Author: Steve Rabey

The Jewish festival of Purim, which starts Monday, is a joyful event that celebrates the Jews’ deliverance from a planned extermination in Persia about 2,500 years ago. The biblical book of Esther says Esther, a wife of the king who hid her Jewishness, alerted him. But this year’s celebration, which includes scripture readings, gifts, a…

In the 1960s, many young people went on quests that took them through drugs, sex, rock ‘n’ roll, and Eastern religions. Few churches knew how to minister to them. Some churches simply excluded them. But when countercultural youths showed up at a little church called Calvary Chapel in Costa Mesa, Calif., pastor Chuck Smith let…

Sharon Mumper’s missionary zeal, combined with her journalism degree and significant experience in writing, editing and publishing, led her to pursue a unique mission. While some groups build churches, schools or hospitals, her ministry helps Christian magazines in other countries. She launched Magazine Training International, or MTI, in Eastern Europe in 1989, helping a formerly…

North America’s 280 accredited Christian seminaries and theology schools enrolled 78,000 students this fall. Colorado’s four theology schools serve more than 1,600 of these students. Denver Seminary, the nation’s 16th largest graduate theology school, is a nondenominational evangelical institution. Founded in 1950, it has more than 900 students from more than 50 Christian denominations, including…

Abdul’s journey from the Middle East to America in 1972 to preach the Christian Gospel to Arab Americans led him to Colorado Springs. He bought an ad in The Gazette inviting people to a church service conducted in the Arabic language and was grateful when eight people showed up at the first service. After First…

Episodes of “The Chosen,” a series about Jesus created by Dallas Jenkins, son of Colorado Springs’ bestselling writer Jerry Jenkins, have been streamed 420 million times. Praised for its authenticity and intimate depictions of the daily lives of Jesus and his disciples, the series now has spawned a nonprofit that will invest in translating and…

“The Thorn,” a musical drama about Jesus that was created 25 years ago at New Life Church and has since been seen by 250,000 people locally and another million people nationwide, will debut as a film in March on 740 screens. The film’s trailer will debut nationwide Friday before theater screenings of two new episodes…

Jesus told his followers to go into all the world and make disciples. That’s what Colorado Springs-based Every Home for Christ has been doing for 76 years. The $60 million ministry with 62 local employees works with 12,400 churches in 155 nations and has made Gospel presentations at 2.5 billion homes. Dick Eastman, 78, has…

During its first few decades, Compassion International found new supporters through ads in Christian magazines and commercials on religious radio programs. During the last few decades, Christian concerts were a major means of reaching new child sponsors. Now, with fewer Americans donating to charity, the 70-year-old, $1 billion ministry is working to find new ways…