Pastor Fined for Illustration

A pastor in Sheboygan Falls, Wisconsin got in trouble for an sermon illustration. John Putnam had a member fire a steel-tipped practice arrow across the front of the congregation at Pentecostals of Sheboygan County. One member stood to complain about it before the arrow was even fired. He was told to sit down and be quiet. When he complained again, Putnam asked the man to leave. Police gave the pastor and the man who shot the arrow several citations. Each will pay more than $100 in fines. Putnam was talking about spiritual armor: The helmet of salvation, the sword of the spirit and the belt of truth.

Theft of Church Money

"Satan had a big part in the theft."

An Arlington, Washington woman quoted in a local newspaper who worked at the Arlington Free Methodist Church. She's charged with forging the pastor's name on more than 80 checks worth more than $73,000. She called a detective last year and confessed to stealing money from a former employer.

The New Calvinisim

TIME magazine takes a look at how Calvinism is influencing American Evangelicalism.

College Gets Court Victory Against College Group

It's OK for the University of California’s Hastings College of the Law to refuse to recognize the Christian Legal Society because the student group will not allow gay and lesbian members. That's the ruling of the 9th Circuit Appeals court, upholding a 2006 ruling by a San Francisco judge. The CLS has more than 160 chapters across the country at law schools.

Amazing Race: Episode 5

On the most recent episode of the CBS show Amazing Race, Mel and Mike had to deliver a Russian bride to her wedding and Mike had to strip down to his underwear before going for a 1.4 mile run with two local runners. They finished in 4th place.

Mel White is a one-time speechwriter for Pat Robertson and Billy Graham who has now turned to gay-rights activism. He’s teamed with his son, Mike White who wrote the screen play for the films School of Rock and Nacho Libre.

Christians on American Idol

An M-TV story on Christian signers on American Idol.

A second article on reaction to first story.

Fast-Growing Methodist Church Drops Out

Witchata's GracePoint Community Church is breaking away from the United Methodist Church. The fast-growing 700-member congregation will meet this Sunday at a local high school. The Bishop of the Kansas-West Conference of the United Methodist Church says the conference would maintain its own GracePoint United Methodist Church. Bryson Butts resigned as GracePoint United Methodist pastor this past Sunday and says the new church has no beef with the United Methodist Conference. The church became known for attracting a young audience through use of secular music and sophisticated light and sound. There are even advertisements paid for by GracePoint that says Church Doesn't Suck.

Haggard on Divorce Court

He once lead one of America's largest Evangelical churches. Now Former megachurch pastor Ted Haggard and his wife will appear on the April 1st edition of the TV show Divorce Court. Judge Lynn Toler will interview the couple about how their marriage after it became public that he was having a sexual relationship with a Denver male escort. Producers aren't saying how much they are paying Haggard for the appearance.

One Year ago..Wright and Obama

One Year ago.. Barack Obama dropped Jeremiah Wright, from his African American Religious Leadership Committee after controversial remarks he made surfaced about Aids and 9/11. Obama said at the time that he was still a member Wright's church of but decided to distance himself from remarks the mega-church pastor.

Wright has suggested that the U.S. brought the 9/11 attacks on itself and accused the federal government of spreading the AIDS virus in the African-American community. Wright has since retired from the 8000-member Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago.

Obama was married at Trinity and his three daughters were baptized there. He gave $22,500 to the church in 2006 but says he was unaware of Wright's remarks until 2007.

Inauguration Lawsuit Dismissed

A judge has thrown out a lawsuit filed to stop references to God at the presidential inauguration as unconstitutional. Atheist activist Michael Newdow and the American Humanist Association wanted to stop traditional prayer and references like "so help me God”. A request for an injunction was turned down just days before the inauguration. The decision could be appealed.