When we received a prophetic word that a leader was coming on board that would lead Charisma into a new era of growth, I had no idea who that could be. When I met Dr. Steve Greene, I knew in my spirit he was that leader.
Dr. Greene is a leader’s leader. Talk to him for a few minutes and he’ll start telling you what leaders can learn from a shampoo bottle, teach you how to pull out of a nose dive or explain how myopic thinking leads to regression. (All three of those topics are issues he’s addressed in his new blog: Greenelines, which I highly recommend subscribing to. I did!)
Dr. Greene wasn’t here more than few days before he reinvigorated the staff and re-envisioned Ministry Today. And this is just the beginning of his tenure at Charisma Media as executive vice president of our media group.
This is a role that has been open for several years as we looked for the right leader. We wanted not only someone with professional qualifications but one who understands the spiritual aspects of the role and who can hear from God. Also, it needed to be someone who could boldly grasp the new realities and opportunities of the contemporary media world.
A visiting prophet told my wife and me that person was coming months before we met him. He said we would know who he was when he walked in the door, and that he would be so much like me it would be like hiring a twin.
If you’ve read his writing or listened to him speak, you know Dr. Greene is an extraordinary businessman and communicator who has pastoral experience and a heart for ministry. His impressive resume has prepared him for his new role.
As a user of what we produce at Charisma Media, this move will impact you by impacting the media you consume from us—the stories we cover, the new apps we produce or new creative ways we use media “to equip the saints.”
Recently I shared with my Strang Report readers a sample of Dr. Greene’s commentary called “Greenlines.” His writing reflects the spiritual mandate to “come up higher.” I encourage you to sign up here to get it daily.
For most of his career, Dr. Greene has focused on revenue growth for small businesses, Fortune 500 companies, media properties and nonprofits. He ran a media company with 23 television stations that were early innovators on the Internet. He also owned a marketing company that had as clients some of the most recognizable brands in the country.
Dr. Greene also has owned and sold several restaurants and was the CEO of a company that franchised restaurants, tripling the number of its franchises.
Most recently he served for four years as dean of the college of business at Oral Roberts University during the tenure of Dr. Mark Rutland and took that college and its students to a new level.
But he’s more than just a businessman or marketer or academician. He has an empathy for pastoral leadership that was earned in the trenches as a worship leader, teacher and in the last 10 years as a senior pastor.
As a business pastor, Dr. Greene believes that business leaders are called to the pulpit of their businesses to advance the kingdom of God. A year or so ago he wrote an article titled, “Shepherd in the Boardroom” in Ministry Today.
Among his many duties, he’ll give spiritual leadership to Ministry Today as a platform where he can follow his calling of “equipping leaders who equip the saints.”
So why does someone this capable and experienced make such a major move from his home in Tulsa to Central Florida to a brand new organization? Dr. Greene says:
“Charisma Media is a respected and powerful voice in Christianity. Every phase of my career has contributed to and sharpened the gifts God gave me for this ministry. The opportunity is vast and the expectations are high. God placed me here to serve with everything He has given me, yet I know, I need Him every hour. We have all been joined together to further establish the legacy of Steve and Joy Strang as we spread the gospel through this mighty work that the Lord has established. I’m called, honored and humbled that I have been selected to stand shoulder to shoulder with Steve as we publish in the kingdom of God.”
Steve Strang is the founding editor and publisher of Charisma. Follow him on Twitter @sstrang or Facebook (stephenestrang).