California

SAN CLEMENTE, Calif. – It appeared that Scott "Scooch" Miller was winning his battle over the demons that plagued him as a U.S. military veteran of the Vietnam war, at least in part, thanks to his relationship with a Christian homeless ministry serving in South Orange County, Calif. However, he remained homeless, still struggling with alcoholism, while spending nights sleeping in a field next to a famous surf spot until his death two weeks ago.

At a memorial service given by the ministry last Sunday, Christian leaders at a park in the pristine, primarily affluent community of San Clemente were struggling to wrap their minds around the question of why Scooch died in the bushes at "Trestles," alone one night, apparently from the cold during a night of freezing temperatures.

During a moment of reflection at the service on the life of Scooch, the "ornery" man who began to turn soft after accepting Jesus into his life, some in attendance spoke of feeling like they could have done something to prevent his death and that something more should certainly be done for the homeless in the area – especially now. more >>

More than 3,000 pro-life supporters marched through the streets of San Diego on Saturday to mark the 40th anniversary of Roe v. Wade.

Daniel Andrus, who brought a group of young people from St. Paul the Apostle Parish in Fallbrook to San Diego, carried a sign depicting a skeletal baby cradled by the words "1⁄3 of our generation has been killed by abortion."

"We have to stand up for the gift of life," U-T San Diego quoted Andrus as saying. "There are other options than terminating a pregnancy because life begins at conception." more >>

Planetshakers, one of the most influential church movements in Australia is making its United States conference debut at Rock Church in San Diego, Calif., during a three-day event that began Thursday. A live webcast on Friday will feature the founders of Planetshakers City Church in Melbourne and the Planetshakers worship band.

"At Planetshakers Limitless Conference San Diego, it's our desire to see people empowered, so they can increasingly impact their world in a way that points people to Christ and encourages them to live life to the full," founder and senior pastor Russell Evans told The Christian Post via email Thursday.

"We will have passionate praise and worship and teaching from some great pastors from various parts of the world," Evans said. Every continent will be represented during the webcast. "We are pretty excited to have the honor of bringing our conference to the USA for the first time. We are expecting those in attendance to be touched by God in a powerful way," he stated. more >>

Stanford Law School has established the nation's only Religious Liberty Clinic, enabling students under the professor's supervision to represent clients who are fighting to win legal battles on the grounds of religious freedom in America.

The clinic will offer participating law students the opportunity to engage in disputes arising from a wide range of religious beliefs, practices, and customs, the school announced this week.

"Part of what we are trying to do is show our students and our community how religious liberty is a natural right that is for all of us and that all too often religious liberty disputes are really debates about the merits of the particular religious practice involved rather than the liberty," the clinic's founding director, James A. Sonne, told The Christian Post on Wednesday. "We want to show that this is something for everybody regardless of your religious background and practice." more >>

The Boy Scouts of America's prohibition on gay scout leaders has been challenged by its own California chapter, after the division recommended an openly gay member be awarded the top rank of Eagle Scout.

"From what I understand, this has never happened before," commented Eric Andresen, father of the scout in question, Ryan Andresen, according to Reuters.

The California chapter made the decision to review Andresen's qualifications for Eagle Scout despite a scoutmaster refusing to sign off on his paperwork last year after the 18-year old came out as gay. Although the four-member board has formerly endorsed the young man's petition, which can be seen as a challenge to the Boy Scouts of America's stance of gay leaders, The Associated Press reported that a staff executive has decided not to forward the recommendation to the national organization, who would have been likely to reject it anyway. more >>

Pastor Rick Warren of Saddleback Church in California has spoken out about the Newtown, Conn., school shooting tragedy, suggesting that a lot of factors might have led up to the incident, but at the end of the day, free will is both humankind's greatest blessing and curse.

"The deeper the grief, the fewer words are needed. A lot of folks are looking for wisdom, or the right word, and are asking 'what do you say?' – but there is nothing to say. You just need to be there. You need to show up. And when people are grieving, they don't need a lecture, and they don't need an explanation. Explanations don't comfort us," Warren began in an interview on Wednesday with Fox News anchor Neil Cavuto on his "Your World" show.

"What comforts us is the presence of others, the presence of God, and the first thing we have to do is we have to learn how to release our grief and we need to do that right now," Warren added. more >>