Expanding Our Reach Through the Internet

This is a historic week in the life of our nation: We inaugurated the first African-American president. In doing so, we took a huge step forward in improving race relations and reaffirmed that the American dream is possible for all Americans.

But we need to remember that although we're rejoicing in better race relations, that is not the only issue facing our nation. Sadly, I fear that the installation of Barack Obama as president may be a step backward for the right-to-life and traditional marriage issues.

Like most of you, I watched the inauguration on TV. It was great to hear Pastor Rick Warren give one of the most beautiful invocations I've ever heard, in which he very clearly articulated the importance of following God rather than what has become called "civic religion."

And though there has sometimes been a controversy when a minister mumbles "in the name of Jesus" before saying "amen," Warren was very clear, as we reported in Charisma News Online (which I hope you'll subscribe to, if you haven't already, by clicking here). He closed his invocation with, "In the name of the one who changed my life, Yeshua, Isa, Jesus [Spanish pronunciation], Jesus, who taught us to pray" and then ended with the Lord's Prayer.

Then Obama made a speech in which he talked about the need for change and said we must “begin again the work of remaking America.” His comments resonated with many Americans, but the question is, what kind of change was he referring to? And how do we “remake” America? I believe we are engaged in a spiritual battle and that we need to pray and hold up our new president. I believe there are signs that he's going to govern more from the middle than we initially thought he would, but only time will tell. Regardless of how far to the right or left his decisions appear to be, he's going to need God's help in a way that most of us can't even imagine, due to the enormous pressures on him and the responsibilities of his job.

Many other politicians have articulated sentiments regarding change that were similar to those Obama made--but those men were not elected president. What made the difference? I believe that Obama, unlike any prior presidential candidate, was able to capitalize on the enormous power of the Internet. He not only was able to raise money on the Internet but also was able to build a community and interact with people. He collected information from the people who went to his Web site and sent messages to them that addressed issues relevant to their particular part of the country. For example, he might have written something quite different to a person living near the Mexican border, who is concerned about illegal immigration, than he did to someone in Michigan, where the auto industry seems to be in a freefall.

The same technology Obama used to further his campaign can be used to propagate the gospel. But at this point it is in its infancy. Everyone's trying to figure out how it works--including me. We have reached the point at which we provide interactive media and communicate with people around the world through our e-newsletters. My doing this blog during the last year and soliciting your responses to it is one way for us to personally interact in a way that we haven’t been able to communicate through the medium of print publications. The Internet allows us to inexpensively reach people we could never reach in any other way, to cross international lines, to interact with them and create community. Other than the family what community is stronger, or should be stronger, than the body of Christ?

In addition to making widespread communication possible, the Internet is unsurpassed as a medium for discipling and mentoring. Interestingly, it is beginning to be used for mentoring, or coaching, by some secular people who are reaching out to the Christian community as well.

On the day Obama was inaugurated I went to a seminar in Miami about how to utilize the Internet. It was fascinating to hear how companies are beginning to connect with customers in new ways to grow their businesses. As I listened, I wondered how we in the church can take advantage of this new technology to advance the kingdom of God.

I met one of the speakers after the seminar and learned that he is an on-fire, Spirit-filled Christian. I had an opportunity to visit with him, and we talked about the fact that in the Christian community there are some who have been successful on the Internet, but no one--including us--has yet emerged as a real leader. I'll write more about this later. But the nature of a blog like this is to give regular communication, at times shorter than at others.

And I also want your input. I'd like to know what you have seen on the Internet that you really like, what needs you have in your own life and in your church, and what things you see in the body of Christ, in our nation, and worldwide that we ought to be thinking and brainstorming about.

Thanks for your input.

Steve Strang

A Call to Christian Leaders to Speak Up to Our New President

by Steve Strang

Next Tuesday, January 20, America will inaugurate Barack Obama, the first African-American president. That will be a historic day—one I’ll be glad I lived long enough to witness. But many who believe in biblical values are concerned that an Obama presidency will turn the nation sharply left. Some of my conservative Christian friends are so depressed over the prospect of the next four years they refuse to watch the news because it only makes them upset.

I supported John McCain, mainly because of his stand on abortion. His personal life has been a mess, and he was less willing to talk about the role of faith in his life than was Obama. However, McCain took a pro-life position, and Obama was for abortion rights.

When I met Obama at a meeting last June, I asked him about abortion. You can read my Strang Reports of that meeting at strangreport.com. He said he wanted to cut down on the need for abortion. He was very convincing—and his commitment to do that made it easier for conservative black Christians to back him.

