1. Gunman Opens Fire at Omaha Mall - Associated Press and KETV-TV
A man with a rifle opened fire at a busy shopping mall Wednesday, killing eight people before taking his own life. Five more people were wounded, two critically. Officials identified the gunman as Robert A. Hawkins, age 20, who left a suicide note found at his home by his mother that said he wanted to "go out in style."
Shoppers and employees ran screaming through the mall and barricaded themselves in dressing rooms after hearing gunfire. The gunman was found dead on the third floor of the Von Maur department store. President Bush was in town Wednesday for a fundraiser in Omaha, but left about an hour before the shooting.
The sprawling, three-level mall has more than 135 stores and restaurants and gets 14.5 million visitors every year.
· We can only turn to You, Lord in this day of sudden violence. Only You can be glorified in this attack and we pray for protection for our nation's many retail centers. Thank You in advance, as we pray to comfort the victim's families and those who have been harmed in this senseless attack. May all, even the family of the killer, turn to You for Salvation, help and forgiveness.
· "O Lord, how long shall I cry, and You will not hear? Even cry out to You, 'Violence!' and You will not save." (Habakkuk 1: 1-2 NKJV)
2. Pacific Northwest Storm Leaves Behind Flooded Homes, Buried Roads, 7 Dead - Fox News
A massive storm that battered the Pacific Northwest for two days moved on Tuesday, leaving behind flooded homes, fallen trees and washed-out roads, including the Oregon - Washington region's largest highway, which was covered with 10 feet of muddy water. Authorities said that at least seven people were killed during the storm.
Today, the storm moved out to the Upper Midwest, where it dumped as much as 9-inches of snow in parts of North Dakota. Two people died in weather-related car accidents in Wisconsin. Western Ohio was predicted to get as much as 7-inches of snow. Heavy snow closed Milwaukee's airport and created delays and cancellations at several other Midwestern airports, including Chicago's O'Hare International Airport. It also caused a bus crash in Indiana that injured 17 people, authorities said.
· Calamities abound in our nation presently; internally with examples like the Sub-Prime mortgage debacle, and externally in severe weather systems like this. We pray Lord, that our nation's leadership will not continue to press for the division of Your sovereign land, Israel and Your Holy City, Jerusalem. Your word promises that a nation that advocates these destructive practices will not stand.
· "When your terror comes like a storm, and your destruction comes like a whirlwind, when distress and anguish come upon you. Then they will call on me, but I will not answer; they will seek me diligently, but they will not find Me. Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the Lord." (Proverbs 1: 27-29 NKJV)
3. Bush: Iran Still a Danger Despite Report - ABC News, Jerusalem Post and Associated Press
Defending his credibility, President Bush said Tuesday that Iran is dangerous and must be squeezed by international pressure despite U.S. intelligence findings that Tehran halted its nuclear weapons program four years ago. "Look, Iran was dangerous, Iran is dangerous and Iran will be dangerous if they have the knowledge necessary to make a nuclear weapon," the president told a White House news conference a day after the release of a new national intelligence estimate representing the consensus of all U.S. spy agencies.
According to the report, Iran halted its nuclear weapons development program in the fall of 2003 under international pressure but is continuing to enrich uranium. That means it may still be able to develop a weapon between 2010 and 2015, senior US intelligence officials said Monday.
Israeli government officials said that the new report had not lessened their concerns, since enriched uranium can be used both for civilian and military purposes. "Israel must continue to act in every way against the Iranian nuclear threat."
· Gracious and Mighty Father, we humbly ask You to grant continued wisdom and protection to our dear President Bush, a man who does love You; but like all men, at times runs ahead of You. Slow him down, let him listen to You as a child does when he sits down and looks up to his earthly father for help. Please continue to guide and protect our nation's intelligence community in the same way. Thank You, in Jesus' Name. Amen.
· "He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?" (Micah 6: 8)
4. U.S. Jet Intercepts Ballistic Missile For First Time: Officials- AFP
A US F-16 fighter used an air-to-air missile to destroy a sounding rocket in its boost phase for the first time this week in a test of a new missile defense concept, US spokesmen said. The test Monday at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico involved an F-16 fighter that fired two modified AIM-9X missile at an Orion sounding or research rocket.
