New York

Manhattan-based pastor Bill Devlin is a fighter. In the past few months he has led protests and prayer vigils, been arrested, and is now on day 41 of a water-only fast in attempts to reverse the New York City ban on religious groups renting space in public schools.

Devlin, 59, of Manhattan Bible Church in Washington Heights, hasn't eaten any food and has only had tap water to drink since he began his protest on Jan. 17. The 5-foot-11-inch tall pastor dropped about 52 pounds from approximately 190 pounds, and he has no idea when his fast might end.

He has been relentless in his mission to reverse the city's decision. "As a pastor and a faith leader, I've prayed that God would soften the hearts of Mayor Bloomberg and Chancellor Walcott," he said. more >>

Churches in New York City will be allowed to return to public schools starting this weekend after winning a court order Friday.

District Judge Loretta Preska granted a preliminary injunction against the city's ban on weekend worship services in vacant school buildings after determining that the plaintiff – the Bronx Household of Faith – demonstrated irreparable harm and will likely win its lawsuit against the Board of Education.

The judge wrote in the court opinion that the church has a good chance of winning based on the argument that the ban "fosters excessive governmental entanglement with religion" and violates the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment – which provides that "Congress shall make no law ... prohibiting the free exercise [of religion]." more >>

NEW YORK – The Middle East crisis is gripping the world's attention now more than ever with the growing Iranian nuclear threat and possibility of attacks on Israel. One upcoming conference will seek to address not only how believers should prepare for prophetic events associated with the crisis, but also how to reach the lost and lead them to Christ.

Israel, The Church and the Middle East Crisis conference takes place March 23-24, 2012, at Biola University in La Mirada, Calif., and it is being organized by a Messianic Jewish organization called Chosen People Ministries.

The organization, founded in 1894, exists to pray for, evangelize, disciple, and serve Jewish people everywhere and to help fellow believers do the same. Chosen People Ministries serves in 13 countries across the globe and is involved in cooperative efforts between Jews and Christians to glorify Christ's message of peace. more >>

The Linsanity continued this week as New York Knicks point guard Jeremy Lin graced his second Sports Illustrated cover in a row.

Lin is the first athlete to be featured on two consecutive covers since Dirk Nowitzki did it back in June of 2011. He is also only the third NBA player to hold two consecutive Sports Illustrated covers, along with Nowitzki and Michael Jordan.

Jordan actually held the Sports Illustrated cover spot three weeks in a row twice, once in 1991 and again in 1998. more >>

Churches across New York City were preparing to hold worship services in spaces rented from public schools Sunday before discovering that a court order this week did not apply to them.

The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York had issued a 10-day restraining order Thursday as it waited to decide an appeal in a case that banned churches from renting space in public schools for worship services.

About 50 churches applied for permits after the decision. Even Mayor Michael Bloomberg believed the decision applied to all churches, and the city approved the permits. more >>

New York Knicks' newest star Jeremy Lin quoted among one of his favorite Bible verse a most fitting passage in Romans on suffering and perseverance.

Perfectly describing his own journey thus far, he cited Romans 5:3-5, which read: "Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us."

"The Bible talks a lot about how God takes bad situations and tough situations and he teaches us and he uses those times of suffering to draw us closer to him and that's what I try to focus on during those times," Lin said during an interview with GoodTV, a Taiwanese evangelical Christian channel. more >>