Televangelist Joel Osteen’s wife Victoria Osteen has been sued by a flight attendant over an incident that took place on a Continental Airlines flight two years ago. Victoria allegedly lost her cool when attendant Sandra Brown didn’t respond to her desire to have a spill cleaned off of her first class seat.

The lawsuit, filed in Harris County Civil Court in Houston, alleges that Victoria Osteen “shoved, grabbed and pulled the flight attendants.” The suit goes on to claim that Osteen elbowed Brown, who was the flight manager, while allegedly trying to get into the cockpit of the airplane.

Well, I think it’s safe to say Joel will have something ‘positive’ to say about this! It does sound like a money hungry flight attendant trying to milk the cash cow.

More Photos Below

[images: WENN]

Harvest Christian Fellowship pastor Greg Laurie’s son Christopher Laurie was killed in a car crash in Corona this morning according to the church.

The accident occurred this morning on the Riverside Freeway, near Serfas Club Drive in Corona. Laurie’s car collided with a Caltrans vehicle.

Laurie, 33 of Huntington Beach, served as the art director at Harvest Christian Fellowship, sponsor of the Harvest Crusade, for the last three years. According to the church, he is survived by his parents; his wife, Brittany; and daughter, Stella; as well as his brother, Jonathan.

Brittany is expecting the couple’s second child in November.  Christopher was the art director for the past three years for Harvest Christian Fellowship in Riverside, California.  The huge 3-day Harvest Crusade in Anaheim, led by his father Greg, is in three weeks on August 15-17.  My wife took me to this same crusade three years ago and it was a blessing.  We were among 33,000 people in Anaheim Stadium to hear great music by today’s largest Christian artists and a truly inspiring message by Greg. Over 35,000 in the three days gave their lives to Christ.  Read more about Harvest Crusades.

Christopher’s death has hit our family very hard.  My wife grew up at Harvest with Christopher and went to elementary school with him.  We went on a cruise with Harvest three years ago and spent a good amount of time with Greg and his wife Cathy.  Greg is a modern day Billy Graham but as personal and warm as anyone you will ever come in contact with.  I learned a lot from Greg and Cathy and treasure the couple of dinners we shared.  Greg’s story and journey to Christ is very inspirational.

Our thoughts, prayers and condolences go out to Brittany, Stella, Greg, Cathy, and Jonathan, along with everyone personally impacted by Christopher’s passing.

You can leave a personal message to the Laurie family on Greg’s blog HERE.

Harvest Fellowship Christian Website

Harvest Crusade Information

Matthew McConaughey took time away from his newborn baby Levi Alves McConaughey to explain to OK! Magazine how he and Camila Alves came up with the baby’s first name.  It is rather easy to figure out the origin of Levi’s middle name.

Explaining how they came up with the name for their baby boy, Matthew tells OK!, “Levi was another name for the apostle Matthew in The Bible. They were, in fact, two names for the same person.

“Our son was born at 6:22 pm, and this particular time represents my favorite verse in the book of Matthew in The Bible: ‘If thy eye be single, thy whole body will be full of light.’”

Baby Levi’s middle name is taken directly from his mother Camila’s last name. “We wanted to incorporate her family name,” explains the proud new father.

Where does Matthew’s sudden Christianity come from?  It is hard to say but in April of 2007 he was spotted on his stationary bike reading Lee Strobel’s The Case for Christ.

Another interesting tidbit is that Levi’s initials are L.A.M.  and in the New Testament one of the titles given to Jesus Christ was ‘Lamb of God.’

Pastor James Dobson has responded to comments from two years ago by Barack Obama that called out Dobson and Christianity.  The speech by Obama took place before the Call to Renewal (text of speech)group in 2006.

“I think he’s deliberately distorting the traditional understanding of the Bible to fit his own world view, his own confused theology,” Dobson said, later adding that Obama is “dragging biblical understanding through the gutter.”

Dobson also takes aim at Obama for suggesting in the speech that those motivated by religion should attempt to appeal to broader segments of the population by not just framing their arguments around religious precepts.

Dobson said the suggestion is an attempt to lead by the “lowest common denominator of morality.”

“Am I required in a democracy to conform my efforts in the political arena to his bloody notion of what is right with regard to the lives of tiny babies?” he said. “What he’s trying to say here is unless everybody agrees, we have no right to fight for what we believe.”

