Kingsway International Christian Centre sits on 9.5 acres of land to be developed for the 2012 Olympics
A prominent London megachurch is fighting attempts by local authorities to seize its 9.5-acre site for development plans related to the 2012 Olympic Games.

Matthew Ashimolowo, pastor of 12,000-member Kingsway International Christian Centre (KICC) in Hackney, said his church offered to build a $57 million basketball arena and allow it to be used for free if the complex and the land would be returned at the close of the Olympics.

Officials with the London Development Agency (LDA), which is overseeing land seizures for the Olympic Park, have neither accepted nor rejected KICC’s offer, but they have said the church would receive the market value for its land.

“We continue to be in dialogue with the church regarding its move as we are trying to be as helpful as possible to them,” an LDA spokesman said. “It isn’t just because of the Olympics that KICC [has] to move. … The church would have to move anyway as they do not have planning permission for the current building. We are, however, in discussions with the church about relocation. We want to be helpful and have been trying to assist them.”

KICC spokeswoman Charlotte Coker said the church has been trying for several years to get permission to continue religious activities on the site and to build offices, a hotel and a sports arena. Their request was denied in 2003, and that decision was upheld on appeal in 2004. At that time Hackney Council officials gave KICC until November 2006 to relocate.

Ashimolowo said KICC is facing “spiritual warfare in the extreme.”

“Christians around the world need to snap out of the thought that Europe is a Christian continent,” Ashimolowo said. “It is now post-Christian, and persecution is happening in ever-increasing frequency. Britain carries the same spirit.”

Ashimolowo said the current dispute is part of an ongoing attempt to hinder KICC’s work. “The local authority has now deliberately canceled the bus route in front of our church so people will struggle to get to church on a Sunday,” he said.

“They are also now wheel-clamping cars of people attending our three Sunday services in the surrounding roads to KICC on Sundays, which they didn’t do previously. Mosques not far from us are not experiencing the same thing, so we know what this is all about.”

Ashimolowo said has KICC cooperated with the LDA in trying to find an alternative home. But he said the four sites the church was shown were inappropriate or would not be available in time. The church researched another 21 locations to no avail. Since then, Ashimolowo said, the LDA has been dragging its feet, and he will not allow his congregation to be left homeless.

Ashimolowo believes KICC could help London offset a reported $1.7 billion funding gap between committed funds for the Olympics and its real cost.

“Apart from Los Angeles, every place that has hosted the Olympics has been in deficit,” Ashimolowo said. “We want to help ensure that doesn’t happen here in London. All we have asked is to be part of the Olympic legacy by building a basketball stadium, which is needed for the Olympics. The reaction we are getting does not make sense, but we know the reasoning behind it. As our church grows there is a reaction in the spiritual.”

Ashimolowo, a former Muslim from Nigeria, founded KICC in 1992 with 200 adults and 100 children. Today the predominantly black congregation is considered the fastest-growing church in Europe and oversees a network of 22 churches around England, plus two independent branches in Africa. For the last 14 years, the church has hosted an International Gathering of Champions conference that has included speakers such as T.D. Jakes, Eddie Long and Joyce Meyer, and has drawn thousands of attendees from around the globe.

KICC leads community development work including outreaches to prostitutes, drug addicts and the homeless; after-school programs; literacy classes and food distribution. Ashimolowo hopes his church can be at the center of outreach to the athletes, officials, media and spectators who visit London for the Games.

KICC is one of roughly 300 landowners and businesses whose properties the LDA has earmarked for the Olympic Park. Commercial property experts estimate that industrial land is currently worth between $2.4 million and $2.6 million per acre, making the church’s site worth up to $23.5 million.

KICC leaders said the church is not anticipating a legal battle or an appeal to European authorities. Ashimolowo said the Olympic basketball stadium project is under official consideration, and he is hopeful that there will be an amicable resolution.

“We continue to use every method possible to lobby,” Ashimolowo said. “KICC has a rapidly developing set of strategies for dealing with various possible ‘next steps’ and outcomes, and at present these strategies are predominantly positive and related to achieving a new permanent home without having to move out of Hackney.

“We are also building an international network of friends who can advise and help KICC to achieve our goals,” he added. “We are soliciting the prayers of the body of Christ. The Bible says in Isaiah 59:19 that ‘when the enemy comes in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against him.’ Let’s hope against all hope for a solution.”
Janet Sebastian in London

More than 80 Christian leaders issued a statement in February announcing their support for a major initiative to fight global warming and calling on the government to pass a law requiring a reduction in carbon dioxide emissions.

“Many of us have required considerable convincing before becoming persuaded that climate change is a real problem and that it ought to matter to us as Christians,” the statement said. “But now we have seen and heard enough.”

Among the signatories are Bishop Charles Blake of West Angeles Church of God in Christ, Jack Hayford, president of the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel, and Bishop James Leggett, head of the International Pentecostal Holiness Church, as well as Rick Warren, author of The Purpose-Driven Life, and the Rev. Jim Ball, executive director of the Evangelical Environmental Network.

“This is not a partisan issue, this is a biblical, Christ-centered approach to the global warming problem,” Ball said. “Our signatories are proud to be pro-life, and addressing global warming is a pro-life issue.”

The statement, titled Climate Change: An Evangelical Call to Action, makes four claims: that climate change is real, that its consequences will have the greatest impact on the poor, that Christian moral conviction requires a response, and that the government, businesses and individuals all are part of the solution.

