Sir Brian Mawhinney says Christians have a responsibility to influence the values of their nations’ political systems
After 25 years of public service, an influential Christian Parliamentarian is stepping down from politics.

A native of Northern Ireland, Sir Brian Mawhinney served as the Conservative Member of Parliament for Cambridgeshire North West from 1979 to 1997. Once a professor at medical schools in London and Michigan, Mawhinney also served as head of the Conservative Party, Transport Secretary and Minister of State for the health department and in the Northern Ireland office.

While in Northern Ireland, Mawhinney helped begin the peace process when tension between Protestants and Catholics began to escalate. “We tried to find areas of common ground and build on it,” he said. “It was difficult because they made attempts to kill us.”

He said the experience taught him that no democratic nation should cower in the face of terrorism. “Democracies have to stand firm; they can’t be pushed around,” he told a TV audience during a visit to Orlando, Fla., in March. “You cannot accomplish by violence what should be accomplished through the political process.”

Mawhinney said his party supported the British government’s decision to go to war in Iraq, and he regrets Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero’s decision to pull troops from Iraq in the wake of the Madrid terror bombing. Still, he said, “I think the cause on which we are embarked [in Iraq] will prevail.”

Looking back on his career, Mawhinney said he marvels at how far God has brought him. He said he remembers sitting in an 800-year-old cathedral in Peterborough, later named Cambridgeshire North West, telling God he didn’t know why He had brought him there. It was 1979, and he was one of more than 90 people to apply to be the Parliamentarian candidate for the region.

He said while sitting on the pew, he heard a voice tell him, “This is where I want you to be.” Though the people of Peterborough knew little about him, they chose Mawhinney as their representative, launching his political career.

Perhaps because he had such a dramatic experience, Mawhinney said he has had a keen sense of calling to public life. “God calls individuals to do what He calls them to do,” Mawhinney said. “God has not called all people to be politicians, but He has given us the privilege of living in a democracy.”

He says that privilege breeds a responsibility among Christians to get involved on some level, whether simply by voting, participating in school boards or city councils, or seeking state or national office.

He said if Christians believe this is the Father’s world, “then we have the opportunity, and I would say the responsibility within certain limits, to try to engage in that process to try to shift the values of the systems to which we attach importance.”

He said being known as a committed Christian has been an advantage for him. “People like to know their elected representatives believe in things, even if they don’t share the beliefs,” Mawhinney said.

However, he said he has received criticism from Christians who believed he had no business in politics. “There is still a … stream within particularly the evangelical wings of the church, and I would guess the charismatic wings of the church too, there is still a strong sense of, ‘Come out from among them and be ye separate.'”

He says many Christians are concerned that politics requires compromise. “If we didn’t compromise with each other, there’d never be a church program,” he said. “If you mean compromise in the sense of calling into question the fundamentals of my faith, I don’t do that. In our system, we don’t have to do that.”

The 63-year-old plans to stay active in his retirement. Married with three adult children, Mawhinney is president of England’s football league and serves on the board of World Relief, a Christian humanitarian organization. He said he may write another book; his autobiography, In the Firing Line, released in 1999.

Although he says Christians need more teaching about how they can fuse their faith with political activity, he is encouraged. “Twenty-five years ago I was a serious oddball,” Mawhinney said. “Now, I’m just an oddball.”
Adrienne S. Gaines

Pastor Claudio Freidzon began the Operation Blessing campaign in response to his nation’s economic crisis
A leading minister in the Argentina revival movement that saw thousands come to Christ in the mid-1980s and 1990s has launched a new initiative to take the gospel outside the walls of the church.

Calling his effort Operation Blessing, Claudio Freidzon of 15,000-member Iglesia Rey de Reyes in Buenos Aires has been taking teams of volunteers to remote areas throughout Argentina to distribute food, clothing, medicine and other supplies, and to host evangelistic meetings. The pastor said the effort is an attempt to preach the gospel not only in word, but also in deed by combining evangelism with practical assistance.

Freidzon said he felt God calling him to “bless” his country after an economic crisis rocked Argentina in late 2001. Thousands were suddenly without jobs, banks
froze savings accounts, and the peso lost 70 percent of its value.

Burdened by the difficult conditions many Argentineans faced, Freidzon and his wife, Betty, launched Operation Blessing last year. The first Operation Blessing event was held in the province of Tucumán in April 2003, with more than 35,000 people in attendance and thousands reporting decisions for Christ.

In July of the same year, the second Operation Blessing took place in the province of Chubut, with the customary hospital visitations and distribution of food and medical help. The third outreach event was held in the province of Misiones in November, with 20,000 people in attendance.

This year, Freidzon decided to travel to the marginal barrios within the interior of the country. Accompanied by a group of volunteers, he visited the provinces of Tucumán, Chubut, Misiones and Chaco, thus impacting Argentina’s northern, central and southern regions.

