An article by a former single-semester student speculated recently that Liberty University, founded by Dr. Jerry Falwell Sr. 42 years ago in Lynchburg, Va., had taken a progressive stance on same-sex marriage due to the evangelical Christian college remaining "quiet" while members of the conservative community spoke out on the Supreme Court's review of two major marriage cases.

Kevin Roose, who shared his experiences at Liberty in The Unlikely Disciple: A Sinner's Semester at America's Holiest University (2009), concluded in his article titled "At Jerry Falwell's Christian College, It's 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' on Gay Marriage:"

"That newfound progressivism should worry some of the school's alumni, but it should cheer proponents of same-sex marriage. After all, politicians in both parties are converting to the gay-marriage cause in droves and forcing the movement's opponents to the fringes. And if the anti-gay-marriage movement can't get vocal, broad-based support in Lynchburg – at a school founded expressly to promote conservative Christian values – it may not be able to find it anywhere." more >>

The Evangelical Immigration Table, a group of evangelical pastors and organizations formed to support immigration reform, has bought airtime on Christian radio stations in four key states – Colorado, Florida, North Carolina, and Texas – to encourage members of Congress to pass comprehensive immigration reform.

The ads began running just after Easter Sunday. They will feature the voices of pastors from the area in which the ads run.

In one example, the voice in the ad says, in part, "As Christians, we should be known by our love ... many of our neighbors come here seeking opportunity, but our dysfunctional immigration system breaks up families and causes suffering. Christ calls all of us to compassion and to justice. I invite you to join a growing movement of Christians asking our political leaders for immigration solutions rooted in biblical values that reflect each person's God-given dignity, respect the rule of law, protect family unity, guarantee secure borders, ensure fairness for taxpayers, and establish a path toward citizenship." more >>

Today's young evangelical Christians, or "millennial" evangelicals, are too influenced by the culture and do not practice deep thinking, or a "life of the mind," several young evangelical leaders argued at a Monday panel hosted by The Institute on Religion & Democracy.

Millennial evangelicals are too influenced by "Oprah-doxy" rather than orthodoxy, Eric Teetsel, director of The Manhattan Declaration, complained.

"Orthodoxy," Teetsel said, "requires the cultivation of what my professors at Wheaton called the 'life of the mind.' When considering an issue, orthodoxy lays out first principles and are non-negotiable truths, with the Bible as a touchstone, creating a framework through which the merits of ideas can be considered and their consequences evaluated. more >>

Joshua DuBois, the ordained Pentecostal minister who led the Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships under President Barack Obama, said in a recent interview that his former boss is "a deeply faithful president and didn't need a whole bunch of help cultivating that faith" during his four-year tenure at the White House.

DuBois, 30, resigned from his post in February and has since become a religion columnist at the Daily Beast and is set to teach faith-based courses at New York University this year. He told ABC News outside St. John's Episcopal Church in Washington, D.C., where the first family recently attended Easter service, that President Obama had a penchant for the Book of Job and other Old Testament writings in the Bible when it came to his daily devotionals.

"He spent a lot of time thinking about the Book of Job and Job overcoming trials," said DuBois, reflecting on the daily readings he would send to the president. "We also spent a lot of time in the prophets, particularly the prophet Isaiah. But [he] reflects on some theologians as well, like C.S. Lewis and Howard Thurman." more >>

Liberty University has announced that for the first time in its 42-year history a woman will be the keynote speaker at its commencement ceremony, with the evangelical Christian college revealing Sunday that Fox News correspondent Shannon Bream will take the stage one day after evangelical Christian apologist Ravi Zacharias speaks at the baccalaureate ceremony.

"So humbled and thrilled to be speaking at @LibertyU commencement – can't wait to see our amazing grads and their loved ones!" Bream tweeted Monday. Bream, who covers mostly Supreme Court issues for Fox News, graduated from the Lynchburg, Va., university in 1993.

Bream also is the first Liberty University graduate to speak at commencement, although she previously addressed students at the Christian school during a 2009 convocation. The Fox News reporter, who joined the network in 2007 and is based in Washington, D.C., holds a Doctor of Jurisprudence degree that she earned at Florida State University College of Law. more >>

Evangelical leader Edith Schaeffer, who co-founded L'Abri, a Christian ministry, with her husband, prolific evangelical author Francis Schaeffer, passed away quietly in her sleep early Saturday.

L'Abri was founded in Switzerland in 1955 as a Christian retreat center where people of any faith, or no faith, could come to learn and discuss theological and philosophical issues. During the 1960s, it became popular among some of the counter-cultural, or "hippie," movements of the time.

"What a lovely person Edith is – and how thankful we are that she has gone at last to her eternal rest. One wonders, too, with her life-long and quite proper excitement about the 'great tapestry of God' could she have chosen a more fitting day than Easter Saturday to round off her own amazing contribution to that sublime fabric!" son-in law Ranald Macaulay wrote on the L'Abri website. more >>