News Service Briefs

The following reports were released during the last month by Charisma News Service. Go to our Web site at www.charismanews.com to access each day’s
stories. The site also includes a search engine so you can access archived news.

CLINTON ‘AT PEACE’ AFTER LEWINSKY SCANDAL President Clinton told 4,000 pastors and lay leaders Aug. 10 how the “humiliating” Monica Lewinsky scandal had helped him find greater personal peace. “Sometimes when you think you’ve got something behind you and then it’s not behind you, this sort of purging process, if it doesn’t destroy you, can bring you to a different place,” he said. Clinton’s comments came during a question-and-answer session with Willow Creek pastor Bill Hybels at a church leadership conference at the Chicago suburb megachurch. The president, who has met with Hybels regularly since the

sex scandal broke, said his spiritual life was “a work in progress,” The Washington Post reported.

BILLY GRAHAM MAY HOST LAST CRUSADE Evangelist Billy Graham’s last crusade may be in Jacksonville, Fla., in November. Doctors placed shunts in Graham’s head during a summer surgical procedure to relieve pressure on his brain, a treatment associated with Parkinson’s Disease. Graham, 81, couldn’t attend Amsterdam 2000–one of the world’s largest gatherings of evangelists ever–because he was undergoing therapy as an outpatient at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. His son, Franklin, has been asked by his father and by the board of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association to lead the organization when his father steps down.

T.D. JAKES SAYS GEORGE W. BUSH TAKES HIS FAITH SERIOUSLY Texas Gov. George W. Bush is a devout follower of Jesus Christ, and the Republican presidential candidate is not using his faith to get votes, Bishop T.D. Jakes told CNN’s Larry King Live July 24. Yet Jakes said he is nonpartisan so that he can “minister to both sides of the bird.” Jakes said he first met Bush after repentant murderer Carla Faye Tucker was executed in Texas. He also has met Vice President Gore, adding that the two men are “very different.” Jakes bristled at King’s inquiry as to whether he considered himself a member of the religious right. “I certainly do not. I have tried to remain nonpartisan. And I think it’s very stereotypical to think that all Christians are religious right or left.”

RAP STAR TAKES TO PULPIT TO ‘SAVE A NATION’ Former rap star Mase is on tour again–but his venues and message are a little different. The 24-year-old is staging “Hell Is Not Full” crusades at churches across the country. The former star of the Bad Boy label run by Sean “Puffy” Combs announced his decision to “follow God” a year ago and dropped out of sight, enrolling at Clark Atlanta University. Then he founded his Saving a Nation Endangered (SANE) ministry. “God just called me, and I went,” he told The Detroit News. “I gave up music, something I loved. If I didn’t give up my everything, how could I come to you and say give up your everything [for God]? God is able, God is real. Basically, God is everything.”

HARRY POTTER RECRUITS KIDS FOR WITCHCRAFT

The Harry Potter children’s fiction series is fueling young people’s fascination with witchcraft in England–so much so that The Pagan Federation (PF) has had to appoint a youth officer to handle the flood of inquiries. J.K. Rowling’s books have caused concern among some Christian parents, teachers and youth leaders. At least one school in England has banned the hit novels about magic and wizardry, but PF spokesman Andy Norfolk said that parents should not be alarmed: “In no way is [paganism] a cult, and certainly it offers nothing untoward.”

SABINA WURMBRAND DIES AT 87

Sabina Wurmbrand, who with her husband, Richard, founded The Voice of the Martyrs (VM) after surviving years of persecution for their faith in their native Romania, died at age 87. She had been hospitalized in Tijuana, Mexico, for several months. The funeral was held Aug. 16 in California, where the Wurmbrands made their home.

Other stories featured on the Charisma News Service Web site:

Goth Protestors Receive Warm
Welcome at Georgia Church

Ladies-Only Fashion Show Teaches Women How to Dress for Church

Church Deaths Prompt Campaign to End Parents’ Faith Healing Rights

Assemblies of God Sees Changing Face of Global Church

The Omega Code Ranked Top Film of 1999 by Daily Variety

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