Google Searches

The states with the most Google searches (so far this year) including the word Evangelical:

1. Iowa
2. Minnesota
3. Tennessee
4. Illinois
5. Pennsylvania

The states with the most Google searches (so far this year) including the word Christian:

1. Kentucky
2. Alabama
3. Tennessee
4. Oklahoma
5. Indiana

Mother & Church Battle over Autistic Son

A Bertha, Minnesota mother wants to force St. Joseph’s Catholic Church to allow her autistic teenage son to attend services. The church took out a restraining order against Carol Race and her son after the priest said the 13-year-old had to be restrained and he allegedly spit and urinated during Mass. Race claims the church is exaggerating the problem. She was arrested after violating the order and has continued trying to attend the church but has been turned away by sheriff's deputies.

Judge Denies Roberts Request

An Oklahoma judge has refused to allow Richard Roberts’ wife to be removed from a wrongful termination lawsuit. Lindsay Roberts and her husband, who once served as president of Oral Roberts University, are accused of misspending school funds in a lawsuit. Former professors Tim and Paulita Brooker allege they were forced to leave ORU after detailing problems with the Roberts family in a report.

Church Gives Away Money

Christ the Rock Church in Memphis handed out hundreds of envelopes to parishioners yesterday containing various amounts of cash from $5 to $500. Pastor Chris Bennett gave them a total of $30,000, saying the money should go toward random acts of kindness.

Graham: No Olympic Evangelism

Franklin Graham says he’s against conducting evangelism during the Beijing Olympics this summer. Graham says because proselytizing is prohibited under Chinese law, he does not encourage anything illegal. The evangelist toured mainland China this past week and pet with government officials. He also spoke to nearly 12,000 people at a Chinese megachurch. Bob Fu, president of China Aid Association, says the comment is a “deep offense to the hundreds of house church prisoners and their family members.”

Creation Museum Drawing Crowds

The Creation Museum in Petersburg, Kentucky is still drawing thousands of visitors and expanding since it opened on Memorial Day one year ago. The museum is approaching its 400,000th visitor. Answers in Genesis, the Christian organization that operates the museum is opening a permanent petting zoo on Friday and debuting a musical called Let the Rain Come. Another restaurant is in the works, along with more parking and a new entrance.

Dobson and McCain

Political columnist Robert Novak reports that James Dobson has invited Senator John McCain to visit with him at Focus on the Family headquarters in Colorado Springs but so far the presidential hopeful has refused. Dobson is on record as saying he won’t support McCain’s bid for the White House because of his position on issues like stem cell research. Novak says it shows problems for the Republicans in gaining support from Christian conservatives who are already writing off this election and looking toward the next one.

Faith In "Second Life"

Religion is gaining a presence in the online virtual universe known as Second Life. Sort of a video-game costume party, the site also offers its 13 million users churches, mosques and synagogues. You can light virtual candles for Shabbat, teleport to a Buddhist temple or consult the oracle for some divine guidance. The online game has a Christian fellowship group meets weekly for Bible studies and prayer sessions. Oklahoma-based megachurch LifeChurch.tv broadcasts its weekly sermon to satellite campuses across the country including its virtual church in Second Life.

IRS Clears Pastor

Southern Baptist Pastor Wiley Drake says the IRS has cleared him of wrongdoing. The Americans United for Separation of Church and State complained to the IRS that Drake had announced his endorsement of Mike Huckabee on his internet radio show and in a press release. But the radio show operates independent of his congregation. And while the letterhead on the press release indicates that Drake is pastor of the First Southern Baptist Church of Buena Park, California, it was not issued on the church's official stationary. The IRS does not comment on individual investigations.

Caspian is #1

The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian is the top movie at the box office this weekend. The film based on the books of CS Lewis took in about $56.6 million. But that’s not as strong as the first Chronicles of Narnia movie. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe earned $65.6 million during its first three days of availability. Movie analysts had forecast an opening within the $80 million range.

20 Years at The Cove

The Billy Graham Training Center at The Cove, tucked away in the mountains of North Carolina, celebrated its 20th anniversary with an open house yesterday. More than 25,000 tourists come by each year and another 20,000 visit for training and events. The 1500-acre tract is east of Asheville, not far from Billy Graham’s home in Montreat.

Clinton Gets Adultery Sermon

Things got a little awkward this morning at the State Street United Methodist Church in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Senator Hillary Clinton attended Sunday services in which Pastor Paul Fryman gave a sermon on adultery. But Clinton showed no reaction to the topic. She sang and shook hands with parishioners afterward.

Church Festival Shooting

A man opened fire at a church festival in Los Angeles this morning, putting his ex-wife and two bystanders in the hospital. The annual event was being set up at the St. John Baptist de la Salle Roman Catholic parish when he showed up with a semiautomatic rifle. The suspect was reloading the weapon when festival-goers wrestled him to the ground and held the man until police arrived.

