The young preacher says he wants to set the record straight about an offense he committed at age 14, before his conversion
Canadian evangelist Todd Bentley knows well the power of a testimony to convince the lost that no one is too far gone to find healing in Christ. Recently, he has also learned that when the secular media digs into one’s testimony, confession may not be so good for the soul.

In a lengthy feature article published in the September 2002 issue of Charisma, Bentley, 26, acknowledged that at age 14, as a juvenile, he had been arrested for assault. A March 2001 story about him that was published in The Report–a secular, conservative political magazine published in British Columbia and Alberta, Canada–offered a similar report.

But The Report story backfired when the mother of the victim of the assault read the article and informed the magazine that Bentley’s assault had been sexual and that he had molested her son, also a minor, at the time. Bentley served several months in jail for the crime, and five years afterward he gave his life to Christ. Today his crusades around the world are producing reports of healing miracles and thousands of salvations.

The Report writer who filed the original story about Bentley’s ministry called him back to verify the nature of the crime. As a juvenile offender, Bentley’s record was protected from public disclosure, and he said he had no idea The Report would then turn around and publish his acknowledgement of the crime.

“[The reporter] didn’t tell me he was doing a follow-up story,” Bentley told Charisma. “He was just friendly and told me what the mother had said, and I admitted to him in what I thought were off-the-record comments that it was true, but that it happened years ago and I had since been changed by the gospel.”

Bentley openly acknowledges the rougher parts of his juvenile past when he preaches in public, including his near-fatal drug overdoses, criminal burglaries, physical abuse of his mother and several stints in prison. But he said he has never talked openly about the sexual assault because of the stigma the crime carries and what he says is “the inability of Christians to forgive certain sins.”

His advisers, who include several pastors and counselors, have advised him to refrain from talking publicly about the sexual crime for the same reasons.

Bentley did publicly acknowledge the sexual assault during the summer of 2001 while leading a conference and crusade in Kewlona, British Columbia. He had received the support of the New Life Vineyard church in Kewlona to use their facilities for the events, and organizers had installed posters advertising the event around town.

The family of the assault victim had moved to Kewlona, and when they saw the posters with Bentley’s name, they contacted local media. Bentley decided to address the local outcry by going on the 6 p.m. local TV-news broadcast. He admitted the crime on-air, asked for forgiveness, told viewers how ashamed he was, and how he was transformed five years after the incident by the gospel’s power.

“From that incident up to this article in The Report, our ministry has not had one complaint about this revelation from my past,” Bentley told Charisma. “The church in Kewlona stood behind me and continued to allow me to use their facilities to finish the conference. The protests stopped after I went on TV, and they aired that broadcast two or three times.”

Bentley, who is now married and has children of his own, said he has feared Christians would be afraid to leave their children around him if the
juvenile sex-offense were known. He says he will report on the crime in a book he is writing that is expected to release this year.

Two ministers who provide pastoral covering for Bentley told Charisma they have full confidence that God has forgiven him for his juvenile crimes and that he is in no way susceptible to repeat offenses of that nature.

“Todd is in good standing with us, and we believe him most definitely to be restored,” Pat Cocking said. “There has been no sign at all of any questionable behavior.”

Bobby Conner of Demonstration of God’s Power Ministries in Moravian Falls, N.C., echoed Cocking’s sentiments.

“I do serve on Todd’s watch-care group and minister with him several times a year,” Conner said. “I know that he is a faithful young man. The anointing on his life is awesome. I feel he has been up-front with me and the watch-care group about his life before Christ. It seems well to move on now and not to continue to open what God has forgiven and covered.”
Billy Bruce

Pageant winner Erika Harold, a Pentecostal, says opposition to her stand won’t stop her from speaking her mind
Reigning Miss America Erika Harold, a Pentecostal Christian, has a message for young people: The best sex happens if you wait until marriage. Her message of abstinence, however, has been met with opposition by at least one official associated with her new position.

Harold, a member of an Assemblies of God church, said the negative reaction from a person she described as being in the organization but not on the Miss America staff will not keep her from speaking her mind on the subject.

“I find this disturbing because abstinence is the only way to keep young people safe,” she told Charisma.

Harold spoke about premarital chastity for years as she traveled in Illinois with the Chicago-based nonprofit group Project Reality, well before winning the Miss Illinois title.

“Hopefully, during the course of the year they will see the benefit there is to share this type of message with young people,” she said. Her choice to abstain from sex until marriage has been instrumental in her success. And she said kids who hear her message are “unbelievably receptive.”

“I’m really trying to make the idea of abstinence connect with freedom, with power and with self-respect because the tendency is to think of abstinence as something very passive. It has freed me to achieve many of my goals,” she said.

The wide variety of social gatherings she is required to speak for means that she cannot always acknowledge the Lord verbally, Harold said. But she’s very aware that God is using her at all times in one of the highest-profile roles in America.

Often, Harold said, people will ask if she is a Christian, even if she hasn’t said anything about God. She knows God has a purpose in her winning this honor, and she trusts Him to fulfill it.

“One of the lessons I’ve learned in life is to not figure out what God is doing but just be obedient and do it,” she said. Harold said she simply tries to communicate her authentic feelings with the many audiences she addresses.

Harold and her family attend Urbana Assembly of God in Urbana, Ill., a church with a multicultural appeal. About 50 percent of the congregation is white, one-quarter is African American or African, and the rest are Hispanic, Asian or of other ethnic origins.