However, the Rev. Lou Sheldon, head of the Traditional Values Coalition, argues that restricting carbon dioxide emissions is not the compassionate course. “The poor are just as affected if you do away with the combustion engine,” he told Charisma, adding that 1.3 million jobs would be lost in the next six years if a restriction were enacted.

Sheldon, Prison Fellowship founder Charles Colson, Cornerstone Church pastor John Hagee and Focus on the Family founder James Dobson are among 22 influential leaders who issued a letter in January asking the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) not to take a position on global warming because the research is still “inconclusive.”

Although the NAE opted not to take an official position on the issue, the group’s president, Ted Haggard, told the New York Times he had “no doubt” climate change was occurring. He said he declined to sign the statement because it would have been interpreted as an endorsement by the NAE.

Ball said evangelical leaders have been discussing the claims made in Climate Change since a conference in 2004 and that the NAE was never asked to endorse a statement on global warming. “We asked people to sign on as individuals, not as representatives of their organizations,” he said.

The statement is the first phase of an Evangelical Climate Initiative that includes TV and radio spots, informational campaigns in churches and educational events at Christian colleges, the Times said.
Jomili Noble

Wade Burleson says Southern Baptists should not bar missionaries from service over a ‘nonessential’ doctrine
On the heels of recent controversial policy changes, trustees of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) International Mission Board (IMB) have moved to oust a fellow trustee who publicly opposed new enactments—specifically one prohibiting missionaries from practicing a “private prayer language,” or speaking in tongues, in their devotions.

In a statement issued Jan. 11, IMB Board Chairman Tom Hatley called for the removal of Wade Burleson, pastor of Emmanuel Baptist Church in Enid, Okla., who was elected to a four-year term as an IMB trustee in 2005.

“In taking this action, trustees addressed issues involving broken trust and resistance to accountability,” Hatley said in the statement, adding that the action was “absolutely necessary for the board to move forward in its duties as prescribed by the SBC.”

Hatley told Charisma the issue involved “relationship,” though he would not elaborate.

Following the November policy changes, Burleson began keeping a Web log, or blog, where he strongly opposed the changes. “We may not interpret the Bible the same, but we will not allow good men and women to be crucified by the sword of legalistic conformity,” wrote Burleson, who himself does not practice speaking in tongues.

Though Burleson’s blog “may be” related to the request for his removal, his personal opinions did not encourage the decision, Hatley said.

After the board requested his removal, Burleson issued a statement on his blog. In a post titled “Heartbroken,” he wrote that “a growing problem within our convention is the removal from leadership and service of those who do not conform to specific interpretations of the Bible.”

The bigger issue, Burleson said, is that “the new policy changes violate many historic Baptist principles.”

“They go beyond our confession of faith. … They exclude conservative Southern Baptists who would normally be qualified to serve, they replace old policies that were excellent and staff initiated, they demand conformity on nonessential doctrines in order to ‘represent’ the Southern Baptist Convention,” Burleson said.

The SBC has always prohibited missionaries from speaking in tongues publicly, but since the new policy is not retroactive, only new applicants will be prohibited from practicing the same prayer language that IMB President Jerry Rankin has admittedly practiced privately for more than 30 years.

The new shift in policy creates a climate that is unsupportive of its own president, said charismatic SBC pastor Ron Phillips, whose Fresh Oil church network includes Southern Baptist congregations. “A Spirit-filled man who has given his life to missions, Dr. Jerry Rankin, has been more or less told that what you believe, we don’t agree with.”

Rankin was unavailable for comment.

Southern Baptists who have embraced “private prayer language” are already feeling the backlash of the new policies. Southern Baptist Scott Camp adopted the practice 15 years before he was appointed dean of students at Criswell College in Dallas.

But a year into his post, the renewal of his contract was denied following the IMB policy changes. Camp says the decision is “directly related” to IMB’s policy change regarding speaking in tongues.

“They had full knowledge that that was my position when they hired me,” Camp said of the college. “What’s happened is the political climate has changed in the last six months, and the IMB’s decision to not allow this practice had a direct impact on the president’s decision to not renew my contract.”

Criswell President Jerry Johnson declined comment.

Hatley said the IMB stands behind its new policies. “The main intent of the new policy regarding tongues is to be sure that our churches and our church-planting movements across the land are solidly Baptist,” he said. “What we’re trying to do is protect our work on the field from theological damage from outside movements.”

The final vote to remove Burleson as a trustee will be held June 13-14 in Greensboro, N.C., though Hatley said the board hoped to revisit the issue in a March meeting. “I have very high hopes that we’re going to be able to do something to avoid asking the convention to have him removed,” Hatley said. “Let’s keep our eyes on the mission field. We’re going to get our family business taken care of.”
Suzy Richardson

The Heavenly Man continues to be a best-seller despite claims that Brother Yun’s testimony is false
The publishers of a quiet international best-seller are anticipating a sales spike with the English-language release of a graphic novel version of the book, despite an ongoing campaign to discredit its subject.

YUN: The Graphic Version is due out this spring from Monarch Books in England. Monarch editorial director Tony Collins said he expected the edition “to reach a lot of people, especially young people who are daunted by the length of the existing book. Graphic novels are a big market.”

