Crystal Cathedral Congregation Outraged At Food Request For Pastor Shuller's Wife

GARDEN GROVE – An email sent out to members of the Crystal Cathedral congregation requesting meals for founder Robert H. Schuller's wife Arvella, who is ill with pneumonia, is creating mixed feelings of sadness and outrage among members.

According to longtime member Jim McDonald, an email was sent out by administrators to Bible study groups as well as church elders, asking that meals for the reverend's wife be dropped off at the cathedral's Tower of Hope where the Schullers' limo drivers will be waiting to pick them up at the designated time.

Member Bob Canfield says he was outraged when he got the message.

"These are millionaires who have limos and chauffeurs," he said. "Why in God's name would they want the congregants to deliver meals? It's ludicrous."

The email states that the Schullers do not want get-well cards sent because they would like to "keep her situation under the radar."

"However, they would appreciate meals over the next three to four weeks," the email states. "They are to be sent to the church in order to be transported to Arvella. The limo drivers could pick up the dinners or meet in the Tower Lobby around 4:30 p.m."

The message also requests that the meals be low in sodium and include items such as fruit, meats, soup and egg dishes such as quiches.

Cathedral spokesman John Charles said the request for meals was simply an effort to rally around the Schullers, who are both in their 80s.

"We didn't want people going to their home because they are very private people," he said. "That's why we asked that the food be dropped off at the tower so the limo drivers can pick them up and deliver them."

Charles said congregants have rallied around other members in the past when they have become ill.

"As Dr. Schuller always says, 'Find a need and fill it,'" he said. "I think that's what we were trying to do here."

But some church members viewed the request differently.

Canfield said he and other members of the congregation are upset the request came at a time when their church is in bankruptcy and information coming out through court documents has suggested that the Schullers took nearly $10 million from the church's endowment funds.

"They've completely depleted the church's funds," he said. "But they have shown that they have absolutely no remorse for what they've done. They're still being chauffeured around in limos. We, the congregants, have nothing."

Crystal Cathedral Ministries filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Oct. 18. A judge is expected to approve a sale plan on Nov. 14. Both the cathedral's board and the creditors committee have named Chapman University as their preferred buyer. Chapman's offer stands at $51.5 million. The Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange has offered $53.6 million. However, the Chapman plan will allow the Schullers to remain and continue their ministry with a leaseback and buyback arrangement.

Canfield said the request for meals seems ironic in the context of reports over the last year that the Schullers drew generous salaries and benefits in the years leading up the bankruptcy, even as the ministry struggled.

Shirley Zink, who served as a greeter at the Crystal Cathedral for 35 years, said she was saddened to receive the message about the meals for Arvella.

"You have to wonder if it is lonely at the top, if the Schullers don't have the support of the many family members who live in the area," she said.

For as long as she has known them, the Schullers have been distant from the congregation, Zink said. After 35 years, she said she resigned from being a volunteer although she still continues to go to Bible study.

"I'm looking for another church," she said. "But like many others, I leave heartbroken, mourning the loss of what once was."
Read More From Orange County Register

Oregon Mother Desperate To Feed Her Children Turned Away From Grocery Stores For Trying To Pay With Change

A mother desperate to feed her children breaks open the family’s change jar to buy food only to be turned away from the grocery store.

Jean’s story takes place in Portland Oregon. The mother who’s too embarrassed to have her photo released to the public says she wants people to hear her story. The desperate mother said

” We had nothing to feed out children with, so we broke out the change.”

After pulling together $32 Jean and her family headed to a local Save-A-Lot store where she carefully picked out food that fit the budget and proceeded to check out. What happened next is absolutely heart breaking.

“And when I went up, I told them, you know ‘I have change. Sorry It’s hard times right now.’ The person at the register responded saying “Well we can only accept $5.”

The mother pleaded, “It’s money, Money’s Money.”

The clerk did not budge, and the mortified mother went a few miles up the street to the next store.

After gathering her groceries yet again and heading to check out, she was faced again with the same problem. The person at the register told her they could not accept her change and that she needed to use the change machine wich would charge her 10%. The store manager can out and confirmed what the person at the register.

Jean broke into tears and explained that she couldn’t afford to lose the extra money.

Finally a disgusted customer stepped in and offered to buy Jeans money, after that the manager said “OK, got to the change machine and we’ll pay the fee.”