The system -- named the Net-Centric Airborne Defense Element (NCDE) -- breaks new ground in that it would arm fighter aircraft or drones with missiles fast enough to intercept a ballistic missile as it lifts into space. The Pentagon has two other better known boost phase intercept systems under development -- the Airborne Laser and the Kinetic Energy Interceptor -- but those are still years away from being ready, officials said.
· Dear Lord, may our nation's leadership and citizenry remember to pray for our military as Your son, King David did, in times of needed deliverance from his enemies. May we praise You as he did!
· "For who is God, except the Lord? And who is a rock, except our God? God is my strength and power, and He makes my way perfect. He teaches my hands to make war, so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze. For You have armed me with strength for the battle; You have subdued under me those who rose against me." (2 Samuel 22: 32, 33, 35 & 40 NKJV)
5. Study: Abortion Fueling Cancer Epidemic - NewsMax
Having an abortion raises a woman's risk of breast cancer by at least 30 percent, and is fueling an "epidemic" of the often fatal disease, according to British researchers. According to a new study published in the Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons, young women who had an abortion before having a child are at the greatest risk for developing breast cancer.
The study's lead author Patrick Carroll calls abortion the single "best predictor" of breast cancer trends. In all other cancers, lower classes of women have higher risks of developing cancer. But breast cancer alone is more common in upper class women and those with higher paying jobs. "This is the same group of women who have a greater preference for abortion when pregnant," Carroll says.
Only three states - Texas, Minnesota and Mississippi - require doctors to tell women the possible link to breast cancer. Kansas, while not mandating that abortion providers inform their patients of the connection, provides information through their state publications and website.
· Dear Lord, please answer our cries for abortion, the killing of our nation's and the world's unborn, to end! We ask for forgiveness for those misguided ones who denied their unborn the chance to live. In Jesus' Name, Your Son, who loves the little children. Amen.
· "Are not my days few? Cease! Leave me alone, that I may take a little comfort. Before I go to the place from which I shall not return, to the land of darkness and the shadow of death." (Job 10: 20-21 NKJV)
6. Appeals Court Hears Atheist's 'Pledge' Suit - USA Today
An atheist pleaded with a federal appeals court Tuesday to remove the words "under God" from the Pledge of Allegiance and "In God We Trust" from U.S. currency, saying the references disrespect his religious beliefs. A similar suit has been filed by Neudow in New Hampshire.
"I want to be treated equally," said Michael Newdow, who argued the cases consecutively to a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. He added that supporters of the phrases "want to have their religious views espoused by the government." Newdow, a Sacramento doctor and lawyer, sued his daughter's school district in 2000 for forcing public school children to recite the pledge, saying it was unconstitutional.
· We pray, Lord that this latest man-made assault against Your very presence in America will fail. We pray for Your mercy and justice to fall upon all those who mock You for worldly profit and gain. May You be glorified in these cases so that no one can deny Your sovereignty in America!
· "For you have trusted in your wickedness; you have said, 'No one sees me'; your wisdom and your knowledge have warped you; and you have said in your heart, I am, and there is no one else besides me.' Therefore evil shall come upon you; you shall not know from where it arises, and trouble shall fall upon you; you will not be able to put it off. And desolation shall come upon you suddenly, which you shall not know. Let now the astrologers, the stargazers, and the monthly prognosticators stand up and save you from what shall come upon you." (Isaiah 47: 10, 11 & 13b NKJV)
7. Chinese Christians Celebrate 50M Bibles While U.S. School Children's Bibles Challenged on Campus - CBN News
This September, Amity Printing, the only company allowed to print Bibles in China, printed its 50 millionth Chinese language Bible. Amity has been printing Bibles for almost 20 years and wanted to speed up production to produce more copies of the Scriptures in time for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. The company plans a celebration for this Saturday -- to thank God for the opportunity to print Bibles in China.
Contrast this in America, where fifty-million children attend public schools in a nation that coined the phrase "In God We Trust," but the number of those allowed to receive free Bibles on campus is shrinking.
An aggressive attempt to eradicate God's Word from the schools was recently made by the American Civil Liberties Union. The ACLU convinced authorities in a North Carolina school district to ban the distribution of Bibles by The Gideons International, an interdenominational association committed to spreading God's Word.