Harold’s family fits right in. Her father, Bob, is of Greek, German, Welsh and English descent. Her mother, Donna, is African American, Cherokee, Choctaw and Russian.

Bob Harold said he is impressed with his daughter’s strong faith and gifted intellectual abilities–she has deferred a Harvard Law School scholarship to serve as Miss America. “She’s a person who can articulate the truth in a passionate way that can change lives,” he said of his daughter’s abstinence platform.

When Harold was in the ninth grade, she suffered harassment by a few boys at the school that was so severe that today she can speak with authority about the problem of bullying. “God gave her the ability to forgive those people and move on,” her father said.

Urbana Assembly of God pastor Gary Grogan describes Harold’s relationship with God as authentic. “Her title is God’s way to spread the message of abstinence,” he said. “Her real destiny is to make an impact on the youth of America.”

Harold challenges Christian youth to go for God’s dream in their lives. “God will use willing hearts and spirits,” she said.
Richard Daigle

He instructs leaders to perform ‘for an audience of one’
Worship seminars may be an effective tool for improving corporate praise in local churches, but well-known worship leader Ron Kenoly likes to teach worship teams how to lead the individual congregant into a more personal worship experience.

How? Kenoly takes the emphasis off of music for the masses and places it on a message for an audience of one.

“I’ve been to so many seminars where people leave with head knowledge, but their heart hasn’t been ministered to,” said Kenoly, a renowned songwriter and recording artist. “They go away with notebooks of information but are broken inside.”

His firsthand knowledge of the shortcomings of such seminars led him to start the Academy of Praise, a mentoring program for worship leaders and others in Christian music. Through one-week seminars held yearly in his hometown of Orlando, Fla., Kenoly attempts to impart the musical style that he has demonstrated since the mid-1980s.

With two conferences under his belt, Kenoly is planning the third for May 19-23. The February 2002 conference brought 100 people from 12 countries.

Kenoly, who enlisted help in earlier seminars from fellow worship leader Don Moen, pastor Sharon Daugherty and pianist Adlan Cruz, will again be joined by his personal mentor, Bahamian pastor and author Myles Munroe, for the upcoming seminar. The small number of attendees allows Kenoly to engage in one-on-one sessions crucial to the program’s success.

“I make myself available to 100 people to sit down and counsel them on whatever issues they might be going through,” Kenoly said. “There are some leaders with questions that they can’t ask publicly. Out of personal integrity they can’t stand up and say, ‘My pastor does this, and I hate it.'”

Kenoly believes people look to mirror someone who has done what they’re trying to do.

“It’s not like they’re putting something on me that I’ve never dealt with. I’m 57 years old, and I’ve dealt with health issues, family issues, financial issues and relationship issues, and God has given me victory over them. I can give them a solution that works–praying, fasting, forgiving and submitting to authority,” the singer said.

In addition to the individual sessions, the academy includes nighttime worship services and day sessions on topics such as principles of worship, patterns of worship, power of worship and practicals of worship.

The academy ends with personal prayer, laying on of hands and the presentation of certificates of completion. “So many have never been endorsed by their pastor,” Kenoly said. “Worship leaders need validation and affirmation.”

According to Kenoly, worship leaders often are hired because they have a good voice, but they may not be qualified to deal with the equally important areas of administration, human interaction, music arrangement and Bible knowledge.

“It’s good to know all about the tabernacle of Moses and how the positions of the tribes were located, but when John is not getting along with Karen, you’ve got to step in and deal with that.”

Some pastors don’t understand the importance people place on worship, he noted. Many seekers select churches based solely on that element.

“Music has a way of breaking the heaviness that’s over people’s lives. When Moses brought the children of Israel across the Red Sea he didn’t preach to them, pray for them or prophesy over them. The first thing he did was write a song.”

Although the seminars currently are held once a year, Kenoly’s goal is to offer the courses in three-month terms. He also plans to take the academy to different countries starting with Brazil, England, the Philippines and South Africa in 2003.

The cost to attend the academy is approximately $200, and a pastoral recommendation is required. For information call (888) PRAISES.
Rhonda Sholar

From matriarch Violet, 77, to grandson Patrick, 28, three generations are taking the gospel to the city
Amid political upheaval, racial tension and surging crime in Oakland, Calif., Violet Kiteley, son David, and grandchildren Patrick and Melinda have lived, ministered and thrived, staking a spiritual claim in one of America’s toughest cities.

The Kiteleys’ unorthodox approach to sharing the gospel not only has touched virtually every corner of the neighborhood where their Shiloh Christian Fellowship is located, but it also has extended to 60 nations.

Violet Kiteley, now 77, was a ministry pioneer long before she arrived in Oakland, which is known for having one of America’s most dangerous and poorest inner cities. She was one of the first prominent female preachers of the 20th century and a bellwether of Pentecostal revival in the Latter Rain movement that produced preachers William Branham and Oral Roberts.

She prayed to accept Christ as her Savior at age 6. As a teen she received a prophecy given through Aimee Semple McPherson. “She put her hand on my head and said that the mantle of God was on [me] and I would minister around the world,” Kiteley recalled.

During World War II, many male pastors were drafted into military service. To fill the need in the Assemblies of God in her native British Columbia, Kiteley–who had taught Sunday school–became a pulpit preacher.

