A personal prophecy saved Callixte Karemangingo. He was in prison for perpetrating genocide in Rwanda when he said the Holy Spirit told him the wind was about to change.

Callixte was a Hutu who participated in the 1994 brutality against Tutsis, which is now recognized as genocide. He attacked within groups, betraying friends and neighbors who were Tutsi or Tutsi sympathizers.

In February, 2000, Callixte was overcome by the Holy Spirit and repented on the spot. He confessed his sins, which included crimes against humanity, and called out for the Lord to save him.

Under his influence in prison, at least 8,600 other inmates came to know Christ and also requested forgiveness.

“I was also teaching about peace and reconciliation,” Callixte says.

Callixte picked up a guitar, and prophecies started flowing through the chords. The Holy Spirit gave him the words in his heart, and his ministry exploded.

The Lord granted him favor, and soon Callixte was granted brief releases to share his gift with others. He won several contests, and the government allowed him to keep his monetary winnings.

When the Gacaca, or community court, offered commuted sentences in exchange for proof of repentance, they set Callixte free.

The Holy Spirit prompted him to return to his neighbors, Andrew and Madeline. Madeline was a Tutsi, and Callixte was among the group who murdered her in-laws.

By divine providence, Andrew and Madeline were also believers.

“Asking forgiveness from Andrew and his wife was not that difficult because they are both Christians,” Callixte says.

Andrew and Madeline forgave Callixte and pardoned him. Callixte’s wife, Marcella, joined Madeline in volunteer efforts to promote peace around the country.

The families united and are now personal friends as well as business partners. They run a farm that produces potatoes, bananas and coffee.

As the families drew closer, so did their children. Andrew’s daughter is set to marry Callixte’s son.

“It’s God who did this,” Marcella, Callixte’s wife says. “With human strength, it would not be possible.”

Listen to the podcast to hear Callixte’s full testimony.

Other stories from World Vision USA’s trip to Rwanda:

“How This Faith-Based Organization Changed an Entire Village“

“How Holy Spirit Reconciled an Entire Nation Through This Critical Biblical Principle“

The same week Jonathan Cahn and his wife welcomed their new son into the world, New York passed a horrific bill that would allow abortion up until birth.

“To kill a child in its mother’s womb is evil,” Cahn says. “To kill a child in his mother’s womb up until the time of its birth is beyond evil.”

To celebrate, New York lit up One World Trade Center in pink.

“If you’ve read The Harbinger, you know that the World Trade Center is one of the nine harbingers in the biblical pattern of judgment,” Cahn says. “A tower represents a nation, a civilization at its height and also it is the pride, it is the embodiment of the nation.”

Watch the video as Cahn explains the prophetic significance of the laws passed in New York and beyond, from abortion to infanticide. He also explains the mystery of the towers and how it all points to Baal.

“The central key is that as America falls away from God, it’s following the pattern of ancient Israel in its fall away from God,” Cahn says. “And one of the signs in the fall of ancient Israel was the worship of the god Baal, to whom they offered up their babies. We are watching now that same spirit.”

Watch the video to see more.

Last week, New England Patriots’ owner Robert Kraft was one of 25 people charged with soliciting prostitution at a spa in Jupiter, Florida. The spa was included in a human trafficking investigation into Florida spas that started at least four months ago. A spokesperson for Kraft said, “We categorically deny Mr. Kraft engaged in any illegal activity.”

Jupiter Police Chief Daniel Kerr disclosed in a news conference that authorities have video evidence of Kraft engaging in sex acts on two visits to a local day spa.

It Won’t Buy Happiness

Jeremy Wiles is the director of the Conquer Series, a powerful cinematic study that helps men find freedom from pornography. Wiles posted on social media over the weekend,

A few weeks ago, my wife and I were walking through the marina, just across the street from one of the parlors. She pointed up to one of the multi-million-dollar condos along the water and said, “That place looks eerily sad.” I responded, ‘When I looked up there a little while ago, I felt the exact same thing.’ We talked about it for a few minutes, and I mentioned that the owner of the Patriots owns that condo.

