The First Family Goes to Church: Pastor says Americans should not expect POTUS to be Messiah
Pastor says Americans should not expect POTUS to be Messiah
The First Family Goes to Church
(Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP Photo)
Holding hands and smiling despite the 37 degree temperatures, the President Obama and his family walked across the street from the White House to St. John’s Episcopal Church today to attend the 11 a.m. service.
Malia wore maroon tights and a pink coat, while Sasha wore purple tights and a black coat. Both girls held their parents’ hands as they crossed Lafayette Park. Malia and her father chatted for much of the walk to St. John’s.
According to pool reports, the Rev. Dr. Luis Leon discussed Obama in his sermon. He told the congregation Americans thought Obama would be a Messiah and change would be immediate.
“People have a tendency to create idols. Society must wait without idols,” he said.
While the Obamas have not claimed a church as their own since moving to Washington 2009, the family has attended several different churches, including, on Easter Sunday this year, Shiloh Baptist Church.
St. John’s Church was founded in 1815 and, since James Madison, every presidents has attended at least one service there.
Obama Attends Church, Gets Priest's Political Blessing
Obama Attends Church, Gets Priest's Political Blessing
whitehousedossierPresident Obama and his family went to church this Sunday – it happens sometimes – and got a nice plug from the preacher. Maybe he’ll start to go more often.
It sounds like the good reverend is comparing Obama to John the Baptist. I don’t know, it’s a little convoluted. See if you can figure it out.
From the pool report.I hope none of this was disconcerting to Mr. and Mrs. Obama. I mean, they’re probably still used to hearing the priest bash the USA.
At 11:28 a.m.the Rev. Dr. Luis Leon starts his sermon in this church adorned with magnificent stained glass windows everywhere you look. The sermon is about John the Baptist heralding Jesus as the real God.
Priest likens it to a Saturday Night Live show he once attended in New York where Eddie Murphy warmed up the audience before the show. John the Baptist is performing that role. Priest goes on to talk about how we all become quickly disillusioned when things don’t work out as we expect. But that can be a good thing, he said, if we learn to accept reality. John the Baptist was trying to point toward the reality of Jesus as God.
At one point, the priest talks about the expectations placed on Obama when he came into office. Many unfairly expected a messiah that could cure the U.S. of all its problems, and now we see it’s not that easy. “This is not a political diatribe by the way. It’s simply stating the obvious,” he said, sparking laughter among the congregation.
Man dies in York shooting
Man dies in York shooting
Deputy Coroner Terry L. Meyers has identified the victim from Saturday night's shooting at 315 S. Penn St. as Christopher James Armagost, 30, of York. The cause of death will be determined after an autopsy at Lehigh Valley Hospital on Tuesday.
Police have said the victim is a man and that the shooting occurred at 315 S. Penn St. Officials are investigating inside the home and in the breezeway between 313 and 315 S. Penn St.
Police are actively looking for the shooter and no one was available to discuss the incident.
Earlier report
York City Police are on the scene of a fatal shooting in the 300 block of South Penn Street, according to York County Control.
The coroner has been notified, control said.
Check back later for more details.
Report: Former Carlisle man fires at motorists in LA before being shot and killed by police
Report: Former Carlisle man fires at motorists in LA before being shot and killed by police
Associated Press
LOS ANGELES - Authorities on Saturday identified the gunman who was killed
by police after he fired at passing cars on a
Hollywood street, wounding one driver
while screaming he wanted to die.
The body of Tyler Brehm, 26, was scheduled to be examined later Saturday, Los Angeles County Coroner's Lt. Larry Dietz
said. The Pennsylvania television station
abc27 reported Saturday that Brehm was
from Carlisle and had recently moved out
west with his girlfriend. According to
Brehm's Facebook page, he and his girl
friend had broken up on Wednesday, the
station reported.
Brehm walked down the middle of
Sunset Boulevard on Friday, firing on motorists with no clear target until two police
officers who just happened to be in the
(Associated Press - Gregory Bojorquez)
In amateur video taken at the scene, the
gunman appeared to have short hair and
wore jeans and a white tank top. He paced
back and forth near the busy intersection
with Vine Street, firing close to 20 rounds
from what appeared to be a .40 caliber
handgun, police said. Several witnesses re
ported seeing him reload at least once.
"He was screaming he was going to die
and that he wanted to die," Gregory Bojor
quez, a photographer who captured images
of the shooting's aftermath, told the Los Angeles Times.
Investigators were trying to determine a
motive for the attack.
Ramon Hernandez, who lived in the apartment next door to Brehm, said Brehm and his girlfriend had recently broken up and moved out.
He told KABC-TV Saturday that the pair kept to themselves but he at times heard them arguing.
"I could tell that he was an unstable person," Hernandez said, "but I don't know the details on what actually made him snap."
Chris Johns captured video of the gunman from his apartment window several stories above the street, and tried to distract and divert the gunman from shooting anyone on the street.
"Hey why don't you come up here! Come up here buddy!" Johns yelled.
Johns told KABC he saw a plainclothes officer shoot the man.
"I started shouting out to the officer, saying 'take him out, that's the guy!'" Johns said.
He continued shooting at vehicles and in the air when he was confronted by the officers.
They ordered the suspect to stop and drop his weapon. He was shot when he pointed his weapon at the officers. The gunman was pronounced dead at the scene, Los Angeles police Officer Cleon Joseph said. No officers were hurt.
The area was cordoned off and the gunman lay under a white sheet in the street hours after the gunfire, leaving traffic tangled on busy Hollywood streets, an area packed with stores and restaurants.
The 40-year-old male driver of a Mercedes-Benz was wounded in the face and upper torso.
Paramedics took him to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, and police said in a statement he was in "guarded and critical condition."
Authorities have not released his name.
A truck and another car were struck by
bullets.
Two people were treated at the scene
for minor injuries. One man suffered a grazing wound to his left thigh when a bullet
passed through his car door. Another man
had minor cuts from broken glass after
bullet struck the driver door where it met
the window.
Earlier:
The Los Angeles County Coroner's office has identified Tyler Brehm, 26, of Hollywood as the man who shot at motorists in Hollywood Friday morning, wounding one, before he was shot and killed by police, the Los Angeles Times reported this afternoon.
A Facebook member by the name of Tyler Brehm is listed as living in Hollywood and being from Carlisle, Pa., the Times reports.
Brehm died near the intersection of Sunset Boulevard and Vine Street minutes after wandering up the street firing a handgun, the Times reported.
Read more at www.ydr.com