More than 600,000 copies have been sold worldwide of the original book, The Heavenly Man, in the last three years. Written by Paul Hattaway, a New Zealand missionary to Asia, the book tells the dramatic life story and persecution of a Chinese house-church leader known as Brother Yun.

Distributed by Kregel Publications in the U.S. , where it has sold around 150,000 copies, The Heavenly Man has also seen strong interest in Korea, the Philippines and Australia. It has been translated into 30 languages, including Arabic, Turkish and Mongolian.

The title won the U.K. Christian Book Award in 2004, and recently prompted one reader to launch a Web site collecting testimonies from others whose lives have been impacted by the story.

Although internationally renowned German evangelist Reinhard Bonnke has endorsed the book, it has been criticized at a Web site that claims Yun’s story is false. Some house-church leaders in China have issued a statement denouncing Yun, who now lives in Germany and travels widely to speak in churches, as a fraud.

One congregation in Wisconsin that bought 1,000 copies of the book for its members sent them back to the publisher after being told that Yun’s story—including remarkable answers to prayer and a supernatural escape from prison—was untrue, Hattaway said in an open letter at his Web site that dismisses the allegations of falsehood.

Other Chinese house-church leaders who have investigated the charges against Yun have issued a statement saying they believe his story, Hattaway said.

“Christians like Brother Yun would consider it a great honor to be shot dead by a Muslim or speared by a tribesman while they are preaching the gospel in some far-flung corner of the earth,” he wrote.

“But to come under fire from fellow Christians, who are meant to be fighting on your side, is a miserable and terrible thing to have to cope with.”

Collins said a few stores and churches refused to stock the book, “but the level of resistance has been very low. As far as I can tell, the attacks have not slowed the book’s sales at all.”

Collins said Monarch was approached with the book: “We checked the story out with sources who could vouch for Yun’s character and veracity and it rang true. So we decided to take a chance.”
Andy Butcher

Increasingly, indigenous believers are reclaiming their cultural traditions as tools for worship and evangelism
Evangelist Arild Maso won’t soon forget 1994.

That year he hosted a conference in Norway and attempted for the first time to perform what he calls a “Jesus joik,” a variation of the traditional form of chanting practiced by the Sami people of northern Scandinavia and northwest Russia. As a result he was banned from preaching in Norwegian churches for 10 years and accused of “spitting at God.”

Though many indigenous Christians have been told that traditional forms of worship such as joiking are sinful, a growing number are slowly reclaiming their cultural traditions as tools for worshiping Jesus.

At the fifth World Christian Gathering on Indigenous People held Aug. 7-14 in Kiruna, Sweden, several hundred indigenous people such as the Maoris from New Zealand, First Nations people from North America and Australian Aborigines gathered to pray, fellowship and worship.

First Nations Americans drummed and chanted “Jesus is good medicine.” Moluccans performed a war dance to “prepare the way for Jesus.” Aborigines joked that “if Eve had been one of us she would have refused the apple and eaten the snake.”

Testimonies from people such as 74-year-old Aborigine Mona Olsson revealed why indigenous Christians would travel the globe to participate in the event.

“I was 5 and playing with my cousins by a desert stream when a truck pulled up, police officers got out and started to round up us children,” said Olsson, whose sister is the custodian of the Uluru Monolith, the sacred mountain of the Aborigines located at the heart of the Australian desert.

Olsson, her baby sister and her cousins were thrown into a truck and taken to a mission house. Though her mother managed to board the vehicle, she was not allowed inside the house. Olsson said she didn’t see her mother again for 32 years.

From 1910 until 1970 roughly 100,000 “half-caste” and Aborigine children were orphaned by the Australian government, often with missionaries’ involvement. The officials entertained ideas of “breeding out” an undesirable race, Olsson said, and many missionaries believed that unless the “heathen” were “civilized” they were not “fit receptacles” for the gospel.

Still, Olsson became a Christian during her first year with the missionaries. One evening, she said, God comforted her and explained the Scriptures she had been reciting without understanding. For years since then she has been involved in intercession and reconciliation.

“These gatherings mean a lot to our self-esteem,” said Håkan Enoksson, a reindeer-breeding Sami from Kiruna who with his wife, Marie, organized the 2005 event.

During his childhood, Enoksson got used to being called “lappjävel” by many Swedes. “Lapp” is a derogatory term for the Sami; jävel literally means devil and is a common swearword in Swedish.

In both society and the church, Enoksson’s way of life and language have been derided more often than not. “But we are no longer ashamed of our cultural identity,” he said. “We know that we have a contribution to make.”

But there are dark streaks in most native traditions, among them shamanism and idolatry. Enoksson said for years he felt haunted by a curse. “I could not put my finger on the cause,” he said, “until one day my wife and I came across an old book in an antique bookstore.”

It was a 100-year-old travelogue about the land of the Sami. The author had visited Enoksson’s native village and told of a Sami father who sacrificed his son on a nearby mountaintop in 1860—a site that many Sami still held sacred. Enoksson later went secretly to the mountain to repent for the sins of his forefathers.

During the indigenous peoples’ gathering, a group of leaders joined Enoksson on the mountaintop to intercede for the Sami people and to break curses evoked by centuries of occult practices, especially the sacrifice of children. Enoksson told attendees he believed that act represented a “turning point for the Sami people.”

