Megachurch Pastor Resigns: Admits Affair

A Florida megachurch pastor has resigned. David Loveless told his Orlando church about an affair over the weekend. Leaders of Discovery Church released an announcement saying in part:

“It is with great sadness that we announce the immediate resignation of our lead pastor, David Loveless, following his acknowledgement of his participation in a wrongful relationship over multiple years with a woman not his wife. While David indicates that the relationship was ended approximately three years ago, we were only made aware of it when he informed us in recent days. David offered his resignation, and the elders prayerfully and unanimously accepted it. While we believe David Loveless can be restored to Christian fellowship and productive Christian service, we do not believe he can serve as a pastor at Discovery Church.”

Don Cousins, director of ministry, will take over Loveless role for the time being.

Saving Justin Bieber

Justin Bieber's pastor is talking with Selena Gomez in an effort to help the pop star get his life straightened out. Pastor Judah Smith has encouraged the couples rekindled romance. Bieber has has several episodes played out in the media lately--including showing up late for concerts on his world tour, allegedly spitting at a neighbor and police searched his tour bus for drugs. Smith says celebrities like the teenage star tend to be isolated and are in need to community. He gave Gomez a copy of Gary Chapman's The 5 Languages of Love: The Secret to Love that Lasts.

This day in history

It was on this date in 1864 that the U.S. Congress added In God We Trust to U.S. coins.

George Beverly Shea Passes

George Beverly Shea has died at the age of 104. He stood beside Billy Graham, singing at the evangelist's crusades for more than 60 years. Shea died in Asheville after a brief illness. His version of How Great Thou Art became a trademark for the baritone who performed before an estimated 200 million. More than 70 albums bear his name. He was nominated for Grammy Awards on ten occasions, winning one in 1965 and presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2011.

Corbin Bernsen: I’d rather talk about God than Lindsay Lohan

Known for his current role in the USA network's Psych and LA Law back in the 80s, Corbin Bernsen is a familiar face to TV viewers. Here's what he told Fox News about his faith:

I consider myself a Christian. It’s the kind of thing I struggle with. I have faith, I believe in God… All I know is I march to my own drummer these days. I stay true to myself and there’s a lot of people who want faith in their lives and I’m more about that. I would like to bring them into the discussion. I am certainly on a journey of discussion. We’re have a conversation about it and in these days where there’s so much in the world that’s not working and somehow we’ve used faith and religion as a glue for society, something that’s made things work, not drive things apart, I feel there’s a need to celebrate that for the good of what it is. It gets so much bad press. There’s an assumption if you have any faith you vote a certain way or you’re a conservative and that’s not true. There are very cool, relevant people who have faith in their lives and people who want to have faith who are afraid to enter the conversation. That’s all I care about, entering the conversation. I have four sons who are basically growing up in a world where basically they don’t believe… that’s not good either. So I’m not saying you have to believe in God or Christ, just come into the conversation for a bit…I find it far more interesting than say, talking about Lindsay Lohan.

Read more here.

Reaching the Globe with the Good News

A look at the work of Trans World Radio here.

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.

Rick Warren's Son Commits Suicide

Matthew Warren, the youngest son of megachurch Pastor Rick Warren, is dead. The 27 year old committed suicide yesterday after a lifetime of battling mental illness. Rick Warren wrote The Purpose-Driven Life and founded Saddleback Valley Community Church. He sent members of his church a letter that read in part:

“At 27 years of age, Matthew was an incredibly kind, gentle and compassionate young man whose sweet spirit was encouragement and comfort to many. Unfortunately, he also suffered from mental illness resulting in deep depression and suicidal thoughts. No words can express the anguished grief we feel right now. He had a brilliant intellect and a gift for sensing who was most in pain or most uncomfortable in a room. He’d then make a bee-line to that person to engage and encourage them. In spite of America’s best doctors, meds, counselors, and prayers for healing, the torture of mental illness never subsided. Today, after a fun evening together with Kay and me, in a momentary wave of despair at his home, he took his life.

Read the whole letter here.

How ‘The Bible’ Broke Through

The final episode of the History Channel’s The Bible pulled in more than 11 million viewers.  Read the story of how the show broke through at Wall Street Journal here.

Baptist Leader on Gays and Korea

Southern Baptist Convention president Fred Luter went on CNN to defend his comments linking the North Korea's military threats to the debate over gay marriage.

President's pastor attacks 'religious right' on Easter

President Obama attend Easter worship at St. John’s Church where Luis Leon called conservatives bigots and racists from the pulpit. Here's a video report from Fox News.

Edith Schaeffer

Edith Schaeffer died over the weekend. She was 98 years old. She co-founded L'Abri along with her husband Francis Schaeffer and wrote more than a dozen books.