I had no idea that only a few weeks later he would be on national news, charged with soliciting sex at a massage parlor … The “word” in the community is that there are celebrities and church leaders in this area that have arrest warrants and will soon be detained. My heart goes out to their wives and families. … Sin will take you further than you want to go and make you pay more than you want to pay.

How could a man worth billions, able to buy anything he wants, visit prostitutes on the weekends?

Money won’t make you happy.

Massage parlors won’t make you happy.

Porn won’t make you happy.

Looking back, I now recognize the Holy Spirit was showing me more than a gloomy and sad condo, but rather a man inside who’s lost, depressed and enslaved to sin.

The Dark World of Sex Trafficking

Whether Kraft is guilty of any crime will be decided by the legal system. But there are much deeper issues here than one man’s personal situation. Sex trafficking is more widespread than people want to believe.

According to The Boston Globe, Martin County, Florida, Sheriff William Snyder said,

“The story is not Bob Kraft. The story is that dozens of women in Southeast Florida along the Treasure Coast are living in rudimentary living conditions and being coerced into acts of sexual conduct.”

Sex trafficking is not just some problem in faraway countries that has little impact in America.

The National Human Trafficking Hotline reports that sex trafficking accounted for 6,081 of the more than 8,500 reported cases of human trafficking in the United States in 2017.

The Link Between Sex Trafficking and Porn

And perhaps not shockingly, pornography and sex trafficking around the world are very closely connected.

The Family Research Council (FRC) reports the following alarming statistics:

Across all ages and in nine different countries, 49 percent of rescued sex trafficking victims report they were forced to participate in the production of pornographic material.

Over half of U.S. women used in commercial sexual exploitation were either in pornographic material or threatened with the possibility.

Many of these women report that making pornography is a routine aspect of being in prostitution,

Oftentimes women who are trafficked are forced to make hardcore pornography. This hardcore pornography is sold and distributed online.

Further, those who are actors in pornographic material are often women who have been sex trafficked and sometimes serve as child sex slaves.

U.S. citizens account for 83 percent of all sex trafficking victims who have been found in this country.

Victims of sex trafficking are subjected to physical mistreatment and are often forced to recreate pornographic scenes.

Pornography Use Supports Sex Trafficking

Sitting in front of a computer monitor is not simply harmless fun. Besides the damage being done to your own life and family, pornography is a driving force behind sex slavery.

The FRC noted,

Pornography fuels the sex trafficking industry. Each click of pornography creates a demand for more pornography and brings in a profit to the industry. The demand causes traffickers, pimps and those involved in the sex industry to abuse their victims by filming them in sex acts. Victims of sex trafficking have had to bear the trauma of sexual abuse, physical abuse, drug abuse, coercion and oftentimes abortion. They have a long way to recovery. In short, pornography consumption is a public health crisis and creates a further demand for sexual exploitation.

Although they probably have no idea, men and women who use pornography are most likely watching adult and child victims of sex trafficking.

Andrew David Naselli is the assistant professor of New Testament and biblical theology at Bethlehem College and Seminary. He gives a strong, blunt message to pornography users:

Plant this deeply and firmly in your conscience: Since pornography fuels sex slavery, indulging in pornography to any degree is participating in sex slavery. This is the case even if the porn star you lustfully look at is profiting financially from that pornography. The point is that any and all pornography is part of the worldwide system that fuels prostitution and thus fuels sex slavery.

When you hear how adults are enslaving girls and young women … does that not make you feel sick to your stomach? Do you not feel outraged against people who victimize children and young women? That is exactly how you should feel about pornography.

You and Your Church Can Make A Difference

Very few pornography users have ever given a thought to what lies behind the pornography industry. Pornography not only has an impact on you and your family. It is fueling demand for the young woman smuggled from her family in Vietnam. It led to the teenager who went missing from your local school. Porn is impacting thousands of lives.

Churches and individuals can help men break free from porn usage and take a stand to fight sex trafficking.

The Conquer Series is a dramatic men’s small group resource that is helping almost a million men around the world experience a porn-free life. Action-packed military reenactments, solid biblical preaching and inspiring testimonies are featured.

Joshua Jorstad wrote,

“Because of the Conquer Series, I started my journey to be free from porn! I am officially a year and a half clean and have been loving the change. Ultimately, it was God who changed my heart, but your resources helped a bunch!”