Soft Opening for Narnia Film

Prince Caspian didn’t bring in as much money in its first day on the big screen as the first film in The Narnia Chronicles series, The Lion The Witch & The Wardrobe. Prince earned $18 million at the box office while Lion took in $23 million. It’s estimated that the sequel will wind up with just over $50 million by the end of the weekend. That would be more than a forth less than the first Narnia installment. The next film, Voyage of the Dawn Treader, is already in production and should be out in two years.

Southern Baptist Church is Dying

“The Southern Baptist Convention is dying rapidly, and resistance to change could kill more than half the denomination’s churches by 2030.” Southern Baptist Convention President Frank Page in a conference call with pastors

Journey to Narnia

If you’re inspired by the new film The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian you might want to get a closer look at the live of CS Lewis on whose writings the movie is based. You could read his classic series of seven books on Narnia, of course. But you also could take a trip to his old stomping grounds. One option is Globus’ Christian England & The World of CS Lewis, a 10-day tour includes visits to Oxford’s Magdalen College, where Lewis was elected a fellow in 1925, and Holy Trinity Church in Headington Quarry, where he is buried.

Sex Sting Arrest

A minister at Prestonwood Baptist Church in Dallas has been caught in an Internet sex sting. Police in Bryan, Texas say Joe Barron faces charges of soliciting a minor. An investigator posing as a 13-year-old girl had sexually explicit conversations with the megachurch minister. Barron was arrested when he went to meet the teen in person.

Iran Makes Movie about Jesus

A new Iranian film called Jesus, the Spirit of God tells the story of Christ without the death and resurrection described in the gospels. In the $5 million movie, funded by Iranian state broadcasting, Judas Iscariot is crucified in his place. The plot is based on the Koran and the Gospel of Barnabas, a book not included in the Christian Bible and in which the prophet Muhammad appears. Few Iranians went to see it at theaters. It’s now being broken up for a run on national television as a series.

Judas in Arkansas

The name of one of Jesus’ disciples is being invoked in an Arkansas political race. Mark Haroda is trying to unseat incumbent Tracy Pennartz for a seat in the state house. Haroda has mailed out flyers that show a photo of his opponent and the line Judas! Betrayed With A Kiss. The charge stems from Pennartz’s alleged support for raising the cost of gas and electric rates.

Steven Curtis Chapman

Christian singer Steven Curtis Chapman is in China with his band to promote international efforts to help orphaned children. He raised more than $340,000 in the last six months for Shaohannah's Hope through the Change for Orphans campaign. Families in need of financial aid to adopt a child will benefit from the funds.

Caspian Hits the Big Screen

It may be standing room only for today's opening of Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian. The film is likely to be one of the summer's top earners because of the success of the franchise's first film and relatively weak competition this weekend. Exhibitor Relations predicts the movie could top $750 million in worldwide ticket sales. Critics have been generally positive about the film, though some Christian writers say some spiritual aspects of the book have been cut out - including a lessor role for the lion Aslan who represents Christ.

Einstein's Letter

A letter written by Albert Einstein has sold for $330,000 at a London auction. Written in the year before he died (1954) to philosopher Eric Gutkind, Einstein said, "The word God is for me nothing more than the expression and product of human weaknesses, the Bible a collection of honorable but still primitive legends which are nevertheless pretty childish. For me, the Jewish religion like all other religions is an incarnation of the most childish superstitions." The Nobel prize-winning physicist offered several conflicting views on faith and religion over his lifetime, suggesting he believed that some intelligence was working its way through nature but not a conventional Christian or Judaic religious view.

Petition Against Bush

More than 200 students and faculty members at Furman University in Greenville, South Carolinastatement opposing President Bush’s visit to the school over the war in Iraq. He’s due to give the graduation speech on May 31. It would be the first visit to the University by a sitting president. The school has historic ties with Baptists.

Georgia Baptists

Southern Baptists are on the decline in Georgia. The number of residents who say they belong to a church affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention has dropped from 20% in 1970 to just 10% in 2007. During the same period, Georgia’s population has exploded – especially around Atlanta.

Same-Sex Marriage Ban Overturned

The California state Supreme Court has overturned a ban on same-sex marriage. The vote was 4-3. Voters have already rejected the idea and will have a chance to do so again in November. Concerned that the court may rule this way, pro-family groups gathered more than a million signatures to get an amendment to the state constitution on the ballot. That vote will supersede today’s ruling which goes into effect in 30 days. The Liberty Counsel plans to ask justices to hold off until after November. Otherwise, county courthouses are likely to be flooded with requests from couples that could be rendered invalid after the November vote. Under state law, gays and lesbians in California are already entitled to equal treatment in every legal area except marriage. Massachusetts is the only other state where the Supreme Court has ruled that the state's constitution gives gay and lesbian couples the right to marry.

