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Grant had roots in both Baptist and Assemblies of God congregations, and went on to seminary to prepare for ministry. While there, he was introduced to the Church Fathers, who had a very different view of Baptism than the one he’d grown up with. Seeing that they treated it as a sacrament made him wonder if his view of Communion was also out of step with historic Christianity. After serving seven years in ministry, as both a children’s and student pastor, Grant ended up coming home to the Catholic Church.

Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys representing a Seattle-area church engaged in oral arguments in Cedar Park Assembly of God of Kirkland v. Kuderer at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit. ADF attorneys are asking the court to uphold Cedar Park Church’s constitutionally protected, pro-life religious beliefs by exempting it from an overly broad state mandate that requires most Washington employers to provide abortion coverage for employees. Senate Bill 6219, signed into law in March 2018, requires Cedar Park’s employee health plan to cover abortion if the church’s plan also offers maternity care coverage. Violators face fines and criminal...

Joe Campbell, a Pentecostal preacher who for half a century ministered to thousands of children across four states, has been arrested on child sex abuse charges, the Oklahoma Attorney General’s Office said Wednesday. Campbell was charged with one count of first-degree rape and one count of lewd or indecent acts to a child under 16, according to the charging document. U.S. marshals arrested him Wednesday morning at Camp Bell, his children's camp in Elkland, Missouri, and took him to the Greene County jail in Springfield, where he was awaiting transfer to Oklahoma. If convicted, he faces up to life in...

A video clip from Kirk Cameron caused a firestorm over the weekend on social media in which he stated that he no longer believes that hell is a place of eternal conscious torment. He has embraced an alternative view called annihilationism or conditional mortality.Does the Bible teach that hell is indeed a literal place of eternal conscious torment?The parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus clearly teaches some truths about the reality of hell.Luke 16:19–31 “There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. And at his gate was laid...

High-profile conversions from figures like Shia LeBeouf, Ayaan Hirsi Ali and Russell Brand followed by findings--church attendance picking up has led to stunned reaction from the commentariat press. In Britain, for example, Pentecostalism and Catholicism have been found to have reversed decades of decline and grown remarkably from 2018 to 2025 – drawing intrigue from the likes of the Guardian and Reuters. In France, since 2020, the bishops’ conference (typically assiduous in collecting and releasing data) have confirmed consistently remarkable and accelerating year-on-year increases in the number of adult converts they are drawing in and baptising – many from irreligion...

This article is part of “Pastors and Prey,” a series investigating sex abuse allegations in the Assemblies of God. A children’s pastor was caught filming girls in a church bathroom in Arkansas. Elders suspended him for a few weeks. In Illinois, a preacher was accused of sexually abusing children. Church leaders sent him to therapy rather than call police. In California, a worship minister went to prison for molesting boys. His congregation threw him a party when he returned. All of these men remained in ministry in the Assemblies of God, the world’s largest Pentecostal denomination. All went on to...

Lindsey Whiteside, 26, is the former youth minister at Getwell Church in Hernando, Mississippi. In 2024, she was arrested and charged with “sexual battery of a minor child by a person of trust or authority” after she groomed and had sex with a 14-year-old girl over a period of several months. While prosecutors demanded 30 years, she only received three years of house arrest and seven years of probation, causing an uproar in the community over the light sentence. This also prompted district attorney Matthew Marton to rebuke the judge in the case while declaring: “She used the gospel of...

Is vandalism of a Christian church protected under the First Amendment? That’s the claim made by attorneys for three Muslim activists accused of spray-painting graffiti near the entrance of the nondenominational Uncommon Church in Hurst, Texas, located about 10 miles northeast of Fort Worth. The vandalism, which occurred in early March 2024, included an expletive referring to Israel, a swastika, and several inverted red triangles, a symbol used by Hamas and pro-Palestinian protesters to refer to Israeli military targets. The graffiti, which was spray-painted near a flagpole displaying a large Israeli flag outside the church, was initially said to incur...

United House of Prayer is A Cult! More show notes: The pastor is "Sweet Precious Daddy Bailey" He sits during the sermon because he looks like a black Jabba the Hut. Four members of the church pull this guy out in a giant chariot just to bring him up to the pulpit. The name of Jesus has been replaced with "Sweet Daddy" in all the hymns and songs. There have been 4 "sweet daddies" since this cult began in 1919.

One of the most frequently cited texts by cessationists — those who believe the gifts of the Spirit, such as prophecy, tongues, and healing, ceased after the apostolic era — is found in 1 Corinthians 13:8-12: “Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When...

An evangelical global pro-life organization has urged Christians, especially Catholics, to work together across denominations to further the pro-life movement and more effectively protect unborn lives from abortion. PassionLife remarked in a July 9 news release that denominations’ “respective theological differences” should not hamper their “joint effort and impact.” Instead, Christians, regardless of their beliefs, should work together as “collaborating co-belligerents,” the organization said. PassionLife works around the globe as a mission partner for local churches and organizations, especially those in areas where abortion rates are extremely high. The organization offers training in Christian pro-life teaching, evangelization, and pro-life counseling...

