Author and Bible teacher Priscilla Shirer met her husband, Jerry Shirer, when she was only 23 years old and gave a motivational speech at a luncheon for a group of executives. She described the beginning of her love story to actor and producer Candace Cameron Bure in the most recent episode of “The Candace Cameron Bure Podcast.”

“It is interesting when Jerry and I are at the 25-year mark now, and…it was so far in the future when we first got married, and then all of a sudden you’re there, and you’re not exactly sure how that happened,” said Priscilla. “And then you’re grateful that you do still kind of like each other, and, you know, you want to spend time together.”

“And you realize there are very few relationships these days that are going the distance,” she added, “so I feel really grateful.”

Priscilla Shirer and Candace Cameron Bure ‘Talk Husbands’

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. In 2022 she announced she had left the Hallmark Channel and signed with Great American Family, where she serves as chief creative officer.

Priscilla Shirer is a co-founder with her husband, Jerry, of Going Beyond Ministries. She is the New York Times bestselling author of more than two dozen books and has had featured roles in a number of films, including “War Room,” “I Can Only Imagine,” and her latest, “The Forge.”

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

At the beginning of the women’s conversation, Candace said, “Let’s talk husbands for a minute because you adore yours and I adore mine.”

Priscilla said that she met Jerry, who is 6-and-a-half years older than she is, when she was 23. She had been invited to speak at a meeting for some executives (“I don’t know why,” she said) and planned to give a 15-minute motivational talk. At the time, Jerry was an executive for Hilton Hotels.

For some reason, the woman organizing the luncheon thought that Priscilla and Jerry should meet. “I didn’t know this woman,” said Priscilla. “She’d never met me before, nor I her.” When Priscilla learned the woman wanted her to meet a young executive at the meeting, “I was like, ‘Girl, what?’” 

On the flip side, when Jerry learned that Priscilla was the one who would be speaking at the luncheon, he said he didn’t want to meet her—because she was his pastor’s daughter!

On his 100th birthday, retired Pastor Marshall Reinhardt preached the gospel and invited worshipers to make Jesus “the Lord of your life.” Reinhardt, born in Georgia on Dec. 1, 1924, was the guest of honor and guest speaker Sunday, Dec. 1, at Awtrey-Westville Baptist Church in Acworth, Georgia. One of his two sons, Tommy Reinhardt, currently pastors that congregation.

During a special worship service, Pastor Tommy Reinhardt honored his father “for his life and his service and his dedication.” Tommy shared 1 Timothy 5:17, which says, “The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching.”

RELATED: Deacon Who Tackled Church Gunman Honored at Fox Nation Patriot Awards

But his dad would correct him, Tommy said, unless he clarified that “our real object today is to honor God, because God blessing [my father]—the life that [God has] blessed him with—has blessed all of us.”

Pastor Marshall Reinhardt Preaches on 100th Birthday

Marshall Reinhardt, who pastored 10 churches during his ministry, stood at the pulpit on his 100th birthday, urging listeners to share the gospel wherever and whenever they can. As an example, he spoke about Ruth, his wife of 57 years, who died in 2002.

When the couple first began dating, Reinhardt said, Ruth was a churchgoer and a good person, so he didn’t witness to her. A few years later, after Ruth attended a Christian revival, she revealed that she had just been saved.

Reinhardt’s own path to faith started out rocky, he admitted. Although saved as a teen, he experienced a couple of years of persistent doubt. Finally, on the advice of his pastor, Reinhardt knelt in a gully one day, prayed, and “heaven came down,” he said.

The centenarian urged worshipers to joyfully shine Jesus’ light. “When people hear and see my actions, they draw a mind picture,” said Reinhardt. “And if I’ve done anything wrong in their sight and I’m walking in sin, they know about it. They see that, and it affects my witnessing to them.”

The preacher continued: “We’re indebted to [Jesus], to live for him, to glorify and honor his name. People should be able to see Jesus in our lives, in our actions, the way we conduct our business.”

Reinhardt concluded by saying, “I love the Lord. He’s done so much for me. He’s the Savior, he’s the Lord of my life, and he wants to be the Lord of your life.”

As for tips for new pastors, Reinhardt reminded them to pray for and love their congregants. “Remember who called you, and do God’s will,” he added. “You can’t improve on God’s will.”

A recently released clip from the upcoming season of “The Chosen” is making waves online, with some calling out the dialogue in the scene as “unbiblical.” 

The footage was one of two scenes that Dallas Jenkins, who created and directs the show, previewed to fans during a livestream on Dec. 10. 