“What the senator is saying there, in essence, is that ‘I can’t seek to pass legislation, for example, that bans partial-birth abortion, because there are people in the culture who don’t see that as a moral issue,” Dobson also said. “And if I can’t get everyone to agree with me, than it is undemocratic to try to pass legislation that I find offensive to the Scripture. Now that is a fruitcake interpretation of the Constitution.”

Barack might be forced to back off his comments from the 2006 speech a bit regardless of how strong he feels about it.  If he wants the Presidency he is going to have to win over a lot of voters who center their lives around Christianity.  The Presidency is Barack’s if he pacifies some of his strongest beliefs until he is in the White House.

The headline and controversy from Trinity UCC Church in Chicago is nothing new. However, Rev. Michael Pfleger not Rev. Jeremiah Wright is the preacher causing a political uproar from the pulpit this time. Barack Obama’s latest headache comes from campaign spiritual adviser Rev. Pfleger who ridiculed and mocked Hillary Clinton from the Trinity pulpit last week.

Read More and Watch Video HERE

A very cute and moving video of Christian singer Steven Curtis Chapman and his late adopted daughter Maria Sue who died tragically Wednesday at the singer’s home when an older brother accidentally ran over her in the driveway.

Go to StevenCurtisChapman.com to leave a comment or donate to the The Shaohannah’s Hope Ministry charity in Maria’s memory.

Christian music singer Steven Curtis Chapman’s young 5-year-old daughter Maria was killed at Chapman’s Tennessee home on Wednesday when her teenage brother accidentally ran over her in his SUV.

The 5-year-old was hit by an SUV driven by her teenage brother, she said. Police did not give the driver’s name.

The teen was driving a Toyota Land Cruiser down the driveway of the rural home at about 5:30 p.m. and several children were playing in the area, McPherson said. He did not see Maria in the driveway before the vehicle struck her, she said.

“It appears to be a terrible accident,’’ McPherson said.

No charges are expected, she said. The accident was witnessed by two other children; the entire family was home at the time, McPherson said.

Maria Sue was adopted by Steven and his wife Mary Beth. They have three girls they have adopted from China and six children total.

My first memory of Steven Curtis is hearing his groundbreaking song “The Great Adventure” played over and over at Centrifuge camp in Panama City Beach, Florida back in 1992.

All of our thoughts and prayers go out to Steven and the Chapman family.

Read more on Steven’s website StevenCurtisChapman.com

photo: Tennessean

Maria Sue Chapman

Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Tim Tebow spent his spring break in the Philippines on a mission trip spreading the ‘Good Word’ of Jesus Christ.  Tim helped on the medical mission trip even assisting in several circumcisions before the week was done.

During spring break, Tebow added a new facet to his fame. In an impoverished village outside General Santos City in the Philippines, Tebow helped circumcise impoverished children.

On the Friday of a weeklong trip to the orphanage his father’s ministry runs in Southeast Asia, Tebow assisted with the care of locals who had walked miles to the temporary clinic that the ministry helped organize. More than 250 people underwent medical and dental procedures, some of them from “Dr. Tebow,” who has no formal surgical training.

“The first time, it was nerve-racking,” he said. “Hands were shaking a little bit. I mean, I’m cutting somebody. You can’t do those kinds of things in the United States. But those people really needed the surgeries. We needed to help them.”

The legend of Saint Tebow continues to grow and grow.  It is hard not to be a fan of this guy regardless of your college team affiliation.  The Florida Gators are extremely lucky to have such a stand up guy on their college campus.

Maher Dressed as Deceased Steve Irwin for Halloween

Bill Maher has pissed off millions of Catholics with his over-the-top comments about the Pope’s visit to the United States and the sexual abuse scandal within the church that has affected thousands of victims.

There is a petition at FireBillMaher.com that people can sign in protest of Maher’s latest comments on his HBO show Real Time with Bill Maher. You can also watch the video of Maher bashing the Catholics at the site.

Now I know what you’re thinking: “Bill, you shouldn’t be saying that the Catholic Church is no better than this creepy Texas cult.” For one thing, altar boys can’t even get pregnant. But really, what tripped up the little cult on the prairie was that they only abused hundreds of kids, not thousands, all over the world. Cults get raided, religions get parades. How does the Catholic Church get away with all of their buggery? Volume, volume, volume!

