Standing in support of Israel, Jews, and believers in all the nations, in the name of Jesus (Yeshua). Sharing biblical truth, encouragement, news and prophecy.
If you've seen the November issue of Charisma, you know it features Cindy Jacobs on the cover. It's an article about the prophetic, not so much a personality profile about Cindy.
We chose her to represent a bigger movement. That's because over the last 30 years, Cindy has come to exemplify the prophetic movement as it has grown in acceptance. We believe so much in Cindy's ministry that we included her as one of the 40 people who radically changed the world for our 40th anniversary issue of Charisma in August.
Now Cindy is celebrating her own anniversary—30 years—at a big banquet in Dallas tonight.
My wife, Joy, and I have known Cindy and her husband, Mike, for a long time. We've enjoyed many shared experiences, and we have become friends. We were invited to the banquet but were unable to attend, so this is my way to publicly say how much we love and appreciate Cindy and admire what God has done in her life.
I have also featured a telephone interview with her on my podcast today. In it Cindy talks about her recent trip to China and what she taught the house church leaders about the prophetic. She is also starting an initiative for a prayer walk across the United States in preparation for the elections in 2016.
In case you missed the short article on Cindy, I am reprinting it below because Diana Scimone, the author, captured only in a few words the essence of this godly woman's life and ministry.
Cindy Jacobs: Prophetic Intercessor
By Diana Scimone
Generals of earthly armies rarely think about raising up other generals. For Cindy Jacobs, however, the call is clear: Mobilize a supernatural army and raise up and train generals to lead it.
In 1985, she and her husband, Mike, founded an organization now known as Generals International, which works to transform nations through intercessory prayer and the prophetic. That means if it's in the news, Cindy Jacobs usually has something to say about it—not an opinion or commentary, but a prophetic word or a call to militant prayer. Thousands of believers all over the world see her "Shields up!" emails in their inbox and hit their knees in intercession.
"[Generals International] is one of the key ministries in these times, helping to set the stage and get people in their place prepared for the times," says Rick Joyner, executive director of MorningStar Ministries.
This unique call on Jacobs' life dates back to a Bible camp when she was nine years old. God told her He had something special He wanted her to do for Him—which she assumed would be a missionary or pastor's wife. Years later, when she realized He was calling her to be a prophetic intercessor and voice to the nation mobilizing a global army of prayer warriors, her response was clear. "I asked God to use my husband instead of me!" she says. "You know the prayer: 'Here I am, Lord. Send someone else.'" Not surprisingly, the one who relented was not God but Jacobs. No one will ever know how many national disasters have been averted because Jacobs said "yes" to God then and continues raising up generals and calling them to militant intercession well into the 21st century.
If you are interested in more about Cindy, here is a link to a long article about her ministry on her website.
If Cindy has blessed your life or you know of others who are interested in the prophetic, forward this and add your comments. And, join me in congratulating her and Mike on their 30th anniversary of ministry.
Steve Strangis the founder of Charisma and CEO of Charisma Media. Follow him onTwitter or Facebook.
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I have known Jim Bakker since the heydays of PTL in the late 1970s. I wrote a Charismacover story about him in May 1983 after traveling to the relatively new Heritage USA to get a behind-the-scenes look at what was then an increasingly controversial ministry.
Readers might remember that things spun out of control only four years later for PTL and Jim Bakker. This downward spiral came after allegations of financial wrongdoing—mostly "overselling" so-called timeshares—and after his denomination defrocked him when a short-lived extra-marital affair hit the newspapers.
If that wasn't bad enough, PTL eventually went bankrupt and Jim's wife, Tammy Faye, divorced him and married his best friend. Jim went to prison for five years.
In short, Jim Bakker lost everything.
But unlike many high-profile people who become caught up in a public scandal or spend time incarcerated, Jim found humility. His famous book about his ordeal sums up his journey in its three-word title: I Was Wrong. While in prison, the job of the man who had met with U.S. presidents and had run one of the largest non-profit ministries in the nation was to clean toilets. But, he used whatever spare time he had to diligently study the Word. That's what really changed him.
The miracle is that, after all this, Jim Bakker has rebounded. I saw this firsthand when I visited him at his new facilities near Branson, Missouri this week.
As a Christian journalist, I have covered Jim Bakker for many years. I knew many people from his PTL ministry. I knew Tammy Faye—who has since passed away—and her new husband. Even so, I could never be counted among his inner circle of friends. However, I did consider him a friend.
After his release from prison, Jim and I went to dinner once when he visited Orlando. It was my way of reaching out to a broken man. His fortunes were so low that the dinner invitation took him by surprise.
