The solution for U.S. money woes isn’t ‘prosperity gospel,’ charismatics say

When Standard & Poor’s downgraded the United States’ credit rating, it sent the Dow Jones Industrial Average into a tailspin. That, combined with America’s more than $14.5 trillion national debt and Europe’s growing financial woes, have caused charismatic Christian leaders to stand up and speak out—and they aren’t preaching a “prosperity gospel” message.

Indeed, international evangelist Perry Stone says Americans better get used to major changes in the country and prepare accordingly. That, he says, is because the America we have known is changing. “We were promised in the 2008 election that America would fundamentally change,” Stone says. “America is changing, although I am not convinced this is the fundamental change most people had in mind.” read more

Technology is the key to growth for Vision 2020’s global-discipleship project

Call it the Jesus movie of discipleship. It’s a new, technology-driven movement to raise up a generation of lively stones in spiritually dead places—believers who are willing to walk away from false religions and idols to follow Christ.

The man behind the movement is Berin Gilfillan. When he launched the International School of Ministry (ISOM) 20 years ago, Gilfillan set out to train laborers for the end-time harvest by planting his video curriculum in local churches around the world. Today there are more than 15,000 training sites in 142 nations airing the materials in 70 languages. But he’s still not satisfied. read more

When the United Nations declared a famine in two regions of Somalia, Christian ministries went into action to relieve the suffering. But from geographic obstacles to terrorist groups blocking incoming aid, dangers thwart getting food and water to starving men, women and children in Africa’s eastern horn. In Somalia, the victims number about 3.7 million.

Youth With A Mission (YWAM) associates in east Africa report from the area that the crisis is worse in some locations. In parts of Kenya, drought victims number more than 4 million. Many of them are unreached tribal people, and 80 percent of the victims are women and children.

“What can we do as Christians who love our neighbors?” YWAM’s Amir Ibrahim asks. “I am reminded of the story of the Good Samaritan—that the person who shows an act of mercy is the real and true neighbor. Our acts of practical assistance will open doors in this region.” read more

Have worship services gotten too long for contemporary attention spans?

One London church leader is trying to persuade fellow clergy that today’s worship services are excessively long.

How long would you estimate your attention span to be? Ten minutes? A half hour? Ninety minutes? It is safe to say that the length of one’s attention span would ultimately depend on the topic or issue at hand. What if the topic was your Creator—the lover of your soul? read more

The Evangelical Church of Vietnam (also known as Tin Lanh) is celebrating 100 years of ministry in the communist country. Today there are 1.2 million believers in Vietnam, most of them part of the group. However, of the 71 people groups in Vietnam, 52 still include less than 2 percent who follow Jesus. About 40 million people in North Vietnam do not know Christ. “[The Vietnam believers] want to be a force for Jesus,” says Missionary Alliance President Gary Benedict. “They are a sleeping giant in the cause of missions.” read more

Why Campus Crusade for Christ will be known as Cru in the U.S. starting in 2012

Campus Crusade for Christ in the U.S. is changing its name to Cru. The new name will be adopted in early 2012. The U.S. ministry hopes the new name will overcome existing barriers and perceptions inherent in the original name.

“From the beginning, Bill [Bright] was open to changing our name. He never felt it was set in stone,” says Vonette Bright, who co-founded Campus Crusade for Christ with her husband. “In fact, he actually considered changing the name 20 or 25 years ago. 

“We want to remove any obstacle to people hearing about the most important person who ever lived: 
Jesus Christ.”

The name, selected from a pool of 1,600 potential names, has a track record within Campus Crusade for Christ. Since the mid-1990s it has been used locally on the majority of their campus ministries in the U.S..

“This decision has been saturated with prayer,” says Steve Douglass, president of Campus Crusade for Christ. “We only want what God wants for us. And while we are excited about this name, we are even more excited about our renewed commitment to our mission. We believe this new name will position us to connect better with the next generation.” read more