LAKE FOREST, Calif. – Extreme-survivor expert and "Man vs. Wild" star Bear Grylls made a special appearance at Saddleback Church Saturday – at one point receiving some audience participation from the church's pastor, Rick Warren.

"What's the worst thing you've eaten?" asked Grylls' assistant host, Jamie Haith, at the free event promoted primarily by the church's men's ministry, but open to everyone.

"It's a long list," Grylls responded. "They all blend into a bad experience." However, one meal topped the list: raw goat testicles offered to him by a Saharan tribesman – a symbol of honor that Grylls could not refuse. more >>

A prominent evangelical's recent blog headline – "Is the Megachurch the New Liberalism?" – has irked Pastor Rick Warren, who is calling for an apology for the "sensational" title.

Warren, founder of Saddleback Church, sent a tweet to Dr. Albert Mohler, president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, on Tuesday, saying: "A TITLE questioning1000s of churches' orthodoxy due to size is unChristlike.U need to apologize to pastors Al."

In a blog post Tuesday, Mohler described the emergence and growth of the megachurch (which draw at least 2,000 in attendance) and acknowledged that they have "helped to anchor conservative Christianity" in the United States. more >>

GARDEN GROVE, Calif. – Author Kay Warren delivered a sermon on choosing joy at the Crystal Cathedral during two Sunday worship services that were taped for the Garden Grove church's "Hour of Power" TV broadcast.

The wife of Saddleback Church founding Pastor Rick Warren adapted her message from her recently released book, Choose Joy: Because Happiness Isn't Enough.

Warren told the congregation about her own struggles to find joy even when the Bible clearly states a Christian's life should be full of joy. more >>

In his new book, Bad Religion: How We Became a Nation of Heretics, New York Times columnist Ross Douthat argues that orthodox American Christianity has weakened since the 1950s to be replaced by a number of heresies, both conservative and liberal. This "bad religion" has resulted in adverse consequences for American society, politics and culture.

In a Thursday interview with The Christian Post, Douthat talked more about his thesis, responded to some criticisms, and discussed how his diverse Christian upbringing (charismatic, evangelical and Catholic) helped inform the book.

The following is an edited transcript of that conversation: more >>

A look into the ancestral family history of Saddleback Church Pastor Rick Warren produced for an episode of the PBS series "Finding Your Roots" revealed at least two big surprises for the renowned evangelical leader.

The program's host, Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr., was able to show through genealogical research that Warren had several relatives rooted in church leadership positions dating back to the nation's founding.

However, perhaps more shocking was the discovery of a great grandfather dating back three generations with a profession viewed as less than admirable today – a slave owner. more >>

In an Easter Sunday interview on ABC's "This Week," megachurch pastor and best-selling author Rick Warren talked about a range of cultural and political issues, including President Obama's birth control mandate, the intersection of religion and politics and whether one can get to Heaven by being a good person.

Host Jake Tapper noted that Warren has been an outspoken critic of the Obama administration's decision to require employers to provide insurance coverage of free birth control without a broad religious exemption. In a February speech, Obama offered what he considered an accommodation. Religious employers with objections would not have to provide the coverage, but their employees must be offered the coverage at no additional charge by the insurance company. Warren said that his concerns were not satisfied by this change.

"The issue here is not about women's health," Warren explained. "There is a greater principle and that is, do you have a right to decide what your faith practices. Now, I don't have a problem with contraception. I'm a Protestant, I'm an evangelical. But I do support my Catholic brothers and sisters to believe what they want to believe." more >>