He slowly began to put his life back together. He lived in a one-room apartment at the Pastor Tommy Barnett-founded L.A. Dream Center. I visited the Dream Center in the early days and wrote about it. I remember meeting Bakker there and meeting his lovely new wife, Lori Graham Bakker. We did a story on her life where she admitted to having five abortions and about how God had healed her and used her testimony for good.
Jim has now built a new ministry near Branson called Morningside. It has a hotel and condominiums, campgrounds, a media school, television studios and many other amenities. Everything is done with excellence and Bakker has assembled a top-notch team.
I couldn't help but draw parallels to what Bakker did at PTL. Only this time, everything is paid for. And while everything is nice, no one can call what he's done opulent (a word often used to describe things at PTL).
For me, however, the amazing thing is that Jim Bakker has rebounded. He is now 75 and he works 16-hour days. He seems to have more energy than men half his age. Most people who experience the enormous loss Jim Bakker has experienced would have given up and rotted away somewhere out of sight. Not Jim Bakker. He learned whatever lesson he needed to learn, and believed God that he could dream again.
Historians will spend decades dissecting the life of Jim Bakker. He is a very complex man, yet he's also a great man. Maybe he went too far at PTL. Maybe he wasn't accountable. Obviously, he made some big mistakes. Yet in my opinion he did no more wrong (and a whole lot less) than hundreds of other leaders who either didn't get caught or had only a minor setback. However, Jim Bakker lost everything.
To some, his name still exemplifies the worst in flamboyant Pentecostal preachers. He has been criticized for his focus on end-time prophecy and encouraging people to prepare for hard times by storing food or having backup generators. He's not a perfect man and he's the first to admit it (but then who among us is perfect?).
But he's not a quitter. He has come back after he lost everything except his life. And that should be an encouragement to everyone who reads this or who watches him on TV. That's because all of us will face loss of some sort—even loved ones. Some might face an unhappy marriage or deal with wayward children. Some might lose a job, struggle through a bankruptcy or face serious illness like cancer.
While your loss might not be as bad as Jim Bakker's, it probably will hurt as much as his loss did him! At your lowest point, take comfort that God can give back your dream and help you rebuild your life as he did with Jim Bakker.
We recorded a couple of television programs while I visited Morningside. The first is scheduled to air Monday, October 19. I hope you will watch.
At the end of the program, Jim Bakker stood and looked at the camera and said something that's not cliche—it's something he knows from the depth of his soul: "God loves you—He really does!"
Steve Strangis the founder of Charisma and CEO of Charisma Media. Follow him on Twitter or Facebook.
NEW - Life in the Spirit is your Spirit-filled teaching guide. Encounter the Holy Spirit, hear God speak to you, and enjoy timeless teachings on love, mercy and forgiveness.LEARN MORE!
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What a week this is on the Jewish calendar. Rosh Hashana on Sept. 13-14, the Shemitah on Sept. 13 and today ends Yom Kippur, the day of Atonement (which started last evening.)
Most of the world goes on as if nothing is happening when these Jewish holidays come around. The Christian community, however, has become increasingly aware of what these significant holidays mean and what God is saying during this time.
My good friend and author Rabbi Jonathan Cahn has done more than anyone else to raise awareness of these holidays in his book The Harbinger, in which he drew parallels between God's dealing with ancient Israel and His message to America. If nothing else, the parallels are striking.
One of the harbingers discussed in the book is the Shemitah, the Jewish year of rest that happens every seven years. It includes a day called Shemitah, the last day of the year—Elul 29 on the Jewish calendar—in which all debts were forgiven.
The previous two Shemitahs—in 2001 and 2008—marked the biggest drops in stock market history. Thankfully, the drop this year wasn't as much, but as I explain below, the Shemitah of 2015 still wiped out an estimated total of $7 trillion from the global markets.
As the Shemitah approached last Sunday, plenty of speculation swirled on what would happen. Of course, the markets were closed for the weekend and this week, there has been no comparable drop. Social media has been abuzz with messages like, "if doomsday has not arrived within the next 24 hours, do you think we will be hearing any apologies from the prophets?" I feel that sort of remark is irresponsible because no one I know of predicted doomsday. It's not comparable to the book "88 Reasons why Jesus will come back in 1988," which was totally discredited when Jesus did not come back as predicted.
The Mystery of the Shemitah is just that—explaining this phenomenon to those who didn't understand it. And looking at the patterns that have occurred are interesting. I was involved in the editing of The Harbinger, and I know the author was meticulous not to predict anything. As the publisher, I didn't want to be put in a box.
