Patricia King’s reality show documents her Extreme Prophetic school’s street outreach in cities in North America and Europe

The camera reveals the eyes of a man hardened by anger, vestiges of prison life still marking his face as he listens to Extreme Prophetic team members on the streets of Las Vegas.

Canadian minister Patricia King and participants in her Extreme Prophetic school are shooting a reality show documenting their evangelism activity on city streets in North America and Europe. The man in this segment had walked out of prison just hours before team members stopped him on the sidewalk outside a casino and told him that God loved him and had a plan for his life.

Tears ran down the man’s face when Stacey Campbell, one of the team members from Kelowna, British Columbia, shared prophetic insights about childhood events that had filled the man with anger. He accepted Christ there on the street, virtually unconscious of the cameras that would spread his testimony around the world.

“We don’t even think of it as religious broadcasting,” King told Charisma. “It’s not at all churchy. It’s just God being God and touching people’s lives with His love. We are so blessed that He shows up every time we shoot, and the people He touches are never the same.”

King, the woman behind Extreme Prophetic, is a hip and extroverted 50-something grandmother who lives with her husband in Kelowna, about a three-hour drive from Vancouver. Saved in the 1970s after practicing the occult, then serving as a missionary with Youth With A Mission, King has become known as a Bible teacher who emphasizes prayer, evangelism and the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

She credits a 1994 visit to the Toronto Blessing renewal with spawning both a storm of questions and some “amazing” spiritual experiences that motivated her to dig deeper in prayer and Bible study. The result was a teaching series about biblical encounters with a supernatural God. She later founded a “glory school” and wrote a book, Third Heaven, Angels and Other Stuff.

“The Western church, for the most part, has an academic orientation rather than spiritual,” said King, who says God led her to change her name from Pat Cocking last year after her ministry began receiving obscene messages. “The school offers an invitation to walk in that divine realm and dispels people’s fear of legitimate supernatural encounters.”

But she hasn’t stopped there. King believes supernatural encounters should be taken to the streets. “[People] are not hungry for institutionalized religion; they are hungry for true encounters with God,” King said. “The whole idea behind the Extreme Prophetic school is to take God’s prophetic gift with extreme love into extreme places–anywhere and everywhere the unsaved congregate.”

The four-day schools, held in such cities as Los Angeles, Amsterdam and Chicago, offer hands-on training in prophetic evangelism. King and her team offer what they call “spiritual readings”–a New Age-sounding term they use to describe personal prayer during which they offer any prophetic insights they believe God has given them.

One episode of the Extreme Prophetic show pans in on people lined up outside a Kelowna juice café. They had waited for up to an hour to hear what Extreme Prophetic team members had to say. Many received words of encouragement, others accepted Christ.

The Extreme Prophetic school has spawned similar ministries in other cities. Doug Addison, a Los Angeles pastor and evangelist, attended one of King’s glory schools and now runs InLight Connection, a prophetic street outreach.

“I immediately saw that this type of evangelism is relevant for our spiritually curious culture,” Addison said. “It is a great way to get into deeper spiritual conversations with people, pray with them, and lead them to Jesus.”

Others stepped out more hesitantly. Former Chicago ad executive Rob Hotchkin said he’d been conditioned to ignore people on the street. “During the Extreme Prophetic school God gave me a heart for these people,” he said. “I remembered that these people are human beings. They are lost and broken but God loves them.” Today he works for Extreme Prophetic ministries.

The show airs on Monday nights and Sundays on The Miracle Channel, which streams a simulcast of the show on its site, www.miraclechannel.ca. King’s Web site, www.extremeprophetic.com, also carries the program. Sky Angel has recently agreed to air an Extreme Prophetic TV special, and King anticipates that the show will be picked up in the United States and the United Kingdom.
Julia Loren

Jon and Sonnet Barr say their technique at The English Exchange is centered around building relationships
In the 15 years since the Iron Curtain fell in Russia, Christian missionaries from the United States have witnessed decidedly mixed results in their efforts to gain a foothold in the largely atheist country.

Through the years, evangelists flooded in, sparking reports that thousands of Russians were professing new faith in Christ. But almost as soon as the missionaries packed their bags, many of the new believers fell away and developed an aversion to Christianity.

Now another wave of missionaries has launched a new movement aimed at producing more lasting results in Russia. The idea is to lay the groundwork for evangelism by developing loving and trusting friendships between Russians and American Christians first. Their vehicle: English classes.

“The missionaries [of the past] rushed in to do ministry without researching the culture to realize that Russians make life-changing decisions differently than the Western perspective,” said Sonnet Barr, a missionary with Moscow-based The English Exchange, affiliated with the interdenominational United World Mission based in Charlotte, N.C. “You can’t fault their hearts, but you can fault the failure to respect and understand the attributes and characteristics of a different culture.”

Added Jon Barr, her husband: “Russians were quick to raise hands, come forward in meetings and say the sinner’s prayer. But the reality was that they were looking for a relationship that would last a lifetime, and the lengthy dialogue required by Russians to change the ideas of the heart.”

