Bruno Pastor Running for Office

The youth pastor who was tricked into taking part in Sacha Baron Cohen's movie Bruno is now running for mayor of Briming ham, Alabama. Jody Trautwein of Point of Grace Ministries is one of more than a dozen candidates vying to replace Larry Langford in Tuesday's election. Langford lost his job after being convicted of bribery. In the movie, Trautwein tried to talk Cohen's flamboyant Austrian fashionista alter-ego out of being gay.

Pastor Has Brain Surgery

Megachurch pastor Matt Chandler is recovering from brain surgery. Doctors removed a brain tumor from Chandler during seven hours of surgery. They say he was able to respond to questions after the operation. He collapsed at his home after suffering a seizure at his home on Thanksgiving day. Chandler founded the Village Church in the Dallas-area and now has about 6000 in the congregation.

Prophet of Purpose

There's a new unauthorized book about Rick Warren that says he has battled depression and suffered from marriage troubles. The book is titled Prophet of Purpose: The Life of Rick Warren and written by US News and World Report religion editor Jeffery Sheler.

Rick and Kay Warren disclosed that they were not attracted to each other nor had feelings for each other when they agreed to be married. She had been dating his best friend when Warren says he heard God tell him to marry Kay. He waiting until the couple broke up and then asked Kay to marry him on their second date. Practically strangers their wedding day, the couple had many problems at first, leading to Warren's hospitalization for exhaustion.

Warren also admits he became depressed after his first year of pastoring and litterally fled into the desert because he didn’t feel that he deserved to be successful.

Sheler says in writing the book, he was surprised to find Warren was pretty much the same person in both private and public meetings.

New Bible, Many Writers

Here's a video report about a hand written Bible from WOOD-TV in Grand Rapids.

Abortion Taxes

County taxpayers in one Texas county are unknowingly funding abortions. KXAN-TV in Austin has this report.

Love and Social Media

As Dana Hanna was getting married to Traci two weeks ago, he stopped the ceremony to update his Facebook status to "married". Hanna also sent a tweat pronoucing it official. He typed, ""Standing at the altar with (Tracy) where just a second ago, she became my wife! Gotta go, time to kiss my bride." Traci didn't know what was coming but the pastor did. The Abingdon, Maryland man handed the phone to his wife after he finished so she could do the same thing. She went right along. Hanna had pretyped the messages so the phone were ready to go when the big moment came. Hanna says, "We don't really Twitter and Facebook to the extent that it's interrupting our lives." He works for a pet website. Here's the video:

Moscow May Clamp Down on Religion

Russia's Justice Ministry is proposing a new law that would fine anyone sharing their faith if they are not a leader of a registered religious group. Only officially authorized missionaries would be allowed to pass out religious literature, preach and talk about their faith in public. If passed, anyone violating the law would face a fine up to $170.

Robbery At Church

A deacon at a Texas church says three men robbed him Sunday at the church. 77-year-old Bill Hammett was locking up thousands of dollars in collections in the church office safe at Sunnyvale First Baptist in the Dallas suburb of Sunnyvale. He was beaten and robbed during Sunday morning services though he fought back.

Gay Marriage Bill Rejected

New York state lawmakers had turned aside an attempt to make gay marriage legal in the state. Voters in Maine made a similar decision last month. The vote in the New York Senate was 24-28 - eight votes shy of the number needed to pass the legislation. A wider-than-expected margin. The Assembly had already passed the bill and the Govenor had agreed to sign it. Senator Eric Adams told fellow lawmakers, "When I walk through these doors, my Bible stays out." Senator Ruben Diaz disagreed, saying "You should carry your Bible all the time."

Megachurch Pastor Faces Brain Surgery

Matt Chandler will undergo surgery Friday afternoon to remove a tumor located in the frontal lobe of his brain. He leads the 6000-member Village Church, in Highland, Texas. Chandler says his doctor told him that he is positive about a recovery but won’t know the full results after the surgery is performed. The tumor could be malignant. Chandler knew something was wrong last week when he had a seizure at home.

Jesus Called for Jury Duty

A women in Birmingham, Alabama changed her name from Dorothy Lola Killingworth to Jesus Christ. County officials say the 59-year-old woman was disruptive when she reported for jury duty this week. They say Christ refused to answer questions but only would respond with questions herself.

Christmas Ban Lifted

Loudon County Virginia has reversed itself after banning Nativity scenes and Christmas trees at the county courthouse which have been fixtures on the grounds for years. The vote was 7-1 after dozens of protestors showed up at the meeting. A petition against the ban got more than 1000 signitures.

Operation Christmas Child

USA Today offers this report on how VeggieTales and Amy Grant are helping Operation Christmas Child.

Killer Given Bible by Victim's Mom

A Michigan woman gave a Bible to the man who killed her son in a drunken driving crash in June. He and another teen were bicycling with a church group when Kevin Babcock ran a red light and hit two of them. He had no driver's license at the time of the accident. Lynne Jacobs gave him the Bible in a Holland, Michigan courtroom, as Babcock was given between 25 and 40 years in prison. Babcock offered the family an apology, but said he did not expect forgiveness."I don't feel I deserve it."

Abortion in Health Bill

President Obama says he doesn't care fo the language about abortion in the health care bill passed by the House. He's trying to get Congress to change it. He told ABC News his goal is to keep the "status quo” on abortion. The House bill would stop federal money from going to health plans that include abortion coverage except in the case of rape or incest or if the life of a pregnant woman is in danger.

Jokes Against Jesus March

An Austin church and comedy club are at odds over noise levels. KXAN-TV reports.