God made our bodies to produce health unless we interfere.
Lately I have received many e-mails from Christians who are filled with fear about their health. My passion is to help people overcome health challenges by balancing their bodies with proper nutrition, herbs, vitamins and minerals, and their minds and emotions with the Word of God. But I believe too many people are ingesting supplements without proper supervision. They are running “to and fro” seeking the latest elixir for vitality or the latest pill for eternal youth.

Some people are so desperate for a pill to “fix” them that they forget the true source of all healing–God.

Nutritional supplements do have a place in our lives. They fill nutritional gaps left by our poor American diets. But if searching for the perfect supplement or newest supernutrient has become a way of life for you, you may have allowed fear to take the throne in place of God.

Take comfort in this fact: God wonderfully designed your body with an immune system that acts as the greatest pharmacy in the world. It makes more than 100 billion types of medicines, called antibodies, to attack just about any unwanted germ or virus that enters your body.

It helps keep you well and healthy and makes you well after a viral, bacterial or fungal infection. It can even manage to stop a cancer cell from setting up shop in your body and multiplying.

All the medicines made by your own internal pharmacy are completely natural and custom-tailored to work specifically for you. They do not produce side effects, are free and are the most powerful healing agents known to man.

Your faith in God and education about your body can arm you with the knowledge you need to stimulate and support your body, especially during times of stress, poor eating, lack of sleep and negative thinking. In addition, renewing your mind will reverse negative thoughts that can destroy your health.

I recommend that you become educated on the subject of your body. The Bible says, “‘My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge'” (Hos. 4:6, NKJV). A good source of information for you is my book The 90-Day Immune System Makeover (Siloam).

Also, continue to focus on God as your source for healing. Have faith and take part in the process, but do not become a slave to it! Before your eyes, you will see and feel signs that will cause you to be in awe of God’s intelligence at work in your body.

Here are some practical things you can do to improve your health:

Get enough rest. Regeneration takes place while you sleep. Sleep experts agree that although seven hours of sleep per night is the minimum amount needed for a properly functioning immune system, eight hours is still optimal.

Control stress. Stress and a depressed outlook can lower immunity. Prayer is especially effective in managing stress.

Go low-fat. According to the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, eating a low-fat diet may help boost the activity of your natural killer-cells, thereby enhancing your immune response.

Eat less sugar. Consumption of refined sugar can interfere with immunity. A study reported by the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that sugar slowed the ability of the immune system to eradicate, engulf and consume alien material.

Eliminate alcohol. Alcohol lowers immunity by inhibiting the ability of your white blood cells to react to infection.

God made our bodies to produce health unless we interfere. Notice the self-curing nature of many conditions such as colds, fevers, cuts, swelling and bruises. These are examples of how the body always strives for health and healing unless we do something to stop the process.

If you are too preoccupied with your health, take comfort in Philippians 3:20-21: “We are citizens of heaven … and we are eagerly waiting for Him to return as our Savior. He will take these weak mortal bodies of ours and change them into glorious bodies like His own, using the same mighty power that He will use to conquer everything, everywhere” (New Living Translation).

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Janet C. Maccaro, Ph.D., ., is a leading expert on natural health. She holds doctorates in nutrition and naturopathy and appears frequently on national radio and TV programs. She is the author of 90-Day Immune System Makeover and Breaking the Grip of Dangerous Emotions (Siloam). Maccaro lives in Central Florida with her husband and three children.

President Bush and U2’s Bono have helped inform Christians about the disease’s spread in Africa
The leader of the free world and a legendary rock musician have played an unlikely role in galvanizing Christians to help fight the spread of AIDS in Africa.

President Bush and U2 front man Bono are helping put AIDS on many Christians’ radar by highlighting the region where some 6,5000 people die every day of AIDS-related illnesses and another 9,500 daily are infected with HIV. Roughly 14 million children have been orphaned by the disease, with another 10 million projected to be parentless by 2010.

Bush’s promise to earmark $15 billion toward the global fight against AIDS in Africa and the Caribbean during his January State of the Union address led the National Association of Evangelicals to become “deeply involved” in the issue, according to a statement from the organization. Members lobbied Capitol Hill to ensure that a third of the funding would support sexual abstinence programs. And in June the group convened a forum in conjunction with the humanitarian organizations MAP International, World Relief and World Vision to examine evangelicals’ role in addressing the pandemic.

President Bush’s July tour of Africa, during which he again pledged to provide $15 billion in aid over five years, brought further attention to the AIDS crisis, said Larry Warren, president of African Leadership ( ). The Franklin, organization offers pastoral training to African leaders and is developing health clinics to help care for the infected.

