CHARISMA'S ANNUAL CRISIS OF CONSCIENCE

Charisma magazine editor, J. Lee Grady, informed readers in a recent editorial of the stark contrast between Christianity in China and in the United States. Grady's comments followed his trip to China last January and were featured in the magazine's June 2001 issue. In making the comparison, he wrote that the Gospel message in the United States is "so self absorbed" and "nauseating at times."

"In China," he wrote, "serving the Lord is a daily sacrifice."

While his criticisms more accurately targeted Charismatic and Pentecostal camps, a clear distinction between these groups and non Pentecostals and Evangelicals was not made. Grady's rebukes included:

• Criticizing a prominent evangelist who booked simultaneous speaking engagements and eventually canceled the church that offered the smaller financial return.
• Indicting celebrity speakers who demand luxury accommodations and five figure fees for their performances and then fake the anointing by pushing people to the ground.
• Objecting to the "self centered drivel" of Charismatic preachers who use God to get "my breakthrough," "my blessing," and "my anointing."

Grady went further to declare that, "There's no brokenness in the preacher's voice, no surrender in his tone and no cross in his message."

While Grady's comments may be praiseworthy and right on target, they are just more of the double speak that has become fashionable for the magazine which claims to be "About Spirit Led Living." Last year, in an issue which celebrated the magazine's 25 years of publishing, Grady wrote: "What began as sincere Christian faith became infected with nauseating selfishness. At that point, I believe the Lord withdrew His blessing and moved on." The magazine's founder and publisher, Stephen Strang, has issued similar thoughts in such editorial pieces as "Practicing What We Preach" (June 1993), "Thoughts About Advertising" (July 1995), and "The Vital Gift of Prophecy (March 1999).

The fact is, despite Charisma's periodic bouts of conscience, the magazine still is one of the largest promoters of Charismatic and Pentecostal icons who challenge the very authority and sufficiency of God's Word with their man made proclamations and anointings. The magazine also continues to advance the careers and ministries of men and women who bring reproach upon the Gospel with their undisciplined and exuberant lives, and their self serving and heretical theologies.

The sincerity of Grady's remarks may well be disputed by the fact that sprinkled throughout the same issue in which he offered his criticisms, one can find numerous advertisements for conferences, conventions, and revivals featuring Ken and Gloria Copeland, Tommy Tenney, Creflo Dollar, Mike Bickle, Joyce Meyer, Oral Roberts, and other questionable and controversial speakers.

For example, on page 36, "Prophet" Kim Clement is pitched as the keynote speaker at the "Apostolic & Prophetic Worship Training Conference." This gathering promised that attendees would "Learn how to Activate your Prophetic Anointing or give it an oil change and lube." It would also include "Prophetic Worship that will kick the devil's butt." A few pages earlier, the magazine advertised Our God Is One, a 283 page, $24.95, hardcover book that promised to change "the way you view the Oneness Pentecostal movement."

Grady and the magazine he edits can continue to have their annual or periodic crisis of conscience, but until they stop promoting and advertising the very ones they criticize, their judgments no matter how accurate mean nothing.

-- MKG

© 2001 - PFO. All rights reserved by Personal Freedom Outreach. This article may not be stored on BBS or Internet sites without permission. Reproduction is prohibited, except for portions intended for personal use and non-commercial purposes. For reproduction permission contact: Personal Freedom Outreach, P.O. Box 26062, Saint Louis, Missouri 63136.