The World Christian Gathering also addressed the social and political issues facing indigenous people, in particular the approximately 70,000 Sami. In Russia the average life expectancy for Sami men is no more than 40 years because of high rates of alcoholism. In Sweden, tension over hunting and fishing rights, reindeer breeding, and land ownership are dangerously inflamed, said Judge Marie Hagsgård, a government expert on Sami relations.

Although the Jesus joik caused the Norwegian church to “excommunicate” Maso, he said doors opened for him to reach a new mission field: North America. Maso has shared the gospel on several reservations in Canada, and he said many First Nation Americans have accepted Jesus and some have received healing.

“One day 13 shamans from different tribes came to my meeting to ‘put a lid on their people,'” Maso recalled. “As I was joiking one shaman sneaked up from behind intending to ‘sap’ my power, as I was told later. Next thing I knew the shaman was slain under the power of the Holy Spirit, and I went over and prayed for him. I thought he had come for ministry.”

This year’s World Christian Gathering on Indigenous People will be held in the Philippines. The symbolic seventh gathering will take place in Jerusalem in 2007.
Herti Dixon in Kiruna, Sweden

New Tribes Mission Relocates Venezuelan Missionaries
New Tribes Mission (NTM) relocated its Venezuela workers in compliance with a resolution giving the Florida-based missions organization until Feb. 12 to exit tribal areas. In October Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez ordered NTM to leave Venezuela, accusing the group of spying for the U.S. government. The process to overturn the expulsion order is ongoing, but a final decision could take up to a year, NTM stated.

Human Rights Group Calls for Release of Cuban Prisoner
Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) is calling for the release of human rights activist Dr. Oscar Elías Biscet, who is serving a 25-year sentence at Combinado del Este Prison in Cuba. Biscet was jailed in December 2002 for organizing meetings for the Friends of Human Rights groups he was establishing. Previously, Biscet had exposed a widespread government practice of using the chemical substance Rivanol to abort advanced pregnancies and to allow some infants born alive to bleed to death or be asphyxiated, the Wall Street Journal reported. After exposing those practices, Biscet lost his home and was beaten by mobs, the newspaper said. Biscet’s family told CSW he continues to face harassment in prison. CSW, a United Kingdom-based human rights organization, is asking the U.K. government and the European Union to intervene on Biscet’s behalf.

Christians Attacked by Hindu Mob in India
At least 10 Christians were injured and two were hospitalized after Hindu extremists influenced residents in Malkangiri district, Orissa state, to attack Christians there Jan. 24, Compass Direct reported. Fourteen Christian families and four missionaries from the Indian Evangelical Team (IET) had gathered to worship at a believer’s house on Jan. 23 and stayed overnight, IET district coordinator Satya Das Benya told Compass. Members of the Hindu extremist group Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh apparently heard the Christians singing and gathered the villagers for a meeting. The next morning roughly 50 villagers beat the missionaries and attacked other Christians in the house. Though one of the missionaries filed a written complaint naming 11 of the attackers, the Malkangiri district police superintendent said no attempt to arrest the accused had been made and denied that a formal complaint had been filed, Compass said.

Christians Arrested in Eritrea for Bible-Reading, Prayer
Eritrean military authorities jailed 75 Christians Feb.1 for “reading Bibles and praying during their free time,” Compass Direct reported. The youth were completing their required military service at Sawa Military Training Camp in the east African nation. Although Muslim recruits are allowed to read the Quran and perform religious duties in Sawa, it is “considered an act of Christian extremism” for Christians to read the Bible, an Eritean Christian told Compass. The 75 recruits were put under “military detention and punishment,” though they had not broken any military law, Compass said. Jailed youth often endure physical and mental abuse by authorities who wish to see Christians deny their beliefs, the news service reported.

SPOTLIGHT

Coming Alive

Singing from the soul: Warren Barfield

Singer Warren Barfield is a Pentecostal preacher’s kid who knows a thing or two about soul-stirring music. But he was so surprised when God revived his own weary heart, he had to write about it. The result was “Come Alive,” on his newest CD, Reach, and it tells of his private Pentecost. “Christ left us His Spirit to be with us at all times,” he says. “That’s what the Holy Spirit is about. … He still wants to find me at my level and come alive to me.”

Prayer Point

The World Christian Encyclopedia reports that more than 1 billion people have yet to hear the gospel. That’s 27.8 percent of the world’s population. Please join us in praying that:

The Real Gospel

I want to say amen to Steve Hill’s “No More Candy-Coated Gospel” (January). I despise the compromising religious spirit. I am not afraid to speak out against it when I see it. I’ve been accused of being too confrontational, as well as having people say, “That offends me.” I’d rather walk in the fear of the Lord and speak the truth in love.
Jason L. Hoover
Blue Ball, Pennsylvania

Steve Hill is right when he says: “The doctors of the Word, the clergy, are afraid to prescribe the medicine. … They see the disease [sin] but are afraid to treat it.” Actually, some don’t even acknowledge or name the correct diagnosis. Being a nurse, I can tell you that if you don’t get the correct diagnosis and determine the right treatment plan, the illness might progress. We need Romans 10:9-10, confession and repentance working through Jesus.
Laurie Klamer
Martin, Michigan

I wholeheartedly agree with Steve Hill. The church has watered down the gospel in their services.