The week of the president’s trip, Bono began a campaign to ensure Bush keeps his $15 billion promise. The effort has drawn support from many in the contemporary Christian music (CCM) industry, who have become increasingly vocal about Africa’s needs in the last two years. Christian musicians turned out in droves at a July meeting at songwriter-producer Charlie Peacock’s Nashville, Tenn., home in support of Debt, AIDS, Trade in Africa (DATA), the nonprofit group Bono backs ().

Artists such as Steven Curtis Chapman, Leigh Nash and Matt Slocum of Sixpence None the Richer, dc talk’s Michael Tait and saxophonist Kirk Whalum signed their names in a show of support to urge President Bush to send aid to Africa.

Singer Margaret Becker, who helps World Vision raise funds for its Hope Initiative () aimed at caring for AIDS widows and orphans, said the current level of involvement stands in stark contrast to the CCM industry’s response nearly 10 years ago. At the Gospel Music Association’s 1994 convention, she said the vast majority of attendees declined to wear ribbons expressing their support for the fight against AIDS.

“People had such an odd stigmatization about the disease,” she said. “It was associated with liberal politics … and left-wing leanings.” The Christian music community “was sort of like, we’re not about that. That’s somebody else’s problem.”

While insiders say some Christian artists are motivated to fight AIDS because of Bono’s involvement, others have taken ownership of the issue. Switchfoot’s Jon Foreman, who also works with a group of Sudanese refugees, said his Christian pop-rock band raises awareness about AIDS at concerts and included statistics about the crisis in the liner notes of its CD.

“When you look into the face of someone who is affected by the numbers, it’s no longer a statistic, it’s now a friend,” Foreman said. “The church … has an ideology that obligates us to help. I really believe we are to lead in this.”

Christian rock group Jars of Clay founded Blood: Water Mission in April to educate Christians, especially its young fan base, about the epidemic and to raise funds to support grass-roots initiatives such as African Leadership.

“We don’t mind saying the things nobody wants to say,” said Jars front man Dan Haseltine, who visited three African nations in December.

“Some of that comes from going into the mainstream rock arena and doing what we do,” added guitarist Stephen Mason. “This is just one more risk that really kind of seems like a no-brainer.”

Jars is donating its proceeds from an upcoming children’s book called Scribblepotemus to Blood: Water Mission. It also contributed to Mission: Africa, a “field guide” to mobilize teens to fight AIDS.

The book gives detailed action steps for youth who want to get involved. Its proceeds will be split between World Vision and the aWAKE Project, a Nashville-based AIDS awareness and fund-raising effort.

“That was our goal, to educate and then motivate,” said project editor Kate Etue, who has been involved in the AIDS issue since 2001. “We felt the teens could be more revolutionary than the adults.” She added that musician Michael W. Smith and author Max Lucado, who appeal to an older demographic, are also drawing support for the issue.

The push comes not a moment too soon for World Relief president Clive Calver, whose Mobilizing for Life initiative () has been helping African churches respond to AIDS since 1997. “We’re 15 years late,” Calver said, adding that HIV infections decreased in Uganda because European churches supported Christians there.

He said Christians in Africa bear a heavy burden, caring for the sick and the orphaned. “The real need is to pray, and the real need is to give,” Calver said.

A 2001 study conducted by researcher George Barna found that just 3 percent of Christians were willing to give financially to a reputable organization fighting the spread of AIDS in Africa. But ministry leaders say that is changing.

“I think that if Barna were to do that study now, the percentage would be much higher,” Warren said. “There’s been a lot of awareness raised.”

During a July press conference, Bono told a group of reporters he has been surprised by Christians’ response to his campaign. “Particularly evangelicals, who seemed very judgmental to me over the years, turned out to be incredibly generous in their time and their support of the effort,” Bono said. “I’ve really had my view of the church turned upside down.”

Though the level of involvement is increasing, it does not match Africa’s need, leaders say. The Rev. Jessica Ingram, supervisor of missions for the African Methodist Episcopal Church’s 15th Ecclesiastical District, which includes three nations in southern Africa, is raising $100,000 for a Balm in Gilead Center that will help care for AIDS victims in South Africa. She said many U.S. churches still are not tuned in to the issue.

Warren is familiar with her frustration, but believes the tide will turn. “Uganda cut their infection rate in half twice over an eight-year period,” he said. “There’s a clear example of how it was done. All we have lacked up to this point is the will to do it.”
Adrienne S. Gaines

As part of its effort to reach the world’s least evangelized regions with the gospel, Colorado Springs, Every Home for Christ (EHC) opened its Jericho Center in June. The 40,000-square-foot complex will serve as EHC’s international headquarters and house six other missions organizations rent-free.

