Pastor Judy Jacobs led a crowd in worship to the 1996 Robin Marks hit “Days of Elijah,” during the Morris Cerullo Worldwide School of Ministry 2019, which was held Aug. 30-Sept. 3 in Orlando, Florida. The song’s bridge repeatedly declares, “There is no God like Jehovah.” Watch it here.

Kanye West released his music video for “Closed on Sunday” on Thanksgiving.

The video takes an odd approach to the lyrical material, showing West and his family on a trip in the desert, West praying on a cliff and finally a Sunday Service performance with a large choir.

Though Chick-fil-A is frequently mentioned in the song’s lyrics—”Closed on Sunday, you’re my Chick-fil-A/You’re my number one, with the lemonade”—the fast-food restaurant is nowhere to be found in the video itself.

Watch it here.

Some Charisma readers may first recognize Linda Fields as a prayer leader for the International House of Prayer (IHOPKC) in Kansas City, Missouri. For over a decade faithfully, every Monday at 6 a.m., Fields leads prayer in IHOPKC’s Global Prayer Room for thousands of people attending in-person and digitally through the live stream.

But though her organization, 7M-pact, is officially affiliated with IHOPKC, Fields says she views the business world and the marketplace as her true mission field. It’s a field she feels specially called to impact, and she feels God has equipped her to do it.

She may be an unusual choice. Her road to boardrooms was far from straightforward.

“I miraculously survived a devastating house fire as a young teenager,” Fields says. “Doctors said that I should have died or been crippled for life. But God had other plans. … I went from those kind of dirt road beginnings to finding myself at the top, spearheading a multimillion dollar organization of training and coaching executives and entrepreneurs. Honestly, few people back in that day expected a woman to be at the head of an organization of that size and scale. In the business world, I often found myself being the only woman at a table of men. But strangely enough, I didn’t think about it. It didn’t seem like a thing. I knew I had been chosen for this role for a reason, and I loved it.”

Fields—who is happily married and has two daughters who also work in corporate America—describes her work in corporate America the way many pastors describe their work in their church and community. She mentors young leaders in balancing work and their spiritual life, and she says she has even served in a pastoral capacity to many of her coworkers and fellow executives.

“I have had my most remarkable spiritual experiences in the workplace,” Fields says. “I have watched men and women I’ve hired on high-performance teams come to me for answers about conflict resolution and how to lead, but also wanting wisdom about marriage, budget, family or life issues. I have had them call me to the graveside of a spouse. What does that mean? I was literally their pastor. Was I called a pastor? No—I was called the CEO/director of an organization. But I didn’t have a conflicted approach that made me think I had to dumb down my spiritual senses and leadings of the Holy Spirit because I was at work.”

Fields is passionate about changing Western believers’ conception that their work and their faith occupy two different, non-overlapping spaces. Instead, she wants the next generation to adopt a holistic approach that lets the Holy Spirit move mightily within the marketplace, bringing a practical working wisdom that changes everything.

“No matter their role, no matter their position, their title, no matter their past or whatever difficult circumstances they might find themselves in today, … God hears the prayers of the kneeling, praying, working businessman or woman, and He has a great plan,” Fields says.

The Separation

Fields says she grew up in Texas and remembers teachers praying in school, reading the Bible or electing class chaplains. She says it was a “beautiful time” but that the world has since changed.

“Separation of church and state became this rallying cry to run God out of the schools and out of these public places where we were used to finding God,” Fields says. “Our country came under great attack spiritually in that time. I don’t think anyone then could have ever imagined just how devastating the consequences would be. … An unintended consequence of locking God in the church house was frankly—pardon my French—that all hell broke loose in the workplace and the marketplace.”

She says it’s a lie from the enemy that God intended the workplace to be cut off from the rest of one’s life.

“It’s got such a clutch on the hearts of men and women in the marketplaces, leaving them stranded in the world of work,” Fields says. “It’s something that enemy has gone after. It’s a major stronghold in our Western society and I think across the globe.”

But Fields hopes to be part of the solution. She says that because she began her career when it was more “normal” to invite God into the workplace or education, she can see what has been lost—and she’s helping young leaders to reintegrate their faith into their career.

“We were never meant to lead a divided, compartmentalized life,” Fields says. “It shuts your heart down. It even shuts your productivity down, because you’re so busy switching hats. The result is that you end up just trying to get through the week, and then you go to church and get a little drink from the fire hydrant on Sunday, and then go right back into the pit.