Though many made decisions for Christ at previous events, the volunteer team was surprised at the response in Chaco, the final destination in the tour, when they visited in April. The Chaco Forever stadium was filled to capacity, with thousands waiting outside. Operation Blessing said more than 9,000 reported decisions for Christ during the outreach.

As Freidzon had done in previous cities, he collected a special offering to benefit two hospitals in the city of Resistencia, located in Chaco province. As a result of the meeting, the local newspaper ran a front-page article with the headline: “Chaco: This Is Your Time.”

The crusade also drew participation from local official Aida Ayala and other high-ranking government leaders. The governor even granted worship leader Danilo Montero the use of his plane to transport him to the event.

Some 450 volunteers distributed 20 tons of goods, including medicine and 500 books destined for Argentina’s rural libraries. The team also visited the Clorindo Omar Blanco School in Resistencia and Barrio Honda Chico School in nearby Sáenz Peña, where they donated books, school equipment, treats and even a television.

In an effort to touch every social class, Operation Blessing developed a conference geared toward professionals and businessmen, as well as a seminar for pastors and leaders that had approximately 1,700 ministers in attendance.

Volunteers also visited health centers, where they prayed for the sick and distributed diapers and baby clothing. A volunteer group of doctors, dentists and public assistants tended to the residents at the Villa Don Alberto health center.

Afterward, pastors from Resistencia reported that some local churches had doubled their membership at the end of the week. Some even said they had a renewed evangelistic zeal.

“There isn’t enough seating to seat the new believers,” one local pastor said. “Operation Blessing’s wide-reaching effect has caused our church to overflow.” Another pastor acknowledged, “This has never happened before, not seen in this way, the streets being invaded by the gospel.”
Gisela Sawin in Chaco, Argentina

Jailed Christian Students Released in Egypt

Four Christian college students arrested in January for possessing faith-based materials have been released amid international pressure for their freedom. According to the Barnabas Fund, Peter Kamel, Ishak Yessa, John Fokha and Andrew Saeed were freed on April 3. Police in the Naweeba district jailed them after raiding their rooms at a resort hotel in the Sinai Desert. Their Bibles and various Christian tapes were confiscated. “None of these materials were illegal, and there was nothing found in their possession which would have justified their arrest,” Barnabus Fund said. The students were initially charged with “disturbing the national unity and threatening the social peace.”

Pakistani Christian Dies After Torture by Muslims

A Christian who refused to convert to Islam died in early May after being tortured by Islamic militants. Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) reported that Javed Anjum, a 23-year-old resident of Toba Tek Singh District, was tortured for five days and nights by extremists from an Islamic school in the area. He was hospitalized for 11 days and died in a Faisalabad hospital on May 2. In a statement to police before he died, Anjum said he was searching for water near the school, but was accused by Muslim leaders of trying to steal a water pump. CSW urged Pakistani authorities to bring the militants to justice. “This is … an example of the threat that Christians continue to face in Pakistan,” said Stuart Windsor, national director of the United Kingdom-based CSW. “We urge our supporters to pray for Javed’s family.”

Jailed Chinese Church Leader Beaten in Prison

South China Church (SCC) pastor Gong Shengliang, who is currently serving a life sentence in the Hong Shan Prison, located in Hubei Province, has begged to be transferred. According to China Aid Association (CAA), the SCC leader recently told his sisters who visited him in prison: “If you are able in any way, please transfer me to another prison–otherwise just come and pick up my corpse.” CAA sources said Shengliang was unable to walk into the visiting hall and had to be carried in by four other inmates.

The lightweight champion and youth pastor from Tulare, Calif., says he’s able to reach people who wouldn’t visit a church

James Kindell’s reputation precedes him.

He’s known as the “punching pastor”–and it’s not because of his forceful delivery from the pulpit.

It’s because the youth pastor from Tulare, Calif., is an amateur boxer, winning a Northwest Golden Gloves championship last year and advancing to a national tournament. He even competed in the Olympic Boxing Trials, though he was disqualified after the third match.

“I encouraged him to get back into boxing,” said Dennis Sunderland, the senior pastor at Bethel Assembly of God in Tulare. “It’s a great contact with a segment of our community that doesn’t come to church.”

Kindell started boxing at age 10 while growing up in Seattle, winning a silver medal at the Junior Olympics at age 15 and five years later ranking seventh nationally in his weight division in an amateur boxing career that included 75 bouts.

A year ago, at the age of 29, Kindell returned to the ring after a seven-year layoff, winning the Golden Gloves title in Tacoma, Wash., earning top honors at a regional tournament and later advancing to nationals at the legendary Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas–placing second in the 152-pound weight class.

Nearly every day before heading to church, Kindell wakes at 5:45 a.m. and runs six miles. He trains in the ring on Tuesday nights.

“Young guys at the gym come up to me and ask, “‘You’re a pastor?'” Kindell said. “They see I’m not cussing. They see I’m different.”

