In this episode of RGR, Lakewood Church is robbed, Mark Driscoll Robs his readers (if he has any), The KJV surprises everyone with growing sales, and why Lent is NOT Passiontide.
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Show Notes:

Christian News Roll

1. An estimated $600,000 was stolen from Lakewood Church in Houston this weekend. An article in the Kansas City Star, a statement sent the members of the church says that someone allegedly stole cash, checks, and credit card information from the church safe. Police spokesman Kese Smith said Tuesday $200,000 in cash and $400,000 in checks along with envelopes with written credit card numbers were stolen from a safe sometime between 2:30 p.m. Sunday and 8:30 a.m. on Monday. The theft was limited to donations collected during the service on the 9th this month. No arrests have been made as of today. Lakewood is the Church made famous by it’s pastor Joel Osteen. 

 2. Mars Hill Church apparently spent $210,000 dollars to get pastor Mark Driscoll’s new book, “Real Marriage” on to the New York Times Best Sellers List. Warren Cole Smith of the conservative Christian magazine World broke the story last week that the church had paid a consulting firm named ResultSource “to conduct a bestseller campaign” for the book to place it on the “How to” best sellers list of the New York Times. It was reported that ResultSource received a fee of $25,000 to coordinate a nationwide network of book buyers who would purchase Real Marriage at locations likely to generate reportable sales for various best-seller lists, including the New York Times list. When contacted a spokesperson for Mars Hill church said, “Mars Hill has made marketing investments for book releases and sermon series, along with album releases, events, and church plants, much like many other churches, authors, and publishers who want to reach a large audience.” 

 3. The most popular and growing Bible translation is not what you think! When Americans reach for their Bibles, more than half of them pick up a King James Version, according to a new study. The Bible in American Life, a study by the Center for the Study of Religion and American Culture at Indiana University says that 55 percent of people who reach for a Bible reach for a King James Version, ahead of the poultry 19 percent for the New International Version. That’s up from 52 percent from a Barna Poll from last year. Also, 45 percent of Google searches for bible translations were for the King James Version. 

 4. On the Heals of Pastor Perry Noble’s admission to suffering from depression, Pastor Rick Warren and his Wife Kay will host a gathering at Saddleback Church called “The Gathering on Mental Health and the Church” on March 28th. Along with the National Alliance on Mental Illness in Orange County, Warren and his wife will be joined by mental health experts to help remove the stigma of Mental illness. Pastor Warren’s son Matthew committed suicide on April 5 of last year. 

 5. Methodist Bishop Martin McLee of New York this week halted a trial of a Minister who performed a same sex Marriage Cerimony. According to the New York Times, Bishop Martin Put an end to all trials in his region, essentially freeing all Ministers who were to be tried under church displinary rules to continue performing same sex marriages. Rev. Dr. Thomas W. Ogletree was to have stood trial this past monday for officiating at the same sex wedding of his son in 2012. Conservative Methodists warned that his actions would push the denomination closer to an irrevocable split.