The idea of using conversational English as a ministry tool is not new in Russia or elsewhere around the world. But what distinguishes the Barrs’ approach from others, according to experts, is their focus on building relationships–an often tedious and painstaking task.

“The Barrs have made their approach less evangelistic,” said Eugene Richardson, missions pastor at Shepherd of the Hills Church in Porter Ranch, Calif., which has sent several of its members to serve on short-term assignments with the Barrs.

“Their approach is to establish a relationship so there is trust,” Richardson said. “Who they are becomes a greater witness than what they say.”

The Barrs arrived in Moscow in May 2001 to minister at a camp that used the Bible to teach English. Jon Barr, a graduate of Calvary Bible College in Kansas City, Mo., was assigned to train Russian youth leaders. Sonnet Barr, who has an undergraduate degree in music from California State University in Bakersfield and a certificate in Bible from Columbia International University in South Carolina, was assigned to train worship leaders.

Just eight days into the mission, one of the main ministers suffered a stroke and returned to the United States. “With three other teammates who had been in the country less than a year,” Sonnet Barr said, “[God] started what He wanted: a program based on loving relationships with His people totally dependent on Him.”

The Barrs’ program uses staples of the American summer-camp experience–silly songs, dances, skits and other activities designed to build camaraderie.

Teachers, recruited from U.S. churches and Christian colleges, are encouraged to maintain a fun and friendly atmosphere, sharing their faith only in informal settings outside the classroom.

Not everyone, though, has been satisfied with the slow, long-term approach to evangelism. Some missionary organizations working with the Barrs have pulled their ministers out of Russia because of a lack of quick, quantifiable results in the form of church plantings and baptisms.

The Barrs defend their plan, defining their ministry as a “plowing” mission. They measure success in the relationships established with several Russians who became Christians through the program and now share their faith with successive students.

They also measure success in their effort to tackle tough subjects. This summer they held lectures on black history and race relations in the United States to counterattacks by skinheads on Africans, Armenians and Georgians.

But the Barrs say they are most gratified by the response to their follow-up efforts with graduates of the program. After the July camp, a group of Americans maintained the social ties through kite-flying, bowling and other activities. As a result, 15 of the students took the next step and attended a church service.
Dion Haynes in Moscow

The granddaughter of two Pentecostal ministers says she often is led to share personal messages from the Lord through song

For Dove Award-winner Nicole C. Mullen, nothing beats meeting the audience after a concert. Well known for contemporary Christian hits such as, “Redeemer,” “Come Unto Me” and “On My Knees,” Mullen often senses the need to deliver personal messages from the Lord to concertgoers, many of whom have stood in line to meet her. Fitting her gift, she sings them.

“This is for you,” Mullen told one woman recently and with a hum, sang out, “When you call on Jesus …” Tears flowed, as they often do. She said she has been having these kinds of ministry encounters since she was 8 years old, and her singing around the world is a fulfillment of a prophecy declared when she was 12.

Both of Mullen’s grandfathers are Pentecostal preachers in Cincinnati, Ohio. Mullen’s parents, Mary Jane and Napoleon Coleman Jr., branched off and helped start a nondenominational church by hosting it in their home. The pastor and his family even lived with the Colemans for a time.

The ministry grew to a storefront, and now New Life Temple in Madisonville, Ohio, spreads down the block.

“We always had gifts of the Spirit moving,” Mullen said. After a church service, she told Charisma, “I would capture a single mom and say, ‘Hey, can I sing you this song the Lord has put on my heart for you?’ They would sit and listen to my a cappella version, and sometimes they would start crying. I could see the Lord really working on their hearts.”

Still, Mullen wasn’t the celebrated singer in the choir or her family’s favored child prodigy. She was known as just one of the three little Coleman girls until she privately began to dream bigger after a special message from God was delivered to her.

The last week of confirmation class, the church elders came and laid hands on the children. “Sister Dottie prayed over me and said the Lord had given her a word for me,” Mullen recalled. “I remember it clearly to this day: ‘Say not in your heart that you are small but that you are great because I live within you.’

“Then she said the Lord had told her how He was going to take me to different places to sing and how He was going to use me.” Mullen was excited and told her mother but was cautioned that “the true test of prophecy is that you don’t have to make it come about.”

In fact, nothing of magnitude seemed to be happening when Mullen started out singing backup vocals after she attended college at Christ for the Nations Institute. One connection led to another, though, and being introduced to Christian singer David Mullen and agreeing to help him with vocals and choreography caused her to step into destiny. And love.

Traveling kept them apart much of their two years of dating–Nicole toured with Amy Grant, while David performed across the country as a solo artist. When they wed 11 years ago, David decided to concentrate on production and songwriting and encouraged Nicole to perform solo. They work together on everything now, including raising their three children and tending their farm outside Nashville, Tenn.

Mullen continues to reach out to hurting women, and she devotes much of her time to encouraging young girls. In concerts, she sings her African-influenced song “Freedom” in honor of the Trokosi slaves in Ghana. Partnering with International Needs Network, she’s trying to help raise funds to free these women, whose parents gave them away as young girls to abusive priests as a sacrifice for their ancestors’ sins.

