A suit brought by a Tennessee church against a state government department regarding what constituted a "ministry" got its day in court.

Christ Church Pentecostal of Nashville made arguments against the Tennessee Board of Equalization in a legal hearing on Wednesday morning in front of the Tennessee Court of Appeals, Middle Division, Davidson County. At issue is whether or not the Board should have denied Christ Church tax exempt status for several facilities on its property that the Board decided were not an integral component to their ministries.

Dan Scott, pastor at Christ Church, told The Christian Post that the Board deemed their bookstore and their gymnasium as taxable entities because the bookstore had some literature that was not "related to our religious purpose" and the gym was seen as competing with other gymnasiums in the area. more >>

A secular group has filed a complaint with the Internal Revenue Service against the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, alleging that the ministry's activity during the election season violates its tax exempt status.

Freedom From Religion Foundation, a Wisconsin-based organization, argued in its filed report that BGEA's "vote biblical values" ad campaign violated the IRS' rules on religious groups and political campaigning.

"BGEA, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, has run full-page ads publicizing Billy Graham's call for the electorate to 'vote biblical values,'" said FFRF in a statement last week. "The ads have appeared in several 'swing state' newspapers in preparation for tomorrow's heated presidential election. Throughout the month of October, BGEA published articles favorable to Romney, which included a statement by Billy Graham." more >>

A major Christian book publisher's suit against the Department of Health and Human Services' controversial contraception mandate began today.

Arguments were heard Friday morning in Tyndale House Publishers v. Sebelius at the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in Washington, D.C. Representing Tyndale Publishers was the Alliance Defending Freedom, whose senior legal counsel Matt Bowman made arguments on behalf of the Christian business.

"Bible publishers should be free to do business according to the book that they publish," said Bowman in a statement. more >>

Despite fears by Egypt's Coptic Orthodox church that the country's Muslim Brotherhood majority government will draft a constitution mirroring Islamic Sharia law, the denomination's new pope is encouraging politicians to not ignore Christians.

"The beauty of Egyptian society is the presence of Muslims beside Christians. Diversity is strong and beautiful," said Pope Tawadros II during an interview with Reuters news service earlier this week. Tawadros was appointed last Sunday to replace Pope Shenouda III, who died in March after leading Egypt's Orthodox Christians for four decades.

"If a good constitution is presented in which every person finds himself [represented], there is no doubt Egypt will develop," the pope said. "But if the constitution addresses one part of the community and ignores another it will take society backwards." more >>

In a presidential race that many analysts have deemed too close to call, the results of an extensive post-election survey of Christians, including evangelicals and voters across denominational lines will be revealed by the Faith and Freedom Coalition on Wednesday.

Prior to the election, FFC founder Ralph Reed had promised to use his coalition to mobilize an army of grassroots activists nationwide in order to get Christian voters to the polls in numbers never seen before.

The coalition said that it has distributed 30 million voter guides passed out in 117,000 churches, 24 million pieces of mail, and has made 23 million get-out-the-vote calls. more >>

An Oklahoma-based evangelical Christian-led business will present arguments in federal court regarding a preliminary injunction against the HHS Mandate next Thursday.

Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc., a retail chain with an estimated 22,500 employees, will present its argument for an injunction before the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma in Oklahoma City.

At issue is Hobby Lobby's owner's opposition to the HHS Mandate, which would compel the business to provide the certain medical services considered contrary to the owners' beliefs. more >>