EHC President Dick Eastman said the center will help facilitate strategic partnerships among missions groups by hosting regular consultation meetings designed to coordinate world missions efforts. “The point is that out on the mission field there [will be] some level of cooperation,” Eastman said. “If these [plans] were woven together there could be an almost exponential increase in church planting.”

The author of several books on intercession, worship and missions, Eastman said the complex has two rooms for intercessory worship, which those in planning sessions will be able to observe during meetings. “When these consultations are conducted … we will see them covered with 24-hour intercession and 24-hour worship so … God is enthroned in the strategic planning.”

More than 10 years in the making, the Jericho Center was dedicated Aug. 2 in a service that included pastor Jack Hayford and worship leader Terry McAlmon.

In addition to EHC’s 45-member staff, the Jericho Center houses the Joshua Project, an agency that charts the progress of world evangelism; Morningstar Development, which coordinates humanitarian efforts in Afghanistan; and Mission America, a coalition of ministry organizations that seeks to help mobilize the church for world evangelism. The ministries are not charged rent, but are responsible for certain overhead costs, Eastman said.

Founded in Canada in 1946, EHC has distributed 2.2 million gospel booklets in 192 nations, resulting in 30 million decisions for Christ, Eastman said. The ministry oversees an international staff of 2,000 full-time employees and 14,000 volunteer “associates,” who distribute gospel material to 50,000 homes daily.
Adrienne S. Gaines

The 82-year-old American missionary known as ‘Hermano Pablo’ has been ministering for more than 60 years
Considered by many Latin America’s most-loved evangelist, 82-year-old Paul Finkenbinder has been in ministry for nearly 61 years, but the man better known to the Spanish-speaking world as Hermano Pablo isn’t ready to call it quits.

“I believe a minister for God is a minister for life,” the ordained Assemblies of God minister told Charisma. “I don’t ever see myself retiring. I will probably be forced to slow down, and that’s OK. But I will be a minister of the gospel till the day that I leave this earth.”

Slowing down for Finkenbinder, who is battling prostate cancer, means less time preaching in crusades and speaking in conferences and seminars outside the United States. Last year, he ministered overseas for 75 days, down from two years ago when he preached outside the country for about 100 days.

Finkenbinder, however, plans to continue his widely acclaimed Un Mensaje a la Conciencia, or A Message to the Conscience, a four-minute daily program broadcast on Latino radio, television and newspapers.

On the air since 1964, the program–which features a short story, but with a very clear moral and spiritual application–airs more than 19,000 times weekly, reaching millions of people in 30 countries. Un Mensaje is also on the Internet at .

Amazingly, the program’s main listeners are non-Christians, including heads of state and business and military leaders, hundreds of whom have accepted Christ.

“I have gotten far away from God,” a listener from Chile wrote Hermano Pablo Ministries (HPM), which is based in Costa Mesa, Calif. “… Your program has made me think of what my life is like now. I want to tell you all that in this moment, I feel that the Lord has spoken to me.”

Demetrio, 23, who lives in Panama but is originally from Greece, told HPM that he learned Spanish by reading Un Mensaje, which is published in some 80 newspapers. “All of my life I have watched your program on television, heard it on the radio, and read it in the newspaper,” he wrote.” The program has greatly blessed me.”

Besides turning Hermano Pablo into a household name throughout the Spanish-speaking world, the program has made an impact with a prominent secular organization.

The International Center for Education in Latin America recently referred to Un Mensaje as the second-most effective program in all of Latin America. Un Mensaje has also been honored by the National Religious Broadcasters as the “Hispanic Program of the Year.”

Finkenbinder believes the show has been widely popular for several reasons. “The program’s main objective is to reach the nonevangelical,” Finkenbinder said. “Never has there ever been any mention of a church, denomination or religious order, and never has there ever been any … [request for] … money,” Finkenbinder added. “The fact that the program is only four minutes long is perhaps also a factor of appeal to non-Christians.”

Born in Puerto Rico to missionary parents, Finkenbinder felt called by God to be a minister in 1938, when he was 17. When he was 20, he married his wife, Linda, who is also in her 80s.

In 1943, the couple and their son, Paul Jr., began serving as missionaries in El Salvador. Twelve years later, Finkenbinder says God gave him the vision for mass evangelism through radio. Since that time, he has utilized every media tool to evangelize Latin America, influencing many leading Hispanic ministers.

“He is one of my heroes,” said Argentinean evangelist Alberto Mottesi, whose influence in Latin America is often compared with Billy Graham’s. Last fall, the school of evangelists at Mottesi’s ministry in California was dedicated in Finkenbinder’s honor.

