Harold Camping

Who is Harold Camping and how did he decide the rapture will take place Saturday? Read details here.

The Site of Jesus' Baptism

Israel is removing land mines from the area traditionally viewed as the site of Jesus’ baptism on the Jordan River and where the Israelites crossed into the Promised Land after their flight from Egypt. Israel has spent millions on removing the land minds, which the government placed there during the 1970s. The number of visitors to the area, located on the West Bank near Jericho, has tripled in last seven years.

Jakes to Graham: Apologize

Dallas megachurch pastor T.D. Jakes is calling on Franklin Graham to apologize for casting speculation onto the president’s Christian faith. The son of evangelist Billy Graham has said he believes President Barack Obama was born a Muslim and that those religious roots affect his presidential policies and “the Islamic world sees the president as one of theirs.” Here's what Jakes said to one interviewer:

“We didn’t question the Christianity of President Bush when he said he accepted Christ, and I’m disappointed in Rev. Franklin Graham in that regard. And I would hope that he would see the rationale in apologizing for such statements — because if the president’s faith is suspect, then all of our faiths are suspect, because the Bible is quite clear about what it takes to be saved and the president has been quite open about his accepting Christ and him openly confessing it before men. And if it’s good enough for the Bible it ought to be good enough for the rest of us.”

As recently as last year, about 20% of Americans polled said they believed Obama was a Muslim.

Son No Billy Graham?

A religion scholar argues that Franklin Graham is an embarrassment to his father and a political hack. Read the article at CNN here.

So help me God

The Supreme Court has turned aside an appeal from atheist Michael Newdow. He claimed it was unconstitutional for Barack Obama to include “so help me God” in his inaugural oath of office in January 2009. A federal judge threw the suit out. Newdow also challenged the addition of “under God” to the Pledge of Allegiance. Chief Justice Roberts, who was named in the suit for administering the oath, excused himself from the case.

Innocent Man Freed

A Texas man is out of prison after 27 years behind bars for a crime he didn’t commit. Both the district attorney’s office and the Innocence Project of Texas said DNA testing proves Johnny Pinchback was wrongly convicted in 1984. He was serving a 99 year sentence for the sexual assault of two teenage girls. Pinchback said he never doubted he would be freed one day because he held on to hope and God during his 27 years behind bars. He told the media when he was released, “It was pretty hard. But I trusted in God.”

Gay Clergy Decision

The Presbyterian Church, USA is dropping its ban on gay clergy. The measure takes effect July 10 and allows each congregation to decide whether to ordain pastors in same-sex relationships. Similar amendments to the denomination's constitutional were rejected three times since 1997.

Graham Hospitalized

Billy Graham is in an Asheville, NC hospital. The 92-year-old evangelist is being treated for a pulmonary ailment at Mission Hospital after a problem developed Tuesday night. Doctors say he is resting comfortably.

Rapture Prediction

Radio evangelist Harold Camping explains why he is predicting the rapture will take place May 21st in an interview here.

Church & Lawyers: An Uneasy Mix

A church defies its insurance company in handling abuse cases. Read the story here.

Lady GaGa's Judas

In her new single, Judas, Lady GaGa sings about being in love with the wrong guy, symbolized by Judas. In the song's video, she singer holding a gun to Judas’ head. In the video, Jesus wears a leather jacket and a crown of thorns on his head. She has told interviewers, “I don’t view the video as a religious statement. I view it as a social statement. I view it as a cultural statement. It’s a metaphor. It’s not meant to be a biblical lesson.” She sings in the song:

Jesus is my virtue
Judas is the demon I cling to
I'm just a holy fool, oh baby he's so cruel
But I'm still in love with Judas, baby

May 21st Rapture Prediction

May 21 is the date picked by a radio evangelist as the day of the Rapture. Oakland, California-based Family Radio has put up billboards that say "Judgment Day May 21." Harold Camping, who leads the network, arrived at the date this way, according to an interview he did with the San Francisco Weekly Magazine, "If we substitute 1,000 years for each of the seven days, 2011 is exactly 7,000 years from the Flood." To mock the prediction, an atheist group is throwing four "rapture parties" on May 21 and 22 across the country.

The 1st Mother's Day

Anna Jarvis organized the first official Mother's Day service one hundred years ago at a church in Grafton, West Virginia. Jarvis handed out hundreds of white carnations at St. Andrew's Methodist Episcopal Church. Her mother had taught Sunday school there until her death three years before. Jarvis never married or had children herself. The church eventually became a shrine to mothers. President Woodrow Wilson made Mother's Day a national holiday in 1914.

Book of the Year

A book about Dietrich Bonhoeffer is the 2010 Christian Book of the Year, according to the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association. The biography Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy written by Eric Metaxas tells how the German theologian was executed in April 1945 for his role in a plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler.

Getting to Know... Bob Jones University

1927 - Founded as Bob Jones College by Bob Jones Sr. in College Point, Florida
1933 - The school moved to Cleveland, Tennessee
1947 - Reopened as Bob Jones University in Greenville, South Carolina
2000 - Bob Jones III is quoted in a campus paper as saying Catholicism is a cult George W. Bush speaks at the school during his presidential campaign. The school drops its ban on interracial dating
2005 - 5,000 students, more than 100 undergraduate majors and 55 graduate degrees

Jesus Daily is Top Page

A Facebook page called Jesus Daily had the most interactions of any page this past week: 1,950,938. It has 4,968,327 fans. The Bible came in third. See who else is on the list here.

Getting to Know.. CS Lewis

Here are a few highlights from the life of CS Lewis:

Job: Oxford professor of medieval poetry
Church: Anglican
Nickname: Jack

Timeline
1898: Born Clive Staples Lewis in Belfast, Ireland
1919: Began Attending Oxford
1923: Graduated Oxford
1931: Converted from Atheism to Christianity
1939: Started writing Wardrobe
1948: Returned to writing Wardrobe
1947: On the cover of TIME magazine
1950: First Chronicles of Narnia book published
1956: Marries American Joy Gresham
1960: Joy dies from cancer
1963: Lewis dies on the same day President Kennedy is assassinated
1994: A movie about Lewis is released called Shadowlands
2001-2005: Mere Christianity sells about a million copies in the US
2005: Screwtape Letters sells twice as many copies (843,000) as in the year 2001
2005: Disney releases The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, grossing more than $740 million
2008: Disney releases a sequel called Prince Caspian

National Day of Prayer

The National Day of Prayer is this coming Thursday. It will be the 60th annual observance. Congress first established a National Prayer Day in 1952. In 1988, lawmakers set the first Thursday in May as the official day for presidents to issue proclamations asking Americans to pray.

John Paul II Beatified

Pope Benedict beatified John Paul II before a crowd of some one million Catholics, moving John Paul a step closer to possible sainthood. Catholics worldwide celebrated the event. Some in the church have criticized beatification as happening too fast and under a cloud over the clerical sex abuse scandal. Benedict said the Polish-born John Paul helped turn what appeared to be the "irreversible" tide of Marxism with his courage and faith and "helped believers throughout the world not to be afraid to be called Christian."

Passion Star's Troubles

Passion of the Christ star Jim Caviezel spoke at the First Baptist Church of Orlando tonight. He spoke of his own and Mel Gibson's troubles. Read more here.