Online Dating Services

Online dating service Chemistry.com has been targeting eHarmony.com in a recent ad campaign. The marketing strategy criticizes eHarmony for refusing to match people of the same gender. It also goes after the Evangelical beliefs of founder Neil Warren, who's had several books published by James Dobson’s Focus on the Family. A year ago, Chemistry ran a set of ads called Rejected by eHarmony. Chemistry’s 7 million registered users are dwarfed by eHarmony’s 17 million. eHarmony dismisses Chemistry as only a casual dating site and not in the business of fostering lasting relationships. Warren has said he personally believes premarital sex can increase the likelihood of one’s marrying the wrong person.

False Papers Used to Sell Church?

New York’s Free Mission Action Movement Church is fighting over its property with a developer who claims the church sold the land to him. But the pastor says the deal was cut with a con man who posed as a member and used fake deeds to make the $50,000 deal. The Brooklyn Supreme Court will take up the matter soon.

The Give Project

The pastor of the Lifehouse Church East in Hagerstown, Maryland decided to give to his congregation the money he had saved for a car. Patrick Grach handed out the $6000 in various amounts and asked members to do something good with it. You can read stories of what they’ve done online.

Pastor Threatened over Flag Removal

The pastor of the First Baptist Church in DeLand, Florida is taking a leave of absence to get away from threats he’s been getting. Sean Oliver removed the American Flag and Christian flag from the church sanctuary a few months after he came to church. Some church members objected to the change.

Lutheran Gay Clergy

A Canadian Lutheran church plans to move forward on the ordination of a non-celibate gay man on Friday over objections from the Bishop of the Eastern Synod in Canada. Pastor Dawn Hutchings says she expects dozens of clergy from across the country to join her at the ordination of Lionel Ketola at Holy Cross Lutheran Church in Newmarket, Ontario. Although the Evangelical Lutheran church require that gay ministers remain celibate – the denomination also has told bishops in the church not to fire anyone who violates the rule.

Free Gas

The First Baptist Church of Snellville, Georgia is giving away gas. One catch, however. You have to attend a revival led by Ronnie Hill where you are given a raffle ticket for a chance to win a $500 gas card. The north Atlanta megachurch is getting so many calls about the offer, an extra phone line has been installed to deal with the flood of inquiries.

In Search of the Ark

A group of German archaeologists claim they’ve found what’s left of the palace of the Queen of Sheba – where many believe the Ark of the Covenant is located. The chest once held the stone tablets on which the Ten Commandments were etched. A professor from the University of Hamburg is supervising a dig in northern Ethiopia that started more than ten years ago. They believe the Ark was taken by the Queen from Jerusalem in the 10th century BC. The quest to find the lost ark was the inspiration for the 1981 film Raiders of the Lost Ark. The latest sequel in that film series, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, conveniently hits the big screen May 22.

The Billionaire Behind Prince Caspian

Philip Anschutz says he was tired of seeing violence, sex and vulgarity in movies, so the billionaire decided to do something about it. He created Walden Media and started producing films like Bridge to Terabithia and Hoot. His latest effort hits the big screen this Friday. Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian is a sequel to The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Made for about $180 million, the 2005 release raked in $745 million worldwide, according to Box Office Mojo. Price Caspian is expecting similar results. Here are some other Anschutz facts:
· Worth - more than $7 billion
· Home - Denver
· Church Affiliation - Evangelical Presbyterian Church
· Finances - A billionaire, he found a billion-barrel pocket of oil on a Utah farm, founded Qwest, owns the Staples Center in Los Angeles, controls the nation's largest cinema chain, Regal, co-owner of the Los Angeles Lakers and owns 5 Major League Soccer teams
· Accessibility - Hasn't sat for an interview with a reporter since 1974
· Politics - major contributor to Republican candidates
· Moviemaking - His Walden Media made the Ray Charles biography Ray and The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe adapted from C.S. Lewis's books

Hagee Apologizes

Televangelist John Hagee is apologizing to Catholics for referring to the Roman Catholic Church as "the great whore" and calling it "the apostate church." John McCain caught criticism from some Catholic leaders for his association with Hagee after the pastor endorced the presidential bid of the Arizona Senator. Catholic League President Bill Donohue says he accepts the apology and considers the matter closed. Hagee has been meeting with Catholic leaders and is promising to offer a more balanced portrayal of the Catholic Church.

What Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses Really Believe

I have made a personal commitment to Jesus Christ that is still important in their life today and believe that when I die I will go to heaven because I have confessed my sins and accepted Jesus Christ as my savior.
Mormons - 31%
Jehovah’s Witnesses – 7%

God is the omnipotent and all-knowing creator and ruler of the universe:
Born again Christians – 90%
Mormons – 83%
Jehovah’s Witnesses – 76%

Satan Exists:
Jehovah’s Witnesses – 61%
Mormons – 60%
Born again Christians – 42%

Jesus lived a sinless life on earth:
Jehovah’s Witnesses – 77%
Mormons – 66%
Born again Christians – 63%

Sharing my faith with other people is a personal responsibility:
Jehovah’s Witnesses - 74%
Mormons – 64%
Born again Christians – 54%

The Bible is totally accurate in all of the principles it teaches:
Jehovah’s Witnesses - 88%
Born again Christians – 71%
Mormons – 32%

I read the Bible each week:
Jehovah’s Witnesses - 83%
Born again Christians – 54%
Mormons – 27%

I do NOT attend a church regularly:
Jehovah’s Witnesses - 28%
Born again Christians – 14%

I am registered to vote:
Born again Christians – 87%
Jehovah’s Witnesses - 29%

Source: The Barna Group

Spicing Up the Bible

Geri Halliwell, better know as Ginger Spice, reportedly made some changes to the text from the Bible read at her child's baptism. The Spice Girl told friends her version read better. Geri, 35, recently launched her first children’s book Eugenia Lavender. Her daughter, named Bluebell, just reached her second birthday.

