Many atheists do not have a positive view of Christians, and atheist-turned-pastor Rev. Joe Martin is no exception. In fact, Martin saw Christians as hypocrites and disliked them so much that he stayed far away from the church.
But God knocked on his heart persistently, leading to his "pretty amazing" conversion, Martin told ME TV.
Before that, Martin confessed that he was so adverse to the idea of being a Christian because many churchgoers on Sunday were "some of the biggest liars, thieves and hypocrites I've ever met in my life."
He thought to himself, "If that's what they're teaching behind those walls, then I don't want to have anything to do with that. That's disgusting."
But Martin could not escape God's calling, no matter how hard he tried. "Every time I kept running from God, he just kept after me. Eventually, not only did I believe in God, within six or seven years, I was pastoring a church," he said.
The pastor said he opened his heart to being a Christian when he started focusing on God and not on other people. A voice inside him would tell him, "Just give God a chance. Stop trying to do it all on your own. Surrender your feelings to God and let Jesus in."
After Martin did so, he found drastic changes in his life.
His wife, Penny, could not agree more. "There was a time in our marriage that our nightstand would be full of Playboys. Now our nightstand is full of Bibles and devotional books," she shared.
Martin, who is now a United Methodist Church minister in Fallsington, Pennsylvania, also said he is happier than he has ever been in his life. "With all the stuff I had before God, I thought I was the happiest guy in the world, until I found God. And now, serving God, I'm happier now than I've ever been in my entire life," he said.
There have been numerous stories of atheists converting to Christianity. One of them is Lee Strobel, bestselling author of "The Case for Christ."
Strobel has embraced Christianity to the fullest and he is now determined to spread God's love to as many people as possible. "I want to reach more people with the evidence for Christianity, and the truth of the faith, and the love of God," he told The Christian Post.
