Liberal Atheist Encounters Christianity
Kirsten Powers worked in the Clinton administration, became a liberal pundit for the Daily Beast, and served as a Democratic contributor to Fox News. All her friends were agnostics or atheists. Her world was aggressively secular.
"If there was one thing in which I was completely secure," Powers wrote, "it was that I would never adhere to any religion—especially to evangelical Christianity, which I held in particular contempt."
When it came to dating, she had one major boundary: "No religious people." But one man she started dating mentioned, in passing, that he attended a Presbyterian church. Powers flinched but liked him. When he asked if she could keep an open mind, she responded: "Well, of course. I'm very open-minded! Even though I wasn't at all. I derided Christians as anti-intellectual bigots who were too weak to face the reality that there is no rhyme or reason to the world."
Opening Her Mind to God
Listening to Tim Keller preach at Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York opened the door for her to believe in God. She began to read the Bible. Her boyfriend would pray with her for God to reveal himself.
For a while, Powers felt no connection to God. That changed during an overseas trip.
Jesus Appeared in Dream Vision
"Then one night in 2006, on a trip to Taiwan, I woke up in what felt like a strange cross between a dream and reality. Jesus came to me and said, 'Here I am.' It felt so real. I didn't know what to make of it."
She tried to write off the experience as misfiring synapses, but couldn't shake it. "When I returned to New York a few days later, I was lost. I suddenly felt God everywhere and it was terrifying. More important, it was unwelcome. It felt like an invasion."
Reluctant Christian Conversion Story
Powers became an evangelical Christian, and in October 2015, on a live broadcast of "The Five," she announced: "Tomorrow night at 7 o'clock, I'm becoming Catholic!"