Changing With the Times

Each of us must change with the times and try to make a difference in the world.
Periodically I open my heart and discuss the direction in which the Lord is leading our ministry. As most of you know, I have spent my entire adult life covering the charismatic movement. Since we began in 1975 much has changed.

Back then there was a move of the Spirit among mainline and Catholic denominations. The Discipleship Movement was strong, and both PTL and Jimmy Swaggart were emerging ministries.

Charismatic churches were just starting to grow, and many ministries that are large today, such as Benny Hinn Ministries, Trinity Broadcasting Network and T.D. Jakes Ministries, either hadn’t started or were just beginning.

Technology has changed too. When we started Charisma we used manual typewriters. Today we have computers with typesetting software, the Internet and e-mail—all unheard of then.

Of course each of us must change with the times and try to make a difference in the world. My call is to the Spirit-filled community. I hope the publications we put out and the books we publish have helped create a sense of community and encouraged those who are ministering in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Over the years we’ve seen a wider receptivity to the things of the Spirit in the larger body of Christ—especially in areas such as worship and prayer for healing. And we’ve linked arms with believers not in the charismatic community to help serve the poor, put godly people into political office and speak out for traditional marriage and ending abortion. We believe that is our call.

As we begin a new year, God is taking us to higher levels in communicating the Word—mainly on the Internet. Our organization is placing a stronger emphasis on our online presence. And I am launching a free e-newsletter called The Strang Report, which I hope you will subscribe to.

At first it will come out twice a month. It will allow me to communicate quickly and easily about things that come up in the news, urge believers to take action when it’s needed or share what I believe the Lord is saying.

Here are some of the topics I’ll be covering:

»Holiness and the American church
»What the Holy Spirit is saying to our movement
»Doctrinal integrity—not just the latest fad
»Integrity in charismatic renewal
»Healthy church leadership: training godly leaders
»Call to action: mobilizing the church to become active in the areas of social justice, politics and cultural reformation
»Presidential election 2008: what God is saying to us as a movement about it.

To sign up for this e-newsletter, go to strangreport.com. You will also find a blog on which to share your thoughts.

In addition, I have a new vision for reaching the men of America through New Man magazine. A changing market made us decide recently to begin publishing only an online version. The first weekly issue of New Man eMagazine launched in early January and was e-mailed to many of our e-newsletter lists.

Instead of sending a print version by mail every other month, we will deliver content to subscribers’ e-mail inboxes on a weekly basis. Plus we will provide opportunities for interaction. We hope to grow our subscriber base to a half million this year by having current readers e-mail the online version to their friends. You can subscribe free by going to newmanmag.com.

We also recently launched a “ministry channel” on GodTube. Every day we have a new three- to six-minute video posted online. In January it was about evangelism.
Check it out at godtube.com. Click on “Ministries” and then on “Charisma.tv.” We invite you not only to watch what we post but also to submit your videos to us.

Many of you have watched through the years as we have grown. We began by publishing only Charisma and now publish Christian books as well as several other magazines, including one in Spanish. It seems as if God continually leads us into bold new areas. I’m thankful every day for the opportunity I have to proclaim the power of the Holy Spirit and to encourage the church to cooperate with God in changing our world.