CharisMatters

Sculptor Says He Saw ‘Glory Dust’ While Making Statue of Christ

A charismatic sculptor who created an acclaimed statue of Christ washing Peter’s feet is putting the finishing touches on what he calls the masterpiece of his career.

Max Greiner Jr.’s

The Coming King illustrates Jesus on a white horse, eyes blazing as described in the 19th chapter of
Revelation.

“I think it’s a prophetic message to the body of Christ,” said Greiner, who turned down a $400,000 commission
in July of 1998 to
concentrate on this creation.

“God is using this piece of art to bring attention to the word from Revelation 19 that He’s coming back on that white horse.”

The Kerrville, Texas-based artist has sold a trio of 3-foot castings of the statue. But lately he has been finishing the composition of the first life-size, 18-foot-tall bronze statue.

It was commissioned by Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN) founder Paul Crouch. TBN has
tentatively scheduled its unveiling for late March. It will sit
outside the network’s headquarters in Costa Mesa, Calif.

Profiled by Charisma in 1994, the former Southern
Baptist first attracted attention for his Divine Servant foot-washing image. Lately, he has been embroiled in
controversy over the appearance of gold-colored dust during the early phase of his latest project.

Greiner first
created a one-sixth life-size version as a model for the larger work. While sculpting the horse’s hoof in wax in October of 1999, he said it turned to gold in his hands.

Golden particles also covered his skin and clothing. He stored the shirt, shoes and socks he was wearing to prove the incident occurred.

He also sent some of the substance to Texas A&M University’s main campus in College Station, Texas, for tests that showed it wasn’t gold, but
still an unusual
occurrence.

Professor Andrew Hajash Jr. said
chemical and other analyses showed that two samples appeared to be plastic with a thin metal coating similar to glitter. A third was coated with a nickel metal flake; another with a weathered flake of the mineral mica.

Still, Greiner’s claim led some to denounce him as a “fraud.” His charismatic church had already asked him to leave after he spoke about gold dust appearing in his studio earlier that year.

But he remains unruffled by the critics.”We’re leading hundreds of people to Christ with it,” Greiner said of the statue’s
colorful epic. “God has anointed it and is using it to lead people to [salvation] is pretty unique. I think this is the message He wants me to share right now.” –Ken Walker

Before Jesus,
After Jesus:

‘Maniac’ Is Now Pastor

A self-described “speed freak,” Maury Davis weighed just 133 pounds at his murder trial. But he made a huge impression on the psychologist who examined him.

“This man is a homicidal maniac and will kill people for the rest of his life,” the doctor wrote. “There’s no mental health
program to restore this man.”

But a Miracle Worker invaded the Dallas County Jail. After watching two men hang themselves and young inmates get raped, Davis stared up at the ceiling.

“God, if You’re up there, come on down and prove Yourself to me,” he sighed. “If You do that, I will serve You the rest of my life.”

Soon, everywhere Davis looked he saw Christians. His attorney. Visiting pastors. An inmate who had committed crimes in a backslidden state, but now had joy.

“Tell me about your God,” Davis pleaded. That day he remembers Jesus “walking off the pages” of the book of John as he heard the good news of eternal life.

After accepting Christ as his Savior, he received a 20-year sentence. Before, the prosecutor had vowed to send him to the electric chair.

Upon his release, he became an understudy to Don

George, senior pastor of Calvary Temple Assembly of God in Irving,
Texas. Eventually, he became youth pastor and later traveled as an evangelist.

In 1991, Cornerstone Assembly of God in Nashville, Tenn., called him and asked him to be pastor. Since then membership has
multiplied more than sixfold and a 3,500-seat sanctuary was dedicated on Nov. 18.

–Ken Walker

Ex-Rocker’s New Stage

Reggie Vinson plays a mean, rockin’ guitar–so well, in fact, that secular rock music icons such as Alice Cooper, Elton John and the late John Lennon called on Vinson to help record their hit records. He played with other rock legends, including the late Roy Orbison and Chuck Berry.

But before his rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle caused the terms “the late” to be applied to his name, Jesus Christ snatched Vinson from hell’s flames and restored his life. Today Vinson pastors Family Harvest Worship Center in Phoenix.

Vinson’s rowdy rock lifestyle caused his wife, Sadie, to divorce him after 13 years of marriage.
He found himself estranged from Sadie and the couple’s three daughters and unsatisfied by the celebrity status he had sought and obtained.

In Vinson’s book Don’t Stop Believing (Harrison House), the rocker shares his story of rock stardom.

He also played guitar and sang background vocals

on four of Cooper’s hit albums.

Today Vinson, reunited with his wife after eight years of divorce, pastors a church where many members have suffered from drug and alcohol abuse, divorce and prison terms.

–Billy Bruce

For more information, see www.rockinreggie.com.

Galilee Boat Dates To Jesus Day

Two brothers spent a day in January 1986 pursuing their hobby–looking for artifacts on the drought-ridden lake bed on the Sea of Galilee.

Searching in an area normally underwater just south of their place of employment–Kibbutz Ginosaur, on Galilee’s western shore–Moshe and Yuval Lufan made a discovery that has brought visitors from around the world.

They found the first fishing boat on the Sea of Galilee that dates to the days of Jesus (www.galileeboat.com).

The Lufans knew they had stumbled upon something incredible–as they surveyed the mud-buried wooden craft, a dual rainbow formed over the skies of Galilee. The Israel Depar

tment of Antiquities was contacted, and on Feb. 16, 1986, workers excavated the boat around the clock for 11 days. The boat’s restoration process took seven years.

Today, the boat is on display at the Yigal Allon Centre at Kibbutz Ginosaur, where visitors can view the craft and watch films about its discovery. The boat probably served local fishermen.

Yuval Lufan told Charisma that he still looks for antiquities on the sea’s drought-ridden shore beds, but joked: “The government asked me not to find any more ships!”

–Billy Bruce in Israel

THE FEBRUARY LIST

 

No. 1 Christian hardback:

The Prayer of Jabez, Bruce Wilkinson (Multnomah)

No. 1 paperback:

The Power of a Praying Wife, Stormie Omartian (Harvest House)

No. 1 fiction book:

Left Behind, Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins (Tyndale)

No. 1 CD:

WoW 2001, Various Artists (Sparrow)

Davis as a ‘freak’ (left) and minister