Now, the 5-foot-7 Kindell mixes preaching and boxing, befriending street-tough kids who know nothing about the forgiveness of Christ.

“It’s part of my ministry,” Kindell said. “Most pastors aren’t able to reach these people. It’s a way of meeting some guys you won’t find in church.”

Win or lose, Kindell said his return to boxing has been a success because he gets an opportunity to share Jesus. Each Tuesday night at an aging boxing club, there are 20 to 30 boxers gathered, ranging in age from 15 to 25. It’s a vastly different group from those who come to Kindell’s Wednesday night Bible study at church.

“I wanted to be around street kids,” Kindell said. “Not preaching to them, just loving them, being Jesus with skin on.”

Married with three daughters, Kindell understands that he’s a role model. Tattooed above a crown of thorns on Kindell’s right shoulder is “John 14:6.”

“It’s just another tool,” Kindell said.

Ten years ago, Kindell burned his boxing shoes after becoming a Christian. It was an expression of commitment, showing that boxing would not interfere with his faith. Now Kindell doesn’t see the two passions contradicting.

“They complement each other,” he said. “I’ve been able to pray with people to receive Christ. If that wasn’t there, I’d be questioning my motives.”

Sunderland wasn’t reluctant to let Kindell climb back into the ring. He encouraged him. “He said go for it,” said Kindell, who Sunderland hired as youth pastor in 1997. “I’ve got one of the greatest pastors around.”

Kindell isn’t the first one to go from pulpit to pugilist. Former world heavyweight champion George Foreman is a pastor and is now talking about boxing again. “I listen to George, and the effectiveness he’s had for the gospel is tremendous,” Sunderland said.

As with Foreman, Kindell doesn’t consider boxing the priority in his life. He sees the sport as an opportunity to knock on the door of someone’s life. “James has a lot of passion,” Sunderland said. “He has a lot of passion about life in general. So his boxing is seen as a way of building relationships.”

Sunderland said he understands concerns about the image of a pastor trying to deck someone. “The only question people have is they think boxing is brutal,” he said. “But it’s a contact sport, no different than hockey or football.”

Kindell said he doesn’t box out of anger. He called boxing “an art,” saying it’s a sport of strategy. But Kindell admits he looks for the knockout. “I’m a puncher as opposed to a boxer,” Kindell said. “I’m a heavy hitter.”

With his fists as well as his words.
Gail Wood

Professing to be born again, the pair allegedly swindled investors out of $5 million since 2000
A Miami couple who professed to be born-again Christians have been charged with running a $5 million scam selling gold coins at two or three times their actual value, federal prosecutors said April 28.

New York native Armand DeAngelis has been charged in a 38-count mail and wire fraud indictment that may have cost investors $10 million since 2000, the Associated Press (AP) reported. He and his wife, Marcela Ospina Cardona, ran ads in Christian magazines, including Charisma, and made millions from the operations of U.S. Coin Exchange Inc., Coin and Currency Clearing Corp. and Twenty-First Century Grading Service Inc. The federal indictment said DeAngelis, who was previously convicted of securities fraud in New Jersey, controlled all three companies.

Using a Christian fish symbol and Bible quotes on its letterhead, U.S. Coin Exchange claimed to be the leading Christian coin dealer. But federal prosecutors said DeAngelis and his wife purchased low-grade gold coins and had them graded at a higher grade by Twenty-First Century Grading Service. “These inflated coins were then sold to unsuspecting investors at prices two to three times their value,” said a statement released from the office of Marcos Daniel Jiménez, U.S. attorney for the southern district of Florida.

DeAngelis’ attorney, Steven Chaykin, said his client is innocent of all charges, the AP said. Ospina’s attorney, Sam Rabin, said she “should not have been included in the indictment,” the AP reported. A citizen of Colombia, Ospina faces a conspiracy charge as president of the clearinghouse.

Federal prosecutors froze the couple’s assets, and planned to go after the $3.5 million Miami home where they live with their 3-year-old daughter, the AP said. If convicted, DeAngelis faces up to 20 years, as well as another three to 10 years for a probation violation. Ospina faces up to five years.

The following reports were released during the last month by Charisma NOW. Go to our Web site at to subscribe to the free weekday service or to access full-length versions of each day’s stories. The site also includes a search engine so you can access archived news.

PASTOR GOES ON HUNGER STRIKE TO PROTEST STRIP CLUB
When a gay strip club set up shop next to his rescue mission and Christian school, San Francisco pastor Roger Huang went on a 30-day hunger strike, refusing to eat or drink anything besides a cup of coffee in the morning and water the rest of the day. Sitting on a chair in front of City Hall, Huang called for, among other things, closure of the Chez Paree strip club and a ban on liquor licenses in the area, the San Francisco Examiner reported. Ending his strike on May 6, Huang said progress had been made. Local officials were looking at ways to limit liquor licenses, increase police patrols and clean up the area, the Examiner reported. Huang also said the owner of Chez Paree offered to sell him the building for $1.4 million, which the ministry is working to raise.

