Two inspiring stories popped up in the Biltirx InBox this week. First, LifeSiteNews.com reports that public awareness has caused Planned Parenthood to lament their worst year in their history. As the article explains, the pro-abortion group has had to admit numerous setbacks, due to growing public awareness about their misuse of funds and attempts to cover up sexual abuse crimes involving minors.

Second, World Net Daily ran a story about a public high-school student in West Virginia who convinced his entire class – including the teacher! – that abortion should be illegal, after watching the now famous 180 video. The high school senior explains:

This past week in our civics class we were writing essays about laws that we wish would change in America. After seeing this video I chose to do mine on abortion, and how I wished it would be illegal.

After I had finished reading my essay, a discussion arose in class (obviously) about how they thought abortion should be a choice, especially if the child is unhealthy or was caused because of rape … Because of 180, I was able to turn around the entire class opinion about abortion and by the end of the class 25 of the 25 students and my teacher as well had all raised their hand agreeing that abortion should be illegal.

Both of these stories illustrate how building awareness can bring about cultural change. The 180 video mentioned above is a great example of how just one man can make a lot of difference, by converting hearts and minds to the truth. Keep reading to find out how you can watch this powerful testimony for free!

First, here are five tricks that 180’s Ray Comfort uses in the video to overcome the Five Diversions to Cultural Conversion. Watch for them when viewing 180.

Overcoming the Five Diversions to Cultural Conversion

1. Overcome ignorance by creating awareness. Ray Comfort cleverly starts off by showing us that ignorance lies at the heart of the cultural problem. His first questions are about Adolf Hitler. The shocking surprise is that most of the people he interviews don’t even know who Adolf Hitler is! He goes on to point out that people’s opinions on abortion are based on faulty assumptions, or just plain ignorance. Once he makes them aware of their ignorance, the rest falls into place.
2. Overcome indifference by creating concern. Before minds can convert, hearts must convert. The good news is that the seeds of conversion are already present in the human heart. In the video, Ray asks heart-probing questions that cause his listeners to show their true concern for the value of human life. Most of the people he interviews react strongly when asked if they would take the life of an innocent human being – many of them say they would rather die before they would kill a helpless person.
3. Overcome uncertainty with conviction. Once a person holds a belief, his conscious tells him that he must be consistent with that belief. People in the video say that they believe that abortion is wrong, based on the premise that it is wrong to kill another human being. However, some of them say that they would not ever commit an abortion themselves, yet they don’t think they should take another person’s right to choose to have an abortion. Ray shows each person who thinks this way that this is an inconsistent position, and if they were really convinced that abortion is murder, then they must also hold that it is always immoral and should be illegal. It is amazing to see the wheels turning and the lights turning on in people’s heads as they follow Ray’s logic and become convinced that abortion is murder and should never be allowed. They admit at this point that their views on abortion have changed.
4. Overcome fear and timidity with courage and confidence. Change comes when people are committed to change. But that commitment comes at a cost. In the case of cultural conversion, a 180 means you have to swim up stream against the current, and persevere. Since Ray knows that discouragement can zap the enthusiasm out of even the most heart-felt, sincere conversions, he boldly challenges his new converts to rise to the next level for the support they need to hold fast to their convictions and persevere with courage and confidence. And the next level is…
5. Conquer all hearts with Christ. This wonderful video ends with a powerful Christian testimony. Even the Neo-Nazi with the purple Mohawk starts to show signs of humility during this part of the interview – a face-reader might even say he shows signs of a conversion. Whether you are working on someone else’s conversion, or feel there might be a part of you that still needs to convert, the focus of your conversion should be Christ Centered. After all, the essence of a conversion is to live in accord with his law, which is to align our hearts with his heart. He made the human heart, and he knows what’s in it. So if you are out to convert hearts, convert them with and for Jesus Christ.

If you have not yet seen Ray Comfort’s 180, click here and watch it for free. If you have already seen it, watch it again (it’s 33 minutes long) or share this article with a friend, so he or she can watch it. As our high school senior friend who converted his whole class after watching this video showed us, the potential for conversions is limitless. The value of just one heart converted is limitless as well.

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