Michael Bloomberg has been named in a lawsuit filed by a group of atheists seeking to remove the World Trade Center Cross from a memorial commemorating those who died in the September 11 attacks. The New York City Mayor says religious symbols should be allowed at the 9/11 museum. “In a museum, you want to show things that impacted people’s behavior back then even if you don’t think it was right. It’s history. Museums are for history and to teach people by example…This is what people did after September 11.”

The World Trade Center cross, made up of two intersecting steel beams, was found intact in the rubble of the attacks and was moved from the side of St Peters Church in lower Manhattan to the 9/11 memorial.

In the invocation before Sunday’s Senate session, Black prayed, “Save us, O God, for the waters are coming in upon us.”

In Monday’s invocation, Black said he believes in the power of prayer, “Although life’s challenges sometimes prompt us to feel that we are rearranging furniture in a burning building.”

The chaplain’s increasingly dire imagery followed his prayer on behalf of senators Friday, when he asked God to “save us from ourselves.”

“Rembrandt and the Face of Jesus” contains works from museums and private collections in the U.S. and Europe. The exhibition of more than 50 works by the Dutch master and his pupils includes a group of seven oil paintings of Jesus Christ that have not been together since they left Rembrandt’s studio in 1656.

Timothy Rub, director of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, calls the show “a rare moment to observe the image of Jesus through the imagination of this artistic genius whose life was devoted to representations of biblical truths.”

David Smith, spokesman for the Air Force’s Air Education and Training Command, says the course will be revised after complaints about its use of Bible passages to show that it can be moral to go to war.

Smith says that approach is now considered inappropriate in a pluralistic society.

He says the Air Force felt the training was needed for officers who might be called upon to launch nuclear missiles “because of the nature of the job.”

The Washington Post reports that the course was apparently taught by chaplains at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California for more than 20 years.

Perry told FRC Radio’s Washington Watch Weekly that he and a group of friends were talking about how to solve America’s problems and said, “Let’s be biblical. Let’s follow the instructions.”

The event at Reliant Stadium, called “The Response,” is billed as a day of prayer and fasting.

Perry, who is considering a presidential bid, says “The Response” won’t be a political event.

Last week, a federal judge threw out a lawsuit challenging its constitutionality.

In an Associated Press interview, Perry said he supports amending the U.S. Constitution to define marriage as the union of a man and a woman, and said he believes God created life and the universe. But he added that he expects the presidential race to focus on jobs — not evolution or gay marriage.

Don Rupp Reports:

Judge Gray Miller ruled that the atheist and agnostic group that filed the suit, the Freedom From Religion Foundation, did not have standing to sue.

The group had argued that Perry’s involvement in the Houston event, called The Response, would violate the Constitution.

Gov. Perry defended the event, comparing it to presidential support for the National Day of Prayer. Perry said his prayer was that the courts would find that a governor still has First Amendment rights.

All Souls Church, where Stott was rector from 1950-1975, says Stott died peacefully at his home Wednesday, surrounded by friends who were “reading the Scriptures and listening to Handel’s Messiah.”

The Rev. Billy Graham released a statement saying, “The evangelical world has lost one of its greatest spokesmen, and I have lost one of my close personal friends and advisors.” Graham and Stott were framers of the 1974 Lausanne Covenant, which helped define modern evangelicalism.

Stott led an evangelical resurgence in England and influenced Christians worldwide through his writing and preaching. His more than 50 books, including “Basic Christianity,” sold millions of copies and made him a mentor to generations of young Christians.

Christianity Today has an extended memorial for Stott, which includes a long list of interviews he did with the magazine.

John Stott also was at the forefront of the Lausanne Covenant, which was part of the start of the Lausanne Conference on worldwide evangelicalism.

Peek’s wife, Catherine, found him dead Sunday in bed at his home in Farmington, Mo., according to his father. The cause of death was not known, and an autopsy was planned.

In a 2006 CBN interview, Peek said he had a Christian upbringing but turned his back on it and abused drugs after the band achieved success with songs like “A Horse With No Name” and “Ventura Highway.”

Peek told CBN that he became miserable, turned to God in prayer and quit the band in 1977.

His first solo album in 1979, “All Things Are Possible,” reached No. 1 on the Contemporary Christian Music chart and was nominated for a Grammy Award.

Peek and his wife had no children. His funeral will be Monday at Farmington’s Presbyterian Church.