Russian Orthodox Survey

Most members of the Russian Orthodox Church don't seem to take their faith very seriously. A new poll of Russians who say they belong to the church reveals 52% have never read the Bible, 24% rarely go to church and 28% rarely pray. The poll from the Russia's Public Opinion Foundation reveals one-in-four Russians consider themselves non-believers.

Superman in Church

A Christian-focused Hollywood marketing firm is suggesting churches tell parishioners to go see the movie Man of Steel, which opened this weekend. Warner Bros. is contacting pastors, inviting them to early screenings, offering discussion guides and has put together film trailers highlighting the possible faith angles of the movie. You can see one of them below. There's even a suggestion sermon title Jesus: The Original Superhero. Grace Hill Media offers sermon notes for churches using multimedia into their services.

Baptists Pass Resolution on Boy Scouts

The Southern Baptist Convention is expressing its opposition to the new Boy Scout policy on gays--but the denomination stopped short of telling churches to drop all ties with the organization. The resolution, approved to today at the annual Southern Baptist meeting that's taking place this year in Houston, also called on the Scouts to get rid of its leadership. The vote was strongly in favor of the resolution, but it was not unanimous.

The Guy Behind eHarmony: Neil Warren

1934: Born September, 18 near Des Moines, Iowa

Family: Marylyn Mann, wife of 46 years, 3 married daughters, 9 grandchildren

1956: Graduated from Pepperdine

1959: Master's in divinity from Princeton Theological Seminary

1967: Doctorate in psychology from Univ of Chicago

1975-82: Assis prof and dean Fuller Theological Seminary's Grad School of Psychology 

2000: Launched eHarmony (favorite dimension of "Marrital Compatibility" is adaptability)

2007: Retired from eHarmony

20012: Returned to eHarmony as CEO

Getting to Know.. Alice Cooper

Real name: Vincent Vurnier (legally changed his name in 1973)

Born: Detroit, Feb 4, 1948

Music: 28 albums

Beliefs: Became a Christian in 1990

Family: father a pastor, grandfather an evangelist, wife Sherley a ballet instructor, 3 children

Other: Radio host, Phoenix restaurant, Solid Rock Foundation (nonprofit Christian organization)

Who are Evangelicals?

The National Association of Evangelicals defines an Evangelical as someone who believes:
• The Bible to be the inspired, the only infallible, authoritative Word of God. That there is one God, eternally existent in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
• In the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ, in his virgin birth, in his sinless life, in his miracles, in his vicarious and atoning death through his shed blood, in his bodily resurrection, in his ascension to the right hand of the Father, and in his personal return in power and glory.
• That for the salvation of lost and sinful people, regeneration by the Holy Spirit is absolutely essential.
• In the present ministry of the Holy Spirit, by whose indwelling the Christian is enabled to live a godly life.
• In the resurrection of both the saved and the lost; they that are saved unto the resurrection of life and they that are lost unto the resurrection of damnation.
• In the spiritual unity of believers in our Lord Jesus Christ.

Southern Baptists Membership Declines

As Southern Baptist representatives get ready to meet next week in Houston, word is out that the denomination is still losing members. There were about 100,000 fewer U.S. members in 2012 than the previous year. The numbers were just released by the SBC's Lifeway Christian Resources. This is the sixth drop in a row for the largest Protestant denomination . Baptisms also fell--by 5.5% from 2011 to 2012.

Narnia Book facts

• Written by Christian apologist CS Lewis

• Published in 1950

• Seven Books in the Series

• Sold more than 100 million copies in 47 languages

• A lion named Aslan is a Christ-like figure

• Rights Owned by HarperCollins

• First editions are selling on the web for as much as $20,000

• JRR Tolkien's response to Wardrobe: "It really won't do, you know"

• JK Rowling says she adored Lewis' stories and they influenced Harry Potter


• A music video on Saturday Night Live featured a hip hop song entitled Chronicles of Narnia (Lazy Sunday). You can see the video below.

Getting to Know.. Scientology

• 1911: L. Ron Hubbard is born in Tilden, Nebraska
• 1930's: Hubbard becomes known as a science fiction writer
• 1940's: Hubbard serves in the Navy during World War II
• 1950: Dianetics is published, putting forth the view that man is immortal, basically good and has loops of memory from past lives called "engrams" that must be cleared to bring unity with the universe and psychological and physical health. Drugs and other tools of psychology just create needless suffering
• 1953: Hubbard formally establishes the Church of Scientology (no relation to Christian Science)
• 1977: The FBI raided Scientology centers in Los Angeles and Washington and found evidence that Scientologists had been wiretapping
• 2000: Battlefield Earth is released, a movie based on a Hubbard novel starring John Travolta; it cost more than $100 million to produce and market but earned only $21 million
• 2000's: Scientology is considered a Cult by the governments of Germany, France, the United Kingdom and Canada, etc.
• 2007: Financial gifts to the Church of Scientology by various celebrities are revealed, including:
Tom Cruise - $5 million (over the previous four years)
Kirstie Alley - $5 million (in 2007)
John Travolta - $1 million (in 2007)
Kelly Preston - $1 million (in 2007)
Priscilla Presley - $50,000 (in 2007)
• 2008: Actor Jason Beghe leaves the Church of Scientology. He took courses from the organization for 14 years and even appeared in promotional spots, but in a YouTube video he calls Scientology “destructive” and a “rip-off." Beghe had roles G.I. Jane and X-Men: First Class, and has been featured in numerous TV dramas.
• 2009: A New Jersey teenager is given a year in prison for orchestrating a cyber attack on Church of Scientology Web sites almost two years ago. 19-year-old Dmitriy Guzner pleaded guilty to computer hacking charges. He has denied being part of an underground group that protests the Church of Scientology as prosecutors claim.
• 2009: A French court convicts the cult and six of its members of organized fraud.
• 2009: The Church of Scientology buys a church building in Northern Kentucky. Scientologists pays $1.64 million for a building that once housed The Florence Baptist Church until the congregation moved into a new $15 million facility.
• 2010: The city of Clearwater fines Scientology more than $410,000 for not getting its new building up to snuff fast enough.
• 2010: A lawsuit brought against the Church of Scientology as former members claims the religious group is tied to human trafficking incidents.

