Brennan Manning dies

Brennan Manning has passed away at the age of 78. Best known as the writer of the The Ragamuffin Gospel , Manning died yesterday following several years of declining health. He was 78. The book was especially inspiring to some Christian musicians ,including Michael W. Smith, Michael Card and the late Rich Mullins, who named his band in honor of Manning's book. One popular quote of Manning, spoken by Carman on DC Talk song ("What if I Stumble?"), goes like this:

"The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians who acknowledge Jesus with their lips and walk out the door and deny Him by their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable.”

Manning attended Pennsylvania's Saint Francis College and was ordained a Franciscan priest in 1963. He taught theology at the University of Stuebenville in Ohio and became the spiritual director of Saint Francis Seminary. His association with the Little Brothers of Jesus of Charles de Foucald included living in France, Spain and Switzerland. Manning struggled with alcoholism, briefly relapsing when he returned to the U.S. He writing showed a brutal brokenness, endearing him to his readers.

Baptist leader stepping down

Richard Land will leave his post as president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention in order to lead Southern Evangelical Seminary in Charlotte. Land stirred controversy last year with his comments about the Trayvon Martin shooting and then it was discovered he plagiarized parts of his commentaries. The Commission chastised Land and his radio show ended. Land said he was going to retire in October--which would have been his 25th anniversary in his current position.

11 Bands You Might Not Realize Are Christian

See the list at BuzzFeed here.

Suicide of star pastor Rick Warren’s son sparks debate about mental illness

Evangelical Christian leaders have begun a national conversation about how their beliefs might sometimes stigmatize those who struggle with mental illness. Read more at the Washington Post here.

Rise Of Hispanic Evangelical Church

TIME magazine takes a look at the influence Of Latinos In America's Religion here.

Protest over Jesus’-Stomping Exercise

More than 50 demonstrators showed up at Florida Atlantic University to support professor Deandre Poole. He is on leave after telling students to stomp on a piece of paper after writing Jesus on it. Protestors say administrators should not have apologized or gotten involved with the what they deem to be a classroom issue. They called it an issue of academic freedom. The group of protestors went so far as to mimic the original exercise itself. The Faculty Senate plans to debate the issue with the administration on April 19.

Lawsuit over flowers at gay wedding

The state of Washington is suing Arlene's Flowers owner Barronelle Stutzman for refusing to provide flowers for a gay wedding. The Richland, Washington florist say she couldn't do it because of her "relationship with Jesus." The state attorney general wrote in the lawsuit that this is a violation of the Washington anti-discrimination law. It's rarity for the government to file a discrimination suit on its own. Stutzman could have signed a document promising to provide flowers for gay wedding in the future but her own lawyers say this is not an issue of discrimination but an instance of the government infringing on her First Amendment right to free speech and that Stutzman is entitled to exercise her religious conscience and arranging flowers is an act of personal expression.

Warren Makes Plans following Son's Death

Rick Warren and his wife are planning private funeral services for their son who shot and killed himself this last week. Matthew suffering from depression his entire life. The Warren's also plan to established the Matthew Warren Fund for Mental Illness and set up a blog site to accept contributions to "others affected by mental illness." Since news of his suicide became public, Warren has been attacked for his political stands against same-sex marriage and for his preaching. Here's a video from the church's Sunday morning service.

False Rumor about Joel Osteen

A fake website proclaimed that Megachurch pastor Joel Osteen was resigning from the pulpit due to a lack of faith. You can see it here. It was only a hoax. The Texas pastor's name is even misspelled in the web address. The site includes a fake CNN story with the headline Pastor of mega church resigns, rejects Christ. A statement alledgedly from Osteen reads, "I believe now that the Bible is a fallible, flawed, highly inconsistent history book that has been altered hundreds of times. There is zero evidence the Bible is the holy word of God. In fact, there is zero evidence 'God' even exists." There are more details at the Houston Chronicle here.