Human microchips seen by some in Virginia House as device of antichrist David Neff said that some fundamentalist Christians believe that bar codes and implanted microchips could be used by a totalitarian government to control commerce -- a sign of the coming end of the world. (Washington Post)
Tiger & Elin's Wedding Pastor Predicts: It Will Work Out The Rev. Ricky Kirton, the pastor who performed the marriage of Tiger Woods and Elin Nordegren, has a message for the troubled couple: "Forgive each other. Be there for each other, and it will work out." (People)
Rowan Williams issues 'profound apology' to gay Christians Dr Williams said debate over gay ordinations had not been helped by those who ignored the fact that many worshippers were gay, as well as many “sacrificial and exemplary priests”. (Times Online)
Kate Gosselin to release personal new book Christian book publisher Zondervan said Tuesday the book features excerpts, prayers and memories from Gosselin's journal, offering readers a look at her life during the three years her family went from obscurity to fame on TLC's "Jon & Kate Plus 8." (Associated Press)
Making women bishops 'a mistake', Synod warned Ordaining women as bishops would be "a mistake", a group of 50 clergy has warned in a letter to the Church of England General Synod. (BBC)
Muslims seek probe of mayor's 'Christian community' remarks A Muslim group filed a federal civil rights complaint Friday after a Southern California mayor remarked that he was "growing a Christian community" in a state of the city address last week. (Associated Press)
Child rescue bid raises tough questions in Haiti The arrest of 10 Americans for trying to take children out of Haiti has raised an uncomfortable question: Could some children be better off abroad?
In Egypt, Religious Clashes Are Off the Record During one of the most serious outbreaks of sectarian violence in years, Egypt declared that any talk of sectarian conflict amounted to sedition. (The New York Times)
Suffering well: Faith tested by pastor's cancer He preaches to 6,000 people at The Village Church in suburban Flower Mound, where the 35-year-old pastor is a rising star of evangelical Christianity. (Associated Press)
Minister's Path of Miracles The Rev. Samuel Rodriguez helped oversee a shift of Latino voters, disillusioned with the Republican Party over failed immigration reform, toward the Democratic Party in the November election. (The Washington Post)
Invoking a Presidential Revelatory Moment The discussion of evil at the Saddleback forum gave Americans a valuable glimpse into the president-elect’s soul--and quite possibly into their own (Peter Steinfels, The New York Times)
Bad Faith Blaming religion for Proposition 8. (Robert K. Vischer, Commonweal)
Religion A Big Story in 2008 Tell Me More looks back at the people and the stories that rocked the faith world — from the Rev. Jeremiah Wright and the Rev. Rick Warren to the fallout over gay marriage in California. (NPR)
Tying the Clouds Together Rob Bell's metaphors and references make his listeners stretch, but his wisdom for preachers is down to earth. (Leadership Journal)
LA megachurch hopes to win Super Bowl ad contest Mosaic, a 3,000-member megachurch, is one of six finalists in the Doritos' "Crash the Super Bowl" challenge with a lighthearted spoof that plays off the resurrection of Jesus Christ. (Associated Press)
Human microchips seen by some in Virginia House as device of antichrist David Neff said that some fundamentalist Christians believe that bar codes and implanted microchips could be used by a totalitarian government to control commerce -- a sign of the coming end of the world. (Washington Post)
Muslims seek probe of mayor's 'Christian community' remarks A Muslim group filed a federal civil rights complaint Friday after a Southern California mayor remarked that he was "growing a Christian community" in a state of the city address last week. (Associated Press)
National Prayer Breakfast Draws Controversy An ethics group is asking President Obama to stay away from the National Prayer Breakfast, whose sponsor, the group says, has ties to anti-gay legislation in Uganda. (The New York Times)
Turning abortion into an online game show The idea for the "show," which launches Monday, was inspired, of all things, by Barack Obama's commencement address at Notre Dame University last year. (Kathleen Park, The Washington Post)
Arab Christians Try Reviving Town Of Jesus Miracle In this small Galilee town where tradition says Jesus turned water to wine, an ambitious priest hopes to perform his own miracle — revive a shrinking flock. (Associated Press)