In fact, Rabbi Cahn told me this week: "You know of my initial concerns and reluctance concerning the likelihood of a focus on date-setting. To counter that, I've continually issued continuous cautions that nothing had to happen on any date (namely Elul 29)."
Of course, many of us prayed that no financial calamity would happen this time. There have been many Shemitahs over the centuries when no collapse occurred. Thankfully, it wasn't as bad this time as in 2008.
But wait. While on the surface it may seem as if "nothing happened," journalist Bill Koenig provided us with these statistics that I believe everyone needs to see.
I believe it is important for you to be aware of these numbers Bill sent me. Please take the time to contemplate them:
During the course of the most recent Shemitah, the Dow Jones industrial peaked on May 19, then reversed momentum, and began a long-term descent.
The Dow Jones reached its all-time high of 18,351.36 on May 19.
The Dow Jones closed at 16,443 on September 11, the last day of trading for the Shemitah year. It was the same on Sunday, September 13 (Elul 29), a non-trading day and the end of the Shemitah year. The value that was erased approached 2 trillion dollars!
The collapse included Black Monday—August 24—the largest intraday crash in Wall Street history—over 1,000 points.
The Shemitah of 2015 wiped out an estimated $5 trillion from international markets.
A total of $2.1 trillion erased from U.S. stocks in six days—Aug. 26, 2015 according to CNN Money. (The Dow Jones: August 18, 2015: 17,511. On August 25, 2015, it was 15,666). Drop: 1,845 points.
The Dow Jones high during Shemittah and the Elul 29 level, an estimated loss of just under $2 trillion of market capitalization: May 19, 2015: 18,351.36. September 13 (Elul 29) 16,443. Drop: 1,908 points.
August 24, 2015—The Dow Jones' most dramatic intraday trading day ever ($5.7 Trillion in Equity Market Values Erased Worldwide.)
The Shemitah struck the new engine of the world's economy—China—even more dramatically. The collapse of the Chinese stock market was one of the greatest in history—wiping out over 40 percent of its value in just a few months.
The Shemitah of 2015 wiped out an estimated total of 7 TRILLION dollars from global markets!
What does all of this mean? Cahn shared a few insights in a personal email that he gave permission for me to quote: He went on to explain: "But very important: People's focus on the Elul 29 day crash template obscured the fact that it is a minority pattern and exception (happened only in 2 of the last 7 crashes of the last 7 Shemitahs)—and obscured the larger and very major things that actually did happen.
"The overwhelmingly predominant template of the Shemitah—and shown continuously in The Harbinger—is that of a rising stock market coming to an end in the midst of the Shemitah, reversing momentum and descending in a long-term (not day) descent—which may involve increasing volatility and dramatic-day crashes," Cahn wrote.
There are many who have a "Pollyannaish" approach that "everything will always be OK." Instead, we must be like the sons of Issachar, "discerning the times" and understanding what God is saying to us.
And remember that God's dealings are more than simply financial and more than simply with the American economy. Let's not be naive and assume that if the economy is humming along that means God is blessing us because we deserve His blessings due to our goodness!
If you agree with this, help us get this word out by sharing this far and wide on social media.
Steve Strangis the founder of Charisma and CEO of Charisma Media. Follow him onTwitter or Facebook.
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The Charismatic Renewal began less than 10 years before Charisma first published in 1975. In fact, we get the name Charismatic Renewal from the Catholics who, when they received the Baptism of the Holy Spirit at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh and later at Notre Dame in South Bend, were called "neo-Pentecostals."
Apparently someone didn't like that term and, so, they referred to the movement as "renewal" of the charismata, which, in Greek, means gifts in the plural. So, Charismatic comes from the word charismata rather than the word charisma (which is the singular form).
The name stuck, and now most Pentecostals use it interchangeably with the word Pentecostal.
The Catholics who experienced God's power believe that it was an outgrowth of when Pope John XXIII invited "a new Pentecost" at Vatican II in 1962. Few things have changed the Catholic Church as much in our lifetime as the Charismatic Renewal. By 2013, according to Catholic World Report, some 160 million worldwide had received the experience called the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, which almost always accompanied a renewed love for Christ and fervency about serving God and serving the church.
The Catholics always saw their movement as "ecumenical," and they interacted with the Protestant charismatics and Pentecostals on the basis that the Pope had encouraged ecumenical dialogue.