Why be a charismatic if you’re not going to practice what you believe? We believe the world is dying to see the church rise up in love and the power of God and show them what Jesus died to give them-a victorious, Spirit-filled life!
Revs. David and Michelle White
Costa Mesa, California

The Gospel According to Narnia

In your article on The Chronicles of Narnia (December) you wrote about C.S. Lewis’ love for mythological creatures from his youth, and that he and others would critique his work over drinking beer and smoking pipes. This information alone concerns me about the discernment of Lewis.

In Narnia, dark creatures are on the good side, and creatures of God are on the bad. People involved in New Age and the occult know exactly what these creatures represent, and they laugh at us Christians.
Cathy Chatal
Independence, Ohio

The Chronicles of Narnia was an awesome movie. However it would seem to me a bit difficult for an unbeliever to understand its biblical message, especially if the person has very little exposure to the gospel.

There’s an assumption that most viewers will comprehend the underlying Christian theme in the movie. Sorry, but it’s just not that obvious. But it could serve as a great discussion-starter.
ToshaLyn Jacobs
Brooklyn, New York

Please check out the pagan characters in Narnia. The centaur (half-horse, half-man) is straight out of Greek mythology. C.S. Lewis had a love for Greek and Roman mythology, but the Bible is not a myth.

Children are very easily led away by fantasy. Beware lest you lead one of Jesus’ little ones away from the truth. Don’t be afraid to do some checking yourself.
Kerry Nichols
via e-mail

Returning to Pentecost

Thank you for J. Lee Grady’s column “Don’t Lose Your Edge” (January). I agree wholeheartedly. It’s sad to go to a church where the working of the Holy Spirit is not there 100 percent.

I have been in churches where I have yielded to the Spirit and have been told by man to quiet down. If it wasn’t for others praying for me, I would be defeated and would even have left the faith.
Marie Spinosa
Auburn, New York

I have seen different “moves of the Spirit,” each one emphasized as the latest move of God. Granted, some of them were. However, some of what has been emphasized has resulted in some fellowships not allowing the gifts of the Spirit to operate. They either didn’t want to offend visitors or had multiple services. Jesus always took time to minister to those in need.
Jim Singleton
Ridgeland, Mississippi

I’m a middle-aged, Spirit-filled Christian. I love my church being relevant and up-to-date. However, I too fear that most Pentecostal churches have lost what it takes to win the world, and to keep our own selves nurtured. In our sophisticated churches, we seem to be doing everything right-except allowing the Holy Spirit to move.
Gay Nelson
Greenville, North Carolina

Divorce, pornography and other sins have infiltrated the church. These things would not be as rampant if we were willing to confront and offend. Sin is sin and it needs to be addressed.
Eric Sullivan
Crawfordsville, Indiana

I appreciate J. Lee Grady’s strong stand on recent issues such as Carlton Pearson’s heresy and the trend of charismatic churches toward lukewarmness in their ministries. It takes courage to confront amid the apathy that pervades the church today.
Eleanor Hall
Clarksville, Maryland

War on Christmas

In Stephen Strang’s Final Word column in December, he asked, “Why can’t churches lead the way in celebrating Christmas?” A great surprise to our family when we arrived in this country 10 years ago was to find how few churches even held services on Christmas Day. Our church doors are shut tight on the very day we might be expected to hold services.

What conclusions might our neighbors draw? That food, family and frivolity come first? How might the Lord feel about this? Maybe a start is for churches to reconsider priorities, make a stand, open doors and invite Jesus back into our Christmas Day.
John Graham Joscelyne
Vienna, Virginia

The Truth about Israel

I read John Hagee’s article about Israel (“The Lord Has Chosen Zion,” October).A conflict between Israel and Iran could easily lead to a nuclear holocaust as Iran’s ally, Russia, steps in to support their oil interest in Iran.
Tracy V. Carman
Hurricane, Utah

Letters to the editor reveal a need for teaching about God’s promises to Israel. One reader called it a minor issue, but in reality if someone doesn’t know what the Word says about Israel, they have no hope of accurately understanding end-time events.

The idea that Israel forfeited the land because of Jesus’ death and resurrection shows that the false teaching of replacement theology is alive.
Ruth Petit
Watertown, New York

One reader wrote Charisma and said: “The land of Palestine belongs to God, and He gave it to Israel as long as they obeyed His covenant. When they continued to break covenant and crucified God’s Son, they lost their right to the land.”

This is a very dangerous position to take as it is not supported by Scripture. It also shows our lack of understanding of a covenant in the Middle Eastern culture of Abraham’s time.

In Genesis 15 (the Abrahamic Covenant), verse 12 clearly tells us that Abraham was asleep. Then, God the Father and God the Son (a smoking oven and a flaming torch) passed between the animal pieces. God made the covenant with Himself and made Abraham and his descendants the beneficiaries. This is a foreshadowing of the New Testament covenant.

God cut the covenant with the Son, making the beneficiaries any who would believe that Jesus (Yeshua) was the Israelite Messiah and accept Him. Like Abraham and his descendants, we are also grafted into a covenant with God by accepting Christ. Neither time was man involved; we benefited from the covenant God made with Himself.
M.B. Holland
Athens, Georgia

My Turn

Nowhere in the Word of God does it say that the white man owes Native people an apology (News, December). We may owe each other love and forgiveness, but forgiveness does not hinge on an apology. When we forgive we can be healed, and when we are healed, we can preach healing. Why did God allow all this to happen to Native peoples? What can we do to find Him again, and is there any sin we have not repented of?

