Tag Archives: megachurches

The Christian Post reports: With the approval of her co-pastor husband, Reginald Steele of Kingdom Church in Phoenix, Arizona, Kelley Steele warned Christian women in her congregation to avoid withholding sex from their husbands because it’s unbiblical and they could push their husbands in the arms of “some trick, some ho, some homewrecker that will give him exactly what he …

The Christian Post reports: Former Hillsong Church leader Brian Houston claims his X account was hacked after the account tweeted the words “ladies and girls kissing,” drawing scrutiny from social media users. The post generated reactions among social media users who were voicing their opinions on the post, with some guessing that it could have been a query for an …

The Christian Post reports: With play-by-play announcers, color commentary, a referee, and a stage covered in AstroTurf, the Crossroads pulpit resembled Allegiant Stadium more than any church on Sunday morning as Senior Pastor Brian Tome and Pastor Alli Patterson sported football jerseys as they took the stage for the “pregame” coin flip. After Tome wins the flip, the referee asks, …

“Our shooter is identified by a driver’s license as Genesee Moreno 36 years old, Hispanic female. There are some discrepancies. We do have reports she used multiple aliases, including Jeffrey Escalante. So she has utilized both male and female names but through all of our investigation to this point, talking with individuals, interviews, documents, Houston Police Department reports, she has …

ABC News reports: “Free Palestine” was written on the gun belonging to a woman who opened fire at celebrity pastor Joel Osteen’s Lakewood Church in Houston, according to a law enforcement official briefed on the investigation. However, a motive behind the Sunday afternoon shooting has not been determined. Sources said investigators are feverishly going through the social media and writings …

CNN reports: The woman entered the church accompanied by a child who Houston Police Chief Troy Finner estimated to be between “4 to 5 years old.” “Once she entered, at some point she began to fire,” the chief said. Two off-duty officers were present: a 28-year-old Houston Police Department officer and a 38-year-old agent with the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission, …

NBC News reports: The Houston Police Department and Houston Fire Department are responding to reports of a shooting at pastor Joel Osteen’s Lakewood Church in the city, officials said. Police responded to reports of a shooting at 3700 Southwest Freeway — the address of Lakewood Church — this afternoon at around 2:24 p.m. local time, the department said on X. …

Religion News Service reports: Leaders of the International House of Prayer, an influential charismatic evangelical prayer and mission group based in Kansas City, announced Friday (Dec. 22) that they have cut ties with founder Mike Bickle. In late October a group of former IHOPKC leaders accused Bickle of a pattern of alleged clergy sexual misconduct. Earlier in December, Bickle admitted …

The Christian Post reports: More than a month after leaders of International House of Prayer Kansas City announced that at least one allegation of abuse including “sexual immorality” made against the ministry’s founder Mike Bickle has “some credibility,” the embattled minister confessed on Tuesday to sinful misconduct he committed over 20 years ago. “With a very heavy heart I want …

Via press release from the Justice Department: A federal grand jury today charged the leader of the Mexico-based La Luz del Mundo megachurch with two felony counts alleging he produced and possessed child sexual abuse material (CSAM) depicting a 16-year-old victim. Naasón Joaquín García, 54, previously served as a minister for the church in Santa Ana and, from December 2014, …

Click2Houston reports: A prominent Houston pastor has been ordered to pay $2.45 million to a woman that a jury found he gave herpes to. After a three-day trial and six and a half hours of deliberation, the jury unanimously found Rev. Ralph D. West II liable. “You can’t fix it, she’s got it for the rest of her life,” said …

“Thousands of rockets rained on Israel from multiple directions, and Hamas gunmen invaded by land, sea and sky. They went literally home to home and door to door, looking for the young and for the elderly. “Interesting how it always comes back to Jerusalem. The Bible predicted, thousands of years ago, that the End Time events would revolve around Jerusalem. …

Religion News Service reports: An evangelical Christian pastor and author whose book on the theology of sex caused a furor online earlier this spring has resigned from the leadership of his Arizona megachurch. “We have found ourselves in an impossible situation,” Joshua Butler wrote to members of Redemption Church in Tempe in announcing his resignation. Butler’s new book, “Beautiful Union,” …

The Christian Post reports: Christopher Burns, a former youth pastor at Perimeter Church in Georgia turned financial advisor, is now on the FBI’s Most Wanted list for allegedly defrauding dozens of investors of millions of dollars, which he splurged on a lavish lifestyle and an obsession with Disney World. Burns, who was last seen by his ex-wife and children on …

The Christian Post reports: Days after pleading “not guilty” to driving under the influence of alcohol and driving with a blood alcohol content of .08% or more, Hillsong Church founder Brian Houston pled “guilty” to the charges and was sentenced to three years’ probation, a $140 fine and other penalties. He is yet to be sentenced for an enhanced charge …

The Chicago Sun-Times reports: The former pastor of a Rolling Meadows church has been charged with felony battery and assault in California. James Macdonald, who was fired from Harvest Bible Chapel in 2019, was arrested March 22 in Coronado, California, after he allegedly attacked a 59-year-old woman. He was trying to parallel park his truck about 10:15 a.m. in the …

The Christian Post reports: Churchome, the Washington state megachurch led by Judah Smith and his wife Chelsea, has been slapped with a class action lawsuit for allegedly imposing a tithing policy on employees, in violation of state law, that requires them to give back no less than 10% of their gross earnings to the church or face disciplinary action, including …

Jacksonville’s NBC affiliate reports: Jeffrey Bedwell, a former Jacksonville pastor who was accused of several sex crimes involving a minor, accepted a plea deal Wednesday. He will receive a sentence of 30 years in prison after he pleaded guilt to two counts of lewd and lascivious molestation, one count of lewd or lascivious conduct, one count of unlawful sexual activity …

The Memphis Commercial Appeal reports: A former youth pastor at Bellevue Baptist Church in Shelby County pleaded guilty Friday to 13 sex-related crimes involving children. Keenan Maurice Hord received 60 years for the crimes but will be eligible for parole in 15. He must also register as a sex offender and have no contact with any children. At Hord’s bond …

Jacksonville’s NBC affiliate reports: If congregants of First Baptist Church in Jacksonville want to remain members, they have to sign a statement vowing to oppose LGBTQ+ freedoms. Senior Pastor Heath Lambert has said such freedoms and the sexual revolution are a threat to First Baptist and he’s giving members until March 23 to sign the statement. Lambert posted a video …