Twittering Church

A Dallas church is experimenting with twitter. KDFW-TV reports.

"Convert the Atheist" Show

A new Turkish TV game show will feature attempts to convert a group of atheists. Four religious groups will have representatives (a Buddhist monk, Muslim imam, a Christian priest, and a rabbi) who pitch their faith to ten non-believers. Station Kanal T will give the winner a free trip to a holy site of their religion. The show has hit a speed bump. The Religious Affairs Directorate considers the concept disrespectful and doesn’t want to provide an imam to appear on the show.

Pink Menno Video

Here's video of the pink menno protest in Columbus, Ohio. Gay and lesbian Mennonites gathered outside the church's official convention to pray, sing and tell stories about how they've been ostracized in the denomination. Some 1400 members signed a letter calling on the church to allow homosexual members to participate in the church services. Inside the annual meeting, the subject was avoided because it had stirred up conflict at other meetings. Here is video of the protest.

Oldest Bible

Pages from the world's oldest Bible have been pieced together and can be viewed over the internet. The Codex Sinaiticus was written in Greek during the 4th-century on parchment leaves. Parts of it have been preserved in various locations around the world. The unification project has required the cooperation of experts from serveral countries including Russia, the UK, Germany and Egypt. The Codex may be the oldest large bound book known to exist and contains a complete New Testament and most of the Old Testament.

Theme Park Free Day

Trinity Broadcasting is hiding the date of their required free day at the Holy Land Experience near Orlando. The religion-based theme park must legally forego its annual $35 ticket price for a day in order to get their property-tax exemption. The last one was on February 5th. TBN officials say publicizing the event could overwhelm the park with visitors.

Lenny Kravitz

Singer Lenny Kravitz says he's been celibate for the past 4 years and had resolved to remain so until married. He tells the London Telegraph he believes it is was wrong to have sex without being married. "I think sex and intimacy and all that is very important. It’s just that I’m going to do it with my wife. And not everybody else." He went on to tell the paper, "I really do use Christ as my example and try to live this life and not just bullshit with it."

NY Megachurch Pastor Out

Warren Speaks to Muslims

Megachurch pastor Rick Warren addressed the annual convention of the Islamic Society of North America yesterday. During his 25-minute speech, he told the audience that "the two largest faiths on the planet" must work together to combat stereotypes and solve global problems of war, poverty, corruption, disease and illiteracy. He went on to say, "My deepest faith is in Jesus Christ. I am committed not only to the good news but the common good. Scripture says 'love your neighbor as yourself.' I am commanded to respect everybody." The annual convention pulls together more than 30,000 people each year.

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.

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.

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.

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.