Millions of students across the country and globally are participating in a "See You at the Pole" event at their schools today, praying for a spiritual awakening, the theme chosen for the 22nd annual prayer rally.

"If two or more people join together and pray for something, that can move mountains and I love that," Illinois high school student Lasha Lobo told The Christian Post on Tuesday. "I love that I can go to school without feeling like I'm drowning in the sea of high school."

See You at the Pole, the global day of student prayer, began in 1990 as a grass roots movement with ten students praying at their school. More than two decades later, millions around the world pray on their campuses on the fourth Wednesday in September. more >>

An evangelist perhaps best known for carrying his 12-foot cross around the globe during the last 44 years – often to places of tragedy – didn't have to travel thousands of miles to share his love for Jesus late last week. Denver area resident Arthur Blessitt was one of the first responders to the aftermath of the carnage perpetrated by a gunman at an Aurora, Colo., movie theater.

On Friday morning, Blessitt took his cross from the parking lot of a nearby Target and walked behind police lines to the Century 16 theater, the site where 12 people were killed and 58 wounded by suspected shooter James Holmes during a midnight showing of the new Batman movie.

"People rush to the cross, touching it, crying, praying and then we sing a song and some people bring flowers. Dozens and hundreds of people have been coming to the crosses. They find comfort and hope and see the love of Jesus. It's moving beyond words – a light in darkness," Blessitt wrote in an email to The Christian Post after finishing three days of ministering to people in grief close to the massacre. more >>

Churches in the city of Aurora and much of Colorado held special prayer services and vigils Friday night in response to a mass shooting in which 12 people were killed and 58 were wounded inside a theater during a midnight showing of the new Batman movie. Pastors and ministry leaders are making not only their churches available, but their spiritual counsel as well.

The gunman identified by police as James Holmes is reported to have committed one of the deadliest mass shootings in recent U.S. history.

In addition to a two-hour open time of prayer in its chapel Friday evening, church leaders of Cherry Hills Community Church in Highlands Ranch announced that this coming Sunday's message to be given by Lee Strobel has been changed due to the tragedy. more >>

Elevation Church Pastor Steven Furtick preached at a Hillsong Conference in Sydney for the first time on Tuesday, telling thousands of people in attendance and an online audience that God doesn't need anyone to "feel ready" to answer their calling.

"Abraham wasn't ready. Moses wasn't ready … The disciples were never ready and they never got it. Even when they got it they still didn't get it … each time they were ready they started to doubt because their faith was in their readiness," said Furtick, referring to people and stories in the Bible that included reluctant participants in God's plans.

"I certainly wasn't ready when I was 16 years old and God saved me." more >>

Seattle-based megachurch pastor Mark Driscoll, who is never shy of controversy, stirred the social media sphere on Monday when his name began trending on Twitter after posting a link to a news story video with a rather peculiar storyline – and a provocative comment.

"Do not bring your tambourine to church unless you want to get Tasered. [story link]" tweeted Driscoll, who is @PastorMark on Twitter.

The lead pastor of Mars Hill Church referenced a story out of Oklahoma about a "religious ruckus" at a church in the city of Edmond that resulted when a woman was "apparently playing a tambourine too loudly during Wednesday night services," according to a local TV news report. more >>

NEW YORK - The Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) won on Friday a permanent injunction in the 17-year legal battle involving the Bronx Household of Faith and the NYC Board of Education. Religious groups will now be allowed to meet freely for worship services in public school facilities.

"Churches that have been helping communities for years can continue to offer the hope that empty buildings can't," expressed ADF Senior Counsel Jordan Lorence in a statement. "The court's order allows churches and other religious groups to meet for worship services in empty school buildings on weekends on the same terms as other groups. ADF will continue to defend this constitutionally protected right if the city chooses to continue using taxpayer money to evict the very groups that are selflessly helping the city's communities, including the public schools themselves."

The ADF had argued against claims that allowing congregations to come on Sundays to worship at public schools would be seen as government endorsement of religion, and insisted that churches would not be doing anything that religious groups at school are not already allowed to do. more >>