Gospel Album Called Sick Joke

A record label executive says Tom Jones new Gospel album is a "sick joke." Island records vice president David Sharpe has since apologized for the remark after Jones demanded one. Jones left EMI last year and signed with Island Records. The 70-year-old's decision to release an album of blues-flavored gospels and spirituals called Praise & Blame came as a surprise.

Prayers for Gulf Families

Evangelical groups are promoting today as a National Day of Prayer for the Gulf. The National Association of Evangelicals and the Evangelical Environmental Network are asking Christians to pray for Gulf Coast residents affected by the BP oil spill. Congregations across the U.S. and as far away as New Zealand will observe the National Day of Prayer for the Gulf from their own church location. Churches in Gulf Shores, Alabama took part in an inter-denominational sunrise service Sunday on the beach at Gulf State Park this morning.

Christianity in Africa

The Economist has a report on the rise of Christianity in the Horn of African here.

The False Gospel of Glenn Beck

A new radio ad accuses Glenn Beck of preaching a false gospel. Produced by an online Christian social-justice group called Faithful America, the ad will be aired in cities in which Beck is speaking this summer. The ad says:

Would you support a leader who said Jesus' teachings can lead to Naziism? Or who attacks Christian pastors for preaching the full gospel? Then why do so many Christians tune into Glenn Beck? By deriding pastors who preach the justice taught by Jesus and the prophets, Glenn Beck has urged listeners to follow his piecemeal gospel. Scripture teaches that the tongue can be like a small fire that sets a whole forest ablaze, and Christians are cautioned not to praise God in one breath while cursing those made in God's likeness in the next....

Beck has told listeners to leave their churches if the pastor supports social-justice views associated with liberal theology. Beck says he was an alcoholic who converted to Mormonism at age 35.

College Closing

Mississippi's Wesley College is shutting down at the end of the month. The Florance-based school is $2.7 million debt. The Congregational Methodist Church started the facility in 1972 as Westminster College. It changed the name to Wesley College in 1976. There were 140 students enrolled last semester.

Bible Translator Dies

The man who put together the Good News Bible has died. Robert Bratcher passed away Saturday in Chapel Hill, North Carolina at the age of 90. The New Testament translator was the son of a Southern Baptist missionary and worked with the American Bible Society. First issued in 1966 as Good News for Modern Man, the complete Bible was published in 1976 under the name the Good News Bible, also known as Today's English Version.

RC Sproul Starts Bible School

RC Sproul is opening a new Bible school in Sanford, Florida. The Ligonier Academy of Biblical and Theological Studies will begin accepting applications now for enrollment in undergraduate stuides next fall. Faculty includes Dr. R.C. Sproul, Dr. Fowler White, Dr. Keith Mathison, Rev. Michael Morales, Dr. Paul Helm, Dr. Stephen Nichols, Dr. Duncan Rankin, and Dr. R.C. Sproul Jr. Read more here.

Contemporary Christian Radio... by the Numbers

The US has 946 contemporary Christian music formatted stations, according to Inside Radio. That's second only to country music’s 2,006 stations. The number of CCM stations has shot up 72% in the last decade.

Schuller Taps Daughter

Robert H. Schuller is turning control of his megachurch to his daughter. Sheila Schuller Coleman will take over the Cathedral of Praise in Southern California from the 83-year-old pastor, although the senior Schuller will serve as chairman of the church board of directors. The church has recently had financial trouble, running a $55 million budget deficit. It's being sued by four large creditors and hundreds of others are owed millions of dollars.

Tom Jones Goes Gospel

Singer Tom Jones is putting out a gospel-flavored album just weeks after his 70th birthday. Praise & Blame will be released July 27. Jones introduced the album this spring with a version of Bob Dylan's What Good Am I? which was well-received. Jones says, "you could hear a pin drop-which is always a good indication. The single Burning Hell is already being played on U.S. radio stations.

Chaplian Fired over Name of Jesus

An honorary chaplain was removed from his position because he used the name of Jesus in a prayer. Ron Baity is the pastor of Berean Baptist Church in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. He closed a prayer at the state house of representatives by invoking the name of Jesus. House Speaker Joe Hackney took Baity out of the week-long job after a House clerk asked to see a copy of the prayer and saw that Baity intended to mention the name of Jesus.

PCUSA to Consider Same-Sex Marriage - Again

A Presbyterian Church, USA committee is recommending the denomination allow same-sex marriage. Another committee wants the church begin ordaining non-celibate gays and lesbians. The church's week-long legislative General Assembly is taking place in Minneapolis where delegates will take up discussion of the recommendations. The committee on Civil Union and Marriage Issues voted 34-18 in favor of changing the definition of marriage from a covenant between "a man and a woman" to a covenant between "two people." The regional presbyteries have repeatedly rejected gay-ordination proposals, though the denomination has allowed Presbyterian ministers and churches to bless same-sex relationships since 2000.