Interestingly, in California, Florida and Arizona, constitutional amendments to uphold traditional marriage passed with the help of black and Hispanic citizens who also voted for Obama. The passing of these amendments shows me that the nation has not suddenly taken a turn toward the left. Remember, Obama won by only seven percentage points. People were tired of President Bush and the war, and Obama promised change.

I hope the change is not as radical as some fear. Though Obama made conciliatory remarks to the Christian leaders at the June meeting, he has said that in the first 100 days of his administration he’ll pass the Freedom of Choice Act, which would overturn all anti-abortion laws at both the state and the national levels.

Myles Munroe, a well-known black leader and friend, responded to my post-election analysis in a way that eloquently explains how conservative black leaders feel about Obama’s election:

“I am not in agreement with Barack Obama’s policy position regarding abortion, homosexuality and same-sex relations, and no Bible-believing kingdom citizen could agree with these positions. However, as regarding his election as the first black president of the USA, this cannot and must not be minimized as to the importance and value it is to the tremendous historical, racial and cultural impact worldwide. Anyone who has been affected by oppression in the past 200 years could appreciate the importance of this event.

“The celebration of this accomplishment does not mean the acceptance of Mr. Obama’s social policies but rather what he represents as a symbol of the restoration and recovery of human dignity from the long march of oppression and the curse of slavery.

“The Lord used Joseph to influence the pagan king, Pharaoh of Egypt ... [and] Daniel to influence the pagan King Nebuchadnezzar [of] Babylon. ... God used these men of God to influence those nations after the king was in power” (emphasis added).

This is a time for godly leaders who have Obama’s ear to speak up, as Joseph and Daniel did. Many of them are Charisma readers, and most are personal friends of mine. So I call on them to stand for morality in government, the rights of the unborn, and traditional values relating to marriage and sexual morality.

Probably the evangelical who has the most potential influence is the Rev. Kirbyjon Caldwell, pastor of Windsor Village United Methodist Church in Houston. But Bishop T.D. Jakes attended the meeting with Obama in June and later wrote an open letter of congratulations to him on his candidacy.

Other leaders who could gain access, such as Charles E. Blake, presiding bishop of the Church of God in Christ, Bishop Kenneth Ulmer of Faithful Central Bible Church in Los Angeles, and the Rev. Floyd Flake, former congressman and current pastor of the Greater Allen AME Cathedral in Brooklyn, New York, may be able to speak prophetically to Obama in a way the traditional conservative leaders who spoke to Ronald Reagan or Bush couldn’t.

It’s as Munroe wrote me: “I believe the Lord has the power to change the heart of Barack Obama, and we should not doubt the power of the Holy Spirit to change a heart. Let us pray for those in authority as we are admonished in Romans 13. This is our duty now.”

This is a time for godly leaders who have Obama’s ear to speak up.

As usual, your comments are welcome.

Eat Right in the New Year

by Steve Strang

On Wednesday, January 7, I heard Dr. Don Colbert give a motivating speech about eating right to a group of booksellers at The Gathering 2009, a conference sponsored by Strang Communications' trade publication, Christian Retailing. He was promoting his newly released book titled Eat This and Live!, a beautiful four-color book that teaches readers what the Bible has to say about food and gives recommendations on which foods to eat heartily, eat in moderation or avoid.

Colbert opened with a humorous parody of Genesis 1, in which he claimed that God created many delicious foods but the devil perverted them to make them unhealthy. As I recall, he said God created green, leafy vegetables to make a salad and then the devil came up with fattening salad dressing. God made the potato to be nutritious but then the devil deep-fried it and added salt. Everyone seemed to enjoy the parody, which was written by his wife, Mary.

Our Strang Book Group had the privilege of publishing Colbert's book. An excerpt from it appears below. I know that there are a lot of media people who receive my Strang Report. Anyone in the media who would like a free copy of the book can e-mail leann.hamby@strang.com and request one.

I encourage everyone else to pick it up at a bookstore or order it through Amazon.com, Christian Book Distributors (CBD), or Strang Direct. It has lots of beautiful color pictures, and the different sections are short enough that you can go through them quickly. It is easy and fun to read and has a great deal of worthwhile information. The beginning of the year is a good time to set some new habits, and reading this book will help you do that with regard to food.

Colbert said that many diseases can be prevented or reversed by eating right. He related frightening statistics about cancer, stating that one out of two men and one out of three women will die of cancer. Many cancers are caused or worsened by poor diet, he claimed, and he predicted that soon cancer would pass heart disease as the No. 1 killer.

This book was just released, and if you order it you'll be one of the first to get a copy. Be sure to give us your thoughts on the blog and forward this e-mail to those you think would like to read what Colbert has to say or would like to subscribe to the Strang Report.

Eat This and Live!