{eoa}

Learn more at ConquerSeries.com

If you would like more information about this topic, please contact Luke Gibbons at 561-771-6709 or email at [email protected].

Jim and Elisabeth Elliot’s only daughter shares never-before-published love letters between her missionary parents in a new book.

“My father and mother’s love was huge and deep because they were so committed to loving God first, that they felt that each of the other was a gift,” Valerie Elliot Shepard said. “I hope to carry on the legacy simply by telling the story.”

According to The Gospel Coalition, many of today’s believers may not know that these two legendary ministry leaders were single-mindedly devoted to pursuing God’s will for their young lives, certain their future callings would require them to sacrifice forever the blessings of marriage. Instead, they found their hearts intertwined.

Watch the video to hear Shepard share about her parents’ romance.

Ronald McCray is sharply dressed and well-spoken. He beams with pride when he talks about his wife, Fatima, and their soon-to-come son.

He loves Jesus, and that shines through in his voice as he speaks reverently of the one who set him free.

Though McCray was raised in church, he hasn’t walked with God through all of his days. At 9, he was sexually abused by a relative and some friends.

“I was the subject of their experiment in watching pornography … and this created something within me that we know of today as same-sex attraction,” McCray tells Charisma News.

By 16, McCray decided to act on those attractions. At 17, he was raped by another man who claimed to be a Christian.

“You would think that would likely turn one away from those types of relationships,” McCray says. “It created a void, or a desire rather, for me to pursue those types of experiences and relationships.”

So deeper into the rabbit hole he went.

One night, McCray was drunk, dancing in the club when He heard the voice of the Lord.

Listen to the podcast to hear what happened next.

Vonnie Lopez made a promise to herself in prayer when she was a tone-deaf child: that one day, she would bring God the glory through song.

On an international stage this week, Lopez did just that.

The signer belted Andrae Crouch’s “My Tribute (To God be The Glory)” for her performance on The World’s Best.

The worship was so moving, it brought judges, including Faith Hill, to tears.

Watch the video and worship with us.

The modern body of Christ is full of nontraditional missionaries who use social media and digital tools to fulfill the Great Commission. As recently as 25 years ago, missionaries would surrender their lives to God; hop on a boat, plane or train; and stop off when they felt the Holy Spirit’s prompting. But today, the Lord is raising up a generation of digital missionaries, who are using technology to share the gospel with the entire world.

For example, many people have never heard of Bobby Gruenewald, who serves as the innovation leader of Life.Church in Edmond, Oklahoma—but they’ve probably used his app. Gruenewald is the founder of YouVersion, the world’s No. 1 Bible app. YouVersion has been installed on over 358 million devices worldwide. Where missionaries used to smuggle Bibles into hostile countries, YouVersion can bring the Word directly to people’s phones at no cost, translated in over 1,200 languages. Gruenewald says the internet is a game-changer for ministries—and it’s an opportunity the church can’t afford to dismiss.

“We’re alive at a unique time in history,” he explains. “God has put us here on this earth at this moment, when we have access to all these tools that can reach people all over the world. For us, that’s not just an opportunity—it’s a responsibility.”

But it’s not just about Bible apps. Christians are finding ways to share the gospel across every conceivable online platform. That includes obvious social networks like Facebook and Twitter, but it also includes Periscope, Instagram, Twitch and more. Evangelists on these diverse sites can preach without ever setting foot in another city or country. And though the internet is host to many traps and temptations, the Holy Spirit is using these digital platforms to equip the saints and reach the next generation for Jesus.

Going Digital

Think of the internet as the new town square—a central place where people gather to meet, share life events and have fun. And like those old town squares, the internet can be the perfect place for an evangelist to witness and share the gospel with as many people as possible. But too many people neglect this outreach opportunity. In a June 2018 study, Barna Research found only 28 percent of Christians share their faith via social media.

That low evangelism rate is unacceptable for Jony Jimenez, creative director for UPPERROOM, a Dallas-based church. UPPERROOM streams all of its services online because, as Jimenez tells his team, “That’s where the people are.” Because of these online efforts, attendance is on the rise for both the digital and physical churches. Jimenez says it’s because the digital offerings make more people in the community aware of the church’s work.

