Category: U.S.

At a time when it seems all the news stories report one more governmental entity bending to pressure by some to … Read More

If you don’t know what a “pimp mafia,” “down ho” or “fresh turnout” is, you’ll get a quick education in … Read More

The Holy Spirit is on the move in prisons, and He is targeting the wounded hearts of women inmates. According to prison ministry Daughters of Destiny, in the last year, more than 20,000 inmates have attended evangelism events, and more than 7,500 have made decisions to follow Christ.

Daughters of Destiny is a prison ministry dedicated to spreading the gospel and seeing women inmates give their lives to Jesus Christ. They hold Bible meetings and evangelism events in 203 detention facilities in 25 states across America.

“There’s an excitement and fervor for God. In the past, 7 to 10 percent of the inmates at a facility might attend our meetings. Now we’re seeing 30 to 90 percent,” said Annie Goebel of Daughters of Destiny.

The Colorado Springs, Colo.-based ministry is run by founders Annie and husband Mel Goebel, and approximately 850 trained volunteer staff. They teach and nurture all the women who respond in faith and relationship with Jesus Christ through their ministry that begins while the women are incarcerated and continues after their release back into the community.

On a sober yet uplifting episode of the Celebration Tuesday, Marcus and Joni Lamb, the husband-wife founders of Daystar television network, discussed an “inappropriate” relationship Marcus Lamb had several years ago with another Christian woman.

The one-hour show included not only the Lambs’ admission of the affair, but also details about their marriage restoration process. They also described a blackmail scheme that contributed to the couple deciding to share their story on their international network.

According to Joni, three people–unaffected by the Lambs’ marital problems–had demanded Daystar pay them $7.5 million to keep this story out of the media.

$100,000 research project yields the Word of God, created by words of the public

 When B&H Publishing Group set out to create a study Bible utilizing the Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB), they knew there would be big expectations. Since it first launched in 2004, their cornerstone HCSB translation has sold more than 6 million copies.

Now, roughly six years, 35 scholars and tens of thousands of hours later, the HCSB Study Bible (October 2010) is hitting the market. To create it, B&H brought on the research team that works with America’s household names–Starbucks, McDonaldâ’s and Bridgestone Firestone–and now the best-selling book in history, the Bible.

The Coca-Cola Co. has donated its 60,000-square-foot former bottling plant in Albany, Ga., to Sherwood Baptist Church, owner of Sherwood Pictures, the film-production company that produced the successful movies Fireproof and Facing the Giants.

According to the Sherwood Baptist Church Facebook page, the church plans to use the facility as a community outreach center.

Just three years ago this month Brock Mealer was trapped under an SUV in a horrific accident that left him paralyzed … Read More

In the time-honored Presidential thanksgiving proclamation, President Barack Obama called on Americans to give thanks to our “gracious God.”

Despite the turbulent season the nation is facing, he encouraged Americans to look to the numerous blessings seen in the last year.

“As we stand at the close of one year and look to the promise of the next, we lift up our hearts in gratitude to God for our many blessings, for one another, and for our Nation,” he said this week.

Megachurches across the country are holding their own during uncertain economic times, a new survey shows.

Most megachurches continue to see attendance and giving rise, and the bigger the church is, the more likely it is to experience increases, Leadership Network reported in its 2010 Large Church Economic Outlook Report.

According to the Christian Post, survey results indicate that the economic downturn is having little impact on America’s larger churches. A full 100 percent of churches with 8,000 or more attendees experienced growth in attendance and giving from 2009 to 2010. And all surveyed churches with attendance of 10,000 to 14,999 plan to reach this year’s budget projections.

Overall, 81 percent of megachurches’ congregations with attendance of 2,000 or more saw more attendees and only 9 percent reported lower attendance. Sixty-seven percent of megachurches increased their budget, with the average increase being 3 percent, and the same proportion said they expect to meet their 2010 budget.

