mecca for Christian film industry

Jennifer Hudson and Oprah Winfrey will take part in T.D. Jakes’ MegaFest. The three days of conferences and concerts in downtown Dallas will bring 100,000 people to the area. Unlike previous MegaFests in other cities, this one will introduce the International Faith & Family Film Festival, an event organizers hope to spin off from MegaFest into its own annual Dallas tradition. Read more about the impact on the area and the Christian Film industry from DFW.com here.

Ted Haggard to Appear on 'Oprah: Where Are They Now?' Episode

Ted Haggard

Former megachurch pastor Ted Haggard will appear on the "Oprah Winfrey Show" during a "Where Are They Now?" episode this weekend to discuss his life after falling from grace when he made national headlines for a sex scandal involving a male prostitute in 2006. Read more at the Christian Post here.

Video of vocal teacher at Christian school goes viral

An adjunct voice teacher at a Christian University got to sing with Kristen Chenoweth at the Hollywood Bowl. Sarah Horn was randomly plucked out the audience to join in singing a song from the musical Wicked. The video has gone viral, racking up several million views. Horn has told several media outlets, “On the walk to our car, my father reminded me that he had prayed 11 years ago that I would one day sing with Kristin Chenoweth..”

Billy Graham's Throat-slashing comment to Nixon

A recently released audio tape by the Nixon Presidential Library shows a comment from Billy Graham in 1973 to then President Richard Nixon that has gotten a reaction from the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. The exchange concerned the CBS television network coverage of Nixon’s first speech about Watergate.

Nixon: “What did CBS do? Did they knock it?”
Graham: “I felt like slashing their throats, but anyway God be with you.”

You can hear the exert on the audio file below. The tape was part of 340 hours of conversations released and posted online by the National Archives and Records. Graham's organization says:

Mr. Graham has always been the first to admit that he is a sinner saved by grace. In response to some of the things he said during the Watergate era, he admitted, “I sometimes put my foot in my mouth. I’ve made many statements I wish I could recall. I am an erring, fallible disciple of our Lord Jesus Christ, and am subject to all the temptations, human frailties and errors of other disciples of the Lord.”

Even in death, a popular pastor makes Chinense authorities nervous

On August 16th some 30,000 people attended a memorial service for a popular Christian pastor in Guangzhou, his home city. That does not count the many police. Officially, China has 23m Christians. The real number is somewhere between 60m and 130m. Read more in The Economist.

Public Prayer Heads to the Supreme Court

The public prayers of a small town in New York are now the focus of a U.S. Supreme Court case that may redefine the legal limits on religious expression at official functions across the country. Read more in Business Week.

Christians Paying a Heavy Price in Egypt

Egypt’s large Christian community has suffered some of the severest blows following a bloody crackdown by the military-backed government against followers of the Muslim Brotherhood last week. Scores of Christian churches, schools and private homes were attacked across the country. Many were burned, and Christian groups reported that at least six people were killed. Read more at the Washington Post here. Meanwhile, Fox News Juan Williams says the Muslim Brotherhood is preying on Christians because 'they can't touch the United States.' Watch more in the video here.