Turning their backs on American suburbia in 2008, Jay and Beth Loecken picked up their family and sold their home just north of Atlanta to fulfill their goal of traveling across the nation with their family.

However, their mission isn’t to relax and enjoy the good life; it’s to help the needy and encourage others to live out God’s destiny. Jay is encouraged by what he’s seen.

“God is calling out a remnant of people who are serious about their faith and are no longer OK with just going to church, hearing a message and going home,” says the former mortgage broker. “I see pockets of people everywhere we go who are saying, ‘We want more.’”

The Loeckens’ life-changing decision followed a missions trip to Kenya, where they helped build a commercial-size chicken coop and enjoyed forming close relationships.

Afterward, they sensed God calling them to take similar action in America. The Loeckens and their four children have done everything from feeding the homeless in Atlanta to working with the Orange County Rescue Mission in Irvine, Calif.

“I always had a dream to own my own business,” Jay says of their ministry, Passion to Action (also the title of their new book). “It’s the culmination of a dream for me to see this turn into that.”

How to Vacation Like the Loeckens

• Hand out homeless care packages
• Read a story at a local children’s shelter
• Volunteer at a tutoring center
• Distribute food at a homeless shelter 
• Volunteer to help at a battered women’s home
• Feed residents in motels during the holidays
• Do a service project at a distressed apartment complex
• Help clean up after storm damage
• Volunteer for a suicide hotline
• Help with a painting project

Professional soccer player Wells Thompson has tasted glory with the New England Revolution, reaching the 2007 Major League Soccer (MLS) championship game as a rookie before his team bowed to Houston.

However, after that season Thompson resumed a practice started in childhood, taking a mission trip to Kenya and Zimbabwe. The following year he returned to Kenya, and he visited the Dominican Republic last year.

Today, Thompson is contemplating a long-term career in missions, although he says he won’t wait on the opportunities until he retires from his favorite sport.

“A couple years ago I would have been happy to play my career out [first],” says Thompson, now a midfielder for Denver’s Colorado Rapids. “The way I think about it now is, why does it have to be after I’m done playing soccer?”

He witnesses at home, too, through locker room discussions with his nonbelieving teammates and wearing post-game T-shirts emblazoned with John 3:16 and Romans 6:23.

Honeymission

After his upcoming wedding on Dec. 3, Thompson could easily travel to places such as Cancun, Bermuda or St. Thomas, but he hopes to include missions in the itinerary. “We just don’t feel comfortable going on a honeymoon and being selfish,” says Thompson, who proposed to his fiancee last December during a mission trip to the Dominican Republic.

Jeffrey Steinberg stands at 4 feet 6 inches tall (“Eat your heart out, Michael Jordan,” he jokes). He has no arms, his legs are malformed and he says he is not handicapped; rather he is a masterpiece in progress.

“I’m not handicapped because I don’t have any arms,” Steinberg says. “A handicap has nothing to do with that. A handicap is everything and anything that keeps me from being all that God’s designed for me to be. And He designed for me to be a masterpiece.”

For almost 40 years, the founder of Tiny Giant ministries has crisscrossed the earth sharing this message and the gospel to audiences in prisons, churches, schools, hospitals and on television. During his presentations he uses humor and songs to encourage people not to let their negative situations stop them from being extraordinary.

“We talk about getting rid of the things that handicap you, like circumstances,” he says of his messages. 

“Circumstances can handicap us because we use it as an excuse. [But] we have a choice. The choice is that I choose to let God do through me the things that I cannot do for myself.” 

Though Steinberg uses a hook to hold his microphone and has braces on his legs, God has used him to touch the lives of many. In addition to speaking, he’s released five music albums, a book titled Masterpiece in Progress, and a movie is being made about his life.

Steinberg says that no matter how you look, what family you have or what situation you find yourself in, God wants to create a masterpiece out of your life if you’ll let Him.

“Each of us is becoming, one color at a time, the masterpiece that God has designed for us to be,” he says. “Sometimes the colors blend into something even more beautiful. And sometimes they are right up against each other in harsh contrast. 

“Only when we step back and look at the bigger picture can we see the masterpiece that He has in mind for our lives.”

Last month eight college students took to their bikes in the hot summer sun to ride 2,500 miles up the East Coast of the United States. Determined to do more than pedal for pleasure, these young adults set out to raise awareness about women suffering in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)—dubbed the rape capital of the world.   

The cyclists, who came from universities across the nation, stopped in 13 states and spoke to churches about the atrocities. They were inspired by the She’s My Sister campaign that, along with the American Bible Society, is providing practical help, healing and hope to Congolese women.  

What is god saying and doing today? Perry Stone interprets the signs of our time.

When Charisma Publisher Steve Strang sat down with Bible teacher Perry Stone, he expected to talk about dreams and visions. What he got instead was a download of Stone’s interpretation of how today’s events relate to the end times—and what believers can do. 

CHARISMA: How do you get the revelation that you teach?

