Tag Archives: California

Megachurch Pastor To Live On Streets For Fundraiser

The pastor of an influential Sacramento, California megachurch has said he will live on the streets for two weeks or until $100,000 is raised to start a homeless shelter in the area.

Rick Cole says that he feels God calling him to take the step to raise awareness of the need for a winter shelter for the homeless of his community.

“Tomorrow, I’m going downtown on light rail, I picked up my light rail pass today…I’ve never ridden light rail in my life, not even once, not even for fun, and so that’s gonna be my mode of transportation for the next two weeks and we’ll adjust as we go along the way and we’ll communicate to you as we go along the way,” Cole explained in a sermon to his congregation Saturday.

“That’s what I believe God wants me to do and what we’re gonna do together,” Cole went on to say. “I’d like us just to make our prayer about God’s power to touch our city…This idea is not very old, probably about two or three weeks old and every step along the way it’s only gained momentum and excitement. My wife even has grown Ok with it. That was a miracle all by itself so we are excited about the many things I think God wants us to do with this particular project and how we can grow and impact this community.”

The shelter, which will be called Winter Sanctuary, has an overall goal of $300,000.  A website has been created at www.revonthestreet.com to allow people to donate to the mission.

“The ultimate goal is there are some hurting people, really hurting and we’re taught by God to help ’em. Go to them, make a difference. When you do this to the least if these Jesus said you done it to me. You want to get close to Jesus get close to some hurting people and when you help ’em in His name then you’ve just touched him in the most profound way,” Cole told his congregation Saturday.

California Charter School Censors Christian Books

A Christian legal organization is raising the alarm about a California charter school who is removing all books from their library that contain Christian content.

The cleansing of Christians from the Springs Charter Schools was exposed by officials with the Pacific Justice Institute.  The school claims to be “Created and operated by parents” and says that “we value parent choice and involvement, using the community as the classroom, fostering a child’s innate creativity, collaborating to achieve goals, building relationships, and personalizing learning.”

A concerned parent first raised the alarm when librarians started removing the book The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom from the shelves.  The librarians said they were ordered to remove anything containing Christian content.

“It is alarming that a school library would attempt to purge books from religious authors. Indeed, some of the greatest literature of Western Civilization comes from people of faith,” PJI President Brad Dacus stated in a press release about the matter. “Are they going to ban the sermons or speeches of the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.? What about the Declaration of Independence, which invokes the laws of nature and nature’s God?”

“We are calling on Springs Charter Schools to immediately reverse their ill-conceived and illegal book-banning policy.”

Marines Performing Gospel Song Goes Viral

In these days where Christians in the Armed Forces are coming under attack, it’s rare that a video with troops praising God is able to gain attention let alone not be stopped by anti-Christian groups.

A video of almost 500 Marines at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton performing the song “Days of Elijah” is flying around the internet obtaining millions of views.

The troops loudly proclaim, “There is no God like Jehovah” and even shout “oorah!” to emphasize some points of the song declaring the one and true God.

“I’m really happy that this video has gone viral, but the thing that I’m hoping for is that I want people to pray for our troops. That’s my intention. I want more people praying for our troops because there is so much bad news in the media that I want people seeing something positive,” Merrie Baldwin, a volunteer who posted the video, told The Christian Post.  “We do prayer request cards with them and the majority of them are very concerned with ISIS right now.”

The worship services and outreach began as an offshoot of a Christmas activity from Arbor Christian Fellowship Church in Lake Forrest, California.  They would provide gifts and baked goods for the soldiers away from their home on the holidays.

“Every second Sunday we go down and the Saturday before I bake thousands of cookies. So I bring cookies with me because most of the guys are homesick and missing their moms or wives,” Baldwin said.  “I give them a bag of cookies and we have the church service, and my husband and I stand at the back and we are just there available if they need counseling or just want to talk to somebody ’cause they are homesick or to pray with them.”

 

Hundreds Forced To Flee California Wildfires

Wildfires in California have forced over a thousand residents to flee their homes and have put hundreds of homes in danger.

A blaze near a lakeside resort town has burned almost two-dozen buildings.  The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection says the fire near Bass Lake in Central California hit one neighborhood especially hard and destroyed several homes.

The fire started in a road near Oakhurst just south of a Yosemite National Park entrance.  The fires quickly progressed to Bass Lake because of strong winds.  The fire burned over 320 acres according to CalFire.

Over 400 homes are considered to be in danger form the flames.

Another fire burning about 60 miles outside of Sacramento has forced 133 homes to be evacuated.  CalFire spokesman Daniel Berlant said that the fire has burned 4.7 square miles and is 10 percent contained.  He attributed the fire’s rapid growth to a canyon full of thick, dry brush.

Fire officials say a heat wave in the area is making the conditions to fight the flames almost unbearable.  At least six firefighters have been wounded in fighting the flames.

Hurricane Odile Pounds Baja California

A hurricane that rapidly gained strength before making landfall is pounding Mexico’s Baja California.

Residents and tourists have been taking shelter and hotels have opened conference rooms so people can find a safe place to ride out the storm.  Hurricane Odile made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane although it weakened to Category 3 shortly after landfall.

The National Hurricane Center said the storm made landfall around 9:45 p.m. near Cabo San Lucas with estimated sustained winds of 125 m.p.h.  Mexican authorities had forced evacuations of coastal areas.