Daniel de León, pastor of 6,000-member Templo Calvario Assembly of God in Santa Ana, Calif., the largest Hispanic church in the United States, added: “[He is] the greatest missionary of modern times. It’s pretty remarkable that he’s still ministering in his 80s with the same passion and enthusiasm of years ago.”
Eric Tiansay

In Shadowmancer, written by an Anglican vicar in the United Kingdom, God’s power overcomes witchcraft
A Spirit-filled African teenager arrives in 18th century England–only to find the place overrun with witchcraft. And the source of the darkness is the local parish priest.

That’s the setting for a new novel, Shadowmancer, that has been described as “hotter than Potter.” United Kingdom publishers Faber and Faber have deliberately pitted it against J.K. Rowling’s modern classic.

But the brains behind this latest blockbuster is a 43-year-old Anglican vicar, the Rev. Graham Taylor, whose inspiration is firmly rooted in his Christian faith.

While he has made wicked parson Obadiah Demurral the villain of the plot, he also brings Ethiopian teenager Raphah (from the Hebrew for “the Lord who heals”) to join in the fight against him. Demurral is a sadistic sorcerer, whereas Raphah is filled with the spirit of Riathamus (from the Latin for “King of kings”).

With two young comrades, Kate and Thomas, Raphah gets caught up in the war against evil. When Raphah calls on the Spirit of Riathamus, tongues of fire and a whirlwind are the result. When he prays for healing, everyone in the room is forced to the floor because of “the weight of the glory” upon them.

It sounds like a great plan that’s come together. But on the surface at least, Shadowmancer looks more like a happy accident.

Taylor–a policeman-turned-priest who’d never written a book before–felt “moved by God” to write a children’s fantasy novel. “I’ve been working with people involved in witchcraft for over 20 years,” he said, “and wanted to write something for children that was as thrilling and fantastic as Potter.”

While giving his characters a universal appeal, this father of three also made sure his story had a strong force for good. “Why can’t people get excited about the power of the Spirit of God?” he said. “I wanted a book that contained that.”

He prayed, and started writing on “a still October night” in his Yorkshire vicarage. So Shadowmancer was born–with its key references to a deity who heals, delivers from evil spirits and gives people peace and joy in their lives.

Taylor tried various publishers in England and the United States, but suffered from the common writer’s condition of “the rejection slip.” Determined to see his book appear in print, he sold his motorbike to fund its publication.

The move paid off. Last fall, 2,000 copies sold in just four weeks. Taylor started praying again­because he couldn’t cope with the demand. Then he received a phone call from the person who’d signed Rowling to her publisher.

On the caller’s advice, he hired a literary agent who signed him to “a very nice deal” with leading U.K. publisher Faber and Faber. “Then all heaven was let loose,” he said. Taylor appeared on TV and radio shows and in newspaper columns across the United Kingdom. Mail arrived “by the bagload.”

Some people involved in witchcraft asked for help. Other readers asked if the God of Shadowmancer could bring them peace. “It’s had a deep spiritual effect,” he said. This church minister ended up setting the literary world alight with his story of spiritual warfare. “It’s been called the ‘must-have book,'” he said.

Taylor later discovered the term “shadowmancing” is used by a group of American occultists to describe contacting the spirit world. The book contains stark warnings against such practices.

While the Harry Potter characters have “spells coming out of their ears,” Shadowmancer promotes the power of prayer. It has caused such a stir, copies are being imported by entrepreneurial Americans who are reportedly reselling them for $50 to $100 a copy.

Ironically, Taylor has experienced opposition from other Christians, who have challenged him for writing about witchcraft. But the author knows where the battle lines are drawn–his previous parish was Whitby, the dramatic backdrop for Bram Stoker’s Dracula.

Taylor feels that Christians should be writing works of fantasy fiction that can bring an influence in the marketplace–just like Shadowmancer. Penguin Putnam Books–one of the biggest U.S. publishers–plans to release the title in April, and talks are already under way regarding the film rights.

As U.K. bookstores geared up for their summer reading campaigns, Taylor had snatched the No. 3 position on the children’s fiction chart. But at the end of the day, he confessed, “I’d rather talk to people about Jesus than my book.”
Clive Price in England

Bright modeled the Spirit of Christ even in the most ordinary things.
History ultimately decides who is great and who isn’t. Even in Christian circles, those who are well-known when they die aren’t always remembered as great. Others, obscure while alive, become bigger than life later.

One man who is certain to be remembered as great is Bill Bright, the founder of Campus Crusade for Christ International, who died in July at age 81. Our obituary on page 15 lists his impressive accomplishments. He tirelessly pursued his stated goal of “fulfilling the Great Commission each year until our Lord returns.”