Churches to leave homeless ministry over sexuality conflict Martha’s Table, through which eight churches have provided Sunday afternoon worship and meals for the needy at First Congregational Church, is losing three of the churches because of the issue of homosexuality. (Kalamazoo Gazette)
Mayor denounced for saying Lancaster is 'growing a Christian community' Lancaster Mayor R. Rex Parris drew criticism from a leading Muslim group today after saying in his annual State of the City address that the high desert town was “growing a Christian community.” (Los Angeles Times)
Politician Claims Atheist Sign Is 'Hate Speech' A candidate for Illinois Comptroller has sued the state for allowing an atheist group to post a sign alongside the religious holiday displays in the State Capitol (Courthouse News Service)
Ceramics student forces Eastfield College to recast policy on crosses Joe Mitchell, 69 and a retired autoworker, took the district's noncredit class last summer to make gifts for friends at his church. But the school ruled the crosses were not in line with the program goals (The Dallas Morning News)
Judge: Prayer before NC meeting unconstitutional Using prayer to open a North Carolina county board of commissioners meeting violates the First Amendment, a federal judge ruled Thursday, adopting recommendations made earlier by a magistrate judge. (Associated Press)
L.A. megachurch hopes to win Super Bowl ad contest Mosaic, a 3,000-member megachurch, is one of six finalists in the Doritos' "Crash the Super Bowl" challenge with a lighthearted spoof that plays off the resurrection of Jesus Christ. (USA Today)
Arab Christians Try Reviving Town Of Jesus Miracle In this small Galilee town where tradition says Jesus turned water to wine, an ambitious priest hopes to perform his own miracle — revive a shrinking flock. (Associated Press)
Religion and Women It is time for religious leaders to stop sanctifying existing social structures that oppress women and push for justice. (Nicholas Kristof, The New York Times)
U.S. Missionary Illegally Marches Into North Korea A missionary carrying a letter for the North Korean dictator crossed into the country to try bring attention to North Korean suffering, South Korean activists said (The New York Times)
Clergy merge body, mind, soul in class Once a month, at Pullen Memorial Baptist Church in Raleigh, clergy members and spiritual directors from across the Triangle gather for a series of exercises intended to integrate body, mind and soul. (News & Observer)
Book Says John Paul Flagellated Himself Pope John Paul II whipped himself with a belt, even on vacation, and slept on the floor as acts of penitence and to bring him closer to Christian perfection, according to a new book by the Polish prelate spearheading his sainthood case. (Associated Press)
Heaven and Nature The film “Avatar” is the director’s long apologia for pantheism, Hollywood’s religion of choice for a generation now. (Ross Douthat, The New York Times)
Paranormal Flexibility Americans continue to cobble together Mr. Potato Head-like spiritual identities from a hodgepodge of beliefs (Charles Blow, The New York Times)
A muscular, die-hard spirituality Self-sufficient Christians prepare for Second Coming or for life after global disaster (Washington Post)
Evangelical Group Seeks Broader Tent Focus on the Family's New Head Hopes to Strike More Positive Tone, but the Shift Could Diminish Fund-Raising Ability. (The Wall Street Journal)
Huge Church Project Renews Downtown, and Debate A $1 billion Mormon church-financed redevelopment project and a wave of recent church purchases in Salt Lake City have put a new focus on the line between culture and economics. (The New York Times)
Excerpt from Henry Paulson's new book I asked my wife to pray for me, and for the country, and to help me cope with this sudden onslaught of fear. She immediately quoted from the Second Book of Timothy, verse 1:7. (The Wall Street Journal)
L.A. megachurch hopes to win Super Bowl ad contest Mosaic, a 3,000-member megachurch, is one of six finalists in the Doritos' "Crash the Super Bowl" challenge with a lighthearted spoof that plays off the resurrection of Jesus Christ. (USA Today)
How ‘Blind Side’ Found a Path to the Oscars The film’s makers had created a deeply earnest picture aimed less at tastemakers than at people in the middle: sports fans, families, churchgoers and do-gooders. (The New York Times)
Where God Talk Gets Sidelined Sports journalists are reluctant to tackle faith on the field. (Sarah Pulliam Bailey, The Wall Street Journal)
