Former Minnesota Governor and GOP presidential candidate Tim Pawlenty took aim at both President Obama and fellow Republicans on Tuesday in a foreign policy speech delivered at the Council on Foreign Relations.

At a time when the other GOP candidates are establishing themselves to the left of Obama on military involvement in the Middle East, Pawlenty's speech will likely solidify his position as the most hawkish of the GOP candidates. Pawlenty warned that, “now is not the time to retreat from freedom's rise.”

“Parts of the Republican Party now seem to be trying to outbid the Democrats in appealing to isolationist sentiments. This is no time for uncertain leadership in either party. The stakes are too high,” said Pawlenty. more >>

GOP presidential candidate Tim Pawlenty told CBN’s Pat Robertson that his wife Mary led him to the Lord and that his faith played an important role in his life.

“She [Mary] led me to the Lord and was a powerful leader and mentor in that journey for me,” former Minnesota Governor Pawlenty said in an interview on the 700 Club with Pat Robertson Thursday.

“I was raised a Catholic, and Mary and I met … she came from a Baptist tradition. So as we were getting married, we got serious about that … I wanted to reconcile our faith lives and she did too. So I started attending her church,” Pawlenty said. more >>

Evangelical preacher John MacArthur spoke at the 2011 Resolved Conference in Palm Springs, Calif., Saturday evening, saying America’s sins were akin to that of Israel’s and the nation was under divine judgment.

“Materialism, drunkard pleasure seeking, arrogant conceit, defiant sinfulness, moral perversion, and corrupt leadership… Do you not see [them] in America?” MacArthur asked a roughly 3,000-strong Christian audience at the four-day conference which began June 24.

The head pastor of Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, Calif., MacArthur identified Israel’s six sins leading to six curses on that nation from Isaiah 5, saying those misdeeds were not isolated to Israel. more >>

Evangelist Franklin Graham is gearing up for his first-ever American Hispanic festival this weekend. Festival de Esperanza (Hope Festival) will also be the first time Graham is holding his signature evangelistic event in Los Angeles.

It’s the city where his father, renowned evangelist Billy Graham, first began to gain attention when he preached for eight weeks straight in a tent to a total of some 350,000 people in 1949. The younger Graham was invited by Hispanic churches in the Greater Los Angeles area. More than 600 Latino churches have been preparing for the June 25-26 festival.

“Our hope is that anyone who is struggling with questions about life or would like a new beginning will watch this Festival of Hope,” said Franklin Graham, president and CEO of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and the international Christian relief organization Samaritan's Purse, in a statement. more >>

The affectionately named “Vicar of Baghdad”, Canon Andrew White, has been named as this year’s recipient of the prestigious International First Freedom Award for his extraordinary commitment to peace-keeping and religious freedom in Iraq.

Past winners include former British Prime Minister Tony Blair in 1999 for his efforts in the Northern Ireland peace process; former Czech President Václav Havel for his role in Charter 77 and the Velvet Revolution; as well as three-time Nobel Peace Prize nominee Father Elias Chacour, founder of Israel’s Mar Elias Educational Institutions.

The awarded was announced by the First Freedom Center, an American institute existing to advance freedom of religion and conscience. more >>

Pro-Palestinian protests have erupted in Milan this past week as an outcry against the city’s decision to host the cultural event titled “Unexpected Israel.”

The event is the largest Israeli cultural event ever organized abroad and has been held in Milan’s central plaza. Its purpose is to display the diversity of culture within Israel and to encourage peace and understanding with Italy. The event started on June 13 and will continue until June 23, despite the pro-Palestinian protests calling for it to end earlier.

Pro-Palestinian activists are angry with officials for allowing what they see as Zionist propaganda into their city. The group claims it is using its right to openly question the accuracy of information being displayed by the event. They also urge Italians to join in the demonstrations as well as participate in the larger Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions Movement. This larger movement pushes for an international boycott of Israel in all areas, from academic to trade. more >>