Chapter 1

Living Food vs. Dead Food

Imagine yourself standing at a crossroads with two arrows pointing in opposite directions: one leading to life and the other leading to death. Does that give you an idea of how serious I think your food choices are? Let's try another visual image. Imagine you have two shelves in your pantry, one that says "dead food" and the other "living food."

On the "dead food" shelf is a label that reads: "These foods will increase your risk of developing degenerative diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and arthritis, and make you overweight. They will also make you more prone to fatigue, hypertension, and high cholesterol."

But the "living food" shelf's label reads: "These foods will help your body arm itself against cancer, heart disease, degenerative diseases, and obesity, and they will sharpen your mind, energize you, and enliven you."

Which shelf are you going to choose?

Those shelves are not imaginary. They are real. In your pantry, freezer, and fridge right now are foods that lead to life and death. They are probably all mixed together, live foods next to dead foods—processed peanut butter next to extra-virgin olive oil, oatmeal next to an XXL-size bag of potato chips.

As we embark on our journey to understand living foods, you need to realize that everything you put in your mouth has the potential to produce life or death. Food is meant to be savored and enjoyed. But eating the wrong foods will bring poor health and can even shorten your life. Are you at war with your health because of the foods you eat? Or are you enjoying the beautiful dance of hunger and satisfaction that centers around the divine gift of living food?

One Timeless Principle of Eating

I'm sure that as more research is done on food and the human body, we will find that some foods may be healthier than we thought (like coffee and dark chocolate). And other foods we considered healthy (such as margarine) are, in fact, harmful to our health.

I once heard a speaker say that after ten years, about half the medical knowledge we have learned turns out to be false. The problem is, we don't know which half!

There will always be changing information regarding foods and their effect on your health, but one timeless principle will always stand: living foods (such as fruits, veggies, and whole grains) will always be healthier for you than processed foods.

"Why Does It Matter What I Eat?"

All men are created equal, but all foods are not! In fact, some food should not be labeled "food" but rather "consumable product" or "edible, but void of nourishment."

Living foods—fruits, vegetables, grains, seeds, and nuts—exist in a raw or close-to-raw state and are beautifully packaged in divinely created wrappers called skins and peels. Living foods look robust, healthy, and alive. They have not been bleached, refined, or chemically enhanced and preserved. Living foods are plucked, harvested, and squeezed—not processed, packaged, and put on a shelf. Living foods are recognizable as food.

Dead foods are the opposite. They have been altered in every imaginable way to make them last as long as possible and be as addictive as possible. That usually means the manufacturer adds considerable amounts of sugar and man-made fats that involve taking various oils and heating them to dangerously high temperatures so that the nutrients die and become reborn as something completely different—a deadly, sludgy substance that is toxic to our bodies.

Life breeds life. Death breeds death. When you eat living foods, the enzymes in their pristine state interact with your digestive enzymes. The other natural ingredients God put in them—vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients, antioxidants, fiber, and more—flow into your system in their natural state. These living foods were created to cause your digestive system, bloodstream, and organs to function at optimum capacity.

Dead foods hit your body like a foreign intruder. Chemicals, including preservatives, food additives, and bleaching agents, place a strain on the liver. Toxic man-made fats begin to form in your cell membranes; they become stored as fat in your body and form plaque in your arteries. Your body does its best to harvest the tiny traces of good from these deadly foods, but in the end you are undernourished, overfed, and overweight.

If you want to be a healthy, vibrant, energetic person rather than someone bouncing between all-you-can-eat buffets and fast-food restaurants, take your diet seriously. Now is the time to make the change to living foods.

The Twenty-Minute Rule

It takes about twenty minutes for the food you've eaten to reach your small intestines and signal your brain to stop eating. If you stuff yourself with dead foods, it can take even longer for your brain to detect that it has the nutrition it needs. You keep eating more of the same dead foods, and you are caught in a toxic trap.

Living Longer—but Better?

Life expectancy in the United States increased to 77.6 years in 2003, according to a report by the National Center for Health Statistics at the CDC. But half of U.S. residents ages fifty-five to sixty-four have high blood pressure, and two in five are obese.¹

A Lifetime of Eating

As an average American, you will consume five pounds of food today.² Over your lifetime, that's around seventy tons of food that pass through your intestinal tract and are assimilated by your body. This is the equivalent of about forty midsized cars!

¹ California Healthline, "Life Expectancy Increases to 77.6 Years in U.S., Study Finds," December 9, 2005. California Healthline is published for the California HealthCare Foundation by the Advisory Board Company.

² Rural Migration News, "How We Eat," vol. 3, no.4, October 1996, http://migration.ucdavis.edu/rmn/more.php?id=158_0_5_0 (accessed September 5, 2008).