. Rather than dig them out of the ground, the researchers are finding resources in the trash. So far, the project has been able to turn left-over banana peels, eggshells, and rice husks into crystal-clear glass. The process grinds the garbage into fine particles, and then dries then out producing a fine white powder. The powder is then put into an oven which melts it at 3,000 degrees. The molten red substance that comes out of the oven is poured into molds to make glass. Materials engineer Ivan Cornejo, who leads the project, said they are trying to calculate how much waste they could divert from landfills and turn into useful products. He says the material they produce can be used to meet the world’s growing demand for silica, rather than mining it. When asked about the project, Cornejo said, “There’s no reason to continue mining, destroying the environment, when we can find many of the materials we need from waste.”—Jim L. Wilson and Jim Sandell

Colorado School of Mines materials engineers turn food garbage to glass, by Bruce Finley, http://www.denverpost.com/environment/ci_24244649/colorado-school-mines-team-turns-food-garbage-glass, Accessed October 5, 2013.

Romans 12:2 (NASB) And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

In 2013, an unknown arsonist set fire to the Palmetto Presbyterian Church. Fortunately, the damage was limited to some soot on the exterior of the building and damage to the church’s Gothic mahogany doors. While authorities search for the person responsible, church members are celebrating a transformation. The damaged doors now form a Celtic cross that hangs on the wall of the sanctuary. After the fire, a member, Derrick Russ, approached the pastor about making something new from the damaged doors. Russ said that when he saw the style of the door, he thought it would easily make a cross. Though Russ hadn’t done more than book shelves, tables, or stools for twenty years, he was given the go ahead to create the cross he envisioned. Now, the transformed door has changed a blank wall into a centerpiece of worship. The congregation received Russ’ work with applause from his fellow church members. He said, “I got a lot of compliments. A lot of folks saying, ’I didn’t know you could do that.’”—Jim L. Wilson and Jim Sandell.

Arson-damaged mahogany door transformed into cross at Mount Pleasant church, By Christina Elmore,http://www.postandcourier.com/article/20140419/PC16/140419249, Accessed April 19, 2014.

Romans 12:2 (HCSB) Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.

In their book, Simple Church: Returning to God’s process for making disciples Thom Rainer & Eric Geiger write, “According to the Scripture, a believer’s life is to be transformed more and more. People are not supposed to be the same. There is to be progression, movement.” —Jim L. Wilson

Ephesians 4:15 (NKJV) “but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head--Christ—“

Transformation

In 2014, the National Human Trafficking Resource Center hotline received reports of 5,042 potential human trafficking cases. Almost one-third of the cases involved minors. The department of justice believes about 300,000 children in the United States are trafficking victims. Shannon Forsythe is the founder of Run 2 Rescue, a California based nonprofit that aids domestic sex trafficking victims. Sarah, (last name concealed), is one of her victories. Forsythe met Sara at a bible study and told her about Run 2 Rescue. Sarah decided to make the contact and over the next six months, Shannon faithfully met with Sarah and talked to her.

Finally, Sarah made the plunge and after 15 years of living in a haze of prescription pill abuse, she found sobriety and a family to love her through all her shame, guilt, and anger. 22 years-old Sarah is sober, almost debt-free, and a volunteer at Run 2 Rescue.

Understanding God’s unchanging, unconditional love in Christ was the key to helping one lost child find her way. --Jim L. Wilson and Rodger Russell.

Romans 8:1 (HCSB)“Therefore, no condemnation now exists for those in Christ Jesus,”

In the January 2017 of O Magazine, Oprah promised life transformation for her readers, “We’re making 2017 the Year of Adventure, full of bold excursions, exciting sweepstakes, and all the advice you need to begin transforming your life.” She wrote, then goes on to say, “My own Year of Adventure is about pushing the boundaries of my comfort zone. Case in point: On page 100, you’ll find a sneak peek of the new book I’ve been cooking up, called Food, Health, and Happiness. Publishing my own cookbook isn’t something I’d done before, but embracing things that are new and challenging and exciting is what this year is all about, right?” —Jim L. Wilson & Ed Pincusoff

Can you handle some really good news? This magazine will not transform your life but God promises just that, and God delivers!

2 Corinthians 1:20 (HCSB)“For every one of God’s promises is “Yes” in Him. Therefore, the “Amen” is also spoken through Him by us for God’s glory.”

In, The Gospel Driven Life: Being Good News People in a Bad News World, Michael Horton, writes that society “. . . may not catechize us at gunpoint, but its relentless bombardment wears down our defenses.” The world has many allurements that can get Christians off course. We must learn to hold up Jesus as being better than anything this world has to offer. —Jim L. Wilson & Craig Wright

1 John 2:15–17 (HCSB)“Do not love the world or the things that belong to the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in him. ¹⁶ For everything that belongs to the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride in one’s lifestyle—is not from the Father, but is from the world. ¹⁷ And the world with its lust is passing away, but the one who does God’s will remains forever.”

On November 11, 1988 authorities arrested Dorothea Puente for the murder of seven victims who lived in her boarding house and ultimately buried in the backyard of her home in Sacramento California. The degree of her crimes were heinous and unlike anything homicide detective John Cabrera had ever seen.

The house rightly became infamous. Many flocked to take their pictures with it and to see the house they had only seen in the news. Usually every house associated with serial killers is destroyed. But the house of Dorothea Puente had quickly become a national landmark which made demolition impossible.

A recent documentary explains the gruesome history of Puente’s house but also the curious story of Tom and Barbara Holmes. To the shock of the realtor in charge of selling the property, Tom and Barbara agreed to purchase the home.

Tom and Barbara wanted to refurbish it and make everyone forget about the house’s dark past. After a fresh coat of paint, new furniture, and decorations, the homicide detective John Cabrera was able to revisit the house. Surprised at the new-look of the house, Cabrera remarked, “everything has changed, everything is new.”—Jim L. Wilson and Eric Espinoza

Could you sleep in the house with such a horrible history? Some of you may be ashamed of your horrible history. Some of you may think that that because of what you have done in the past, there is nothing God can use you for.

But if two well-meaning people can transform a house, how much more can the resurrected Savior transform your life through his spirit who dwells in you?

1 Corinthians 6:11 (CSB)¹¹ And some of you used to be like this. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.