The ministry is purchasing the women’s freedom and teaching them the liberating gospel, as well as life skills to help them become self-supporting.

Mullen also reaches out to young girls in her own neighborhood. For years she taught dance classes, and her students have performed with her in concerts. Weekly now, some 40-50 young girls come to her Baby Girls Club. Together they sing Bible verses, share their current “drama” in small groups and pray. After crafts and dance class, there’s a talent show.

Mullen reminds them of such rules as, “You have to keep it under 90 seconds because we don’t want to hear all four verses of ‘I Believe I Can Fly.'” They also know when they come or leave they “gotta give Miss Nicole her hug.”

Sister Dottie has passed away, but it seems her prophecy has stood the test. Mullen’s fifth release, Everyday People, debuted in September. She has been honored with 20 Grammy and Dove Award nominations. And her worldwide performances include appearing at Carnegie Hall and singing the National Anthem at the 2004 Republican National Convention.

Marsha Gallardo in Nashville, Tenn.

Pentecostal Pastor Detained in Iran

An Assemblies of God pastor is still being detained at an unknown location in Iran, though nine other church leaders arrested with him have been released, Compass Direct reported. As of mid-September, Hamid Pourmad, 47, had not been able to contact his family since police raided a denominational meeting held in Karaj, located 20 miles north of the capital. Voice of the Martyrs expressed concern for Pourmad, who converted to Christianity from Islam 25 years ago, and feared there may be a new crackdown on Christians under way in the mostly Muslim nation.

House-Church Leader Released in Vietnam

A prominent house-church leader was released Sept. 6 after eight days of interrogation. The Rev. Tran Mai was arrested on Aug. 29 as he crossed the border of the Asian nation after several months abroad, Compass Direct reported. He was questioned regarding his association with two other prominent house-church leaders who are currently in police custody, the Rev. Bui Van Ba and the Rev. Nguyen Hong Quang. Mai’s release came after the Vietnam Evangelical Fellowship (VEF), an association of 30 unregistered house-church groups of which Mai’s group is an active member, called for a three-day period of fasting and prayer from Sept. 5-7. The VEF also urged Christians to pray for the protection of house churches, especially in light of Vietnam’s new Ordinance on Religion, which is scheduled to become law on Nov. 15, Compass reported.

Gunmen Open Fire in Colombian Church

Masked gunmen opened fire on worshippers gathered for an evening service at the Christian and Missionary Alliance Church in Puerto Asis, Colombia, Sept. 4, killing three and wounding 13 others, Compass Direct reported. The pastor, Francisco Sevillano, was not harmed. Colombian army spokesmen blamed the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Columbia (FARC) for the attack, Compass said. Sources told the news service the shooting appeared to be aimed at an individual in the worship service and not the entire church body.

Hosted by Bill McCartney, the Fusion+Dallas event is one of several efforts aimed at reaching out to GenXers

The man best known for mobilizing men to be the godly leaders they were called to be is working to reactivate the faith of another group noticeably absent from many church pews: 20- and 30-somethings.

Promise Keepers founder and former University of Colorado football coach Bill McCartney has teamed up with his GenXer son, Marc, to host Fusion+Dallas at the Dallas Convention Center Nov. 13.

Among the invited guests are Los Angeles Pastor Erwin McManus, Breakaway Ministries founder Gregg Matte, missionary Heather Mercer, poet Amena Brown, worship leaders Shane & Shane and Christian rap duo GRITS.

The event is part of a larger trend toward reaching GenXers with a relevant gospel message. In recent years, 20- and 30-somethings have been planting churches, writing books and engaging other forms of media to help their peers sort through their spiritual questions and connect with like-minded people of faith.

Organized in part by Marc McCartney, 31, and Brian Mosley, the 25-year-old founder of Rightnow.org, an interactive Web site to help 20- and 30-somethings connect with ministry opportunities worldwide, the Fusion event is designed to be interactive and experiential. Instead of the traditional conference fare, Fusion will incorporate film, drama and Bible “discussions” that will encourage group participation.

Making the connection between faith and real life is key to reaching GenXers, leaders say.

Younger generations are drawn to what theologians label the postmodern emerging church, pastors say. They call for “authenticity,” go for “community” instead of “church,” and gather for a worship “experience,” not a worship “service.”

“It’s less a generational thing than it is a massive cultural shift; not as much about age group as it is about mind set,” said Chris Seay, founder of Ecclesia, a nontraditional church in downtown Houston.

Ministries that relate to that mind set already are reaching GenXers in large numbers. Frontline Bible Church in McLean, Va., began 10 years ago as a ministry of McLean Bible Church because the elders saw no church in the area successfully reaching out to young adults, said Frontline small-group pastor Mike Hurt. Today, Frontline averages 2,000 18- to 35-year-olds each Sunday night.

“We don’t believe in spectators for ministry but in everyone using their gifts to make a difference in the cause of Christ,” Hurt said. “I think the future of the church depends on how well it can figure out how to pass the baton.”

Former Lutheran pastor Karen Ward founded Church of the Apostles in 2002, and gathered her congregation into a renovated beauty parlor in what could be described as the seamy side of Seattle.

