Tewbowie

Comedian Jimmy Fallon sang a re-written version of David Bowie's song Space Oddity on his Late Night show this week, making the song about Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow. Among the lyrics:

"Tim Tebow to Jesus Christ...can't win by myself, but with your help I might. Tim Tebow to Jesus Christ, commencing fourth-down hut, hut, hike. Snap the football and may God's love be with me. This is Jesus Christ to Tim Tebow...please leave me alone...don't you know my day of rest is Sunday...and I'm sick of watching all these Broncos games. I hear that you play New England next week. Dude you're on your own. Brady is too good and I have better things to do."

The clip has gotten nearly a million views and is posted below.

David Letterman's Top Ten

CBS Late Show host David Letterman used Bronco's quarterback Tim Tebow for one of his Top Ten lists this week. Here's Letterman's Top Ten Little Known Things about Tim Tebow: 10. Fell to Earth after his home planet Krypton exploded 9. Throws left, prays right 8. For breakfast has Icy Hot on toast 7. If you tell him your street address, he'll tell you the value of your home 6. Currently ninth on the Kim Kardashian athlete waiting List 5. Back in college, threw a football twenty yards! 4. One time, lost his temper and said "Darn it!" 3. Distracts defenders by flashing his beautiful, piercing blue eyes 2. Justin Bieber fans have "Bieber Fever"; Tim Tebow fans have "The Tebola Virus" 1. Can turn water into Gatorade

Tebow's Charity

Donations to Tim Tebow's charitable foundation since he took the helm of the Broncos. The Foundation expects to meet the fund-raising goal of $2.5 million soon, well ahead of the start of its fiscal year. Donors who give $25 get a Team Tebow T-shirt, car decal and information on where to volunteer at a foundation community function. Within 48 hours of his win over the Pittsburgh Steelers, membership went from 100 to more than 4000. Tebow pays all of the foundation staff and administrative costs, so that all donations go to the outreach efforts. One of the the efforts of his foundation is allowing children with serious health problems to visit him on the field before a game. Tebow flies them and their family to the game, pays for their hotel and meals, gets them pre-game passes and visits with them after the game, often walking to the car with them. Find out more here or watch the video below.

Tim Tebow: Everything in Between Interview & Production Outtakes from FCTN on Vimeo.

Dead Sea Scroll Exhibit

A Houston man is giving $1 million to help fund an exhibit of fragments from the Dead Sea Scrolls at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Gary Loveless founded Square Mile Energy and is a member of the seminary's board of trustees. The exhibit will be open from July until January of next year.

Pastors Gather over Politics

More than 100 conservative Christians and evangelical leaders are gathering in Texas this weekend to discuss which of the GOP candidates they will be backing in the race for the White House. Here's an ABC video report on the gathering.

Survey of Mormons

Here are some of the results of a new survey of Mormons by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life.

• Mormons make up less than 2% of the U.S. population.
• 97% of Mormons overwhelmingly consider themselves to be Christians. 
• 62% say Americans know little or nothing about their religion. 
• 46% see a lot of discrimination against Mormons. 
• 63% say acceptance of their faith is rising. Seven of 10 Mormons scored highly on worship attendance, frequency of prayer and the view that religion is important in their lives.

Tim Tebow and.. Katy Perry?

Katy Perry's mom wants her daughter to date Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow, according to OK Magazine. The singer only recently announced her divorce from comedian Russell Brand. A source tells OK! magazine, ”Katy’s mom firmly believes.. Tebow is the perfect guy for her daughter. He’s handsome, charming, intelligent and above all, a good Christian.”  Katy herself has "mentioned on more than one occasion how much she likes Tim.” Her parents have even invited Tebow to speak at their church in Huntington Beach, California. The Denver Broncos starting quarterback has become well-known for his outspoken Christian beliefs and charity work while Brand, a recovering alcoholic mocked Perry's parents and beliefs by telling off-color jokes. Meanwhile, Katy's dad apologized for remarks he made at an Ohio church that some took as anti-Semitic. Keith Hudson said in an written apology, he is not an anti-Semite and "I deeply regret the hurtful and ugly language I used in my message in Ohio."

High Court Sides with Church

The US Supreme Court says a church was within its right to fire an employee on religious grounds. The unanimous decision overturns a lower court ruling. Cheryl Perich, a teacher at a Lutheran school in Redford, Michigan was fired after she was diagnosed with narcolepsy and she claimed discrimination under ADA laws because, she and her lawyers claimed, it was not a religious matter. But Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School said her role fell under clergy performing their religious duties and the high court agreed.

Megachurch Drops Translation

The pastor of a Texas megachurch is dropping the NIV version of the Bible. Gregg Matte, pastor of Houston’s First Baptist Church, objects to the New International Version, updated last year, using gender neutral pronouns. Lifeway, the bookstore owned by the Southern Baptist Convention stopped selling it after the denomination denounced the update last summer. Matte says he will use the Holman Christian Standard Bible from the pulpit and during Bible studies. It was published in 2004. Read more about the decision on the church's website here.

Tebow Sets Twitter Record

Tim Tebow is the new champion for inspiring the most tweets per second. Twitter says tweets related to the Denver quarterback peaked at 9,420 per second right after he lead his Denver team to an overtime playoff victory. Beyonce used to hold the record - with 8,868 tweets per second, when she announced she was having a baby on the MTV Music Awards. Tebow also topped the previous sports-related record of 7,196 when the US lost to Japan in the Women’s World Cup.

Justin Bieber Opens up on Religious Views

Singer Justin Bieber tells V magazine he doesn't attend church regularly, but instead focuses on praying to God in private.

"A lot of people who are religious, I think they get lost. They go to church just to go to church. I'm not trying to disrespect them, but for me, I focus more on praying and talking to Him. I don't have to go to church."

Bieber recently got tattoo of Jesus Christ's face on his left calf to go along with the tiny dove on his hip and the name of Jesus in Hebrew on his ribcage.

Tebow's Supernatural Coincidence?

The most Googled search term last night and this morning was... John 3:16, thanks to Tim Tebow. The Denver quarterback led his team to an overtime win against the Pittsburgh Steelers last night in dramatic fashion. The outspoken Christian was banned by the NFL from putting John 3:16 paint in white on top of his eye black. but that didn't stop the Denver Broncos QB from delivering the message in another way. He passed for 316 yards against the Steelers, and set an NFL playoff record with 31.6 yards per completion. Tebow also refers to the verse when he signs off in a message to fans on his website.

Rob Bell Leaves Church

Rob Bell is out as pastor of a Michigan megachurch. Yesterday was his last day at Mars Hills Bible Church. He's going to LA to work on a TV show based on his life and write more books. He stirred controversy nationally with his books Love Wins which challenged the traditional Evangelical beliefs about hell.

Tebow and Roethlisberger

The Washington Post takes a look at what quarterbacks Tim Tebow and Ben Roethlisberger reveal about evangelical politics. Read the story here.

2011 NIV

The new NIV translation of the Bible has some changes related to some of the verses about homosexuality, according to Christianity Today. First Corinthians chapter six, verse nine went from using "homosexual offenders" in the 1984 version to "men who have sex with men." The translators hoped to clarify whether the verse referred to any kind of homosexual activity or only certain kinds of ‘offensive’ homosexual activity. First Timothy chapter one, verse ten has the word “perverts” in the 1984 version, but was changed to “those practicing homosexuality” in the 2011 edition. Southern Baptists have called the new version "untrustworthy." Read more about the changes here.