Former Pop Singer Sings a new Song

He was known for singing Smoke Gets in Your Eyes, This Magic Moment, and The Lion Sleeps Tonight during the 60s. Now, he's a pastor in Kansas. Frankie Valens left the music scene after some pop hits and now serves the same church his dad preached at years ago - First Christian Church in Syracuse. Now in his 70s, Valens attended Bible college briefly, but this is his first time to step the pulpit. His new album is titled Just Give Me Jesus. Here's a video of Valen in action a couple of years ago.

One Survivor from Plane Crash

Here's an interview on NBC's Today show with Ron Luce, president of Teen Mania Ministries and father of the sole survivor of a small plane crash in Kansas that took the lives of everyone else on board. All five people on the plane had connections to Oral Roberts University.

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Megachurch Gets Kicked out of Facilities

A Kansas megachurch is losing its home. Read the story here.

Church Faces Foreclosure

Regions Bank may take a Kansas City megachurch if the congregation doesn't come up with more than $14 million owned for a mortgage. The foreclosure on the First Family Church's 61 acre campus in Overland Park comes after hundreds of members had left the church over concerns about financial accountability. Pastor Jerry Johnston has not responded to media requests for interviews. Church officials would have up to 30 days to respond to the bank’s petition for foreclosure.

Abortion Bill Veto Sticks

Lawmakers in Kansas failed to override the governor's veto of a bill to tighten restrictions on late-term abortions. Kansas no longer has a clinic known to perform abortions in the final trimester since the murder of physician George Tiller last year.

Women Addicted to Porn

Kansas megachurch offers counseling for women addicted to pornography. The New York Times offers a profile here.

Still Held in Haiti

Kansas man among missionaries being held in Haiti for trying to smuggle orphans out of the country. KCTV reports.

Funeral Protests OK

Missouri will not be able to stop an anti-gay church group from protesting near funerals. The Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal of a lower court ruling that barred the state from enforcing a law that would create a buffer zone. Many other states have passed similar laws. The Missouri law was aimed at Kansas’ Westboro Baptist Church whose members believe US soldiers are dying because the country tolerates homosexuality.

Bomb Squad Finds Bible

The bomb squad was called to the post office in Leavenworth, Kansas today because a suspicious package was left on a counter. Officers used a disrupter gun to blast it. Inside they found a Bible. They speculate that the owner intended to mail the package but failed to do so during a visit to the Post Office.

Tiller's Clinic Shutting Down

George Tiller’s family says it will permanently close his Wichita abortion clinic. Tiller was shot dead at his church 9 days ago. Tiller was shot in both arms 16 years ago by a woman who was later convicted of attempted murder. The closing of Women's Health Care Services means Wichita will have no clinic in the area performing late-term abortions.

Abortion Doctor Service

An interfaith service is planned tomorrow in Wichita following the fatal shooting of a local abortion doctor. The service will take place at the Wichita First United Methodist Church and is aimed at comforting Tiller’s family and friends.

Witnesses to Murder

KWCH-TV interviews witnesses who saw the killing of a Kansas abortion doctor this past weekend.

Court Appearance for Accused

The man suspected of gunning down a Wichita abortion doctor George Tiller is expected to make his first court appearance this afternoon. Tiller was shot to death in the foyer of the Reformation Lutheran Church while serving an a usher shortly after the morning service began. He was one of a handful of doctors in the country performing late term abortions. He

The accused, Scott Roeder, describes himself a citizen of the Republic of Kansas who refused to recognized the US Government, failing to pay income or Social Security taxes. Roeder also belonged to a group called One Supreme Court that declared federal and state laws did not apply to him. Police found bomb-making materials during a search of his car in 1996. An appeals court overturned his conviction. The search was declared illegal. Roeder's brother has a history of mental illness.

Abortion Doc: Not Guilty

A Wichita jury has a found late-term abortion doctor not guilty of committing 19 counts of a misdemeanor stemming from his medical practice. Prosecutors accused George Tiller of failing to abide by a state law that requires an independent physician to consult on late-term abortions. But Tiller’s troubles are not over with just yet. The Kansas medical board says its investigating him over the same issues.

Fast-Growing Methodist Church Drops Out

Witchata's GracePoint Community Church is breaking away from the United Methodist Church. The fast-growing 700-member congregation will meet this Sunday at a local high school. The Bishop of the Kansas-West Conference of the United Methodist Church says the conference would maintain its own GracePoint United Methodist Church. Bryson Butts resigned as GracePoint United Methodist pastor this past Sunday and says the new church has no beef with the United Methodist Conference. The church became known for attracting a young audience through use of secular music and sophisticated light and sound. There are even advertisements paid for by GracePoint that says Church Doesn't Suck.

Fundamentalist Christian Oppression

A soldier from Kansas with help from the Military Religions Freedom Foundation is suing the US military for an alleged bias toward evangelical Christianity. Specialist Dustin Chalker first filed his lawsuit back in September and now has expanded it to include what is described as the widespread “practice of fundamentalist Christian oppression" within armed forces. That supposedly includes efforts to convert Muslims in Iraq and Afghanistan. But the US Defense Department says there have been less than 50 complaints about alleged violations of religious freedoms during the past three years.

Church Sign Draws Protesters

KWCH-TV reports on a confrontation over a Kansas City church sign about Barack Obama.

Electing Obama a Sin?

A Wichita, Kansas pastor says the election of Barack Obama is a sin and the country should repent. KSN-TV reports:

Catholic Diocese to Pay $10 Million

A Roman Catholic diocese in Kansas City has agreed to pay $10 million to settle nearly 50 sexual abuse claims against the diocese and its priests. Fox 4 News WDAF in Kansas City has more:

Seeing Gray

Pastor Adam Hamilton tells the story of a parishioner who wrote him a letter describing her teenage pregnancy, the pressure from her parents to have an abortion and her decision not to do so. That letter was from his mother. It’s one of the stories he tells in the book Seeing Gray in a World of Black and White. But what will surprise many readers is that the Kansas evangelical megachurch pastor supports abortion rights – and wants Christians on both sides of the issue to join forces to reduce the number of them. He argues that ministers are responsible to try "to support people no matter what decision they make."