An Athlete in Search of Redemption “To Save a Life” would be a mere nuisance if not for its shameless exploitation of school shootings to advance its agenda (The New York Times)
Gabriel Byrne tells of childhood sexual abuse The Irish actor Gabriel Byrne has revealed that he was sexually abused by Christian Brothers as a child. The actor also disclosed that at the age of 11 he went to England to train as a priest but was sexually abused by a member of the clergy there. (The Guardian)
Denzel Washington's "Book" May Wow Christians "The Book of Eli" is an intense, surprisingly serious study of a man making his way through a wilderness of catastrophic destruction and human cruelty like a latter-day prophet. An overlay of spiritual themes doesn't always work, but "Eli" is that rare Hollywood film that posits a Christian man as its hero. (Hollywood Reporter/ABC)
Kate Gosselin to release personal new book Christian book publisher Zondervan said Tuesday the book features excerpts, prayers and memories from Gosselin's journal, offering readers a look at her life during the three years her family went from obscurity to fame on TLC's "Jon & Kate Plus 8." (Associated Press)
Where God Talk Gets Sidelined Sports journalists are reluctant to tackle faith on the field. (Sarah Pulliam Bailey, The Wall Street Journal)
Tying the Clouds Together Rob Bell's metaphors and references make his listeners stretch, but his wisdom for preachers is down to earth. (Leadership Journal)
Nelson to head Lutheran relief organization The Rev. Rick Nelson, senior pastor of Central Lutheran Church in downtown Minneapolis, has been elected chairman of Lutheran World Relief (Star-Tribune)
Tony Dungy's Higher Calling Tony Dungy, himself a deeply religious man, navigates a world in which sport was once viewed as vital to building character but now is dominated by the dollar, with all other considerations rendered secondary. (ESPN)
Kate Gosselin to release personal new book Christian book publisher Zondervan said Tuesday the book features excerpts, prayers and memories from Gosselin's journal, offering readers a look at her life during the three years her family went from obscurity to fame on TLC's "Jon & Kate Plus 8." (Associated Press)
Excerpt from Henry Paulson's new book I asked my wife to pray for me, and for the country, and to help me cope with this sudden onslaught of fear. She immediately quoted from the Second Book of Timothy, verse 1:7. (The Wall Street Journal)
Book Says John Paul Flagellated Himself Pope John Paul II whipped himself with a belt, even on vacation, and slept on the floor as acts of penitence and to bring him closer to Christian perfection, according to a new book by the Polish prelate spearheading his sainthood case. (Associated Press)
Multimedia Bible puts maps, tours, encyclopedia in reach of everyday Christians The GLO Bible has chapter and verse, but also 2,400 photos, 700 paintings, 7,500 encyclopedia articles, 500 virtual tours of the Holy Land, aerial maps and 3 1/2 hours of high-definition video — with every cross-reference imaginable. (Denver Post)
Irish priest killed in Kenya 68-year-old Jeremiah Roche, a member of the Kiltegan Fathers, was killed overnight in Kericho in the northwest of the country during what is believed to have been a violent robbery (RTÉ, Ireland)
Kenyan churches in new threat over law Kenyan Evangelical Churches have once again threatened to reject the Harmonised Draft Constitution but this time on the premise that it failed to outlaw gay marriages and abortion (Capital FM, Kenya)
'Witches, possessed' flock to Kenya pastor On one Sunday each month Pastor Lawrence Omambia, the lead preacher at the Community of Christ church in Kisii, Kenya, shows off his gift -- healing and exorcism. (CNN)
Anglican head rejects Pope’s offer on priests Anglican Church of Kenya Archbishop Eliud Wabukhala said any Anglican priest intending to cross over to the Catholic Church must understand these differences beforehand. (The Daily Nation)
Discord grows over John Carroll University not including gays in anti-bias policy The issue remains far from resolved, especially after JCU President Robert Niehoff issued a statement this week that the policy should not be changed because it would go against "traditional Catholic moral teaching." (Cleveland Plain Dealer Metro blog)
Sex Ed in Washington This is the real problem with federal financing for abstinence-based education: It drags the national government into a debate that should remain intensely local. (The New York Times)
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