Megachurch

Pastor Perry Noble won't be at the pulpit of his megachurch this Sunday. The NewSpring Church pastor has taken a two-month break for the first time in 12 years of ministry.

The extended leave is not due to a marriage, family or church problem, he has clarified. Instead, Noble said he realized he needed to do "what sets me up for long-term success and sets this church up for the same way."

With 90 percent of people entering into ministry and not finishing and some pastors being worked too hard by their church, he noted, he decided to take a sabbatical. more >>

Crystal Cathedral Ministries will celebrate Memorial Day Sunday with a veteran of the Navy SEALs and a representative of the New York Police Department. Bobby Schuller, grandson of the ministry's founder, will deliver the sermon.

The Garden Grove, Calif. ministry, known for its long-running "Hour of Power" worship broadcast as well as its iconic glass church building, invited former Navy SEAL, current author and full-time minister Chad Williams to speak to the congregation Sunday.

Williams served tours of duty in the Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Iraq, having been one of only 13 from a class of 173 to make it straight through to graduation when trained to be a SEAL. "Williams sank into wild bouts of drinking and fighting off-duty, before accepting Christ," according to a statement from the church. Williams will discuss his testimony shared in the book SEAL of God, published in April. more >>

Anti-bullying expert Paul Coughlin says serial bullies often have inordinate self-esteem and do not view themselves negatively as many presume. This evil, he stresses, must not be under-reacted to.

Coughlin, founder of The Protectors – an organization aimed at equipping children, parents, and school officials against the rising trend of bullying – said at a seminar at Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif., on Saturday that violent young boys often have a personal sense of superiority and entitlement.

"We praise our kids a lot thinking they are just going to be wonderful people. And in reality we have created them monsters. They are over-praised; it has led to inordinate self-esteem. Self-esteem is a good thing; inordinate self-esteem is a bad thing … This over-praise leads to a fixed mindset where talent is genetic and you have it baby," Coughlin said at the half-day seminar titled "Justice Begins on the Playground." more >>

Texas megachurch pastor Joel Osteen has spoken out on the Alabama state law that makes it a crime for pastors to provide church shelter for illegal immigrants, as residents protest against a new provision to the bill that may force courts to disclose information on undocumented aliens.

"I'm not up to speed on it all, but I think in general you know the Bible tells us to help one another and to help those in need so you know, I think it's a tough position to not be able to welcome people to our churches. You know we don't necessarily know who they are," said Pastor Osteen said in an interview earlier this week with WIAT-TV, while he was visiting Birmingham.

In 2011, Alabama Christian leaders stood up against state officials seeking to enact the "nation's most merciless" anti-immigration law which puts pastors in danger of facing criminal charges for transporting, concealing, harboring or shield an illegal immigrant. The Beason-Hammon Alabama Taxpayer and Citizen Protection Act takes aim at people without proper alien registration living in the state. more >>

Crystal Cathedral's newly minted president said Wednesday that the ministry behind the "Hour of Power" might be moving to a Catholic church in their Orange County, Calif., neighborhood, although probably not for another year and a half.

John Charles, president and CEO of the ministry, reportedly said in a meeting of the congregants and the church board that St. Callistus Catholic Church in Garden Grove was the only option the bankrupt ministry could consider moving to when it comes time to relocate, as its campus was sold to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange in February.

Following the famous ministry's bankruptcy filing in Oct. 2010 and subsequent sale, the congregation was given three years from when the escrow closed to find a new venue. more >>

Evangelist Greg Laurie can be seen tracing the steps of the disciple Peter in his upcoming sermon filmed in Jerusalem that will be shown to his church in Southern California and webcast to a global online audience during worship services this Sunday.

"Greg traces Peter's story from the Shepherd's fields to Jerusalem and the site that many believe to be the house of Caiaphas where Jesus was detained on the night of his arrest," said John Collins, executive director of Harvest Ministries, to The Christian Post. Collins along with Harvest's tech team viewed the video from Israel on Thursday.

"On that site, Greg tells the story of Peter's denial before the rooster crowed. more >>