Laws vs Church Doctrine

A teacher who was fired for having a child through artificial insemination has gotten the support of an Ohio jury. They said the Catholic archdiocese violated anti-discrimination laws by firing Christa Dias when she became pregnant and order she be paid $170,000. The church's lawyer said the dismissal was for violation of church doctrine and having a contract saying she would follow it. The school argued that Dias, who is gay, never intended to abide by that contract. WCPO-TV has this video report:

Getting to Know… Bill Hybels

1951: Born in of Dutch ancestry and raised in Calvinist theology in Kalamazoo, Michigan

1974: Hybels married his longtime sweetheart. They have two adult children (Shauna and Todd) and two grandchildren. 
1975: founded Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, Illinois with about 12,000 members. Willow's annual leadership summit, draws some 50,000 pastors and key volunteers attend or tune in via satellite.
1980s: Served as a chaplain for the Chicago Bears
1990s: One of President Bill Clinton's closest spiritual advisers.
More than 2000 non-Catholic pastors chose Willow Creek as the most influential congregation in the US.

Iran hauls off Christian pastor in new sweep

CNN interviews Lisa Daftari on the increasing tensions between Christians and Muslims in Iran.

Lutheran Church Votes in First Openly Gay Bishop

Guy Erwin is now a Lutheran Bishop in California. Here's a video report.

Pastor says Boy Scouts can no longer meet at his church

Church leaders at an Alabama church are unhappy with the decision by the Boy Scouts to allow openly gay members. Watch a video report from WBRC-TV below.

Getting to Know.. the Church of God in Christ

• Also known as COGIC
• more than 6 million US members
• National headquarters in Memphis
• Founded in the early 1900s by Charles Harrison Mason, a son of slaves and a former Baptist preacher
• America's largest black Pentecostal denomination
• Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his last sermon, at Mason Temple, COGIC's mother church

Survey suggests Americans are becoming less religious

A new Gallup poll shows 75% of Americans believe the country would be better off if it was more religious even as the country is becoming less religious. KTBC-TV has reaction to the survey in Austin.

Son of Evangelical Leader comes out as Gay

Ed Dobson's son says he is gay. After Daniel Dobson came back from serving two Army tours in Iraq, he told his parents two years ago "I’m gay. And I still love Jesus. And nothing else changes.” Dobson says his father responded, “We still love you. And nothing else changes," according to the Grand Rapids Press. He'll speak for the first time publicly about his sexual orientation in Grand Rapids, Michigan tonight at the Wealthy Theatre. Ed Dobson is retired from pastoring a Michigan megachurch and served at a top aide to the late Jerry Falwell.

Bama Scouts not allowed at some Churches after Vote

Boy Scout troops will no longer be allowed to meet in some Alabama churches after the national organization voted to allow openly gay scout members. This includes the First Baptist Church of Helena and the First Baptist Church of Pelham. Briarwood Presbyterian Church, will take a vote on whether to allow the Boy Scouts to continue meeting at the church.

Jewel's Bible diet

Jewel says she is taking her diet cues from the Bible. The singer says she has given up fast food and unhealthy snacks to only eats things that were available during the time of Jesus. She says in an interview with In Touch magazine:

“I do the Biblical diet, which means eating whole foods like they did in the time when the Bible was being written – so grass-fed beef, but no chemicals or genetically altered foods.”

Does Stephen King believe in God?

Stephen King says the "jury's out" on whether he believes in God or not. The bestselling horror book writer told NPR during an interview:

"I went to Methodist church for years as a kid, and Methodist youth fellowship on Thursday nights. Think of a bottle of soda with the cap off for 24 hours. There weren't very many bubbles left in that stuff by then. It was pretty -- it was Yankee religion and there's really not much in the world that's any more boring than that."

King went on to say that he he is not sure about God and the afterlife. "It's certainly a subject that's interested me, and I think it interests me more the older that I get. And I think we'd all like to believe that after we shuffle off this mortal coil, that there's gonna be something on the other side. Because for most of us, I know for me, life is so rich -- so colorful, and sensual, and full of good things, things to read, things to eat, things to watch, places to go, new experiences -- that I don't want to think that you just go to darkness.... As a kid, death seemed boring to me. As an adult, I think that it seems more like a waste. As far as God and church and religion ... I kind of always felt that organized religion was just basically a theological insurance scam... I choose to believe it, yep. There's no downside to that.... If you say, 'Well, OK, I don't believe in God. There's no evidence of God,' then you're missing the stars in the sky and you're missing the sunrises and sunsets and you're missing the fact that bees pollinate all these crops and keep us alive and the way that everything seems to work together. Everything is sort of built in a way that to me suggests intelligent design. But, at the same time, there's a lot of things in life where you say to yourself, 'Well, if this is God's plan, it's very peculiar,' and you have to wonder about that guy's personality — the big guy's personality. And the thing is — I may have told you last time that I believe in God — what I'm saying now is I choose to believe in God, but I have serious doubts and I refuse to be pinned down to something that I said 10 or 12 years ago. I'm totally inconsistent."