Features
Spiritual warfare: At the World Prayer Center
I thought the reference to the queen of heaven might mean Mary, but it turned out I was wrong. A glance at commentaries on Jeremiah 7:18 revealed that she was the Assyro-Babylonian Ishtar, the goddess of war and fertility introduced to Judah by King Manasseh. At the World Prayer Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado, the queen of heaven is viewed as "one of the most powerful spirits in Satan's hierarchy," according to WPC president C. Peter Wagner. For Wagner and the WPC, confronting the queen of heaven with the proclamation that Jesus Christ is Lord is a central and defining task.
Voices
Barbara Brown Taylor
Consider the lilies
When I travel, I like to bring treasures home with me. I have four carved wooden masks I bought in Kenya, and one of the Buddha I found in Katmandu. I have an eyeglass case made out of frog skin from China, a prayer rug from Turkey, and two woven reed baskets from Ethiopia. I collected so much booty in Israel that I had to ship it home in three separate boxes. I prize my icons from Jericho, my first-century glass goblets and my Bedouin silver bracelet. When I handle these things, they stir my memory. Like time machines, they transport me back to where I found them.