Jeff Nene has been seeing a lot of familiar faces at Convoy of Hope events this year–and that concerns him. People … Read More

Leading digital provider heralds charismatic magazine as leader in secular and christian publishing industries Long known as one of the … Read More

A New Jersey pastor told his married church leaders to cancel their Facebook accounts or they would need to resign. … Read More

LifeChurch.tv never set out to be a leader in the app world – it simply wanted more young people reading the Bible. Yet Tuesday the Edmond, Okla.-based church celebrated reaching an astounding 10 million-plus users with a smartphone application that remains one of the world’s most popular.

YouVersion, the free online and mobile Bible LifeChurch.tv launched as an app in April 2008, includes 41 different translations in 22 languages. According to Bobby Gruenewald, LifeChurch.tv’s innovation leader and the app’s developer, someone new installs YouVersion every 2.8 seconds, while in the same time span 12 people open the Bible app.

“When we set out to find a way to help people engage with God’s Word and to have a deeper relationship with Christ, we never realized that God would use one idea in such a way that could change so many lives and draw people closer to each other and closer to Him,” Gruenewald said during a webcast on Tuesday.

Larry Stockstill has seen enough fellow ministers fall. At a “Summit on Integrity” Tuesday in Orlando, Fla., the Louisiana pastor and a roomful of influential Christian leaders took a stand against the American church’s ongoing leadership crisis by pledging to walk with integrity in every area of life.

Amid the latest ministry scandals, Stockstill, senior pastor of Bethany World Prayer Center in Baton Rouge, La., charged pastors and church leaders with specific ways to not only avoid moral failure, but also leave a Billy Graham-like legacy of integrity.

“We’re now seeing many of the largest churches in America pastored by people who are living a double lifestyle,” Stockstill said at the all-day gathering. “This is a crisis. This isn’t something I’m dreaming up–this is the reality of where pastors are right now.”

With ministry scandals reported almost weekly and studies indicating that up to 40 percent of American pastors view pornography every day, the need for integrity among church leaders is obvious. Yet Stockstill and the assembly, which included the Rev. Samuel Rodriguez of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference and Bishop Harry Jackson of Hope Christian Church in Washington, D.C., discussed how leadership integrity isn’t simply staying away from sexually explicit websites, but includes everything from keeping a commitment to managing church budgets to honoring a spouse.

Terry Jones–the Pentecostal pastor who caused an international stir after he threatened to burn the  Quran on Sept. 11–recently said that members of his church had left because of his stance against Muslims.

 Interviewed near Ground Zero this week, he said that his Gainesville, Fla. congregation was not interested in the “truth†about radical Islam.

“People come to church and want to hear, ‘God loves you, you’re a good person,'”  the NY Daily News quoted Jones as saying. “That’s true. God does love you. But there’s more we need to tell people, and they don’t want to hear it.”

A church bookstore in Nashville is at the center of a legal battle being viewed as a major test case for religious freedom.

Authorities have ruled that For His Glory Bookstore at Christ Church is not eligible for property tax exemption and owes a portion of $350,000 in dues dating back to 2004.

Leaders have warned that if the ruling—under appeal—is upheld, it could set a significant precedent for church bookstores and other church ministries not only in Tennessee, but also in other parts of the country.

Servant’s Heart in Louisville, Ky., doesn’t hold a traditional Sunday service and doesn’t consider itself a church. Instead, the Assemblies of God mission is taking ministry to residents in a low-income community known as Portland.

Teams witness during weekly prayer walks, regularly visit a liquor store to share Scripture with customers and hold home Bible studies. The mission has held clothing and food giveaways and helped sponsor free medical clinics.

A U.S. Court of Appeals recently upheld a New Hampshire law that requires teachers to schedule a voluntary recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance.

The unanimous three-panel decision was decided Nov. 12 after an agnostic and atheist couple — with children in the New Hampshire public school system — filed a suit claiming the pledge was an infringement on their children’s rights because it said the United States was a nation “under God.”

In the opinion brief, Chief Judge Sandra Lea Lynch stated that the Pledge of Allegiance was an act of teaching history rather than a religious exercise.