Bright’s memorial service in Orlando, Florida, was a virtual who’s who of the Christian world. Leader after leader recounted how Bright had influenced his life.

More than one person mentioned a contract Bright signed 50 years ago in which he made himself a “slave to Christ.” Perhaps this act of total surrender is what allowed God to trust him with an annual ministry budget of $450 million as well as the winnings from the Templeton Award–$1 million–every penny of which he donated to funding his ministry.

In a day when self-promotion and greed are commonplace in ministry, Bright was different. He lived an average, middle-class lifestyle and modeled the Spirit of Christ even in the most ordinary things.

I had the privilege of knowing him from the late 1980s, when we hosted a dinner for him in our home. That was several years before he announced he would be moving his ministry to Orlando in 1991. During the years I interacted with him numerous times and once invited him to address our staff.

In the 1970s I was influenced by Campus Crusade for Christ while a student at the University of Florida. Later, after my life was touched powerfully by the Holy Spirit, I became aware of the Campus Crusade policy against speaking in tongues and assumed Bright was against charismatics.

By the time I met him years later his position about charismatic gifts had mellowed somewhat. And toward the end of his life, he seemed to welcome charismatics, who were drawn to his emphasis on intercessory prayer and fulfilling the Great Commission.

Two years ago we ran a cover story in Charisma on Bright by Andy Butcher that served as a living tribute. You can find the article online at by clicking on the Bill Bright article icon.

After the article appeared, Bright sent me a letter. In the 28 years I have published Charisma I’ve received no more than a few dozen letters thanking us for an article. So the fact that he wrote was unusual.

But even more striking was the humility with which he wrote. First, he said how much he appreciated the wonderful cover story “about Vonette’s husband.” (Vonette was his wife of 54 years.)

Then he added: “My prayer is that our precious Lord will use it in a mighty way to touch and encourage the readers, and that they will know what a powerful Savior we serve. To Him be all praise and glory!”

Andy and I had visited him in his apartment overlooking a lake near downtown Orlando. I went along in part–I thought–to say goodbye to him.

At the time he was already afflicted with the debilitating lung ailment that took his life, and he was not expected to live long. But he actually survived for two more years, during which time he accomplished more, Ted Haggard of the National Association of Evangelicals says, than most men do in their lifetimes–including fulfilling all 80 of the mandates God gave him when he was first diagnosed with the disease.

That day Bright thanked us in person for the article. Then he prayed for me and Andy–a prayer I will never forget.

He repeated some of his prayer in his letter to me. I share his words now both to give tribute to his memory and to show his open, loving spirit.

He wrote: “Your great witness for our Lord, through your various publications and other activities, are an inspiration to us. May His hand continually rest upon you and all of your endeavors for His kingdom. It is an honor to be serving with you in the greatest spiritual harvest of all time.”

The honor, Dr. Bright, is all ours.

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Stephen Strang is the founder and publisher of Charisma.

The ‘G12’ model made popular by a 300,000-member Colombian congregation is spreading
A cell-church strategy that is credited with growing a Colombian congregation to more than 300,000 members is spreading in the United States, with one Louisiana pastor seeking to use the model to plant churches worldwide.

The G12 cell-church model made popular by César Castellanos, founding pastor of International Charismatic Mission in Bogotá, Colombia, is being touted as a new key to church growth by several prominent charismatic pastors, including Dick Bernal of Jubilee Christian Center in San Jose, Calif., and John Hagee of Cornerstone Church in San Antonio.

Castellanos is touring the world teaching at G12 conferences in places as diverse as New York, London and Nigeria. This month pastor Larry Stockstill of Bethany World Prayer Center in Baton Rouge, La., one of Castellanos’ chief supporters in the United States, will host an Encounter God, America! G12 Cell Conference to explain the model that he said more than doubled the cells in his church–from just under 500 to more than 1,200, with each group comprising 12 members.

“There are other cell-church systems; we don’t come against them,” Stockstill told Charisma. “But we feel this is a discipling mechanism. You’re not just putting people together in groups of shared interests; this is discipleship.”

Though cell-church ministry is not new, in the last decade G12 has emerged as a leading strategy, employed nearly as often as the model popularized by Korean pastor David Yonggi Cho, whose Yoido Full Gospel Church in Seoul once was the largest in the world.

“We tried it [Cho’s system] but just didn’t experience the growth we longed for,” Castellanos said. “From 1983 to 1990, we only had 70 cells.”

