More From Christianity Today

Church Growth Pentecostal Renewal Transforms Rwanda after Genocide

* Survivors flock to charismatic churches as a haven for healing.

* In the 18 years since the genocide, the overwhelmingly Catholic demographic shifted quickly and enormously toward Protestant and independent churches.
*  In one year, from 1997 to 1998, the number of new Christian churches in Rwanda doubled, reports Van 't Spijker. And they looked and felt different from traditional churches: People sang loudly, danced freely, spoke in tongues, let tears stream down their faces, and proclaimed visions from God.
* Whereas other Christians view visions and miraculous healings as suspect, the Pentecostal heritage carries an expectation that believers will experience God in everyday life.

A Facebook Skeptic? News Flash: You Are in Control
Facebook is too big a mission field for the church to ignore.

A Life Of Success

Bonnie St. John

And He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong." - 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 (NKJV)

How does a person achieve extraordinary success? Ken Kragen, a major Hollywood agent, took talented performers like Kenny Rogers, Travis Tritt, and Lionel Ritchie and made them superstars. His observations on what makes the difference between a star and a superstar might surprise you.

Lots of people sing beautifully, work hard, and stay focused, yet still don't make it to the top. According to Ken, author of Life is a Contact Sport, superstars are usually the people who get the most help. He taught his clients to cultivate help by making more contacts, sending more thank you notes, and just being nice. Being "helpable" is key to achieving your full potential.

God answers a request from Paul in 2 Corinthians with the phrase we all know so well, "My strength is made perfect in your weakness." In other words God is saying to Paul, "By admitting you have weaknesses and need help, you can be so much stronger. If you try to do everything on your own, you'll only get so far."

Paul may not have been able to accomplish what he did for the Kingdom of God if he had not understood this message. By opening himself up to God's help, Paul achieved superstar status in the Bible. He appreciated God's direct help spiritually, as well as the help he received through the people God had placed in his life. In most of Paul's letter we see him thanking his brethren and asking for continued help and support.

By admitting you have weaknesses and need help, your life will be so much more successful. By allowing God to work with you and through you, achieving success is not only easier, it's more lasting and more fulfilling. Being created by God, we all have the potential for being superstars in the kingdom if only we allow ourselves to accept His help.


A professional speaker and Olympic medalist, Bonnie St. John has appeared on the Today Show, CNN, the 700 Club, and Life Today. The author of How Strong Women Pray and Live Your Joy, Bonnie St. John is committed to reaching out to the world with a message of triumph over circumstance. For more information about Bonnie, log onto www.bonniestjohn.com or read her blog at www.bonniestjohn.com/blog.aspx

*Bonnie St. John is a 2009 StreamingFaith.com Guest Columnist.

Freedom Isn't Free

Milan Ford

Two weeks ago, I had the opportunity to hear Ravi Zacharias, a renown Christian apologist, speak at an event located right outside of Atlanta, Georgia. The purpose of the event was to discuss the power and influence today's media has on popular culture.

During his 30-40 minute presentation, he made this one incredible statement; one that will remain with me for quite a while:

"...without TRUTH, education is moved to the skeptical, spirituality is moved to the mystical, and art is moved to the sensual."

Now more than ever before, we are living in an age where matters of faith and morality differ from person to person. What has long been considered true is now (in the eyes of many) debatable, while those things that we have always believed to be false or in contrast to our faith, are now being adopted and accepted as cultural norms.

This reversal of truth unfortunately exists within today's Body of Christ as well.

As a result of our individual and collective life pursuits (money, relationships, position, etc.), many of us at times have thrown aside the principles of our faith to pursue a sense of FREEDOM that is completely void of His truth. For some odd reason, we have bought into the lie that the freedoms we want to experience in Christ as believers, can come about without certain rules and boundaries.

We have created a generation of believers who now have a longing for the mystical to occur in their life, rather than embracing the truths behind sowing and reaping. We want to gain, but refuse any pain associated with it. We want to earn, but refuse to learn what is necessary to do so.

As believers, we really have this FREEDOM thing all messed up.

Isn't it interesting that the very first time the word "free" is mentioned in the Bible, God follows it up with a boundary for that freedom to occur:

Then the LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it. And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, "Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die. - Genesis 2:15-17.

