IRS INVESTIGATION

The IRS is investigating gospel singer Yolanda Adams. The probe was prompted by applications she made for a two million-dollar mortgage loan that gave different accounts of her assets. The agency is asking a judge to make Adams turn over the financial documents and explain why she didn’t show up for a meeting with agents in February.

LARK NEWS

If you’ve ever stumbled on a Christian parody site called Lark News, you may have wondered where the ideas on it come from. They are hatched in the imagination of 35-year-old Joel Kilpatrick. An Evangelical who grew up in a Pentecostal home, his five-year-old site is sort of sanitized version of the satirical newspaper the Onion. The son of a Christian musician, Kilpatrick works now as a freelance journalist in Southern California.

SEMINARY SHOOTING

A Palestinian gunman killed eight students at a seminary in Jerusalem with a machine gun. He wounded nine others in the school’s library before being killed himself by an off-duty army officer and police detectives. An Israeli offensive in response to rocket fire from militants has killed more than 120 Palestinians. Peace talks have been put on hold after the conflict started.

THEY SAID IT: STEPHEN BALDWIN

"I don't believe that gay marriage is in line with God's word, which is found in the Bible... and the Bible says that gay marriage is not acceptable." – Actor Stephen Baldwin

MEGACHURCH FOR SALE

Without Walls International Church is for sale. The famous megachurch in Tampa has a price tag of $30 million. Founders Randy and Paula White divorced last year and the church has come under scrutiny as part of a senate investigation. The buyer will get the 45,000 seat sanctuary along with a 94,000-square-foot office building and a television studio.

FROM VAMPIRES TO CHRIST

Novelist Anne Rice is known for her best-selling books about vampires and witches. But now she writes about Jesus. A few years ago Rice returned to her Catholic faith and started writing a four-volume life of Christ. The first book Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt came out in 2005. The second one is called Christ the Lord: The Road to Cana and it hit store bookshelves yesterday. Her next book, Kingdom of Heaven will cover the raising of Lazarus to Jesus’ decision to go to Jerusalem. The final installment will take readers through the Passion and Resurrection.

THE EVANGELICAL VOTE

Exit polls from Tuesday's primaries show John McCain won those identify themselves as moderates or conservatives but Mike Huckabee won the evangelical vote in Ohio. They divided that vote fairly evenly in Texas.

MILLION DOLLAR “MISTAKE”

The state of Illinois wants to know why Pilgrim Baptist Church in Chicago spent $1 million on cover the cost of buying a school facility from a convicted swindler. The money was from a state grant intended to help the Church recover from a fire that took place two years ago. Governor Rod Blagojevich says he’s launching an investigation into why the money wasn’t used for its intended purpose – and giving the Church another million to reopen a food pantry and programs for senior citizens and children.

OPRAH’S NEW EARTH

Oprah Winfrey is coming under fire from Evangelical circles for promoting the teaching of Eckhart Tolle. She’s conducting a live, free, 10-week interactive web seminar based on his book A New Earth. Barnes & Noble says it’s the fastest-selling title in the history of Oprah's Book Club. Tolle blends tenets of Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Sufism, Christianity and other faiths into his teachings. More than 700,000 people in 125 countries have signed up for the seminar and more than 3-and-a-half million copies of his spiritual self-help guide have been sent out.

THEY SAID IT

"I am a devout Christian. I pray to Jesus every night and try to go to church as much as I can." – Barack Obama in Ohio yesterday responding to rumors that he's a closet Muslim

FINED FOR PROTESTS

Protesters who interfered with the Southern Tier Gay Pride Festival in Elmira, New York this past summer have been convicted of disorderly conduct and ordered to pay a $100 fine. They wore t-shirts reading By the Blood of Jesus and Liberated from Sin. Police arrested them for lying down in front of a stage and refusing to obey police orders. An appeal is planned.

CITY TO CHURCH: REPAINT ROOF

Officials in Cathedral City, California want the pastor of First Southern Baptist Church to remove the red letters he recently painted on his roof that spell out eternity. Pastor Jim Nimmons has been given a notice of public nuisance and is being threatened with fines and a misdemeanor charges. The congregation of more than 2000 just south of Palm Springs doesn’t plan to back down. Although the city claims the sign is somehow a commercial that invites commerce, the church is tucked away down a dirt road and the sign is difficult to see because it is not raised.

COUNTRY TRIES TO STOP CHURCH OUTREACH

A fight over a church’s counseling center and food pantry is headed to federal court. Virginia’s Calvert County tried to shutdown the effort by Chesapeake Church in Huntingtown three years ago, saying the community outreach violated its zoning laws. But last week, a judge turned down the county’s request that the center and pantry be shut down while the court battle continues. He decided that closing the ministry would cause harm to county residents. Calvert officials say the church didn’t get a proper site plan and operating permit for the outreach which operates out of a house next to the sanctuary. They are back in court on March 21.. Good Friday.

CHRISTIAN CAMPUS GROUP CLAIMS DISCRIMINATION

The chapter of the Christian Legal Society on the campus of the University of South Carolina is suing the school for discrimination. The school has refused to give the organization a share of the student activity fees like other student groups. A University had no comment, saying he had not seen the lawsuit yet.