--FROM DISBELIEF TO DEVOTION~~
-[Transformational Testimonies~~]

--SPECIAL REPORT: ATHEISM ~~ (Finding Out It's WRONG!)

--JOSH MCDOWELL: DISCOVERING DADDY
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-As a young boy it was common for Josh to see his father sloppily drunk. Over and over again, Josh saw his mother bloodied and beaten by his father. Eventually, he says, she died of a broken heart.

"I grew up believing fathers hurt," he said. "People would tell me there's a Heavenly Father who loves you. That didn't bring joy. It brought pain because I could not discern the difference between a Heavenly Father and an earthly father."

That wasn't all that hurt. Josh was sexually abused by a farmhand named Wayne from the age of 6 through 13. To this day, Josh doesn't let people touch him on the shoulder when they pray for him.

He mocked Christians in college and said if any of them had any mental ability, any intelligence, it would die of loneliness. He vowed to disprove the resurrection of Jesus, traveling out of the country to do research.

But the more he pursued his goal, the more convinced he became that the Resurrection and the Bible were true. Eventually, he accepted Christ.

Several months later, he led his father to the Lord and saw an instant change in his dad's life.

Josh has written 138 books on Christianity and has given talks to more than 25 million people in 125 countries.

He has a passion, rooted in his past, for reaching youth for Christ.

"Youth is where people--not always, but frequently--struggle to determine their worldview and what they believe," he said.
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"So why not deal with people right when they're in the struggle of it? ....and if you really want to influence youth, start with their parents." ~~~
--[Decision / March 2014]
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