If you have a few hundred followers, and you let some of them molest children, they call you a cult leader. If have a billion, they call you ‘Pope.’ It’s like, if you can’t pay your mortgage, you’re a deadbeat. But if you can’t pay a million mortgages, you’re BearStearns and we bail you out. And that is who the Catholic Church is: the BearStearns of organized pedophilia – too big, too fat.

When the current pope was in his previous Vatican job as John Paul’s Dick Cheney, he wrote a letter instructing every Catholic bishop to keep the sex abuse of minors secret until the Statute of Limitations ran out. And that’s the Church’s attitude: ‘We’re here, we’re queer, get used to it,’ which is fine, far be it from me to criticize religion.

But just remember one thing: if the Pope was — instead of a religious figure — merely the CEO of a nationwide chain of day care centers, where thousands of employees had been caught molesting kids and then covering it up, he’d be arrested faster than you can say ‘who wants to touch Mr. Wiggle?’

Maher goes way too far in his comments but he is not totally off base with them. Don’t get me wrong, Maher is a first-class jerk who is a very angry man that was probably molested himself as a little boy.

Here is a look at some of his comments over the past decade about Catholics:

go on reading »

He also says: “It’s very, very dangerous for your spiritual, psychological, mental, emotional health and evolution. I think it stunts your evolution. If Scientology is real, then something’s f—ed up.”

Beghe has completed so many courses that he’s considered a top Scientologist, or “OT 5″ — similar to Tom Cruise, John Travolta and Kirstie Alley. But Beghe reveals: “The further up the bridge, the worse you get.”

Beghe uses strong language in the video teaser and more is promised to come in a full length video interview.  The days of Beghe being a Scientologist might be over but it is obvious the internal damage done to him might never be undone.

source: Fox News

Gordon B. Hinckley, president of the Mormon Church, died Sunday at the age of 97-years-old in Salt Lake City. His cause of death was due to old age. He had been serving as the president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints since 1995.

Hinckley was ordained the 15th president of the Mormon Church in March 1995 after then-President Howard Hunter, 87, died from the effects of prostate cancer just nine months into his term, the shortest in church history. Church presidents serve until their deaths.

When Hinckley was ordained at age 84, Mormons hailed him as a man of vigor and good health. Because the church presidency falls to the longest-serving member of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles, most men have been elderly when they took the office.

Hinckley was born and raised in Salt Lake City, Utah. Many give him credit for helping rid the Mormon stereotype of polygamy. He served as president of the church for thirteen years. He was the fifteenth president of the Latter-Day Saints.

Latter-Day Saints Presidents

1. Joseph Smith 1830-1844
2. Brigham Young 1847-1877
3. John Taylor 1880-1887
4. Wilford Woodruff 1887-1898
5. Lorenzo Snow 1898-1901
6. Joseph F. Smith 1901-1918
7. Heber J. Grant 1918-1945
8. George Albert Smith 1945-1951
9. David O. McKay 1951-1970
10. Joseph Fielding Smith 1970-1972
11. Harold B. Lee 1972-1973
12. Spencer W. Kimball 1973-1985
13. Ezra Taft Benson 1985-1994
14. Howard W. Hunter 1994-1995
15. Gordon B. Hinckley 1995-2008

“The Bible tells us to love our neighbors, and also to love our enemies; probably because they are generally the same people.”

G. K. Chesterton
English author & mystery novelist (1874 - 1936)

Independence Day actor Will Smith finally confesses in the new issue of Vogue that he is a Scientologist.  His wife Jada Pinkett Smith has been one for years.  Smith goes on to compare the principles of Scientology with the Bible.

For a long time, Smith has denied joining the Church of Scientology with his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, explaining that it would go against the beliefs of his late grandmother. But for some time, insiders in Hollywood have insisted the Smiths were, indeed, brought in by Cruise.Smith concedes that his kids are being home-schooled, just as are those of Cruise, Travolta and other Scientologists.

In the article, Smith refers to “Thetans,” who are space aliens in the vernacular of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard.

“… in all of the experiences I’ve had with Tom and Scientology, like 98 percent of the principles are identical to the principles of the Bible,” Smith tells Men’s Vogue writer Hudson Morgan.