After sharing her story with friends, it garnered attention from the local news station.

KVAL.COM reports Tuesday, both Fred Meyer and Save-a-Lot responded to calls from KATU News.

“We apologize for the inconvenience the customer experienced at the store,” said Fred Meyer Public Affairs Director Melinda Merrill. “Receiving change for a payment is a rare occurrence. Fred Meyer stores do accept change as payment and we will work with our store directors and management teams to ensure they know this.”

Save-a-Lot External Communications Manager Chon Tomlin also apologized Tuesday.

“We deeply apologize for the misunderstanding that occurred recently at our SE Foster location. As a corporate policy, we accept all forms of payment, except for American Express. There is no maximum limit on cash payments, specifically those involving coins of any type,” Tomlin said.

When the KATU Problem Solvers called around to other grocery stores in our area and said they were from KATU, all of the store managers said loose change was acceptable as payment. But when they called back as customers, they got a different story:

QFC would only accept $5 or $6 in loose change.
Albertsons said they would only accept $5.
WinCo and Safeway didn’t have a cutoff, but said they tell customers to use the change machine.
Only Whole Foods and New Seasons were open to accepting change, no matter what the amount.

The KATU Problem Solvers checked with the Oregon Attorney General, who said while there is a federal law saying coins are legal tender, there is not a law that mandates private businesses accept them as payment.

Read more: Woman Denied Groceries For Hungry Children After Attempting To Pay In Change Read More From KHMX Radio http://khmx.radio.com/2011/11/03/woman-denied-groceries-for-hungry-children-after-attempting-to-pay-in-change/#ixzz1cqY2hkI9

Pregnant Woman Goes Into Labor During Driving Test

Occupy Protestors In Oakland CA Clash With Police

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Police and protesters supporting the Occupy Wall Street movement have clashed downtown following a day of peaceful protests throughout Oakland.

The confrontation began after protesters started a large bonfire in the middle of a downtown street. Dozens of police in riot gear moved in on hundreds of protesters as the flames leapt more than 15 feet in the air from several large metal and plastic trash bins that had been pushed together.

Police warned protesters to clear out before firing several rounds of tear gas and "flash bang" grenades to clear the area.

In the aftermath of the police actions, protesters with cloth wrapped around their faces to protect them from the stench of the gas marched through the area chanting, "Whose streets? Our streets."

Some marchers wore gas masks.

Glass covered streets and sidewalks from windows of area businesses that were shattered.

Graffiti on the wall next to one of the damaged shops read, "This act of vandalism was not authorized by the general assembly. Peaceful protest."

Shortly after the clash, police and protesters separated by only a few feet stared each other down in a tense standoff. A few dozen people sat on the ground right in front of officers, some with their heads bowed as if in prayer.

There were scores of police in riot gear on the scene, about as many officers as demonstrators.

The clash and subsequent standoff came only hours after Occupy Wall Street protesters declared victory after thousands of demonstrators shut down one of the nation's busiest shipping ports late Wednesday, escalating a movement whose tactics had largely been limited to marches, rallies and tent encampments since it began in September.

The nearly 5-hour protest at the Port of Oakland, the nation's fifth-busiest shipping port, was intended to highlight a daylong "general strike" in the city, which prompted solidarity rallies in New York, Los Angeles and other cities across the nation.

Police estimated that a crowd of about 3,000 had gathered at the port at the height of the demonstration around dusk. Some had marched from the city's downtown, while others had been bused to the port.

Read More From Yahoo News

China Supplying Missles To Iran Could Be In Violation Of U.N Policies

China is continuing to provide advanced missiles and other conventional arms to Iran and may be doing so in violation of U.N. sanctions against the Tehran regime, according to a draft report by the congressional U.S.-China Commission.

“China continues to provide Iran with what could be considered advanced conventional weapons,” the report of the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission says.

According to the report, which will be made public Nov. 16, China sold $312 million worth of arms to Iran, second only to Russia, after Congress passed the Iran Freedom Support Act in 2006 that allows the U.S. government to sanction foreign companies that provide advanced arms to Iran.

The report also noted that, after Russia began cutting back arms transfers to Iran in 2008, China became the largest arms supplier to the Iranian military.

Most of the weapons transfers involved sales of Chinese anti-ship cruise missiles, including C-802 missiles that China promised the United States in 1997 would not be exported to Iran.