Ministry for her could have had an early end. On July 13, 1945, her husband of less than a year was killed in an airplane crash. At the time, she was pregnant. David was born in October of that year, but Kiteley remained hospitalized for a time and could not walk for 13 months.

In 1965, Violet and David moved to Oakland to plant a church. In the midst of the Civil Rights Movement and in the hometown of the militant Black Panthers, the mother-and-son ministry team started Shiloh as a Bible study in the living room of an African American family–then expanded it into a Bible school. Today the independent Pentecostal church has about 2,000 members, and the school has satellite campuses in six countries.

“Our mission is restoration,” said Violet, who now heads the Bible school. “We want to see racial, economic and gender reconciliation.”

When the Kiteleys learned that a nearby street was a haven for drug trafficking, they instituted block parties and held a health fair. Crime plummeted on that street and others.

In 1988, Shiloh was honored for its role by then-California Gov. George Deukmejian and by the National Crime Prevention Council. Subsequently, Shiloh has partnered with the Oakland Police Department on many projects, including Christmas dinners and fingerprinting children for identification.

David Kiteley, who now serves as senior pastor, leads a mid-week Bible study that is attended by about 75 police officers. In the 1960s, he marched with the Civil Rights protesters, and for most of his ministry years the city has been predominantly African American.

However, that has started to change. The African American population in Oakland has dipped from 65 percent to 41 percent. New arrivals come from Asia, Latin America and the South Pacific.

“When the demographics change,” David said, “we have to change our ministry. We used to have just Black History Day. Now we have an Asian day and a Hispanic day. Our people have to be culturally aware.”

Today, the church is 35 percent African American, 30 percent Caucasian, 15 percent Hispanic, 10 percent African national, and 10 percent Asian and Pacific Islander.

“It is not enough to just get different races to come to church together on Sunday,” David said. “We are not integrated until we have shared a meal together, been in each other’s homes and heard each other’s stories.”

David’s son Patrick, 28, was raised in this cross-cultural environment. The younger Kiteley leads the Saturday night youth-and-college service at Shiloh and is on course to become senior pastor when his father steps aside.

Patrick Kiteley helps facilitate Bible studies for several hundred students at the University of California at Berkeley and at California State University at Hayward. He also served on the advisory board for The Call DC.
Steven Lawson in Oakland, Calif.

People with body piercings, tattoos and wild hairstyles find acceptance and love at a new Colorado church
They’re not really the “scum of the earth,” but attendees of a church by that name in Denver don’t mind being called its members. With their tattoos, body piercings and alternative hairstyles, they are finding acceptance in a setting that’s meant to make outcasts feel welcome so they can hear the gospel.

Scum of the Earth began two and a half years ago as a Bible study led by the Christian band Five Iron Frenzy. The church’s name isn’t meant to be degrading to its members or other churches, according to Mike Sares, pastor of the church.

Rather, it’s based on 1 Corinthians 4:11-13: “To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless. We work hard with our own hands. When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; when we are slandered, we answer kindly. Up to this moment we have become the scum of the earth, the refuse of the world” (NIV).

A visit to a Sunday night service finds about 200-plus people stuffed into a coffeehouse. Instead of pews, there’s a handful of couches and a large floor space for mingling. Before the service, attendees are invited to a cooking class that’s followed by a full buffet for anyone who wants to come.

Everything from grilled-cheese sandwiches to eggplant Parmesan to fettuccini Alfredo is served free of charge. The service includes a message from Sares or Reese Roper, Frenzy’s lead singer. Afterward the church becomes a kind of house-party hangout.

The Bible study started out being hosted in band members’ homes, but when a larger meeting place was needed, Sares–who pastored several of the band members–offered space at Corona Presbyterian Church, where he was the minister.

He became the host pastor, but Roper continued to lead the study. Eventually Sares suggested it should become a separate church service, but the band’s touring schedule made it impossible.

In early 2000, things began lining up. Sares had resigned from the Presbyterian church, and Roper had several months off from touring. So Sares, band members and Bible-study attendees met in Sares’ living room to design a church setting that would allow people to be themselves. They wanted kids to be comfortable enough to invite friends like them who wouldn’t find traditional service styles appealing.

Anyone is welcome, and Sares said during the last year the congregation of skaters and punks has grown to include a significant number of disenchanted suburban youth.

“We’re the church for the left-out and the right-brained,” Sares said. “I just hope the suburban kids don’t crowd out the rest. So far it looks like a place where they can mix.”

In the spring, a trial run of small groups was organized. Special interests, rather than a particular book of the Bible, was the emphasis.

“We had a girls’ skateboarding small group, people who want to learn Spanish small group, and a propaganda small group [for graphic artists]. They had to do three things: meet together for prayer and study, do a service to the poor, and have fun together. We’re going to start them up again.”
Margaret Feinberg in Denver

Tampa-based Billy Burke is said to have raised auto salesman John Holloman from near-death during service
While liberal theologians debate whether or not miracles are for today, pastor Billy Burke of Tampa, Fla., conducts healing services three times a week. John Holloman, a Tampa auto salesman who attended one of Burke’s services, is one person who would check the “Yes–for miracles today” box if that debate were ever put to a vote.

Burke is the senior pastor of The Miracle Center World Outreach in Tampa and host of a weekly half-hour TV program titled Expect a Miracle. He has conducted healing crusades in various countries for the last 20 years.