“The Chosen” is the first multi-season television show to depict the life and ministry of Jesus Christ and has received both praise and criticism. While the show has won several awards, it has also consistently received backlash for taking creative liberties with the New Testament accounts. 

Jenkins has defended the show in the face of allegations that it “adds to Scripture” on numerous occasions, including in an interview on “The Stetzer ChurchLeaders Podcast” last year.

RELATED: Voddie Baucham Believes Watching ‘The Chosen’ Would Violate the Second Commandment

“I come from a conservative, Bible-believing background. I’m a strong evangelical who believes that the Bible is God’s Word,” Jenkins said. “So we start with that as our primary source of truth and inspiration, and we don’t change it.”

Nevertheless, the show explores what it was like for Jesus’ disciples to follow him, and that includes imagining moments and scenarios that aren’t covered in Scripture. So when it comes to writing the scripts for the show, Jenkins and his team of spiritual advisors and biblical scholars strive to fill in the narrative gaps with details that are “plausible.”

“Is this plausible? Does this fit within the character of Jesus and the gospels? And if so, we believe that we have the opportunity to fill in some gaps,” Jenkins said. 

While not everyone agrees with how the show decides to fill in these gaps, Jenkins has continued to emphasize that “The Chosen” is not a replacement for Scripture and that the show has actually inspired many people to engage more deeply with Scripture. 

The latest scene stirring online conversation will appear in Season 5 of the show and depicts a conversation between Jesus and Judas. 

RELATED: Dallas Jenkins Reveals ‘Very First Line That Was Ever Written’ for ‘The Chosen’

“You have a choice to make, Judas,” Jesus says in the scene, “who you belong to. Who has your heart? I want it, and I’ve had it before. You followed me willingly.”

LONDON (RNS) — Two weeks before Christmas is normally one of the busiest times of the year for the Archbishop of Canterbury, spent preparing his sermon for Canterbury Cathedral’s Christmas morning service that makes the news on British television on Dec. 25.

But this is not a normal Christmas season for outgoing Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, who has entered an unaccustomed period of silence after first stepping down because of the Church of England’s handling of one of its worst abuse scandals, followed by his disastrous valedictory address in the House of Lords last week.

It seems we will hear no more from Welby before he officially leaves his post on Jan. 6 — besides giving up his Christmas sermon, he will not deliver his usual televised New Year’s Day message, the BBC has confirmed. Instead, officials at Lambeth Palace said, this year he will spend the holidays privately with his family.

RELATED: Justin Welby Resigns as Head of Church of England Following Damning Report on Sex Abuse Cover-Up

Welby’s reputation was badly tarnished by the Makin Review, an independent investigation of the church’s response to allegations of abuse against John Smyth, a prominent layman who ran summer camps in England and Zimbabwe. After the report appeared in early November, confirming that Welby had been slow to isolate a suspected abuser, Welby announced he would resign his post a year before he turned 70, when Archbishops of Canterbury traditionally quit.

An ex officio member of the British Parliament’s House of Lords, Welby rose to make his farewell remarks Thursday (Dec. 5) during a debate on housing and homelessness — issues on which he has commented many times during his episcopacy.

His speech did eventually address those topics, but not initially. Instead, Welby began by seeming to make light of his resignation and the serious safeguarding failures detailed in the Makin Review. After joking about a 14^th-century predecessor who was beheaded, Welby suggested, “If you pity anyone, pity my poor diary secretary, who has seen weeks and months of work disappear in a puff of a resignation announcement.” He went on to thank fellow members of the Lords for their supportive messages over the past few weeks.

Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, center, addresses the British Parliament’s House of Lords, Dec. 5, 2024. (Video screen grab)

While some peers and the fellow Church of England bishops seated behind Welby on the parliamentary benches appeared to be amused, the bishop of London, Dame Sarah Mullally, appeared to be mortified, holding her hand across her face. The squirm of embarrassment was also felt by viewers at home and by commentators.

One of Smyth’s victims told The Guardian that he was appalled by Welby’s speech, saying, “I have never come across anyone so tone-deaf.”

The bishops who oversee anti-abuse efforts — Joanne Grenfell, Julie Conalty and Robert Springett — released a letter sent to survivors and their advocates the day after the speech, responding to a rash of emails expressing anger about Welby’s speech.

“Both in content and delivery, the speech was utterly insensitive, lacked any focus on victims and survivors of abuse, especially those affected by John Smyth, and made light of the events surrounding the Archbishop’s resignation,” they wrote. “It was mistaken and wrong. We acknowledge and deeply regret that this has caused further harm to you in an already distressing situation.”

