Tag Archives: United States

Church Revitalizes Gang-Infested School

An inner city Portland, Oregon school that at one time was scheduled to be closed because of gang violence and under performing students is now thriving after a partnership with a local church.

“Roosevelt High School was well known as the most under-resourced and failing school in the state. It had become a metaphor for failure, with a capital ‘F,”‘ Pastor Kip Jacob of SouthLake Church in West Linn told The Christian Post.

The school was once part of a thriving community until the late 1980s when members of the Bloods and Crips gangs moved north from Los Angeles in an attempt to extend their criminal enterprise.   The church’s facilities and grounds crumbled and it became almost impossible for students to focus on their education with the rising crime level.

Then in 2008, SouthLake Church partnered with Roosevelt to turn around the culture of the area.

“When the opportunity for that first work day came, people rallied and communicated to the kids that they are really worth it,” Pastor Jacob told CP. “That is one of the things that has been so exciting for us to see is that it has led to a renaissance of the school and the community.”

The church provides the school with clothes, hygiene products and even food for the students when they need it.  The church members also work with each academic department to see what specific needs they have for their students.

“The clean-up day went so well, the school told us that it was about a $250,000 benefit to the school. That was their evaluation. They just kept inviting us in. The needs were so great,” Jacob said. “We just filled gaps and met needs and they kept inviting us in to do that to the point where they invited us to have a staff person with an office in the school to help coordinate volunteers.”

As a result of the church’s efforts, private businesses have now joined to help the school.

“I think what happened is the church was able to be a catalyst for others to come in, businesses to come in,” Jacob said. “Nike came on board once they saw the momentum and said, ‘We can build a [turf] football field,’ and they did. Then another business came in and built a track, the best track in the Portland area. It just really rallied the community around the common good of the kids.”

Family Christian Stores Files Bankruptcy

The nation’s largest Christian bookstore chain specializing in Bibles, books, music and church supplies has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Family Christian Stores, the Grand Rapids, Michigan based non-profit company has 266 stores across 36 states.  FCS employs around 4,000 employees.  Corporate officials say that they don’t anticipate closing stores or laying off employees.

“We strive to serve God in all that we do and trust His guidance in all our decisions, especially this very important one,” stated FCS president and CEO Chuck Bengochea. “We have carefully and prayerfully considered every option. This action allows us to stay in business and continue to serve our customers, our associates, our vendors and charities around the world.”

FCS had bought itself back from private equity owners in 2012 with a pledge to donate 100 percent of profits to “widows and orphans.”

FCS released a statement regarding the restructuring:

Through a newly formed subsidiary, Family Christian Ministries will serve as the lead bidder for the Section 363 sale process, putting forward a plan that acquires the streamlined organization’s assets and maintains operation of the chain’s 267 stores in 36 states, as well as its e-commerce site www.familychristian.com. Family Christian Stores is asking the court for a schedule to complete the sale process in about 60 days.

After the judge approves the sale, we’ll be immediately cash-flow positive and profitable. This process is similar to the one taken by the automobile and airline industries in recent years. We see this as the start of a fresh new day for Family Christian Stores and look forward to delighting our customers for many years to come.

Among our next steps are to make various capital improvements to our stores, as well as invest in an expanded product line and implement a new retail strategy that will enable us to better serve our customers.

New Study Shows Christianophobia On The Rise Among Powerful Elite

A new study by two sociologists shows that anti-Christian hostility is on the rise in the United States and that a group of “elites” in areas such as higher education shows the greatest hate toward Christians.

George Yancey, professor of sociology at the University of North Texas told the Christian Post that Christians are fortunate those with anti-Christian hate are small in number but a concern because they can influence important areas of society.

Yancey said that one of the biggest problems with these anti-Christianists is that they are unable to see their bigotry and hatred toward Christians.

“I consistently saw evidence of Christianophobia in other areas of my life and in our society, unlike other types of intolerances, those who exhibited Christianophobia do not tend to think that they are intolerant,” Yancey said.  “Usually those who do not like blacks or Muslims admit that they are intolerant but simply try to justify their intolerance. Those with Christianophobia tend to deny that they are intolerant but rather that they are fairly interpreting social reality. Envisioning themselves as fair and free of intolerance allows them to blame those they detest rather than recognize how their emotions have distorted their intellectual judgments.”