Holloman suffered a heart attack during a healing service Burke was leading in April of last year at First Assembly of God in Fort Myers, Fla. Paramedics were called, but a physician in attendance said Holloman had no pulse. When Burke prayed for him, Holloman revived.

“I am not a medical doctor so I will leave it to others who are qualified to say if he died or not,” said Dan Betzer, pastor of First Assembly. “But I can say of surety that if he wasn’t dead, there wasn’t much hope he would ever leave church alive. Brother Burke’s prayers, surrounded by the congregation, did bring the spirit of resurrection into that man’s body.”

Doctors at Health Park Hospital found Holloman’s right ventricular valve so weakened they were surprised he made it to the hospital. Holloman was an alcoholic and not a Christian before his healing.

“I hadn’t wanted to go to church that night, but my wife insisted–which was a surprise to me, since she hadn’t given her life to the Lord either,” Holloman said. “When I knew something was very wrong, I turned to my wife, said, ‘I love you,’ and blacked out. I learned the details later.”

As evidence of Holloman’s changed life, he has been sober since the healing, his wife has gotten saved, and he has led five others to Christ. “Now all I talk about is the Lord,” he said.

Burke’s personal belief in miraculous healing started at age 9 when he was healed of a terminal brain tumor during a Kathryn Kuhlman crusade. Before another service at First Assembly in Fort Myers, Burke said miracles should breed excitement among believers.

“God is taking us into deeper realms of signs and wonders,” Burke said. “There is also a difference between surprise and shock. Shock shows unbelief and doubt, while surprise is that sweet element of God kissing a prayer, or a meeting, and keeping us ever mindful that He is in charge. It’s an element that keeps us humble–I welcome God surprising me.”

Betzer confirmed his belief that the Lord has given Burke spiritual gifts that astound the lost and convince them of Christ’s divinity.

“To Billy Burke, the Holy Spirit has certainly granted gifts of faith, miracles and divine healing,” he said. “He is with us one Sunday night each month. Attendance is strong, many are saved each night, and we see deliverance from sickness that can be attributable only to God’s direct intervention. Jesus said there would be signs and wonders. We are seeing those manifestations at First Assembly.”

To critics of miracles and healing, Burke said: “The Word says until we see Him face-to-face, we all see through glass darkly. The way I see it is until we see Him we need all the gifts, not just to help people, but they are the only thing that puts us on a level playing field with all the darkness and evil in the world.

“I do see critics thriving where there is fraudulent behavior and manipulation. Where the real is, there is also the unreal, the counterfeit and the true– the wheat and the tares. But we can’t throw out the baby with the bathwater.”

In addition to his various outreaches, Burke has authored several audio albums and two books–Freedom From Fatal Thinking and Knocking on the Right Door for Your Miracle (Advanced Media Group).
Kevin Hrebik

The following reports were released during the last month by Charisma News Service. 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.

BISHOPS SAY CARLTON PEARSON ‘HERETICAL’
Leaders of the World Bishops Council (WBC)–which represents more than 30 million Christians worldwide–found Bishop Carlton Pearson’s teaching on universal reconciliation, or the “gospel of inclusion,” “heretical” after a meeting with the Tulsa, Okla., pastor in October. Pearson has come under fire for preaching a doctrine that states no confession in Jesus as Savior is needed to go to heaven. “As it stands it is a heresy,” WBC President Timothy Paul Baymon said. “The gospel of inclusion provides no preeminent role of Jesus the Christ, and contradicts the way of salvation for mankind in the Scriptures.” Pearson, 48, said he has no plans to modify his teaching.

CHRISTIAN TRUCKER HELPED CAPTURE SERIAL SNIPERS
The Christian truck driver credited with spotting the Washington, snipers’ vehicle and reporting it to police attributes their capture to the power of prayer. On Oct. 24, Ron Lantz, 61, a 35-year veteran trucker from Ludlow, Ky., alerted authorities after noticing the car of the suspects at a Maryland rest stop, the Associated Press reported. Lantz had recently joined a group of about 50 truckers during an impromptu prayer session over the sniper case at a site just 25 miles from the rest stop, The Cincinnati Enquirer reported. “You don’t think the Lord works in mysterious ways?” asked Lantz, who used his rig to help form a blockade of the rest-stop exit. He said he would share the $500,000 reward with victims’ families if he were offered it.

‘GOD’S LAWS’ JUDGE LOSES COMMANDMENTS CASE U.S.

District Judge Myron Thompson ruled Nov. 18 that Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore’s Ten Commandments monument in the rotunda of the state’s judicial building in Montgomery violates the Constitution’s ban on government promotion of religion, the Associated Press reported. Moore vowed to appeal the decision. Thompson gave Moore 30 days to remove the 5,300-pound granite monument. Thompson said previous court rulings have allowed displays on government property if they have a secular purpose and do not foster “excessive government entanglement with religion,” but the commandments monument failed this test.

CHURCH SCAM ‘EXPLOITED FAITH’
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) accused Wildwood, Ga., resident Abraham Kennard of borrowing nearly $3 million from at least 1,000 small, mostly black congregations on a false promise that the money would be invested in a chain of Christian-themed vacation resorts, the Associated Press reported. A federal lawsuit filed by the SEC in November charged Kennard and his firm, Network International Investment Corp., with promising pastors nationwide a return of $500,000 for every $3,000 they invested. Instead, the suit alleges, at least $2 million of that money wound up in the bank account of one of the company’s officers, and no resorts were ever built.

