Actor and producer Candace Cameron Bure, a Christian who grew up in the entertainment industry, said that at one point she considered giving up her career because her husband, Valeri Bure, was uncomfortable watching her in romance movies. 

“It’s something that Val and I wrestled with a lot in our marriage,” Bure said, sharing that her husband told her, “Regardless of a kiss at the end, I really don’t like watching you be close to someone else.”

“And I get that,” Bure said. “So we’ve had those struggles and a lot of conversation and prayer.” Bure eventually reached a point where she concluded, “I think this is it. I think I have to give this up.” She said she had made a couple of Hallmark movies, and her husband told her, “I don’t want to watch them anymore. They make me uncomfortable.”

“And I would never want to put my husband in that position,” said Bure.

Candace Cameron Bure: ‘Ok, God…I’ll Let This Go’

Candace Cameron Bure is known for starring in the 90s sitcom “Full House” and the 2016-2020 spinoff, “Fuller House,” as well as numerous Hallmark movies. She has previously cohosted “The View.” In 2022, she announced she had left the Hallmark Channel and signed with Great American Family, where she serves as chief creative officer. She continues to star in romantic films, most recently “A Christmas Less Traveled.” 

Season 8 of Bure’s podcast features conversations with author, Bible teacher, and actor Priscilla Shirer. Shirer has not had a lifelong career in the entertainment industry as Bure has, but Shirer has had opportunities to star in several films, including “War Room,” “Overcomer,” and most recently, “The Forge.” 

RELATED: Priscilla Shirer Talks About ‘The Forge’ and Shares How ‘Critical’ Discipleship Is in the Church Today

Shirer’s latest book is, “I Surrender All,” and Shirer and Bure spent the Nov. 8 podcast episode discussing the Christian discipline of surrender, sharing from their personal experiences how God has challenged them at different times to let go of parts of their lives they held dear. 

Shirer said that when she got the opportunity to star in “War Room,” she discovered that acting with an unexpected joy for her. But an unforeseen consequence of her playing a married woman was that her husband, Jerry Shirer, had a difficult time watching her pretend to be married to another man. 

“He didn’t know how that would impact him, watching me and this other actor together for 12 hours a day, every day, sort of interacting in a closed space,” Priscilla Shirer said. She explained that for any close-up shots of the married characters, the film’s creators, the Kendrick brothers, used the real-life wife of the actor who was playing the husband. “But [Jerry] was just jarred by the feeling, since this [acting] is not what we always do,” Shirer said.

First Baptist Dallas, the Texas megachurch led by Senior Pastor Robert Jeffress, is being sued over its response to alleged sexual abuse that occurred on a church-sponsored youth mission trip. On Nov. 11, a father filed a lawsuit in Dallas County, naming as defendants the church and two of its pastors: Ryland Whitehorn, executive pastor of ministries, and Alan Lynch, minister of pastoral care and counseling.

According to the suit, First Baptist failed to protect the father’s eighth-grade son, identified as D.R., on a July 2022 trip to San Diego. On the final night of the trip, a 10th-grader from the church allegedly assaulted D.R. Two months later, the lawsuit notes, church employees allegedly tried to intimidate the victim and bully his family into silence.

RELATED: Pulpit of First Baptist Dallas Survived Four-Alarm Blaze; ‘A True Miracle,’ Says Robert Jeffress

In a statement, First Baptist Dallas told ChurchLeaders it “categorically denies any allegations of impropriety,” saying it determined the sexual activity between the two boys was “consensual.”

Sexual Abuse Lawsuit Against First Baptist Dallas

D.R.’s father is suing for more than $1 million in damages, claiming negligence, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and civil conspiracy. (ChurchLeaders does not name sexual assault victims or their immediate family members.)

The alleged victim, now 16, reportedly had been threatened with a knife by another student during a church trip to New Mexico one month earlier. As a result, D.R.’s parents were “reluctant” to let him travel to San Diego. But church officials assured them they prioritized safety and were taking “a more solid set of teens” to California, the lawsuit states.

According to the suit, the youth had no curfew on their final night in San Diego; the only rule was that members of the opposite sex couldn’t be in the same room. A minister from First Baptist Dallas reportedly allowed D.R. to remain in a room with 10th-grade boys. After the minister left, the boys watched an R-rated, sexually graphic movie.

