The Franklin Fire has ravaged Malibu, California. As of Sunday, the fire has burned 4,037 acres, destroyed 19 structures, and damaged 27. Crews have contained it to 42%, and evacuation orders are now just warnings. Residents have repopulated their homes, yet some parks and other areas are still closed.

One of the localities that the fire has affected is Pepperdine University. The unique geography on the campus of the private Christian university has the school handling emergencies like the fire in a different way.

CNN reports:

“Evacuating a large population during a fast-moving wildfire can create additional risks, including exposure to hazardous conditions on congested roads,” said Michael Friel, the school’s senior director of Communications and Public Relations. “The Malibu campus is situated along Pacific Coast Highway, which can become a choke point during regional evacuations.”

“Another challenge is timing. Wildfires often move rapidly, leaving little time to safely evacuate thousands of students and staff,” Friel said. “By sheltering in place, we can keep everyone accounted for and in a secure environment.”

Students hunkered down on campus as the fire raged around them. But there was an encouraging symbol of hope for the school and the region: a cross that sits atop the mountain at the end of a hiking trail on campus survived the fire.

The Woolsey Fire destroyed the original cross in that location, and a fraternity replaced the cross later that year. The frat says that the paint on the wooden cross and the smaller crosses surrounding it is waterproof but not fireproof, “which shows how impressive (it) is that they are still standing strong,” as Fox Weather reports.

Recommended: The Kindness of Strangers: A Different Kind of Adventure in the Mountains

“I am grateful to God that he spared Pepperdine and this cross that burned down during the Woolsey fire and had to be replaced,” one university official said. “Somehow He spared it, as if He wanted us to have something tangible to hold onto to help us through the difficulty we just went through.”

Indeed, not only did the fire spare the cross—the ultimate symbol of hope—but the trail also remained largely untouched

Sources:BREAKING CHRISTIAN NEWS

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A pastor who spent eight years in prison settled for $4.4 million following a lawsuit he filed against a North Carolina town and arresting officers he says withheld critical evidence that proved his innocence. The town has denied any wrongdoing.

Rev. Darron Carmon served eight years in prison following an armed robbery conviction in 1994 and was released in 2002 for good behavior. Carmon and his legal team said they tried negotiating with the Town of Winterville before filing the civil suit, ABC11 reported Friday.

The Winterville pastor, who founded the Rebuild Christian Center Church in Winterville and Greater Village Gate Church in Lewiston, filed the lawsuit after Pitt County Superior Court Judge Marvin Blount overturned his conviction in 2022 and he received a pardon of innocence from North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper in November.

“I don’t agree with what I had to do to get here. I feel like it should’ve been a simpler process. I’ve had to prove my innocence about three times,” the pastor said in a statement shared by the outlet. “Next for me is to continue what I have already been doing. I have organizations in place to address certain issues; mentoring for kids without fathers and ‘People Against Racism.'”

In response to an inquiry from The Christian Post, a spokesperson for the Town of Winterville pointed to a November statement outlining the events leading up to Carmon’s 1994 conviction and the eventual lawsuit.

The town rejects Carmon’s accusations of wrongdoing in the “strongest possible terms.”

The town says a clerk at a Fresh Way store identified Carmon as the suspect who carried out an armed robbery at the store in 1993. Investigating officers had shown him a photographic lineup of booking photographs, and the clerk repeated the accusation during the criminal trial, saying there was “no doubt” that Carmon was the man who had threatened his life and robbed the store.

“The District Attorney who prosecuted the case testified in this civil proceeding that having eyewitness testimony as the only available evidence in a convenience store robbery case was typical for the early 1990s,” the Town of Winterville said in its statement. “Surveillance cameras were not in general use in Greenville-area retail stores at the time, much less in a small-town convenience store.”

Police arrested Carmon, who was 19 years old at the time and under 6 feet tall. But the store clerk described the suspect as 6 feet tall with an Afro, according to the lawsuit that Carmon filed. The complaint accused the officers of concealing fingerprint evidence taken from the Fresh Way store when it did not match Carmon’s.

In its November statement, the Town denied that officers lied about the store clerk’s description in their report, saying that the only evidence of this is based on a statement Carmon’s parents alleged they overhead from a leading officer on the case.

“Mr. Carmon’s parents testified that the investigating Officer made this statement at the police station when the store clerk was going through the photo lineup book in which he identified Mr. Carmon as the robber,” the statement continued. “However, the investigating Officers both testified that the photo lineup was shown to the store clerk at the Fresh Way, not at the police station.”

