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First Baptist Dallas Pastor Robert Jeffress has denounced former Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney's accusation that he's a "religious bigot." "Robert Jeffress says 'you can't be saved by being a Jew,' and 'Mormonism is a heresy from the pit of hell.' He's said the same about Islam. Such a religious bigot should not be giving the prayer that opens the United States Embassy in Jerusalem," Romney tweeted on Sunday. In an interview with Fox Business host Lou Dobbs Monday night, Jeffress said he took issue with Romney's claims and asserted, "I am not a bigot." "Many of those comments [in...

Mine is a face that patients are sometimes surprised to see at the Planned Parenthood health center in Portland. For the past few years, four other faith leaders and I have served as volunteer chaplains. We’re proud to be part of a highly professional and highly caring health care team. Along with our Planned Parenthood colleagues, we’re committed to showing care and respect for the whole person, including her (or his) physical, emotional and spiritual well-being. As chaplains, we undertake this work not in spite of, but because of our faith and values. There are some who assume that if...

An anonymous witness at the trial of a U.S. preacher in Turkey said the American evangelistÂ’s ultimate aim was to set up a Christian Kurdish state, pro-government newspaper Sabah said. For 23 years Andrew Craig Brunson had been seeking to convert the Kurdistan WorkersÂ’ Party (PKK) armed group to Christianity and to aid it in breaking up Turkey, the witness, a former churchgoer known only as Serhat, told the court at the pastorÂ’s trial. Brunson is accused of terrorism and espionage, and faces up to 35 years in prison. U.S. President Donald Trump has personally taken up BrunsonÂ’s case, asking...

U.S. pastor Andrew Brunson, incarcerated in Turkey since October 2016, burst into tears at the first hearing of his trial on terrorism charges in Turkey on Monday. Brunson sobbed before telling a court in the city of Izmir that he was in a single-person cell and suffering psychologically, according to Hurriyet newspaper. Brunson said he was taking pills to treat his condition and had asked to be transferred out of solitary confinement. The U.S. pastor is on trial for aiding and abetting the Fethullah Gulen movement, an Islamist movement that Turkey blames for masterminding a coup attempt in July 2016...

The Turkish government is using Pastor Brunson's detention as a bargaining chip. In exchange for his freedom, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan had demanded the return to Turkey from the United States of self-exiled cleric Fethullah Gülen, a political opponent, whom Erdogan claims was behind the failed coup against him in the summer of 2016. "They are treating the U.S. government with contempt and paying no price for it." — Pastor Andrew Brunson, March 17, 2018. Turkey -- a NATO member holding an American political prisoner hostage -- has so far faced no consequences. An American Pastor, Andrew Brunson,...

Megachurch Pastor Creflo Dollar recently told his congregation not to throw shade at rapper-turned-gospel performer Snoop Dogg. The California-based godfather of rap and actor recently released “Bible of Love” through his All the Time Entertainment, in association with RCA Inspiration. The “Gin and Juice” and “Drop It Like It’s Hot” rapper said he was inspired by his grandmother and pulls in some heavyweight gospel talent like the Clark Sisters and Rance Allen. Dollar, pastor of World Changers Church International, said the church should focus on grace and not past behavior. He was preaching on the “Spirit of Grace.”

Metro police have arrested a pastor accused of molesting several children across two decades while he was leader of a South Nashville congregation. Matthew Dennis Patterson, known as Denny, served as pastor of Nolensville Road Baptist Church for more than 20 years. He resigned on Sept. 24. Days later, members of the congregation came to the police precinct on Harding Place with complaints about his requests to "engage in strange activities" with children, authorities said. Children at the church told adult members that Patterson had asked them to sit on his face and stomach, sometimes in their underwear, according to...

Until today, perhaps the most national news-worthy thing Bill Hybels has done is announce his eventual retirement from being the lead pastor Willow Creek Church, a transition which he has planned meticulously. That all changed, though, when the Chicago Tribune published a story about allegations of sexual misconduct leveled at Hybels by prominent current and former leaders at Willow Creek. Hybels has said he believes those making the claims against him have “colluded” against him in an effort to discredit his ministry. According to the Tribune, which conducted an investigation into the allegations, the claims of misconduct are numerous. “The...

MEMPHIS — A pastor accused of sexually assaulting a teenage girl in Texas 20 years ago resigned from his ministerial post Tuesday at a Memphis megachurch. Andy Savage, teaching pastor at Highpoint Church and part of the church's senior leadership team, follows a leave of absence and lengthy investigation by Scott Fredricks, a Fort Worth lawyer whose specialties include assisting churches with child-abuse investigations. Savage's fall culminates more than two months of accusations and soul-searching over a case that became symbolic of the #churchtoo offshoot of the #metoo movement. While the investigation found no other instances of abuse, "the leadership...

American pastor Andrew Brunson, behind bars in Turkey on terrorism-related charges, risks up to 35 years in jail in a politically loaded case that critics describe as “an eclipse of reason.” (held in Turkey since October 2016 on terror-related charges, he is seen in an undated picture.) A Turkish prosecutor is seeking up to 35 years in jail for Andrew Brunson, the American pastor at the heart of a bitter diplomatic spat between Ankara and Washington. Held on terror-related charges since October 2016, Brunson has seemingly become a bargaining chip, with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan suggesting last year that...