With threatened lawsuits, multicultural education and secular agendas sweeping through the school system, many wonder whether the Bible has any legal place in the schools. The ACLU would like us to believe it doesn't, but is this based on fact? No.
· May the Gospel of Jesus Christ be preached and exalted in China, America, Israel and in the rest of this world that You created.
· "And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come." (Matthew 24 : 14 NKJV)
Recently some 138 leading "Muslim scholars, clerics and intellectuals from around the world" offered a Dawa to Christian leaders in the United States. A Dawa is an invitation to the Islamic faith. Incredibly, among those who accepted were leftists organizations such as the National Council of Churches and what has become more left leaning the National Association of Evangelicals, and several well- known Christian leaders such as Bill Hybels, Senior Pastor, Willow Creek Community Church; Robert Schuller, Crystal Cathedral and Hour of Power; Berten A. Waggoner, Association of Vineyard Churches; leftist Jim Wallis, President, Sojourners; and Rick Warren, Founder and Senior Pastor, Saddleback Church.
Now these religious scholars will argue that they in no way accepted an invitation to join the Moslem faith. And this, in part, is true. But they did accept an invitation to find common ground in the love of God and of neighbor. And they, along with some 100 of their noble and religious colleagues, sent a letter back to the Moslems. These Christian men and women attempted to take the high ground by implying there is a common bond between Christians and Moslems rooted in the ancestral beginnings of the two faiths in Abraham. They began the letter by apologizing for sins Christians have committed against Islam during the Crusades and what they called "excesses" of the war on terror.
They wrote, "Muslims and Christians have not always shaken hands in friendship; their relations have sometimes been tense, even characterized by outright hostility. Since Jesus Christ says, "First take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbor's eye" (Matthew 7:5), we want to begin by acknowledging that in the past (e.g. in the Crusades) and in the present (e.g. in excesses of the "war on terror") many Christians have been guilty of sinning against our Muslim neighbors. Before we "shake your hand" in responding to your letter, we ask forgiveness of the All- Merciful One and of the Muslim community around the world."
Throughout the letter these appeasers quoted Mohammed liberally and repeatedly used the phrase "common ground" between Christians and Moslems because of their love for God and one another. They agreed with the Moslem pronouncement that "Without peace and justice between these two religious communities, there can be no meaningful peace in the world." These misguided and pompous Christian leaders take Christ's charge of blessing, loving, and praying for your enemies to an all new level by giving up the ground that Christians and Moslems serve the same God. Jesus also said in Matthew 24:4, "Take heed that no man deceive you."
Bill Wilson
Word of Life Ministry
www.dailyjot.com
Annapolis further divides Christians over support for Israel
80 Evangelical Christian leaders advocate division of the Holy Land
The conclusion of the US-hosted Middle East peace summit in Annapolis, Maryland has further highlighted a growing rift within the Evangelical Christian community over the degree of support for Israel's biblical right to the lands between the Jordan River and Mediterranean Sea. A day after the summit, the leaders of the three most prominent Jerusalem- based Evangelical ministries told The Jerusalem Post that the re-division of the holy city and the surrender of Israel's biblical heartland - an effective reversal of prophecy - are unacceptable concepts for Bible- believing Christians and Jews. "The sanctity of Jerusalem as the capital of the Jewish State is something very sacred which has both historical and religious associations for the Jewish people going back thousands of years," said International Christian Embassy Jerusalem director Rev. Malcom Heading. "We view any attempt to divide the city as a tragic wedge that is unacceptable."
Ray Sanders, executive director of Christian Friends of Israel, called Muslim claims to sovereignty over these lands, and especially Jerusalem, "preposterous," and said Israel was doing itself a great disservice by failing to more aggressively counter such allegations. US-based Evangelical heavyweights such as John Hagee and Pat Robertson share the position of the Jerusalem ministries, and vigorously oppose any surrender of Israel's biblical birthright to its Islamic foes.
But another group of lesser known American Evangelical leaders who have taken a position previously described as humanist, rather than biblical, are again urging US President George W. Bush to rapidly divide the Land of Israel. In a joint statement released this week, the over 80 Christian college and seminary presidents, denominational heads, and other ministry leaders declared:
"We resolve to work for a viable permanent, democratic Palestinian State. We believe that the way forward is for the Israelis and Palestinians to negotiate a fair, two-state solution. We call on all evangelicals, all Christians, and everyone of good will to join us to work and pray faithfully in the coming months for a just, lasting two-state solution in the Holy Land."
