LAKE FOREST, Calif. – Every Man Ministries founder Kenny Luck launched a nationwide set of conferences addressing the need for Christian men to engage more actively in society and impact culture in a positive way at Saddleback Church.

More than 700 men attended the IGNITE conference Saturday hosted at the megachurch that is led by Pastor Rick Warren in Orange County. At the outset of the event, Luck led the men in prayer for Warren and his family, whose son, Matthew, took his own life a little more than a week ago after a lifelong battle with mental illness.

"If you didn't believe we were in a battle with evil before, we are in a bare knuckle brawl with evil now," said Luck before praying. "The lines are being drawn and you can see it in culture." more >>

Christian leaders in the U.S. responded quickly to the bomb blasts at the Boston Marathon on Monday that left at least 3 dead and more than 130 injured, by sharing their own grief over what is being called a terrorist attack, and calling for prayer.

"Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted (Matthew 5:4)," wrote Pastor David Fairchild, who leads Mars Hill West Seattle Church, in a blog post on the church's website shortly after the bombings.

"I am deeply grieved by the early reports of two blasts occurring at the finish line of the Boston Marathon," Fairchild stated. "Sadly, in a split second, people and families have been shattered and forever changed by this terrible tragedy. more >>

Pastor Rick Warren sent a letter of appreciation via his newsletter over the weekend to everyone that prayed for his family in the aftershock of the suicide of his 27-year-old son Matthew a little more than a week ago.

A private memorial service was held last week for Matthew Warren, who died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound on Friday, April 5. He had struggled with mental illness since birth, said Warren, who is the lead pastor at Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif.

During the week, the response to the Warren family tragedy not only garnered sympathy and condolences from around the world, but also online vitriol from the well-known pastor's detractors. more >>

The quest to live longer is an old one. Around this time, we celebrate the 500th anniversary of the first known European discovering Florida---Ponce de Leon. This was at Easter time, during which in his native Spain, the cathedrals were filled with flowers to celebrate the Resurrection. Seeing all the flowers in the verdant land, he called it the land of the flower---la Florida.

He heard about the Fountain of Youth, which you can visit to this day in St. Augustine, Florida. There you can see the stone cross he and his men made to mark the year---1513.

The Fountain of Youth supposedly would rejuvenate its drinkers. Local Indians who were in great shape appeared to be the beneficiaries of this fountain of youth. It turns out it wasn't the water that made them live better; it was their mating patterns and seafood diet rich in protein. more >>

If you ever wondered how much of an impact the Christian faith of Dr. Hannah Gay, the University of Mississippi Medical Center pediatrician whose treatment "functionally cured" a baby girl born with an HIV infection, has had on her work, you don't have to anymore. Her faith is "everything," she says.

The former Baptist missionary who spent years living with her husband in Ethiopia in the 1980s opened up about her faith to the Baptist Press in a recent interview and she explained that her Christian faith defines her life.

"My faith affects everything I do. It defines who I am," she said. "It is actually everything I do and that includes my medical career. And certainly it's the love of Christ that I'm passing on to these children [patients]. It's not anything from myself; it comes from my faith." more >>

Prison Fellowship, the world's largest Christian outreach to prisoners, ex-prisoners and their families, is partnering with the producers of "Unconditional," and plans to show screenings of the inspirational movie inside two Florida correctional facilities during Easter weekend.

The events also feature Prison Fellowship CEO Jim Liske and "Papa Joe" Bradford, a former maximum security inmate now working to improve the lives of Nashville's at-risk kids. His life is the inspiration behind the film.

"To help 'Papa Joe' share his message of God's life-changing, unconditional love is an honor," Liske said. "And this Easter weekend screening is just the beginning, as Prison Fellowship programs have the potential to connect or reconnect inmates in 1,200 prisons across the country to God's love and their purpose in life through this inspiring film." more >>