China also built an entire missile plant in Iran last year to produce the Nasr-1 anti-ship cruise missile.

“Because of the relatively short range of these missiles, China’s provision of them to Iran does not violate the Iran, North Korea and Syria Nonproliferation Act of 2006, which seeks to prevent the transfer of only those missiles that can carry a 500-kilogram warhead more than 300 kilometers,” the report says.

“It is possible, however, that these transactions violate the Iran Freedom Support Act, or the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability and Divestment Act of 2010, which both use the ambiguous term ‘advanced conventional weapons.’ “

Regarding China’s professed claims to have ended all backing for Iran’s nuclear- and ballistic-missile programs, the report says “there has been speculation that China, or Chinese entities, have quietly continued to provide some support for Iran’s pursuit of weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile capabilities.”

The report says China also is supporting North Korea’s military and providing economic and technical assistance to Pyongyang.

The report concludes: “Despite Beijing’s stated claim to be acting as a responsible major power, China continues to place its national interests ahead of regional stability by providing economic and diplomatic support to countries that undermine international security.”

Chinese Embassy spokesman Wang Baodong denied China violated U.N. sanctions.

“When it comes to the issue of nonproliferation, China has been strictly adhering to the relevant U.N. resolutions and faithfully carries out its international obligations while strictly implementing its relevant domestic policies and regulations in the field.”

He said the commission “should cast off its Cold War mentality, respect the facts and stop making unwarranted allegations against China.”

Read More From Washington Times

Nearly 15% Of U.S Population Relies On Food Stamps

Nearly 15% of the U.S. population relied on food stamps in August, as the number of recipients hit 45.8 million.

Food stamp rolls have risen 8.1% in the past year, the Department of Agriculture reported, though the pace of growth has slowed from the depths of the recession.

Click image for full-size interactive map of food stamp use by state.

The number of recipients in the food stamp program, formally known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), may continue to rise in coming months as families continue to struggle with high unemployment and September’s data will likely include disaster assistance tied to the destruction and flooding caused by Hurricane Irene.

Mississippi reported the largest share of its population relying on food stamps, more than 21%. One in five residents in New Mexico, Tennessee, Oregon and Louisiana also were food stamp recipients.

Food stamp rolls exploded during the downturn, which began in late 2007. Even after the recession came to its official end in June 2009, families continued to tap into food assistance as unemployment remained high and those lucky enough to find jobs were often met with lower wages.

Read More from The Wall Street Journal

Parents Helping Kids Lie To Get On Facebook

(CNN) -- It probably won't surprise you that millions of underage kids -- some as young as age 8 -- are on Facebook, despite rules that prohibit children under 13 from joining the social-networking site.

What may be more startling, however, is this: Their parents are helping to sign them up.

These are among the findings of a new study appearing this week in First Monday, a peer-reviewed online journal. The four co-authors of the study argue that such age restrictions, inspired by the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, or COPPA, are mostly ignored by kids and parents and only encourage dishonesty.

"Our data show that many parents knowingly allow their children to lie about their age -- in fact, often help them to do so -- in order to gain access to age-restricted sites," the authors wrote in the study's introduction.

The vast majority (95%) of the parents of 10-year-olds on Facebook were aware when their child signed up for the site, and 78% of those parents helped create the child's account, according to the study. For 11- and 12-year-olds, the percentages of parental knowledge and involvement were slightly lower.

Although 89% of the parents surveyed believe there should be a minimum age for Facebook, 78% believe there are circumstances that make it OK for their child to sign up for an online service even if he or she does not meet the site's minimum age requirement.

When asked what these circumstances might be, parents most often cited school-related activities and communicating with other family members.

Read More From CNN

Harold Camping Apologizes For False Teachings

With his speech sounding somewhat slurred and labored, Family Radio Stations Inc. founder and chairman Harold Camping sought to address in a recent message why Christ failed to return on Oct. 21 as the Bible teacher had predicted. Camping confessed, after decades of falsely misleading his followers, that he was wrong and regrets his misdeeds.

In addition to attempting to correct his erroneous teachings on the Rapture and God's day of final judgment on the world, Camping, 90, also confessed, "incidentally," that he was wrong to claim that God had stopped saving people after May 21 – the date which God's so-called "spiritual" judgment had begun.