The Fresh Prince has lost it.  He is comparing the words of one of the worst science fiction writers of all-time with Jesus Christ?  Have fun watching your box office numbers get sucked into outer space.

“My religion consists of a humble admiration of the illimitable superior spirit who reveals himself in the slight details we are able to perceive with our frail and feeble mind.”

Albert Einstein
US (German-born) physicist (1879 - 1955)

“If there is no God, who pops up the next Kleenex?”

Art Hoppe

Reverend Billy Graham, the greatest living preacher of the last 2oo years, was hospitalized early today for intestinal bleeding.

Evangelist BILLY GRAHAM was hospitalized early today at Mission Health & Hospitals in Asheville, NC, near his home in nearby Montreat, for evaluation and treatment of an intestinal bleed, it was reported in a statement from Merrell Gregory, a spokesperson for the hospital.

He is listed in fair condition, and his physicians have indicated that the illness does not appear to be life-threatening.

Graham is 88-years-old and has Parkinson’s disease.

Claus Von Stauffenberg

Germany is banning Tom Cruise and not allowing the makers of a film about Adolf Hilter to film in the country because Criuse is a Scientologist.  Germany claims Scientology is not a religion but pretends to be to make money.

Defense Ministry spokesman Harald Kammerbauer said the film makers “will not be allowed to film at German military sites if Count Stauffenberg is played by Tom Cruise, who has publicly professed to being a member of the Scientology cult”.

“In general, the Bundeswehr (German military) has a special interest in the serious and authentic portrayal of the events of July 20, 1944 and Stauffenberg’s person,” Kammerbauer said.

The movie is centered around Count Stauffenberg and his attempt to kill Hitler by placing a briefcase with a bomb near the dictator.  The bomb only wounded Hitler but it led to the execution of those who had hatched the plan including Stauffenberg.

Read more about Claus Von Stauffenberg at Wikipedia.

“I know God will not give me anything I can’t handle. I just wish that He didn’t trust me so much.”

Mother Teresa
Indian (Albanian-born) humanitarian & missionary (1910 - 1997)

“…that people often say about Him: “I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept His claim to be God.” That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic–on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg–or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronising nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.”

C. S. Lewis, from _Mere_Christianity_
English essayist & juvenile novelist (1898 - 1963)

Controversial and religious leader Jerry Falwell has passed away at the age of 73.  He collapsed and died in his presidential office on the campus of Liberty University.

Godwin said he was not sure what caused the collapse, but he said Falwell “has a history of heart challenges.”

“I had breakfast with him, and he was fine at breakfast,” Godwin said. “He went to his office, I went to mine, and they found him unresponsive.”

Falwell had survived two serious health scares in early 2005. He was hospitalized for two weeks with what was described as a viral infection, then was hospitalized again a few weeks later after going into respiratory arrest. Later that year, doctors found a 70 percent blockage in an artery, which they opened with stents.

Falwell’s influence on not just religion in America but politics can’t be denied.  His power over the conservative religious right helped turn several elections.

“I shudder to think where the country would be right now if the religious right had not evolved,” Falwell said when he stepped down as Moral Majority president in 1987.The fundamentalist church that Falwell started in an abandoned bottling plant in 1956 grew into a religious empire that includes the 22,000-member Thomas Road Baptist Church, the “Old Time Gospel Hour” carried on television stations around the country and 7,700-student Liberty University. He built Christian elementary schools, homes for unwed mothers and a home for alcoholics.

He also founded Liberty University in Lynchburg, which began as Lynchburg Baptist College in 1971.

Liberty University’s commencement is scheduled for Saturday, with former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich as the featured speaker.

Falwell had once opposed mixing preaching with politics, but he changed his view and in 1979, founded the Moral Majority. The political lobbying organization grew to 6.5 million members and raised $69 million as it supported conservative politicians and campaigned against abortion, homosexuality, pornography and bans on school prayer.

In 1984, he sued Hustler magazine for $45 million, charging that he was libeled by an ad parody depicting him as an incestuous drunkard. A federal jury found the fake ad did not libel him, but awarded him $200,000 for emotional distress. That verdict was overturned, however, in a landmark 1988 decision that held that even pornographic spoofs about a public figure enjoy First Amendment protection.

Click above to view the controversial Jerry Falwell Hustler Spoof AD.