Years ago, the charismatic movement was known for solid teaching. People such as Derek Prince, Kenneth E. Hagin and Fuchsia Pickett were all known as solid Bible teachers. I remember how people used to sit for hours, taking copious notes as these individuals taught the Word of God.
Now that a generation of teachers has passed from the scene, who are the teachers that God is raising up? Does today's teaching have depth and substance, or are we just tickling "itching ears," as our cover implies?
I believe that one of the teachers whom God has raised up is R.T. Kendall, who wrote our lead articles for this issue. After 25 years of pastoring at Westminster Chapel in London, Dr. Kendall is now traveling the United States teaching "Word and Spirit" seminars.
We have had the privilege of publishing several of Dr. Kendall's books, including the best-selling Total Forgiveness, The Anointing: Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow and Dr. Kendall's life story, In Pursuit of His Glory, which is to be released May 14.
Also in this issue we feature the last interview with Fuchsia Pickett, one of the most prolific teachers the church has ever known. I'm pleased to say that Dr. Pickett was a close personal friend of my family and a frequent speaker at our Charisma women's conferences.
Shortly before she passed away, Charisma House published a trilogy of what she felt were three of her most important books: Walking in the Anointing of the Holy Spirit, Understanding the Personality of the Holy Spirit and Cultivating the Gifts & Fruit of the Holy Spirit. You can visit CharismaHouse.com to learn more about these books.
Also in this issue, we report about a watershed event that took place in our offices just weeks before we went to press. Dr. Kendall, along with Jack Hayford, Rod Parsley, Reinhard Bonnke, Joyce Meyer and 60 other leaders came together for what we called "The Ministries Today Symposium."
As we explain on page 52, there was surprising unanimity among the attendees that can only be attributed to God's presence and the leading of the Holy Spirit. In just 24 hours, we were able to hammer out a statement of ethics that we present on page 54.
We realize that this statement is not our own, but representative of a cross section of leaders in the charismatic community. We hope that our readers will embrace this statement, and that the articles in this issue will spark a much-needed dialogue about what is acceptable and unacceptable behavior in the charismatic movement.
Please enjoy this issue of Ministries Today--I believe it's a good one. And, give us your feedback, either at our Web site or through a letter to the editor. We look forward to hearing from you.
Stephen Strang is publisher of Ministries Today and founder of a multimedia company that is proclaiming Jesus worldwide.
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