In fact, I have had some people tell me that while top denominational leaders engage in ecumenical talks with other leaders, the only real grass-roots ecumenical movement in the world is the charismatic renewal.
As time passed, it seemed that Catholic charismatics became more Catholic and less charismatic. I could be wrong, but I have had some friends who have expressed that opinion to me, and that has been my observation. The huge conferences Catholic charismatics held back in that era are no more and the smaller conferences that are still held have a relatively low profile. No real large parachurch-type ministries have emerged like in the Protestant charismatic movement. For example, there are no large parachurch television ministries and so forth.
This is not to say that the Spirit is not at work or that the Catholic charismatic movement has dwindled or died. In a way, that notion somewhat parallels Full Gospel Businessmen, which has declined a great deal in the United States but taken off worldwide. The same thing holds true for the charismatic movement in the Catholic Church.
Bert Ghezzi, a graduate student who came from the Pittsburgh area but was studying at Notre Dame, worked as one of my editors for a number of years. During this era, he may have been the link between Pittsburgh and Notre Dame. Much of what I know about the charismatic movement I know from Bert and my interaction with him. He did a great job as an editor and is one of the most ecumenical people I've ever known. He retired a number of years ago and I still miss him.
Bert recently made these observations to me in an email about the Catholic Charismatic Renewal:
"The Catholic Charismatic Renewal has slowed in the U.S., but continues to grow in Latin America. It slowed when bishops tended to make prayer groups into parish organizations (instead of the freewheeling groups of the early days). ... Observe that many Catholic Charismatics have followed the leadings of the Spirit into a wide variety of services: caring for the poor, religious education of the young and adults, evangelization and so on. Although EWTN is not a charismatic network, it began with Mother Angelica, a charismatic nun, and is now a worldwide media conglomerate."
You can check out Bert's blog titled, "Praying in the Spirit" at bertghezzi.com.
I would be interested in feedback from Catholic charismatics who read this to see if you agree with my observations. Also, please check out the links to the articles that we're publishing. I believe you will enjoy reading them and reminiscing. I also think they are still interesting and pertinent after all these years.
Steve Strangis the founder and publisher of Charisma. Follow him on Twitter @sstrang or Facebook (stephenestrang).
Egyptian Coptic Christians have suffered mass persecution recently. (Reuters )
At the recent meeting at the United Nations highlighting the persecution of Christians, there was a surprisingly positive report from one presenter who said that the church is growing in Iran, in spite of or because of the persecution of Christians by Muslims.
As already reported, there is plenty of bad news from the region. Each year, 100 million Christians suffer persecution, imprisonment and even death for their sacred religious beliefs. According to The Voice of the Martyrs, a ministry dedicated to assisting the persecuted church worldwide, "more people have died for their faith in Christ in the last 100 years" than in the previous 19 centuries combined.
While it seems in some countries we are literally seeing watching the genocide of Jesus' followers in the Middle East, the Iranian speaker who now lives in the United States says the church is growing largely because of Christian television being beamed into the country. There is a real spiritual vacuum; people long for a spiritual reality that Islam cannot provide.
Recently I interviewed Christian leaders from three different Muslim nations. One source explained to me that ISIS considers moderate Muslims as infidels, so they also have a "price to pay." As Shia and Sunni Muslims fight each other, "a Shia mosque being destroyed (one day) and the next day a Sunni mosque being destroyed (isn't uncommon)," he told me. "And in between, of course, Christians were being smashed especially when they are located under the region of ISIS. So, in general, the Christians are paying a very high price, but other Muslims are suffering too, especially those like the Yazidi people. They pay a very high price exactly like the Christians because they are considered as infidel from the ISIS groups."
But, now for some good news. For their security, I am giving no names and being ambiguous about locations. For authenticity, I'm quoting my sources as much as possible within the bullet points. Let the facts speak for themselves. To my knowledge, these stories have never before been reported.
"The good part of the story, is that God is using this to change the perspective of Christians in front of many Muslims. God is using this to open the eyes and ears of many Muslims to see the reality of who God is. God is not the God of violence. God should be the God of love—should be the good God, the God that the gospel is preached so many of them are coming, seeking and asking about the things of Christianity.
"While the Christians under the persecution, they were very giving, very loving, blessing. Every time they were interviewed after such a massacre, they spoke positively toward the country, toward Muslims, forgiving their persecutors, praying for them, asking forgiveness for them which is unheard of.
"Every time Muslims were killed, their families, their parents asked for revenge. Here, every time they asked for forgiveness so many people started to compare. What is this? What spirit do you have? This is completely out of the box, out of their expectations. So God is using this in a mighty way to bring glory to Himself and to bring people to reconciliation with Him, with themselves and with their community.