But it’s not just about raising church attendance. If captured correctly, a digital audience can exceed even the largest megachurch crowds. Clark Campbell—co-founder of RVRB (pronounced “reverb”), which promotes clients online through streaming and social media—says technology makes the Great Commission more achievable than ever. Campbell works with major charismatic ministries, including Christ for all Nations and Jesus Image, and has seen the results firsthand.

“It makes not only business or financial sense to amplify a ministry’s message online, but also kingdom sense,” Campbell says. “That’s especially true when you’re trying to advance the message of hope, restoration, healing and the gospel. 750,000 people can gather to hear the gospel in Nigeria during a CfaN crusade. What if 200,000 or even two million more could experience that online?”

Jimenez says the Holy Spirit can still speak and minister just as strongly through smartphones or a computer screen.

“We all experience the power of the Holy Spirit in various ways,” Jimenez says. “It can happen through a movie, a billboard or other bizarre ways. … In the same way, technology like iPhones are just devices that share information. That information can be inspiring, informative, funny, entertaining—or it can be Jesus. Phones have a way of being unbiased. They don’t care what comes out of them. So our goal is to allow Holy Spirit to do His thing through YouTube, Instagram or Facebook.”

Digital Babylon

Led by the Spirit, the internet can be a great kingdom tool. But it can also contain plenty of pitfalls for God’s people.

For instance, though Jimenez supports online streaming for churches, he says God at first told UPPERROOM not to stream, post to social media or even have an online presence. Why? Because it might distract the fledgling church from what was truly important.

“The Lord was very specific early on about not going online or promoting our church,” Jimenez says. “When the church started, we didn’t have a website, Instagram, Facebook—nothing. Not because we didn’t want it, but because the Lord told us to make it about Him and nothing else. Our goal was to minister to Him. When you lift Jesus, all men are drawn near. That’s exactly what happened. Without any promotional marketing, people started showing up to church.”

Two years later, the Lord clearly spoke to UPPERROOM’S leadership again—this time, urging them to put their church online. Now the church streams four services each week. During one season, the internet served as a snare for the church; during another, it was a gift from God.

“The internet is not good or bad,” Campbell says. “The internet is just the method we use to advance the gospel.”

Likewise, the same smartphones that bring the Bible to many around the world can be a spiritual hindrance to others.

“People have literal addictions to their devices and technology,” Gruenewald says. “Some people have been able to use technology to successfully connect them to the Bible or connect to a church. But then there’s others who say, ‘Man, I have a tough time having my phone open, even if I’m reading my Bible, without being distracted by push notifications.’ I think each person has to understand where their weaknesses are and what the challenges might be, and then manage that by putting appropriate boundaries in place.”

Christians must also be cautious to influence their friends online—rather than being influenced themselves by the world. For this reason, David Kinnaman of Barna Research Group has even labeled the internet a “digital Babylon.” He compares young Christians with Daniel and his peers, who were plunged into an entirely different world with a different worldview, one that opposed God. Daniel and his close friends were able to succeed in that environment, but many peers succumbed to the temptations of Babylon.

“Certain corners of the internet have become full of hate, despair and hopelessness,” Campbell says. “I think Christians today, our generation, have the opportunity to stand in the middle of that fire and be God’s light. We can be this power in the middle of that hell you find in some corners of the internet. We can use the internet for good—being a beacon of light, love, Jesus and hope.”

Digital Harvest

To avoid those snares, Campbell ensures that he and his team at RVRB follow the Spirit’s leading online, especially when working crusades and conferences. He says he’s made Spirit-led digital presence a core tenet of his web philosophy since RVRB’s founding: “Even though we’re not working in vocational ministry, we are tapping into the same Spirit-led resources and mindset.”

When that happens, the internet can bring ministries three powerful benefits.

First, having an internet-based church can help people at their most vulnerable. Distraught individuals may Google resources for depression, suicide or health concerns they’re uncomfortable sharing with their pastors. Gruenewald’s team utilizes technology to serve ads or articles that help those people when they need it most.

“In that moment, we’re able to draw them into community,” Gruenewald says. “That’s something you [can’t] do in a physical context—to be privately in someone’s home … at the moment when they’re by themselves or vulnerable.”