“Our goals are more modest than the megachurch,” she said. “We average about 500 and enjoy the intimacy of smaller numbers. We don’t believe in programs and never will have Sunday school. The early church did not have programs. We’re not trying to be different; we’re trying to speak the message and language of our generation and culture.”

By hosting the Fusion event, McCartney is proving that young adults aren’t the only ones who can reach out to 20- and 30-somethings. Bishop T.D. Jakes, pastor of The Potter’s House Church in Dallas, said his church continues to see an influx of young people who are seeking God.

“I have noticed that they come in, rather than have stayed in, our ranks. That is to say that many of them have had their prodigal son experiences before returning back to the flock,” he told Charisma. “There seems to have been an erosion of the ‘raised in church, stayed in church’ crowd. I think our parents who raised us in the church did a better job of instilling faith values in us than we did for our children.”

Jakes said he sees the need for church to remain cutting-edge in order to engage and communicate with this generation, like the Internet access to worship services The Potter’s House provides to those who aren’t coming through the church doors on Sunday.

To help pastors and relevant new churches communicate effectively with his generation, Cameron Strang, at age 24, founded Relevant Media in 2001. Strang said he noticed his peers were leaving for college and leaving church, and he found himself spiritually searching, but the church was not answering.

He said today his company sends multimedia kits to 300 subscribing pastors and church leaders each month through its Relevant Network, and publishes Relevant magazine and Relevant Books. Recent releases include The Relevant Church and Kary Oberbrunner’s The Journey Towards Relevance.
Marcia J. Davis

First on the list of upcoming projects is Gifted, a talent show patterned after Fox’s popular program American Idol Inspirational Speaker

A music-industry veteran and the son of Christian TV pioneers are teaming up to produce Christian-themed entertainment that will reach secular audiences.

The partnership will fuse Johnny Wright’s experience in the music industry as president and CEO of Wright Entertainment Group (WEG) with Matt Crouch’s background in the Christian entertainment industry as the founder of Gener8Xion Entertainment. Together they plan to create entertainment that will enjoy large crossover appeal.

“It is our goal to wrap God’s message–His love–in acceptance, and in a way that blends seamlessly into ‘pop’ culture while still upholding the values we, as Christians, value most,” says the mission statement of the partnership, tentatively called Wright Generation.

As a first step, Wright, a Christian who heads the management group for Britney Spears and ‘N Sync, and Crouch, son of Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN) founders Paul and Jan Crouch, are creating a TV show titled Gifted, a Christian talent show similar to American Idol.

Scheduled to air Thanksgiving evening on TBN, Gifted will feature 12 solo artists, aged 18-24, who will compete by singing gospel and contemporary Christian songs in front of a live studio audience and an experienced panel of judges.

A cross-country audition tour was to begin in September. Finalists were to be chosen from such cities as Denver, Houston, Atlanta, Miami, New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, Mobile, Ala., and Nashville, Tenn.

The TV audience will select the winner, who will receive a record deal and future management in both the secular and Christian markets under Johnny Wright. This fall the show will be a two-hour special, but Wright Generation is planning a full 10-episode second season.

The similarities between Gifted and American Idol are obvious, and Freemantle Media, the producer of Fox’s hit show, has noticed. Freemantle recently sent Wright Generation a letter stating that it is infringing on American Idol’s copyright trademark and requesting that it stop production of Gifted.

“We’re not going to be bullied,” Wright told Charisma. “Our show is completely different than theirs.”

In addition to being a two-hour special, Wright said, Gifted will have a number of features different from American Idol. He also noted that in his time working on Fame, an NBC talent show of similar mold, there was never any talk about accusations of copyright infringement from American Idol.

“Is this just a veiled attempt to shut us down so they can move forward with the same kind of idea?” Wright said. “The Christian community, as well as the secular community, deserves to have a show delivered to them like this, and it deserves to come to them from people that are in the Christian community.”

The statement is interesting coming from Wright, who until this point has not worked in Christian entertainment but now says that it is what he is going to move into in the future.

“I can’t begin to tell you how many times I’ve had people come up to me and say: ‘I have a great daughter that can sing, but I really don’t want them to be in that pop world because I don’t want them singing about those subjects. I would really like them to be singing about church and faith,'” Wright said. “How many times are people going to say that to me before it clicks?”

When Wright’s assistant, Philip McIntyre, met Crouch, he saw an opportunity for the two to work together. He said the chemistry between Wright and Crouch was apparent from the start.

Now a producer for Gifted, McIntyre said the whole project came together in less than six months–which is rare in the entertainment industry. “It absolutely happened fast, like it was definitely meant to be,” McIntyre said. “In our industry, it normally takes a lot longer.”

Crouch said that in their first conversation, Wright told him he wanted to “reshape pop culture that [he] was in part responsible for creating.” At that point Crouch says he knew God had orchestrated Wright’s career through the mainstream communications world and his career through Christian media so they could each bring a unique perspective to this venture.

“What burns inside of me … is to really put a new face on what the world thinks Christians are and what they think a life of faith in Christ is and does, and what it accomplishes,” Crouch said.