STONE: The significance of understanding the mysteries of God is to pray in the Spirit and get the mind of the Spirit. The Spirit of God will quicken your spirit and your intellect to truths that have always been there, but maybe are not commonly taught, and helps you compare Scripture with Scripture, because the Bible even says that “the anointing that abides teaches you all things.”

CHARISMA: Your latest book, How to Interpret Dreams and Visions, describes a dream you had about Osama bin Laden. Tell us about that.

STONE: This happened about a week before bin Laden was killed. I didn’t see anything, but I heard a voice. I heard military men saying: “We’ve got him. We’ve got him. We’ve got him.” And I’m thinking as I’m asleep, Who did they get? And they said, “Bin Laden. … Identify the body. We need DNA proof.” I kept hearing, “DNA proof, DNA proof.”

When I woke up, I told several people, “I had the strangest dream that we killed bin Laden and they’re going to have to get the DNA to identify the body.” Exactly one week later, I turned the television on and heard Geraldo say, “We got bin Laden.”

I only repeated what I heard in my dream. I’ve learned that if a person will spend time in prayer—not just your 5-minute, 10-minute devotional, but real intercessory prayer—then, like Job said, “God opens up your ear” … to hear those things that the Lord knows are coming, that … the general public doesn’t know. It comes thr

Click here to watch the full interview with Perry Stone and Steve Strang.

CHARISMA: What do you think will happen in Israel now, with all the pressure to create a Palestinian state?

STONE: Scripture indicates that eventually the land is divided. And it appears that occurs in the Tribulation period when the Antichrist invades Jerusalem. The flip side is, there’s a great danger on anyone dividing the land. 

Israel, Jerusalem and the Jews are the only nation, city and people formed by a covenant with almighty God. So when it’s time for God to fulfill His covenant to Israel, Jerusalem and the Jews to bring them back and give them their land back, God will fight against anyone who fights against His covenant.

It’s possible that one reason we’re seeing so much turmoil in our country, it may be traced back to how we’re treating God’s covenant; covenant of marriage, covenant with Israel, the covenant that our ancestors made with three documents that are based on Scripture, the Constitution, Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights.

CHARISMA: What do you think will happen in the near future in the U.S. in light of what you’re saying?

STONE: Honestly, I have a very great concern with reading the Old Testament and understanding how God can lift a hedge. And when He does, disaster comes. Satan created a whirlwind that took Job’s entire family out when the house collapsed. It wasn’t God doing it. It was God lifting the hedge.

My concern is that if the hand of God’s favor is lifted, nature, the earth being in travail and even the powers of heaven (Eph. 2:2) can actually manifest in such a way that destruction comes. We’ve had a year that broke the record on destruction and tornadoes and deaths in America—and the worst tornado came after President Obama said to go back to the pre-1967 borders. If you know Scripture, you have to be concerned that we are putting ourselves in a very dangerous position as it relates to the covenant.

CHARISMA: How can we avert this?

STONE: Some people would say what a leader does has no bearing on us. [But] look at King David; David numbered Israel and judgment came. Common Israelites died because of the decision of the king. That’s an example from Scripture where what the head of your nation does literally can impact the common people. There are other references.

The only thing I think Christians can do is to start paying attention to what our leaders are saying and those who are going to run for office, and line up what they say with what you know in Scripture. There are enough Christians in the African-American, Caucasian and Hispanic communities to literally put in office, top to bottom, people who take a stand for what’s right in line with God’s covenant.

Christians are … going to have to unite together and not be divided over race, color, religion or denomination, but over the covenant God has established. When it’s time for us to be blessed by God, we’ll be blessed by our obedience to it, or we’ll be cursed by our ignoring what God has written in His Word. We could be in serious danger if the Christians don’t wake up.

CHARISMA: What will it take to make Christians wake up and vote as this bloc?

STONE: When Israel was in total prosperity, they tended to ignore God. That’s what God warned them about: “Beware lest you forget the covenant when you’re full, and eaten, and you’ve built your homes and vineyards.” When the enemy came in and began to take the homes and the vineyards, and they had terror in their lives—this is all in the Scripture—suddenly they would turn back to God.

The only way God gets people’s attention (and you hate to say it, but it’s true), the only way He gets Christians … working to help touch the sinner, is disaster. And we’ve seen it. Even the secular news notices it: churches, volunteers, people taking their vacations to go work in Tuscaloosa, Ala., or Joplin, Mo.—carpenters leaving their jobs to say, “Let’s go help them rebuild at no cost.” There’s your real Christianity, the love of God that will touch the heart of a sinner.

So honestly, biblically, it takes trouble to unite the body and turn people to God.

Click here to watch the full interview with Perry Stone and Steve Strang.

CHARISMA: What do you see happening around the world?