This is undoubtedly a radical shift for Camping, who has staunchly claimed since 1992 that he had discovered a special numerical system in the Bible that allowed him to calculate the exact dates of certain events, such as the Great Flood, the Crucifixion and the day of Jesus Christ's return to Earth.

transcript of the audio message, published to Family Radio's website on Oct. 28, 2011, is below:

We're living in a day when one problem follows another. And when it comes to trying to recognize the truth of prophecy, we're finding that it is very very difficult.

Why didn't Christ return on Oct. 21? It seems embarrassing for Family Radio. But God was in charge of everything. We came to that conclusion after quite careful study of the Bible. He allowed everything to happen the way it did without correction. He could have stopped everything if He had wanted to.

I am very encouraged by letters that I have received and [am] receiving at this time concerning this matter. Amongst other things I have been checking my notes more carefully than ever. And I do find that there is other language in the Bible that we still have to look at very carefully and will impinge upon this question very definitely. And we should be very patient about this matter. At least in a minimal way we are learning to walk more and more humble before God.

We're ready to cry out and weep before God: 'Oh Lord, you have the truth, we don't have it. You have the truth.' And this is another place where we have to cry out for... There's one thing that we must remember – God is in charge of this whole business, and we are not. What God wants to tell us is His business. When He wants to tell us is His business. In the meanwhile, God is allowing us to continue to cry to Him for mercy – oh my, how we need His mercy – and continue to wait on Him. God has not left us. God is still God. But we have to be very careful that we don't dictate to God what He should do.

In our search in the Bible, we must continue to look to the Bible, look to the Bible. Because there is where truth comes from. And God in His own timetable and in His own purposes will reveal truth to us when it's His time to do it. In any case, we do not have to have a feeling of calamity or a feeling that God has abandoned us. We are simply learning. And sometimes it's painful to learn. We are learning how God brings His messages to mankind, and my my, we have claimed to be a child of God, and therefore as we search the Bible, we're bound to feel the darts of the Lord. Sometimes He gives us the truth and sometimes He gives us something that causes us to wait further upon Him.

Whatever we do, we must not feel for a moment that we have been abandoned by God – that He is no longer helping us or interested in us. Oh my, what an encouragement it is to go to the Lord again and again – "Oh Lord, I don't know anything. You teach me." And that's the attitude that has to be apart of each one of us. And God will not abandon us, He will provide, but we have to be just very careful that we don't dictate to him when that has to happen.

Incidentally, I have been told that I said back in May that people who did not believe that May 21 should not be the rapture date, probably had not been saved. I should not have said that, and I apologize for that. One thing we know for certain, is that God is merciful, merciful beyond anything that we would ever expect. And so, we can pray constantly, and should be praying constantly: "Oh Lord, we look to Thee for Thine mercy, and we're so thankful that we know that Thou art so merciful."

How wonderful to know that God is still on the throne, that He is King of Kings and Lord of Lords and that He hears every one of our prayers. And let's not hesitate, let's be, if anything, let's pray more than ever for God's mercy, and keep praying and God will provide. But God is in charge, and we must always keep that in mind.

Read More from Christian Post.com

New Left Behind Movie Coming To Theaters

Filmgoers disenchanted with the glut of horror flicks lately will appreciate the recent announcement that another "Left Behind" movie is in the works.

“This is definitely an exciting time … for the entire Christian filmmaking industry. We're remaking the original “Left Behind” movie at the true Hollywood blockbuster level that a message like this deserves. … This is the movie that Christians have been hoping for and I can hardly wait to get it going,” stated Cloud Ten Pictures Founder and CEO Paul Lalonde in a statement.

The “Left Behind” movies are based on the popular series of the same title, written by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins. The series chronicles the events of the End Times, including the Tribulation period and eventually, the Rapture.

The previous “Left Behind” movies, which starred Kirk Cameron, were mostly political thrillers with a Christian focus. The new film is written by Paul Lalonde, of Cloud Ten Pictures, and John Patus, who worked on the last movie, “Left Behind: World At War,” according to the Hollywood Reporter. Cloud Ten is now searching for a director.

Read More from Christian Post.com

JMC Live Interviews Author and Former Wicca Ally Tower

JMC LIVE Halloween Special with former Wicca Ally Tower. Ally shares her personal testimony how she fell away from God and became a practicing witch for 12 years. Then found her way back to God and now shares her testimony to warn others of the dangers of Witchcraft and the Occult.