Americas

Jeremy Lin went from an unknown bench player to national stardom after leading the New York Knicks on a seven game winning streak early this year. The astonishing circumstances leading to that event were built upon Lin's family and faith, according to a new biography by Timothy Dalrymple called Jeremy Lin: The Reason for the Linsanity.

"It's like the Bible," Dalrymple explained in a Monday interview with The Christian Post. "The Bible is not a story of extraordinarily talented people. The Bible is the story of an extraordinary God accomplishing extraordinary things through ordinary people. I think that's part of why Jeremy's story is so compelling. He is such an underdog, you can identify with him."

Dalrymple, managing editor for the evangelical portal at Patheos.com, first interviewed Lin for Patheos.com while finishing his doctorate at Harvard University. There was much excitement around the Harvard campus at the time over the team's new Asian-American basketball phenom. Dalrymple was impressed with Lin's humility, depth of faith, and how he brought his faith and spiritual life together. Dalrymple decided at that point to follow Lin's career. more >>

The long awaited finale for American Idol Season 11 is finally here. The face-off between Phillip Phillips and Jessica Sanchez took place on Tuesday night with three rounds of songs, with the results set to be revealed Wednesday night.

The first round of songs were chosen by Simon Fuller. The second round showcased tunes selected by the singers themselves among the top 24. The final round featured original songs written for the finalists.

Sanchez performed Whitney Houston's "I Have Nothing", Celine Dion and Andrea Bocelli's "The Prayer" and the specially written "Change Nothing." more >>

Billboard 2012 Music Awards were handed over to the winners on evening of May 20, 2012, in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Christian music was celebrated in the three categories Top Christian Artist, Top Christian Album, and Top Christian Song.

Top Christian Artist nominees were Casting Crowns, MercyMe, Skillet, Laura Story and Chris Tomlin. Nominees in the Top Christian Album category were Casting Crowns' Come to the well, Casting Crowns' Until the whole world hears, Skillet's Awake, Laura Story's Blessings and Wow Hits 2012 by Various Artists. more >>

A new Washington Post/ABC News Poll survey finds that the percentage of African-Americans who support gay marriage jumped almost 20 points after President Obama's announcement that he now backs same-sex marriage. One pastor doesn't believe the poll is representative of the nation's black Christians.

The Rev. Bill Owens, who leads the Coalition of African American Pastors, argues that opposition to same-sex marriage is steadfast and growing. "I know the poll is wrong," Owens told CP. "Very few black Christians I encounter support President's Obama's position on same-sex marriage. In fact, in a small poll conducted by our organization, 12 percent said they would not vote for President Obama again."

The new poll of 1,004 adults was released Wednesday and reveals that 59 percent of African-Americans say they back same-sex marriage, up from 41 percent in combined ABC/Post polls this spring and last summer. Also, 65 percent of African-Americans support Obama's new position. more >>

A Christian student group has dropped a lawsuit against the University of North Carolina-Greensboro after the university agreed to officially recognize the group as religious, therefore making the group exempt from the university's nondiscrimination policy.

The legal group the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) filed the lawsuit on behalf of the "Make Up Your Own Mind" club, a pro-abstinence, pro-life group, after the university refused to acknowledge it as a religious group.

According to the university's nondiscrimination policy, non-religious groups must offer open membership to all students, regardless of their religious beliefs. more >>

Michael Hyatt, chairman of Thomas Nelson publishers and an influential blogger, built his large online audience using blogs, Twitter and Facebook. He is now passing along marketing tips and techniques that he has learned over the past eight years in his latest book Platform: Get Noticed in A Noisy World.

Hyatt argues in the book that in today's crowded marketplace compelling content is no longer enough for someone to get noticed. As a former CEO of Thomas Nelson, Hyatt had to turn away authors and writers with brilliant material because they didn't have a platform to market their message.

"Content was king still but platform had become queen," he told blogger Brad Lomenick in a recent interview. more >>