Pat Robertson Responds To ‘Anti-Islam’ Criticism

Christian Broadcasting Network founder Pat Robertson defended himself from White House criticism of remarks denouncing Islam. In mid-November both President Bush and Secretary of State Colin Powell spoke out against anti-Islamic views. Though neither man named Robertson, their comments followed Robertson’s remarks on The 700 Club that what Muslims wanted to do to the Jews was “worse than the Nazis.” Robertson said of the White House jab: “A minor disagreement among friends does not end a friendship.”

Jacobs Given a Bankruptcy Trustee

John Jacobs and the Power Team have been appointed a Chapter 11 bankruptcy trustee who will “take over all the operations of the [ministry] and determine how to maximize value for the creditors,” said Jane Limprecht, a spokeswoman for the Executive Office for the United States Trustees. Jacobs said he welcomes the extra accountability. The Power Team filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in August.

Pentecostal Chaplain Sues U.S. Navy

A Pentecostal chaplain is one of four evangelicals who recently sued the U.S. Navy, alleging discrimination. A former Army chaplain, Rev. James Linzey claims when he applied to become a Naval chaplain in 2000, a recruiter told him if he were a “baby baptizer”–a liturgical Protestant–he would be “more qualified” and wouldn’t have a problem gaining admission. Neither the U.S. Justice Department nor the Navy will comment on pending litigation.

BOOKS

A Call to Prayer for The 10/40 Window

A Call to Prayer for the Children,
Teens and Young Adults of the 10/40 Window
By Beverly Pegues and Nancy Huff,
YWAM Publishing, 267 pages, paperback, $.

Please pray.” This simple plea comes from a pair of intercessors and missionaries who have organized and alphabetized their list of needs in a well-researched book, A Call to Prayer for the Children, Teens and Young Adults of the 10/40 Window. From Afghanistan’s malnourished, under-educated children to sodomized boys in Sri Lanka, the requests ring loud and clear.

Written by Beverly Pegues of Window International Network and Nancy Huff of Teach the Children International, A Call to Prayer gives the demographics of 66 nations in the 10/40 Window, an imaginary rectangle north of the equator between 10 degrees and 40 degrees that includes West Africa, North Africa, the Middle East and the Far East. Within this corridor live the world’s most unreached people groups; among them are children who face poverty, political upheaval, abuse and torture.

Each chapter, which is devoted to a different country, opens with a description of the average child or young adult’s life, followed by statistics and specific prayer points.

“It is our prayer that this book will be a wake-up call to bring the church to a new level of awareness,” Pegues writes, “so that God can use His people as informed intercessors who pray targeted prayers that will bring a new generation of young people out of darkness into his marvelous light.”
Adrienne S. Gaines

Insatiable Longings

My Heart’s Cry
By Anne Graham Lotz, W Publishing,
249 pages, hardback, $.

After 25 years of ministry, Anne Graham Lotz still sends out a heart-cry for more of Jesus, a cry she wants to resonate in our own hearts. A study of the Gospel of
John, My Heart’s Cry leaves no doubt that Jesus longs for us to reach out to Him–not just for salvation from hell but also for intimacy that brings the joy and comfort of eternal life now.

Lotz reveals how to develop such a relationship with Jesus, one in which we want more of His voice in our ears, His tears on our faces, His praise on our lips, His death in our lives, His dirt on our hands, His hope in our grief, His fruit in our service, His love in our homes, His courage in our convictions, His nearness in our loneliness, and His answers to and glory from our prayers.

The urgency of Lotz’s teaching would stand alone, but she gives readers more with relevant glimpses of her own life. She has known, for example, persecution for Jesus’ sake, absence of love in marriage, grief for a son who battled cancer and a brother-in-law as close as a brother whom death took suddenly. We can trust her, for her faith has been tried and strengthened through adversity.

The Holy Spirit moves through the pages of this book. Don’t be surprised to find yourself on your knees before the Lord or staying up late to read your Bible.

Pamela Robinson

A Cure for Cancer

The Coming Cancer Cure
By Dr. Francisco Contreras,
Siloam Press, 197 pages, hardcover, $.

Cited as “today’s most feared disease,” cancer has historically been an enigmatic disease in the medical community, with treatments consistently making the patient as ill, if not more ill, than the disease would without intervention. In The Coming Cancer Cure, author Dr. Francisco Contreras, a leading oncologist, follows in the footsteps of his father, unlocking the code both in the prevention and treatment of cancer.

Giving historical background of cancer research, Contreras paves the way to understanding the disease and its current and future remedies in layman’s terms. Emphasizing the need to view cancer as “systematic and metabolic” rather than simply as a “tumor,” he explains the paradigm shift in cancer research and the hope of a forthcoming cure. Additionally, touching on both diet and lifestyle, Contreras paints a detailed picture of a life of prevention and how lifestyle choices directly affect health. He also exposes environmental hazards for which we must accept blame and begin combating with corrective measures.

This book provides detailed information for anyone who has been touched by cancer or wants to prevent the disease. What makes this book a standout, however, is Contreras’ godly perspective on this disease. The Coming Cancer Cure offers the truth of prevention, confidence of understanding and hope of the cure–all spoken from a voice of experience, education and empathy.
Heather Hargis

Fighting AIDS

The aWAKE Project
By Jenny Eaton and Kate Etue, editors,
304 pages, W Publishing, paperback, $.

