{"id":2464,"date":"2019-02-12T12:14:32","date_gmt":"2019-02-12T17:14:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/hedgerow\/?p=2464"},"modified":"2020-02-22T17:35:42","modified_gmt":"2020-02-22T22:35:42","slug":"louisiana-grocer-hell-has-open-borders-heaven-has-gates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/hedgerow\/2019\/02\/louisiana-grocer-hell-has-open-borders-heaven-has-gates\/","title":{"rendered":"Louisiana grocer: Hell has open borders, Heaven has gates"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Mac\u2019s Fresh Market<\/a>, a small grocery store chain with locations in Louisiana, Arkansas, and Mississippi, published a message in its weekly deals advertisement. Its owner inserted on the\u00a0front page<\/a>\u00a0of the ad:<\/p>\n

\u201cHeaven has a wall, a gate and a strict immigration policy. Hell has open borders. Let that sink in.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Store owner Reggie McDaniel\u00a0told KALB News<\/a>\u00a0in Alexandria, Louisiana, that the message was rooted in his Christian faith. He said, \u201cIf I used a political message and I\u2019m very aware it\u2019s political, to highlight Jesus Christ, then I\u2019m guilty of it.\u201d He said his only regret was not publishing John 3:16.<\/p>\n

The Mac\u2019s Cashsaver ad was distributed in the Arkansas cities of Camden, Magnolia, and El Dorado, and in northern Louisiana.<\/p>\n

The company describes itself as family-owned and Christian, and McDaniel said he was prepared for some of the backlash and criticism his store would receive. He clarified by saying:<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s my meaning of the whole thing is are people\u00a0prepared to go to heaven<\/a>\u00a0or are they not,\u201d McDaniel said. \u201cI thought it was a perfect time because everybody is talking about the border, some people want it, some don\u2019t want us to have one.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The company\u00a0told Little Rock television station KARK<\/a>\u00a0that it stands by the ad and will continue to put out messages each week.<\/p>\n

Jack Digby, the manager at Mac\u2019s Cash Saver in Camden, Arkansas, told KARK of the naysayers, \u201cThey\u2019re just making a political spin out of it and getting the wrong idea of what it really means,\u201d he said. \u201cI am for this company and I am for God. There\u2019s nothing wrong with what that statement says.\u201d<\/p>\n

McDaniel asserts that in America, people \u201chave the privilege of shopping where they want to,\u201d and he appreciates their business.<\/p>\n

Benjamin Joyner, one of McDaniel\u2019s defenders, said on Facebook that\u00a0no hate was implied<\/a>\u00a0in the grocer\u2019s message. He wrote:\u00a0\u201cThe gates and wall of heaven are the Blood of Jesus Christ. \u201cNo one enters there illegally, except according to His Law, by accepting Jesus Christ as Lord.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cA wall along our southern border should bear the same, barring those who would enter illegally our country, and allowing all who would enter legally according to the Law of the Land.\u201d<\/p>\n

For the Biblical reference, Jesus is the gate to heaven:\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Matthew 7:13-14:<\/a> \u201cEnter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.\u201d<\/p>\n

John 14:6:<\/a> Jesus said to him, \u201cI am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Matthew 7:21-23<\/a>: \u201cNot everyone who says to me, \u2018Lord, Lord,\u2019 will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, \u2018Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?\u2019 And then will I declare to them, \u2018I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Matthew 7:13<\/a>:\u00a0\u201cEnter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many.\u201d<\/p>\n

John 3:16<\/a>:\u00a0\u201cFor God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Romans 10:9<\/a>: \u201cBecause, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.\u201d<\/p>\n

Psalm 118:20:<\/a>\u00a0\u201cThis is the gate of the\u00a0Lord<\/span>; the righteous shall enter through it.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Revelation 21:11-27<\/strong><\/a> describes heaven, and its gates and wall:\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n

It shone with the glory of God, and its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal.It had a great, high wall with twelve gates, and with twelve angels at the gates. On the gates were written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel.<\/p>\n

There were three gates on the east, three on the north, three on the south and three on the west.The wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.\u00a0The angel who talked with me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city, its gates and its walls.<\/span><\/p>\n

The city was laid out like a square, as long as it was wide. He measured the city with the rod and found it to be 12,000 stadia\u00a0in length, and as wide and high as it is long.The angel measured the wall using human measurement, and it was 144 cubits thick.<\/p>\n

The wall was made of jasper, and the city of pure gold, as pure as glass.The foundations of the city walls were decorated with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, the fifth onyx, the sixth ruby, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth turquoise, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst.<\/p>\n

The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate made of a single pearl. The great street of the city was of gold, as pure as transparent glass. I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.<\/p>\n

The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp.The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it. On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there.The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it.<\/p>\n

Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb\u2019s book of life.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mac\u2019s Fresh Market, a small grocery store chain with locations in Louisiana, Arkansas, and Mississippi, published a message in its weekly deals advertisement. Its owner inserted on the\u00a0front page\u00a0of the ad: \u201cHeaven has a wall, a gate and a strict immigration policy. Hell has open borders. Let that sink in.\u201d Store owner Reggie McDaniel\u00a0told KALB […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1910,"featured_media":2467,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[972,970],"tags":[188,187,20,1948,1951,1945,1954,636,185],"class_list":["post-2464","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-christianity","category-politics","tag-heaven","tag-hell","tag-jesus","tag-louisiana-grocer","tag-macs-fresh-market","tag-open-borders","tag-reggie-mcdaniel","tag-revelation","tag-salvation"],"yoast_head":"\nLouisiana grocer: Hell has open borders, Heaven has gates<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Mac\u2019s Fresh Market, a small grocery store chain with locations in Louisiana, Arkansas, and Mississippi, published a message in its weekly deals\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, 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