In the wake of this past weekend's tragic death of Matthew Warren, son of Pastor Rick Warren and wife Kay, Ed Stetzer, president of LifeWay Research, stressed the need for the church to address mental illness.

Along with shedding the shame and stigma that often accompanies mental illness, Stetzer recently wrote that he believes Christians need to address the issue of medicine relating to mental illness in the church.

"We should not be afraid of medicine," Stetzer, an expert in church planting and lead pastor at Grace Church in Hendersonville, Tenn., wrote in a recent post for CNN's belief blog. more >>

Prominent evangelist Franklin Graham has proposed that the Communist dictatorship of North Korea build a church for Christian visitors.

Graham wrote about the proposal in a prayer letter sent out on Monday and posted in full at the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association's website.

"I have visited North Korea several times, as my father and mother did before me, and I have prayed – along with many others – for any opportunity God might give to crack the door open even a little," wrote Graham. more >>

While many public assemblies of Christians in China are now being allowed as the result of a more Westernized country, there is a need for pastors and Christian leaders to have strong mentors now more than ever, says persecution watchdog Open Doors.

"Not so long ago, Christians were forced to meet in secret, sing softly and whisper their prayers to avoid unwanted attention from the local authorities," Open Doors stated recently. "Now, in many places, believers are free to gather and to be a church. The growing freedoms and the rapid urbanization have left the Chinese Church puzzled. The Church is in need of a mentor who shows her how to effectively function in a more free society."

Open Doors describes one of the first pastors they mentored as fitting the profile of many other Chinese pastors, including being in his early 30s, and having grown up in a rural area. He now serves as the leading pastor of one of many Chinese urban churches. When Open Doors came into contact with him, the pastor was struggling in many areas of his ministry, including his family life. more >>

A new Saginaw, Mich., church targeting the under 40 demographic will be hosting a massive drop of 50,000 plastic Easter Eggs filled with candy and miniature toys on Saturday.

Founding Pastor of Life Church Michigan Jonathan Herron told The Christian Post the drop will be hosted on the campus of the Saginaw Valley State University where his new church has been meeting for services since March 17.

"Things are going fantastic. The whole idea was we are a new church and we love children, we love families, so we are throwing a free party because Jesus loved to connect with people at parties," said Herron. more >>

Author and Pastor David Platt encouraged those attending the Advance13 Christian leadership conference on Thursday to fully saturate their weekly sermons with the word of God, rather than their personal stories, so that the Good News may be proclaimed "in the church, and through the church."

Platt, who leads The Church at Brook Hills in Birmingham, Ala., began Thursday's talk at the Advance13 leadership conference in Raleigh, N.C., by recalling a pastor who once showed up to deliver a sermon and told the crowd that he couldn't think of anything to say, and therefore failed to deliver God's Word.

"Effective preaching is not dependent on an innovative personality, effective preaching is dependent on a faithful preacher," Platt said, noting that the most effective way to saturate one's congregation with God's Word is to pull directly from the Gospel. more >>

While speaking at the Advance13 conference in Raleigh, N.C., on Thursday, California megachurch pastor Larry Osborne spoke on the dangers of disciples of Christ becoming "accidental Pharisees" through a prideful, "holier than thou" attitude toward those struggling with their faith.

"Becoming a Pharisee is like having dinner at Denny's. No one ever plans to go there; you just end up there," Osborne told the crowd of Christian leaders attending the Advance13 conference which ended Thursday.

"I'm afraid that a lot of us today who are passionate about God's glory and God's work are going to end up at a spiritual Denny's." more >>