Pastor Greg Fairrington of Destiny Christian Church, in Rocklin, is offering religious exemptions for people who attend service on Sunday. It comes after the pastor previously offered exemption letters to churchgoers at an earlier sermon. Taking to Instagram on Monday evening, Fairrington justified his reasons and said: “What an amazing weekend at Destiny. Almost 6,000 people came out, all needing one thing—hope.” He continued: “They’re in a midst of a personal crisis....

Wiles, founder of TruNews and pastor of Flowing Streams Church in Florida, has been pushing back against the COVID-19 vaccine for months, even after contracting the virus himself. He sees vaccinations as a means of culling the population and believes those who don’t actively resist vaccinations are complicit in the killing of millions of people. “Those of you who are really big supporters of the vaccination program, whether you realize it or not, you are a new Nazi....

Unai Emery’s all-star squad claimed top spot in Group B ahead of Bayern Munich but their dubious reward is a tie-of-the-round showdown with Madrid, who have won the competition in three of the past four seasons. Nevertheless, Argentina midfielder Pastore believes a PSG side including Neymar, Kylian Mbappe and Edinson Cavani have nothing to fear. “We want to win this competition,” Pastore told reporters. “Real Madrid is a very difficult team but we have a good team too....

On Monday’s debut of “The Pat McAfee Show” on DAZN, McAfee suggested his fix to overtime, which includes both team’s offenses and defenses on the field at the same time, and a field goal battle to avoid any ties. The eight-year NFL punter’s suggestion begins with the teams on opposite ends of the field, alternating 2-point conversion attempts. “Just like in soccer with the shootout, back-and-forth, this team goes on this side, if they score, OK, the other side goes,” McAfee said....

MORE: All-time Heat players “He’s our No. 1 priority, a game changer,” Riley said of Whiteside in his postseason press conference Tuesday, via the South Florida Sun Sentinel. “I don’t think he’s even reached his ceiling.” Whiteside, 26, is an unrestricted free agent and will likely be one of the most sought-after players \this year. He’s coming off a career season, averaging 14.2 points, 11.8 rebounds and 3.7 blocks per game....

Each day brought new revelations of pedophile priests, each morning new stories of young Catholics victimized by the men they had been raised to call Father. But the cardinal was sounding the alarm about something altogether different. In the midst of the greatest scandal to engulf the church in his lifetime, he was irate about legislation that would require mandatory health-insurance coverage for contraceptives in New York state. His anger brought to mind the Gospel of the Sunday before, in which Jesus gave a blind man back his sight while one of the Pharisees criticized him because he had performed the miracle on the Sabbath....

After Arden Key rolled onto Mahomes’ leg while delivering a hit, Mahomes was visibly hobbled as he walked back to the Chiefs huddle, leaving the fans in Arrowhead Stadium holding their breath. LIVE: Chiefs vs. Jaguars live score, updates, highlights Mahomes eventually went to the sideline, but came back in and finished the series. His mobility was severely affected, however, and he seemed to be struggling to even make a handoff....

Forward Patrik Laine will return to the lineup Tuesday night against the Buffalo Sabres. The winger left Thursday night’s game against the Capitals in the first period after blocking a shot from Michal Kempny. Laine did not play in Saturday’s 3-2 loss to the Oilers. After the Jets’ 3-0 win over the Capitals, coach Paul Maurice confirmed to reporters Laine did not suffer a fracture. The Winnipeg Sun’s Scott Billeck reported Monday that the 21-year-old’s swelling “had come down....

On Saturday, 31 white supremacists affiliated with the Patriot Front organization were charged with conspiring to riot in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho as the city’s Pride in the Park was taking place. But it has now emerged that details of a planned demonstration were reportedly revealed by another group, the Panhandle Patriots Riding Club, more than a month earlier, during a meeting in a church hall on April 28 hosted by Scott, the representative for Idaho’s 1st district....

Because the NFL is all about complementary football, one major weakness at some point will take its toll on an unquestioned strength. With so much talk about “Can you believe how well Brady is still playing at 40?”, it’s time to remember that, well, he’s still 40. No QB, even the G.O.A.T., can be expected to lead big comeback after big comeback. GAME CENTER: Complete Panthers-Patriots stats It worked last week against the Texans, but with a performance not quite as interstellar (32 of 45, 307 yards, two TDs, three sacks, 104....