Wright Entertainment is currently making plans past Gifted for future TV and music projects, which they hope will help reinvent the cultures that each of them have come out of.

Crouch said they want to help people understand that “we, as people of faith, can blend seamlessly into the world because that was really what Christ said for us to do.”

Chris Glazier

Police Halt Christian Wedding in Eritrea

On July 25, police disrupted a Christian wedding ceremony in the Eritrean town of Senafe, arresting 30 guests and members of the wedding party, Compass Direct reported. Police ordered everyone who was not Pentecostal to leave immediately, Compass said. Thirty Christians remained and were taken to the police station. In early August, all but two had been released after signing a document promising not to participate in any evangelical Christian weddings in the future.

Anti-Conversion Bill Ruled Unconstitutional

Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court ruled that certain significant clauses in a controversial bill prohibiting conversions were unconstitutional, Sri Lanka’s Daily News reported. The Prohibition of Forcible Conversion of Religion Bill was introduced in July by the all-Buddhist Jathika Hela Urumaya party, which has been working to ban allegedly “unethical” conversions to Christianity. The legislation proposed fines of up to $11,000 and up to seven years in prison for violators. The court said the bill would have to be approved by two-thirds of the Parliament and put before the people through a national referendum in order to become law, the News reported.

Brazil Court Reverses Pastors’ Conviction

An appeals court in Sao Paulo has reversed the conviction last year of two evangelists charged with violating the South American nation’s “hate crime” law. The landmark case involving evangelicals and Afro-Brazilian spiritists is the first to test a federal law declaring it a crime to “practice, induce, or incite discrimination” against members of another religion, Compass Direct reported. Umbanda and Candomble spiritist groups brought criminal charges more than two years ago against Baptist pastor Joaquim de Andrade and Anglican Aldo dos Santos, claiming that gospel tracts they distributed at the annual Iemanja festival disparaged the African deity, and therefore violated the federal law. In April 2003, the men were found guilty, but refused to pay the fine imposed and appealed the verdict. Andrade hailed the appeals court’s decision as upholding freedom of speech and their right to conduct personal evangelism in public places.

The Army Medical Service Corps’ first African American female general is a licensed minister with the Church of God in Christ

Soldiers in the U.S. Army swear to support and defend the Constitution against all enemies. Similarly, Christians pledge their lives and service to God.

For Brig. Gen. Sheila Baxter, the two covenants intertwine. In the general’s view, God destined her military career and provided her with a broad audience to share His message.

“Your steps are ordered by the Lord,” the Army Medical Service Corps’ first African American female general said. “I believe He just pulled my star out of the sky and dropped it down because He felt that I was ready. Every day He reminds me, ‘To whom much is given, much is required.’ ”

As the assistant surgeon general and deputy chief of staff for force sustainment, Baxter oversees medical logistics policy, contracting, information management and facilities for the Army’s medical department. In her companion role as a licensed evangelist for the Church of God in Christ, she advises, teaches and prays for those needing God’s direction.

“I have tough jobs with lots of responsibility,” Baxter said. “You want to make certain you’re giving right counsel. But I’m confident because I have God in me and there’s no doubt He helps me daily.”

In her youth, the Franklin, Va., native never dreamed of a military career. She played basketball at Virginia State University (VSU) and planned to teach health and physical education after graduation. But a summer visit to her cousin, who was stationed at Fort Bragg in North Carolina, introduced her to the U.S. Army.

“A light bulb came on,” Baxter said. “I loved the camaraderie [of the military], I loved the atmosphere. When you get on that road God has for you, He will put people in your path to help you along the way.”

Although Baxter had completed her junior year, the ROTC program at VSU accepted her into its two-year program. Commissioned as a second lieutenant in 1978, the first female VSU player to score more than 1,000 points and member of the school’s athletic Hall of Fame climbed steadily through the ranks. In June 2003 she received her general’s star.

Today the 49-year-old, who also earned a Bronze Star and Legion of Merit award, credits several superiors, including Brig. Gen. Richard Ursone and Col. Robert Bowles, for paving her way to the Army’s top echelon. But a current Texas pastor directed the military commander toward her twin devotion to God and country.

Raised in a Baptist church, Baxter joined the Church of God in Christ while assigned to Augsburg, Germany, in 1986. Two years later, she heard God’s call to evangelism and shared her vision with pastor J. Edward Fisher. Several years later, she studied under his supervision at the Copperas Cove Church of God in Christ while assigned to Fort Hood, Texas.

“It’s not surprising General Baxter is a good leader in the church,” Fisher said. “I encouraged her to stay in the Army because she knows the importance of being bold and not fearful in sharing God’s Word. It’s unusual to have someone of her rank as an evangelist, and she provides a great example with her humble, quiet way of serving the Lord.”

Baxter says God has ordered her steps, sending evangelistic opportunities along the way. Several years ago, she hoped to attend the Industrial College of the Armed Forces but received an assignment to the Army War College in Pennsylvania instead.

While studying strategic leadership, national security and military strategy, she met Woodrow Woodall, a young man in her congregation who was going through a period of turbulence and questioning. His penchant for asking why directed him to several faiths and denominations, but Baxter’s counsel and guidance taught him to see God’s way of doing things.