Armed Robbery during Church Service

A man interrupted services at the Hyannis Foursquare Portuguese Church Sunday in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, wearing a mask and threatening parishioners. He has a lighter shaped like a gun and demanded the collection box. But the would-be robber was stopped when churchgoers tackled him and held him down until police arrived. The man was arrested and is being held on $200,000 bail.

Switchfoot on Leno

The Christian rock band Switchfoot will perform on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno tonight. They will play the song This Is Home from the film The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian. The song will be heard in the film and over the end credits and will appear on the movie soundtrack.

JI Packer Leaving Church

JI Packer is leaving the Anglican Church over the issue of homosexuality. While the governing body of the Anglican Church in Canada narrowly defeated a motion approving same-sex blessings last year, Packer objects to his diocese and others voting in favor of them. The prominent evangelical theologian is best known for writing Knowing God, a book that has sold more than three million copies. Packer left Britain some 30 years ago to teach at Vancouver's Regent College.

Graham in China

Franklin Graham is in China this week, meeting with church leaders and government officials. On Sunday, he preached before nearly 12,000 people at Chong Yi Church in Hangzhou. It's China's largest Christian church. More than 1200 people responded to the invitation. The church is offering a course as a follow-up for those who want to learn more about Christianity.

Gospel Dream 2008

The Gospel Music Channel is teaming with Royal Caribbean cruise lines for sponsorship tie-ins with the TV network's American Idol-like music contest. Gospel Dream 2008 will run for 5 episodes and give the winner a cruise and recording contract.

Bible Club Ban

The Deer Valley School District in Phoenix, Arizona must allow the events planned by a Christian student club to be announced over the school's PA system as it does other clubs. That’s the ruling of a federal judge while he considers a lawsuit filed by the students. They're going to court because the district has prevented them from announcing a prayer meeting during off-school hours.

Huckabee Denies Report

Mike Huckabee says a column by Bob Novak is “total and absolute nonsense.” Novak claims an anonymous source involved in “Christian politics” told him that Huckabee had “embraced the concept that an Obama presidency might be what the American people deserve. That fits what has largely been a fringe position among evangelicals: that the pain of an Obama presidency is in keeping with the Bible's prophecy.”

Pornography Connection to Christian Website

The same company that runs a Christian dating web site produces pornography. BigChurch.com says it will help you meet "People who share the same spiritual beliefs". What it doesn't tell you is that its
corporate parent is Penthouse Media Group. Founder Bob Guccione sold Penthouse Magazine and its associated businesses three years ago to a group of investors. In December, the company acquired social-network focused Various, Inc. for a price tag of $500 million in cash and stock. Part of that buy included BigChurch.com

Online Video Site

GodTube.com is now valued at nearly $150 million by PaidContent.org. The YouTube–like site launched last August and offers sermons, debates, Christian muisc videos and skits - along with an on-screen Bible and a prayer wall. All the content is filtered for offensive material. It attracts 1.7 million unique visitors a month, according to comScore. As we reported last week, the site picked up a $30 million investment from a large London hedge fund.

A Bible for Every Newspaper

The International Bible Society is working to put a quarter of a million custom-designed New Testaments into the homes of people living in Pittsburgh. The plan is for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette to add the Bibles to the newspapers delivered to subscribers in Allegheny County on September 7^th. CityReachers Pittsburgh, an arm of the IBS, already distributed 140,000 New Testaments to the Philadelphia area during April. Another 260,000 will go out in Montgomery, Bucks and Delaware counties in November. The Pittsburgh edition will show the city's Golden Triangle on the cover. On the back will be a photo of Steelers football players kneeling in prayer along with testimonies from well-known people in the city. CityReachers Pittsburgh has raised a little more than half of what’s needed to complete the project by the printing deadline.

Church Reverses Votes

A Nashville church has reversed itself and decided to expel 71 members. Two Rivers Baptist Church voted to oust the dissenters yesterday after voting last week to let them remain members – by just four votes. The group is suing pastor Jerry Sutton and the megachurch for allegedly mishandling the congregation’s money. The move to dismiss them was put forth by Sutton himself.

Dottie Rambo Remembered

Here is a video of Dottie Rambo singing her song We Shall Behold Him. Details of her death are below.

