Baptist Appointed by White House

The White House has tapped Melissa Rogers to chair an advisory panel of faith leaders. Rogers replaces Joshua DuBois at the Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships, which was formed by President George W. Bush in 2001 to create partnerships between public and private organizations. She is a Baptist and former general counsel for the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty. Read a blog post on the White House website from Rogers here.

Bible College Student Arrested

Police in Flagstaff, Arizona arrested a Bible college student when the dean of his school escorted him to the police station to tell them he was having sex with his 17-year-old girlfriend--also a student at the school. The unnamed 21 year old says the relationship was consensual and that they had been together for about five months. He now faces felony charges for sexual contact with a minor, which could earn him a year in prison.

Half of Evangelicals says Same-Sex Marriage is inevitable

"A majority of Americans categorize homosexuality as a civil rights issue like age, race and gender, and almost two-thirds think legalization of same-sex marriage in the U.S. is inevitable," says Ed Stetzer, the president of LifeWay Research. A new poll on gay issues from the Southern Baptist affiliated organization discovered:

64% of Americans say same-sex marriage will become legal in the U.S.
50% of those calling themselves "born-again, evangelical or fundamentalist Christian" agree

Read more here.

Bibles in the Classroom

CNBC interview explores why the couple behind the Bible mini-series believes public schools Should teach the Bible in classrooms.

Fuller Seminary announces new President

Fuller Theological Seminary has a man at the helm. Mark Labberton takes over as president beginning July first. Richard Mouw is retiring from the position at the largest Evangelical Christian seminary in the world. Labberton graduated from Fuller’s Master of Divinity program and spent a quarter of a century pastoring in Presbyterian churches. Fuller is located in Pasadena, California,

Do Atheists Really Believe in God?

Asking God to harm them or others is just as upsetting to atheists as religious folks. That's the finding of a new study out of Finland. Details are in the International Journal for the Psychology of Religion. Researchers asked their subjects to decide whether statements like daring God to drown parents or visit friends with disease. The researchers found that even when atheists said such utterances were meaningless, they nevertheless showed discomfort when hooked up to monitors. The study authors say their findings show, at the very least, the idea of God is powerful, even in very secular societies like Finland.