That ad can then lead people to an online church or community, giving them a path toward life instead of death.

“The internet provides some really neat evangelism opportunities to share the gospel with people who are hurting,” Gruenewald says. “Digital tools give you the ability to do what pastors alone don’t have the availability to do.”

Second, the internet can drive church attendance and Bible study. Life.Church streams 84 services each week, with an average weekly attendance of 280,000. By comparison, Lakewood Church—the largest megachurch in the U.S.—averages approximately 52,000 people each week.

In addition, the YouVersion app has recorded more than 6.3 million Bible Plans started in 2019 alone. Within the first few weeks of January, more than 2.7 million of those plans were completed.

The app also tracks a statistic called “Plan Day Completes” that breaks down like this: Each Bible Plan varies from three days to one year in length. Plan Day Completes count each day that is finished across all plans people are reading. If someone is reading the Bible in a year, they may not have completed a Bible Plan yet, but may have 14 days completed. By mid-January, Life.Church tallied 48.6 million Plan Day Completes.

Third, the internet makes it easier than ever to reach beyond national borders and truly fulfill the Great Commission. Families can attend church services together even when separated by thousands of miles, in the case of deployed loved ones or missionaries serving overseas. In countries like India and Pakistan, where Christian churches are under constant persecution, the internet can provide a safe way for believers to attend church or fellowship with other believers.

“Technology is able to penetrate into countries and areas of the world where a physical church experience may be illegal,” Gruenewald says.

There’s never been a better time to go and make disciples. Finances, time or geography no longer have to be impediments to Christ’s Great Commission: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matt. 28:19-20). {eoa}

Jessilyn Lancaster is online news director for Charisma Media.

CHARISMA is the only magazine dedicated to reporting on what the Holy Spirit is doing in the lives of believers around the world. If you are thirsty for more of God’s presence and His Holy Spirit, subscribe to CHARISMA and join a family of believers that choose to live life in the Spirit. CLICK HERE for a special offer.

International evangelist Morris Cerullo prophesied hundreds of miracles at a recent speaking address.

“[The devil] causes you enough havoc in your circumstances, in your family, in your finances, in your physical body, in your marital relationship,” Cerullo says.

“[But] tonight, there are going to be hundreds of family miracles [taking] place tonight,” Cerullo says.

How? Watch the video to see.

James MacDonald, pastor of the megachurch Harvest Bible Chapel (HBC), was fired from the church after a radio show host aired the first of several inflammatory audio clips. In the clips, a man who is presumed to be MacDonald makes crude comments about Christianity Today, reporters and even discusses a plan to plant child pornography on someone’s computer.

According to HBC:

Following a lengthy season of review, reflection, and prayerful discussion, the Elders of Harvest Bible Chapel had determined that Pastor MacDonald should be removed from his role of senior pastor. That timeline accelerated when on Tuesday morning, highly inappropriate recorded comments made by Pastor MacDonald were given to media and reported. Given that and other conduct under consideration, in accordance with the procedures in our bylaws, Pastor MacDonald was removed as senior pastor and as an elder of the church for engaging in conduct that the elders believe is contrary and harmful to the best interests of the church. His employment has been terminated from Harvest Bible Chapel, effective today, Feb. 12, 2019. This decision was made with heavy hearts and much time spent in earnest prayer, followed by input from various trusted outside advisers.

Julie Roys, a Chicago-area reporter and watchdog blogger, offered more information:

“[Tuesday], Chicago radio personality Mancow Muller played shocking clips of someone sounding exactly like Harvest Bible Chapel Pastor James MacDonald discussing putting child porn on the computer of Christianity Today CEO Harold Smith.”

She continues:

Mancow told me he didn’t definitively identify MacDonald to protect himself from potential litigation. Yet MacDonald’s trademark voice, though somewhat distorted, was unmistakable. I’ve also now heard the complete 50 minutes of audio that Mancow referenced, and heard the clips in context, and they are credible. I’ve also reached out to MacDonald for comment, and he did not respond with either a confirmation or denial.

Mancow said he plans to air the entire 50-minute conversation on an upcoming podcast. I will save some of my comments about the recording until then.