“This makes me mad actually, but … we decided God just belonged in the church, and that’s it. We locked Him up in there. We no longer addressed matters of vocation and integrity in the workplace and shining in your sphere of influence, and we left this huge void. The deception men and women in the workplace have come away with is that the world of work is the worldly, sinful place. We’re ashamed of it. We don’t know how to act there anymore. And we are trying to get out of that awful wilderness called the work world, which is ridiculous because God places us there on purpose.

“We have taken on this false paradigm that the only worthy work now is to join the ministry of the church. So we leave and join a church post or start a nonprofit or start a social justice cause—because there’s this fire in our bellies that everyone carries to make a huge difference.”

Fields says none of this is intended to dismiss the important work of the church, but rather, to urge the church not to dismiss the equally important work of businesses.

“I read a Barna stat a few years ago that said many young career professionals don’t stay in church because they don’t see any relevance to their work world,” she says. “Well, for the pastor who connects these dots, my goodness—they never have to give a special call for an offering again, if we can meet these needs in the church. The men and women in the working world are so thrilled to get fed relevant content for their work life—that Monday through Friday—and they’re out there just duking it out on their own right now. … It doesn’t compete with the church. It is the church on assignment.”

The Transformation

Fields says she uses the term “spiritual professional” to describe the man or woman who gets a clear vision for life and work, and goes all-in—changing the face of Christianity in the marketplace. She says this term can be applied not only to traditional corporate environments, but to all spheres of influence in society (commonly referred to as “the seven mountains”).

She says, “To be a spiritual professional is to adopt a whole new mindset that says, ‘You know what? God has put gifts and skills in me. I am here to bring a difference, and I’m going to do it with my whole heart.’ When they do that and begin to pray, God unveils practical ways that are right for that situation.”

Fields contrasts being a spiritual professional—as she outlines through her resource Prayer Plan Your Life—with older, less successful models of integrating faith into the workplace.

“Years back, when people started thinking about all this, they wanted to get up on the table in the cafeteria and preach a revival sermon, right?” Fields says. “[They wanted to] ruffle a few feathers and get everybody saved. You had people who were locked in their office doing online Bible studies—stealing time from their employer—or going office to office with spiritual walk tracts. I mean, what a terrible witness that is.

“The spiritual professionals … are the ones that come in all prayed up. They already prayed for their boss. They already had their time [of prayer] and they’re coming in ready to make a difference. They’re showing up as contributors. They’re coming in ready to bring solutions. They’re seeing a need that can be met. They’re not waiting for permission or to be tapped on the shoulder for everything. It’s a whole new way of working. The man or woman who works in this way finds great fulfillment and makes a huge difference in the marketplace every day of the week, including Sunday.”

For example, Fields says she personally mentors several young men about how to become spiritual professionals who shift the spiritual atmosphere through their businesses. She shares one man’s story as proof that God’s favor is poured out on those who walk this lifestyle out.

“[A young businessman I mentor] is bringing kingdom impact in his community with the growth of his business and with the people that he hires,” Fields says. “The caliber of people that want to work at his business is just off the charts. Young men of integrity who want to be trained in a godly way of doing business are flocking into the company. Family groups want to work there—cousins and nephews and brothers. It’s just incredible to see the atmosphere of encouragement in this business. Their business is skyrocketing. They’re now, I think, represented in about six or seven states, with more people asking for their products. His family is flourishing. His children are full of hope and promise. Taking on this way of life is something that ripples over into everything you do. He is on the board at his church. He preaches. He teaches. He’s a huge supporter for the pastor in terms of vision and where they’re going. This is what I’m seeing.”

Fields says she’s heard other similar stories over the years. When they approach it prayerfully, young people are seeing both professional and spiritual success that satisfies. She finds it very encouraging to see how the Holy Spirit is moving in the business world.

“I still get reports back from the team I trained up over a decade ago of great things that are resulting,” she says. “It’s not just a 9 to 5 job. It’s not just a title. It’s much more than that. It’s owning the person and identity God called you into, doing it with your whole heart and watching what amazing things happen.”

The Next Steps

Fields hopes that even more business leaders will choose to become spiritual professionals in their industry.

“I feel like we’re at a turning point in the business world, where people can either continue to be paralyzed and dumbed-down and settle for less—and that is misery—or they can get this new zest for life and what it means to bring God into the marketplace,” Fields says. “That’s where He is and is waiting for them. That is their appointed place, and it’s holy and wonderful and full of opportunity and joy. I just want to help people go there.”

Whenever a believer asks Fields how to make a difference for the kingdom within their sphere of influence, she suggests three main steps. The first step, she says, is to work on the underlying mindset. (Fields notes that resources to accomplish this step are available at her website, through .)