Here we see God from the very beginning, providing mankind with instructions on how he can flourish FREELY within the garden He provided, along with the BOUNDARIES he needed to observe in order to live and succeed. While the Bible is full of these kinds of examples, we can learn even more about how God wants us to properly balance our freedoms as believers by looking at His creation.

Take a river for example.

A river is a body of water that is in constant movement, capable of sustaining life because of a flow of fresh water. Isn't it ironic that free flowing rivers are typically surrounding by a variety of boundaries.

Whether they consist of rocks or dry land, these boundaries help keep the water focused and flowing productively. However, whenever a river exists without any boundaries, it is no longer a river.

It becomes a swamp.

Today, if you are confused or at times find yourself upset with God because your life has begun to look like a swampland, rather than a river of living water, remember this one undeniable TRUTH:

God will never answer prayers that would enable us to live more independently of Him.

The freedom God provides us as believers to walk in is in fact not free at all.
It requires boundaries. May we all commit to establishing some today.


Milan Ford has been a leader (and survivor) of ministry within the local church for most of his life. A lover of Red Vines Licorice and all things pointing North, Milan is scheduled to release his first book, 83 Things I Wish The Black Church Would Stop Doing, later this fall (2009). You can find Milan blogging at ThePewView.com or follow him at Twitter.com/milanford.

Divine Healing

by Margaret D. Mitchell

Hebrews 13:8 -Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
One day, when I was working as a flight attendant, a male passenger stopped me and asked for a bag of ice. His face appeared distressed, and I could see that he was in pain. I asked him what was the matter, and he said that he had just had knee surgery and that he had run out of pain medicine. At that moment, I knew that God had put me in this man's path for a purpose. So I promptly walked into the galley, scooped a bunch of ice into a plastic bag, spun the top around and lifted it up to God. I asked God to take away the man's pain and to heal his knee expeditiously. Then I gave the makeshift ice pack to the man and continued to serve surrounding passengers.
I kept an eye on the man, and after I finished my service, I approached him again. I could tell from the look on his face that he was still hurting. Indeed, he confirmed that some of the pain was gone, but not all. He explained that he had experienced several injuries and surgeries on his knee from playing years of tennis.

As I stood in the aisle listening to this man's story, I felt a righteous indignation rise up in me. I simply could not stand to see him in pain. And I felt strongly compelled by the Holy Spirit to pray for this man. So I asked him if I might do so. I believe it was out of sheer desperation that he agreed. So he removed the ice pack, and I knelt in the aisle, right in first class, which was full of on looking passengers. I began to pray softly, out loud. I was uncomfortable with everyone staring, but I continued to pray because I knew I was to step up, be bold, share the heart of Jesus and do what Jesus would have done for this man according to the gospels.

When I finished praying, I looked up at the man, and I asked Him how his knee felt. He slowly opened his eyes and smiled carefully. Then a surprised look appeared across his face, and he said quietly, "All the pain is gone." He smiled big, and he asked me if it was magic. I shared with him it was the healing power of God and that the Father of the universe loved him with an everlasting love so great that He didn't want him to hurt anymore. The man's eyes began to well up with tears. And I asked him whether he knew Jesus. He replied that he was "a non-practicing Methodist." As I began to explain to him about having a personal relationship with Jesus, I wondered whether this man had anyone else to pray for him. Just the thought of the possibility that he might not broke my heart, and I was reminded, once again, that my higher purpose in my workplace was to reach out to others with the heart of Jesus.

What a perfect mission field our workplaces are! When we consider that fulltime workers spend at least 50% of their waking hours on the job, it makes sense that we Christians are to show up for more than a paycheck. The miracle of healing is one way Jesus demonstrated His love for others and boosted their faith throughout the gospels, and He still does today. Hebrews 13:8 tells us that God is the same yesterday, today and forever. Healing opportunities abound, and they are not all physical. Sometimes they are emotional or spiritual.
Ask the Lord to show you who among you is in need of healing, and ask Him to enable you to meet that need through His healing power. You could find that the people He identifies may not have anyone else praying for them.

Margaret D. Mitchell is the founder of the God's Love at Work Foundation and speaks on sharing God's love in the workplace. Her book, "100 Passengers," is an inspirational testimony of her journey out of fear. For more information, visit www.margaretdmitchell.com.