BLACK PASTORS DENOUNCE GAY MARRIAGE
Pentecostal Bishop Paul Morton and charismatic pastor Fred Price were among a group of African-American ministers to denounce Massachusetts’ move to legalize same-sex marriage beginning May 17, the anniversary of Brown vs. Board of Education, which desegregated U.S. public schools. At a Washington, D.C., press conference May 17, the leaders criticized efforts to liken the push for gay rights to the gay civil rights movement. They called on the Congressional Black Caucus to oppose civil unions and support legislation declaring marriage to be between one man and one woman.

DEFAMATION CASE AGAINST JEWS FOR JESUS DISMISSED
In May a West Palm Beach, Fla., judge dismissed a lawsuit filed against the nation’s largest Messianic Jewish organization that arose out of “a praise report” in a Jews for Jesus (JFJ) newsletter. Circuit Court Judge Catherine Brunson threw out the suit filed by Edith Rapp, who claimed that JFJ defamed her in a July 2002 newsletter by saying she was a “Jewish believer.” In the newsletter, her stepson, JFJ employee Bruce Rapp, said Rapp accepted Christ while the two were visiting his dying father. On Dec. 11, Edith Rapp sued JFJ, claiming the conversion account was fictitious and that JFJ knew the account was false when it published the newsletter. Liberty Counsel, which represented JFJ, filed a motion to dismiss the case, arguing that it was not defamatory to call someone a Christian. Liberty Counsel president Mat Staver said the lawsuit was an attack against JFJ because of its evangelism activity among Jews.

CHURCH RECONCILES AFTER 50-YEAR-OLD RIFT
The reconciliation of a Pentecostal church in Texas that mended a 56-year split has reportedly empowered members to influence the community. According to the Assemblies of God News, Family Worship Center was Full Gospel Assembly of God when it opened in 1935 in McKinney, now part of the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area. But 12 years later, half its members left because of leadership differences. The group that departed formed Southside Assembly of God, which later changed its name to DaySpring Christian Fellowship. In 2003, both congregations voted unanimously to reunite and combine staffs. Since the merger last fall, the church has registered a record-high attendance of 316 during a January service, at which 11 people received Jesus.

Andraé Crouch Honored With Star on Walk of Fame

Hollywood has a new star–on its legendary Walk of Fame. Eight-time Grammy-winner Andraé Crouch was to become the third gospel artist to be honored with a star on the famous Hollywood Boulevard walkway, joining singer Mahalia Jackson and the Rev. James Cleveland. Best known for songs such as “My Tribute” and “Just Like He Said He Would,” the pastor of New Christ Memorial Church of God in Christ was to be honored in a ceremony June 4.

James Dobson Launches Political Group

In April, Focus on the Family founder James Dobson launched a political sister organization called Focus on the Family Action, aimed at lobbying for socially conservative causes, the New York Times reported. Dobson has been making speeches across the country supporting bans on same-sex marriage, and this summer his group plans to begin a voter-registration drive targeting young Christians. Dobson said he will endorse conservative candidates as a private individual, the Times reported.

Shock Rocker Receives Honorary Ph.D.

Legendary shock-rocker Alice Cooper was awarded an honorary doctor of music from Grand Canyon University on May 8. A longtime supporter of the Phoenix-based Christian university, Cooper, 56, accepted Christ 13 years ago and launched the Solid Rock foundation to help youth avoid gangs, guns and drugs. Cooper, who has been married for 28 years and has three children, said he is honored by the recognition. “So they’re making me a doctor of music? A Ph.D.? Dr. Cooper? I guess school’s never really out!”

BOOKS

The Ten Offenses
By Pat Robertson, Integrity,

Hardcover, 240 pages, $.

Sadly, this book has little chance of widespread use in the arena where it is needed most: America’s public schools. However, although few outside Christendom are likely to pick up this book (except to mock it), one can argue that churches need The Ten Offenses: Reclaim the Blessing of the Ten Commandments as a refresher course.

Robertson’s book is a practical guide to the positive aspects of following God’s law–and the consequences of disobeying it. Not only is this material excellent for Christian schools and home schoolers, but it also provides fertile ground for small-group discussions.

Especially useful is the appendix, which includes preambles to all 50 state constitutions, all of which honor God in some way. The strongest call to Christians to correct their ignorance of the law appears in the epilogue, where Robertson notes: “If we live the commandments of God, then our lives will prove a far more effective testimony than any stone tablet, no matter where it is situated.”
Ken Walker

High Calling
By Evelyn Husband with Donna

VanLiere, Thomas Nelson, hardcover,
233 pages, $.

