SACRAMENTO, Calif., May 3, 2016 /PRNewswire/ — Rev. Samuel Rodriguez, lead pastor of New Season Church in California and President/CEO of one of the world’s largest Hispanic Evangelical organizations, gives a clarion call for peace and hope amid the current political and social chaos of our world in his newest book, “Be Light: Shining God’s Beauty, Truth, and Hope into a Darkened World” (WaterBrook, ISBN: 987-1-60142-816-5).
In “Be Light,” Rodriguez acknowledges that today’s world is troubled and in many ways dark, from the current discourse and negative rhetoric of the election cycle to fears of terrorist and medical threats such as Zika. Yet, he calls for everyone – especially people of faith – to rise up and shine light with truth, love and grace.
“In these times when religious liberties are being attacked and there is great pressure for political correctness instead of biblical truths, the Church needs to rise up in all of life’s arenas and become ‘the bright city on a hill,'” writes Rodriguez.
“Be Light” addresses the darkness of hatred, polarization, cultural decadence, religious persecution, disregard for human life and racial tension that currently abound in our nation and presents a timely message in this current political season for people of faith to stand for biblical truth.
“During this presidential campaign we have seen, time and again, vicious personal attacks by political candidates on the character of others, and discussions on issues vital to our nation, such as immigration, religious liberty and the Supreme Court, continue to play out in uncivil and often hatred manners,” said Rodriguez. “It is easy to want to throw your hands in the air and give up on America, but at the end of the day, instead of cursing the darkness, instead of whining about the darkness, instead of complaining about the darkness – why not turn on the light? That’s my call, let’s be light.”
Rodriguez is president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, which serves as a representative voice for the more than 100 million Hispanic Evangelicals assembled in over 40,000 U.S. churches and another 500,000 congregations spread throughout the Spanish-speaking diaspora. A number of media outlets, such as CNN and Fox News Channel have deemed him as one of America’s leading Christian and Latino voices, and Newsmax recently included him in the “Top 100 Christian Leaders in America.”
But while Rodriguez represents a Hispanic demographic that both pundits and politicians on both sides of the aisle have determined are key to winning the presidency, “Be Light” shares a message for all Americans.
“We cannot deny we live in dark times…sin, immorality, moral relativism, infanticide, racism, false prophets, watered-down preaching, religious extremism, terror, violence intolerance and disbelief,” Rodriguez opines. “But, when light stands next to darkness, light always wins.”
“Be Light” has been endorsed by a number of leaders including: Dr. Ronnie Floyd, president, Southern Baptist Convention and senior pastor of Cross Church; Robert Morrison, founding senior pastor at Gateway Church; and James Robison, founder and president of LIFE Outreach International. The foreword to the book was written by Roma Downey, producer, celebrated actress and president and chief content officer at LightWorkers Media (a division of MGM Studios).
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