25,000 Letters

Members of Chicago's House of Hope church have sent 25,000 letters to U.S. service members serving overseas in honor of Independence Day and the church's 25th anniversary. With some 5,000 people worshiping each Sunday, it took five weeks to reach their goal of 25,000 letters. The number was selected in honor of the mega-church's 25th anniversary. The letters are being sent to U.S. service members in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Video Game Age Restrictions

Video game aficionados might have to enter a credit card or find another way to verify their age before playing a networked game, thanks to a new push from advocacy groups who say they want to protect minors from in-game advertising messages. Not only young children are at risk, but the FTC "should seek ways to provide protections to teens," the coalition recommends. The Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, has claimed that "Grand Theft Auto 3 portrays the brutal murder of women, minorities, the elderly, and police officers." Video games can contribute to "physical and mental-health problems," the American Academy of Pediatrics has warned.

Regent Struggling

Regent University is in serious financial trouble, but a cash infusion from Pat Robertson's Christian Broadcasting Network will help. Robertson serves as Regent's chancellor and president. He agreed to loosened restrictions on a $95-million gift CBN made to the university. Now the school can spend the money freely. Deficits were about 26% for the school between 2007 and 2009 and its endowment draw more than double the normal payout rate last year. Increased enrollment has helped the school is operating with only enough cash to keep it going for six days. Moody's Investment Services says the university will likely continue experiencing deficits.

Beliefnet Sold

Fox Network owner Rupert Murdoch has sold Beliefnet.com to the owners of Affinity4. The company is operated by a group of Evangelicals. Beliefnet was started in 1999 by Steven Waldman who had worked at the Washington Monthly and Newsweek magazines. Waldan sold his stake in Beliefnet to Mr. Murdoch in 2008. He is and now working for the Federal Communications Commission.

Candy Cane Suit

A lawsuit over candy canes will move forward. A federal appeals court has refused to dismiss a suit against two Dallas-area elementary school principals who told students to stop giving out Christian candy cane pens and making other religious expressions at the school. They argued there is no "First Amendment's freedom of speech protection" for "non-curricular materials in public elementary schools." The judges simply wrote "They are wrong."

Getting to Know.. Robert Schuller

1926: Born in Alton, Iowa

1950: Earns bachelor of divinity degree from Western Theological Seminary in Holland, Michigan

1950: Ordained a minister of the Reformed Church in America

1950: Marries Arvella DeHaan

1950: Serves as pastor of Ivanhoe Reformed Church in Chicago 1955: Founds the Garden Grove Community Church in Orange County

1961: Dedicates the first walk-in, drive-in church.

1968: Dedicates the Tower of Hope, a 14-story office and counseling center 1970: Begins broadcasting the Hour of Power TV ministry

1980: Dedicates the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, California

1980: Launches The Glory of Christmas pageant

1985: Launches The Glory of Easter pageant

1986: Becomes the only nonarchitect to be elected to the board of the American Institute of Architects

1989: Mikhail Gorbachev invites Schuller to speak on a telecast to the entire Soviet Union

1996: Declares his son, Robert A. Schuller to be his successor

2003: Completes $40-million International Center for Possibility Thinking

2006: Announces he is turning over Crystal Cathedral leadership to his son, Robert A. Schuller

2006: Turns over leadership of the Crystal Cathedral to his son, Robert A. Schuller

2008: Removes his son as preacher on the church's weekly Hour of Power and Robert A. Schuller soon resigns from leadership at the Crystal Cathedral

2009: Robert A. Schuller announces his company has acquired cable network AmericanLife TV from the Unification Church

2009: Announces that eldest daughter, Sheila Schuller Coleman, will take over leadership of his ministry

High Court Rules Against Christian Group

The Supreme Court says a Christian group on public college campuses must allow any student to join whether gay or atheist if the group is to be recognized by the school. San Francisco's University of California's Hastings College of the Law would not allow the Christian Legal Society to register as a student group because members were prohibited from "fornication, adultery and homosexual conduct" which violated the school's antidiscrimination policy. In the 5-4 ruling, the court found that the law school didn't violate the group's constitutional rights.

Seminary Dean Loses Position

The dean of the university founded by Jerry Falwell is out - at least as Dean. Ergun Caner will no longer be dean at Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary when his term expires at the end of the month, but he will remain a member of the faculty. Caner had regularly told a story about his conversion to Christianity from Islam as a teenager, but his saga was called into question by bloggers. A board of trustees committee decided he had made contradictory statements. They say he has apologized for his comments that led to the review. He apparently was raised a Muslim but was not as serious about the religion as he has led people to believe.