Rick Warren

LAKE FOREST, Calif. – Pastor and bestselling author Rick Warren will be joined by three renowned doctors, including cardio surgeon and TV show host Dr. Mehmet Oz, for a health conference and rally to be webcast live from Saddleback Church Saturday morning.

The conference marks the nine-month mark for Saddleback’s Daniel Plan, which is a churchwide campaign that includes a curriculum for small groups and an interactive website with healthy menus, exercise tips, and inspirational stories.

The year-long plan was launched by Warren in an effort to help his congregation and those outside the church learn healthy principles while honoring God with their physical bodies. more >>

A Las Vegas pastor has come out in defense of Rob Bell's decision to leave the church he founded in order to focus on other works such as books and speaking engagements.

"I know Rob Bell. I don't know everything Rob is doing next, but I don't think Rob is any less of a leader, speaker, father or pastor by stepping away from Mars Hill," said Craig Gross, pastor and founder of XXXchurch.com, in a recent blog post.

"I am bothered when I read online about whether that was right for Rob to leave." more >>

When Mars Hill Bible Church pastor Rob Bell released Love Wins in March of this year, many leaders in the evangelical community criticized his work as heretical and universalist, and some even predicted, such as John Piper, that Bell's church career would be adversely affected.

When a promotional video emerged in February for Bell's Love Wins: A Book About Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived, respected evangelical leader John Piper tweeted on Feb. 26, "Farewell Rob Bell."

As news emerged late Thursday that Bell would be leaving Mars Hill, the church he founded in 1999 in Grandville, Michigan, Piper took to his Twitter account to comment. more >>

LAKE FOREST, Calif. – Grief coming as the result of devastating tragedies such as the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the United States is not something anyone can simply process alone, said Orange County megachurch pastor Rick Warren during special weekend services.

The five "Hope & Freedom" services at Saddleback Church led by Warren paid tribute to the families who lost loved ones on 9/11 and the wars that followed. Also, given tribute were the U.S. military members serving in Iraq or Afghanistan in the last 10 years, and the first responders at the scene of the 9/11 attacks.

Warren told the more than 3,000 people at each service at the church's main campus and those watching the webcast at Saddleback.com that there were lessons to be learned from tragedy. more >>

Churches across the country are paying tribute to the nearly 3,000 people who died 10 years ago on Sept. 11. "We remember" is the phrase many are using as the nation mourns the tragic day of the terrorist attacks.

Pastors and Christian ministry leaders offered some brief reflections on the 10th anniversary of the attacks on their Twitter and blog pages. The following is a compilation of their statements.

"The legacy of 9/11...set aside self-interest and petty partisanship and pursues solutions for our common good."– Jim Daly, president of Focus on the Family more >>

Born and raised in New York City, Pastor Gregg Farah knew even before the tragedy of 9/11 that he would someday be leaving his job as a youth ministry leader at a Southern California megachurch to plant a church in his hometown.

Farah, along with his wife, just didn’t know when.

His stay in California was originally just about going to college, Farah said. However, he and his wife ended up attending and becoming leaders at Saddleback Church in Orange County. Farah became a youth ministry leader in 1999 and was under the guidance of the church’s well-known lead pastor, Rick Warren, and highly-regarded youth ministry pastor, Doug Fields. more >>