On February 1, 2003, the space shuttle Columbia disintegrated in Earth’s atmosphere, killing all seven crewmembers on their return from a 16-day space mission. Evelyn Husband, wife of Columbia Commander Rick Husband, writes a poignant account of the courageous life and faith of her spouse of 20 years.

Her testimony is supported with accounts about Rick Husband’s character from his acquaintances and friends. He was a Christian after God’s own heart: kind, compassionate, selfless, honest–no matter the personal cost.

Rick Husband’s faith makes High Calling so much more than a wife’s tribute to her husband. It comforts us with an awareness that Christ and His people ultimately triumph over death. Evelyn Husband and her children, Laura and Matthew, are not left behind.

Their own faith moves them ahead in preparation for Christ’s kingdom. They witness to the value and sanctity of lives boldly lived in Christ here and now.

As was Lisa Beamer’s account of the courageous life and faith of her husband, 9/11 hero Todd Beamer, High Calling is an excellent example of the new genre of survivalist literature. In the chaos of a world on the verge of a terroristic holocaust, our nation needs to look to its Christian heroes for strength and direction. You will cry with joy along with Evelyn Husband as she shouts in closing her book: “All is well. Hallelujah!”
Pamela Robinson

Throne Room
By CeCe Winans with Claire Cloninger,
Integrity, hardcover, 144 pages, $.

CeCe Winans, a favorite among traditional gospel and contemporary Christian music fans alike, recently released her praise and worship follow-up CD, Throne Room. This is a collection of songs to help listeners bask in God’s presence.

In her book by the same name, Winans continues the theme of worship by opening up and allowing us to delve into her personal worship experiences. She teaches Christians in a simple yet informative way how to worship.

Winans provides two keys to worship and describes the life changes that result from stepping into the secret place. The many cited Scriptures about praise and worship will enlighten the reader about the power and the blessings of entering the throne room of God.

She also speaks about worship and its power in spiritual warfare and why it should be a part of every Christian’s daily routine. Personal examples, such as her brother Ronald’s revival from death, 9/11 and memories from her youth of her father’s worship practices, reveal Winans’ warmth and transparency.

Throne Room also provides the background and the inspiration of each song on the CD. The book closes with reflective questions to help readers examine their own personal worship routines. Throne Room is a wonderful book for those who yearn to have a more intimate relationship with the Lord.
René Williams

The Glorious Disturbance
By Ernest B. Gentile, Chosen Books,
Softcover, 285 pages, $.

Author Ernest B. Gentile makes a solid case for what he calls the “Peter Pattern” in his newest book, The Glorious Disturbance. Taken from Peter’s first sermon of Pentecost (see Acts 2:38-39), the Peter Pattern is the sequence of conversion, water baptism and Spirit baptism accompanied with speaking in tongues. The pattern appears normative in the early church and the author maintains that it is the birthright of all Christians today.

The Glorious Disturbance seems to be written particularly for those who want a thorough theological basis for accepting Gentile’s belief as normative today and for those who may have been prejudiced against speaking in tongues by current doctrines and traditions. Gentile addresses the role of the Holy Spirit as recorded in the book of Acts.

The author approaches the subject in a thoughtful, scholarly manner with interesting side notes and charts, making his book more comprehensive than a basic how-to-be-filled booklet. Gentile gives us an understanding of worship in early Jewish tabernacles and how the church was born out of this.

He methodically discusses every form of baptism and how they correspond with one another. He also accurately examines many of the main denominations of Christianity and how they have traditionally defined the experience of Spirit baptism. This book is a great resource for anyone who teaches on the baptism of the Holy Spirit as well as those doing personal research.
Deborah L. Delk

MUSIC

Abandon
By Jason Morant, Integrity Music.

Jason Morant is a new talent to watch for on the modern worship scene. The melodic, haunting intensity with which he worships draws listeners in and pierces their souls on debut album Abandon.

Citing influences that range from Keith Green to U2, Morant creates piano- and guitar-infused modern-rock melodies. The strength of this album is that Morant never tries to straddle the fence of both artist and worshiper. He simply praises the Lord, and his songs stick right in the heart.

The 12 songs are packed with straight-forward titles and lyrics such as “Bless the Lord,” which states: “I left my heart in worship/Taken by the truth/That You are God” or the catchy, guitar-backed “Great Is the Lord” that says: “Forever I’ll say/Great is the Lord/Great is the Lord/You’re the one who set me free/You’re the king who rescued me.”

This stunning album is consistently good throughout, but standouts include Morant’s take on the classic praise song “I Love You Lord” (indeed a “sweet, sweet sound”) and the piercing “Sing Over Me.”
Natalie Nichols Gillespie

7 Sons of Soul
By 7 Sons of Soul, Verity Records.

Washington, D.C., is home to a number of gospel greats including Richard Smallwood, Byron Cage, William Becton, Maurette Brown Clark, Stephen Hurd and Patrick Lundy.