"More than that, now in Egypt, the government is trying to do their best to pay back what the Christians did to save the country. It could have been a civil war between the Christians and Muslims, but because the Christians reacted in a loving and forgiving way, (Christians) saved Egypt. The Muslim community came to us and said, Because of you, God saved Egypt. God saved us because of the church. For the first time, the Muslim community is changing their perspective about the church and Christians.
"Systematically, the radical Muslim, they are doing something to wipe out, if possible, you know, the Christian community, the radical Muslim. But the moderate Muslim actually is good. They are a friend of Christians. But this radical, they are like terrorists, so they keep attacking.
I'll close with an incredible story from Indonesia, where Christians showed love to the Muslims who persecuted them. Outside of Afghanistan, Indonesia, is considered the second largest base of the radical, like al-Qaida, even ISIS. Yet the church is growing at a rate of 2 million converts a year. If you missed my report on this, click here.
Persecution in Indonesia is less in the big cities, where most of the problems where laws are passed to keep churches from renting public buildings. But in some of the outlying islands, there is real persecution. One story of Christian love and forgiveness shows why the church is growing. Again, I'm quoting my source, edited only for space and clarity.
"So there was a village in the east side of Indonesia. One day radical Muslims used this opportunity to that village. The village is mostly Christian, so they burned their houses, killed them, and they came with 500 soldiers with all the weapons. But then the Christians were cornered into a church building inside, so they killed 211 of them in one day and injured about 140 people. And then, the church, you know, next day they buried the dead and it was so sad. And so they made a monument there. (After this the Christians ministered to the Muslims) and because of the love of the Christian many were born again. They accepted Christ; there was a revival.
"(So the Christians) began to pray, 'Lord, we don't have any building on Sunday to worship You. Can you give us money to rebuild it?' So when they prayed, God spoke to them, you know, 'I don't want you to use the money to rebuild your church first. I want you to collect the first offering and give it to the Muslims who killed you, who persecuted you. Give it to them so they can renovate their mosque also.' So they obeyed. Very hard for them, you know, because they were the enemy of them. But anyway, after they prayed, they were convinced by God and then they said, 'OK, God. We want to obey.' So they took that first offering, which is huge for them, $5,000 U.S. dollars. And then, they brought that money with praise and worship. I think about 2,000 people marched to the next village, you know, with joy, came to them and said, 'God told us to give you this money to rebuild your village and your facilities.' The Muslim leader wept. They said, 'Why you love us? We attacked you. We destroyed your building. Why you love us?'
"The Christians said, 'Because Jesus told us to do this.' They all wept and one of them stood up and said, 'Hey, Muslim people, we need to do something. Go to the jungle and cut all the bamboo tree and donate it to the church.' So they took all the bamboo trees and brought it to the church and donated it. So the government was so moved because of this, what the Christians did to the Muslims, so the government decided to give $15,000 U.S. dollars to rebuild the church building and by the help of many churches, you know, the church was able to rebuild and very beautiful, not only the church building but the people now experience tremendous revival. Now they are born again and almost 100 percent of that village become Christian."
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In 1985, Charisma ran a cover story about Karl Strader with the headline: "This man stepped out in faith and built a 10,000-seat church in a city of 58,000."
Now, only 30 years later, the Carpenter's Home Church building, which cost $9 million to erect, is being torn down and the property will be converted into a retirement facility.
When we covered this story, I knew the church and its history well. I grew up in Lakeland and was a teenager at that church—then called First Assembly of God—when Karl Strader became pastor in 1966. I saw the church grow during the heyday of the charismatic movement and Jesus movement. Back in that era, it was one of the largest and most respected churches in the Assemblies of God.
So I was sad when a relative emailed the online article from The Ledger newspaper (where I interned as a reporter) saying a developer had decided to tear down the massive worship center.
Although it's the end of an era, the story is not all negative. Maybe it shows that overbuilding is never wise, and no matter how successful a church is today, there is no way to know what the future holds. Meanwhile, several thriving congregations grew out of what was once Karl Strader's congregation.
After having outgrown two previous sanctuaries, in 1982 the church bought 488 acres on the north edge of Lakeland for $7.8 million from the Carpenters' Union, locally called The Carpenters' Home—hence the name of the church. The church quickly sold off 300 acres along a major highway that today is full of shopping centers and car dealerships, and started construction on the 10,000-seat auditorium. It sold its original location to Family Worship Center, pastored by Reggie Scarborough, which today has 3,500 members.