“I have a very inquisitive nature and struggled with resolving tough questions, such as ‘Who are we?’ and ‘What is our purpose?'” said Woodall, a systems analyst for a Fortune 500 company. “General Baxter lifted the cloud of deception from me. I learned to stop shouting at God and started listening to God.”

Currently stationed at Fort Sam Houston in Texas, Baxter calls San Antonio’s Greater Evangelistic Temple Church of God in Christ her home church. Now serving her third tour of duty in the Alamo City, she and her pastor, Superintendent C.W. Steward, feel very much at ease with their respective spiritual roles.

“She is a faithful member, a diligent missionary, and a good teacher and speaker,” Steward said. “Even though she holds a prestigious position in the military, she conducts her church duties with very little fanfare. General Baxter simply offers her services to the church wherever they’re needed.”
John Hillman

T.D. Jakes Seeks Pastors’ Support for New Film

Seeking to duplicate the grass-roots campaign that led to the success of Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ, Bishop T.D. Jakes has been promoting his new movie, Woman, Thou Art Loosed: The Movie, in private showings for ministers in advance of its planned nationwide release this month, the Cleveland Plain Dealer reported. Starring Kimberly Elise (The Manchurian Candidate), the movie tells the story of a woman searching for hope in prison after a lifetime of sexual abuse, poverty and addiction. The film is rated R and features strong adult content and language. Based on Gibson’s success, Jakes said, audiences are receptive to Christian-themed films that aren’t sugarcoated. He has planned a dozen private showings nationwide and hopes to open the film in 500 theaters.

Group Plans Christian ‘State’ in South Carolina

A Christian group seeks to get groups of 12,000 people to migrate to South Carolina in hopes of creating a Christian “state” that will be governed based on the Ten Commandments, United Press International (UPI) reported. Cory Burrell, 28, a co-founder of ChristianExodus.org, said disenchantment with the current Republican administration prompted the project. He cited legalized abortion, the removal of the Ten Commandments from the Alabama judicial building and a lack of progress in banning same-sex marriage among the group’s frustrations, UPI said. Though ChristianExodus.org currently has only 600 participants, Burrell said he hopes to have 50,000 to 70,000 supporters by 2016.

Watchdog Group Fights Christians’ Political Speech

Christian leaders are fighting attempts by Americans United for the Separation of Church and State to stop them from mobilizing their constituents around political issues, the Washington Times reported. The watchdog group is filing complaints with the Internal Revenue Service against ministers who speak out on political issues or candidates. So far the group has filed complaints against the Rev. Jerry Falwell, the Rev. Ronnie Floyd of First Baptist Church of Springdale, Ark., and Charles Street African Methodist Episcopal Church in Boston.

CHRISTIANS ENCOURAGE ACTION ON SUDAN ‘GENOCIDE’

Some 35 Christian leaders issued a letter to President Bush Aug. 1 advocating his continued action on what they have called genocide in Sudan. Since February 2003, the Janjaweed Arab militia has been murdering black Muslims in the western Darfur region in what many observers say is an attempt at ethnic cleansing. A broad coalition of Christian and human-rights activists have been staging demonstrations in front of the Sudanese embassy since June. But the letter–signed by representatives from such groups as the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE), the International Pentecostal Holiness Church and the Assemblies of God–marked many of the signatories’ first response to the Darfur crisis, though most have been longtime advocates for Christians persecuted in the south. “We view this as an opportunity to reach out to Muslims in the name of Jesus,” NAE President Ted Haggard said, the Washington Post reported. Congress has declared the Darfur crisis “genocide,” and the United Nations threatened economic sanctions if the Sudanese government did not end the conflict by Aug. 31.

CHRISTIAN DOCTORS SUPPORT ADULT STEM-CELL RESEARCH

The Christian Medical Association (CMA) sent a letter to Congress opposing embryonic stem-cell research and asking for their support for adult stem-cell research, Agape Press reported. More than 2,000 Christian doctors signed the letter, saying adult stem-cell research already is yielding successful therapies for patients. CMA executive director Dr. David Stevens said embryonic stem-cell research would produce abnormal embryonic stem cells and would inevitably exploit women in order to acquire human eggs for cloning, the Christian news service said.

SKY ANGEL FOUNDER DIES

Robert W. Johnson, founder of the nation’s only Christian satellite TV service, died Aug. 5 from heart failure. He was 66. The chairman and CEO of Naples, Fla.-based Dominion Video Satellite and Sky Angel, Johnson devoted nearly 25 years of his life to building up Sky Angel, which broadcasts 36 TV and radio channels. In 1980, Johnson said God gave him the vision for Sky Angel, using what was then an emerging technology known as high-power direct broadcast satellite (DBS). Johnson believed DBS was the last opportunity for Christians to control the airwaves by offering Christian programming nationwide. A veteran of the Navy, Johnson is survived by his wife of 44 years, Jeanine, a son and three daughters. Johnson’s son, Robert Jr., will serve as interim leader of the company.