Chuck Norris at Graduation

“It’s like the Holy Spirit hit me and said, ‘Chuck it’s time to come home. I was hot for the Lord, and I still am to this day. I hope that you’ll let him direct your steps because if you do, you can’t go wrong.” - Actor Chuck Norris speaking at Liberty University’s commencement

Christian Songwriter Killed in Accident

Christian singer and songwriter Dottie Rambo died early this morning in an accident near Mount Vernon, Missouri. The 74-year-old was riding in a bus that ran off a road and struck an embankment. Some people in the accident were hospitalized but no one else was killed. Rambo was headed to a Mother's Day performance at Fountain of Life Church in North Richland Hills, Texas. Named to the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2007, Rambo wrote the 1982 Gospel Music Association Song of the Year We Shall Behold Him which was made popular by Sandi Patty and He Looked Beyond My Fault and Saw My Need.

Clinton in Church

Hillary Clinton went to church on Mother's Day with her daughter Chelsea at the First United Methodist Church in Huntington, West Virginia. Pastor Paul Russell read the story of Pentecost from Acts and told the congregation, “Maybe you've been a comma at some time in your life (but) you and I are not commas to God." Clinton did not speak at the service.

Socially Responsible Mutual Funds

• Faith-Based Investors control $110 billion in assets
• $2.2 trillion is invested under socially responsible investing principles
• The 30 or so religion-oriented mutual funds control about $3 Billion
• Research firm Morningstar tracks 86 Socially Responsible Investing Fund

Here are some of those mutual funds and what they do for investors:

Aquinas Funds
Roman Catholic values

Ave Maria Catholic Values
Roman Catholic values

Catholic Equity Funds
Avoids abortion-related services

Cavert Funds
Favor companies paying for contraception
and that support Planned Parenthood

Citizens Core Growth
avoid tobacco and defense stocks

Citizens Funds
Favors same-sex friendly companies

Domini Funds
Favor companies paying for contraception and that support Planned Parenthood

Domini Social 400
Widely followed indexes

Domini Social Equity
Nonreligious fund avoids making money from alcohol, tobacco guns or gambling

New Covenant Funds
Presbyterian-affiliated

Noah Funds
Conservative Christian

Parnassus Fund
avoid tobacco and defense stocks

Patriot Fund
Off-shoot of Timothy Fund

Timothy Plan
Conservative Christian

Source: Smart Money

MP3 Player Shaped like a Cross

If you’re looking for something “different” to play your tunes, check out this MP3 player. Build by iceTECH, the TEO MP-301 is made in the shape of a cross and you can wear it around your neck. There’s a built-in microphone and FM radio but no preloaded Christian music. It comes with a hefty $48 price tag. Bloggers complain that the interface is clunky and hard to figure out. It comes with the conversion software that would allow you to transfer music of various formats from your CDs and files to this device.

Defying the IRS

The Alliance Defense Fund is trying to get pastors to defy the IRS on September 28th– and preach about candidates for office. Tax laws bar churches from taking part in partisan politics or else they can lose their tax-exempt status. But the Arizona group wants to challenge the government agency in court on the issue, hoping to get it declared unconstitutional. The United Church of Christ is being investiged now for allowing Barak Obama, who is a member, to speak last year.

SoulForce Challenges Osteen Church's

A support group for gays called Soulforce is trying to get Houston megachurch pastor Joel Osteen to welcome them on Mother’s Day to Lakewood Church. Jay Bakker, son of Tammy Faye Bakker Messner is one of the Soulforce supporters hoping to meet with the high-profile leader. Bakker says Osteen’s silence on gay issues is “as destructive as speaking out against” the community.

Israel's Bible Quiz

A teenager who believes in Jesus was Jerusalem’s representative in Israel’s annual youth Bible quiz. A group called Yad L’Ahim asked religious Jews to boycott the event because of Bat El Levy’s messianic beliefs. But Israel’s Education Ministry rejected calls for banning her participation. A 15-year-old from Nahariya won yesterday’s contest. American Dov Mordechai Nadal was third. In all, 65 contestants from 37 countries took part.

McCain on Religious Freedom

"There is no right more fundamental to a free society than the free practice of religion. Behind walls of prisons and persecuted before our very eyes in places like China, Iran, Burma, Sudan, North Korea and Saudi Arabia are tens-of-thousands of people whose only crime is to worship God in their own way. No society that denies religious freedom can ever rightly claim to be good in some other way. And no person can ever be true to any faith that believes in the dignity of all human life if they do not act out of concern for those whose dignity is assailed because of their faith. As President, I intend to make religious freedom a subject of great importance for the United States in our relations with other nations. I will make respect for the basic principle of religious freedom a priority in international relations." - John McCain speaking at a town hall meeting at Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan

Obama's Pledge to Isreal

"America's commitment to Israel's security is unshakable. I pledge to you that I will do whatever I can in whatever capacity to not only ensure Israel's security, but also to ensure that the people of Israel may thrive and prosper and build on the enormous promise that was made 60 years ago." - Barak Obama

God Tube Gets Manna from GLG

GodTube.com is getting a cash infusion. British hedge fund GLG Partners is reportedly pumping more than $30 million into the Dallas-based video site.

