Church Shooting Threatened

Police officers will be stationed at churches throughout the Denver suburb of Lakewood this morning. Someone anonymously phoned the Bear Valley Church with a warning about a threatened shooting. The pastor is quoted by the Associated Press as saying a phone caller told him a man at a bar claimed he would go out "in a blaze of glory" at a church this morning - and even showed a rifle that he claimed would be used in the crime.

Reporter sues TV Station

Danita Cohen is suing the Reno television station that she works for – saying she was discriminated against and harassed because she is Jewish. The suit claims KOLO-TV took her off the morning show as an anchor and demoted her to reporter partly because of her religion. She has worked for the ABC affiliate for a decade and says the problems started when the current news director arrived, telling the staff he was a born-again Christian. The station had no comment.

$25 million Scheme

Government investigators say Safevest, was not such a safe investment. They say the Mission Viejo, California based-company has been running a Ponzi scheme aimed at Christians. Jon G. Ervin and John V. Slye have been arrested by the FBI and face fraud charges for allegedly misappropriating at least $25 million. The money came from more than 500 investors who tought they were investing in commodity futures pools but the investment vehicles never existed. Slye claimed he was a pastor who had spent decades working as a missionary. More than two-thirds of the investors were church members.

Name Change Stirs Controversy

Steve Kreuscher wants to change his name. The Chicago area man is asking to officially be called In God We Trust. The school bus driver has petitioned the court in his county to make it legal. Kreuscher is from Zion, Illinois and says he remembers when God Reigns was taken off the city seal a few years ago. He’s afraid the same thing could happen to In God We Trust.. that it could be removed from US currency.

Religious Broadcasters May Face New Rules

A proposal by the FCC to require more local programming is dividing religious broadcasters. The new rules would require stations to have an outside advisory board and to inform the government about what kind of programming they are airing. The Conference of Catholic Bishops and the United Church of Christ support some form of new licensing guidelines. But the National Religious Broadcasters says the proposals could “strangle” Christian media.

Giving to Churches & Charities

The percentage of born-again adults who gave money to churches dropped to 76%. That’s the lowest level this decade because many Christians are now giving their money to different types of organizations rather than a church. Other findings:

The average gift to nonprofits last year by US adults was $1,308.

The segments of American adults MOST likely to give to churches and charitable groups:
Evangelicals – 24%
Conservatives – 12%
People who had prayed, read the Bible and attended a church service during the past week – 12%
Charismatic or Pentecostal Christians – 11%
Registered Republicans – 10%

The segments of American adults LEAST likely to give to churches and charitable groups:
People under the age of 25
Atheists and agnostics
Single adults who have never been married
Liberals

Adults making less than $20,000 per year

Source: The Barna Group

Mayor/Pastor Headed to Jail

The one-time mayor of Fairbanks has been sentenced to more than five years in prison for misusing $450,000 of government grants. Jim Hayes convicted of diverting the money to a nonprofit social service organization and the Lily of the Valley Church of God in Christ - where he is pastor. Prosecutors say they had traced the money to payments for a plasma television and a wedding reception for the couple's son.

Cross Controversy at Western Wall

Three church leaders from Ireland say have been prevented from praying at the Western Wall in Jerusalem's Old City. A Roman Catholic Cardinal, the Church of Ireland Archbishop, as well as Presbyterian and Methodist Irish leaders refused to remove the crosses they were wearing. They left without visiting the remnant. The group is on a peace mission to Israel and the West Bank. The Western Wall was built by King Herod in the 6th century BC. Other sections of the temple were destroyed by the Romans in A.D. 70.

FCC Rules on 700 Club

The FCC has ruled that news and interview portions of Pat Robertson's 700 Club is bona fide news programming. That makes it exempt from the equal opportunities clause. That means the 700 Club can talk about politics or interview candidates without invoking the FCC rule that requires TV stations to offer free airtime to other candidates. However, Robertson didn’t get everything he wanted. The commission stopped short of declaring the entire program exempt.

Voter Views on Barak's Pastor

A telephone survey of North Carolina voters:

Have you followed news stories about Barack Obama’s former Pastor, Jeremiah Wright? Yes – 80%

Do you believe Obama denounced Wright because he was outraged? Democratic Voters: Yes – 43%

Do you believe Obama’s denounced Wright because it was political convenient? Obama Supporters: Yes – 40%, Clinton Supporters: Yes - 70%

Do you believe Obama shares some of Wright’s controversial views about the US? Yes – 40%

Do you agree with Wright’s comments about the US? Democratic Voters: Yes- 15%, Obama Supporters: 22%

Do you view Wright favorably? Likely North Carolina Primary Voters: 15%

Source: Rasmussen Reports

Dobson up for Hall of Fame

James Dobson is up for induction into the National Radio Hall of Fame. Besides the founder of Focus on the Family, other nominates include Bob Costas, Dr. Laura Schlessinger and Howard Stern. To qualify, a broadcaster must have contributed to the radio industry on a national level for at least 10 years. Dobson’s Focus on the Family airs on more than 3000 radio stations each day and in 27 languages. Online voting starts today and runs through July 15. Inductees will be announced shortly afterward. This is the first time the public has been invited to vote on the nominees. The National Radio Hall of Fame and Museum is located in Chicago.