Then one of the older boys allegedly assaulted D.R. as another youth watched. The next day, that witness reportedly told D.R. no one needed to know about the incident. D.R. didn’t report the assault, the lawsuit contends, because he feared getting into trouble and being shamed.

First Baptist Dallas Faces Allegations of Intimidating, Bullying

According to the lawsuit, church officials called D.R.’s mother two months later and requested a meeting with the family. Davin Hutchinson, the associate student minister of worship, reportedly told the parents their son had watched porn and masturbated with the other teens.

Then Lynch tried to “intimidate, threaten and confuse” the victim, the lawsuit states. Lynch, who reportedly said he would contact police, also told D.R. that “what [he] had done was wrong and that D.R. needed forgiveness from First Baptist.”

When D.R.’s mother followed up after the meeting, Lynch allegedly indicated that “no force” was involved in the incident and that church officials would keep D.R. and the alleged perpetrator separated.

Lynch kept trying to “bully [the family] into silence,” the lawsuit states. In addition, church employees failed to provide D.R.’s parents with a policy about handling abuse, saying the church lacked procedures “to report sex abuse of minors.”

In its statement, First Baptist Dallas said:

Immediately upon learning of the subject allegation, it was reported to the necessary applicable law enforcement agencies. After extensive investigations, including interviews with eyewitnesses, each law enforcement agency indicated this was consensual sexual activity [between two male teenage parishioners] and closed any and all respective cases.

Pastor Greg Laurie recently made an appearance on Dr. Jordan Peterson’s podcast for a wide-ranging conversation about his life and faith. 

In his introduction for the podcast, Peterson said that Laurie, the founding pastor of Harvest Christian Fellowship in Riverside, California, first came on his radar after Peterson saw “Jesus Revolution,” a feature film depicting how Laurie came to faith in Jesus and became a pastor and evangelist. 

While Peterson does not personally identify as a Christian, he has expressed appreciation for the Bible and often uses biblical imagery to explore philosophical ideas. In their conversation, Peterson and Laurie discussed theology, cultural trends, and Laurie’s personal story. 

One theme that Laurie pointed out in his own life that he sees reflected in the culture today is a longing for fatherhood. 

“My mother was married and divorced seven times,” Laurie said. “And she was a beautiful woman, literally a dead ringer for Marilyn Monroe. And she had a bunch of boyfriends in between. She was a raging alcoholic.”

“So I never had a father growing up, and I was searching for a father myself,” he added. 

Laurie recounted that his mother would drink excessively and “pass out in a stupor every night.” He said, “Suddenly, I became the parent in the relationship, even though I was a little boy. I had to make sure my mom didn’t die—get her in bed, make sure she eats something, and care for her.” 

“So I can understand young people searching, young men searching. I was searching too,” Laurie said. “But I didn’t know what I was searching for. I just knew out there there was something better than the life I was living.” Laurie joked that his mother’s alcoholism was a form of “pre-evangelism” for him.

Nevertheless, Laurie said that his search for something better than the life he knew led him into the world of recreational drug use. 

“And I had a couple bad trips, and I thought, ‘This is not the direction I want my life to go,’” Laurie said. Later, Laurie said that he ran into some fellow high school students whom he referred to as “Jesus freaks.”

RELATED: ‘The Election Is Over…What Do We Do Now?’—Pastor Greg Laurie Answers

“Not meant as a compliment,” he clarified. “I thought they were all crazy.” 

“Today, conservatives in America are struggling with an essential question,” said former Vice President Mike Pence on Friday, Nov. 15. That question is “whether we will continue on the path of the traditional conservative agenda that has defined our party and, in so many ways, our nation throughout our history,” said Pence, “or whether our party will follow the siren song of populism unmoored to conservative principles.”

Pence shared his thoughts with attendees of a lecture he gave at Colorado Christian University (CCU) in Lakewood, Colorado, Friday evening. “We have a time of great opportunity,” he said, “but I must tell you…I also believe it’s a time of concern for those of us that believe in that traditional conservative agenda.”

Mike Pence Warns Against ‘Erosion’ of ‘Our Deepest Values’

Former Vice President Mike Pence and his wife, former Second Lady Karen Pence, joined CCU students, faculty, and staff, as well as other attendees, for the inaugural event in CCU’s President’s Speaker Series. During his lecture, Pence spoke positively of President-elect Donald Trump while nevertheless urging attendees to reject a number of the positions Trump holds.

