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Seattle Mayor Ed Murray promised he would, as mayor, do everything legally possible to keep Chick-fil-A restaurants "out of Seattle."
Why?
Because the owners believe marriage is between one man and one woman---and they said so out loud.
When Chick-fil-A announced they were expanding into the Puget Sound area, then Mayor McGinn and mayoral candidate Murray expressed grave concern that such a company would even consider expanding into Seattle.
Murray told KIRO TV 7 in September 2013, "I'm stunned," while McGinn called the owners of Chick-fil-A "bigots."
Yet it is this 2000+ restaurant chain that continues to model the values of love and caring that Murray and other openly homosexual activists claim they believe.
Last Wednesday---January 7, was a bitterly cold day in Birmingham, Ala.
As usual, the Chick-fil-A on Highway 280 in the suburb of Inverness, was filled with customers.
Most customers hardly noticed when the man slipped in out of the cold.
Then it happened.
It was bitter cold. The wind was blowing.
He was a bit unkempt, wearing rumbled jeans and a light weight hoodie.
Most folks assumed he was homeless, if they noticed him at all.
Then the man made eye contact with the owner of that particular Chick-fil-A franchise, Mark Meadows.
Mark told Todd Starnes with Fox News, "I was about to leave when the gentleman walked in the door. I could tell he needed help." He said, "You can tell."
The man asked Mark if he could do some work in exchange for a meal.
You may be thinking, "Haven't I heard this story before?" It was this same store manager and staff that served hundreds of meals to motorists stranded for hours in a blizzard on HWY 280 last winter.
Mark told the man to be seated, and brought him a full meal of his choice. Mark also noticed the man's hands were frozen and asked if he had gloves. He didn't, so Mark gave the man his own pair of gloves.
The man ate, put on his gloves and slipped out the door. The whole encounter took a few minutes at most.
Life went on. No big deal.
Except many, if not most people have an iPhone. And iPhones have cameras.
Andrea Stokes was having lunch with her young son in that same restaurant.
Noticing the exchange between the store manager and the man, she took a picture. And put the picture and this message on her Facebook page:
“Bryson and I are sitting in Chick Fil A on 280. A man walked in to get warm with all of his earthly possessions on his back. The manager, who is on his break, got up and asked the man if he could get him anything. Before the man could even answer, the manager asked if the man had any gloves and handed him his, then got him the meal of his choice. There is still so much good in this world and I'm so grateful that Bryson saw it all unfold.”
Now, a week later, the message and the picture have gone viral.
Mark said he had no idea anyone was paying attention or taking pictures. Andrea says she used the encounter as a teaching moment for her son.
The man? Well, we don't know much about him. He just disappeared back into the storm; fed, warmed and clothed, at least with a new pair of gloves.
Is Mark Meadows unique in the Chick-fil-A restaurant chain?
He says he is not. "It all comes from Truett Cathy and the Cathy family and the principles Chick-fil-A has been established on."
Mark says those principles are "to glorify God by being a faithful steward of all that is entrusted to us and to have a positive influence on all who come in contact with Chick-fil-A."
Mark had never seen the man before, nor has he seen him since. Starnes was reminded of the verse in Hebrews that says, "Do not forget to entertain strangers, For by doing so, some have unwittingly entertained angels."
Who knows? God knows.
What a striking difference between 2 polar opposite worldviews.
The one says I don't care how much you help the poor and needy and feed the hungry, if you don't embrace homosexuality and redefining marriage, you are a bigot and we do not want you in our city. Now Mayor, Ed Murray, lamented to KIRO, "If they want to be in Seattle, they have to obey the civil rights laws that protect our citizens, civil rights laws that I passed."
I really don't think we need to "protect our citizens" from the likes of Chick-fil-A and their employees, so much as we need to protect our children from the homosexual activists who prey on them and seek to redefine the most fundamental component of human relationships and the culture---marriage.
The opposite worldview embraces the Truth of God's Word regarding human relationships, and finds opportunity to practice those principles.
About 750 BC Isaiah, speaking to a society that was collapsing because of the moral and spiritual decadence in religion, politics and the culture wrote: (61:1) "The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim the good news to the poor. He has sent me to heal the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners."
About 750 years later, "Jesus went to the synagogue on the Sabbath, and stood up to read." Luke 4: 16-21 records that Jesus read the words of Isaiah, and said (21), "Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing."
He then instructed all who would follow Him to do the same thing.
Throughout our world today needy, broken, weary and hungry souls move in and out of the doors and corridors of our lives.
I can tell you with certainty, it is the Christians who feed and cloth and heal and set them free. And share the redeeming good news of the gospel. And believe in the biblical model of marriage.
I agree with Andrea, there is so much good in this world.
Mr. Mayor, your city does not need protection from these kinds of folks---including the people at Chick-fil-A.
Be Informed. Be Bold. Be Vigilant. Be Prayerful. Be Free. Be Blessed.