Faith

Pardoned, By God

On this episode of the Another Chance Podcast you will meet my longtime friend, Dr. Sam Huddleston.   I met Sam just after he was released from prison, having been convicted of manslaughter as a 17-year old.

His story, while gritty, is one of repentance, forgiveness, restoration, and reconciliation.

Just this past December the State of California officially pardoned Sam of the crime he committed all those many years ago.

The photograph to the left is of my father-in-law, Bob Rittenhouse (who gave Sam his first job out of prison), Sam, and me at Sam’s Pardon Party, thrown by his wife, Linda, just last weekend.

As Sam’s Pastor and mentor, Donald Greene, said, “Governor Jerry Brown did what God did when Sam was a young man: pardon him. I’m glad to know the State of California finally got the message.”

Everyone laughed, cheered, and shed a tear simultaneously.

At the party were people of all ages, colors, and backgrounds–from all over the country and even Nigeria–yet NO ONE fronted their color or ethnicity first (or even second or third)–everyone there was a God-First person who had come to confirm that we are all forgiven and saved by His amazing Grace. Period.

The gathering was like a little slice of Heaven.

Sam received the official word of his pardon just before Christmas, when his entire family was gathered in a park to take pictures with a professional photographer.  The adjacent photo was snapped just as the family prayed together after hearing the news come over Sam’s cellphone speaker.

Sam’s book, 5 to Life, is available by clicking here.

 

College Bans Chick-Fil-A, Professor Fires Back

There is one hero in this story, and her name is Cynthia Newman, the former Dean at Rider University’s School of Business.

There is also an absolute fool in this one: the administrators at Rider University.

Professor Newman resigned after the school banned Chick-fil-A on campus, despite the fact that students loved the chicken joint.

The university said in an email to students in November, 2018, that the chain restaurant’s “corporate values have not sufficiently progressed enough to align with those of Rider.” Chick-fil-A has been under scrutiny from the intolerant left since 2012, after CEO Dan Kathy acknowledged (what God long ago acknowledged) that marriage is between a man and a woman.

In a statement made to Campus Reform, Newman said, “I felt like I was punched in the stomach when I read that statement because I’m a very committed Christian and Chick-fil-A’s values, their corporate purpose statement is to glorify God in and to be faithful stewards in all that is entrusted to them and to have a positive influence on everyone who comes into contact with them and that mirrors my personal beliefs perfectly.”

So, when will we see a ban on these companies, all founded by very committed Christian people?

  • Forever 21. Printed on the bottom of each of the store’s bags, the biblical reference is perhaps the most obvious reference to the religious beliefs promoted by the store’s owners, the Chang Family, who are born-again Christians.
  • Mary Kay Cosmetics. Mary Kay Ash, founder of the cosmetics behemoth of the same name, attributed her company’s success to the choice to “take God as our partner.”
  • In-N-Out Burger. The fast food restaurant with it’s cult-like following is well known for the citation of Bible passages printed on the chain’s cardboard cups, containers and wrappers.
  • Interstate Batteries. According to the company’s website, the mission is “to glorify God as we supply our customers worldwide with top quality, value-priced batteries, related electrical power-source products, and distribution services.”
  • Hobby Lobby. The company’s first mission statement is “Honoring the Lord in all we do by operating the company in a manner consistent with biblical principles,” according to its website, and ends with, “We believe that it is by God’s grace and provision that Hobby Lobby has endured. He has been faithful in the past, we trust Him for our future.”

 

Doped-Up, Docile, Dependent: the Left’s Plan for America

I originally wrote this piece for World Net Daily, it ran on Wednesday…

Many years ago, when my wife and I were about to adopt our first of three sons, a friend who worked with foster kids presented us with a peculiar warning: Nature is stronger than nurture. In other words, he believed that inherited traits within the DNA of our adopted children would outweigh the influence we would have in raising them.

We didn’t buy it.

Our sons are now young adults. Over the years there were numerous times when my wife and I observed traits, tendencies, aptitudes and emotions that seemed foreign to our known personal bloodlines. However, oddly enough, we can say the same thing about our biological daughter, who is the oldest of our kids.

Yes, their “nature” was at times trying, but we confronted that nature with our nurture. We spent lots of time with them, supervised them, loved them, prayed for them, sought out mentors and, when necessary, provided them with professional assistance to properly equip them for future success.

Now, let me share with you a troubling statistic.

In San Francisco, where I live, we have more intravenous drug addicts than high school students.

There are 16,000 high schoolers in this city and 24,500 injection drug abusers (the count is reliable, especially since San Francisco has a free needle-distribution program). This doesn’t count thousands more who are addicted to non-intravenous drugs and alcohol.

Meantime, the number of homeless in San Francisco is roughly 7,500. While a fraction of these people may be temporarily down on their luck, most are either alcohol or drug addicted, out of their mind, or otherwise harmless people who are completely ill-equipped to do life.

I often wonder how much of this mess is because their nature wasn’t properly nurtured.