Pastor Gets 16 Years

The former pastor of Harvest Missionary Baptist Church in Cleveland has been sentenced to 16 years in prison. Artis Caver was convicted on 25 counts of money laundering and theft stealing. Prosecutors say he stole more than $400,000 from the church.

Methodist Protest

Legislative action stopped for 15 minutes today at the United Methodist Church's General Conference taking place at the Fort Worth Convention Center when several hundred demonstrators took over the floor. They were protesting the denomination's decision not to change its official stand that homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching. They sang the spiritial Were You There? before dispersing.

Honest Scout

John Robert Bouterse of Door, Michigan found a wallet in the parking lot of Open Door Reformed Church after an Easter egg hunt that contained more than $800. The 11-year-old returned it to the owner – despite the fact he had just lost his own wallet. The publicity around JR's honesty led to the return of his own wallet (containing about $30). State Police officers took up a collection to give him a reward, but Boy Scout asked that the money be used to pay for a pizza party for his troop.

No Degree for You!

Barack Obama’s former pastor will not be getting an honorary degree from Northwestern University. The University has withdrawn the offer to Jeremiah Wright because of the recent controversy surrounding him. He was to receive it during June’s commencement exercises.

President Bush on Prayer

Some of President Bush's remarks at the White House on this National Day of Prayer.

"We are a prayerful nation. A lot of citizens draw comfort from prayer. Prayer is an important part of the lives of millions of Americans. And it's interesting, when you think about our faith you can find it in the Pledge of Allegiance, you can find an expression of American faith in the Declaration of Independence, and you can find it in the coins in our pockets.

George Washington took the oath of office and then added the famous plea, "So help me God." On John Adams's first day in the White House, he wrote a prayer that is now etched in marble on the fireplace in the State Dining Room, and he prayed, "May none but honest and wise men ever rule under this roof." Now we'll leave it to the historians to judge whether or not that happened throughout our history. (Laughter.)

During the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln turned to prayer. His second Inaugural Address quoted from Scripture. He stood before the United States people and quoted from Scripture. And he sought to heal a people who "read the same Bible and prayed to the same God" -- his words.

As William McKinley lay dying from an assassin's bullet, one of his final words on earth focused on the Almighty. On his deathbed he was heard to say, "Nearer, my God to thee."

As American forces risked their lives on D-Day, Franklin Roosevelt delivered a presidential prayer over the radio. He asked God to protect our troops as they liberated "a suffering humanity" and he prayed for "a peace that will let all men live in freedom." When Roosevelt died, his successor, Harry Truman, said he "felt like the moon, the stars and all the planets" had fallen on him. And he told reporters: "Boys, if you ever pray, pray for me now."

John F. Kennedy attended mass in Florida during the last week of his presidency, and during the last week of his life.

Three days after the worst terrorist attack on American soil, Laura and I joined our fellow citizens in prayer before the Lord.

Well, sometimes God's signs are not always the ones we look for. And we learn in tragedy that His purposes are not always our own. But we also know that in adversity we can find comfort through prayer.

I think it makes sense to hope that one day there may be a International Day of Prayer. It will be a chance for people of faith around the world to stop at the same time to pause to praise an Almighty. It will be a time when we could prayer together for a world that sees the promise of the Psalms made real: "Your love is ever before me, and I walk continually in your truth."

Statue of Liberty

Some people think the book in the left hand of Lady Liberty is the Bible. But actually, the Statue of Liberty has a tablet reading July IV MDCCLXXVI (July 4, 1776). That's the date the Declaration
of Independence was signed.

A National Day of Prayer

This is the National Day of Prayer. Petitions to God will be made not just from the ground but from the air is well. That’s because a group of pilots plan to fly and pray over every state capital today. There are thousand of other events planned around the theme of prayer for the nation as well. Some are meeting in churches, others on the steps of courthouses, some in parks. The National Day of Prayer was first officially observed more than 50 years ago. In 1952, Congress passed a law declaring a day of prayer should be observed on the first Thursday of each May.

Methodist Vote on Gay Unions

Delegates at the United Methodist General Conference meeting in Fort Worth, Texas has voted to reject a move that would have changed the denomination’s Book of Discipline to support gay relationships. The decision was a fairly close 501-417 to affirm that marriage can only take place between a man and a women. Nearly a third of the delegates came from Africa and other places besides the US. Their conservative views made the difference in the outcome.

Pastor Sues Church

The former pastor of St. Paul’s Baptist Church in Utica, New York is suing the church over his dismissal. Tenolian Bell claims leaders of the congregation failed to go by church’s bylaws when they voted him out. The tally was 83-41, to give him notice. Members questioned his financial management. But Bell claims he was met with resistance because he wanted to make sure the church followed the law.