But the clips Mancow played today are breathtaking. On them, the man who’s presumably MacDonald jokes about me having an affair with Mark Galli, editor-in-chief of Christianity Today (CT). That’s not funny. It’s disgusting. Galli and I have never had anything but a professional relationship, and it’s repulsive that anyone—a pastor, no less—would make a joke about that.

MacDonald also makes vulgar references to Harold Smith and Ed Stetzer, CT contributing editor and the executive director of the Billy Graham Center at Wheaton College. He also allegedly insults CT, calling it a “… pipe-organ protecting, musty, mild smell of urine, blue-hair Methodist loving, mainline dying, women preacher championing, emerging church adoring, almost good with all gays and closet Palestine promoting Christianity” magazine.

However, especially disconcerting to me is an excerpt where MacDonald alleges that I and “another person who used to attend (Harvest)” approached the houses of people who were victims in a DCFS investigation and shouted at them about a cover-up at Harvest. He alleges that I’m “off the rails” and predicts that in 30 days, I’m going to be “riding a tricycle with a midget on (my) shoulders.”

Roys previously reported that MacDonald took money from church coffers.

HBC previously filed a suit against Roys, among others, for her articles. The suit was eventually dropped.

According to Christianity Today:

MacDonald took an “indefinite sabbatical” in January, following a tumultuous few months defending Harvest in a defamation lawsuit against its critics and in the aftermath of a World magazine investigation into mismanagement at the church.

The public scrutiny continued with pushback against MacDonald’s decision to preach at a Harvest affiliate in Florida during his sabbatical. Then, a famous friend of his, Chicago shock jock Mancow Muller, spoke out in a local newspaper against the manipulation and ego he observed around MacDonald’s “cult of personality” at Harvest. On his show, Muller later aired what sounded like clips of MacDonald making harsh comments toward media who had covered the story.

This is not MacDonald’s first brush with controversy.

In 2014, MacDonald confessed that the Harvest elder board slandered three elders as “false messengers.”

MacDonald founded HBC in 1988. He hosted a daily radio and TV program called Walk in the Word. MacDonald also worked with Mission Harvest, Harvest Training Center, Vertical Church Conferences and Vertical Church Network.

MacDonald wrote several books and Bible studies, including: Act Like Men; Vertical Church; Lord, Change Me; Lord, Change My Attitude; When Life is Hard; Always True and most recently, The Will of God IS the Word of God.

The church asked for prayer as they move forward.

Our elders and staff are committed to fulfilling our fiduciary duty as the leadership of this congregation, knowing that at times the outcome may be misunderstood or emotionally painful. A more detailed communication regarding next steps for our church will take place in our weekend services.

We sincerely thank you for your prayers, your support and your patience as we work together to restore a trust in leadership, a humility to surrender to biblical authority and a firm resolve to move forward as a church family. Please continue to uphold our church, the elder board, staff and the MacDonald family in prayer at this time.

Patriots quarterback Tom Brady credits his wife, Gisele Bundchen, with their latest Super Bowl win. Specifically, he credits the former Victoria’s Secret angel’s witchcraft.

“She said you’re lucky you married a witch—I’m just a good witch,” Brady said of his wife’s spirituality.

Brady told reporters that he believes the Patriots’ win over the Rams was derived from the work the couple does spiritually.

“I have these little special stones, healing stones, protection stones and she has me wear a necklace, take these drops she makes, say all these mantras,” Brady said.

The famed quarterback also said Bundchen “always makes a little altar for me at the game because she just wills it so much,” complete with pictures of his children.

Brady told the crowd that Bundchen foretold how Patriots’ seasons would go down.

“So it was early January this year, and I said, ‘Babe, I’m asking … like, do we have a chance?’

“And she said, ‘Yeah, but you’re going to have to do a lot of work and you’re really going to have to listen to me,'” Brady said.

“So man, I listen to her. And then right after the game she said, ‘See? I did a lot of work. You do your work, I do mine.'”

Watch the video to see for yourself.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Bundchen builds her beliefs around astrology, Buddhism, Taoism and the Mexican spiritual guru Don Miguel Ruiz.

“I’m an optimistic person,” Bundchen said. “I believe that what we give energy to is what grows. If you focus on positivity and this higher, lighter vibration of love and good things, they will eventually come.”