Rick Warren, pastor at the 22,000-member Saddleback Church in southern California, was hospitalized late last week. News of his situation became public when a conference where his wife, Kay, was scheduled to speak shared an update about her cancellation on Facebook. 

The organizers of the “Illuminate” conference in Northern Ireland told those scheduled to attend that, “Today, as our speaker, Kay Warren, was in the air just a few hours from arrival, she received unexpected news of a family medical emergency. He is in surgery as this update is released. He is expected to fully recover, but of course, Kay is immediately returning to the United States to be with her family.” 

Later, she commented on the conference’s Facebook post and updated them on his condition. She said, “Hello dear friends – just an update on Rick. He is much better today! The surgery went even better than expected and he will be released in a few days. Things were quite serious for a day but he is strong and tough and he is on the road to recovery!”

Saturday night the church sent an email from Warren to the congregation with an explanation of his condition. It read:

By now you may have heard that I needed an emergency surgery early Thursday morning. At about 7 pm on Wednesday evening while at home by myself, I suddenly doubled over in an attack of excruciating abdominal pain. Kay (his wife)…

After Saturday Night Live Comedian Pete Davidson cracked a controversial joke about Former Navy Seal and newly elected Republican Texas Congressman Dan Crenshaw last week, the war veteran appeared on SNL to make amends with Davidson.

Before the mid-term elections last Tuesday, SNL aired an episode where Pete Davidson compared the war veteran to a “hit man from a porno movie.” Crenshaw, who lost his eye when an IED explosion during his third tour in Afghanistan, wears an eye-patch, a detail that Davidson used as the center of his joke.

After this episode aired, Davidson and SNL, who received heavy backlash for the insensitive joke, received a response from the Congressman-elect. 

In a video message posted by Crenshaw, he said, “I want us to get away from this culture where we demand apologies every time someone miss speaks. I think that would be very healthy for our nation to go in that direction.”

Crenshaw continued encouraging people not to be angry with Davidson and SNL saying, “We don’t need to be outwardly outraged. I don’t need you to demand apologies from them, they can do whatever they want. They’re feeling the heat from around the country right now and that’s fine.”

He added, “But I would like him (Pete Davidson) and Saturday Night Live to recognize something. That Veterans across the country probably don’t feel as though their…

Six wildfires are currently blazing through California leaving at least 31 people dead and hundreds missing.

According to NPR, several wildfires began to rip through Northern California last week, and have now claimed the lives of 31 people, left more than 200 people missing, and displaced another 25,000 people. NPR reports that the fire, which authorities have dubbed the “Camp Fire” has destroyed 6,7000 structures including homes and business and has obliterated the entire town of Paradise in Northern California. 

According to CBS News, the Camp Fire began on Thursday and has claimed 29 lives. Officials are fearing that the death toll will rise as search and rescue missions press on. The Camp Fire is the most destructive wildfire in the state’s history. 

Further south, the Woolsey Fire has burned through Malibu homes and mansions in Southern California. According to CBS News, the Woolsey Fire has claimed the lives of two people so far. Reportedly the Woolsey Fire and the Hill Fire, which are not too far from each other, have prompted the evacuation of over 250,000 people.

California’s governor, Jerry Brown is calling for the President to declare a “major disaster” in the state. 

The Christian Post reports that the Woolsey Fire has been 15 percent contained, while the Camp Fire has only been 25 percent contained.

Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea told NPR,…

A United Church of Canada minister who declared that she doesn’t believe in God will be allowed to keep her position after reaching an agreement with church officials.

The Canadian Press reported last week that the settlement reached with the Rev. Gretta Vosper of Toronto is confidential, though both sides stated they are pleased with it. 

The Right Rev. Richard Bott, who has led the United Church in Canada since July, pointed to the core values of faith in God and inclusiveness as part of the reason why Vosper will be allowed to continue her service.

“The dance between these core values, how they interact with and inform each other, is one that we continue to explore as followers of Jesus and children of the creator,” he said. “As a Christian church, we continue to expect that ministers in the United Church of Canada will offer their leadership in accordance with our shared and agreed upon statements of faith.”

Vosper, who was ordained in 1993 and has served West Hill United Church since 1997, has reportedly for years been open about her lack of faith in God.

She says that most of her congregants have been supportive of her views, though…

David Powlison, the executive director of the Christian Counseling & Educational Foundation, has revealed following major surgery that he has stage 4 pancreatic cancer.

“I am deeply thankful for your continuing prayers, expressions of support, and encouragement. I am now recuperating at home from a delicate, major surgery,” Powlison wrote in an update on the CCEF website last week.

“The outcome proved to be very different from what my doctors hoped and expected. We all went into this surgery thinking it was a stage 1 operable tumor; mid-way through, the surgeon discovered that it is stage 4 pancreatic cancer. Needless to say, this is hard news. We are just beginning to process it,” he added.

The senior editor of the Journal of Biblical Counseling said that he and his wife, Nan, are focusing on pain management and healing, seeking comfort in Jesus Christ.

“Next week’s days will bring a different focus as we meet with our oncologist to begin discussing options and scenarios going forward,” Powlison wrote.

“We are comforted by the liveliness of God’s words to us. He is with us, as so…

The top Roman Catholic archbishop in the U.K. is set to face pressing questions over the way the church has handled child sex abuse allegations, including over the clergy son of JRR Tolkien.

Cardinal Vincent Nichols, the Archbishop of Westminster, is set to be questioned this week by the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, The Telegraph reported.

The investigation will look into how major British institutions tackled sex abuse claims, with the Catholic Church attracting major controversy for relocating abusing priests in dioceses around the world.

Nichols’ former Archdiocese of Birmingham is set to be examined, including how it handled allegations of abuse against Father John Tolkien, the son of famous author JRR Tolkien, who wrote The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit fantasy novels.

Senior church officials are being blamed for allowing Fr. Tolkien, who died in 2003, to continue working as a priest despite an alleged victim coming forward against him years earlier.

The man, Christopher Carrie, accused the priest of sexually abusing him twice in November 1956, when he was…