The Patriots running back is out for the season with a hip injury, according to multiple reports. WEEI was first to report the news. Blount leads the team with 650 yards rushing on 155 carries this season. MORE: Week 15 Power Rankings | AJ McCarron compares himself to Tom Brady Blount suffered the injury in the second quarter of the Patriots’ win over the Texans on Sunday night. He left the game and did not return....

In a piece from Yahoo, five unidentified league sources agreed that the Patriots will have to fork over some cash to Brown when he eventually files a grievance with the league. “[New England] fighting to keep that signing bonus now is either a gross misunderstanding of [the Collective Bargaining Agreement’s] rules on voiding signing bonuses or it’s just out of spite,” one source told Yahoo. “I can’t believe they don’t understand the signing bonus voids in the CBA....

While many of the media’s questions were expected to address the under-inflated footballs in the AFC championship game, coach Bill Belichick and his players quickly shifted the focus away from the ongoing investigation. MORE: Collinsworth: Super Bowl hurt by Deflate-gate | Staubach sees mirror image in Wilson “Well, we’re just focused on Seattle this week. That’s it. So it’s all about Seattle, it’s all about us getting ready to play Sunday," Belichick said about deflate-gate controversy....

The Patriots, playing without starting QB Cam Newton, who tested positive for the virus last week, struggled on offense in a 26-10 loss. Brian Hoyer and Jarrett Stidham combined for four turnovers as they took the snaps in his place. Hoyer threw an interception and lost a fumble in the red zone, and he also inexplicably lost track of how many timeouts the Patriots at the end of the first half....

The Patriots’ offense was anemic in a 20-13 AFC wild-card-round loss to the Titans on Saturday, New England’s earliest playoff exit since 2009. The Titans will travel to Baltimore next week to face the top-seeded Ravens in the divisional round. Neither team scored after halftime until Brady threw a pick-six with 15 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter. The Patriots had just 85 yards in the second half. Overall, Brady finished with 20-for-37 passing for 209 yards and an interception....

Five matches are set for the show, including the latest chapter in the rivalry between Adam Cole and Johnny Gargano for the NXT championship with this being a 2-out-of-3 falls match. One of the falls will be a straight one-on-one match, another a Street Fight, and if it goes to a third, commissioner William Regal will choose the stipulation at that time. Also on the show, the Street Profits will defend the NXT tag team titles against Undisputed Era (Kyle O’Reilly and Bobby Fish); Shayna Baszler puts her NXT women’s championship on the line against Mia Yim; a triple threat match between Velveteen Dream, Roderick Strong, and Pete Dunne for the NXT North American championship; and a grudge match with Io Shirai squaring off against Candice LaRae....

George admitted last week that he was “on the fence” about whether or not he’d come back this season from his broken leg, which he injured last summer while playing with the USA Basketball team. MORE: adidas won’t bid on new NBA apparel deal | Ginobili out 7-10 days | Korver has broken nose “Part of me is (thinking), they’re playing so well, they’ve come together, to shake up the chemistry and add another body, another player in there … I don’t want to be that guy that destroys what these guys have going," George told the Indianapolis Star last Friday....

The Clippers were among the favorites to become NBA champions after bringing in superstars George and Kawhi Leonard but their wait for a maiden conference finals appearance continued after a disappointing evening in Orlando on Tuesday. George had just 10 points on 4-of-16 shooting and Leonard put up only 14 as the Denver Nuggets ran out 104-89 winners in a Game 7 of the Western Conference semifinals, becoming the first team to recover from consecutive 3-1 series deficits in the same postseason....

George entered Game 4 on Sunday having shot 29.3 percent from the field and 23 percent from 3 in his first three contests of the series. Los Angeles held a 2-1 advantage in its first-round matchup with Dallas because teammate Kawhi Leonard carried the team on his back. George then produced another dud, scoring seven points on 2-for-12 shooting in regulation and finishing with just nine points overall. Lou Williams stepped up off the bench with 33 points in regulation to push the game to overtime....