“We always start with the heart, because everything flows from that place,” Fields says. “… Who am I? Who is God calling me to be? What are the things that bring my heart alive? When we start here, then the rest takes care of itself.”

The second step is to join a like-minded community of spiritual professionals.

“Get into a life-giving community where people are talking about these things and can bring life into your world,” Fields recommends. “It is very lonely for most people. The higher up you are in leadership, the lonelier it is, quite honestly. … You need to stay in dialogue with people that can build you up and be for you and feed your soul and support you in your vision, because it will come under attack.”

The final step is to go to training events in order to be discipled as a Christian marketplace leader. 7M-pact hosts an annual “Impact” conference in Kansas City, Missouri, to help believers accomplish this. Fields believes Christians should value continual professional development.

“If you are an accountant, you go take your regular training to stay up to date on the newest tax law,” Fields says. “If you’re a doctor, we really hope you go take your recertification training and stay up to date on all the latest practices. Every profession has something you do to stay current, right? Well, I implore people to take their calling as a spiritual professional seriously enough that you put a conference or two on your budget as a line item, so that you say, ‘I’m going to build myself up this year. I’m going to build my spiritual professional identity up so I can impact the world in my time.'”

Fields believes that God is raising up an army of spiritual leaders for “this next great movement in the marketplace.” And she believes that means many businessmen and women will have their own “Joseph stories.”

“No matter what you’ve been through, it has prepared you to excel in this time on the earth,” Fields says. “You know, we talk about Joseph a lot. He was in a prison cell in the very vicinity of where he needed to be when it was time for him to come out of that cell and interpret a dream for the leader in the land. And what would happen if Joseph had shut down and had shut his heart off from God? What if he didn’t have the ability to interpret a dream anymore after so much heartache and so much betrayal? And yet, when it was time for him to be put right in place, there he was. It’d been a long time coming. But he was just one great idea, one dream away, from becoming the most significant or influential man in that known world. And I just think we’re poised at another time like that for many men and women who have their own Joseph story.”

READ MORE: To learn more about Linda Fields, visit her website () and check out her podcast, “The Linda Fields Show,” on the Charisma Podcast Network.

Taylor Berglund is the associate editor of Charisma magazine and host of several shows on the Charisma Podcast Network.

A Tampa-based businessman gave up his nice life in order to start a television studio for the glory of God.

In a video interview, Howard Conder, founder of Revelation TV in the UK, says God called him out of a comfortable life to follow him into the television industry.

“I was working in America having set up a music studio in Tampa, Florida in the 1980s,” Conder says. “My children were in school, my family settled, and outwardly everything looked great. But in my heart, God was doing something. You know the way God works. Doors open, and other doors close. And suddenly you find yourself doing things you never expected. … I saw the power of God and I saw the power of television and the good it could do, and I knew I could never go back to being a businessman ever again. God had began a work in me, and when He called, there was no way I was going to refuse Him.”

Watch the full video embedded here.

Morris Cerullo World Evangelism will move its headquarters to the Morris Cerullo Legacy International Center during the first week of December, leaving the headquarters where it’s been stationed since 1992. Greg Hodson, vice president of television at MCWE, explained the status of the organization’s move in a recent video.

“We’re moving to Hotel Circle in Mission Valley, the location of the Morris Cerullo Legacy International Center,” Hodson says. “We’re very excited. In fact, in just a couple weeks, we’re all going to pack up from here and move over there. … The vision has been manifested. We are moving in.”

According to Hodson, Cerullo has been recently away at a Conference on the Holy Spirit in Israel from Nov. 21-23.

Charisma profiled the Legacy Center earlier this year. Read more about it here.

Eric Metaxas and Franklin Graham described criticizing U.S. President Donald Trump as demonic behavior during a recent interview. Graham spoke to Metaxas on the Eric Metaxas Radio Show about a number of topics, including Operation Christmas Child, Chick-fil-A’s recent controversy and even Johnny Cash.

Fourteen minutes into the interview, Metaxas opines regarding politics, “It’s a very bizarre situation to be living in a country where some people seem to exist to undermine the President of the United States. It’s just a bizarre time for most Americans.”

“It’s almost a demonic power that is trying—,” Graham says.

“I would disagree,” Metaxas interrupts. “It’s not ‘almost’ demonic. You and I know that at the heart it’s a spiritual battle.”

Watch the full video interview here.

Glenn Packiam, associate senior pastor of New Life Church in Colorado Springs, Colorado, says the early church was persecuted by Rome not because Rome was anti-religion, but because the church represented an existential threat to society as a whole. In a sermon video clip, Packiam posits the church as a community is one of the few forces capable of “undoing” society as we know it.