Life.Church South Broken Arrow Life kicked off their At the Movies campaign with a Super Mario Brothers theme, decorating their church and crafting a sermon based around the adventures of Mario, Luigi, Bowser, Princess Preach, and whatever stray Koopa that may make it into a sermon illustration. South Broken Arrow is one of more than 40 locations of the 85,000-member, seeker-sensitive, multi-site-based Oklahoma church. Led by Craig Groeschel, their promo material explains: At the Movies is an annual summer event at Life.Church. We decorate our lobbies in our favorite movie themes and invite friends and family. During the experience, we...

Life.Church Owasso kicked off their “At the Movies” campaign with a Ghostbusters theme, decorating their church to resemble the Ghostbusters headquarters, complete with an animatronic Slimer and giant Stay Puft Marshmallow Man outside, while crafting a sermon based around the film. It’s not a one-off for the 85,000-member, seeker-sensitive, multi-site-based Oklahoma church that has 40 locations, but rather something they do every year. For more on Life.Church (Not Clickbait) Pastor Turns Himself Into A Video Game Character For Super Mario Sermon Series+ Begins Rapping Theme Song Mario Sermon Series? Megachurch Transforms Church into Mushroom Kingdom + Singing Bowser Church Puts...

Jimmy Swaggart, the popular Pentecostal preacher and televangelist who garnered national headlines for his extramarital affairs, has died at the age of 90 following a cardiac arrest. Swaggart's official Facebook page announced Tuesday morning that "Brother Swaggart has finished his earthly race and entered into the presence of His Savior, Jesus Christ." "Today was the day he has sung about for decades. He met his beloved Savior and entered the portals of glory. At the same time, we rejoice knowing that we will see him again one day," stated the page. "He was not just a preacher — he was...

Like many Gen X Christians in the 1980s, I was not only captured by the explosion of Christian television and radio ministries, but I also had my personal favorites who really deepened my understanding of the Bible. One of those was televangelist Jimmy Swaggart. Much like Aimee Semple McPherson of the Foursquare Gospel movement, Swaggart was instrumental in putting the Assemblies of God and Pentecostalism on the map, making the gospel and a relationship with Jesus a dynamic pursuit rather than a rote obligation. Swaggart was a media pioneer. In 1969, he launched "The Camp Meeting Hour." Because of a...

Steven Furtick, the founder and lead “pastor” of Elevation Church, has become a household name among modern megachurch prosperity gospel frauds from Joel Osteen to T.D. Jakes to Carl Lentz. But beneath his polished exterior and motivational speeches lies a deeper issue—just like these others, Furtick is a false teacher, a prosperity charlatan whose primary goal is to amass personal wealth at the expense of the gospel. His strategy, like all false teachers, is to exploit the Scriptures when it suits him and conveniently ignores them when the truth becomes inconvenient. Furtick’s sermons are filled with feel-good messages of false...

Jimmy Swaggart’s family provided a heartfelt and emotional update on the televangelist during a Wednesday night service. As the Christian Post reported, Swaggart’s son, Donnie, shared during the service that the family is currently “in the process of making some very difficult and hard decisions.” Donnie Swaggart also mentioned that more family members are coming into town right now. “We have called all of the family to come into town, the grandkids that haven’t been here, and Joanna and Cliff for a family meeting on Friday,” Donnie said, calling this heartbreaking medical situation “a tough time.” As the Post noted,...

Prominent Televangelist Jimmy Swaggart has been hospitalized after having a heart attack in his family home early Sunday morning with his son Donnie Swaggart revealing that without a miracle he is likely to pass away very shortly. Speaking to his congregants during the evening service, his son, Donnie Swaggart, told the gathered body: This morning at a little after eight, Gabe and I rushed into Mother’s house. Dad had gone into cardiac arrest. He never regained consciousness. We both took turns giving him chest compressions until EMT could get there and they were, I’ve never seen so many people arrive...

RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- A Raleigh pastor is facing decades behind bars after pleading guilty to receiving more than $400,000 of fraudulent government-funded COVID-19 loans. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, 45-year-old Mitchell Summerfield was found guilty of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and wire fraud in connection with a scheme to fraudulently obtain COVID-19 loan funds. According to court documents, Summerfield was the pastor of the Word of God Fellowship Church in Raleigh and owned various other businesses, including Winning Ways, KHS Investments, and Vision and Destiny. In 2018, Summerfield stepped into the role of lead pastor at...

In a recent broadcast, televangelist Jim Bakker announced that his ministry is facing severe financial difficulties and may cease operations within a month without an urgent infusion of funds. The last few years have not been kind to Bakker. A couple of years ago, the embattled Bakker had his credit card companies cut him off and reduced him to only taking checks to support his ever-dwindling ministry. This has made him desperate to hawk any prophecy, piece, or potion he can to keep the lights on, including selling a $1000 miracle blanket or having guests that claimed a Reptile Alien...