Robert A. Schuller, who took over for his father for two years as the leader of the Crystal Cathedral, said during a leadership conference about pastoral succession this week that had his father simply let go of his responsibilities seven years ago, the church would still be in the hands of its own ministry.

"The Crystal Cathedral Ministries, the assets and the buildings, would still be in the hands of the ministries if my father would have simply walked away," said Schuller during the webcast hosted by Leadership Network on Tuesday. "When I accepted the role as the next senior pastor he had agreed to be an ambassador-at-large and raise funds for the endowment fund. He didn't do that. He became a sounding board for my sisters and other people that didn't particularly care for the new direction for whatever reason.

"There's no question in my mind whatsoever," he added, talking about the founding pastor of the church, his 86-year-old father, Robert H. Schuller, "had I been given the proper authority and all of the responsibility I had, and had my father simply turned to those that came to them and said, 'I don't have anything to do with that anymore' that it would have been a very, very successful transition because we did lots of things very right." more >>

Well-known speaker and pastor Francis Chan said during a webcast on the subject of pastoral succession that Christian leaders need to focus on God's will in their lives when deciding to stay or leave a church.

"First of all, I think a key to transition is surrender," said Chan, during the Leadership Network hosted event. "A key to everything is surrender – to really come before the Lord and say, 'I will literally stay here as long as you want me to stay' or 'God, I will really go anywhere on the earth.'"

Succession is becoming a big issue in many churches. "In a very real sense, we're all interim pastors," stated the conference hosting organization Leadership Network, while addressing the target audience of church leaders and pastors. "At some point you will not hold the current position you find yourself in at your church. It is only temporary. And that means that there is a 100% chance that you or your church will be a part of a succession or transition." more >>

No one seems to question Tim Tebow's capabilities when it comes to inspirational speeches. So it was with open arms that Wichita State University men's basketball team, fresh off an upset victory over top-seeded Gonzaga during NCAA's March Madness, granted the Jets QB his request to talk to the players on their bus.

"This you will remember for the rest of your lives," said Tebow, whose plane was refueling in Wichita when the Shockers' bus arrived Sunday. "Some of you might go play in the NBA and have great lives, but this is the time you will remember … these are the special times in your lives regardless of what you do in the future."

As the result of Wichita State's 76-70 victory, the Shockers advanced to the "Sweet 16" and are scheduled to play La Salle on Thursday. The Shockers went into the tournament as a No. 9 seed. The team made five consecutive 3-pointers in the win that ousted the West Region's top seed and the nation's No. 1 team during the regular season. more >>

Editor's Note: In this two-part series The Christian Post takes a closer look at the success of "The Bible," a History Channel docudrama series produced by Mark Burnett and his wife, Roma Downey. CP interviews two Christians in the entertainment industry who have been quite impactful and part of a growing movement to see more quality faith-based movies coming out of Hollywood. In part one, CP interviewed Mark Joseph, founder of MJM Entertainment Group. In part two, below, Phil Cooke of Cooke Pictures is interviewed.

The Hollywood entertainment industry is getting the message – it's good business to respect Christians in America. Thanks to the incredible number of viewers tuning in each Sunday to The History Channel's "The Bible" miniseries, many leaders in the movie and TV business "totally get that," says author and TV producer Phil Cooke.

"There's no question that decision makers in Hollywood and the media business are getting the message … It's simply good business to respect that audience, and I think the vast majority of media leaders I encounter totally get that," said Cooke. more >>

The United States Commission on Civil Rights held a public briefing Friday in order to take a closer look at how the nation's nondiscrimination principles are coexisting with those of religious liberty.

The half-day meeting between expert panelists and the commission reflected the divided sentiment in the country over such issues as the HHS mandate and college campus access for Christian fellowship groups, InterVarsity National Field Director for the Northeast Greg Jao told The Christian Post.

"It's interesting how partisan and divided both the panel and commission seem to be, which really reflects the conversation we are having in the country about religious liberty," said Jao, who attended the briefing. More than 17 different chapters of InterVarsity have sent in reports to the commission for review and 10 more chapters plan to do the same, he said. more >>

Editor's Note:  There are two parts to this story: an interview with Ryan Shook and an interview with Josh Shook, co-authors of the new book Firsthand: Ditching Secondhand Religion for a Faith of Your Own.  Below is the interview with Ryan Shook.  

Twenty-three-year-old Ryan Shook grew up in church knowing all the "good Christian kid" answers. The son of New York Times best-selling authors Kerry and Chris Shook, founders of Woodlands Church, a megachurch near Houston, says his faith "worked" for him until he entered high school. At that point, he said he was faced with criticism, rejection, isolation, and insecurity.

Earlier this week, Shook and his brother Josh (22) released their book, Firsthand: Ditching Secondhand Religion for a Faith of Your Own. The book about breaking free from "secondhand religion" is receiving high marks from well-known Christian leaders. more >>