Never afraid of controversy, Strader brought some flamboyant speakers in his pulpit in the 1970s and 1980s like Oral Roberts, Rex Humbard, Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker, Jimmy Swaggart and T.D. Jakes, all who drew huge crowds. The church was also venue for huge Christian concerts for singers such as Amy Grant, Michael W. Smith and Steven Curtis Chapman.
When Strader was featured on the cover of Charismamagazine we reported that the total project cost $12 million. That was a lot of money back then. It was interesting for me to pull out that article and reread it.
"Although it sometimes has immersed him and his church in unwanted controversy, Karl Strader never has been afraid to step out in faith and befriend the unwanted, welcome the outcast, dream the impossible or stand up for what is right. In the process, he's built an enormous church on the grounds of an old carpenter's home retirement center in a small city almost in the shadow of Walt Disney World," the article reported.
Then in 1989, the church had a well-publicized split over Strader's leadership and reports surfaced that some members objected to charismatic elements in services. Another church—Victory Assembly, pastored by Wayne Blackburn—started only a few miles away. Today, that church's membership has reached 3,000, according to Wikipedia. Following the split, Carpenter's Home attendance dropped to about 1,800, and the church never seemed to recover.
At the time, the Assemblies of God denomination conducted an investigation into complaints and news reports about "spontaneous dancing, singing and an emphasis on prophecy," The Ledger reported. The denomination took 18 months to investigate and found nothing to be out of line.
Meanwhile, Strader's family suffered tragedy when the youngest son, Danny, was convicted of a white collar crime after a highly publicized trial, and he is still in prison. During that era, the church continued to decline. Even with 1,800 members, the 10,000-seat sanctuary looked empty when I'd visit, as I often did.
By 2005, the church was not able to pay its bills because it did not have enough members in the congregation to sustain a 10,000-seat auditorium, and so Carpenter's Home Church was sold to Without Walls Church in Tampa, pastored then by Randy and Paula White.
The Whites renamed the church Without Walls Central Church. Meanwhile, the existing Carpenter's Home Church membership split into two churches—Ignited Church and Auburndale Life Church.
Later, amid mounting debts and other problems, Without Walls Central Church closed and the 10,000-seat facility became "an abandoned building" until the recent sale.
"We're disappointed that the building and the property has been lost to the kingdom of God and that it's not going to be used for spiritual purposes or kingdom purposes," says Karl's son, Stephen Strader, who today pastors Ignited Church in north Lakeland.
"I hate to see the building torn down, but the building is not the church," Karl Strader, 85, told Charisma. "The people are the church, and they are in about 12 different churches in Lakeland now. It's painful to see the building torn down, of course, but I'm not groveling on the ground because of it or putting ashes on my head. I just thank God for being involved in it for (nearly) 40 years."
The church and its successors have also been associated with several revivals, including the Howard-Brownes' extended meetings in the 1990s and the "Florida Outpouring" (or Lakeland Revival as it is also known) in 2008 with Evangelist Todd Bentley.
"When I wrote the book The Lakeland Outpouring in 2008, we did the research and discovered there had been 12 major moves of God that had either been birthed at the First Assembly of God and Carpenter's Home Church under my dad's ministry or were amplified through my dad's ministry," says Stephen Strader.
"As examples, the prophetic movement, the worship movement—both received a national boost when it began to happen at Carpenter's Home Church. Rodney Howard-Browne had three or four years of revival across the U.S., but when he came to Carpenter's Home Church it just blew up globally. You can go back through 12 different movements from the Word of Faith to the healing movement with Benny Hinn. Benny Hinn was coming to Carpenter's before he (became well-known)."
Stephen Strader estimates hundreds of thousands of people came to know Jesus directly or indirectly through the ministry of Carpenter's Home Church. I can testify that my life was impacted and my view of the charismatic renewal of that era was shaped by what I saw and learned from Karl Strader.
Looking back on his years of ministry, Strader, who now lives in The Estates near the church he pastored for four decades, says he's thankful for all that God did.
"We were part of the Jesus movement and the charismatic movement from 1966 on," Strader says. "We had people coming to the church from under the bridges where the homeless lived and people driving down from Tampa and from Sarasota. We ended up on national TV for several years. So God had a wonderful impact. I just tried to yield to God so I give Him all the credit for anything that was accomplished."
When the church was built, "I'm sure no one foresaw the problems that resulted in the church split or the dwindling membership.
