Washington

Religious and nongovernmental displays will not be allowed inside Capitol buildings in Washington state starting next month, according to new rules formally signed Friday.

The move by the Washington Department of General Administration was made in light of last year’s Christmas season fiasco, during which various groups engaged one another in a battle over displays – religious and anti-religious.

Notably, however, the new rules do allow for a state-sponsored “holiday tree” to be displayed inside the Capitol Rotunda and also do not bar religious displays from being set up outside the buildings of the Capitol campus. more >>

A fast-growing church in Seattle that's popular with the twentysomething crowd launched three new campuses on the same day.

Mars Hill Church drew hundreds of people to its new worship sites in Albuquerque, N.M.; Federal Way, Wash.; and at the University of Washington on Sunday.

The added sites bring the total to ten campuses for the more than 7,000-member church, which first went multi-site in 2006. more >>

Creation Northwest concluded four days of music, speakers, fellowship, and camping Saturday at the Gorge Amphitheater in George, Wash.

The Christian music festival, which kicked of Wednesday, brought together over 40 top Christian artists from around the world to perform on two stages and an audience of around 20,000.

Though not as large as its older sibling, Creation Northeast, which draws around 70,000 each year, Creation Northwest garnered the same levels of praise and recognition. more >>

Over the next two days, a conference that merges Bible study and technology will draw from around the nation Christian publishers, programmers, webmasters, educators, bloggers and anyone interested in using technology to improve Bible study.

BibleTech:2009, sponsored and hosted by Logos Bible Software, aims to “inspire and inform” by offering attendees of the Mar. 27-28 gathering new ideas, opportunities to forge new relationships, and the chance to be exposed to the work others are engaged in at the crossing point of Bible study and technology.

The conference comes as Web 2.0 and Internet-connected mobile devices are offering new ways to interact with Scripture and open source projects and APIs (application programming interfaces) are sparking creativity and getting more people involved in developing technology for Bible study. more >>

When Annie Lobert was being abused, raped and constantly facing death during her years as a Las Vegas escort, she knew the devil was real. And he almost got her life.

Only then when she realized Satan and his legion of demons existed, she was able to cry out to God and be saved.

"[God] exists and the devil exists. I know that God's in my heart and the only way I could see God was to know that the devil was real," Lobert, who founded Hookers for Jesus, said in an ABC Nightline debate, which aired Thursday. more >>