Youth

Jefferson Bethke’s “Why I Hate Religion, But Love Jesus” YouTube sensation has garnered over 15 million views and thousands of comments since its Jan. 10 release. In a tell-all interview with The Christian Post, Bethke shares his views on religion, the controversy surrounding his video, and changes he wish he could make to his message, now gone viral.

The 22-year-old shared that this video was “not as big as it looked” – that it was the collaborative product of his poetry and a friend’s video production skills. However, the emotion behind “Why I Hate Religion, But Love Jesus” was Scripture-based, he told CP.

“My heart behind the video and the lyrics really has to do with just reading the Scripture and seeing a staunch juxtaposition that Jesus would always do in regards to highlighting people who are only about the external not the internal,” Bethke said. more >>

Ariane Noelle Patterson has left her family and friends in shock after the Gardner-Webb University Religious Studies major and passionate Christian, collapsed in class on her 21st birthday, just hours after thanking God "for another year of life."

Patterson lost consciousness while in her "Life and Letters of Paul" class at the North Carolina university on Tuesday, Jan. 17, and, despite the efforts of her classmates, school nursing staff, and local EMS personnel, was declared dead at Cleveland Regional Medical Center that afternoon.

Gardner-Webb, located in Boiling Springs, released a statement the same day, revealing that Patterson, a senior at the school, had just turned 21 and that, when classmates realized she was in medical distress, left the classroom and gathered in the hallway to pray for her. more >>

The executive director of the American Family Association of Indiana isn't happy with the state's Bureau of Motor Vehicles, which recently began selling specialty license plates benefiting an organization that works with gay youth.

"I just think the state needs to be neutral in these types of things, and when you take half the funds to the plate ... and give them to a group that wants to promote homosexuality among teenagers in schools, that's ... highly controversial,” Micah Clark, executive director of the AFA of Indiana, told The Christian Post on Wednesday.

The license plate he is concerned with is one that helps Indiana Youth Group, an organization that focuses on supporting lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning youth, according to the group's website. more >>

Winnie the Pooh Day has fallen on Wednesday this year and fans of the the bear are celebrating across the world.

Observed every year on Jan. 18, the holiday was created to celebrate not only Pooh and his friends but the author of the children's books by A.A. Milne.

Alan Alexander Milne was born in London in 1882. Much of his early education was by his teacher and mentor, H.G. Wells, who went on to write War of the Worlds and many other works. Milne described Wells as "a great writer and a great friend," according to PoohCorner.com. more >>

Known primarily for producing tightly shot, viral videos of celebrity testimonies, the "I am Second" movement shifted into a literary phase for the first time by officially launching its book of the same name.

Although the book was released earlier this month, publishers Thomas Nelson, Inc., commemorated the national launch of the I am Second book with a party featuring well-known “Seconds” (individuals appearing on the videos) on Saturday.

The book shares further details on the testimonies of 22 individuals seen on iamsecond.com, including James and Jolee, 2010 American League MVP and Texas Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton, surfer Bethany Hamilton, “The Biggest Loser” season six winner Michelle Aguilar, Ultimate Fighting Championship star Vitor Belfort, Grammy award-winning artist Michael W. Smith, and St. Louis Rams quarterback Sam Bradford. more >>

A Christian youth evangelist expressed disappointment over the outcome of a lawsuit between the Chesterfield County School District and the American Civil Liberties Union in regards to a religious rally held on school grounds last year.

The ACLU said on Friday that a settlement had been reached between the two, with the school district promising not to promote religion while also agreeing to submit a consent order to a federal judge in Florence, The Associated Press reported.

“I hate that everything happened the way it did,” Christian Chapman told The Christian Post in a phone interview, frustrated by the controversy that followed New Heights Middle School’s rally last September, where he and Christian rapper B-SHOC were invited to speak and perform at the school. more >>