Katy Perry's depression

image from Wikimedia Commons

Singer Katy Perry says God helped her overcome depression following her divorce and one of her songs talks about it. She says By the Grace of God was "the first song that I wrote coming to make this record, when I was in a different place, I was in a darker place." Perry told Australian TV host Rove McManus she even had thoughts of suicide. Read more at the Desert News.

Matthew McConaughey is back in church

Matthew McConaughey says having children has sobered him. The Texas native says he changed his priorities--like getting back in church. He tells GQ magazine:

image from Wikimedia Commons

As soon as we had children, I was like, "You know what? That was important to my childhood." Even if it was just for the ritual of giving an hour and a half on Sunday to yourself, to pray and to think about others, even if you're tired or whatever. I noticed how much I missed it and needed it. It's a time for me to take inventory of my last week, to look at what's in the future and say my thank-you's and think about what I can work on to do better.

McConaughey and his family are going to a non-denominational church in Texas. He says, "It's based in the faith that Jesus is the son of God, that he died for our sins, but many different denominations come in."

Read the full article in GQ here.

Nicolas Cage stars in Christian film

The film version of the successful Left Behind book series hits the big screen this Friday. Nicolas Cage stars in the film that's directed by legendary stunt man Vic Armstrong who did work on the “Indiana Jones” movies. Cage plays an airline pilot who must land his plane when millions of people disappear. It's not the only religious film on the way. The Biblical epic Exodus is set for theaters this December and a prequel to The Passion of the Christ with Ben Kingsley called Mary won't be far behind. Here's the trailer for Left Behind.

Katy Perry Sued by Christian Musicians

Christian hip-hop musicians are suing Katy Perry, claiming her song “Dark Horse” borrowed too much from a 2008 Christian song “Joyful Noise." The suit was filed by Flame (Marcus Gray), Chike Ojukwu, Lecrae Moore, and Emanuel Lambert. Read more in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Bieber Reportedly Baptized

Justin Bieber was baptized just a few days ago in a Manhattan bathtub, according to TMZ. Following criticism of some racists comments he made several years ago (which we told you about last week here) Bieber posted some Bible verses on Instagram. Now, there are reports of his baptism by Hillsong Pastor Carl Lentz.

Journey from the Brady Bunch to Faith

Many fans did not know that Ann B. Davis, who played the wisecracking housekeeper on "The Brady Bunch" by the name of Alice, became a Christian.

"It was hard for outsiders to grasp the spiritual changes that caused this tough-willed and very private woman to put her career on the back burner and, in 1976, join a commune of evangelical Episcopalians led by Colorado Bishop William C. Frey and his wife, Barbara. She stayed with the household as it moved to an Anglican seminary in western Pennsylvania steel country and, finally, to the outskirts of San Antonio, Texas, where she died June 1 at age 88.

Read more about her journey here.

Justin Bieber's Bible verse post

Justin Bieber is apologizing for racist comments he made in two videos--recorded five years ago. The videos were recently made public. Bieber blames his young age and posted a picture of a book showing several Bible verses related to forgiveness. The Instagram image has more than half-of-a-million likes. The verses include:

• John chapter 8 verse 12: "Whoever follows me [Jesus] will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."
• Isaiah 61:10: "For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness." 
• 1 John 1:7: "But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin."

Redford as Roberts?

Robert Redford may play the late Oral Roberts in a new film. Come Sunday will tell the story of of Oklahoma evangelist Carlton Pearson who falls out of favor with the evangelical community when he stops preached there is a hell. Roberts was Pearson's mentor. Read more at the Hollywood Reporter.

Paisley, Gilbert & N. Grant get hoaxed

Actress Melissa Gilbert, country music star Brad Paisley, and Christian singer Natalie Grant are victims of dying daughter hoax. Here's a video report from ABC News.


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Emma Watson talks religion

Even though Emma Watson is a star in the Biblical epic Noah, she doesn't have Christian views. She tells The Telegraph , "I already, before I did the movie, had a sense that I was someone that was more spiritual, than specifically religious. I had a sense that I believed in a higher power, but that I was more of a Universalist, I see that there are these unifying tenets between so many religions."

Academy Award nomination for Christian singer

Christian author and singer Joni Eareckson Tada is up for an Oscar. She sings the title song from the film Alone Yet Not Alone. The song is up for Best Original Song. Written by Bruce Broughton and Dennis Spiegel, it beat out songs from Jay Z, Taylor Swift and Coldplay, among others. Alone Yet Not Alone is the only song that doesn't come from an animated movie. It's up against Karen O's The Moon Song from Her, Pharrell Williams' Happy from Despicable Me 2, U2's Ordinary Love from Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom" and Let it Go from Frozen. Here's a video of Tada, who is a paraplegic, singing the song. The movie opens nationwide in March.

Britney Spears names Favorite Christian Author

Britney Spears says her favorite author is Max Lucado. The name of the Texas megachurch pastor came up in response to a Twitter question from a fan. Spears fan Emily Horan asked Spears to name her favorite book. The response was "Anything by Max Lucado." Lucado has written some 100 books with 82 million copies in print, according to the Christian Post. Read more here.

Oprah challenges Atheist

Long distance swimmer Diana Nyad told Oprah Winfrey she's an atheist who believes in “awe” and “wonder.” Winfrey told the 64-year-old swimmer that she isn't really an atheist because she couldn't believes in those things and not believe in God--because "that is what God is."

Leah Remini's sister rips Scientology

The sister of celebrity Leah Remini's is talking about why the sisters have left Scientology after decades with the group.

U2's Bono on Christian Radio program

Bono will be interviewed on the Focus on the Family radio program today by president Jim Daly. They will discuss music, activism, and particularly how Bono's work with HIV/AIDS and poverty is driven by his faith. The U2 singer said

during the pre-recorded interview Insecurity is your best security if you're an artist. You write out of that hole, that void.. They call it "the God-shaped hole" but music fills it, Bono. And what's so powerful about the Psalms are, as well as they're being Gospel and praise. songs of praise, they are also the Blues."

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)

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."

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.

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.