He said the majority of those who exhibit the greatest levels of Christianophobia are those who self-describe as “liberal” or “progressive” and look down on those who profess faith.

“In the minds of many of the respondents Christians are ignorant, intolerant and stupid individuals who are unable to think for themselves. The general image they have of Christians is that they are a backward, non-critical thinking, child-like people who do not like science and want to interfere with the lives of everyone else,” Yancey stated.

Over 20,000 ISIS Supporters Worldwide Have Joined Terrorist Group

A report before the House Homeland Security Commission says that a estimates show over 20,000 foreign fighters sympathetic to ISIS have gone to the middle east to join the group or attempt to join them.

Nick Rasmussen, the head of the National Counterterrorism Center said that fighters are joining at a rate never seen in previous conflicts of similar nature like Somalia, Iraq, Pakistan and Afghanistan.  Supporters from 80 countries are believed to be in Syria.

The report says that approximately 150 Americans have attempted to travel to the war zone to join ISIS.  Officials say that while some have been caught, a majority were able to make it to ISIS territory.

The new estimate is double the previous and experts say it could top 30,000 in the next few months.

“This new total reflects an increase in members because of stronger recruitment since June following battlefield successes and the declaration of a caliphate, greater battlefield activity and additional intelligence,” an unidentified CIA official told CNN this week.

The chairman of the Committee, Rep. Michael McCaul of Texas, said the report brings him serious concerns.

“I am worried about our ability to combat this threat abroad, but also here at home,” he said. “I wrote to the president recently as part of my ongoing investigation and raised concerns that we have no lead agency in charge of countering domestic radicalization and no line item for it in the budgets of key departments and agencies. I am also concerned that the few programs we do have in place are far too small to confront a challenge that has grown so quickly.”

Troops To Return From Ebola Areas

President Obama announced the progress against the Ebola outbreak in West Africa allows U.S. troops to come home.

“We have risen to the challenge,” he said at the White House. “Our focus now is getting to zero.”

Around 1,500 troops have already returned and 2,700 more will return by April 30th.  Only 100 military officials will stay in Liberia after that date to provide advice on containment.

The President said the way Ebola has been brought under control shows that calls for travel restrictions and harsh measures were not necessary.

“People were understandably afraid,” Obama said. “Some stoked those fears.”

The President praised charitable groups that took the initiative to go and help the victims of the outbreak.

Gallup Finds More Americans Want Stricter Abortion Laws

A Gallup survey finds that many Americans are not happy with the current laws regarding abortion in the nation and those who are dissatisfied want stricter laws by a 2-1 margin.

The poll showed that only 34 percent of Americans are satisfied with current abortion law.  That’s the lowest since Gallup began polling on the question.

Almost half, 48 percent, are dissatisfied with current policies.  Twenty-four percent want stricter laws while the remaining 24 percent was split evenly between keeping the laws the same despite their dissatisfaction and making abortion easier to obtain.

Those polled who identified as Republicans showed the greatest level of increasing dissatisfaction with abortion laws.  Satisfaction with the laws has fallen from 42 percent to 26 percent in the last three years.

Democrats and independent voters have stayed roughly the same when it came to their satisfaction levels.  However, among independents, the dissatisfied would like to see stricter laws by a margin of 25 to 9 percent.

The polling had a margin of error of four percentage points.

America’s First Islamic Tribunal In North Texas

The first Islamic tribunal is now hearing cases and issuing rulings in North Texas.

The “court” is located in Irving, Texas and is being used to settle disputes between Muslims such as divorces and business disputes using Sharia Law rather than U.S. law as the basis for their decisions.

The judges claim that their decisions are nothing more than giving an “Islamic point of view” to situations that they are facing in their lives and participation is voluntary.  The three men who run the tribunal say that they do not handle anything that involves criminal activity.

“All our decisions point back to the Koran and Sunna … and what the prophet Mohammed left to us,” Dr. Taher el-Badawi, Islamic Tribunal judge, told KEYE TV.