He said he received a vision in 1990 regarding a new discipleship program based on Christ’s model of mentoring 12 disciples, then sending them out to disciple others. “Jesus was reproducing His character in His group of 12,” Castellanos said. “We have to do the same thing. You have to choose 12 people, then you have to reproduce the character of Christ in those 12, then every one of them will do the same with another 12.”

Calling his program the Government of 12 (G12), Castellanos incorporates an intensive, gender-specific training curriculum; an Encounter weekend at which participants address hidden areas of sin and emotional hurt; and a School of Leaders course.

Castellanos said the approach caused his church to grow to 48,000 cells throughout Colombia. After an assassination attempt in 1997, Castellanos and his wife, Claudia, a former Colombian senator, moved to the United States and in 2001 planted a church in Miami that is said to have 200 cells.

“We have been able to show the world something that has been proven,” Claudia Castellanos said.

Indeed G12 is going global. In 2002 Stockstill began leading a Global G12 Project aimed at training leaders and planting churches worldwide. Dividing the world into 12 regions, Stockstill oversees leaders in each area, who all mentor groups of 12. With more than 700 churches planted since the initiative began, Global G12 leaders hope to start a total of 1,759 churches by the end of the year.

“I haven’t found a place where it doesn’t work,” said David Pursifull, a missions pastor at Bethany and coordinator of Global G12. “It’s a principle that’s flexible. It’s basically just going back to the Scriptures and doing what Jesus did.”

At Cornerstone Church, pastor John Hagee said since he began using G12 in 1998 he has had to add roughly 1,000 seats to accommodate the weekly attendance. But he said the system has changed his congregation’s spiritual maturity more than its size.

“Every member of our church was instantly accountable to someone,” Hagee said. “We were developing leaders of high caliber … very rapidly. What used to take years was taking weeks and months because of the intensity of the training. These [leaders] were mature, better-equipped … Spirit-filled Christians who were excited about evangelism.”

G12, however, is not without its critics. Some have said the model can become legalistic and works best in nations where people are used to being told what to do.

“Our experience in trying various traditional small-group models was that they often have to be managed heavily from the top level of church leadership, they involve fairly complicated systems, and require a commitment that most people are hesitant to make,” said Ted Whalen, pastor of small-group ministries for New Life Church in Colorado Springs, Colo.

While he said G12 is helping fine-tune cell-church ministry, Joel Comiskey, California-based missionary-turned-professor who did his doctoral dissertation on G12 and has written two books on the subject–takes issue with G12 advocates’ insistence that churches adopt, not adapt, G12 principles.

“Castellanos followed Cho exactly, then adapted [his model],” Comiskey said. “Now he’s not giving room to others to adapt his model as he did. My feeling is that we should be just as César Castellanos: adapt and be creative.”

Stockstill said his church did not experience strong growth until it adopted G12 precisely. And having observed the shepherding movement in the 1970s, he said G12 is not authoritarian. “The shepherding movement was based on total control of a disciple; this is based on releasing disciples, ” Stockstill said.

Other critics have expressed concern about placing undue significance on the number 12. Typically, scholars say Christ’s choice of 12 disciples symbolized that He embodied a restored Israel, according to the Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels. But Hagee believes 12 is the number of government in Scripture.

“When God established a nation, He established it around 12 tribes … and it has been through 6,000 years of persecution … yet it endures. Jesus chose 12, and He established the kingdom of God, and it has been through persecution … yet it stands. When you have that number, you have for whatever reason a divine paradigm that God endorses.”

Yet observers say G12’s strength lies in its emphasis on mentoring and releasing new leaders. Ted Haggard, pastor of New Life Church and author of Dog Training, Fly Fishing and Sharing Christ in the 21st Century, which explains his philosophy on building cells around areas of shared interest, said Stockstill is a strong leader whose church would have flourished with or without G12.

“I think the strength of G12 is that it places individual responsibility and specific goals on people so they feel that ministry is something they can do,” Haggard said. “Larry Stockstill is such a great Bible teacher that he could use any system and it would work. His success comes from his anointing, not from this system.”
Kevin Hrebik and Adrienne S. Gaines

After a nearly three-year battle with pulmonary fibrosis, Campus Crusade for Christ International (CCCI) founder Bill Bright died July 19 in his Orlando, Fla., home. He was 81.

“Bill Bright showed us not only how to live and serve, but he showed us how to die well,” said pastor Ted Haggard, president of the National Association of Evangelicals. “For any of us to live like he lived would be a wonderful manifestation of the grace of God.”

Once a self-described “happy pagan,” Bright is credited with sharing the gospel with billions worldwide through the Jesus Film Project, which has been shown to some 5.1 billion people; his Four Spiritual Laws tract, which has been translated into 200 languages; and through CCCI, which has 26,000 full-time employees and more than 225,000 trained volunteers.

