Ex-Wife Takes Over Megachurch

Paula White will take the pulpit at Tampa’s megachurch Without Walls International tomorrow. Ex-husband Randy White resigned last week. Randy White says he quit over serious health concerns and this Sunday’s services will be used to honor him. Paula White has been away from Without Walls for more than two years, following the couple's divorced. The congregation has rocked by the death of Randy White's daughter from brain cancer and the hint of financial scandal. The couple is part of a federal inquiry into the church finances.

Bruno Protest

A Christian group is calling on cities to ban the Sacha Baron Cohen’s new movie Bruno which opens this weekend. Texas-based Movieguide is sending letters to city officials around the country suggesting they take a look at whether the film does not fit their community standards related to obscenity and pornography. Cohen plays a flamboyantly gay television host. The movie includes frontal nudity of men and woman. Groups of people appear onscreen engaged in various sex acts. It originally recieved an NC-17 rating but some scenes were trimmed and now it carries an R-rating.

Begging Church

WHAS-TV in Louisville, Kentucky reports on a controversial church that begs from people in the streets.

Obama Meets Pope

Barack Obama met with Pope Benedict today at the Vatican. It's Obama's first vist with the pontiff. They spent more than a half-hour in Benedict's private libraray and exchanged gifts. The Pope gave the President a copy of his book on church social teachings (among other items) and Obama giving the Pope a stole placed on the remains the first naturalized U.S. citizen to named a saint. The First Lady and the Obama children visited the Vatican as well.

Sign: “Islam is of the Devil”

A message on the front lawn of a Florida church is causing protests. It reads. “Islam is of the Devil”. The Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville explains on its website why the pastor decided to put up the controversial message. More than 100 people showed up for a prayer vigil on Sunday organized by the pastor of Emmanuel Mennonite Church in an attempt to get the sign removed. Later that night, someone torn it down but the message was put back up the next day.

Herod's Temple

Archaeologists may have found the spot where King Herod got the stones to build the Jewish Temple some 2000 years ago. That includes what’s known as the Western Wall. The Israel Antiquities Authority says the ancient quarry is more than 100 yards square. The stones, along with pottery, tools and coins were uncovered before construction of an apartment complex. The Roman legions destroyed Herod’s Temple in A.D. 70 after a Jewish uprising.

Mega-Home for Mega-Evangelist

A televangelist is building himself a $4 million house in South Carolina. Although the his ministry has recently laid off workers and made cutbacks to benefits, Inspiration Network CEO David Cerullo is paid one-and-a-half million in compensation.

Flyover Denied

The Air Force has turned a request to flyover the God and Country Family Festival in Nampa, Idaho. Air Force planes have made an appearance at the event for decades. But the military turned the request down because of the religious nature of the event.

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.