The full statement and a list of the Evangelical leaders who signed it can be found here:
(Source: Christianity Today)
· In this end-time age, when good is called evil and evil is called good, the Biblical phrase, "Blessed are the peacemakers" has been taken totally out of context. When Jesus Christ spoke, "Blessed are the peacemakers," he meant that we try to make peace with all well-meaning people -- NOT with all people.
Instead, according to the letter cited in this report; one would try to "make peace" with Hitler, Ahmadinejad, or even members of the Ku Klux Klan! Witness British Prime Minister Chamberlain who, in 1939, tried to "make peace" with Adolf Hitler. The results, of course, were disastrous!
Offer a prayer for the 80 leaders who have signed this letter, interceding over each one by name. These are men and women who have great influence in the Body of Christ. May they be delivered from a spirit of delusion, and return to the TRUTH of the Gospel and the Rock of our Salvation, Jesus Christ!
· "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." (Luke 23:34) "Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division." (Luke 12:51)
November 28, 2007
Jerusalem, Israel
Shalom Dear Friends:
A popular website for Jewish lovers of Israel, www.jerusalemonline.com, has now expanded its format to welcome evangelical Christian lovers of Israel as well! The new address for the Christian Edition appears at the bottom of this email. Please check it out!
"JerusalemOnline" has also turned to Dr. Jay Rawlings and myself to produce a new 5-minute program for this site that we are calling "Countdown to Redemption" ("CTR"). This program was launched today from Jerusalem for the first time. "Countdown to Redemption" is a boldly biblical and pro-Israel commentary on the very latest news as it impacts Israel! Please check it out and, if you like what you see, please share this email with others.
CTR is a concise 5-minute video report from Jerusalem that will be available 5 days a week, Sunday through Thursday, with a new commentary each day. CTR will be running for the next 4 weeks as a new trial feature. If you feel it is needed and relevant, and if you believe it should be a REGULAR FEATURE, then we need your assistance in these four things:
1. Go to the website and watch it 5 times a week.
2. Subscribe directly online to get the news sent automatically to your email address each day.
3. Tell your friends, your church, your Sunday School class, and your pastor to watch CTR as well.
4. Please consider posting a brief comment about this new program to the editor at info@jerusalemonline.com
PLEASE GO NOW AND SEE FOR YOURSELF! THANKS SO MUCH !
http://www.jerusalemonline.com/christian- 4israel5.asp
In Messiah's Great Love,
Pastor David N. Decker
Jerusalem, Israel
Down to the Wire on Hate Crimes
In an attempt to force the veto pen of President Bush, liberals on Capitol Hill have inserted the hate (thought) crimes language into the Defense Appropriations bill expanding both the definition of hate crimes and of those who can be found culpable under these provisions.
The definition is broadened to include sexual orientation among the protected classes, elevating sexual attraction to the status of race and creed. Those who can be found culpable have also been expanded to include not only those who commit the crime but those who may have unknowingly "inspired" those actions. For example, a pastor can be considered legally culpable if he preaches against the homosexual agenda and a member of his congregation subsequently commits a crime against a homosexual. Thus, the act against the homosexual is considered a crime, as it should be, but so also is the thought against the agenda or conduct.
Liberals have deviously inserted this provision in the Defense Appropriations bill. If conservative negotiators are unsuccessful in excising this provision from the bill then President Bush will be forced to do one of two things. First, he could veto the bill, which would then cause delays in funding our troops in Iraq. Second he could sign the bill to ensure the troops receive their funds, but have the unfortunate outcome of granting the new hate crimes provision the force of law.
Given the urgency and importance of these issues please help the House and Senate negotiators by calling members and urging them to remove this provision. Tell them it should be removed because the provision is not germane to the national defense of this country. Most importantly, tell them that the provision should be removed because it runs counter to our country's bedrock principles of free speech and thought.
(Source: Family Research Council)
To view the names of Senators and Members who have voted for the Hate Crimes Amendment in the Conference Committee, go here.