Welby issued a mea culpa the same day, expressing regret at sins of commission and omission. “I understand that my words – the things that I said, and those I omitted to say – have caused further distress for those who were traumatised, and continue to be harmed, by John Smyth’s heinous abuse and by the far-reaching effects of other perpetrators of abuse,” he said in a statement.

(RNS) — Some describe LifeWise Academy as vacation Bible school for public schoolers.

The free program, which serves nearly 400 schools in Ohio and hundreds more across the United States, provides public school students with Bible-themed games, instruction and hands-on activities, all conducted off school property during recess, lunch or while the student would be in a noncore class.

But some school districts in Ohio have begun to pull back from LifeWise, bringing mixed reactions from parents and coming as state legislators work to make the “religious release” available statewide.

Students in the Worthington City School District, near Columbus, Ohio, have been attending LifeWise Academy’s sessions since last year. But on Monday (Dec. 9), the school board unanimously voted to end a policy that allows public school students to participate in religious programs during school hours.

“I just can’t understand why this program, which is valuable to many families, can’t meet after school,” board member Jennifer Best, who wore a silver cross necklace at the meeting Monday where outside instruction was voted down. “If we get to the point where there’s two or three or four programs, and then all of a sudden the music world wants kids to take music lessons during school time, and then language lessons during school time, I just see it growing and getting out of hand.”

More than 20 students will be affected by the vote, according to LifeWise, based in Hilliard, Ohio, which had planned to expand to four schools in the district due to demand. Jennifer Jury, LifeWise director of program advocacy, called the decision “really disappointing.”

The school board did not respond to requests for comment.

Worthington is the second Ohio school district to discontinue its religious release policy in recent months, after a similar decision by Westerville City Schools, another central Ohio district, which dropped the policy in October, impacting nearly 300 students who had been enrolled in LifeWise, according to Jury.

Both decisions come amid statewide discussions on religious release, a policy that gives students express leave to be excused during the school day for religious instruction and is currently permitted statewide. Under the policy, religious programs must provide transportation, must not use public funds or public school personnel and must obtain parental consent for student participation. A new bill in the Ohio General Assembly would mandate school districts to allow religious release programs.

The bill would update an existing law saying a school district board “may” permit religious release with new language saying boards “shall” authorize such programs. Initially introduced this spring as Ohio House Bill 445 by sponsor Gary Click, a Republican state representative, and Al Cutrona, a Republican senator, it includes the same mandatory religious release language as a Senate bill this summer by Republican Sen. Michele Reynolds. In an email to RNS, Click described the House bill as creating “a level playing field and equal opportunity for all parents and students throughout Ohio regardless of a student’s zip code.” Both bills have drawn extensive criticism and support, and neither bill has yet made it out of committee.

More recently, the mandatory religious release policy was added to a bill that passed Ohio’s lower chamber last summer that bans teaching on “sexual concepts and gender ideology” below third grade, according to the Ohio Capital Journal.

Actor Zachary Levi, star of the TV series “Chuck,” the “Shazam!” franchise, and the recent movie “Harold and the Purple Crayon,” said he was “Christian-adjacent” in response to a question from social and political commentator Bill Maher about Levi’s faith. Levi joined Maher’s “Club Random Podcast” for a conversation that aired Dec. 8.

The two were discussing whether or not there are “great” right-wing comedians, and Levi brought up Nate Bargatze as an example of a conservative “Christian dude” doing excellent comedy [Editor’s note: This video contains language that some might find offensive].

“Are you a Christian dude?” Maher asked.

“I would call myself Christian-adjacent at this point in my life,” Levi responded, to which Maher said, “What does that mean?”

Zachary Levi and Bill Maher Discuss Religion, Spirituality

Zachary Levi is an actor known for his roles in films such as “Tangled,” “American Underdog,” and “Shazam!” In 2022 he released his memoir, “Radical Love: Learning to Accept Yourself and Others.”

Levi has in the past publicly addressed some of his experiences with God. Speaking to Faithwire’s Billy Hallowell in 2022, Levi described a time in his life when he was so depressed he was suicidal. “I have always leaned into God and into my faith and trusted and followed,” Levi said, but explained that during that period of his life, he felt as though God had abandoned him.

RELATED: ‘Shazam!’ Star Shares How God Showed Him Love After He Was Suicidal

Thankfully, Levi’s friends and family were supportive of him, and his sister helped him check into a healing retreat where he received therapy. One woman whom Levi met while undergoing therapy was like an “angel from heaven,” he said, and was “God’s conduit of a mother’s love to me.” All of the instruction he received during that time would not have been worthwhile without her helping him to see that he was worthy of God’s love.