Regarding the fingerprints, the town says that the Winterville Police Department had preserved in an investigative file a set of latent prints reportedly taken from the convenience store on the night of the robbery. It further noted that the prints do not appear to have been adequately analyzed until 2021.

“To this day, it is unknown why or where the prints were taken, whether the palm print was recognized in 1993 as potentially useful for comparison, or who had knowledge that the palm print was in the file,” the town said.

“North Carolina law enforcement did not have the technology to transmit or search palm prints in a statewide database until 2008, and the first national searchable palm print identification database was not available until 2013, 20 years after this armed robbery.”

The town further argued that, at the time of the robbery, Carmon had been indicted on forgery charges, and the statement claimed that his alibi had changed over time.

In October, the pastor participated in a court-ordered mediation alongside the town and the officers, according to the press release. Insurance companies representing the town and the officers engaged in negotiations, agreeing to settle the lawsuit.

“Neither the Town nor the Officers paid any of the settlement proceeds, as the full settlement amount will be paid by the insurance companies. As part of the settlement, all parties specifically agreed that neither the Town nor the Officers admitted to any wrongdoing,” the Winterville press release concluded.

“While the Town believes strongly that there was no wrongdoing by the Town or its Officers, the Town is pleased to have this matter resolved, and is ready to move forward.”
Sources:Christian Post

http://theendtimeradio.com

Jesus’ birth story has captivated billions of people for more than two millennia, as the Bible details a loving God’s decision to send His Son to die for the sins of humanity — and live again.

From the manger to the cross, the journey has shaped and molded every facet of human history. One of the most compelling realities surrounding the nativity narrative is Jesus’s birth was foretold long before the manger, with the Old Testament including important prophecies pointing toward Christ.

In fact, this promised Messiah is mentioned throughout the Scriptures, with specific details — including His birth in Bethlehem — noted hundreds of years before angels visited Zechariah, Mary, and Joseph.

CBN News explores this reality in a new, four-part holiday podcast, “Jesus and the Prophecies of Christmas,” a show diving deep into the incredible prophecies at the heart of the manger story. Each episode centers on a different piece of the prophetic puzzle surrounding Jesus’ birth.

The first episode of “Jesus and the Prophecies of Christmas” — featuring for King & Country’s Joel Smallbone, Greg Laurie, Jeff Kinley, Ray Comfort, Jesse Bradley, and Shane Idleman — explores the role and power of biblical prophecy, Jesus’ presence throughout the Old Testament, and why the baby in the manger was a fulfillment of God’s promises to humankind.

Smallbone opens the show by proclaiming he’s captivated by the reality of “God coming to earth in the most vulnerable state, as a baby.”

“God, in all of His majesty and magnificence, is like, ‘I’m going to come into this tiny being, living and breathing being, and I’m going to do this because I have such great love for these creatures that are made in My image that I want to … offer hope, and healing, and redemption to this … sort of species that has kind of gone awry,’” he said. “And I just think it’s got all of the layers of an incredible story, and … I believe it just so happens to be a true story, which makes it even more … magnificent.”

Kinley, a prophesy expert, notes the Christmas story is told yearly “with great emotion” — and with good reason. For him, the most compelling part, though, is the Creator’s decision to show such sacrificial love for His creation.

“Here is the Creator of the world coming to be a creation, if you will,” he said. “He’s the God-man, 100% God, 100% man, and yet He submitted Himself to creation.”

Kinley continued, “He was born into a world that He Himself created. He was laid upon straw, presumably, that was made by Him. All the things that He made, He submitted Himself to it.”

This idea that Jesus proffered Himself to creation is fascinating — and one of the most remarkable aspects of the nativity story are the pieces of evidence backing this claim.

“If someone wants credible evidence the Bible is God’s Word all he has to do is take some time to study the prophecies, because only God knows the future,” apologist Ray Comfort notes in “Jesus and the Prophecies of Christmas.” “We [don’t] know tomorrow’s forecast; we haven’t got a clue. They just take a stab. But God’s Word predicts the future before it came into being, and it establishes [His] divine fingerprint all over Scripture. So prophecy is wonderful.”

Ultimately, Kinley, Comfort, and other theologians and pastors believe biblical prophecy — defined as a prediction of what’s to come — is tried, true, and verified.

It’s the glimmers of Jesus’ birth in the Old Testament — written hundreds of years before the nativity narrative — they believe offer some of the most compelling evidence of Scripture’s authenticity.

Listen to episode one of “Jesus and the Prophecies” of Christmas — and tune in tomorrow, Dec. 14 (subscribe here) for the next installment — an episode set to explore key figures in the nativity story and how they reacted to the prophecies given by God and angels.
Sources:faithwire

http://theendtimeradio.com