Carol Chapman Stertzer
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10 Ways to Share Your Faith During the Holidays
Christmas is one of the best times of the year to put your faith into action. Throughout Scripture, we are exhorted not only to be “salt and light” in a dark world, but also to help those in need: the poor, orphans and widows. James, the brother of the One we celebrate at Christmas, told …
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Why Singing Isn’t Enough
How worshipping God has less to do with music than we think—and more to do with the ‘doing’ Secular bands such as U2 aren’t the only ones promoting social justice these days. Many worship leaders recognize the importance of being the hands and feet of Jesus and are actively recruiting believers to help change society. One …
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Ministry Leaders ‘Get Real’ About Nation’s Future
As Christians increasingly come under attack, how should we respond? In light of today’s volatile economy and nonprofit concerns dealing with everything from charitable giving to Obamacare, the American church faces many serious questions about the future. “We are in a progressively anti-faith environment, and there is a tremendous shifting of churches that really believe …
Ministry Leaders ‘Get Real’ About Nation’s Future Read More »
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The Church’s MarketpIace Merger
Why more ministries are handing over operations to corporate leaders—and why that’s a good thing Not every ministry leader is willing to be candid about the sluggish economy and its direct impact on the church. But Mark Walker, a fourth-generation Pentecostal pastor, likely represents many church leaders when he refers to the past four years …
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Behind Every Good Man…
Meet the ‘better halves’ of 10 well-known ministers
There was a time when the role of a pastor’s wife was virtually set in stone: She was expected to serve as pianist, choir director or children’s director—or all of the above. She attended every service and sat near the front, carefully groomed to avoid scrutiny. She was required to be part of most midweek meetings and host after-church socials. Remember the day?
Today’s booming churches illustrate that times have changed for such women in ministry, whether their husbands are pastors, presidents or founders. The 10 women featured here serve in areas where they are gifted. Though most of them aren’t in the pulpit regularly, they have a profound impact on their church’s culture. Some were called to be a pastor’s wife as a child; others willingly took on the role after marriage. Charisma celebrates the way in which they use their God-given talents while honoring their husbands and making a difference for the kingdom.
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The Show Is Over
Church music has never sounded so good ... but a growing number of worship pastors want nothing more than true worshipThe elaborate flags and banners that adorned many charismatic churches 15 years ago have since been replaced with lights and cameras. The focus on being relevant and producing quality music has increased significantly, and along the way, churches have struggled to balance entertainment and worship.
“We are all such technological junkies,” says Daniel Bashta, worship pastor of RiverStone Church in the Atlanta area and president of Go Motion Worldwide. “We love the bright lights, the big screens, the sexy Vegas shows. Somehow our churches now represent all of these things. How many HD projectors and LED walls must we have?”
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Like Father, Like Daughter
When Priscilla Shirer steps into a pulpit, you don’t have to wonder if she’s related to Texas pastor Tony Evans. She carries his mantle with grace. When 35-year-old Priscilla Shirer stepped onto the platform at LifeWay’s Deeper Still conference in Orlando, Fla., last September, she was dressed stylishly yet casually, as a woman her age …
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She’s on a Rescue Mission
Pam Cope didn’t close her heart when she learned about vulnerable African orphans. Today she is reaching children around the world. Some people can read an article about an alarming human rights issue without giving it a second thought. Not Pam Cope. On October 29, 2006, The New York Times reported that a 6-year-old named …
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Out From the Rubble
When the World Trade Center was attacked eight years ago, a young Indian-American escaped the collapsing concrete and steel. The words he prayed that day changed his life forever.The morning of Sept.11, 2001, was sunny and clear on the U.S. East Coast. Sujo John, an ambitious 26-year-old who had moved from Calcutta, India, to New York City in February, had settled into his office on the 81st floor of the World Trade Center’s North Tower. He had finished reading The Prayer of Jabez by Bruce Wilkinson earlier that week and on this particular morning was reflecting on how God might “enlarge his territory,” as Wilkinson discusses in his book.
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Love Comes in Boatloads
Since 1982, the floating Christian hospitals of Mercy Ships have delivered food, healing and salvation to countless people around the world.
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They Found His Mercy
Nancy Alcorn didn't just stand on the sidelines and watch troubled girls throw their lives away. She built them a refuge.
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Beauty Among Ashes
TERRORIST ACTIVITY CLAIMED THE LIFE OF HER HUSBAND AND ROBBED HER OF JOY FOR A SEASON. TODAY, CHERYL MCGUINNESS IS HELPING OTHER WOMEN FIND HOPE IN GOD.
On September 10, 2001, Cheryl McGuinness celebrated her husband's 42nd birthday. Little did she know it would be their last evening together in their Portsmouth, New Hampshire, home. And little did she know how drastically her family's life would change in just one day.A former Top Gun fighter pilot flying F-14s, Tom McGuinness was a pilot for American Airlines. On September 11, he was scheduled to co-pilot Flight 11 from Boston to Los Angeles. He never made it past New York.
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When Church Becomes a Theater
A few religious voices still criticize the use of drama in the church, but many congregations have brought it center stage.
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A Rich Woman In the ‘Hood
Dorothy Moore grew up in a world of chauffeurs, debutante balls and fine china. Today, she's helping drug addicts and single moms in the worst parts of Dallas.
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Frontline Faith
In spite of their experience as prisoners in Afghanistan, Dayna Curry and Heather Mercer are eager to return.
Imprisonment is not a familiar concept to most Christian women in the spotlight. For Afghan relief workers Dayna Curry and Heather Mercer, however, it was their 105-day imprisonment that put them in the spotlight.While serving in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, Curry and Mercer helped people in need, from poor street kids to elderly widows lacking hope. On August 3, 2001, they were arrested separately by the Taliban after showing a film about Jesus on their laptop computer and reading a children's storybook about Jesus in an Afghan home. Curry and Mercer landed in a Taliban prison along with four German and two Australian relief workers.
