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A woman has filed a lawsuit against a Florida megachurch after it reportedly did not pay her the promised hush money to keep her alleged affair with a pastor a secret. Church member Arlene Miranda filed the suit against Orlando Baptist Church based in Orange County, saying the church failed to pay the agreed $3,000 so she would keep quiet about her alleged affair with Pastor David Janney, 61, married, and the church's president. "They threatened me. If I didn't sign it, they threatened me," Miranda told WFTV. Miranda denied she filed the lawsuit for the money, saying "I committed...

Over at FiveThirtyEight, Farai Chideya takes a crack at analyzing Trump's strong showing with South Carolina's Evangelicals. He accurately notes that Evangelicals aren't necessarily voting on their faith:' Trump's win among evangelicals was a bit of a surprise to the media - the cable networks hammered away at the issue, and on Sunday's "Meet the Press," Chuck Todd peppered Cruz with questions about why he lost the group that had supported him in Iowa. But the South Carolina results show evangelicals are a diverse group with sometimes differing priorities. Trump did well among less-conservative evangelicals but not among those who...

Church architecture reflects the faith of the people who build churches.These days many of the modern Catholic churches I have seen look more like municipal airport buildings than structures to house the most sacred thing humans can undertake, the place where heaven and earth meet.I was recently sent a link to a site about a new church in Moscow. The church was recently completed and consecrated by Patriarch Kirill in December 2015. A Miracle of Liturgical Art: The Church of the Protection of the Mother of God at Yasenevo[…]But most astonishing by far was the project to decorate the interior...

If you are a Christian, you better brace yourself for great persecution. It has gotten very little attention from the mainstream media, but federal authorities have uncovered an ISIS plot to 'shoot up' a Detroit megachurch. 21-year-old Khalil Abu-Rayyan of Dearborn Heights, Michigan told authorities that he actually intended to take a gun into a very large church in Detroit that can seat up to 6,000 people and start killing Christians. He has been charged with supporting the Islamic States and with "illegally having a firearm while using a controlled substance". Abu-Rayyan actually admitted that since he can’t be part...

Although I’ve been a content atheist for a decade, somehow God has found a way to stick around in my mind. Not the God of the Bible who created heaven and Earth — the God that lingers with me is harder to explain. The idea of God pesters me and makes me think that maybe I’m not as devoted to my beliefs as I’d like to think I am and would like to be. Maybe I’m still subconsciously afraid of hell and want to go to heaven when I die. It’s confusing and frustrating to feel the presence of something...

Moscow, Fabruary 2, Interfax - Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia has said the inquiry into the killing of the family of Nicholas II will be completed once the truth is found. "I have received highest-level reassurances that there will be no hurry and no tying down of the end of the inquiry to any particular date. The inquiry will last as long as is necessary in order establish the truth," the patriarch said at the current Bishops' Council in Moscow on Tuesday. Unlike the situation in the 1990s, the state has given representatives of the Church - archbishops,...

It has been more than a year since the Obama Administration promised to investigate a California order that forces churches to fund abortions through health insurance plans. Despite the repeated urging of pro-life lawmakers and religious groups in California to act on that promise, the administration appears to be doing nothing. The troubling situation began in 2014 when the California Department of Managed Health Care reclassified abortion as a “basic health service” under the Affordable Care Act and ordered all insurance plans in the state to begin covering surgical abortions immediately. Even churches are not exempt from funding abortions. The...

The American church has a problem. It's one part fear, one part confusion and one part apathy. Pastors, priests and rabbis have long swallowed the false notion that all things religious and all things political are somehow mutually exclusive - that never the twain shall meet. Leading up to Ronald Reagan's landslide presidential victory in 1980, Rev. Jerry Falwell, the founder of Liberty University, captured the crux of the church's apathy problem. "I'm being accused of being controversial and political," he said. "I'm not political. But moral issues that become political, I still fight. It isn't my fault that...

ABOUT CAGED NO MORE CAGED NO MORE is an entertaining feature film that will raise awareness of human trafficking, aid in connecting anti-trafficking organizations, equip parents, schools and churches to aid in prevention, and assist in eradicating trafficking. Starring Kevin Sorbo, Emmy-Award winner Loretta Devine, Alan Powell, and Cassidy Gifford with appearances by Kathie Lee Gifford, Gov. Bobby Jindal and Natalie Grant. Inspired by real events, CAGED NO MORE is the story of Aggie Prejean, a grandmother on a desperate search to find her two granddaughters, Skye and Elle, who have been kidnapped by their sinister father. As the details...

One of the United States' most influential evangelical leaders blasted Liberty University President Jerry Falwell, Jr. on Monday for hosting Donald Trump to give a campaign speech. Russell Moore, who heads the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, the public policy arm of the Southern Baptist Convention, let fly a series of tweets after Falwell gave a glowing introduction to Trump, calling him "one of the greatest visionaries of our time" and saying Trump "lives a life of helping others ... as Jesus taught in the New Testament." Moore appeared incredulous at Falwell's language, which was more effusive than he had...