Packiam begins the video by describing his process of becoming an American citizen in 2009 and how much he loves the country’s principles. But he notes that America—for all of its uniqueness as a nation—is not the “most revolutionary community in human history.” That distinction goes to the church.

“How is the church the most revolutionary community in human history?” Packiam asks. “It’s because of what the church did. Prior to Christianity, human societies organized by families. Ancestry. They organized by geography and region: ‘This is our corner of the land.’ They organized by ethnicity. They were organized by certain patterns of living: ‘There are the nomadics, these are the settlers.’ But when the church arrived, it was revolutionary in the ancient world because it began to transcend other ways of defining communal identity. It was absolutely stunning.”

He says Romans of the time struggled to understand this new Christian community—and we know this because we have access to their letters.

“Last year I read a book that compiled the opinions of the Romans as they wrote letters to one another trying to figure out who these Christians were,” Packiam says. “… They’re looking at this new community and scratching their heads and saying, ‘How do men and women eat together and it [doesn’t] turn into an orgy?’ Literally, they were writing letters saying surely something scandalous is going on. And [the believers] were like, ‘No, it’s not, actually. Because we know how to treat one another with respect.’ That was revolutionary. They said, ‘How is it that in these gatherings there are masters and slaves that worship together as equals, that pray together as equals before God, as if Jesus is the only master over all? How is it that that can happen? How is it that rich and poor can gather in the same household at the same table? Who are these people?'”

It was too much for Roman society to handle, as Packiam explains it.

“We tend to think that Rome persecuted Christians because Rome was a secular state,” Packiam says. “We sort of imagine it like the Communist Soviet Union or Communist China. We’re like, ‘Oh, Rome was sort of like that. They were anti-religion.’ That was the exact opposite of the truth. Rome was pro-religion. They wanted all religions, all gods, all forms of worship. They wanted all the idols except for one name: the name of Jesus. Why? Because the name of Jesus was the only name that threatened to undo society as they knew it. Every other idol left the status quo. Every other idol let you keep your prejudices. … But one name came to disrupt it all: the name of Jesus.”

What do you think? Let us know in the comments.

Putty Putman, overseer of the School of Kingdom Ministry and a leader at the Vineyard Church of Central Illinois, says we must honor our leaders as a way of honoring God’s ultimate authority.

In a video, Putman says, “We cannot dishonor leadership without dishonoring the fact that God is the ultimate leader. You can’t divide those apart. Once you begin to say, I’m against leadership, in some way you’re positioning yourself against authority as a whole and ultimately against God’s authority.”

He notes that this does not mean, however, that all authority and leadership is perfect—simply that we must show the God-given honor they deserve.

“Not every person in leadership is in alignment with God’s will,” Putman says. “And do we pray for them? Absolutely. And do we, when necessary, stand for justice? Yes, we do. I’m not saying that we don’t pursue the Lord’s end. Absolutely we do that. But as we do that, it’s very important that we recognize that God created authority and I’m not going to dishonor that reality.”

Watch it here.

How can Spirit-filled Christians both reject and confront bigotry and racism as injustices while also treating the individuals who express bigotry and racism with biblical love? Pastor Donny Karpinen of Victory Church in Boca Raton, Florida, and Pastor Tyler Burns of New Dimensions Christian Center in Pensacola, Florida, co-preached last month at Victory Church on that complicated topic.

Burns introduced the discussion by noting that their perspectives—as a white man and a black man—were necessarily limited and did not represent the full scope of the subject matter.

“I think it’s important for us as we tackle these complex topics and, Lord willing take a step forward in the right direction to acknowledge our own limitations, to acknowledge the perspective that we’re coming from,” Burns says. “So I acknowledge that I’m a black Christian man in America and that is my perspective. That is the perspective that I come from that is the only lived perspective that I have authority on. So at the same time, what that does is there are a lot of different perspectives that will not be heard from this stage, so I just want to acknowledge, honor and hold space for people who feel a certain type of way about these questions, but at the same time hopefully that you feel valued you feel loved. So I’m thinking of women, especially as we talk about the topic of women. I’m thinking about my Latinx brothers and sisters, my Asian brothers and sisters, my First Nation brothers and sisters, African, any other ethnic minority. I want to hold space for you, and hopefully through this African-American man’s perspective, you see that God loves you, God values you, and God has a place for you in His kingdom.”

Karpinen framed the discussion with two primary questions: “How does the Bible justify equal treatment while also justifying slavery and mistreatment of women?” and “How do we handle racists and bigots biblically?”