The 7 Sons of Soul have recently added their name to this burgeoning list. The group consists of six members–Cliff Jones, David Lindsey, Deonte Gray, Sam Kendrick, Nathaniel Fields and Paul Edwards, with Jesus Christ being the seventh nonsinging member of the group.

Their self-titled debut includes a number of traditional, almost quartet-sounding songs including the popular “Run On,” “Show Me The Way,” a song dedicated to the late Willie Neal Johnson of the Gospel Keynotes, and a beautiful harmonizing rendition of “Amazing Grace.” Not to be pigeonholed, the group also showcases an urban vibe on the laid-back “He’s So Real” featuring R&B crooner Raheem Devaughn and the hip-hop-flavored tunes “Job” and “Need You.”

“He’s Coming Back” and “Prayer Changes Things,” both with a down-home feel and driving rhythm, find the group reaching back to the roots of gospel. Gospel’s current premiere artist, songwriter and producer Fred Hammond, as well as Pam Kenyon Donald, make guest appearances on a tasteful remake of The Hawkins Family classic “What Is This.”

Most new groups do contemporary gospel well; few are able to transition so easily from the traditional to the ultracontemporary as the 7 Sons of Soul are. I’m sure we’ll be hearing more from these young men.
René Williams

VIDEO

Bells of Innocence
Good Times Entertainment.

Starring Chuck Norris, Bells of Innocence is a “faith-based” thriller in which belief in God determines the outcome of a battle between heaven and hell.

The plot involves Jux (Mike Norris, Chuck’s oldest son and the film’s executive producer), Conrad (David White) and Oren (Carey Scott), who are on a mission trip bound for Mexico when their plane loses power and crashes in the Texas desert.

The friends end up in Ceres, a town that doesn’t exist on any map and whose residents wander aimlessly. The only communication to the outside world is a short-wave radio, belonging to Matthew (Norris), a mysterious rancher who lives on the outskirts of town.

Joshua (Marshall Teague) controls the town and plots to fulfill an ancient prophecy of sacrifice and destruction. The visitors realize that the only way to leave is to become “agents of redemption.”

Bells of Innocence is spooky and engaging but is not recommended for young children because of its occult theme, scary scenes and violence.
Eric Tiansay

Munizzi grew up singing Southern gospel. Now, as a thirtysomething independent artist, she’s singing in a black gospel style and loving it.

Munizzi, a wife and mother, recorded her latest CD, The Best Is Yet to Come, at Lakewood Church in Houston. She wasn’t sure how the crowd would like her brand-new songs, but the experience turned out to be “so incredible,” she says. “It felt like we stepped into something way beyond ourselves.”

This album has taken her ministry () to new levels and brought her songs to the forefront of the music industry. Karen Clark-Sheard, Vicki Yohe and Ron Kenoly have recorded her songs. Kenoly says: “Martha leads worship with power, excitement and authority. Her sensitivity in worship helps you to know that she has spent much time in personal prayer and devotion.”

Munizzi also likes to talk about topics beyond music. Molested as a child, she used to bite her nails because she had a spirit of anxiety.

God has since healed her. And despite her parents’ divorce, she sees how her own marriage can be stronger. Munizzi does not dwell on her past.

“If I wrote a book, the molestation would be a chapter, not the whole book,” she says. “I’ve talked to others … who have had far worse experiences than I did. My childhood, for the most part, was happy. … These days, if I am led to share my painful past experiences with people, I love to say: ‘Look what God has done. He has been faithful.'”
Mark Weber

CHARISMATIC TOP SELLERS

1. Pigs in the Parlor
Frank and Ida Mae Hammond

(Impact Christian Books)

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

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

4. The Final Quest
Rick Joyner (Whitaker House)

5. The Three Battlegrounds
Francis Frangipane (Arrow Publications)

6. Matters of the Heart
Juanita Bynum (Charisma House)

7. A Divine Revelation of Heaven
Mary K. Baxter with T.L. Lowery (Whitaker House)

8. Within the Gates
Rebecca R. Springer (Christ for the Nations)

9. The Torch & The Sword
Rick Joyner (Destiny Image)

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

Marcus and Joni Lamb say their mission is to reach the lost through Christian television

God-given destiny.” Joni Lamb uses those words often.

On her award-winning TV show, Joni, she tells men trapped in the homosexual lifestyle that God has a destiny for them. Your sin, she says, is the roadblock keeping you from being all you were meant to be.

She tells women with unplanned pregnancies that God has a destiny for every child. Please don’t take that life and thwart that purpose, she pleads.

And she and her husband, Marcus, are, she feels, living out the destiny God has for them in reaching the world with the gospel through their Daystar Television Network. “It’s far beyond what I ever could have imagined,” she said.

Daystar is the world’s second-largest Christian TV network. “We are actually all over the world,” Joni Lamb said. “We’re in 150 countries. We’re on over 50 stations in the United States.”