In 1996, he received the Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion, worth more than $1 million, which was donated to promote his prayer and fasting initiatives. “He has carried a burden on his heart as few men that I’ve ever known, a burden for the evangelization of the world,” evangelist Billy Graham once said of Bright. “He is a man whose sincerity and integrity and devotion to our Lord have been an inspiration and a blessing to me ever since the early days of my ministry.”

In May, President Bush called Bright early one morning to tell him he was thinking of him. In July, actor Mel Gibson stopped by his house to discuss his film project The Passion, then viewed a portion of the Jesus film at CCCI headquarters.

Yet friends say Bright was among the most humble men they knew. Evangelist Benny Hinn prayed for Bright several times and visited him a couple of months before his death. “Rather than us ministering to him, he ministered to us,” Hinn said. “Everything he said was about the Lord … it was like sitting at the feet of one of the apostles. He never once mentioned his sickness; his focus was on Jesus.”

Bright remained busy until the end, preaching–though from a wheelchair and sometimes via satellite–and completing a list of 80 tasks he said the Lord wanted him to see through. In 2001 he tapped Steve Douglass as his successor at CCCI, and in 2003 he named author and noted speaker John Maxwell as chairman of his Global Pastors Network, which he co-founded with the Rev. James Davis to train indigenous ministry leaders.

Bright is survived by his wife, Vonette, his sons Zachary and Bradley, and four grandchildren. A memorial service was held July 30 in Orlando.
Adrienne S. Gaines

Phil Vischer, creator of the popular VeggieTales videos for children, is looking for someone to buy Big Idea Productions
A multimillion-dollar federal ruling against VeggieTales creator Big Idea Productions has landed the struggling children’s entertainment company on the sales block.

On July 1, U.S. District Judge Barbara M.G. Lynn of the Northern District of Texas upheld an $11 million April jury verdict that found the VeggieTales company had breached a verbal contract with former general-market distributor Lyrick Studios Inc. Lynn also tacked on court fees, attorney fees and interest, which could bring the judgment to $15 million.

As a result, Big Idea founder and CEO Phil Vischer announced a major restructuring and admitted he was actively seeking a buyer or large investor to save the company.

“We are in a full restructure,” Vischer told Charisma after the ruling. “We have to rethink how does the ministry go on in a more financially responsible, viable way?”

During the production of its first full-length theatrical production, Jonah: A Veggie-Tales Movie, Big Idea had a record full- and part-time staff of roughly 200. In the last several months, the company has downsized to 45.

Vischer said troubles began when Big Idea tried to develop too many new products too fast, creating a financial burden that could not be sustained. Then came the lawsuit by Texas-based Lyrick, distributor of the popular children’s shows Barney and Wishbone, alleging that Big Idea broke a verbal contract with Lyrick when the Veggie- Tales company shifted its general-market distribution to Warner Home Video in late 2001.

Big Idea made the move to Warner after Lyrick underwent a buyout that Vischer said changed the mission of the company. Vischer said he believed he was legally free to switch when negotiations with Lyrick failed to culminate in a signed contract after three years.

Vischer said Lyrick’s attorneys painted an inaccurate picture of Big Idea’s intent, convincing the jury that the VeggieTales company that touted itself as operating under Christian values just wanted more money.

“We thought we were right in leaving Lyrick for three reasons,” Vischer said. “No. 1, we had never signed a contract. No. 2, we had inserted a ‘key-man’ clause in the contract we were negotiating that would allow us to leave Lyrick if the Christian owner, Dick Leach, left the company. Third, we had also put in a ‘change in control’ clause to allow us to leave if the company was sold. When Dick sold Lyrick and died two months later, we clearly felt that both of those clauses had been invoked.”

A Lyrick spokesperson said the litigation was not meant to attack the integrity of Big Idea’s product.

“The business litigation between Lyrick Studios Inc. and Big Idea Productions Inc. was based upon a contractual dispute regarding distribution of the VeggieTales video and audio products,” a Lyrick spokesperson said. “The litigation was in no way a reflection upon the quality content of the product, as we continue to believe in the value of the product.”

“The jury bought it that all we wanted was more money and wanted to make an example out of us,” Vischer said.

At press time, Big Idea planned to continue developing new products using its original creative team comprised of Vischer, Mike Nawrocki, music director Kurt Heinecke and others. The next VeggieTales video, The Ballad of Little Joe, was scheduled to release in early August, and Big Idea planned to roll a re-priced classic VeggieTales DVD line this fall. Another new VeggieTales release, The Easter Carol, is in the pipeline for next spring.