RELATED: God Will ‘Give You the Grace’—Karen Pence, Wife of Former Vice President Mike Pence, Encourages Christian Educators Facing an Increasingly Challenging Climate

At the beginning of his lecture, Pence described how he came to trust in Jesus as his savior. For a period of time in his life, Pence thought religion was a “crutch.” But he came to believe in God while in college, and that decision to commit to follow Jesus “changed my life forever.”

“And preserving the faith of the American people, preserving the liberty of Americans to live and work and worship according to their faith, the dictates of their conscience, has been the calling of my life,” Pence said. 

“We gather at a time of renewed hope for our country,” said the former vice president, referencing “many storms” Americans have weathered in recent years, including the COVID-19 pandemic, “worldwide recession, record inflation, [and] a historic border crisis.”

“And the American people, I’m glad to say, have seen fit to usher out liberal leadership from every branch of the federal government in Washington, D.C.,” Pence said, “and now we have a new president, a new vice president, and new Republican majorities in the United States House and Senate. And I welcome that step forward for the American people.”

Pence said that the morning after the election, he and his wife “offered our most sincere congratulations” to President-elect Donald Trump, Vice President-elect J.D. Vance, and “those who campaigned and earned majorities in the Senate and the House of Representatives.”

However, Pence had a warning for those gathered. “Even as Republicans have achieved monumental victories this year,” he said, “we also face an erosion that seems to be taking place when it comes to our deepest values and our ideals and our principles that have always made the nation great and strong.” His concern includes the fact it “seems there’s been an erosion in our devotion to the principles enshrined in the Constitution of the United States.”

R&B artist Ray J was a recent guest on Pastor Jamal Bryant’s podcast, “Let’s Be Clear.” The two entered in for a “candid, clear, and coherent conversation.”

The conversation, however, might have been a little too candid, as Ray J later threatened the pastor if the recording—where Ray J opened up about mental illness and a specific suicide attempt—was ever released. After days of drama over social media, Ray J has apologized, and the interview was released.

Bryant introduces Ray J as “one of the most significant figures for this generation.”

Controversial Interview Between Pastor Jamal Bryant and Ray J Released, Detailing Ray J’s Suicide Attempt

Musical artist and actor Ray J has experienced incredible success alongside heart-wrenching controversy after an infamous video went viral, including his girlfriend at the time, Kim Kardashian. Ray J and Pastor Jamal Bryant have known each other for years. Bryant had a cameo in one of Ray J’s music videos, and the two have been friends. It’s no surprise that the two sat down to discuss the entertainer’s life and mental illness.

Neither of them, however, would have guessed that there would be controversy, threats, and an apology stemming from this interview.

Ray J talked about his early career, success, and the “personal toll of controversies.” Bryant offered some spiritual insight and attempted to steer the conversation toward “faith, resilience, and self-acceptance.”

During the “candid” interview, Ray J opened up about his mental health—namely being in the public eye for all his successes and failures. Throughout the interview, he referred to himself as a “liar” various times.

As shame and inauthenticity caught up to him, Ray J recalled being in Mexico and contemplating suicide at his hotel.

“I was hanging off the roof of the hotel in Cancún,” Ray J recalled. “I climbed off the roof, and I went off to the side of the roof, and I just laid down. I climbed over and I laid, and I went to sleep, and I said, ‘If I fall off, then it was meant to be.’”

Ray J calmly told his story of the attempt. “So, I went to sleep for about 2 1/2 hours, and then the hotel caught me, and then we went through all of this stuff, and then I had to go do these tests,” he said. “But at that moment, it was like, ‘Yo, you wanna make your family proud, but you’re living a lie.’”

When an all-volunteer personnel committee at First Baptist Church of Denton, Texas, voted 6-3 to fire Senior Pastor Jeff Williams, church leaders rejected the recommendation. Then they discredited the committee’s performance and didn’t nominate its members for continued service.

Deacon board chairman Larry Brewer said church leaders reviewed complaints against the pastor, talked to “dozens” of staff members, and then voted 41-3 to retain Williams. Brewer said deacons were handling the conflict with a “scriptural approach” and transparency.

According to the Denton Record-Chronicle, last year Williams faced formal complaints regarding angry outbursts, bullying, and “abusive or toxic behavior.” Current and former staff members, who requested anonymity, said the pastor’s troubling actions occurred during meetings, out of view of most church members.

