Scientology fined $413,000

The Church of Scientology owes the city of Clearwater more than $410,000 in fines. The city's code enforcement board unanimously to fine the church for not getting its new building up to snuff fast enough. The church first applied for a building permit in 1999 and work started the next year, but stopped in 2004. After two years passed with no progress, the city started fining the group for allowing its permit to lapse to the tuen of $250 day. That ended in June of this year when the city finally issued the certificate of occupancy. The church has 30 days to pay the fine or appeal.

Clergy Banned from 9/11 Memorial Service

New York mayor Michael Bloomberg won't allow clergy to attend a memorial service marking 10 years since the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center. Here is a report on the story from Fox News.

Eddie Long Accusers Speak Out

Two of the men who accused megachurch pastor Eddie Long of coercing them into sexual relationships gave an extensive interview to the Atlanta Journal Constitution. Read an excerpt here.

Jay Bakker on CNN

Pastor Never Attended Liberty

Liberty University says a South Carolina pastor who faces rape charges never attended the school founded by Jerry Falwell. Dale Richardson is the pastor at Freedom Free Will Baptist Church in Ladson, South Carolina. Prosecutors say he kidnapped three women at gunpoint, assaulting one of the women behind the church sanctuary.

Mega church makes mega commitment to Charlotte

WBTV reports on what Elevation Church is calling its "Orange Initiative."

Pastor Accused of Raping Women at Church

A Baptist preacher is facing charges he raped three women, at least one of them behind his church. WCIV-TV has a video report.

Machine Gun Preacher

A movie poster is stirring controversy for its depiction of a pastor with a gun. Machine Gun Preacher is the story of a drug dealer converted to Christ. The film is based on the true story of brawling biker Sam Childers, who became an evangelical preacher, traveling to Sudan where he organized armed missions to rescue children kidnapped by gorilla fighters and forced to become soldiers or sex slaves. The film will be shown at Toronto Film Festival next month and in some US cities starting September 23. The action-drama was directed by Marc Forster (Monster’s Ball, Quantum of Solace) who says at his first meeting with Childers they nearly came to blows. Childers still runs the mission he built. Here's the trailer.

Dead Sea Scroll Video Game

The Dead Sea Scrolls come to vivid and surreal life in the new, elaborately named video game, El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron. Read the story in the USA Today.

The Bible: The Musical

A new musical called The Bible: The Beginning will open in New York in about a year. Director Philip William McKinley is producing the project with Spider-Man's Michael Cohl. The show will reportedly include tumblers, jugglers, singers, aerialists and fighters to re-enact the Creation, Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, Noah's Ark, Moses and his clash with the Pharaoh, the plagues of Egypt and the parting of the Red Sea, all culminating in the delivery of The Ten Commandments. Angels will serve as narrators.

The Future of Ichthus

Kentucky's Christian music festival may not make it another year. CNN reports on the country's oldest music gathering here.

Church Sign: "Turn or Burn"

Controversy over a church sign leads to protests in Wilmington, North Carolina. Read about the story here.

Tim Tebow accused of Blasphemy

Sports columnist Gregg Doyel says he's getting a major backlash from his CBS Sports column that accuses quarterback Tim Tebow of "blasphemy" for believing his faith will help him become an NFL success. Tebow told the Denver Post that he is "relying as always on my faith." Here's part of Doyel's column:

Tebow has been a great billboard for Christianity -- just as Muhammad Ali has been a great billboard for Islam, and Sandy Koufax a great billboard for Judaism -- but that doesn't mean he will be rewarded with a starting job in the NFL. Maybe deep inside his heart Tebow knows that, but from the outside it doesn't look that way. From the outside it looks like Tebow equates his love for God in heaven with tangible rewards here on earth. And that's more than wrong. It's blasphemy.

Read the entire article here.

Drugs Found on Dead Megachurch Pastor

News outlets are reporting there were drugs in the possession of Zachery Tims when he was found dead in a New York City hotel last Friday. The megachurch pastor of Florida's New Destiny Christian Center had battled drug addiction before his conversion. His 2006 book talked about his experiences with gangs and selling drugs. He made regular appearances on the TBN network. While the drugs found on him have not been confirmed as illegal, police say it is possible Tims died of an overdose. A wake is planned Friday and a funeral on Saturday in Orlando.

Stolen Rembrandt is dropped off in L.A. pastor's office

Read the article written by the LA Times here.

Kobe Bryant in Church Altercation

Kobe Bryant is being accused of attacking a man while attending church. The NBA star was attending services at San Diego’s St. Therese of Carmel this past Sunday when the man used his cellphone to take pictures of Bryant and his wife. Bryant told him to stop and grabbed the phone, twisting the man's wrist. The man went to the hospital for treatment. Here's a video report from KTLA.

CNN: Girl spanked to death in the name of God

Prof Leaves Christian College over Evolution

John Schneider has left his position as a religion professor at Michigan's Calvin College. The trouble started when he wrote a paper earlier this year "suggesting that evidence of genetics and evolution raised questions about the traditional, literal reading of Genesis about creation, the story of Adam and Eve, and the fall of humanity out of an initial idyllic state," according to Inside Higher Ed. An investigation by the school led to Schneider's departure, though another professor who has made similar comments is still at the college. Daniel Harlow says he won't back down from his views.

Islam Hotline

Megachurch Pastor found Dead

The pastor of a Florida megachurch has bee found dead at a New York City hotel room. An autopsy is planned for Zachery Tims though police say they don't expect any foul play. Tims was senior pastor of the New Desnity Christian Center in Apopka, Florida, which has some 8000 members. The church plans a meeting tonight to discuss his passing. Tims divorced in 2009 and had four children. He often appeared on the Trinity Broadcast Network (TBN).