Planetshakers, one of the most influential church movements in Australia is making its United States conference debut at Rock Church in San Diego, Calif., during a three-day event that began Thursday. A live webcast on Friday will feature the founders of Planetshakers City Church in Melbourne and the Planetshakers worship band.

"At Planetshakers Limitless Conference San Diego, it's our desire to see people empowered, so they can increasingly impact their world in a way that points people to Christ and encourages them to live life to the full," founder and senior pastor Russell Evans told The Christian Post via email Thursday.

"We will have passionate praise and worship and teaching from some great pastors from various parts of the world," Evans said. Every continent will be represented during the webcast. "We are pretty excited to have the honor of bringing our conference to the USA for the first time. We are expecting those in attendance to be touched by God in a powerful way," he stated. more >>

Stanford Law School has established the nation's only Religious Liberty Clinic, enabling students under the professor's supervision to represent clients who are fighting to win legal battles on the grounds of religious freedom in America.

The clinic will offer participating law students the opportunity to engage in disputes arising from a wide range of religious beliefs, practices, and customs, the school announced this week.

"Part of what we are trying to do is show our students and our community how religious liberty is a natural right that is for all of us and that all too often religious liberty disputes are really debates about the merits of the particular religious practice involved rather than the liberty," the clinic's founding director, James A. Sonne, told The Christian Post on Wednesday. "We want to show that this is something for everybody regardless of your religious background and practice." more >>

The Boy Scouts of America's prohibition on gay scout leaders has been challenged by its own California chapter, after the division recommended an openly gay member be awarded the top rank of Eagle Scout.

"From what I understand, this has never happened before," commented Eric Andresen, father of the scout in question, Ryan Andresen, according to Reuters.

The California chapter made the decision to review Andresen's qualifications for Eagle Scout despite a scoutmaster refusing to sign off on his paperwork last year after the 18-year old came out as gay. Although the four-member board has formerly endorsed the young man's petition, which can be seen as a challenge to the Boy Scouts of America's stance of gay leaders, The Associated Press reported that a staff executive has decided not to forward the recommendation to the national organization, who would have been likely to reject it anyway. more >>

Pastor Rick Warren of Saddleback Church in California has spoken out about the Newtown, Conn., school shooting tragedy, suggesting that a lot of factors might have led up to the incident, but at the end of the day, free will is both humankind's greatest blessing and curse.

"The deeper the grief, the fewer words are needed. A lot of folks are looking for wisdom, or the right word, and are asking 'what do you say?' – but there is nothing to say. You just need to be there. You need to show up. And when people are grieving, they don't need a lecture, and they don't need an explanation. Explanations don't comfort us," Warren began in an interview on Wednesday with Fox News anchor Neil Cavuto on his "Your World" show.

"What comforts us is the presence of others, the presence of God, and the first thing we have to do is we have to learn how to release our grief and we need to do that right now," Warren added. more >>

Residents and workers in the city of Costa Mesa in Orange County, Calif., may be experiencing a brighter Christmas season this year thanks to a local church that decided to shower its community with gifts of love and service for 25 days.

This past week, 25 school principals and vice principals in the local school district were given tickets to attend concerts, sporting events, and gift certificates for such services as massages and spa treatments. Last week, among the "25 Days of Christmas" giving opportunities for volunteers at The Crossing Church, mail carriers and trash truck drivers were given baskets of cookies.

At sober living homes in the area this week, gift baskets were delivered along with invitations to have Christmas dinner with church members. On another day, drivers in the city were randomly given $25 gas cards. more >>

A student gay rights club in San Diego, Calif., is protesting after its members were told they will not be allowed to hold meetings on campus at Point Loma Nazarene University.

The LGBT group, called BridgePointLoma, had been trying for more than two years to get permission to organize at the Christian college, but ThinkProgress.com reports that the administration said it will "shut down any club centered around sexual orientation that makes it through the club chartering process."

Sean Lewis, a student at Loma Nazarene who has driven the LGBT initiative forward, said the group's purpose was to offer spiritual support to a "suffering population." As a result of the administration's decision, the group launched a petition urging alumni to withhold donations to the college until Loma Nazarene officials reconsider chartering the club. The petition had close to 900 signatures as of Tuesday afternoon. more >>