Native tribes were fighting and killing each other long before the Europeans and Spanish ever came with their horses and guns. My Bible tells me that when we call on God with repentance, He will hear us and heal our land and us. It says we all are reconciled at the foot of the cross. The blood has never lost its power. It’s all we need for salvation, healing and restoration.

As a Native American, I say that when we learn to let go of the past, when we stop thinking we are owed something, then we get healed and move on to find our ancestors’ God.
John J. Franklin
Pensacola, Florida

BOOKS

Operation Desert Light
By Brother Andrew and Al Janssen,
Revell, softcover, 297 pages, $14.99.

You’ll feel as if you’re in an action movie when you read along with Brother Andrew and Al Janssen on their daring missions to the Middle East. Since 1955, Brother Andrew, author of God’s Smuggler, and his Open Doors ministry have supplied millions of Bibles and training to churches around the world that are experiencing persecution and discrimination. For the last 15 years Brother Andrew has made expeditions twice a year to seek out Christians in the Middle East, learn about their conditions and needs, and do whatever he could to strengthen them. This book tells the stories of those expeditions. With him, readers will meet the families living among terrorist bombings and snipers and corruption. You’ll see Brother Andrew’s grit when his outreach includes Arabs and Palestinians, even Yasser Arafat. Though written to inspire teen and young adult audiences, Operation Desert Light puts faces and feelings to the Middle East conflict and makes missions an exciting venture to support.
Marsha Gallardo

Sister Freaks
By Rebecca St. James, Warner Faith,
softcover, 320 pages, $16.99.

Compiled by Rebecca St. James, with several contributing authors, Sister Freaks is a 12-week devotional containing stories about women who have chosen to live uprooted and victorious lives for God. From the story of abbess Claire of Assisi to that of Marolda, who, after two abortions and facing a third unwanted pregnancy, received God’s forgiveness and call to ministry, the stories here are relevant and inspiring. Sister Freaks: Stories of Women Who Gave Up Everything for God brings an inventive approach to what is often a cliché area of Christian publishing. Although written more as a teen devotional, the book’s strong gospel message and engaging stories make it a valuable college outreach tool as well.
Sarah J. Cobb

Sex and the Single Soul
By Jack W. Hayford, Regal,
softcover, 160 pages, $9.99.

Father figure and pastor Jack W. Hayford offers warm, straightforward encouragement and challenge in his new book, Sex and the Single Soul: Guarding Your Heart and Mind in a World of Empty Promises. Hayford points out that every “single soul” is individually accountable to God for walking in integrity and purity-married or not. He also offers a fresh viewpoint on single life: “Singleness isn’t second-class-it is the true freedom to pursue what God has for your life now. And now stretches to tomorrow and the day after that until the day someone comes within that embrace, not to separate you from God but to change the nature of your singleness.” This much-needed paradigm shift will comfort singles who encounter the stigma of singleness within the church and within themselves.
Anna Flynn Stewart

Unrelenting Prayer
By Bob Sorge, Oasis House,

softcover, 192 pages, $12.

Bob Sorge has been part of the ministry team at the International House of Prayer of Kansas City since it began its 24/7 nonstop prayer ministry. He lays out the dynamics of what happens when you don’t give up praying in difficult circumstances. Not only will you please God, but if you survive being distracted, tempted and discouraged, you’ll also be changed yourself. Sorge writes: “While we’re still waiting for justice, the intimacy cultivated through unrelenting prayer makes us fruitful even during the wait.” Another payoff is seeing how God will avenge you, with as much as a sevenfold return. He uses the examples of Job; Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist; and Naomi, mother-in-law of Ruth. Some readers may contend with Sorge’s advice on depression and seeking medical help. Still, because he’s a victim of a faulty operation that damaged his voice, Sorge relates to feeling imprisoned by an infirmity. He encourages others to do as he does, and pray relentlessly.

Marsha Gallardo

Behind the Screen
Edited by Spencer Lewerenz and
Barbara Nicolosi, Baker Books,
softcover, 224 pages, $14.99.

In 1999, a group of Christian producers and writers got together and started a nonprofit program called Act One to provide training to Christians who want to make a difference in Hollywood. This valuable organization has provided classes for dozens of people who are now signed to major talent agencies, writing scripts and helping shape modern entertainment. Behind the Screen: Hollywood Insiders on Faith, Film and Culture is a direct result of their work. Written by the faculty of Act One and developed from the program’s curriculum, the book contains a variety of essays from Hollywood insiders and thinkers. Chapters examine the history of Hollywood, filmmakers who are changing the way we view our world and what it takes to survive in the entertainment industry. Contributors include Ralph Winter (X-Men) and Janet Scott Batchler (Batman Forever). This is a valuable resource for anyone who feels called to shape our culture through prayer or personal involvement.

Margaret Feinberg

God Is My Success
By Larry Julian, Warner Faith,

hardcover, 256 pages, $19.99.