The statistics alone are staggering: 13 million children orphaned by AIDS, a number expected to climb to 40 million by 2010; 5,500 dead daily, with a death toll of 68 million by 2020. But there’s another figure some may find equally shocking–3 percent. That’s the percentage of evangelical Christians who say they care enough to help fund ministries working among African AIDS orphans.

The findings of this study conducted by World Vision, coupled with the enormity of the AIDS pandemic in sub-Saharan Africa, has led W Publishing to produce The aWAKE Project: Uniting Against the African AIDS Crisis. The book is a compilation of essays and informative articles designed to raise awareness among Christians about the epidemic. Divided into three parts–awareness, knowledge and engagement–the book has a diverse list of contributors including U2’s Bono, Tony Campolo, Nelson Mandela, Franklin Graham and President Bush.

“Once you communicate the stories and the statistics–that the No. 1 means of transmission is from mother to six of seven children with AIDS in Africa are girls who have been raped–[Christians] begin to change their minds,” says project co-editor Kate Etue. “Perspective changes from an attitude that this is ‘God’s judgment for a heathen lifestyle’ to an attitude of compassion. And that’s our goal.”

The book’s detailed engagement section explains a variety of ways individuals and churches can get involved, and a portion of the proceeds will benefit World Vision and Jubilee 2000. Within a month of its release, W Publishing had received $17,000.
Adrienne S. Gaines

MUSIC

Urban Praise Party

Lost and Found
By Deitrick Haddon, Verity.

Though new to Verity Records, Deitrick Haddon is no newcomer to gospel music. His innovative musicianship and passionate lyrics have made him a staple among contemporary gospel listeners for years. His latest release, Lost and Found, follows in the tradition of previous hits as he serves up an urban contemporary praise party.

Not straying from the formula that has served him well in the past, Haddon combines old-school beats with popular contemporary sounds to create the unique sound that has characterized his music from the beginning. Haddon wrote all the cuts and invited a few guests–Fred Hammond and rapper BB Jay on “Oh Yeah,” pastor Donnie McClurkin on “Stand Still” and his wife, Damita, on “This Happiness.”

Among the album’s highlights is a worship medley featuring “Joy of the Lord” and “Oh the Glory,” which captures a raw intensity that will likely inspire listeners to take time out for worship. In addition, the emotion-filled “Sinner’s Prayer,” and the poignant “After While” also are compelling.

For those who like their gospel with an edge, or who want to bask in God’s presence, this project has it all. Haddon’s passion for God has always been evident in his music, and this release is no exception. Once again, he has put together a wonderful project with a message that is relevant to believers of all ages.
Brittney N. Elston

Children’s Classics

A New Song
By Jasmine, Zadok Records.

A New Song, the first release by 8-year-old singer Jasmine García, features 10 popular traditional children’s worship songs that will bless listeners and encourage Christian values. This production presents timeless tunes reminiscent of a simpler time and place.

Along with Jasmine, this recording features some of Latin America’s most respected musicians, including drummer Alvaro López. Each song has been freshly sequenced with up-to-date musical arrangements that Sunday school teachers, parents and children of all ages will love to play again and again. For those who are young at heart, A New Song will bring back all of those favorite childhood Christian songs–such as “Father Abraham,” “If You’re Happy” and “I’m in the Lord’s Army”–that have been sung for decades and loved for generations.

Jasmine’s youthful voice adds just the right amount of angelic sound that is sure to delight everyone. So gather everyone and join Jasmine as she brings music that is sure to captivate your whole family for years to come. –Sarah Miranda

Pastor Nate Wolf believes there is an under-appreciated resource in the body of Christ whose mission, ironically, is to control the flow of resources into the kingdom. Wolf calls these men and women “gatekeepers,” a reference to the business leaders who stood in prominence at the city gates in biblical times. The modern-day equivalent, Wolf asserts, are business leaders whose primary purpose is to make money in order to funnel it back into ministry.

“[Business leaders] must make a decision that being a Gatekeeper isn’t going to come second place to other business goals,” Wolf writes in The Gatekeepers (Insight Publishing). “Being a Gatekeeper is [their] greatest business success.”

Pastor of Today’s Church in Seattle, Wolf challenges Christians to recognize and validate what he calls “marketplace ministers.” Gospel entrepreneurs, he says, “will bring millions of dollars into the kingdom. Churches should validate, encourage and celebrate the gatekeepers.”

The notion of people being called to business leadership is not new, but Wolf says the current emphasis on marketplace ministers is not simply a means of getting their money. He believes there is an increased evangelistic push and that God is raising up gatekeepers to fund ministry. Wolf hopes his book will help business leaders feel appreciated and educate the rest of the church about this unique call.
Adrienne S. Gaines

CHARISMA RECOMMENDS

From a Mess to a Miracle
By Kimberly Daniels,
Creation House Press,
188 pages, paperback, $.

This hard-hitting sequel to Against All Odds moves Kimberly Daniels’ testimony beyond her transformation from crack addict to pastor, and explores the challenges she faced coming into the church. She exposes the enemy’s traps at work inside the church, and teaches believers how to sharpen their spiritual discernment, destroy strongholds and avoid snakes in the pews.

Quick Guide to Vitamins, Minerals and Supplements
By Dr. Helen Pensanti with Barbara Hoffman,
Siloam Press, 237 pages,
paperback, $.

