· On Capitol Hill This Week; Vol. XV, No. 22a
· This Week, Worship Our Lord As . . .
Greetings!
Capitol Hill Prayer Partners
P.O. Box 5152
Herndon, VA 20172-1970
chpp@patriot.net
On Capitol Hill This Week Volume XV, Number 22a August 4 - 8, 2008
"Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine. . . " (Psalm 43:1)
PLEASE NOTE: Congress has now gone into recess, and will return the week of September 8. The next edition of "On Capitol Hill This Week" will also be published on Monday, September 8th. Thank you!
On Capitol Hill This Week; Vol. XV, No. 22a
* * * DOMESTIC ISSUES * * *
110TH CONGRESS: PRACTICING SLOW MOTION
GOP LAWMAKERS RETURN TODAY FOR ENERGY DEBATE
PRESIDENT SIGNS HOUSING LEGISLATION TO PROVIDE MORTGAGE RELIEF
HOUSE APOLOGIZES FOR SLAVERY, 'JIM CROW' INJUSTICES
RESOLUTION OF APOLOGY TO NATIVE PEOPLES PENDING IN CONGRESS
INDEPENDENT STUDY: STIMULUS PAYMENTS BOOSTING SPENDING
CONGRESS EXPANDS PRESIDENT'S PEPFAR PROGRAM
CONGRESS FUNDS FORCED ABORTIONS OVERSEAS
FLIGHT CARRYING 7 MEMBERS OF CONGRESS MAKES EMERGENCY LANDING
U.S. HEADED FOR HEIGHTENED ALERT
1. 110TH CONGRESS: PRACTICING SLOW MOTION
Of the 290 laws passed this Congress (which comes dangerously close to the lowest number ever), 30 percent of them just name post offices. Congress also took the time to recognize July as "National Watermelon Month" and officially classify dirt as a natural resource. It is little wonder that Congress's approval rating is in the single digits-nine percent-for the first time ever. While the nation tends to be safer when Congress has recessed, there are a number of issues that Congress has failed to address, including the confirmation of President Bush's judicial nominees, protecting minors from being carried across state borders for an abortion, and increased U.S. energy independence.Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has been trying to highlight the judges and energy issues on the Senate side and Reps. Chris Smith (R-N.J.) and Trent Franks (R-Ariz.) have been instrumental in getting life issues talked about in the House. Last Friday dozens of Republicans joined hundreds of spectators on the House floor to protest Speaker Nancy Pelosi's (D- Calif.) decision to send Congress home for the rest of the summer without a vote on legislation to move America toward energy independence. The protest is set to resume today, despite Democrats' turning off the lights and microphones. (Family Research Council)
· Watching this Congress in operation has been like observing a stalemate in action. Pray that, when Congress returns in September, our God will visit each chamber with miraculous intervention, and something positive will yet be accomplished before the elections in November. Pray!
· "A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest -- and poverty will come on you like a bandit and scarcity like an armed man." (Proverbs 24:33)
2. GOP LAWMAKERS RETURN TODAY FOR ENERGY DEBATE
House Republicans tell ABC News that at least 30 members of Congress, emboldened by Barack Obama's "shift" on off shore drilling, are flying back to DC from their Districts today and tomorrow to attend a special debate on energy policy. This "session" is scheduled for Monday, August 4th beginning at 10 am ET. As expected, no Democrats will participate. One House Republican says, "I'm a 25 year veteran of the U.S. Congress, and I've never seen anything like this." GOP members say they would not be holding this debate tomorrow, if the Democratic nominee had not modified his position on off shore drilling. They believe that with Obama and his Republican opponent John McCain, appearing to be in "agreement" about off shore drilling, then Speaker Nancy Pelosi should recall the Congress from recess, and put an energy bill on the floor in August. They are expected to meet in the Old House Chamber where Lincoln worked.
· Praise God for this action! "Never give up the ship!" It IS TIME to pass an energy bill NOW, and at least part of Congress IS getting this message. Pray without ceasing over this issue until breakthrough is achieved and a comprehensive energy bill has been passed in the House and the Senate this summer.