Investigation Cited ‘Harassment’ by Pastor Jeff Williams

In the wake of complaints, First Baptist of Denton hired two independent organizations to investigate the church and Williams’ leadership. HR Ministry Solutions, which researched the complaints in June 2023, couldn’t show that the pastor created a hostile working environment based on employees’ age, race, or gender. But it noted that Williams’ actions amounted to “harassment in the form of a hostile work environment.”

RELATED: ‘Rumors’—G3 Ministries Founder Josh Buice Verifies That Steven Lawson Is a Member of Trinity Bible Church

HR Ministry Solutions said staff members have “either directly or indirectly” left First Baptist of Denton because of the pastor’s actions. Those actions qualify as abusive, the report explained, because of Williams’ “hostile, demeaning, intimidating, and bullying words and actions.” According to sources, the pastor retaliated against or threatened employees who complained about him to church leadership.

HR Ministry Solutions recommended leadership coaching, restorative dialogue, and an early retirement plan for Williams, 61. The church then hired Reclaim Leadership to review those recommendations and resolve the conflicts.

Church leaders briefly removed Williams from administrative duties but not from preaching. In a second tally, the personnel committee voted 5-4 in support of the pastor’s termination. Again, deacons supported Williams, preventing the committee’s recommendation from going to a congregational vote.

Church Staff Rated Personnel Committee Poorly

During a church business meeting last month, remaining members of the personnel committee were not renominated to serve. Explaining that decision, nominating committee spokesman Reed Hadley said staff members had rated the personnel committee’s performance as “shockingly low” and detrimental to the church’s health.

At the meeting, some congregants expressed hurt over what they viewed as a purge of faithful volunteers. “It is very hard when you want to serve, and you get these little daggers that zing into you,” said church council chair Jayme Richmond.

Other members expressed concerns that Williams wasn’t disciplined and that the “revolving door” of departing staff and congregants would continue.

As President-elect Donald Trump continues to announce his nominations for Cabinet appointments, those nominees continue to come under public scrutiny. Among them is Pete Hegseth, Trump’s selection for secretary of defense. 

Hegseth, who is perhaps best known as a pundit for Fox News, has years of experience in the military and as a political activist. However, since Trump announced Hegseth as his nominee for secretary of defense, Hegseth has been accused of having ties to white nationalism. He has also been accused of having committed sexual assault in 2017. 

Hegseth roundly denies both claims.  

Pete Hegseth’s Tattoos Raise Questions for Some

Some have alleged that Hegseth is sympathetic to white nationalism on the basis of his numerous tattoos, most of which contain themes that are religious, militaristic, or both. 

On Hegseth’s chest is the Jerusalem cross, which consists of one large cross surrounded by four smaller crosses. To some, it symbolizes the gospel spreading to the four corners of the earth. To others, the four smaller crosses symbolizes the four gospel accounts recorded in the New Testament. To others still, the five crosses represent the five wounds of Jesus Christ on the cross. 

The symbol was widely popularized in the 11th century during the first Christian Crusade and is associated with the Kingdom of Jerusalem, which was also known as the Crusader Kingdom. The Jerusalem cross was known to serve as a coat of arms for conquering armies. 

The symbol is still used widely today among Christians of various traditions, including some who reside in and around Jerusalem.

On Hegseth’s right arm is the Latin phrase “Deus Vult,” which roughly translates to “God wills it.” It was also popularized in the 11th century during the First Crusade. It was a rallying cry for conquering armies, reinforcing their belief that the taking of Jerusalem was their divine right. 

In recent decades, the phrase has been associated with white supremacist groups, who use the metaphor of the Crusades as a counter-narrative to Muslim jihad. At times, violence or the threats of violence against non-white groups has been associated with the phrase’s modern usage.

Additionally, Hegseth has a tattoo on his arm of a medieval sword overlaid on a cross—another image associated with the Crusades. Below the tattoo is the name of Jesus written in Hebrew. 

RELATED: In Tennessee’s Evangelical Heartland, Pastors Say Trump’s Win Won’t Solve America’s Woes

Hegseth’s non-religious tattoos contain imagery associated with patriotic militarism. They include an image of the American flag overlaid with an assault rifle; the insignia of the U.S. Army’s 3rd Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment, with which Hegseth served; the “Join or Die” snake, which was popularized during the American revolution; and a recreation of the words “We the people” from the U.S. Constitution.