As this country (and Western culture at large) steadily drifts from time-tested, biblically based family values, we are seeing more and more broken families and an exceeding number of kids who have no contact with a biological father. Even when dedicated to wholesome principles, it’s challenging to nurture nature in such circumstances.

Then there are the kids living in a home with two parents who are being raised, not by proven standards, but by whatever they see on the internet.

I believe a combination of the above scenarios has exacerbated homelessness, drug addiction and the cloud of destitution hanging over so many.

And it’s likely to only get worse.

Now, here’s where the progressive left crawls in. The only cure they propose for the impoverished masses is more government.

These radicals ascribe to what Karl Marx referred to as The Three Laws of Matter. In essence, this decree proposes that to change one’s nature through nurture is a fantasy.

Marx claimed that as each of us were spit out of our mother’s womb, some had a more efficient brain than others. As such, those with a better brain must step up and keep the inferior population in check with heavy-handed laws, regulations and tempting ploys, lest the minions wreak havoc, kill their fellow humans and destroy the planet.

In light of Marx’ theory, look at what the leftists are now openly pushing for: completely legalized marijuana and free needles to keep millions doped up, docile and dependent; promises of free health care and universal income to prevent many more from becoming industrious; and finally, abortion and infanticide to reduce the type of people that are unwanted in their utopian world.

What we’re witnessing is a wildly sinful trend that, unless broken, will curse this nation.

The Bible shows us time and time again that when Israel turned from idols to serve the living God, the “curse” that was before them was broken, and God spared them from the doom that was so near.

We too must return to a firm foundation rooted in authentic faith and validated family values.

And, we must recognize and vigilantly oppose the left’s game plan.

 

Pelosi’s favorite fake Bible verse, and 7 more that might fool you

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi regularly uses a quote that she insists is in the Bible, but it’s not.  Last week, at the annual Council for Christian Colleges and Universities conference in Washington, D.C., she stated that her favorite bit of biblical wisdom is, “To minister to the needs of God’s creation is an act of worship. To ignore those needs is to dishonor the God who made us.”

As she introduced the quote, she admitted, “I can’t find it in the Bible, but I quote it all the time…I keep reading and reading the Bible—I know it’s there someplace. It’s supposed to be in Isaiah.

Nancy needs to read it a bit more.  The saying she uses is NOT in the Bible.  The closest might be from Proverbs 14:31, which states, “Whoever oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors God.”  Nancy’s favorite fake Bible verse is a bit different than the authentic one noted here.

This got me to thinking, how many popular sayings that many think are in the Bible, are actually not?

Here are a few (perhaps you are able to add to this list):

God helps those who help themselves.  This is actually from the Aesop’s Fable, Hercules and the Waggoner.

Cleanliness is next to godliness.  This one became popular during the Victorian era after being revived by Sir Francis Bacon and John Wesley.

Everything happens for a reason. That one is not in the Bible, but it’s based on a biblical truism.  Everything does happen for a reason because God is sovereign and there are no random, out-of-control happenings. Several factors help us know that everything happens for a reason: the law of cause and effect, the doctrine of original sin, and the providence of God.  Here’s a real Bible verse confirming this: “…and we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose,” Romans 8:28.

Money is the root of all evil.  The real verse states,  “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs,” 1 Timothy 6:10.

Hate the sin and love the sinner. This one is built on a biblical principle, but the phrase is actually loose quote of something Mahatma Gandhi wrote in 1929, “Hate the sin and not the sinner.” The closest Bible verse is in the rarely noted New Testament book of Jude 1:22-23, “Be merciful to those who doubt, save others by snatching them from the fire; to others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.”

God won’t give you more than you can handle.  Oh, really? That one’s not in the Bible either.  Here’s what Paul (the Jewish Rabbi who wrote most of the of the New Testament) says:  “We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about the troubles we experienced in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead,” 2 Corinthians 1:8-9.

The Devil made me do it.  Nice try.  When Eve ate the fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of good and Evil, she told God, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”  As for us, while Satan is the driving force behind the evil in our world today, we have our own sinful nature to blame for most of our sins. James 1:14 says,”but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed.”

Jewish Hate Comes to Online Retailer

For those of us who are Jewish, it’s certainly a new spin on the most ancient enmity.

A shirt being sold in the “hot trending” section of a popular online retailer bears the slogan: “At least I’m not Jewish.”

Fortunately, Zazzle.com removed the shirt which was being marketed by a third-party vendor who used the moniker, “The Slesk Bazaar,” who has since been banned by Zazzle.

That same vendor also created a shirt that read, “At least I’m not Christian.”

After Satan tempted Adam and Eve in the Garden we read in Genesis 3:14-15 that God put enmity between Satan and his ilk, and Eve and her offspring.  Ever since, Satan has been going after God’s Chosen people (initially in an attempt to prevent the Messiah from being born), and authentic followers of Yeshua (Jesus).

Read more at https://www.wnd.com/2019/01/hot-trending-shirt-at-least-im-not-jewish/#UODjPTIiKAoXjCPu.99