Forecasters with the NHC say that 5 to 10 inches of rain is likely over the region during the course of the storm with isolated areas receiving as much as 15 inches.  Flooding is likely to cause significant damage as most of the region is very mountainous and landslides will mix with floodwaters.

At least 30,000 people are out of their homes.  Most of the region has no electricity or clean drinking water.

California University System To Discriminate Against Christian Groups

The California State University system has openly announced they will be discriminating against Christian groups on their campuses.

The apparent attempt to drive Christians from their schools was exposed when InterVarsity Christian Fellowship lost their recognition at 23 schools in the state because they require their leadership to be Christians.

The California State University system issued an executive order in 2011 that reads “No campus shall recognize any fraternity, sorority, living group, honor society or other student organization that discriminates on the basis of race, religion, national origin, ethnicity, color, age, gender, marital status, citizenship, sexual orientation or disability.”  A spokesman for the CSU system said InterVarsity would not sign the agreement which meant a vehement anti-Christianist would have to be allowed in the group and run for leadership positions.

The organization showed no concern about infringing on the religious rights of the students.

InterVarsity spokesman Greg Jao said they will keep fighting on behalf of their student’s rights but that the hostile attack by the school system can be a benefit as well.

“Our campus access challenge is actually forcing us, or inviting us, to fully release the ministry into the hands of college students to say the best way students are going to hear the gospel is not by drawing them to a large group meeting—which we may or may not have access to—but in your dorm rooms, in your cafeterias, in your laboratories,” he said. “I think, most importantly, we’re mobilizing students to be missionaries. I’m convinced college students are there to be good students, absolutely, but also to be missionaries wherever they are.”

Mystery Virus Now In Ten States

The rare virus that sickened children in California last year and slammed Kansas City a few weeks ago has now been found in ten states.

Doctors say the rare virus, Human Enterovirus 68, is related to rhinovirus which causes the common cold.  The Centers for Disease Control says that 10 states have shown cases of the virus: Colorado, Missouri, Kansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Iowa, Ohio, Oklahoma, North Carolina and Georgia.

Dr. Richard Besser, the Chief Health and Medical Editor for ABC News, said that viruses “don’t respect borders” and that he expects it to appear across the country.

“If your state doesn’t have it now,” Dr. Besser said, “Watch for it, it’s coming.”

Doctors from Children’s Hospital Colorado in Denver said that the virus stats showing signs of a cold such as sneezing and coughing.  The victims then start wheezing and have trouble breathing similar to an asthma attack.

Children under 5 and those with asthma are considered to be at highest risk.  Some patients have to be in intensive care for 4-7 days to assist breathing until the virus clears the system.

Aftershocks Shake Northern California

Northern California has been shaken by a series of aftershocks including a 3.9 magnitude quake that struck early Tuesday.

The U.S. Geological Survey has recorded over 125 aftershocks of various degrees since the main 6.0 earthquake.  In addition to the 3.9 quake, a series of quakes near 3.0 were recorded near American Canyon around 6 a.m. local time.

At least 100 homes or businesses have been declared unsafe for human occupation as a result of the quake.  The latest estimate on damage says it would take over $1 billion to return all property to normal.

Officials throughout the region are warning residents to be careful around damaged buildings that are not condemned because aftershocks could break off debris.

Seismologists say the smaller quakes are a good thing because as time goes on it lessens the possibility of a larger quake.

California Forces Faith-Based Employers To Pay For Abortions

The state of California is forcing all faith-based employers to pay for abortions.

The California Department of Managed Health Care told insurance companies in the state all abortions must be covered.  Michelle Rouillard, director of DMHC, said that “abortion is a basic health care service.”

Rouillard asserts that the California constitution prohibits health plans from “discriminating against women who choose” to kill their babies via abortion.

The directive is seen as a state agent acting to penalize two Roman Catholic/Jesuit universities that said they would no longer pay for abortions in health care plans but would not stop employees from obtaining it from third parties.

The Alliance Defending Freedom and the Life Legal Defense Foundation sent rebuttal letters on Friday saying the state’s mandate is a violation of federal law. The letter says that DMHC’s action is violation of the Weldon Amendment.

6.0 Quake Rocks Northern California

A 6.0 earthquake around 3:30 a.m. rocked Northern California on Sunday morning leaving residents rushing into the streets and some older buildings no longer stable enough to live in.

The quake centered about 6 miles southwest of Napa.  State Geologist John Parrish told residents the aftershocks would decrease in magnitude but that buildings that were damaged in the main quake are now susceptible to collapse from the aftershocks.

Queen of the Valley Medical Center in Napa reported 172 patients arrived at a triage tent set up after the quake and that 13 of the patients required immediate admittance to the hospital.  Hospital spokesman Walt Mickens said that one patient is in critical condition while a 13-year-old boy was airlifted to another hospital in critical condition after his home’s fireplace fell on him.

Pacific Gas & Electric said that 2,200 customers were without power on Sunday evening.  A total of 70,000 lost power at some point in the aftermath of the quake.

The quake is also a potential financial disaster for the region as many of the iconic wineries in the region were struck.  One vineyard reported that their entire 2011 and 2012 vintages were destroyed in the collapse of a building.

Some analysts say the quake could foretell a more serious earthquake.  There are concerns that the energy released by the Napa quake could increase pressure on other fault lines throughout the region.