BUSH ASKED TO STOP SOLICITING CHURCHES FOR CAMPAIGN SUPPORT

Sixteen prominent theologians and religious leaders have asked President Bush to stop seeking church membership directories from Republican volunteers as a way to solicit campaign support from churchgoers, the Fort Worth, Texas, Star-Telegram reported. Co-written by Baptist minister Tony Campolo and Wake Forest University religion professor James Dunn, the letter calls on Bush to “repudiate the actions of his re-election campaign, which violate a fundamental principle of our democracy,” the Star-Telegram reported. Signatories include retired Texas Christian University religion professor Ron Flowers and former Southern Baptist Convention President Jimmy Allen.

BOOKS

Believing God
By Beth Moore, Broadman & Holman,

hardcover, 272 pages, $22.99.

The pages of Beth Moore’s Believing God are packed with 24-karat gold practical nuggets on the day-in, day-out fundamentals of exercising authentic faith. Readers are called upon to experience the faith-building principles that unlock God’s promises of all-surpassing power, productivity, peace and joy despite their life circumstances.

Designed as a nine-week study paralleling the wilderness experience of the children of Israel en route to the promised land, Moore’s book urges readers to take God at His Word. She boldly sounds a shake-up alarm to the church, comparing present Christianity, which she calls “big on systems and small on belief,” to the obvious nakedness of The Emperor’s New Clothes. Faith is the key to “close the gap between our theology and our reality,” the author asserts.

In Believing God, Moore presents a lifestyle that will inspire readers to reconnect with the God of wonders, discovering a “personalized place of divine power.” She offers a dynamic resource to equip believers to become armed and dangerous to the kingdom of darkness.
LeAnn Weiss

Breaking the Enemy’s Grip
By Eddie Smith, Bethany House

Publishers, softcover, 160
pages, $12.99.

Many pulpits in America focus on giving as a means of defeating what ails the church. On the other hand, Eddie Smith’s Breaking the Enemy’s Grip casts an eye on forgiving and finds that a life absent of this attribute will fall short of the “abundant life” God intends for His children. The Father has forgiven us of our sins; are we not to do the same when considering offenses we have experienced?

Smith’s cross-examination of this subject is filled with heavenbreaking wisdom and some “uncommon” sense that advances our knowledge in severing the devil’s hold on what rightly belongs to us: peace of mind and independence from generational sin. The author reveals that God has not only a new future for us but a new past as well.

Among the many truths to be gleaned is that every dilemma needs a “discovery” that will grant greater freedom in Him.
J. James Estrada

History Makers
By Dutch Sheets and William Ford III,
Regal Books, softcover, 200 pages, $12.99.

Dutch Sheets, senior pastor of Springs Harvest Fellowship in Colorado Springs, Colorado, believes that God wants His people to agree in prayer with past generations, creating a “synergy of the ages” that advances God’s kingdom on Earth. In History Makers, Sheets and William Ford III encourage believers to connect with the things God has done in the past and not view historical events as simply a matter of record. Sheets and Ford urge Christians to pray for the renewal of the covenants God made with their forefathers, building on His past work and, in the process, shaping the future.

One key example the authors give reveals how slaves found a way to conceal their passionate prayers for freedom so they wouldn’t be discovered by their masters. Ford, who is African American, believes that those prayers affected his family over time. The authors contend that these and other examples demonstrate that people today may be benefiting from the prayers of those in the past just as the prayers of contemporary believers may shape tomorrow.

Readers who believe in or are open to the role of prophetic prayer in this time will most appreciate History Makers. Those interested in racial reconciliation also will find much food for thought herein.
Christine D. Johnson

MUSIC

He-Motions
By Bishop T.D. Jakes,

Dexterity Sounds/EMI Gospel.

Although world-renowned pastor, author and playwright Bishop T.D. Jakes is known for his powerful messages and conferences, he has recently become a force to reckon with in the gospel music industry. His latest CD, He-Motions, is a musical compilation and companion to his book He-Motions: Even Strong Men Struggle (Putnam Publishing Group).

Backed by a speaking tour, the theme speaks to the needs of men and their specific struggles and demands. The 13-track CD opens with the “He-Motions Intro,” Jakes’ spoken words flanked by a neo-soul musical vibe. The gospel-tinged “Brothers & Friends” includes strong vocals from Michael O’Brien and Micah Stampley.

Jakes brings in some of gospel’s finest, including megachurch pastor Bishop Paul S. Morton on “It Doesn’t Matter,” Donnie McClurkin on the ballad “King Inside of Me” and newcomer Smokie Norful on “It’s All About You.”

The theme of fathers is stressed on Israel Houghton’s moving “Where Are the Fathers” and on Anointed’s Da’dra Crawford-Greathouse’s melodious song “Thanks for Staying.” “Beautiful” by Hallerin Hill gives thanks to women who have been a blessing. He-Motions successfully speaks to the needs and pressing issues of today’s man.

René Williams

Nobody but Jesus
By Melba Moore,
Lightyear Entertainment.