“I believe these questions are important because they touch on the very fabric, the cornerstone of God’s created order,” Burns says. “Because in Genesis 1:26-27, it tells us that God created every single human being in His image. … No matter where you come from, no matter what class you’re in, no matter what you look like, you have dignity. You have value. You have worth. And you have eternal significance today. So it’s important for us to start this conversation not from a cultural lens but from a biblical lens of God’s desired intent. God desires that every single human being that He created flourishes to the extent that He created them.”

At one point, Karpinen defines racism as “prejudice, discrimination or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one’s own race is superior,” and defined bigotry as a more overt, aggressive and malicious form of racism (which he noted is often subtle or subconscious). Burns says both still happen today, and shared an example of a recent example of bigotry that he experiences as a black man.

“Three years ago, I went to a local hardware store to get a key made,” Burns says. “I walked in and asked one of the cashiers who happened to be a black woman if I could get this key made, if there was any way that she could unlock the key station. So we struck up a conversation, and then an older white man comes up and starts a conversation with us. I didn’t know the man. I wasn’t seeking to have a conversation with him. But in the midst of that, in broad daylight, in 2016, he called me the n-word. In broad daylight, church. I don’t know if I can properly unpack and properly communicate the trauma, the pain, how that feels emotionally for me. I think a lot of people think of it as an intellectual thing, a cognitive reaction: ‘This was wrong. The thing that happened to me was wrong.’ But let me tell you how people in my community carry this. We carry this in our bodies. There are people in this room who have experienced discrimination, and even when I said that, they felt that in their body. There is a trauma. There is a pain that is incalculable.”

But other times, racism is more subtle than overt bigotry.

“I don’t believe that people are going to hear the n-word in our churches,” Burns says. “But what they may hear, what they may see, is a subtle other-izing. Subtle inferiority. A subtle push away. … So it’s important for us as a church to fully confront this, to fully acknowledge that this is an issue for us.”

Karpinen notes that confronting bigotry can be difficult, however, because “we’re supposed to be forgiving people” as Christians. But he says that holding people accountable for traumatizing others is not the same as unforgiveness or bitterness. Abusers can be forgiven by a victim, but that doesn’t necessarily make the trauma go away. So how should the church handle these offenders—whether their abuse is intentional or unintentional?

“How do we handle racists and bigots biblically?” Karpinen says. “Well, it’s with grace and it’s with truth. … We’ve been given the ministry of reconciliation. If we talk about the narrative of the Bible as telling a story of God’s heart to redeem His people back to him, then we should carry His heart and redeem others and be all-inclusive. But here’s the thing. God’s grace is big enough for the offended and for the offender. Believe it or not. A lot of times, I mean, our emotions are like, ‘No this person is dead wrong. They’re so awful. Let’s ostracize them.’ And then we just perpetuate the whole thing. We have to be loving, caring and graceful towards even those who are being offensive, OK, seeking to win them to Christ into His truth, into humility, into forgiveness.”

But repentance by the offender doesn’t just mean saying sorry; true repentance involves setting the wrong right. Burns points to Zacchaeus—who economically exploited others and, after he repented, promised to repay anyone he defrauded fourfold—as an example of true repentance.

“For those who are just wanting a simple definition, justice is making other people’s problem my problem,” Burns says. “… People often say, ‘Well, why should I make other people’s problem my problem?’ … You should make other people’s problem your problem because God made your problem His problem. How are we going to say ‘That’s their problem’ when that’s not how God treated us? … So how would it look for the recipients of grace to turn around and not share that liberally lavishly with everyone, even the people who don’t deserve it, church? That’s what justice is. It is both individual and it is systemic.”

Burns and Karpinen cover a lot more in the full conversation, which can be watched in the embedded video here.

Carlos Rodriguez from The Happy NPO recently gave an update on how the organization has been helping individuals and communities in Puerto Rico rebuild after being hit by devastating storms. Rodriguez highlights Lydia, a woman in Puerto Rico whose home was flooded and who injured her foot trying to escape. She now struggles to walk and requires a walker. But the Happy NPO built her a new roof and helped refurbish the house and even brought her furniture.

Rodriguez says it’s living out the love Jesus commanded in Mark 12.

“We’re going to keep doing the stuff that we love to do, which is to bring dignity to our neighbors here,” Rodriguez says. “To love them in such a way that they’re saved, that they’re protected, that they’re ready if there comes a next storm.”

He says they plan to help other communities in the Bahamas and in Tijuana, Mexico in the weeks to come.

Watch the full video update here.