GodTube.com grew nearly 1000% during its first month and has had 1.6 million unique visitors every month since, according to comScore Inc. The Christian video-sharing and social-networking site is run by Dallas Theological Seminary student Chris Wyatt. Members of other religions are trying the same thing. JewTube gets about 175,000 visitors per month and IslamicTube is averaging 23,000.

There are major changes underway at the GLG. Fund manager Greg Coffey is leaving and may take more than $4 billion in investments with him when he sets up his own fund later this year.

Student Group Sues University

The Christian Fellowship of Shippensburg University is suing the Pennsylvania school for threatening to shut it down. Administrators object to the group’s requirement that members must be Christians and its president has to be a man. The Christian Fellowship says Shippensburg University is violating its free-speech rights.

Name Change Poll

Our poll of Christian News Report readers showed 75% of you did NOT want a judge to let a Chicago area man change his name to In God We Trust. That's right. Steve Kreuscher wants to switch from Steve to In God for a first name and from Kreuscher to We Trust for a last name. The artist and father of four will find out what the judge decides on June 13^th. Kreuscher has told local media he remembers when God Reigns was taken off the city seal a few years ago. And he fears the same thing could happen to In God We Trust - that it could be taken off our courentcy. The name change will cost him about $400 since there are court costs to pay and public notices that are required to be published in newspapers.

But he’s not the only one who's wanted to make a curious name change:
In 1998, Byron Looper of Tennessee became.. Low Tax
In 1997, Robert Rion of Mundelein became.. Santa Claus
In 2001, Scott Nall of Ohio became.. Optimus Prime
In 2003, Karin Robertson of Virginia became.. GoVeg.com
In 2005, Jose Espinal of New York became.. Jesus Christ
In 2007, Michael Burrows of Washington became.. Megatron
In 2008, Marvin Richardson of Idaho.. Pro-Life

Florida Ark?

Does he know something we don’t? George Hansen is building a – well, it appears to be an ark similar to the one Noah built. It’s across from Dinosaur World near Tampa. Construction started last year on what Hansen said was supposed to be a war memorial. He says the resemblance to Noah’s Ark is just a coincidence. The building is up for lease. The Tampa Tribune has a photo.

National Ten Commandments Day

The National Ten Commandments Project will kick off this afternoon at the Supreme Court. It's an effort to create a National Ten Commandments Day. The group behind is called Faith and Action which says its purpose is to minister to government officials in Washington.

Letter to Congress

A group of Christian leaders is sending a letter to Congress, objecting to an on-going investigation into several television ministries. The group claims the probe is setting a dangerous precedent. Former Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwel is among the signers. The investigation is being led by Senator Charles Grassley, the top Republican on the Senate Finance Committee. In the spotlight: Creflo Dollar, Bishop Eddie Long, Joyce Meyer Kenneth Copeland, Benny Hinn and Randy and Paula White.

Religious Voters

Indiana voters who attend church..
Weekly: Obama 55%, Clinton 45%
Occasionally: Clinton 54%, Obama 46%
Never: Obama 52%, Clinton 48%
Catholics: Obama 59%, Clinton 41%

North Carolina voters who attend church..
Weekly: Obama 55%, Clinton 43%
Occasional attenders Obama 59%, Clinton 39%

Source: MSNBC

New Car Tag

Christians may get a new license plate in South Carolina. The license plate has the words I Believe on it along with a cross on a stained glass window. The Senate has already passed the bill. Now the House gets to vote on the special tag. An effort to get the same plate approved in Florida (a sample of which you see here) failed to get through the Sunshine State’s legislature.

Facebook and MySpace

Facebook Sites

100,000,000 Christians Worship God - Nearly half a million members

I'm Nothing Without God - Started by Winona State University student Daniel Holum

My Church - Co-founded by Joe Suh, a UC Berkeley graduate in electrical engineering and computer science. The site has lots of Facebook apps.

MySpace Sites

Joel Osteen

TD Jakes

Compassion International

Father Makes Ultimate Sacrifice

The son of a Chicago pastor saved his daughter’s life by sacrificing his own. Joseph Richardson saw an out-of-control car approaching and quickly picked her up and held his daughter out of harm’s way. The 4-year-old was injured but survived. Richardson was pinned against an iron fence and killed. They were walking to a McDonald’s restaurant at the time. Police say the driver of the car was drunk and is charged (so far) with driving without a valid license or insurance. Richardson was church pianist and organist at Cottage Grove Baptist Church and the Greater Revelation Missionary Baptist Church where his father is pastor.

