After concerns were raised about his behaviour by a group of pastors, including author John Ortberg, the Chicago Tribune put together an investigation which looked at various allegations made over a number of years including suggestive comments, extended hugs, an unwanted kiss, and invitations to hotel rooms.

It also looked into an investigation by Hybels’ church Willow Creek which was informed that he’d had an affair.

In 2014, elders at the church found him to have done nothing wrong after the woman who made the claim of an affair admitted she had lied.

Since then, other women have made serious claims. In one case a woman suggested Hybels summoned her to his hotel room and kissed her while on a trip to Sweden in 1998.

Another accused him of “a lingering hug” which made her feel uncomfortable while another claim suggested he’d invited a woman to his house, but only while his wife was away.

Describing the accusations as “one of the most heart-breaking and frustrating things” he’s experienced, Hybels posted a detailed rebuttal on the church’s website.

“The lies you read about in the Tribune article are the tools this group is using to try to keep me from ending my tenure here at Willow with my reputation intact.

“Let me be clear: none of these allegations are true.

“Many of these alleged incidents purportedly took place more than twenty years ago. The fact that they…

Police believe Mark Anthony Conditt was behind six recent blasts that have killed two people and seriously injured four others.

Authorities finally found him on Wednesday, but he blew himself up in his car as officers closed in on him. Conduitt’s motive remains a mystery.

A friend of the 23-year-old, who said he was close to him in 2012 and 2013, told the Austin American-Statesman newspaper that the suspected bomber attend Bible studies and church on Sundays.  

Jeremiah Jensen said: “I know faith was a serious thing for him.

“I don’t know if he held onto his faith or not. The kind of anger that he expressed and the kind of hate that he succumbed to — that’s not what he believed in in high school. I don’t know what happened along the way. This wasn’t him.”

His friend also described Conduitt as an assertive person who was “rough around the edges”.

“He loved to think and argue and turn things over and figure out what was really going on,” Jensen said.

Conditt’s family released a statement saying they had “no idea of the darkness that Mark must have been in”.

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But a Christian weapons charity has suggested they need to put their money where their mouth is to tackle knife crime.

Michael Smith, founder of the charity Words 4 Weapons told Premier he’d had a look at the Home Office’s campaign and approved of their adverts but criticised what he sees as their hypocrisy in failing to fund knife bins.

The charity has placed many secure bins on streets for people to anonymously throw away their weapons.

Michael Smith said: “My challenge in all of this is that they’ve spent somewhere between £1.35-1.5 million to put this massive advertising campaign out there, which is not a bad thing…however the Home Office has consistently fallen short in its responsibility to support organisations like Word 4 Weapons.”

“There is no one else in the United Kingdom putting secure weapons bins on the streets to reduce knife crime other than us and the Home Office have consistently turned down police forces when they have applied for funding to help us put knife bins in areas around the country, so it’s a bit of double standards.”

He continued: “If you’re going to tell people ‘do not carry a knife’, ‘do not carry a weapon’ – where on earth do you expect these people to put the weapons that they are carrying?”

Describing what he sees as a practical solution to the government’s problem, he explained: “What we have done for the last 11 years, without the support of the Home Office, is that we have been putting these bins out on the street…

The girl’s name is Leah Sharibu and she is 15 years old.

The terrorist organisation reached an agreement with the Nigerian government that there would be no interference with the return.

In the early hours of 21st March, Boko Haram drove into the town with nine trucks and unloaded all of the girls, except the five that died during the kidnaping, and Sharibu.

“Her friends said they tried to convince her but she said she will not convert to Islam,” the girl’s mother said.

“Boko Haram said since she will not convert to Islam she should remain behind.

“That was how they left her.”

Leah Sharibu asked her departing Muslim classmates to pray for her.

One of girls who was released confirmed to Nigerian Newspaper The PUNCH, “One girl, Leah, is still with them [Boko Haram] because she is a Christian. About five are dead but it was not as if they killed them – it was because of the stress.”

Religious freedom charity International Christian Concern (ICC)  said since the incident in Dapchi, Borno and Yobe states have closed down all boarding schools in order to protect their children.

It’s been four years since the abduction of the 276 schoolgirls from Chibok. There are currently still more than 100 schoolgirls missing from that incident.

The girls from the Government Girls Science and Technical College Dapchi who were kidnapped…

Conor Murphy has recounted how the late Malachy Finnegan dragged him into an office and savagely beat him with a stick before asking a series of explicit questions, including whether he loved him.

In an exclusive interview with the Press Association, Mr Murphy outlined his experiences in the late 1970s at the hands of Finnegan at St Colman’s College in Newry, Co Down.

Mr Murphy, who attended St Colman’s from 1975 to 1980, said he was angry that no one in authority stopped Finnegan’s reign of abuse, despite his sexual interest in young boys being common knowledge within the school.

He has demanded a full investigation.

The high-profile politician is the latest former pupil of St Colman’s to reveal their treatment at the hands of the abusive and sadistic cleric, whom he described as a “violent, volatile, bullying drunkard”.

“I think it was just before the end of our third year, I was a 14-year-old, and there was a bit of ruckus going on in the class we were in and Finnegan burst into the room,” the Newry and Armagh Assembly member told PA.

“He singled me out, he dragged me out by the hair, by the crown of your head, dragged me along the corridor, up two flights of stairs into his room and then he beat me with a stick on the hands and about the body.

“He was always prone to more violence than was perhaps to do with discipline.

“And then he suddenly flipped, as I was…

A new survey by ComRes found over 1.2 million adults are tuning into Premier Christian Radio regularly, with 951,000 people listening to Premier Praise and 765,000 listening to Premier Gospel every week.

Premier CEO Peter Kerridge believes he knows why.

“In a digital age when you can manage your finances, shop, book holidays, and do a myriad of other things, all with your mobile phone I’m not surprised by these figures,” he said.

“It’s obvious that people are searching for a spiritual experience outside of traditional church gatherings and in an on-demand world this trend will accelerate. Whatever device people choose to engage with Premier, phone, radio, or online the experience is the same.

“Christian Radio is intimate and private, it touches the soul. Listeners therefore are intentional as they listen to hear Christian messages amplified by great communicators.”

While recent statistics have shown a decline among young people attending church, for the first time ever, people aged 18 – 35 made the largest proportion of listeners on all three of Premier’s radio stations.

Justin Brierley, presenter of Premier Christian Radio’s award winning programme Unbelievable?, said a desire for “answers to the big questions of life” is another reason more millennials are listening to Premier’s stations.

“Young people may not be showing up in our churches but it’s clear that the…