At a recent interfaith prayer breakfast in Jacksonville, Fla., Bishop T.D. Jakes, lead pastor of The Potter's House in Dallas, Texas, encouraged religious and city leaders to acknowledge their "daunting job" of helping at-risk youth by uniting on a private, public, and spiritual front to improve graduation rates and decrease crime and unemployment rates in the city.

Jakes served as the keynote speaker at Mayor Alvin Brown's annual Interfaith Breakfast on Monday. along with speakers from Faith Temple Assembly of God, Evangel Temple, Alachua-Central African Methodist Episcopal Church, Celebration Church, and Most Holy Redeemer Catholic Church.

"We need to fight the good fight of faith," Jakes told those in attendance, as reported by The Florida-Times Union. more >>

The iconic Oscar Mayer Wienermobile recently made a stop at a South Dakota church and took part in a local charity supported by the congregation.

Asbury United Methodist Church of Sioux Falls got to have the Wienermobile parked in its lot, with the church's Mission Committee grilling hot dogs and serving "Tropical Sno" shaved ice. Kip Roozen, pastor at Asbury UMC, told The Christian Post that the Wienermobile visit on Sunday was "an awesome, fun experience."

"It really felt like a community event rather than a 'church' event. There were people of all ages – children, youth, young couples, families, middle aged, elderly," said Roozen. more >>

Pope Francis has spoken out against what he called a global "cult of money," including the free market system, and urged the world's leaders to come together and adopt ethics to help the poor.

"While the income of a minority is increasing exponentially, that of the majority is crumbling. This imbalance results from ideologies which uphold the absolute autonomy of markets and financial speculation, and thus deny the right of control to States, which are themselves charged with providing for the common good. A new, invisible and at times virtual, tyranny is established, one which unilaterally and irremediably imposes its own laws and rules," Francis told foreign diplomats at the Vatican in a speech focused on the economic crisis.

The leader of the Roman Catholic Church also criticized the "heartless cult of money" that many around the world have embraced, and compared it to the worship of the golden calf a found in Exodus 32:15-34. more >>

For 40 years Jesus House, a nondenominational Christian outreach organization, has been transforming the lives of those battling addiction, suffering from mental illness, or facing the perils of homelessness and poverty. More than a shelter, Jesus House is a hub of community support that transforms the lives of their residents, as well as the tens of thousands of people who depend on the work of Jesus House volunteers who seek out the needs of the community.

Early in the morning, before the sun peeks over the horizon, Jesus House volunteers in Oklahoma City, Okla., are fast at work preparing 100,000 meals a year to feed the homeless. Many provide aid to homebound senior citizens by repairing pipes, mowing lawns, building fences, and providing grocery baskets and bottled water, along with prayers for their brothers and sisters in Christ.

Rick Denny, who's been the director of Jesus House since 2011, is often invited to churches across the state of Oklahoma to speak about the impactful work the organization's staff and volunteers are doing to improve the lives of those who are living at the shelter, as well as the services they provide in their community. But one thing he has always wanted to bring along with him to churches and civic organizations is a house choir. more >>

Alumni of a small, private Catholic liberal arts college located in Atchison, Kansas, protested on Saturday while Congressman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) delivered the commencement address at the university.

The group of alumni, which also signed a petition urging the college to rescind Ryan's invitation to speak, argued that Ryan's budget proposal, which seeks to lower the national deficit by cutting entitlement programs, is against the Catholic values of helping the poor.

"Ryan's budget will seriously reduce the significant and necessary role played by the government in the lives of Americans in need," the petition, which was addressed to the college's president, Stephen Minnis, and signed by 365 supporters on change.org, stated. more >>

An apparent homeless man in Austin, Texas, has recently garnered the attention of the Internet community for conducting what appears to be a social experiment to determine "which religion cares the most about the homeless."

A photo, which has gone viral on the sharing websites Reddit and Imgur, shows what appears to be a homeless man, who has been identified by one Reddit user as James of Austin sitting cross-legged in front of a store and holding a cardboard sign which reads "which religion cares the most about the homeless."

Those who have reportedly met the man claim that he said both atheists and Christians have donated the most money. more >>