A new report from Barna Group that examines the book buying and reading habits of pastors says most pastors still prefer to read hard copies of books despite an increase in the use of digital reading devices in recent years.

Nearly half of pastors now use a device that serves as an e-reader, an article containing highlights from the more than 80-page report states, and that number has nearly tripled in the last two years. But despite increasing e-book sales and decreasing print sales, more than half of pastors still prefer hardcover books to paper backs or e-books.

Read more at http://www.christianpost.com/news/study-in-an-e-book-era-most-pastors-prefer-hard-copies-of-books-96054/#dVbljXAiYZdo0Edp.99

What person or what incident caused you to think that God doesn't love you? Who mistreated you? What happened? We can't change the past, but we can choose to think straight today.
Here is what that means for your life. Regardless of your past, God loves you. Regardless of your experiences, God loves you. Regardless of your failures, God loves you. Regardless of your disappointments, God loves you. He has always loved you, and His love for you is unconditional.
If you would begin to soak in that reality, what a difference it would make. Just soak in it. Let it get inside you. Let it start to flow within you. "God is love." "He loves me." "He wants a relationship with me." Really, He does.

Read more at http://www.christianpost.com/news/why-dont-you-believe-god-loves-you-95715/#QdRuVW27B1h5egFF.99

A New Jersey pastor says he is on a mission to get rid of a local porn shop in his community by purchasing the building that houses the X-rated operation and converting it into a church.

"We're going to turn a porn house into God's house," Pastor Pat Sharkey, 51, told USA Today in an earlier interview.

Sharkey, who leads Victory Christian Fellowship, and real estate developer Don Finelli, 65, signed a contract last month to purchase the Fantasy World Adult Book Store for $275,000 and now have less than two months to come up with the money they are trying to raise through investments and donations.

Read more at http://www.christianpost.com/news/nj-pastor-aims-to-turn-porn-shop-into-gods-house-95950/#Qrk1fTeXMRvXBzd2.99

When you think back on your life, how many of you had visions of being a superhero who brought justice?
I know that 90 percent of you had some form of superhero paraphernalia: underwear, pajamas, a cape, masks or a Halloween costume. There is something in us at a very young age that wants to be a few things: we want to be good, we want to be dangerous, we want to have special power, and we want to deliver justice.

Read more at http://www.christianpost.com/news/uprising-series-iii-why-the-fascination-with-superheroes-95879/#ePoFfem6jAHH2oPY.99

Two movements among Christian congregations in the U.S. today, churches with multiple locations (multisite) and leadership development (discipleship), continue to gain momentum as new innovations are being introduced. In addition, perhaps in an even newer development, a growing number of churches are intentionally developing a culture of generosity, an effort to help carry the gospel message outside the church, says the director of new media and technology for the Leadership Network.

"The multisite (one church, multiple locations) movement continues to gain momentum," Todd Rhoades, of Leadership Network, told The Christian Post via email. "We're seeing no slow down at all in the number of churches being involved in multisite ministry. In fact, we're seeing new waves of innovation in the movement itself: including international campuses, online campuses, the move from big cities to rural environments, and more churches partnering to redeem facilities and struggling churches through church mergers."

Read more at http://www.christianpost.com/news/christian-movements-growing-in-us-include-multisite-churches-leadership-development-generosity-95900/#wFm0ify3zoqDiWcb.99

As delegates of Boy Scouts of America prepare to cast their votes on a controversial amendment to their membership standards on homosexuality, legal experts warned them on Tuesday against being "snookered and bamboozled" into accepting it.

Next Thursday, some 1,400 members of Boy Scouts of America's national council are expected to vote on the resolution seeking to revise the organization's membership policy on homosexuality at their annual meeting in Grapevine, Texas. If accepted, the resolution would lift an existing ban on youth who are "open or avowed" homosexuals. A ban on adult leaders, however, would remain in place.

Read more at http://www.christianpost.com/news/experts-warn-boy-scouts-delegates-against-being-snookered-and-bamboozled-into-gay-vote-95874/#MZOfwSqtyYS7FEpB.99

It really isn't politically correct these days to talk about Jesus in public, or even to speak about Satan in public. Both figures bring Christianity into the spotlight, which is right where it belongs. Your response to the Christian Gospel will reveal whether you are listening to Jesus, or to Satan. There is no getting around it. Whether you take a public position on the matter or not, you are in one camp or the other. That is because there are only two camps to which souls can belong.

Read more at http://www.christianpost.com/news/americans-are-influenced-by-jesus-and-satan-95372/#uVDvSOrcT72k1kIm.99

The past year has seen a bevy of faith-based reality programming from major networks like TLC, Lifetime and BET. Now, Oxygen Media is joining the pack with its own reality show looking at the lives of Southern California pastors, tentatively titled "Pastors of L.A."

The "authentic new docu-series" starring Bishop Noel Jones, Deitrick Haddon and four other high-profile Christian ministers is scheduled to debut in the fall of this year, and appears to follow in the vein of BET's "The Sheards" and WE tv's "Mary Mary" – promising viewers an inside look at the lives of popular and otherwise inaccessible men of faith.

Read more at http://www.christianpost.com/news/pastors-of-la-reality-show-gets-green-light-from-oxygen-media-95768/#vshCrTvdb7csjLB3.99

You probably attended church services yesterday. It's possible that an atheist you know did as well, in a way. The rise of "atheist churches" is an oxymoronic fact in our culture.

One of the fastest-growing is in London. Its leader asks, "Why is it that people who are atheists get married in a church?" He then answers his question: "There is just something about these places, it's a place of worship, where people have gone for more than 400 years and it's the sort of place where your heart can rise up to those inspired things which is great." Here's my question: What "inspired things" can their hearts "rise up to" if the God who inspired them doesn't exist?

Read more at http://www.christianpost.com/news/my-questions-about-atheist-churches-95770/#3l9UHiz3MjwHCMAB.99

Noted theologian and founder of Desiring God Ministries, John Piper confessed that he is an introvert affected by brokenness, but God used him anyway to build a powerful ministry and pastor it successfully for 33 years.
This week, in a discussion about his 33 years of ministry with 75 pastors, Piper confessed to not really being a people person and shared how God was able to turn that feature of his personality into a blessing for his congregation.

Read more at http://www.christianpost.com/news/john-pipers-confessions-of-brokenness-and-introversion-95673/#C9tf3RplHWvlSwrV.99