Evangelical Influencer Supports Cruz for PresidentHOUSTON, Texas – Presidential candidate Ted Cruz today announced the endorsement of Paul Blair, President of Reclaiming America for Christ and the pastor of Fairview Baptist Church.Blair was raised in Edmond, Oklahoma, and spent five years in the NFL. Since 2001, he has served as the Senior Pastor of Fairview Baptist Church in Edmond, Oklahoma. Pastor Blair speaks around the United States on the topics of Christian apologetics, a biblical worldview, Islam, and the nation's Christian heritage. He is also a member of the Council for National Policy.Pastor Blair was named Oklahoma's Pastor of the...

Attendance at Church of England services has plunged to its lowest level ever as the Archbishop of Canterbury warned it was battling to maintain its place in an increasingly “anti-Christian” culture. Official figures – based on an annual pew count – show that only 1.4 per cent of the population of England now attend Anglican services on a typical Sunday morning.

Two fires broke out that night in two churches in Seine-et-Marne. A Fontainebleau and Veneux-les-Sablons, two remote towns of ten kilometers. For the Saint-Louis de Fontainebleau, criminal track is preferred. It is the guardian who raised the alarm. When she returned to the church this morning, a thick black smoke emerged from the building. The criminal track any subsequently privileged, three fire starts were reported by firefighters. "Carpets, furniture were piled to allow a starting fire," said Frédéric Valletoux, the mayor of Fontainebleau.

At the start of a new year, it's good to take honest stock of where we are, so we can adjust accordingly. I had the privilege recently of interviewing for Christian television a leading church statistician of our time---Dr. Ed Stetzer, head of research for LifeWay (Nashville) of the Southern Baptist Convention. He also teaches part-time at Wheaton College and Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. I asked Dr. Stetzer about the poll on American Christianity released about a half a year ago by Pew Research. Some people mistakenly interpreted the poll's findings to indicate that the church in America is in...

Bishop Larry Wright had been preaching for about 20 minutes on New Year's Eve when he saw the front door of his North Carolina church swing open. In marched a young disheveled man whom he'd never seen before. In one hand the man had a semi-automatic assault rifle; in the other, a magazine. He wasn't. Wright, 57, is a City Council member. But he was also a career military man a former paratrooper and drill sergeant who retired in 1997 so his training kicked in as he descended the pulpit's three steps: Was there a bullet still in the chamber?...

DENTON (CBSDFW.COM) – Denton Police are investigating a bomb threat to a church. Police say a representative from Denton Bible Church told police Monday a letter came to the church which included a bomb threat for the Christmas Eve service. The Police Department is working with church staff in an effort to identify and locate the person or persons who issued the threats. Pastoral staff and elders of Denton Bible Church advised they will be having the Christmas Eve service. They will also be adding additional security. This investigation is ongoing.

Both people in the picture above are open carrying.A correspondent reports on open carry at a church in Northern Wisconsin.  There is a sign near the entrance that says that legal carry of guns is welcome. Here is the pro-carry sign.  It is a simple 8 1/2 by 11 sheet: Wisconsin is underrated as a pro-Second Amendment state. The state never outlawed open carry, even if the urban areas routinely violated Second Amendment rights of citizens before 2010. Wisconsin passed a strong amendment to the State Constitution in 1998, affirming the right to keep and bear arms for all...

Do you ever wonder if someone might come marching into your church one Sunday morning and start shooting? When I was growing up, I never even imagined that some mentally-imbalanced individual or a group of Islamic terrorists would ever attempt to attack a church service that I was attending, but times have changed. There have been more mass shootings in America during the presidency of Barack Obama than under the previous four presidents combined, and the primary target of the Islamic terrorists in San Bernardino was a Messianic Christian. The shooters in San Bernardino could have very easily decided to...

The force is strong in Berlin. A church in the German capital invited “Star Wars” fans to attend a special service Sunday themed on the sci-fi blockbuster in an attempt to attract more young people into the pews. About 500 people heeded the call and attended the service, some carrying light saber props or wearing Darth Vader masks. It was more than twice as many as usually come to Zion Church on a Sunday. “We were very happy to see so many people in the church today,” said Protestant pastor Lucas Ludewig said after the service. “It’s great that there...

BRENTWOOD, Tenn. - A local family has filed a lawsuit to hold a Williamson County church accountable after their 3-year-old was sexually assaulted at the church. According to the lawsuit filed Monday, a teenage volunteer at Fellowship Bible Church of Williamson County raped the child in a church bathroom on August 24, 2014. The family of the 3-year-old had been members of the church for 12 years. They were baptized and married at the church and saw the church as a second home. On the day the sexual assault took place, the parents dropped off their two children at the...