Time has shown the church building was too big for a town the size of Lakeland. Even back in the early 1980s, the church was growing so much the leadership must have thought it would continue forever. But it didn't. In fact, I doubt the 10,000 seats were ever filled. Other large churches need to learn from this and not overbuild.
For all his amazing leadership abilities, Karl Strader often was at odds with his own denomination and other churches in town. He wasn't intimidated and I'm sure he felt he could survive all the problems, many of which weren't his fault. Yet some of these problems have come home to roost. Leaders must know they can't go it alone in the body of Christ.
So, a great church closes its doors. Yet other great churches exist in Lakeland as a result. It was probably inevitable that such a massive church structure would eventually be impossible to fill.
Yet through it all, Strader had been a man of impeccable character who has never seemed to waiver in his love for the Lord. And in the end, isn't that what's important?
Final note: This report began with us reporting nationally what The Ledger reported in Lakeland about the decision to tear down the sanctuary building and to turn the 1920's era "Carpenters Home" (which had been remodeled into a school) back to retirement villas. I know there is more to the story than what I had the space to include here. I also know there are "two sides" to every story. So I reached out to my longtime friend Stephen Strader (who I've known since I was in junior high) to read over my report to be sure all the facts were right. His reply was so interesting I decided to include it as a link for any readers who would like more behind-the-scene information from the Strader family's point of view.
Steve Strangis the founding editor and publisher of Charisma. Follow him on Twitter@sstrang or Facebook (stephenestrang).
Troy Anderson, executive editor of Charisma, and Bob Cruz contributed to this report.
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A shot of Perry Stone (l) and Steve Strang overlooking Shepherd's Field in Bethlehem (Facebook)
My sixth trip to Israel, which ended Monday, proved to be the most enjoyable I’ve had. It was full of surprises as I toured with Perry Stone from Dan on the Lebanese border in the north to the Dead Sea in the south.
If you read my previous Strang Report, you know I flew in early to meet with Christian and Jewish leaders. Prior to leaving, the agreement with Iran was announced—which greatly upset the Israelis. I interviewed Perry Stone on the prophetic significance of that news, which you can read here.
It was a wonderful tour with many new experiences as I traveled with my wife, Joy, and Tessie DeVore, the executive vice president of our book group, and her husband, David. Since I had been to Israel five other times and already had seen many sites, I thought I knew what to expect. But with every day came new experiences and many surprises.
I hosted a small tour to Israel back in the 1980s. It was mostly a tour of Catholic churches and Israeli museums. I also spent a lot of time on that trip in the Hadassah hospital since one of the ladies on my tour broke her leg! By contrast, my trip this year was about places in the Bible that have been excavated or are much as they were when the Bible was written—instead of covered with Byzantine-era churches.
It’s almost humorous that in some places, two churches will claim to be the real site of a biblical event—as is the case about the place in Nazareth where the angel appeared to Mary.
I don’t have space to give a detailed account of every stop. We made five or six stops every day for seven days! Although I did try to post something on Facebook at every stop (you can "like" me on facebook.com/stephenestrang). Here’s what I enjoyed most:
I was fascinated seeing the ruins of Ancient Greek-Roman culture at places like Banias, where there was a temple to the half-man, half-goat Greek god Pan (where we get the words panic and pandemonium) at what the Bible calls Caesarea Philippi, where Jesus asked Peter, “Who do you say I am?”
The recently discovered ruins of Beit She’an, created by Alexander the Great, reminded me of what I saw in Pompeii, Italy. Our guide told us homosexuality flourished with other pagan behavior in Jesus' day alongside Orthodox Judaism. I had never seen the parallel in Jesus' day and the early church in how they existed side by side with gross paganism as similar to the new secular paganism we see in our own society that is often at odds with the biblical standards we value.
I enjoyed walking the extensive tunnels along the Western Wall of the Temple Mount. These weren’t open when I first came in 1979 with Jamie Buckingham. Back then, however, we were allowed to go in some digs on the south end of the temple that had just begun. To go back last week and see what's been done since then was astounding to me.
The tunnel that was dug many feet deep at Megiddo through solid rock to a spring to save the city during a siege was unbelievable engineering for ancient times. I enjoyed walking through them, even though it was exhausting exercise. And to think this is the prophesied site of the Battle of Armageddon!
I didn’t expect to be so impressed with the digs at Tel Dan that show the oldest city gates in the world. Certainly Abraham stopped here on his way from Haran, north of there, to the Promised Land. It was near here that God made His covenant with Abraham. It’s also the headwaters of the Jordan. In fact, the name Jordan means “out of Dan.” And since we were also at Beer Sheva in the Judean Desert, it gave new meaning to the biblical phrase “from Dan to Beer Sheva,” describing the extent of the country, like we might say “from Maine to California.” Many such expressions come alive when you visit the land of the Bible.