Where the Megachurches Are

(churches with weekly attendance of at least 2000)
California 178
Texas 157
Florida 85
Georgia 73
Illinois 46
Tennessee 44
Ohio 44
Michigan 43
North Carolina 39
Indiana 31
Source: Hartford Institute for Religious Research

Religious Oppression

A federal commission says there are 11 nations the State Department should identify as oppressing religion but are being ignored. The countries are China, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan named with Iran, North Korea Others are Eritrea, Myanmar, Sudan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam. . The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedoms points to violent government repression of religious communities. A decade ago Congress passed the International Religious Freedom Act. It equires the US to identify "countries whose governments have engaged in or tolerated systematic and egregious violations of the universal right to freedom of religion or belief." The US State Department hasn’t made an designations for two years.

An Evangelical Manifesto

This morning a group of Christian leaders will present what they are calling an Evangelical Manifesto. It chastises Evangelicals for being used by the political parties, suggesting the focus on politics has diminished the Gospel. Among the 80 signers: Megachurch pastor Rick Warren, author Os Guinness, Fuller Theological Seminary president Richard Mouw and Timothy George, founding dean of Beeson Divinity School. Among those who did not sign the document: Focus on the Family founder James Dobson and Richard Land, head of the public policy arm for the Southern Baptist Convention. Read the Manifesto here.

Christians & Politics

Are Christians too involved in politics? Those responding “no”.

Christians - 52%
Evangelicals - 72%

Source: LifeWay Research

Just 4 Votes Short

A Nashville megachurch fell just four votes shy of tossing out 71 dissatisfied members. The group is suing the leadership of Two Rivers Baptist Church for mishandling finances. Pastor Jerry Sutton put the ouster vote on the table. 663 voted to dismiss the plaintiffs, while 337 voted “no.” The dissenters say Sutton used church funds for his daughter’s wedding among other questionable expenses. Many top leaders of the Southern Baptist Convention attend the church.

SBC Presidential Possibilities

Here are some of the people expected to be nominated for the position of president of the Southern Baptist Convention when the group meets June 10-11 in Indianapolis:

Frank Cox, pastor of the Atlanta-area North Metro First Baptist Church

Wiley Drake, First Southern Baptist Church of Buena Park, California

Johnny Hunt, pastor of First Baptist Church of Woodstock, Georgia

Bill Wagner, former Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary professor

Avery Willis, retired SBC International Mission Board executive

Southern Baptist Theological Seminary President Al Mohler dropped out of the race for health reasons.

The Wright Effect

Half the people voting in the Indiana and North Carolina primaries today said Barak Obama’s former pastor was an important factor in their decisions, according to exit polls. About 70% of those who said it was important in Indiana also said they were voting for Hillary Clinton. Whites and blacks were about as likely to call the situation important. But whites were much more likely to vote for Clinton if they said it was significant.

From Pornography to Bible Park

He once shot photos for Penthouse magazine. Now he wants to help build a Bible park in Tennessee. According to the The Tennessean newspaper, Amnon Bar-Tur who was born in Israel and immigrated to the US, shot cover and centerfold photos of nude models in the ‘70s. He later helped to form SafeHarbor Holding. The company is proposing a 282-acre theme park called Bible Park, USA be built in Rutherford County near Murfreesboro. It would feature re-enactments of life Bible times, theaters and other attractions based on stories from Scripture. The developers say the Penthouse connection is irrelevant to whether to build the park - which they claim could pull in a million-and-a-half visitors every year.

Online Bible Quiz

An online quiz for pastors and church leaders about the Bible is sparking a lot of discussion. More than 30,000 people have answered the 20 questions developed by Leadership journal and created by Scot McKnight, a professor at North Park University in Chicago. Here’s how the numbers break out according to the journal:

The conservative hermeneutic group scores 52 or lower.
Moderates generally score between 53 to 65.
Those who score 66 or more can be seen as leaning toward the progressive side.

Take the Quiz

Rosie O'Donnell on Rev. Wright

“This man is, is following a tradition of black preachers and that there is a righteous indignation about people who were only considering three-fourths of a person until fairly recently in our history. And that his anger, which annoys some and forces some to look at issues that America is not really ready to face, is the actual issue. That racism does exist in this country and it's still thriving. And that some of the things that Jeremiah Wright says he's held accountable for. But there are things that white preachers have said that are just as insane. Pat Robertson saying that, you know, gays and feminists were responsible for the 9/11 catastrophe. Here's what I think. There is a place in the world, an inspirational, liberational kind of preaching that Reverend Wright does. You know when you read what he says, I was not as offended as the people in the polls that I read. I listen to him, and frankly, it made sense to me. I totally understood what he was saying."
- Rosie O'Donnell speaking on the "Today" show

Megachurch Facts

Number of megachurches in the US - 1210

Average Yearly Income - $6 million

Combined Incomes - $7.2 billion

Average Attendance - 3,585

Combined Weekly Attendance - 4.4 million

Percentage By Region:
South 49%
West 25%
Northcentral 20%
Northeast 6%

States with the Most:
California (14%)
Texas (13%)
Florida (7%)
Georgia (6%)

Percentage Belonging to a denomination - 66%

Denominations with the Most:
Nondenominational 36%
Southern Baptist 25%
United Baptist 9%
Assembly of God 5%

Note:
For a church to be counted as a megachurch in this survey, it had to have a weekly attendance of at least 2000
Source: Megachurches Today 2005
Survey conducted by Leadership Network and the Hartford Institute for Religion Research

Aid Groups Mobilize

Christian relief organizations are scrambling to get aid to Myanmar (also known as Burma). The Southeast Asian nation is cleaning up from a cyclone that may have killed more than 15,000 people. A World Vision spokesman says, "The destruction is unbelievable.” The humanitarian organization is appealing for $3 million in donations. Church World Service issued an appeal for $50,000 to help disaster victims. Catholic Relief Services is also raising funds and sending a team to the area. The US has economic sanctions in place against the country because of human rights abuses.

