In the past I’ve written in my Strang Report about my vision to create a documentary on the untold story…

Last Sunday, May 27, churches and pastors from all over the world gathered together to celebrate the Holy Spirit.For me,…

One hundred years ago the big issue for Bible-believing Christians was temperance. Of course we Christians lost that debate as…

Robert Stearns’ Jerusalem Banquet in New York City is a magnificent event that brings together Jews and Christians who share…

Behind the scenes of the Trayvon Martin case—and the inspiring account of reconciliation no one’s telling

Trayvon Martin was killed 2.3 miles from my office in a newer part of Sanford, Fla. The exact street where he was shot is less than a mile from a similar gated townhouse community where my younger son lives.

So to me, this is extremely personal. As we put together this special issue, I’ve been in a whirlwind of meetings and diplomacy unlike anything I’ve ever experienced during my journalism career, stretching back to high school. And as with most stories, there is a behind-the-scenes account that’s just as interesting. This is my attempt to tell that personal side of the story, even as Charisma deals with the spiritual, cultural and political effects of this situation.

I’ve known for years Sanford was a racially divided community, and I’ve worked in my own way to bring healing and reconciliation—including getting to know black pastors, attending their churches and serving on the board of a small ministry to the homeless in the center of this predominantly black area. I’ve helped to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for many of these ministries. I’ve even been involved in Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebrations and lobbied to get a street named after the slain civil rights leader.

We all know Jesus ascended into heaven 40 days after Easter Sunday, the day of His resurrection. After the disciples…

During a time of enormous change in the media world, one segment of the Christian publishing industry seems alive and…

Jim Bakker believes The Harbinger
is one of the most important books he’s ever read because of its prophetic
insights. The book highlights how God dealt with Israel when the people
rejected Him, and how the same warnings in Isaiah 9:10 still apply today.

Bakker is featuring Cahn on his national
television show all this week. He invited us on the show at their new facility
called Morningside outside Branson, Mo.

My son Chandler and I traveled to Africa in 2006, and we had to
sleep one night under a mosquito net. That’s because the
possibility of malaria is still real in the remote area of Malawi
where we visited.

Malaria was a problem in the U.S.
until around the time I was born. A concerted effort was made to wipe
it out. The same can be done in Africa, where it killed nearly
600,000 people in 2010—mostly children. The thing is, we can save a life
with a $6 sleeping net that is treated to kill the malaria-bearing
mosquitoes.

Trayvon Martin was killed less than 3 miles from our offices in
Lake Mary, Fla., which abuts Sanford. I’ve been in meetings the
last two days with local pastors and held a major press conference on
Friday covered by all the major media.

Thankfully, pastors in this city are beginning to work together.
And I believe the news conference gave opportunity for some of the
pastors in Sanford to talk about love and forgiveness and
reconciliation. I even met yesterday with the special prosecutor
Angela Corey, who said they are wanting justice for Trayvon and due
process for the man who admitted shooting him, George Zimmerman.

On Thursday I hosted a meeting of 75 pastors, most of them local.
My friends Bishop Harry Jackson and Dr. Raleigh Washington were in
town for other things and we brought them into the meeting. They both
spoke of healing and restoration. They both wanted to see where the
tragedy happened, so I drove them over to The Retreat at Twin Lakes,
where the shooting occurred. It’s less than half a mile from where
my 24-year-old son lives in a similar gated townhouse community in a
newer part of Sanford.