The new digs at Migdal, the home of Mary Magdalene on the shores of the Sea of Galilee, were only begun in 2009. Archeologists found a first-century synagogue where undoubtedly Jesus taught very close to Nazareth, where He grew up, and Capernaum, His home as an adult. They also found a first-century carving of a menorah—one of only four found in Israel, our guide told us. And they found mikvas, the ritual baths the Jews used, which was the pattern for our baptismal tanks we use in churches today.
The newly discovered Pool of Siloam, where Jesus healed the blind man by putting mud on his eyes and telling him to wash in the pool, was discovered by accident only 10 years ago. Another place had been assumed to be the Pool of Siloam until then. It meant a lot to me to visit there, since our health book imprint for Charisma House is called Siloam.
I enjoyed the re-enactments of life in biblical times, especially at Genesis Land near Beer Sheva, where Abraham lived. In a desert setting in what is called the West Bank, there are big tents set up somewhat like the time of Abraham, and an actor playing Abraham describes what life was like while we sat in the cool of the tent and ate dates and apricots. I even had my first camel ride back to the bus!
Later, in the modern city of Nazareth, the YMCA has recreated Nazareth village to represent what it was like in the day of Jesus. This makes it easy to visualize life back then—watching a woman spin wool into yarn, seeing a man making wooden utensils like Joseph must have done. We also learned about agriculture and animal husbandry in the time of Christ. A man playing a shepherd even called a flock of sheep with an odd clucking sound, and the sheep came running! I had never seen a shepherd caring for sheep up close.
My first trip to Israel in 1979 was to the Sinai Peninsula to climb Mount Sinai with Jamie Buckingham. We lived in the desert for nine nights without even the convenience of outhouses! That helped me understand what life is like for the Bedouins who still live in the area. We also swam in the waterfalls at En Gedi, just off the Dead Sea!
In the process of that trip with Jamie, I didn’t experience what most tourists or pilgrims experience. Three other trips have been to attend conferences. So this time, it was important to me to experience things I had never experienced. One example is swimming in the Dead Sea, which was a weird experience, due to it being impossible to sink in it. On a more spiritual note, I decided to be baptized in the Jordan River. I feel my baptism at age 8 is still valid, and I avoided being baptized when I was at the Jordan before. But this time, I understood it was simply a reaffirmation of my following Christ in baptism.
What else can I say? I left out visiting the Mount of Olives and the Upper Room, the Jezreel Valley, Jericho, the oldest city on earth or Shepherds' Field near Bethlehem. Or did I mention the 2,000 year old boat preserved in mud in the Sea of Galilee and now preserved and on display? We visited kibbutzim, where strategic battles were fought for Israel’s independence and where the output for agriculture is astounding. We saw dairy cows that give much more milk than cows anywhere else in the world. One of the reasons is the Israelis found the cows give more milk if they listen to classical music!
Listening to Perry Stone teach was a highlight too. He did nearly 20 telecasts on location. Each was different, and the insights were incredible. Each one seemed better than the one before. When it comes to understanding Bible prophecy, insights from the Bible or interesting customs of the day that help us understand what the Bible means, Perry is without equal. Be sure to check out his website to see when these telecasts are airing on Manna-Fest in the next year.
There were also humorous moments. We had a lot of fun joking around with the tour guides and the others on the trip. That's part of the experience of visiting the Holy Land! And they had fun when, in Bethlehem, our host presented me with a special white goat meat no one else would eat. I enjoyed it and then realized at home we call it "Rocky Mountain oysters." Another time they presented me with veal tongue. Not bad tasting.
I’m going home feeling full, and it’s more than all the food they fed us. I feel I understand the land of the Bible. I felt my times of prayer and Bible study last week were significant. And I came away feeling more of a connection with the Israelis, whom I so admire.
But don’t take my word for it. Decide to visit Israel. The touring company tried to persuade me to try taking another tour after the disastrous experience I had in the 1980s. Stayed tuned. Maybe I will someday.
Steve Strang is the founder and publisher of Charisma. Follow him on Twitter at @sstrang or Facebook (stephenestrang).
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My wife, Joy, and I have known Cindy and her husband, Mike, for a long time. We've enjoyed many shared experiences, and we have become friends. We were invited to the banquet but were unable to attend, so this is my way to publicly say how much we love and appreciate Cindy and admire what God has done in her life.