Don’t be put off by the simplistic title. You might miss a book worth reading, whether you’re up for some life coaching or just curious about Larry Julian’s Dr. Phil-like advice on living a Christian life. Julian claims people take charge of what they should surrender to God and yet don’t take responsibility for the things for which they’re accountable. We run from pain, for example, but if we embrace it, Julian says, “it clarifies reality and becomes a catalyst for change.” The illustrating stories are dramatic. An advertising agency owner, who lost everything nearly overnight, traded in a controlling spirit for a giving one. Rhonda Anderson went from being a shy stay-at-home mom to co-founder of Creative Memories, with the confidence that she was helping people see God in their lives via unique photo albums. Julian is an executive coach and author of God Is My CEO. He offers a plan that will allow anyone to find his destiny, financial freedom, confidence, peace, and true success if he knows what to surrender and how to take charge.
Marsha Gallardo

Purifying the Prophetic
By R. Loren Sandford, Chosen,
softcover, 208 pages, $12.99.

In view of the proliferation of prophetic ministries, Loren Sandford warns that the Western church is caught up in self-absorption and calls for the cleansing of such ministries through discernment and humility. Sanford discusses his own personal struggles to keep his gifting pure. “The true prophetic word breaks down and builds up. It plucks up the old and plants the new. It gets us ready for the move of God and releases the power to accomplish it.” He is senior pastor of New Song Fellowship in Denver and son of John and Paula Sandford, prominent founders of inner-healing ministry. Alongside his parents he saw multitudes resort to blame instead of hearing the message of repentance and sacrifice. He sees the same tendency today and tackles the “word of faith” and “prosperity” doctrines as distortions and not true Christianity. “Too often they have served the culture of self, rather than the purposes of the kingdom of God.”
Marsha Gallardo

Fiction

HISTORICAL
Storm
By Bill Bright and Jack Cavanaugh, Howard Publishing, 368 pages,
softcover, $12.99.

It’s the late 1800s and the Great Awakening is beginning to wane in America. A young Yale College student comes under attack for his faith. He discovers that a secret society is trying to hinder the revival on campus. This political thriller will remind readers of the power of the Holy Spirit to change both individual lives and an entire nation.

SUSPENSE

Imposter
By Davis Bunn, WestBow Press,
hardcover, 300 pages, $19.99.

The son of a politician, FBI agent Matt Kelly sets out to discover his mother’s murderer. Officer Connie Morales, demoted to police deskwork, decides to help Kelly. The clues lead Kelly to his father’s soldier days in Vietnam, which could threaten the elder Kelly’s quest for Senate. Matt and Connie reveal secrets of their own as they search for truth.

YOUTH

Landon Snow and the Shadows of Malus Quidam
By R.K. Mortenson, Barbour Publishing, hardback,
204 pages, $9.97.

In this sequel to the first Landon Snow book, Landon returns to the fantasy world of Wonderland. A war is going on, and he must fight the wicked Malus Quidam to save his sister from Malus’ evil power. This series uses adventure and fantasy to teach spiritual truths.

MUSIC

I Stand for You
By Tree63, Inpop Records.

All the way from South Africa, Tree63 is back with its latest addition to a rich roster of worship albums, I Stand for You. The album is paced with 13 rock ‘n’ roll worship cuts and edgy vocals that make you want to dance. The recording opens with the sugary, upbeat “No Other,” which is filled with contagious guitar riffs and punchy rockish appeal. A handful of songs, including “Treasure,” “King” and “Amazing Grace” are all live concert recordings. The crowd’s energy and applause will put listeners into concert mode. I Stand for You is packed with energy and an unmistakable sense of optimism and hope. It’s a CD you can listen to a dozen times and not grow tired of it.
Margaret Feinberg

The Mission Bell
By Delirious, Sparrow Records.

Delirious, the band from across the pond, is back with its new rock-infused worship album, The Mission Bell. After making a splash in modern worship for more than a decade, the band’s style continues to evolve into something edgier and more passionate than ever before. The album opens with the hopeful, melodic “Stronger” and closes with the softer ballad, “I’ll See You.” Throughout, the recording rings with a loud and clear call to action. “Our God Reigns” raises issues of social justice while “Now Is the Time” serves as a call to be the city on a hill generation. Artist tobyMac joins the cast on a remake of the hymn “On Christ the Solid Rock,” shortened to “Solid Rock.” Overall, the album delivers alternative rock worship that’s worth listening to over and over again.
Margaret Feinberg

The Faith
By Da’ T.R.U.T.H.,
Cross Movement Records.

When gospel artist Kirk Franklin describes a Christian rap CD as “hip-hop at its finest,” it’s worth taking note. As Christian hip-hop has fought to mature, artists have either offered great music with shallow lyrics, or a strong message backed by outdated beats. Some lacked both musicianship and lyrical skill. But with his sophomore release, The Faith, Philadelphia native Da’ T.R.U.T.H. (aka Emmanuel Lambert Jr.) couples grinding hip-hop beats with lyrics that, like other artists affiliated with Cross Movement Ministries, borders on Christian apologetics. Part evangelist and part teacher, Lambert, who holds degrees from Philadelphia Biblical University and the Institute of Jewish Studies, raps as much about the Christian lifestyle as the reality of God and authority of Scripture. A standout cut is “The Portrait (Da Vinci Code Snapshots),” in which T.R.U.T.H. exposes the deception laced within the popular novel that is soon to become a major film. T.R.U.T.H.’s music will keep heads bobbing (especially fans of mainstream rapper Jay Z), but it will also get listeners thinking about the one who is Lord of all-including hip-hop culture.
Adrienne S. Gaines

An Invitation to Worship
By Byron Cage, Gospo Centric.

