When the Rev. Jim Liberatore gave his young congregation carte blanche to use social media during his sermon two weeks ago, about 25 percent of his 700-member church jumped at the offer. But now, even his older congregants want to talk about Jesus on social media.

In a move he calls the "big splash," the rector of St. Andrew's Episcopal Church in Pearland, Texas, said instead of railing against the practice of some of his congregants to hang out on social media on mobile devices during church services, he embraced it as an opportunity to reach a new audience.

"The bigger reason we did it was really so that we could evangelize," said Liberatore. "I have a young church, the median age is 34. It's a fairly young congregation; they all use social media in many ways shapes and forms. And part of communicating with the secular culture is to be able to find ways to communicate with them," said Liberatore in an interview with The Christian Post on Monday. "Since they are often on social media on a Sunday morning, I said 'tweet pictures, comments, stories, things that went well,'" explained Liberatore. more >>

Tim Tebow's highly-anticipated convocation speech at Liberty University on Friday has been described by students as "inspirational" and "amazing," with many taking to Twitter to express their excitement at witnessing the evangelical NFL player speak at their school.

While Tebow's speech took place at the private, Christian university at 10 a.m., photos posted on Twitter show a line of students stretching for blocks outside of the university's auditorium hours before the event, hoping to get a good seat for the athlete's convocation talk.

Many tweets indicated that Tebow, who was described by some students as a "role model," received an endless amount of applause from those in attendance, especially from the female members of the audience. more >>

In a recent interview, former church leader Rob Bell sought to clarify the reason why, in late 2011, he left Mars Hill Bible Church in Grandville, Mich., arguing that he was not driven out by his congregation over his controversial book Love Wins. Rather, he and his wife felt they had a new spiritual calling awaiting them in California.

A November 2012 piece in The New Yorker implied that Bell and his wife, Kristen, had an immense fallout with the Mars Hill Bible congregation after the release of his book, Love Wins: A Book About Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived, which questioned the existence of a literal and eternal hell and the evangelical teaching that only those who believe in Jesus Christ go to heaven.

The New Yorker article claims that Bell lost members of his congregation numbering in the thousands as a result of his controversial book. more >>

Renowned neurosurgeon Dr. Benjamin Carson, who became the subject of a national conversation after delivering a politically incorrect speech at the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington D.C. last month, talked with The Christian Post on Thursday about race, politics and life after medicine. Below is an edited  transcript of that conversation.

CP:  You have been a star and a role model since the 1980s for many people who have followed your work and your life story.  But since your speech at the National Prayer Breakfast became public knowledge, your star seems to have morphed into something else. How does the reaction to your speech now, compare to the response you got when you made medical history?

Carson:  Well the response now is just overwhelming. It's almost indescribable the amount of people calling, sending e-mails, sending letters, sending checks, it's just beyond belief.  And everywhere I go, I go to an airport, I go to a train station, people are coming up and just saying "thank, thank you, thank you for speaking up," and you know, I'm getting the very distinct impression that there are a lot of people who have just been beaten into submission and they've just sort of given up hope. And it's just kind of nice to see that reviving, although I don't necessarily see myself as the savior, but I would like to see more people just stand up for what they believe in. more >>

If the 2016 presidential elections were held now, Hillary Clinton would win in match-ups against potential GOP candidates Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin and New Jersey Gov. Christopher Christie, according to results of a national Quinnipiac poll released on Thursday.

The former Secretary of State beats Christie, 45-37 percent; Rubio, 50-34 percent; and Ryan 50-38 percent. However, Democrats Vice President Joe Biden and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo would both lose in a potential match-up with New Jersey Gov. Christopher Christie, according to the poll. =

"Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton would start a 2016 presidential campaign with enormous advantages," said Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute in a statement of the results released on Thursday. "She obviously is by far the best known and her more than 20 years in the public spotlight allows her to create a very favorable impression on the American people. But it is worth noting that she had very good poll numbers in 2006 looking toward the 2008 election, before she faced a relative unknown in Barack Obama," he added. more >>

Craig Gross, founder of XXXChurch.com, a website offering awareness and support to pornography addiction, is teaming up with spoken word poets Jefferson Bethke and Levi The Poet for the #PornKills tour, which will take place every night for one week in various West Coast cities.

Gross told The Christian Post on Wednesday that the three young Christian leaders would be visiting Seattle that night, and will then continue to make their way down the West Coast to Newberg, Ore., on Thursday; Galt, Calif., on Friday; and Lancaster, Calif., on Saturday, ultimately ending their tour Sunday night in Bakersfield, Calif.

One of the most eye-catching aspects of this brief tour will be the mode of transportation used by these three Christian men: a hearse. As Gross told CP, driving down the West Coast in a hearse with the message "porn kills" printed on the side of the vehicle serves as the perfect conversation starter for those battling a pornography addiction. more >>