Television has been a part of the Lambs’ lives since the early days of their nearly 22-year-long marriage. For Marcus Lamb, the ministry started even before that. He began preaching at the age of 15. By the time he was 19, he had graduated summa cum laude from Lee College in Cleveland, Tenn.

He was preaching an evangelistic meeting at Joni’s home church in Greenville, S.C., when he met his wife-to-be. Joni Lamb was saved at the age of 6 and filled with the Holy Spirit at 13. When she met Marcus, she was ready to serve and traveled with him all over the United States during the first two years of their marriage.

Then in 1983, Marcus Lamb says he felt the Lord leading him to start a Christian TV station. He says he didn’t understand why God would call him to leave a thriving evangelistic ministry, since he didn’t know how to build a TV station–“and I didn’t have $1 million.”

But on Oct. 12, 1985, WMCF TV-45 went on the air in Montgomery, first Christian TV station in the area. At the age of 27, Marcus Lamb became the youngest person ever to establish a TV station in the United States.

A few years later the Lambs said they again felt the Lord leading them to venture into unfamiliar territory. They sold the Alabama station and moved to the Dallas-Fort Worth area in 1990. By 1997 they were ready to launch the Daystar Television Network.

“The Daystar Television Network’s mission is to use television to reach as many people as possible with the Good News,” Marcus Lamb wrote on the Daystar Web site. “Daystar is committed to building and operating Christian television stations to refresh the lives of our viewers and help bring a spiritual awakening in the world.”

Now the network is second only to Trinity Broadcasting Network in size. Marcus Lamb said he hopes to change that in the future and overtake the broadcasting giant.

“The bottom line to me is souls,” Lamb told Charisma. “If I’m able to fulfill the Great Commission–to go into all the world and preach the gospel–it would make us No. 1.”

He said the network has received testimonies from as far away as Saudi Arabia. Viewers have written in, saying, “We can’t go to church, but we can watch Daystar.”

Getting to their current point of success–with some 120 million viewers domestically and potentially millions abroad via satellite and the Internet–hasn’t been without challenges. The most recent came in the form of a dispute with Sky Angel, a Christian-owned satellite company that sued Colorado-based EchoStar to drop Daystar and the Southern Baptist FamilyNet from its subsidiary Dish Network.

Sky Angel claimed an earlier agreement with EchoStar gave them exclusive rights to provide Christian programming on Dish Network. In January, EchoStar won the dispute and is still broadcasting Daystar.

“This is a great victory for the Lord and for the Gospel,” Marcus Lamb said in a statement at the time. “We wanted to stay on the Dish Network in order to reach more people and win more souls.”

Besides owning the network, the Lambs also host a show, Celebration, which tackles a wide range of issues from finances and politics to parenting and relationships. Marcus Lamb said he and Joni try not to be too traditional or religious in the way they talk, and they seek to offer well-thought-out answers to life’s problems.

“We try to address these issues in a very relevant, down-to-earth way,” Marcus Lamb told Charisma. “Since these are relevant subjects, even people who are not Christians will listen to the solutions.”

He said creating quality programming is the biggest need for Christian television. “We’ve got to do programming that thinks outside the box and meets people’s needs,” Lamb said. “The methods will change, and that will enable us to expand, and our influence and impact will grow. We’ve got the greatest story ever told. Our packaging just needs to be improved.”

Joni Lamb also hosts her own show, Joni, which recently won the prestigious Best Christian Talk Show of the Year award from the National Religious Broadcasters. “I really kind of had to be pushed into it,” she said. “I felt so inadequate. The bottom line is that the Lord began to really speak to me about the opportunity that I have. Am I ready to step up to the plate with the opportunity that is before me?”

She said the next step will probably be putting Joni in syndication. But while her three children–ages 12, 14 and 18–are still at home, she isn’t interested in expanding her ministry too far. “I would rather stop where we are now and have our family intact and see our children serving the Lord than to gain the whole world and to lose them,” she said.

The studio is just a seven-minute drive from their home in Euless, Texas. She can film her show and still be home when the kids get home from school. “They are the most important job I have, next to being Marcus’ wife,” she said.

But the Lambs leave no doubt that spreading the gospel through their network is their destiny. “The best part is to see people’s lives changed,” Joni Lamb said. “To see people given hope. To see people saved, delivered, restored, healed. That is the greatest blessing of all–to see people come to know Christ.”
Suzanne Jordan Brown in Dallas

It was a powerful experience to look into the president’s eyes and see his personal side.

Monday, May 24, 2004, was a momentous day for me. I received an invitation from the White House to join eight religious journalists for an on-the-record interview with President Bush that was to take place two days later. Of course I readily accepted.

Once there, the other journalists and I gathered with the president around a mahogany table in a formal conference room in the West Wing. I sat across from the most powerful man in the world, knowing this was a moment I’d remember the rest of my life.