In September, Levi publicly endorsed then-presidential candidate Donald Trump after Robert Kennedy Jr., whom Levi had previously supported, dropped out of the race. Levi and Maher spent some time during their conversation discussing their political views, including whether or not Levi had been canceled by Hollywood for supporting Trump (Levi said he has not). 

When Maher, former host of “Politically Incorrect” and current host of “Real Time With Bill Maher,” asked Levi what he meant by being “Christian-adjacent,” Levi explained that he was raised in a Christian faith that was “non-denominational,” “Spirit-filled,” and “born again.”

On Dec. 11, Beth Moore announced she’ll be “signing off” of Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN) at the end of 2024. The Bible teacher, speaker, and bestselling author announced that her Living Proof Ministries (LPM) will “continue uploading new teaching content” biweekly to its free YouTube channel and app.

In a video announcement explaining the move, Moore said, “In seeking the Lord for the future of Living Proof Ministries, we have felt our time here [at TBN] was complete.” Having a TV show “has been such a blast and such a grace gift,” she added. “I never in my wildest dreams thought God would open this door to have a television program.”

Moore, 67, made headlines in 2021 when she left the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), the denomination in which she was raised. Moore now attends an Anglican church in Spring, Texas.

Beth Moore: ‘Tremendous Privilege’ To Teach on TV

To begin her year-end update, Moore quoted Psalm 126:3, which says, “The Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy.” That Scripture came to mind, she told viewers, because “it has been a tremendous privilege to serve you through this television program for the past nine years. There is truly no greater joy than to open God’s Word with you each week and delight in the Lord together.”

Moore added that she doesn’t “take this opportunity [to have a TV show] lightly.” In some text that accompanies the video announcement, LPM states:

The serving opportunities partnering with TBN provided to Living Proof Ministries went above and beyond what we could have ever imagined. We are so grateful to you for faithfully meeting with Beth weekly. We pray you have come to know the Lord in a deeper way through the study of Scripture with Beth and you have been encouraged in the faith.

The LPM YouTube channel and app are both free. Subscribers can receive updates about Moore’s latest teaching messages. Despite ending the TBN show, Moore will continue her schedule of in-person Living Proof Live events.

When ChurchLeaders asked about Moore’s departure from TBN, her team said, “Living Proof felt the Lord had completed our time with TBN and is opening doors to pursue other ministry opportunities. Our contract was graciously open-ended for renewal and cancellation at our discretion.”

The app, which has been around since 2014, offers access to Moore’s teaching series, podcasts, event details and registration, access to an online store and donation platforms, online Bible resources, and access to an online prayer community.

RELATED: Beth Moore: What Will ‘Make or Break’ Your Bible Teaching

More Information About Beth Moore

On Dec. 11, the LPM Facebook page featured a Christmas gift for Moore’s followers. “To celebrate the season of Christ’s Incarnation, we would like to gift you with a Christmas reading by Beth!” the post reads. “In it, she creatively reflects on her version of what Mary may have had on her mind the night after Jesus was born.” The free resource is available here.

A former pastor has received the maximum prison sentence after being convicted in a child sex abuse case. On Wednesday, a judge handed down a 20-year sentence to Danny Pitts, formerly of GracePoint Church in Decatur, Alabama, after Pitts was found guilty of second degree sodomy. 

Editor’s note: This article refers to reports of child sex abuse that some readers might find triggering and/or disturbing.

Pitts’ conviction stems from allegations that were first investigated in 2007. 

The abuse is said to have occurred at Pitts’ home when the victim was between 12 and 13 years old. Pitts was providing a counseling session for the victim, and the victim said that Pitts began masturbating during the session before having anal sex with the victim. 

While the crime was reported shortly after it occurred, the case went cold for years. 

RELATED: Trial of Alabama Pastor Accused of Child Sex Abuse Underway Following 2-Year Delay

When the case was revisited in 2021, Pitts was arrested and charged with one count of first degree sodomy and one count of second degree sodomy. During his trial, Pitts was found not guilty of first degree sodomy while being convicted of second degree sodomy.

According to WHNT, Pitts still faces four other sex-related charges stemming from a separate investigation in Tennessee. Those charges include one count of statutory rape, two counts of sexual battery by an authority figure, and one count of statutory rape by an authority figure. 

RELATED: Texas Pastor Accused of Possessing Child Sex Abuse Material, Secretly Recording Missionary Couple Staying in Church-Owned Home

“It’s about time that we got the justice that we all deserve,” Pitts’ victim told WAAY following Pitts’ conviction. Referencing the trial, he added, “It has been singlehandedly the hardest thing I’ve done in my entire life.”