The founder and CEO of Charisma Media, a prominent Christian media company, shares how a California-based evangelist's ministry has inspired him and changed the trajectory of his life
Stephen Strang, an award-winning Christian writer and media personality, chose to record a brief homage to Mario Murillo, a fiery preacher living in California, for his Strang Report column in the November 2021 issue of Charisma Magazine.
Reading Murillo's blogs is like listening to a modern-day Elijah or John the Baptist: direct, unapologetic, and unwilling to sugarcoat anything. There are many Christians who have been inspired by his boldness and are now fearless in their Christian convictions because of his example.
"The Lord has given him a huge influence at a time when we need a fresh wave of God," says Strang of Murillo."
"That's why Mario was one of my main sources for my new book, God and Cancel Culture, which outlines what's happening in America," he added.
Strang disclosed that it was Murillo who gave him a word picture called "hurricanes of revival," which soon became one of his chapter titles.
"Mario told me one of the patterns of the Bible that Jesus referred to was water," Strang explained. "He said, 'You see the color of the sky and the cloud formations and you know what's coming, but you don't discern the signs of the time.' Mario said the big flashing sign of the times today is spiritual water and a vacuum of answers."
"He said the natural flavor for God is something that no atheist could abolish, no university can ban. No human engineering is ever going to be capable of erasing man's deep desire to know God and the inner emptiness he feel when we create a culture when you don't know what gender you are or what love is. You don't know what's up, what's down, what's truth, what's false."
"'God and Cancel culture' contains additional insights from Mario but his statement that there is a hurricane and revival should give us all hope," Strang proclaimed.
Strang also recounted how he met Murillo. He made a reference to the Jesus movement, which took place in the late 1960s and early 1970s. He noted that one of the early leaders of the Jesus movement was Murillo, who launched the Resurrection City ministry on the campus of the University of California, Berkeley at the age of 19. Strang paid a visit to Resurrection City at one time to check what was going on. He also attended meetings until he began ministering at them.
Strang recalls how God miraculously healed him of his past at the time and how he accepted God's call.
"I distinctly remember responding to God's call to serve Him with my whole heart, no matter what," he said."Over the years, I stayed in touch with Mario. I told him how much that ministry transformed my life... But what I received under his ministry and the decisions I made in those services directly influence what I'm doing today. "
This, according to Strang, is why it matters so much to him to cover Mario Murillo's post as a ministry after all these years. He also believed that Murillo's ministry had inspired others.
To conclude, Strang said that the example he provided between himself and Murillo was to help Christians understand how Christian leaders touch the lives of others, and how they, in turn, impact others.