A Turkish prosecutor is demanding a life sentence for American Pastor Andrew Brunson, who has been detained since Oct. 7, 2016 over his alleged links with an armed terrorist organization.Brunson, who has formally led Izmir Resurrection Church for over 22 years, has been charged with being a "member and executive of the terrorist group" accused of being behind the failed coup attempt in Turkey last year.According to Al-Monitor, Turkey has blamed U.S.-based Islamic preacher Fethullah Gülen for the coup attempt, and the government has been demanding his extradition.However, the U.S. has refused to hand over the cleric, who is now...

Billy Graham has often said, “Whether the story of Christ is told in a huge stadium, across the desk of a powerful leader, or shared with a golfing companion, it satisfies a common hunger. All over the world, whenever I meet people face-to-face, I am made aware of this personal need among the famous and successful, as well as the lonely and obscure.” Every U.S. President since World War II has met with Billy Graham. Both Johnson and Nixon, the two who probably sought him the most, offered him high positions in government — which he quickly and politely refused....

A Pennsylvania pastor who was caught sitting in a parked car with a bound and naked man insists he was simply counseling the man. While answering a call about a suspicious vehicle, police discovered a naked man tied up with nylon rope sitting in the front seat of a car parked outside of a home. In the backseat was 61-year-old George Nelson Gregory, a preacher at the Waterfront Christian Community Church. When officers inquired about the situation, Gregory allegedly told them he and the man “were just playing” and that they “meet up from time to time to play with...

HOMESTEAD (KDKA) — A Homestead-area pastor is being accused of open lewdness and indecent exposure, but he says what police say happened is not what really happened. Officers were sent to the 800 block of Beechland Street around 11:30 p.m. Friday for a report of a suspicious vehicle parked outside of a home. According to a criminal complaint, when the officers arrived on the scene, they could see two men inside the vehicle. Police say one man — identified as 61-year-old George Nelson Gregory, of Munhall — was in the back seat, and the other man was completely naked and...

Almost exactly a year ago, I wrote a post headlined, “Religious representatives ‘bless’ new PPFA abortion clinic in Washington, DC.” I observed Planned Parenthood of Metropolitan Washington medical director Serina Floyd said she plans to tell patients that the abortion facility is a “blessed space” and that she is looking forward to telling patients that “those of faith also support your decisions.” Other contributors chanted a mantra which “gives a good vibration to the building and anyone who comes in will be healed soon.” That is, everyone but the unborn child who is slaughtered You should read the piece in...

An East Haven pastor who confronted police officers after they went into her church to arrest a suspect in a violent case of domestic violence has resigned. The pastor, Rev. Care Goodstal Spinks, confronted police officers outside Old Stone Church after they arrested 34-year-old Ryan Champlin. Police said Champlin went to the church Tuesday after assaulting his 59-year-old mother following an argument about him not paying to live at their residence. When Champlin’s mother tried to call 911, her son pushed her to the ground, police said. Champlin's mother locked herself in her bedroom, but her son kicked the door...

The Rev. Barry Lynn, a national advocate of abortion and the separation of church and state, is retiring this week. Lynn is best known as the leader of the Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, a position he has held since 1992, the Washington Post reports. A United Church of Christ pastor and a lawyer, Lynn has been a vocal opponent of the Little Sisters of the Poor and Christian-owned businesses like Hobby Lobby that do not think the government should force them to pay for drugs that may cause abortions in their employee health plans. Despite...

Officials said the women’s bodies were found inside the home and that the man’s body was found in the front yard. The victims were identified as 58-year-old Jeanett L. Gattis, 30-year-old Candice L. Kunze and 36-year-old Andrew E. Buthorn. "The victims and suspect all lived at the residence in the 14000 block of Dogwood Ridge Court and this incident appears to be domestic related," Sgt. P.H. Zoffuto with Chesterfield Police said in a news release. "Jeanett Gattis is the wife of Christopher Gattis. Buthorn is the boyfriend of Kunze, who is the daughter of Jeanett Gattis." Police said 58-year-old Christopher Gattis...

A posh Los Angeles fitness center kicked a black pastor out and banned him for life because, the pastor says, a white employee overheard him expressing support for President Donald Trump. The employee allegedly charged at the pastor, Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson, in a physically threatening manner — coming within inches of his face — and yelled “You support Donald Trump!” Peterson, 68, is now asking for an apology and seeking civil rights damages. The incident occurred on August 11 at Equinox Sports Club Los Angeles. The pastor’s no-good, very bad day began while he was discussing racial issues and...

A Chicago Pastor is demanding George Washington’s name be removed from a city park because Washington was a slave owner. He’s also targeting a park named after Andrew Jackson....this is the natural progression of things — once you begin erasing historical monuments, there is no end. When it becomes wholly accepted to impose current values on historical figures and events, why bother with history at all?