If you grew up in the ’70s, chances are you remember Melba Moore. One of the most beautiful and talented entertainers of the decade, her accomplishments spanned stage, screen and song. Moore didn’t fare as well during the ’80s; her marriage to Charles Huggins (also her manager) ended in a highly publicized divorce that left her emotionally and financially bankrupt. But she made it through that ordeal, thanks in no small part to her faith.

Now Moore is back with a new CD. The 14 songs on Nobody but Jesus cover a lot of ground musically while remaining true to the gospel format throughout. The newer tracks–such as “Rise My Sister” (a tale of endurance that could almost be her theme song) and “Call Me”–were written mainly by either Herb Middleton or the husband-wife team of Shirley Murdock and Dale DeGrot.

But Moore also tackles older gospel standards such as “Take My Hand, Precious Lord” and “What a Friend We Have in Jesus” and makes them her own. Throughout the disc, her vocals are tremendous. If there is any justice, Nobody but Jesus will be a hit with Moore’s longstanding fans while also introducing her to the younger gospel audience.
Dave Steinfeld

When Silence Falls
By Tim Hughes, Worship Together.

Known as the artist behind the modern-worship classic “Here I Am to Worship,” Tim Hughes displays his skills again on his newest release, When Silence Falls. Hughes’ songs tend to gravitate toward the private and introspective, allowing the listener a window into what appears to be his own personal prayer journey. The music features Hughes’ able vocals in a Euro-pop/rock setting.

“When the Tears Fall” stands out as one of the more poignant moments of the record, finding Hughes praising God in the midst of tragedy: “I’ve known sorrow, I have known pain / But there’s one thing, that I’ll cling to / You are faithful, Jesus, You’re true.”

Piano ballad “Nothing in This World” follows a similar style, offering worship and allegiance over worldly possessions. Celebration breaks out on the bouncy “Joy Is in This Place” and the soft rock of “Beautiful One.” Other highlights include the sweet acoustic sounds of “Holy,” the crescendo of “Whole World in His Hands” and the melodic “You.” The album closes with a gentle, unrefined reprise of “Beautiful One.”

With this release, Hughes’ artistry continues to build bridges between modern praise and contemporary pop music. Passion and Delirious fans will enjoy this album.
DeWayne Hamby

VIDEOS

Popular Fiction, TV Shows on VHS, DVD

Christian fiction readers can now enjoy the movie adaptation of Janette Oke’s novel Love Comes Softly (Fox Home Entertainment) on VHS and DVD.

Set in the 19th century in the American plains, this story brings a widow and widower together in a marriage of necessity. Clark and Marty struggle through the rigors of living in a harsh land and a new relationship.

Michael Landon Jr. wrote and directed this version for the Hallmark Channel. Although avid Oke fans might be disappointed with the changes made to make the plot work as a TV movie, the story still exudes the same charm and depth as the novel.

Also available on DVD from Paramount Home Entertainment are the first seasons of 7th Heaven and Touched by an Angel. The 7th Heaven collection includes 16 hours of episodes chronicling the life of the Camden family. The show tackles real-life situations.

The Touched by an Angel set includes 13 episodes as well as the series finale, commentaries and interviews. With more than 11 hours on four discs, viewers can again enjoy the stories of angels on Earth showing God’s love to people in need.
Leigh DeVore

Barbara J. Yoder grew up in the church. She says, however, her trust was damaged during her young life and that a battle with bitterness and anger turned into a study of existentialist philosophy and an atheistic worldview.

A “Damascus Road experience” and a “leap of faith” set her on the path back to God. Her story is one of overcoming an emotional life turned cold. Yoder has since become a voice of direction for a lukewarm church seeking its way: “It’s critical that righteousness be restored.”

Yoder is the founder and senior pastor of Shekinah Christian Church in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Her roots are in the modern evangelical movement, and through the years she has counted Foursquare pastor Jack Hayford and healing minister Kathryn Kuhlman as her mentors. She travels as a speaker at prophetic conferences and serves on the board of Christian International.

Growing up next door to the widow of renowned evangelist Billy Sunday, Yoder believed God had a plan for her but found the door closed. Her book The Breaker Anointing shows the Jesus she came to know, the “breaker” who bursts through the gates that loom before us. “Christ became real,” she says, “when He opened the door” and the questions of past hurts were answered with an understanding of His love. Yoder, herself now a widow, is surely an inspiration to her children and grandchildren and a church in America that needs to heed her call to reformation and renewal.
J. James Estrada

CHARISMATIC TOP SELLERS

1. Pigs in the Parlor
Frank and Ida Mae Hammond

(Impact Christian Books)

2. A Divine Revelation of Hell
Mary K. Baxter (Whitaker House)

3. Total Forgiveness
R.T. Kendall (Charisma House)

4. The Three Battlegrounds
Francis Frangipane (Arrow Publications)

5. Matters of the Heart

Juanita Bynum (Charisma House)

6. The Tongue
Charles Capps (Harrison House)

7. The Battle Belongs to the Lord
Joyce Meyer (Warner Faith)

8. (tie) Blessing or Curse: You Can Choose
Derek Prince (Chosen)

8. (tie) A Divine Revelation of Heaven
Mary K. Baxter (Whitaker House)

10. Heaven is So Real
Choo Thomas (Creation House Press)