“I think we are going through a great maturing process here, and I am not sure exactly how it’s going to come out,” Vischer said. “But I can say that this trial by fire has forged a very strong core team of creative and business people who are still about the mission.”
Natalie Nichols Gillespie

People are flocking from as far away as the United Kingdom and New Zealand to experience ‘a fountain of cleansing’
With ripped carpets, unfinished walls and holes in the ceiling, Jubilee Christian Fellowship could use a makeover. But instead of getting its own face-lift, this small church in California’s central agricultural belt has been hosting pilgrims seeking the Holy Spirit’s renovation in their lives.

Since April, Jubilee has become the focus of growing attention as–it is claimed–God began unleashing His power. The Holy Spirit has been pouring Himself into people’s lives, resulting in conversions, healings and deliverance, according to evangelist Joe Cicchino, whose planned two-week crusade at Jubilee was extended indefinitely.

“This church has become a fountain of cleansing,” said Cicchino, a former business executive who quit the rat race to start Oklahoma-based Vision of Love ministries. “This is not just about healings. It’s about repentance, restoration, reconciliation and moving into God’s heart of unconditional love,” he said.

In Tulare–a farming town of 40,000 about 170 miles north of Los Angeles–the nightly “visitations” at Jubilee have caused quite a stir. The community was soon buzzing with talk of “miracles and people falling over,” prompting local TV and newspaper reporters to investigate.

Why Tulare? Jubilee pastor Ken Bowman admitted he’s nonplused. A quiet, unassuming man, Bowman told Charisma he received a prophecy last September that his 50-member church would be “visited by God” and that the effects would ripple around the world.

Seekers have come from the United States, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. Some say they’ve been physically healed; others, delivered of emotional hurts. Many have come to bask in God’s presence, Bowman added. “People are falling in love with God and getting to know Him intimately.”

Every evening up to 200 people have crammed into the small sanctuary with the pews pushed back to create space for those who Cicchino said fall under the power of God. “There’s no preaching, no offering, no introductions,” he explained. “God’s presence is so intense.”

Rebeca Gomez has lived in Tulare for 37 years. Almost two years ago, an accident left her blind. Since Cicchino prayed over her, Gomez said her sight has gradually returned. Recently she was able to see her grandchild for the first time, she added. “Before, I could see only darkness, but God opened my eyes.”

Another Tulare resident, Esther Slape, said God healed her deafness. “I was stone-deaf. … All I could hear was a distant hum. Now I don’t even need to wear a hearing aid.” Slape said she also experienced spiritual healing. “Nothing compares to the deep peace I feel.”

When Steve Halberstadt heard about Jubilee, he traveled across country from Ocala, Fla. Three weeks later, he was still in Tulare. Halberstadt said he no longer needed his prescription medications because God healed his diabetes.

Like others at Jubilee, Halberstadt insisted he was not chasing signs and wonders. “I just want more of Jesus,” he said. “Right here, He is so vivid, so real.”

So real, in fact, that some claimed Jesus appeared to them in the church sanctuary. Others described visions of heaven and angels, or wept as they recalled God’s overwhelming presence.

Cicchino, a Rhema graduate ordained by evangelist Rodney Howard-Browne, claimed that almost 400 conversions in a two-month period–along with healings and signs–showed that the Holy Spirit was moving in a remarkable way.

“God wants to consume us with His cleansing fire,” Cicchino added. “It’s about less of us and more of Him.”

Cicchino’s wife, Ellen, said that just as California’s fertile Central Valley helps feed the nation, “God wants Tulare to feed the world spiritually as well. People are coming filled with pain, and the Holy Spirit is setting them free … removing the splinters from their hearts.”

Tim Vink, pastor of Tulare Community Church, described Jubilee as an answer to prayer. “Several pastors have been praying together weekly for seven years for renewal and awakening in our city,” he said. “The outpouring at Jubilee and the launch of the Healing Rooms in Tulare last year are answers to prayer. The kingdom of God is displacing the kingdom of darkness.”

Not everyone, however, has been impressed. Bowman said many church members stopped attending when the “visitation” began. Some people have walked out of the church after a few minutes–upset by the sight of those lying on the floor, covered by red sheets. “Others look through the door and say: ‘We want nothing to do with that,'” Bowman added. But he is unruffled by allegations of theatrics. “If we’re acting, we deserve an Oscar.”

Still, many mysteries remain. For instance, why would God choose to visit such a simple, humble church? Cicchino offered his view: “There was no room in the inn, but there was plenty of room in the stable.”
Julian Lukins in Tulare, Calif.