Alabama United Methodist Church leaders are in stark opposition to the new state’s law on illegal immigrants, recently signed by Governor Robert J. Bentley.

Known as HB 56, the legislation has been called the “meanest bill in the nation” with provisions affecting everything from transportation to school districts, and is being met with much disapproval from religious communities.

South Alabama Methodist Bishop Paul W. Leeland joined North Alabama Bishop William H. Willimon on Wednesday, issuing a statement against the new law, The Associated Press reported. more >>

With 5,000 homes and businesses destroyed in the Tuscaloosa, Ala., area and more than 200 people dead, with others still missing, Christians and non-Christians in the area are struggling through big questions.

First Wesleyan Church in Tuscaloosa, a church of 600 members, went untouched by the tornado that ravaged the city last Wednesday. As they met for worship on Sunday, one of the big questions their community life pastor Scott Moore said they wrestled with is, “How do you talk about God in this? Because to some people this is evidence that God is not real – that He doesn’t care about his people.”

“But I go to Scripture in Psalm 145 where it says God is slow to anger, but is quick to show compassion,” Moore told The Christian Post. “This is not God’s vengeance on us. Scripture says God grieves when we grieve. It says that when Lazarus died, Jesus wept. So I look at this and say, ‘God, where are you going to show up?’ and so many times I remember that Penske truck.” more >>

The members of Alberta Baptist Church in Tuscaloosa, Ala., who haven’t been displaced after a tornado ripped their church building apart last week, met in the sanctuary of Open Door Baptist Church a few miles away on Sunday to do what comes natural to them, even though their conditions were unnatural.

“As they sang ‘In Christ Alone,’ and ‘Christ is Our Rock’ and ‘Great is His Faithfulness,’ they just sang it with passion and conviction that this is true, this is right, this is real,’” said K.J. Pugh, associate pastor of education and missions at Open Door Baptist Church, to The Christian Post.

“I read in Isaiah 33 this morning, ‘The Lord will be the stability of your times, a wealth of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge,’ and I think that’s the sense they all had – that the Lord is the stability of this church and we will emerge stronger.” more >>

Franklin Graham toured tornado affected areas in Alabama, including hard-hit Tuscaloosa, on Saturday as the head of the Christian relief organization Samaritan’s Purse.

“When people lose everything to a tornado, flood or hurricane, it is overwhelming. Even in a country like ours, we can’t just depend on the government to come in and fix everything,” said Graham, president and CEO of Samaritan’s Purse. “As Christians, we are called to help our neighbors in distress.”

North Carolina-based Samaritan’s Purse already has disaster relief workers on the ground in Tuscaloosa and Birmingham, Ala., helping residents affected by the tornadoes that left at least 250 people dead in Alabama, according to the death toll report on Sunday morning. more >>

Fox Sports has rejected a Christian group’s proposed Super Bowl commercial featuring the Bible verse John 3:16.

The Lookup 316 commercial by Fixed Point Foundation was refused a spot before the nation’s largest TV viewing audience because it contained too much “religious doctrine,” according to FOX.

"[The commercial] was deemed to be too offensive," said Larry Taunton, executive director of Fixed Point Foundation, to The Christian Post. more >>

Alabama Governor Robert Bentley apologized for misconstrued statements about Christians being his brothers and sisters and pledged to fight for the rights of all people.

Bentley was unapologetic, however, about his Christian faith. His statement only sought to correct his comments on Monday in a Baptist church proclaiming that only Christians were his brother and sisters.

In an apology statement, Bentley, a Southern Baptist deacon, said, "I will never deny being a born-again Christian. I do have core beliefs and I will die with those core beliefs." more >>