Saturday, July 4, 2009

LEGO Record

A Chicagoland church has set a world record using legos. More than 150 grade school-aged kids built a model of Noah's ark made of LEGOs at Harvest Bible Chapel. It's 12 feet long, 2 feet wide and stands 18 inches tall.

Baptists Turn Away Choir

Southern Baptists have disinvited a youth choir from taking part in a mission program. Broadway Baptist Church Chapel Choir has been told it can’t take part in the University of the Cumberlands' Mountain Outreach program because of the congregation’s stand on gay issues. The church was voted out of the Southern Baptist Convention last week. The church had decided to avoid offending gay couples by published a directory without family portraits. The choir will instead, is joining the First Baptist Church of Nashville for its mission trip.

A case before the Kentucky Supreme Court involves an $11 million grant coming from state funds for a new pharmacy school at the University of the Cumberlands. A gay rights group sued the school for expelling a gay student.

Okla Proclaimation

An Oklahoma lawmaker is offering a proclamation blaming our economic troubles on abortion, pornography, same-sex marriage, sex trafficking, divorce, illegitimate births, child abuse "and many other forms of debauchery." Sally Kern made headlines earlier this year when she said suggested homosexuality was a greater threat to the country than terrorism. Here's a report from Oklahoma City's KWTV.

Friday, July 3, 2009

Radio Ad Blitz

The religious left has launched an ad blitz on Christian and country music radio stations across the South. The ads call for support of a climate bill, that would cut greenhouse-gas emissions. The issue is framed as one of Biblical morality. The American Values Network spent nearly $200,000. The religious coalition will put $150,000 more to enlist support from pulpits in the West.

Thursday, July 2, 2009

Michael Jackson Friend

" wanted me to study the Bible with him because he was raised as one of Jehovah's Witnesses early in life, [and] he would want his children to be raised the same way." family friend Firpo Carr t0 CNN

Pink Menno

A group of about 100 Mennonites dressed in bright pink are protesting the denomination’s views on gay issues. The church is holding its biannual convention in Columbus, Ohio. Those gathered outside to protest are calling it the pink Menno campaign. They have a petition with the names of 1400 Mennonites who say they support the effort.

Pastor Tasered

Houston-area Police tasered and arrested a pastor after a traffic stop involving one of his members. They used pepper spray to disperse a crowd of his parishioners. Here’s a video report from KPRC-TV.

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

CBN Evacuated

A white powder mailed to Pat Robertson's CBN Network in Virginia caused a stir today but it turned out to be a bodybuilding supplement. The company's Virginia Beach building was evacuated and closed as a precaution as a precaution until tests were run. The network is expected to open again tomorrow.

Joyce Meyer Court Dispute

The family of a woman allegedly killed by the former security chief at Joyce Meyer Ministries is asking a judge to force the organization to cooperate in their wrongful death lawsuit. Christopher Coleman is accused of murdering his wife, Sheri Coleman and their two children. Meyer’s says it will cooperate if the family agrees to a confidentiality agreement. The family wants travel records, flight plans, information about insurance policies, etc.

Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Mag Stands By Obama Church Story

TIME magazine is standing by its story that the 1st Family has picked Camp David's Evergreen Chapel as its primary place of worship. The White House denied the report on Monday but carefully worded its statement to leave room for the Obamas to attend the church while not declaring it home base. Here's what TIME has to say about the conflicting information.

Graham Has Cancer

A Texas megachurch pastor is battling prostate cancer. Jack Graham is taking two-months off from leading the 26,000 members of Preston Baptist Church in Plano. Graham has surgery last month. He twice served as president of the Southern Baptist Convention.

Did Jackson Become a Christian?

Rumors are circulating that Michael Jackson became a Christian in his last days. He is said to have prayed recently with Christian singer Andrae Crouch and his sister. But she says the story isn’t entirely accurate. They did met with the pop star – but only to talk about recording songs with their choir on his next album. Before leaving they prayed and Michael listened and held hands with them. Read more on Andrae’s Facebook page.

Jackson grew up in the Jehovah's Witnesses and later dabbled in Kaballah and spent time with New Age guru Deepak Chopra. In the last few years, he reportedly followed several of his brothers into Islam.

Bible Club Ruling

The Supreme Court won’t hear the case of two students who weren’t allowed to start a Bible club at school. Officials at Kentridge High School in Kent, Washington didn’t let them form the group because non-Christians would not have been allowed to become voting members. Lawyers for the student may re-file the case to reframe the question before the court, focusing on the fact that the school district allows groups to limit membership based on gender, such as in the case of honor clubs just for girls and just for boys. The ruling could be applied to all kinds of clubs, such as a Republican club that prohibits Democrat from joining.

Monday, June 29, 2009

Obama Still Church Hunting

The White House is now denying widespread reports that President Obama has decided to make the Camp David presidential retreat his church home. A spokesman said today his family is still looking for a worship center. The Camp David reports came from reputable publications such as TIME magazine. Here's what we had earlier in the day on the story at ChristianNewsReport.

Funeral Protests OK

Missouri will not be able to stop an anti-gay church group from protesting near funerals. The Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal of a lower court ruling that barred the state from enforcing a law that would create a buffer zone. Many other states have passed similar laws. The Missouri law was aimed at Kansas’ Westboro Baptist Church whose members believe US soldiers are dying because the country tolerates homosexuality.

President Pick's Church

TIME magazine's report on Barack Obama's new church. ChristianNewsReport offers some info here.

H1N1 Prompts Changes

WLFI in West Lafayette, Indiana reports on how swine flu is affecting services.

Obama's New Pastor

Barack Obama’s new pastor is a Southern Baptist. The President has picked Camp David’s Evergreen Chapel at as his primary place of worship. It’s the same place George W Bush attended. The nondenominational Evergreen Chapel seats only about 150 people. It’s only a third full on most Sundays and is open to the nearly 400 military personnel and staff at Camp David. The Navy rotates chaplains through pulpit duties every three years. The present chaplain is Lieutenant Carey Cash from Memphis. Cash is a Southern Baptist who got his degree from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth.

Bible Giveaway Arrests

Police arrested three people at the Minneapolis Pride Festival for handing out Bibles this weekend. Brian and Doris Johnson have passed out free Bibles at the festival for more than a decade. But organizers refused to allow the Hayward, Wisconsin couple to have booth. They were arrested for trespassing along with their son.