Author: Gordon Govier

Lee Strobel, 55, once looked critically at Christians. Asking questions about faith, he gradually embraced atheism."My parents attended a Lutheran church," recalled Strobel, who grew up in the Chicago suburb of Arlington Heights. "They dragged me there for a while when I was a youngster. When I protested too much, I didn’t have to go anymore."Now, he’s a high-profile Christian apologist, a bestselling author whose books are especially popular among evangelicals. Read more of this story.

USA (MNN) ― Love Packages’ first-ever national Bible drive is still getting response. Last month, Love Packages’ Steve Schmidt said they were trying to get churches across the United States to do a Bible drive. Read more of this story.

A flier sent home this month in the backpacks of 2,000 Madison elementary students carried an unmistakably religious pitch: "Plant the Seeds of Faith in Jesus in Your Child at our Sunday school."The Madison-based Freedom From Religion Foundation on Tuesday called upon the Madison School District to ban distribution of such fliers, saying "the district should not act as a PR machine for nonschool enterprises."Read more of this story.

Since its beginnings in the 1970s, the ex-gay movement has engaged gay advocates in a battle of testimonies. Transformed ex-gay leaders are the best argument for their movement. Likewise, those who’ve left the ex-gay movement in despair and disgust are the best counterargument. The debate continued this June, when Exodus International held its 32nd annual conference in Irvine, California, featuring dozens of speakers and seminar leaders who have quit homosexuality. Down the road outside the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center, a news conference featured three former Exodus leaders saying "ex-gay" is a delusion.Read more of this story.

SEATTLE, WASHINGTON (ANS) — Aglow International is an organization of Christian women with more than 4,000 local groups in nearly 170 countries. It is one of the largest international women’s groups consisting of more than 1,100 local groups in the U.S. alone. An estimated 21,000 Aglow leaders worldwide minister in their communities and countries to an estimated 17 million people each year. This year, Aglow celebrates its 40th Anniversary. Read more of this story.

Anyone who has ever received the gift of Amish friendship bread can empathize with Danny Letz. After weeks of baking the cinnamon-spiced quick bread, the Salt Lake City cook has run out of family, friends and co-workers willing to take a "starter," which seems to be growing exponentially on his counter.Read more of this story.

CommentaryThe field of presidential candidates is nearly complete. Only Newt Gingrich remains to decide — or announce if he has decided — whether he, too, will run for president. His decision is expected in November.There is one person who is definitely not running, but may be invoked as the ultimate adviser. That would be God.Read more of this story.

Lewis Thomas, the noted physician and essayist, mused openly on the allergic tendency of our species. He found the condition without teleological merit, and declared it a "mistake." Now two books—Mark Jackson’s Allergy: The History if a Modern Malady and Gregg Mitman’s Breathing Space, How Allergies Shape Our Lives and Landscapes—are available for those who wish to delve further into this "mistake" that affects 50 million Americans.Read more of this story.

Tony Dungy stood on a cramped, oval-shaped platform as he accepted the Vince Lombardi Trophy following the Indianapolis Colts’ Super Bowl victory over the Chicago Bears in Miami in February.Read more of this story.

As popular Sunday customs, watching the National Football League and attending church seem to go together. Players who thank Jesus for victory have almost become a cliché. At the Super Bowl last February, coaches Tony Dungy of the Indianapolis Colts and Lovie Smith of the Chicago Bears—the first African American head coaches in the big game—talked freely about their faith.Read more of this story.