An Illinois school district responded to complaints from an atheist organization by warning a Christian citizen he must stop distributing Bibles to students outside on a street.

The street is owned by the school district, Todd Starnes of Fox News reported.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation had told the school, La Harpe Elementary, that individuals should not be allowed to distribute Bibles and religious materials to students.

“Religion is inherently divisive and has no official place in a public school where staff and young students hold varied beliefs — and no belief at all,” said FFRF co-president Annie Laurie Gaylor. “It’s commendable that the district has investigated and remedied these violations.”

An attorney for the school district sent a cease and desist letter to the man who was handing out Bibles.

“This individual was warned that law enforcement would be called should he or any affiliated persons come onto the School District campus for the purpose of distributing Bibles to students,” the school attorney wrote to the Freedom From Religion Foundation, according to Starnes.

The school district also acquiesced to the atheist organization’s demands that the school principal stop discussing her faith and referencing it on flyers to staff. According to FFRF, the flyers included such phrases as “May His Gift Of Peace Be Present In Your Home”…

Highpoint Church, whose teaching pastor Andy Savage resigned over past sexual abuse, announced on Wednesday that its lead pastor, Chris Conlee, has also resigned.

In a joint statement sent to members Wednesday, Conlee and the trustees said his resignation from the Memphis, Tennessee, church will help them move forward in a fresh direction and attract better candidates for the pastor role.

“The Trustees and Chris have mutually agreed that the time is now right for Chris to pass the baton. This will enable us to recalibrate our search for a new Teaching Pastor into the search for a Senior Pastor. By creating this new role, we will be able to attract a stronger pool of candidates to lead the next phase of Highpoint’s ministry. To enable this, Chris will resign from Highpoint Church and pursue God’s heart for the expansion of his ministry as a visionary leader.”

Conlee is expected to personally address the church he has led for the last 16 years on Sunday.

Controversy at Highpoint began when Jules Woodson told The Wartburg Watch in January that Savage, while he was her youth pastor…

Perry Noble, now of Second Chance Church, has issued what he called his “last apology” two years after his firing as senior pastor at NewSpring Church in South Carolina, telling his detractors that he doesn’t need them, and that he’s moving on.

Noble wrote on Facebook on Tuesday that it was two years ago that he was let go from his role at the megachurch, describing the ordeal as the “most humiliating and shameful I’ve ever experienced in my life.”

In the post, which came with a photo captioned “my last apology,” he admitted that “I am the one who poured the drinks,” referring to his struggles with alcohol that led to the termination.

“To say the days that followed were ‘dark’ would be an understatement. Honestly I could not see a way out, or how I would ever be able to crawl out of the darkness I had plunged into,” he recalled.

“My mistakes had cost me everything (family, friendships and ministry) and I did not believe picking up the pieces was even a possibility.. I dealt with intense bouts of loneliness, fear, depression, doubt and self defeat.”

The pastor, who following rehabilitation went on to start Second Chance online, said that he has been…

After closing more than 700 churches and some mosques in March, Rwandan government officials have moved to institute guidelines for how faith groups operate in the majority-Christian East African country.

Rwanda’s minister in the office of the president has brought to Parliament a draft law that would require Christian and Muslim clerics to attain university education before preaching in churches or mosques. The law would require clerics to have a bachelor’s degree and a valid certificate in religious studies. It would also bar clergy who have been convicted of crimes of genocide, genocidal ideology, discrimination or other sectarian practices.

“I agree with the law. Some of our church groups have been operating in a dangerous manner,” Evalister Mugabo, bishop of the Lutheran Church in Rwanda, told Religion News Service.

Churches and mosques would also be required to institute an internal disagreement resolution body to complement the work of their umbrella organizations and the government’s dispute resolution authority, which resolves conflicts involving different faiths.

The measure, according to government officials, will bring order among churches, some of which are suspected of misleading people.

Judith Uwizeye, minister in the office of President Paul Kagame, presented the draft law. “Everyone would wake up in the morning and call people to…

If you don’t have doubts about the Bible, chances are you are not reading it or don’t plan on living according to its message, Steven Furtick, pastor of the popular Elevation Church in North Carolina, said.

In a recent message discussing his faith walk, Furtick admitted to his congregation that sometimes he struggled to believe what the Bible says.

“I have my doubts. I read that whom the Son sets free is free indeed but sometimes I feel bound by stuff. I have my doubts. Is that alright? Do you need to find another church now that you know that the dude with the mic has some doubts?” Furtick revealed after sharing a story about how it is generally assumed by some people that because he is a pastor he never struggles with doubt.

“I meet these people and they say things to me, because of my profession I guess, they make assumptions about me, because there’s a Rev. in front of my name. They make assumptions about me that I don’t have real doubts,” he explained.

“One gentleman that I was doing business with, he put it this way. He was like ‘I envy you because I would love to have faith. I always wanted to believe in God. But I’m just always, I’m the kind of person that doubts a lot. And I envy…

A predominantly African-American megachurch in Texas says it might leave the United Methodist Church amid the denomination’s ongoing debate over issues like homosexuality and same-sex marriage.

Windsor Village United Methodist Church of Houston, which has approximately 18,000 members, is undergoing a process of prayer and discernment for possibly leaving the UMC.

Floyd LeBlanc, chairman of the Windsor Village Staff-Parish Relations Committee, told The Christian Post in an interview on Wednesday that they were holding “a series of scheduled church gatherings, including an all-night prayer event.”

“We are praying continually and corporately,” explained LeBlanc. “We are also fasting as a congregation once a week.”

“We have invited guest speakers to bless, prepare and sustain us during this time. Bishop Tudor Bismark (from Africa) was with us recently and we look forward to a visit from Bishop Raphael Green (from Missouri).”

At issue was a concern that “the denomination may not remain the same” as a result of its internal debates, with LeBlanc adding that “our focus must remain on Christ and winning souls for Christ.”

Filipino President Rodrigo Duterte turned up the heat in his feud with the Roman Catholic Church by questioning the existence of God and mocking basic Christian doctrines.

The President’s remarks came during a tirade about the church and her doctrines. He said he would resign if someone could prove to him that God existed. The proof he looks for could come in the form of a “selfie” or someone who was “able to talk to and see God.” He did admit that some kind of higher power must exist, otherwise the planets and stars would collide. 

His most recent comments came weeks after he angered many by asking “Who is this stupid God? This son of a b**** is then really stupid.” Then he opined about the church’s belief in original sin. “You were not involved but now you’re stained with an original sin … What kind of a religion is that? That’s what I can’t accept, very stupid proposition.” 

The President’s public comments about religion came after months of feuding between Duterte and Catholic bishops, many of whom have criticized his government’s approach to dealing with the nation’s drug problem. Police raids and crackdowns have left thousands dead and the bishops lamented that many of the poor who died were counted only as “casualties.” 

Duterte also claims a long history of disdain for organized religion because of the abuse he suffered at…