Dr. Helen Pensanti, host of Doctor to Doctor on the Trinity Broadcasting Network, helps unravel the puzzle of vitamins, minerals and supplements in this “mini-encyclopedia.” She helps readers determine which supplements are right for them, and explains which foods carry various vitamins, minerals and nutrients naturally; how much to consume; and possible side effects.

Every Nation in Our Generation
By Rice Broocks,
Creation House Press,
224 pages, paperback, $.

In order for the church to be a light to the nations and transform the culture, Christians must embrace the apostolic mandate. So says author Rice Broocks, pastor of Bethel World Outreach Center in Nashville, Tennessee, and president of Morning Star International, a network of churches and ministries. He writes that the nations have come to Americans’ back door, yet fear and suspicion keep many from reaching out to them. He urges Christians to claim God’s promises in order to reach the world for Christ.

Darwin Under the Microscope
By Dr. James P. Gills and Thomas Woodward, Ph.D.,
Charisma House, 236 pages, paperback, $.

In their vast research of the remarkable complexity within cells, scientists are
facing a startling conclusion: Darwin was wrong. They reason that the complexity under their microscopes had to be the work of an intelligent designer. This book follows their trail of discovery, pitting Darwinism against intelligent design and giving readers the knowledge to engage in this popular debate.

Girl Talk
By Sheri Rose Shepherd,
Siloam Press, 178 pages,
paperback, $.

Author Sheri Rose Shepherd shows female readers how to laugh and enjoy the unique person God made them to be in her latest book Girl Talk. Addressing the self-esteem issues that cause many women to feel lost amid others’ expectations of poise, intellect and beauty, Shepherd, a former Mrs. United States, gives women of all ages the ingredients to accomplish their goals and see success physically, emotionally, relationally and spiritually.

To order these books call (800) 599-5750 or go to .

Therapy can help you manage symptoms, but it is Jesus who ultimately heals us.
Mild panic erupted whenthe pilot’s voice suddenly came over the intercom. “We have an engine light on. We’re heading back to Cincinnati. Sorry, folks, but we can’t fly with engine problems.”

The woman behind me began to breathe heavily. “Will we be OK?”

The guy next to me started to curse. How dare the pilot upset his plans?

Looks of worry blanketed most passengers, but I sat there in peace. It was unnatural. I should have been anxious and tense. After all, my oldest brother was killed on an airplane.

Safely back in Cincinnati, we filed off the plane and received our new flight assignments. I was fortunate to be booked on the next flight. After boarding, I settled down next to a tall, expensively dressed man who recognized me from the previous flight.

“Why are you flying to South Bend?” he asked me.

I explained that I was on my way to a Midwestern college where there was grave concern over the growing number of eating disorders reported on campus. I was going to consult with faculty and administration and speak to the students.

After a long, intellectual discussion about eating disorders and psychology, I said to my seat partner: “OK, your turn. What do you do for a living?”

He was a Harvard graduate who headed up an investment-banking firm in New York City that had lost 25 percent of its business since 9/11. His office was located right at Ground Zero, opposite the Twin Towers.

He confessed that after watching the horror and devastation from his office windows, he still suffers night terrors, flashbacks and other symptoms related to post-traumatic stress. He was struggling to find significance in life.

After we had worked through a few symptom-reduction strategies, he stopped. “OK, do you really think a shrink helps? Psychologists were sent in to Ground Zero to help us, but I haven’t found them very helpful.”

I thought about my own experiences with trauma. Though my psychology training had helped me cope with trauma, it hadn’t brought complete healing.

So I leaned over and smiled, “You know how people panicked when the engine light went on during our last flight? I should have panicked too.

“My brother was killed on an airplane, we think by a terrorist’s bomb. The fallout from that experience in my life was tremendous. I learned to manage symptoms related to grief, fear and anxiety, but I was never free from the fallout until my faith entered the picture.”

“Oh, are you religious?” he probed.

“No not really,” I replied. “But I do have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Because of Jesus, I am finally free from the traumatic effects.”

I went on to explain. “Therapy can help you manage symptoms, get you through the day or night, bring relief, help you understand the root of your problems, offer change strategies and even provide helpful tools. In fact, therapy is very helpful, and I am grateful for my training.

“But it is Jesus who ultimately heals and frees us. When He spoke truth to me, when I experienced His love and power, I was no longer in recovery. I was transformed. That’s why I could sit on our earlier flight and not panic. God gave me an overriding sense of peace.

“Yes, I know how to manage anxiety when it hits. I can practice a number of useful techniques that work for the moment. But God brings lasting peace. That’s freedom, not recovery!”

The door of the plane opened. The traveler was contemplative and thanked me for the conversation.

As I walked down the jet way, I thought about how often I had settled for simply managing my emotional pain. Why? Jesus came to set the captive free, to heal the brokenhearted and to open prison doors for those who are bound. It’s time to declare freedom!

Loose those chains that bind you. He has given you what you need: the transforming power of the gospel, His presence, His Word, the Spirit of truth and the Light. Freedom is waiting!

---

Linda S. Mintle, Ph.D., is a Virginia-based licensed clinical social worker and author of the Breaking Free series (Charisma House), available at . She welcomes your questions about the tough issues of life at .

Controversy erupted after an evangelical group endorsed the publisher of Witness Lee’s writings
A controversial group known as the Local Church–which has been accused of being a cult in past decades–has been endorsed by the nation’s most influential Christian publisher’s association. The move has opened up a new debate about the beliefs of the group and one of its founders, Witness Lee.