When the interview began, I quickly saw that the president was allowing each journalist around the table to ask a question in turn. The first few questions had to do with policy, and the president rattled off answers as if he were at a news conference.

As he talked, however, I caught a glimpse of his humanness. Not that I didn’t know he was human–and vulnerable. I’d read our book The Faith of George W. Bush several times during the publishing process. But it was a powerful experience to look directly into his steel-blue eyes and see his personal side.

I sensed the Holy Spirit telling me to listen with my heart to perceive what the Lord was saying through this man whom I believe He put in office and whom we’ll endorse for a second term.

I asked: “Your election in 2000 was one of the most unusual in American history. Some would say you were lucky. In light of your faith, how do you view the closeness of the election?”

Bush said that while waiting for final election results he spent a lot of time outdoors at his ranch and was quite calm. He said he and Laura tried to prepare themselves so that if he won he’d be ready to serve. He made some other observations as well, about the electoral college versus the popular vote, and we’ll report that in a subsequent issue along with his comments about Iraq, faith-based initiatives and the cultural war our nation is in.

For now here are some observations I made about Bush the man:

* Bush is definitely a man of faith. He talked openly about reading The One Year Bible through every other year and a half and reading Oswald Chambers every morning, which, he said, “helps me understand how far I am on my walk.”

He said he prays all the time–not just at a set time. He prays that God’s light will shine through him “as best as possible, no matter how opaque the window.”

The president is mindful, he said, “of the proper use of faith” in a political context. “You can’t fake your faith, nor can you use your faith as a shallow attempt to garner votes. … The best way for faith to operate is … to let the light shine,” he said.

* He’s a man of tenacity and firm resolve. “I believe there’s a clash of ideologies,” he said, referring to radical Islam. “America must be firm in our resolve. … I will not yield.”

* He’s a humble man. In responding to Russell Shaw, a Roman Catholic writer, the president–a Methodist–spoke respectfully of Pope John Paul II. He said he has been “in awe in [the] presence” of the Catholic pontiff.

* He’s a realist. He said winning the upcoming election is not a given. Then he talked about how great his family life and his relationship with his wife are. If they weren’t strong relationships, he said, he would never put them through the rigors of a campaign.

When it was my turn, I added a personal note to my question, telling the president I pray for him every day. He responded in humility, calling it a “great gift for which I am most grateful.”

Bush also said that when he works the “rope lines,” greeting well-wishers as he travels the country, every two to three people say they are praying for him. He said that is “an incredibly sustaining part of the job of president … and it has made being the president … a lot easier.”

So I’ll close by urging all our readers to pray for President Bush. Whether you agree with his policies or intend to vote for him or not, we are commanded by the Word to pray for those in authority over us. He’s in a pivotal position at a pivotal time in history. Let’s pray that he will follow God and that God’s will will be done.

More than 1,000 people gathered in Washington, D.C., April 28 to raise awareness about the humanitarian needs of North Koreans and to draw attention to legislation that would allow U.S. officials to give North Koreans refugee status on a case-by-case basis.

Dubbed the North Korea Freedom Day, the event was organized by the North Korea Freedom Coalition (NKFC), a consortium of about two dozen organizations including Jubilee Campaign, Prison Fellowship, the National Association of Evangelicals and the Defense Forum Foundation, which aids North Korean defectors.

Though most media coverage has focused on North Korea’s nuclear agenda, organizer Suzanne Scholte said the purpose of the event was to turn attention toward the humanitarian plight of North Korea’s 23 million people, especially those who risk their lives to escape through China. The NKFC reported that those caught by Chinese police are returned to North Korea, where they are treated as defectors and are most likely killed or worked to death in prison camps.

Chung Byung-Ho, professor of anthropology at Hanyang University in South Korea and one of a dozen speakers addressing the crowd on the West Lawn of the Capitol, said 2 million to 3 million North Koreans have died of starvation and brutality in recent years.

After an April 22 train explosion in Ryongchon that killed 170 people and injured 1,300 others, the North Korean government blocked South Korea from entering the nation to provide relief and medical assistance. Activists such as An Hyuk, a North Korean defector and co-founder of the Democracy Network Against the North Korean Gulag, challenged dictator Kim Jong-il to “open his roadways and airways” to receive help for the victims.

Interestingly, on May 7 North Korea agreed to hold high-level military talks with South Korea and to allow aid for the train victims, the Associated Press reported.

On the freedom day, North Korean defectors presented testimony before the House of Representatives’ International Relations Committee. At the same time, about 200 participants lobbied key representatives about passing the North Korea Human Rights Act of 2004, which among other things will provide funds for nonprofit groups to aid North Korea.

Said Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., who co-sponsored the bill with Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass.: “In a free North Korea, people would have a chance to reclaim their conscience and put their faith in a God of their own choosing, not one dictated by the State.”
John Lindner in Washington, D.C.