Adrienne S. Gaines

Can you imagine a 10,000-pound axle from a logging truck falling on top of you and nearly cutting the midsection of your body in two? That's what happened to diesel mechanic Bruce Van Natta when the semitrailer he was repairing fell off a jack in November 2006. Van Natta shouted to the driver "Turn it off!"…

Rifqa Bary, the teen convert at the center of a high-profile religious and family dispute, turned 18 Tuesday and was released from Ohio state custody, ending a yearlong legal battle with her parents. It was not announced where Bary would be living, but her attorney, Kort Gatterdam, said she plans to "continue to preach the…

Evangelist Benny Hinn recently admitted at a crusade in Oakland, Calif., to having a "friendship" with fellow minister Paula White while he's still married after a tabloid pictured them holding hands in Rome on July 13. But the well-known healing minister says the relationship is over."A friendship did develop," Hinn said of White in Oakland…

Without the C.H. Mason Medical Clinic in Milwaukee, Octavious Neal wouldn't have discovered he has high blood pressure. A 40-year-old school bus driver, Neal couldn't afford the insurance offered through his job, since the premiums cost more than $700 a month for individual coverage. Then, he learned about the free clinic at Holy Redeemer Institutional…

Delegates at the Church of God (Cleveland, Tenn.) biennial convention in Orlando, Fla., last week affirmed the role of women in ministry but remained divided on whether they should ascend into higher areas of leadership.Attendees at the 73rd International General Assembly passed by a narrow 58 votes a resolution allowing women to serve on congregation-level…

Supporters of California's Proposition 8 say they are gearing up for a long legal battle over marriage after a federal judge on Wednesday struck down the voter-approved ballot measure that banned same-sex unions in the state. "We did anticipate that this would happen, but our resolve is greater," said California pastor Jim Garlow, who helped…

As many denominations experience membership declines, the Church of God of Prophecy (COGOP) is reporting growth in the last two years that nearly outpaces the previous eight.The denomination, whose biennial international assembly ended Saturday in Greensboro, N.C., estimates that 10,000 people joined the church each month last year. Photo by John Disbrow/Creative Touch Studios

The church that housed the Toronto Blessing revival hopes to "export" the values of the renewal through a new network of churches. Dubbed Catch the Fire World, the denomination officially launched in May when Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship (TACF), the church that housed the revival services for 12 years, changed its name to Catch the…

Charismatic artist Max Greiner wants to draw people to Christ. That's why he's created huge bronze sculptures of Jesus that sit outside megachurches and even the Trinity Broadcasting Network studios. And he says that's why he built a $2 million, 77-foot cross that was raised last week along Interstate 10 in Kerrville, Texas."I'm trying to…

Every movement needs a voice, and since 1975 Charisma magazine has chronicled charismatic Christianity, covering the highs and lows of the world's largest wave of renewal since the Azusa Street Revival.Stephen Strang, a fourth-generation Pentecostal whose grandmother was ordained in the Assemblies of God in 1914, was a reporter for the Orlando, FL, newspaper when…

A federal judge's ruling in favor of a public university that removed a Christian student from its counseling program over her belief that homosexuality is morally wrong signals a "new day" of discrimination against Christians. So says prayer leader Lou Engle, who worries the decision this week could set "the precedent for Christian students being…

An international prophetic minister is calling for urgent prayer to avoid another U.S. economic collapse.Cindy Jacobs, co-founder of Texas-based Generals International, said she received a "dire" word July 17 that the U.S. economy was teetering. She then saw a vision of the economy on a justice scale and says God told her that Christians must…

Thousands of Christians met in Washington, D.C., this week to do what some say the Obama administration has been reluctant to do: stand unwaveringly with Israel. Roughly 4,500 people gathered for the fifth annual Christians United for Israel (CUFI) Washington Summit, where they lobbied lawmakers to maintain the nation's historic support for Israel and declared…

Megachurch pastor Rick Warren is expected to make a full recovery after burning his eyes Monday while pruning a toxic firestick plant in his garden, his spokesman, A. Larry Ross, told Charisma Thursday. Warren was hospitalized Monday and released the following day after seeing an eye specialist. In a Twitter posting Thursday, Warren said he…