The group’s publishing arm, Living Stream Ministry (LSM) of Anaheim, Calif., distributes books written by Lee, who died in 1997. After years of complaints about its questionable doctrines, LSM was granted membership in the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (ECPA), association President Doug Ross confirmed in November.

As part of that process, LSM signed the ECPA’s statement of faith, Ross said. LSM touts this move as more proof that Lee’s doctrines are sound and that critics and cult-watchers who have attacked Lee’s works for years are either misinformed or are jealous of the Local Church’s growth. LSM is a longtime member of the Christian Booksellers Association as well.

The Local Church now has more than 3,000 congregations worldwide and more than 250,000 members, with about 250 churches and 25,000 members in the United States and Canada, an LSM spokesman said.

Critics say Living Stream has never refuted Lee’s questionable definition of the Trinity, which some say is “modalism” –a doctrine that caused Oneness Pentecostals to split from the Assemblies of God in the early 1900s. Nor has Living Stream refuted Lee’s own statements about the Local Church being the one true church, critics say.

LSM denies belief in modalism, claims belief in the widely accepted orthodox Trinity doctrine and denies that the Local Church does not recognize other churches or denominations as legitimate members of the body of Christ, spokesperson Chris Wilde told Charisma.

“Modalism says that the Father became the Son and ceased to be the Father, and that the Spirit became the Son and ceased to be the Spirit. We do not teach that. That is heresy,” Wilde said.

Wilde also denied that the Local Church’s habit of naming local congregations after the city of its location, such as ‘The Local Church of Los Angeles,’ translates as a declaration that the Local Church is the only true church in that city, as critics charge. The term “Local Church” is still used because it is closely tied to the biblical admonition for believers to work in unity and avoid divisions, Wilde said.

Watchman Nee (1903-1972), a Chinese evangelist and Lee’s mentor, founded the Local Church in 1927 in Shanghai because he believed that denominational competition is unbiblical, according to Religions of the World: A Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Beliefs and Practices. In mainstream circles, Nee’s works are more widely accepted as doctrinally sound than Lee’s.

Lee joined the Local Church movement in the 1930s and became a close associate of Nee’s. Nee sent Lee to Taiwan in 1948, where nationalist forces had gathered while communists took over the mainland. The communists arrested Nee in 1952 and eventually sent him to prison for the remainder of his life.
Lee brought the Local Church movement to the United States in the 1960s.

Lee’s interpretation of this one-church theory has drawn criticism from observers for years because Lee said in Living Stream publications that other churches are not ordained of God.

“Consider the situation in Orange County [Calif.],” Lee wrote in Young People’s Training, a Living Stream publication. “Anaheim is famous for three things–for schools, parks and ‘churches.’ In the eyes of God, these are not churches, but confusions, fornications.”

ECPA’s Ross said his staff met with LSM officials on several occasions because they knew that “there are people who would be carrying ideas about Living Stream that are carry-overs from days gone by. They eagerly signed our statement of faith and answered all of our questions satisfactorily.”

Many critics of LSM have never sat down with LSM to discuss the concerns, Ross added, and urged anyone to visit the LSM-sponsored Web site at to read LSM’s responses to the doctrinal challenges it has faced.

But critics of Lee’s teachings dismiss LSM’s ECPA membership as any sort of relief over the controversy surrounding Lee.

“It means very little that Living Stream Ministries has signed the ECPA’s statement of faith,” said investigative journalist, author and cult-watcher Richard Abanes. “Many doctrinally aberrant organizations could do the same thing. The [ECPA faith] statement only deals in general terms using language that such organizations could agree to, given how they radically redefine doctrinal terms.

“It is true–I have not sat down and met with [LSM], but I have read a plethora of material they have written,” Abanes said. “I haven’t met Billy Graham either, but I certainly know what he believes.”

Abanes and doctrinal watchdogs such as Watchman Fellowship said they are alarmed that LSM has only defended Lee’s teachings and never admitted to any error. And they said LSM has a reputation for trying to silence their critics with legal action, another accusation Wilde denied.

“What is true is that if something is coming into print that we believe is in complete disharmony with the truth, we make every admonition according to the Scriptures to meet with our brothers to overcome misunderstandings,” Wilde said. “[Suing] is never our first response or our desire.”

Watchman Fellowship President James K. Walker disagreed with Wilde’s assessment.

“Evangelicals should be very cautious about accepting Living Stream Ministry or the Local Church of Witness Lee as one of us,” Walker said. “What Lee meant by ‘Trinity’ often seems contradictory. He also taught, ‘The Father, the Son and the Spirit are not three separate persons or three Gods; they are one God, one reality, one person.'”

Walker quoted Lee’s own words on denominations: “‘When we were in denominations, we were blind. I do not believe that any dear Christians who have really received sight from the Lord could still remain in denominations.'”

And on LSM’s alleged propensity for legal threats against critics, Walker said: “If the Local Church truly sees evangelical Christians as brothers, it is violating biblical prohibition against suing brothers. It would seem that either the Local Church has no regard for 1 Corinthians 6, or they don’t regard evangelical Christians as their brothers.”

Wilde said LSM greatly desires an open dialogue with evangelicals in order to further the work of Nee and Lee.

“There is a resurgence in the Watchman Nee ministry today because it really calls believers into a deeper experience of Christ,” he said. “We are trying to break this [public image] boundary, no question about it.”
Billy Bruce