Chuck Norris at Commencement

Actor Chuck Norris will be the commencement speaker this Saturday at Liberty University. A supporter of Mick Huckabee's presidential campaign, the star of Walker, Texas Ranger is the author of several Christian books including The Justice Riders. The Lynchburg, Virginia school was founded by the late television evangelist Jerry Falwell who died a year ago at the age of 73. Jerry Falwell Jr is now Liberty’s chancellor.

Why Oprah Left Wright’s Church

Oprah Winfrey was once a member of Jeremiah Wright's church. But unlike Barak Obama, she stopped going back in the 90’s because she was uncomfortable with some of his anger-filled sermons, according to Newsweek magazine. The daytime TV diva also left Trinity United Church of Christ because she had grown tired of organized religion. Winfrey has declined to comment on the report.

Evangelical on Dem Platform Committee

Christian author and speaker Tony Campolo has been appointed to the committee that will review the Democratic Party’s platform. Campolo says he will defend pro-life issues at the national convention in Denver this summer. In the last few years, the party’s platform has directed supported a “woman’s right to abortion”.

Church Raises Millions in Two Days

Kensington Community Church located in Detroit’s suburb of Troy has come up with $17 million in pledges from its 11,000 members in just two days. The megachurch has a full-time directors of development on staff to coordinate fundraising efforts. Kensington hired Greg Gibbs from Cargill Associates, a Texas-based church fundraising and consultant firm. Kensington’s budget is more than $10 million. The new funds will go toward construction of a new 72,000-square-foot church building.

CS Lewis Screening

The CS Lewis Society of California will get a private screening of the new film Prince Caspian Saturday, May 17 at San Francisco’s Metreon. The film based on CS Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia series opens on the big screen the night before. The first Narnia film, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, took in $740 million. Sales of Lewis's Narnia series have topped 100 million copies. The event includes a presentation by Cambridge professor Michael Ward who wrote Planet Narnia: The Seven Heavens in the Imagination of C.S. Lewis.

The Wright Effect

Barak Obama's unfavorable rating among independents before the Wright controversy broke was 27%. It’s now 36%.

About 25% of Americans who are following the controversy say their "best guess" is that Obama agrees with the views of his former pastor, despite Obama’s repeated claims that he finds them offensive and wrong.

Source: USA TODAY/Gallup Poll

Obama on Joining Wright's Church

"I think that the American people understand that when I joined Trinity United Church of Christ, I was committing not to Pastor Wright, I was committing to a church and I was committing to Christ. As imperfect as he may be, he has been like family to me. What he said did not bring the country together; it divided the country. It fed into all of the racial antagonisms and divisions that have haunted this country for so long, and, you know, I did not want to give a platform for that." - Barack Obama on NBC's Meet the Press

TIME's Top 100

TIME Magazine has picked Richard Cizik for its top 100 most influential people in the world for 2008. The Evangelical Presbyterian minister heads up the Office of Government Affairs for the National Association of Evangelicals. His views and work on environmental issues such as global warming brought him to Time’s attention - and earned him criticism from fellow Evangelicals. Cizik first hit the political map a quarter of a century ago when he invited President Ronald Reagan to talk to his group. That speech to the NAE is still remembered for Reagan's reference to the Soviet Union as the "evil empire".

Getting to know… Jeremiah Wright

▪ Born in Philadelphia, September 22, 1941

▪ His father, grandfather and an uncle were pastors

▪ Enrolled in the seminary at Virginia Union University but dropped out

▪ Served six years in the Marines and the Navy

▪ Earned two masters' degrees and one doctorate from Howard University

▪ Became pastor of Chicago's Trinity United Church of Christ in 1972 when the church had less than 100 members

▪ Trinity now has more than 8,000 parishioners

▪ Oprah Winfrey was once a member but stopped going in the 1990s

▪ The motto of Trinity Church is Unashamedly Black and unapologetically Christian

▪ Barack Obama titled his second book after a sermon given by Wright called The Audacity to Hope

ORU Leaking Students

Oral Roberts University is losing students. Many are transferring before graduating to avoid association with the school that has been rocked by a financial scandal involving former president Richard Roberts. Enrollment is expected to be at least 150 lower this fall than last year. Some reports put the figure closer to 400 (or more than 12% of the student body). Applications to the Tulsa, Oklahoma school are down as well.