The restriction to not handle criminal cases allows the tribunal to avoid having to issue any rulings on situations where the Quran calls for stoning if someone commits adultery or the subjugation of women.

Critics say that the “court” sets a dangerous precedent and fear that would allow other foreign groups to use foreign law.

Morning-After Pill “Works Via Abortion Quite Often”

Plan B, the emergency contraceptive that has been the focus of court battles involving the Affordable Care Act, has been shown to work by causing an abortion according to the medical data reviewed in The Linacre Quarterly.

The drug is one covered by the birth control mandate in the Affordable Care Act.  Health and Human Services Administration officials claimed that the drug is not an abortifacient drug and should be covered by all businesses.

The Hobby Lobby case at the Supreme Court had the justices ruling those drugs did not need to be covered.  Now, there is scientific proof backing up the claims of Hobby Lobby and other businesses that the drugs produce abortions.

The most recent scientific and medical evidence proves that Plan B “quite often” causes an abortion if taken before ovulation which is how women do not get pregnant after taking the emergency contraceptive.

The Linacre Quarterly is the official journal of the Catholic Medical Association.

Judie Brown, president of American Life League, told the Christian Post she agreed with the article’s conclusions.

“Catholic bishops have been assured, by Plan B proponents, that the drug does not cause an abortion,” Brown said. “We now know this is not true. There is a grave risk that preborn human lives are being killed by Plan B, and Catholic hospitals need to immediately halt dispensing these drugs and review their policies.”

UC Davis Chancellor Makes Strong Statement Against Hate

In the wake of the news report that a Jewish fraternity at the University of California Davis was vandalized by swastikas after a vote by the Student Senate to support the anti-Semitic Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement.

Here is the letter from Chancellor Linda Katehi:

Dear UC Davis Campus Community:

This morning students at a UC Davis Jewish fraternity discovered despicable and hateful graffiti on their walls, including a large red swastika that appeared to be spray-painted on the exterior of the house.

This kind of behavior is not only repugnant and a gross violation of the values our university holds dear, it is unacceptable and must not be tolerated on our campus or anywhere else.

No matter what religious, political or personal beliefs we hold, as members of a university community we have an obligation to treat each other with respect and dignity, even when we disagree.

Nothing rivals a swastika as a more potent or offensive symbol of hatred and violence toward our Jewish community members, but this odious symbol is an affront to us all. As campus leaders, we are saddened and outraged that this occurred in our community.

As our Principles of Community demonstrate, UC Davis is built on a foundation of tolerance and inclusion, and when those principles are violated in such a reprehensible manner, we have all been violated.

We have requested that the police investigate this act of vandalism as a hate crime. We appeal to every member of our UC Davis community to denounce any and all such acts of bigotry and intimidation. We must instead demonstrate to the world that no matter what issue or debate we engage in, we are a community committed to mutual respect and tolerance. No single act such as this will ever define us, but we must define ourselves as a university community that has no tolerance for prejudice or such an abhorrent symbol and the history of hatred it evokes and extends.

Sincerely,

Linda P.B. Katehi

Chancellor

 

Ralph J. Hexter

Provost & Executive Vice Chancellor

 

Adela de la Torre

Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs

“Hamas & Sharia Law Have Taken Over UC Davis”

Anti-Semitism is on the rise at the University of California Davis as one Islamist is claiming victory at forcing Sharia law on the campus.

Jewish students were threatened and harassed as they were speaking out against a student government resolution to divest from Israel as part of the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement.

The anti-Semites waved Palestinian flags in the face of the Jewish students before the 8-2 vote in favor of the anti-Semitic movement.

The pro-terrorists in the audience yelled “Allahu Akbar!” following the vote.  The vote was pushed by the pro-Hamas terrorist organization Students for Justice in Palestine.

Immediately after the vote, swastikas were spray painted on a Jewish fraternity’s home.

The celebration among Islamists on campus was loud and immediate.  Azka Fayyaz, who is a member of the University of California Davis student senate, posted on Facebook following the vote: “Hamas & Sharia law have taken over UC Davis.”