This just in: Sarah Palin is stepping down as governor of Alaska, according to media reports.

It’s pitiful and dispicable and all too predictable. Some in the evangelical Christian community have begun spreading false stories about Michael Jackson “giving his heart to Jesus” right before his death.

This isn’t the first time that this type of rumor has followed a celebrity death and it won’t be the last. (Click here for more details).

Similar false stories circulated after the Crocodile Hunter’s death in 2006 and after the death of Charles Darwin in 1882. And there are other examples, if you Google it.

Quite simply, the people who make up these stories are liars and the people who spread them look awfully gullible and they discredit the faith they seek to advance.

The real story about Michael Jackson’s brush with evangelical Christianity, by the way, is compelling enough and needs no embellishment. He was friends with the great Andrae Crouch and Sandra Crouch and met with them a couple of times in recent months to talk about music and spirituality. At the last meeting, Andrae Crouch reportedly sang “It Won’t Be Long” — a beautiful song about going home to Jesus (via either death or the Rapture.) Crouch spotted Christmas ornaments still hanging in the house — ornaments that Jackson, as a Jehovah’s Witness child, had been denied.

Cumberland College in Kentucky has let a group of Texas high schoolers know that they’re not welcome on campus because they attend a Baptist Church that critics say isn’t sufficiently anti-homosexuality.

The choir, from Broadway Baptist Church in Fort Worth, will travel to Nashville instead, according to a story in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

h/t: Caleb Powers

This is a truly stunning story. For $25,000 to $250,000 the Washington Post is inviting you to attend off-the-record gatherings with big wigs from the Obama administration, Congress and the Washington Post.

The story came to light after a lobbyist questioned the ethics of the arrangement.

This is “pretty close to a public relations disaster,” writes the Washington Post’s ombudsman.

It’s been nearly a month since the Episcopal Church removed the transparent governance pledge from its home page in order (church officials said) to “make room” on the site for a Spanish (and French!) translation.

But so far, the text is still English Only. Fortunately, the bishop for the Convocation of American Churches in Europe is working to fix that.

The Rt. Rev. Pierre Welte Whalon has introduced Resolution B017 which allocates $250,000 to translate the Episcopal Church Web site into Spanish and French.

A century-old holiness denomination has elected an African to serve as general superintendent.

“This is what being a missional church gives you.” Eugenio Duarte told the crowd after being elected on the seventh ballot.

Duarte will be one of six general superintendents who govern the denomination.

Apparently, his election was a joyous event. Jubilant Nazarenes reportedly swarmed Duarte, lifting him off the ground after the vote was announced.
(more…)

Yet another reason to be thankful you don’t live in South Carolina…

“This was a whole lot more than a simple affair, this was a love story,” Sanford said. “A forbidden one, a tragic one, but a love story at the end of the day.” — Luv Gov. (and Promise Keeper) Mark Sanford

(more…)

Pnina Conforty was a successful Israeli baker, until word got out that she believes Jesus is the Son of God. The revelation led local Orthodox officials to strip her business of its “kosher” status. They argued that a Messianic Jew could not be trusted to follow strict Jewish laws governing preparation of kosher food.

Now, Israel’s high court has sided with the baker, the Jerusalem Post reports.

The Standing Committee of the Diocese of Nevada has posted the minutes of its April 18, 2009 meeting online. They contain the following:

“There was a lengthy discussion regarding the election of the Bishop in Northern Michigan.

Motion – To consent to the ordination of Kevin Thew Forrester. The Motion failed.”

The Diocese of Nevada has been posting summaries of its standing committee actions for about two years and its leadership has stated that “transparency” is a key diocesan value.

The updated tally:

Dioceses SUPPORTING Thew Forrester’s election: 32
Dioceses OPPOSING Thew Forrester’s election: 62

Thanks to the transparency of most standing committees across the nation, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette can report that a majority of the church’s 111 standing committees and councils of advice have decided to withhold consent to the election of the bishop-elect of Northern Michigan.

Barring last minute reversals by some of the 62 standing committees that are withholding consent, Thew Forrester’s bid will be rejected. The latest unofficial returns from the consent process:

“Yes” to bishop-elect Kevin G. Thew Forrester: 32 (more…)

Rabbi Schmuley Boteach was a part of Michael Jackson’s inner circle for a time and describes his efforts to help the King of Pop find salvation, healing, wholeness, a Purpose-Driven Life, if you will.

He has written an extraordinary article for the Jerusalem Post about the superstar’s spiritual wanderings.

I think Rabbi Boteach is correct when he calls this “an American tragedy.” Jackson’s life and his death are an indictment of our country’s sick, shallow, celebrity-obsessed culture.

People has an extraordinary story about Michael Jackson’s final week. It tells you more about his death, in a few paragraphs, than CNN would tell you in an entire afternoon.

The story features electronic messages, sent out earlier this week, by a Jackson fan from the United Kingdom who was invited to watch the King of Pop practice for his big comeback tour. The fan was horrified by what she saw and expressed doubts that Jackson had the health or strength to go on stage in London. Her comments, in hindsight, are spot on. …

There are plenty of folks who think America is a “Christian nation.” I’d like to ask them: What does Michael Jackson’s life and death say about our country, our culture, and our celebrity-crazed nation’s spiritual health?

How does our idolization, fascination, and/or obsession with the likes of Michael Jackson, Anna Nicole Smith, Madonna and John and Kate plus Eight square with any Christian (or Jewish or Muslim) value.

We have created a sick, Freak Show culture that poisons our minds and — all-too-often — devours and destroys the Idols we place on our National Stage.

BULLETIN
AP Source: Michael Jackson dies in LA hospital
By NEKESA MUMBI MOODY and DERRIK J. LANG
AP Music Writer
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A person with knowledge of the situation says Michael Jackson has died in Los Angeles.
The person, who was not authorized to speak publicly and requested anonymity, says the King of Pop died at age 50 in a Los Angeles hospital.

In an e-mail, the Right Rev. Alfredo Morante, bishop of Ecuador (Litoral), said today (06/25/09) that he will withhold consent to the election of the Rev. Kevin G. Thew Forrester as bishop of Northern Michigan.

But the bishop isn’t sure if he’ll vote no by ballot or vote no by simply abstaining (abstentions are counted as “no” votes.) As of today, 90 days into the consent process, Bishop Morante says he still hasn’t received the paperwork from the presiding bishop’s office that he’d need in order to cast an actual vote.

Bishop Morante also predicts that his diocese’s standing committee will join him in withholding consent once they gather “to take up this distasteful matter.”

Thew Forrester’s theology raised concerns for Bishop Morante. Church leaders, Bishop Morante said, shouldn’t “disagree so much with the doctrine of the church, with Christianity’s fundamental and vital doctrines.”

Farrah Fawcett died today at age 62. She was the prettiest of Charlie’s Angels. Her looks launched 12 million wall posters. She won an Emmy for “The Burning Bed” and critical acclaim for her role in “Small Sacrifices.”

Fawcett also appeared with Robert Duvall in “The Apostle” — one of the best movies ever made about religion in the Bible Belt.

The Texas beauty was a Christian, and she received the last rites of the Roman Catholic Church before passing this morning, her longtime partner Ryan O’Neal said.

“She’s now with her mother and sister and her God. I loved her with all my heart,” O’Neal told People. “I will miss her so very, very much. She was in and out of consciousness. I talked to her all through the night. I told her how very much I loved her. She’s in a better place now.”

h/t: Caleb Powers