Brother Andrew has a natural kindness to him that makes those around him – even people meeting him for the first time – feel at ease and as if they've known him for years. Perhaps this gift is part of the reason why the Open Doors founder has been so successful in befriending Hamas, Taliban, and other Muslim extremist leaders, while openly sharing his Christian faith with them. Open Doors is an international ministry that assists persecuted Christians around the world.

The Christian Post recently sat down with Brother Andrew to look back at the beginning of his ministry as a Bible smuggler behind the Iron Curtain, to get his take on how American megachurch pastors are doing on advocating for persecuted Christians, to hear about what's it like to evangelize people and lose them to war, and to see if this 84-year-old man has plans to slow down.

Below is an edited transcript of the interview. more >>

WASHINGTON – Rick Warren, pastor of Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif., showed a heightened interest and concern for religious freedom in the United States at a Tuesday event hosted by the Religious Freedom Project at Georgetown University's Berkley Center for Religion, Peace & World Affairs in Washington, D.C. Warren spoke about the Department of Health and Human Services' birth control mandate and other religious freedom issues.

Religious freedom is not just the freedom to worship, Warren explained, it is also the freedom to practice one's faith. One-third of Jesus' ministry was health care (through healing), Warren noted. Plus, the Church has been involved in health care for 2,000 years and even invented the hospital.

The birth control mandate, though, requires all employers to cover contraception, sterilization and abortifacient drugs in their employees' health insurance plans. There is a religious exemption, but it is so narrow that most religious organizations, including Catholic hospitals, are not exempt. They will be required to pay for services in opposition to the teachings of their faith. Catholic leaders have complained that the Obama administration is requiring them to choose between violating their faith and carrying out the duties of their faith to care for the poor and sick. more >>

WASHINGTON – Pastor Rick Warren of Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif., announced Tuesday that he will begin a radio show the first week of April.

Warren said at a media gathering at Georgetown University today that he is doing the show to bring hope to a country that is in a discouragement period and that he wants to speak out more about the deterioration of religious freedom in the United States and around the world.

The show will be syndicated through Salem Communications and air for half an hour, Monday through Friday, in the 25 largest radio markets, he said at a press gathering hosted by the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace & World Affairs' Religious Freedom Project at Georgetown University, Washington, D.C. more >>

Pastor Rick Warren of Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif., will appear at Georgetown University's Berkley Center for Religion, Peace & World Affairs next week to discuss religious freedom at a time when individuals and institutions are being challenged about putting their faith into public practice.

The discussion at Berkley Center is scheduled for Tuesday, Feb. 12, and will feature Warren as well as Timothy Shah, the associate director of the Religious Freedom Project at the center which is sponsoring the event.

Shah told The Christian Post Thursday that Warren was invited to the discussion because the megachurch pastor and best-selling author "is a leading voice in America on behalf of religious freedom for all people, both here and abroad." more >>

Influential pastor Rick Warren, founding and senior pastor of Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif., celebrated his 59th birthday on Monday.

Although Warren didn't mention his birthday to his nearly 900,000 Twitter followers, his wife, Kay, tweeted, "Happy Birthday to the love of my life, @RickWarren! What a guy!!" While Seattle megachurch pastor Mark Driscoll tweeted, "Happy birthday, @RickWarren! Jesus loves you and so do many of us."

Actress Roma Downey tweeted, "@RickWarren: You CAN'T make God stop loving you. because his love for you is based on who HE is, not what YOU do. Happy Birthday Rick!" And Christian conservative political strategist Ralph Reed tweeted, "Happy birthday, @rickwarren. I appreciate your ministry. Stand firm for the Gospel." more >>

Saddleback Church Senior Pastor Rick Warren, making an appearance on the OWN network's "Oprah's Lifeclass," assigned a "homework assignment" to the audience by telling them to open up the Bible and start reading the Book of John.

"You are a product of your past, but you are not a prisoner of your past. It has influence over you, but it's just one of the cards," Warren said on the episode that was aired on Jan. 13, adding that reading the Book of John can help people come to that realization.

While promoting the 10th anniversary of his best-selling non-fiction book, The Purpose Driven Life, Warren created an analogy between life and the card game of poker. more >>