STONE: When Egypt had its revolution, which is actually still going on, I told our partners, “Libya will fall next.” They said, “How do you know?” I said, “If we’re in the last days, Daniel 11 [says] … the Antichrist takes over Egypt and the Libyans and the Ethiopians are at his step, meaning they follow his lead. Now, that doesn’t mean the Antichrist is right on the doorstep. I’m not saying that. I am saying the Islamic revolution, in my opinion, is aligning the Middle East for the kingdom of the beast. Because what it does, it creates a void in leadership. And usually in the Middle East … when a huge political void came, you’d have a dictator, like a Hitler, who would come to power.

I believe that what they call “democratic movement” is actually going to create a void for one man to step in and take all those Islamic nations under his wing. In Islam, he would be the Mahdi. He would be the 12th Imam, according to the Iranians, or the Mahdi, according to the Sunnis. They both use that term, which is the “Awaited One” who will form the new Islamic kingdom. Biblically speaking, he could very well be the Antichrist of Bible prophecy, which only indicates again how fast things are moving toward what Daniel called the time of the end.

CHARISMA: In light of all this, what’s the future of the church?

STONE: What I hope happens is the prayer of Jesus will get answered: “They be one even as We were one.” Denominations are becoming more kingdom-minded. When we become more kingdom-minded and need each other … I believe the unity we could have could release the greatest wave of God’s presence to the nation we’ve ever experienced before. Unity is the key. The world can look at it and say: “They really know who their God is, because look how they treat each other. Look at how they treat us.” That’s what I’m hoping.

BETHEL BUZZING

Our church has been buzzing about the June issue and how it highlighted what God continues to do here at Bethel (“The Radical Revivalists” by Marcus Yoars). We presented copies to everyone in the church the Sunday after the issue came out. It was moving to see how you guys honored our whole team with your accurate reporting. We’ve had other kinds of press—this was much better! Thanks so much for doing a great job.

Bill Johnson, Redding, Calif.

MEASURING GOD

Bill Johnson’s article, “Supernatural by Nature” (June), was exciting and edifying. However, he seems to imply that true faith—and our only model—didn’t begin until Jesus arrived on earth as a human. If this is the implication, it’s forgetting that the first “measurement” began with God at creation. The beauty, imagery and prophetic nature of the Old Testament is a testimony that our Abba knew from the beginning what He wanted for us. Let’s not miss the fullness of that amazing relationship by excluding an important part of who we are in the Messiah. 

Terri L. Gillespie, Springfield, Pa.

‘GOD’S CARTOONIST’?

Thank you for your article, “The Gospel According to ‘God’s Cartoonist’” (by Troy Anderson, June) about Jack T. Chick and his cartoon tracts. It’s wonderful to see his work so favorably acknowledged. He has been right on for decades, and the message of truth is never more needed than now. I was appalled that some Christian merchants keep his tracts “under the counter.” Are they afraid the truth might offend someone? It should! Someone needs to speak up about what the Word of God really says. Of course we must speak the truth and hand out tracts in a loving manner, but love does not want anyone to go to their eternal destiny apart from knowing the Lord Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior.

Judee Warner, Montague, Calif.

Jack Chick’s tracts have foisted repulsive anti-Catholicism upon a wide readership. To grant him generally positive publicity in Charisma without repudiating his hate-filled and unsubstantiated claims is to show profound disrespect to the Catholic Church and its members, and is unworthy of Charisma.

Andrew M. Seddon, via email

Written in the mold of The Da Vinci Code—sans all the erroneous claims (thankfully)—best-selling author Glenn Meade’s latest geographical thriller, The Second Messiah, keeps readers on the edge of their proverbial seats with multiple plot twists. 

The story revolves around Jack Cane’s archaeological dig and the discovery of an ancient scroll dating back to the time of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Written in a strange code as well as ancient Aramean, the scroll claims there was a second Messiah who may have lived at the time of Jesus—an idea that strikes fear at the heart of the Vatican and the nation of Israel and leads them to bury its evidence.

A strange accident that predates the murder of a prominent archaeologist makes Cane wonder if the two incidents are related, and a chase ensues through Europe and the Middle East.

In summer 2011, the band Downhere teamed with Grammy- and Dove Award-winning producer Mark Hiemermann (Michael W. Smith, Tait, Stacie Orrico) for a new pop-driven project, On the Altar of Love.

Band member and songwriter Jason Germain describes the release as “a proclamation of faith” and “an encouragement to continue on regardless of circumstance.”

Steven Curtis Chapman’s re:creation features five new songs, including first single “Do Everything,” plus new acoustic recordings of his eight biggest hits, including “For The Sake of the Call,” “Speechless,” “Heaven in the Real World” and “Dive.”

“Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good.” 

—Romans 12:9, NLT

Exactly how do you raise up successful leaders? Former Hillsong worship leader and church co-pastor Darlene Zschech believes you should downplay failures while praising successes. This belief in others has enabled her to develop gifted, young musicians into great worship leaders whose songs you likely sing on Sunday mornings. Zschech teaches the “why” behind the “what” in training others to lead in her new book The Art of Mentoring: Embracing the Great Generational Transition.