Artists such as Byron Cage have helped fuel praise and worship’s popularity in the African-American church. Dubbed The Prince of Praise, Cage has released his sophomore Gospo Centric offering, An Invitation to Worship. Cage, the senior minister of church worship and music administration at Ebenezer AME Church in Fort Washington, Md., recorded the project at his old stomping ground, New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Atlanta. Living up to its name, the CD invites the listener to partake in worship, especially on breathtaking ballads such as the title tune, “Invitation,” and “Broken but I’m Healed,” written by noted songwriter V. Michael McKay. The lead single, “I Will Bless the Lord,” and the J. Moss duet, “We Love You,” are upbeat church songs. Favorites include the worshipful “Majesty,” the Thomas Whitfield-penned gem “In Case You’ve Forgotten” and a soulful rendition of Michael W. Smith’s “Breathe.” Cage delivers a stunning project with An Invitation to Worship.
René Williams

Area churches are partnering with police to combat a recent increase in youth violence
A series of deadly gang shootings that culminated in November with the shooting of a 17-year-old boy on the steps of a church while he was attending the funeral of another slain boy has caused black pastors in Toronto to work with police and civic leaders to find effective solutions.

Increasing handgun violence in poor, predominantly black Toronto neighborhoods motivated Orim Meikle, pastor of Rhema Christian Ministries, to start prayer walk outreaches and home visits to the city’s five most violent ghettos in 2004. Hundreds of the church’s members walk and pray en masse through the gang-infested areas during the summer months.

Initially Meikle said his team knocked on residents’ doors and asked how they could help. “Their unanimous answer was jobs: ‘We need jobs,’” Meikle said. “So we got some government grants-for skills training and small-business startups-started training youth on computers, and showed them how to dress, walk and behave during a job interview. If you dress like a gangster, you’ll be treated that way. But if you dress for success, that’s what you’ll get.”

Rhema also opened a transitional home for young men at risk for criminal activity, and the church plans to buy more houses.

Meikle believes dysfunctional families, coupled with the glorification of violence, gratuitous sex and drugs in gangsta rap music, has wrongly influenced some young black males to become gangsters themselves. His 2,000-member church includes four families who have had a child gunned down or stabbed. Many other families live in violent areas where fear of gang threats and shootings are a constant companion.

Omar Hortley, the 21-year-old only child of a single mother, was a member of Rhema until he was killed in a drive-by shooting in 2004. Meikle counseled and comforted Hortley’s mother until she pulled through the shock.

“What do I say that will comfort the mother? It’s very difficult,” Meikle said. “In that tragedy, God brought some good out because she committed her life to Christ.”

Meikle, a 38-year-old father of two who immigrated to Canada from Jamaica in 1975, has swiftly risen to a place of prominence with both police and politicians for his outspoken attitude on black empowerment. “Sometimes we have this attitude that people should just accept us as we are, but we also have a responsibility to lift ourselves up,” he told Charisma. “So we’re not going to take the handout approach, but we’ll come to the table to collaborate with other community members.”

He believes churches must once again become an integral part of the city’s fabric in order for them to work effectively with schools, government agencies, grass-roots organizations and the police. “Functional churches should lead the charge,” he said. “The spiritual component sets the tone for the whole city infrastructure.”

Don Meredith, chairman of the Greater Toronto Area Faith Alliance and pastor of Grace Christian Life Centre, echoes that sentiment. Meredith, a 41-year-old father of two teenagers, detected the gang problem back in 2002 and, along with 24 other pastors, followed up by visiting the city’s police chief for answers.

That effort resulted in the formation of the Faith Alliance, an interfaith coalition representing 40 churches. Today Meredith spends much of his time networking with politicians, police and social agencies to find holistic solutions to curb violent crime in poor neighborhoods.

The group has put forth several solutions that have proved effective, such as the mingling of police officers and youth to play after-school basketball in the church gymnasiums of high-crime neighborhoods. Rhema is a participating church.

Meredith’s conviction that there often is a lack of parental involvement in Toronto’s urban communities compelled him last year to visit Rev. Eugene Rivers, a Boston minister who created the National TenPoint Leadership Foundation-named for the 10 tenets the document says are necessary for neighborhood transformation.

“Meredith and I met, and we said there are lessons to be learned here, and it’s got a spiritual dimension. The root component of the problem is fatherlessness,” said Rivers, who grew up in poor, violent neighborhoods in Boston, Philadelphia, and Chicago and eventually attended Harvard.

In 1988, Rivers established the Azusa Christian Community in one of Boston’s most dangerous neighborhoods. The house where he lived with his wife and children was shot at twice and burglarized six times. The purpose, he said, was to live on the same level as the street youth so they’d feel safe enough to trust his group’s motives.

“The way you raise a child is by going to where he lives,” Rivers told Charisma. “The black churches need to put men on the street to live with the troubled youth.”
Although Azusa Christian Community was launched in 1988, Rivers said area churches wouldn’t pay any attention to their efforts until 1992 when a young man was shot during a funeral just as the 17-year-old was in Toronto.

“The first churches to pay attention and come on board were the high-steepled ones-the Episcopalians and the Presbyterians,” Rivers said. “Now our coalition has 47 churches of almost every denomination who work in close conjunction with the police, social and community services.”

Rivers’ efforts helped reduce Boston’s homicide count by more than 80 percent between 1990 and 2000. His plan has since been implemented in cities worldwide.
Josie Newman in Toronto