· "Pray without ceasing . . ." (2 Thess. 5:17)
3. PRESIDENT SIGNS HOUSING LEGISLATION TO PROVIDE MORTGAGE RELIEF
President Bush on Wednesday signed a massive housing bill intended to provide mortgage relief for 400,000 struggling homeowners and stabilize financial markets. The measure lets homeowners who cannot afford their payments refinance into more affordable government-backed loans rather than losing their homes. It offers a temporary financial lifeline to troubled mortgage companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and tightens controls over the two government-sponsored businesses. Democratic leaders, recognizing that the measure could be one of the last items to become law during what's left of their abbreviated election-year schedule, tacked on an $800 billion increase, to $10.6 trillion, in the statutory limit on the national debt. Conservative Republicans were vehemently opposed to the bill, particularly the help for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Critics charge the companies enjoy lavish profits in good times and wield their outsized political clout to resist regulation while depending on the government to bail them out should they falter. (
· Pray that this legislation will be used for its intended purpose, and that abuses will not occur. May God's wisdom rule over the housing market and attempts to fix it, and may homeowners find real relief.
· "Whoever is wise will observe these things, and they will understand the lovingkindness of the Lord." (Psalm 107:43)
4. HOUSE APOLOGIZES FOR SLAVERY, 'JIM CROW' INJUSTICES
The House of Representatives on Tuesday passed a resolution apologizing to African-Americans for slavery and the era of Jim Crow. The House on Tuesday evening passed a resolution apologizing for slavery and Jim Crow laws. The nonbinding resolution, which passed on a voice vote, was introduced by Rep. Steve Cohen, a white lawmaker who represents a majority black district in Memphis, Tennessee. While many states have apologized for slavery, it is the first time a branch of the federal government has done so, an aide to Cohen said.In passing the resolution, the House also acknowledged the "injustice, cruelty, brutality and inhumanity of slavery. Jim Crow laws were state and local laws enacted mostly in the Southern and border states of the United States between the 1870s and 1965, when African-Americans were denied the right to vote and other civil liberties and were legally segregated from whites. The resolution states that "the vestiges of Jim Crow continue to this day." "African-Americans continue to suffer from the consequences of slavery and Jim Crow -- long after both systems were formally abolished -- through enormous damage and loss, both tangible and intangible, including the loss of human dignity and liberty, the frustration of careers and professional lives, and the long-term loss of income and opportunity," the resolution states. The House also committed itself to stopping "the occurrence of human rights violations in the future." The resolution does not address the controversial issue of reparations. (CNN)
· Praise the Lord that a formal apology has been made for slavery by the federal government. If America is to experience a revival in the Lord, we need to make all necessary apologies and repent for the sins of our ancestors as well as for our national sins of today. Pray that the apology is received well by the African-American public so that we can erase the issue of race from our national consciousness.
· "Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good." (Romans 12:9)
5. RESOLUTION OF APOLOGY TO NATIVE PEOPLES PENDING IN CONGRESS
A joint resolution is still pending to acknowledge a long history of official depredations and ill-conceived policies by the United States Government regarding Indian tribes and to offer an apology to all Native Peoples on behalf of the United States. This summer, CONTACT YOUR SENATORS & REPRESENTATIVE: if not yet involved, contact and ask them to cosponsor the resolution. If they are supporting it, thank them. For more information, go here.
· For many years, we have been praying -- and others have been taking action -- to see that this resolution is passed by Congress. It is surely long overdue; and most importantly, WILL serve as one instrument to bring healing to our land. Please continue to press in, wherever you are, in prayer and in action, until this governmental decree has been passed by the Congress and signed by the President of the United States of America.
· "Thy people shall volunteer freely in the day of Thy power." (Psalm 110:3 NASB)
6. INDEPENDENT STUDY SHOWS STIMULUS PAYMENTS ARE BOOSTING SPENDING
The government's economic-stimulus payments are being spent at "significant rates" and should boost consumer spending substantially into the current quarter, a pair of professors found in a preliminary study of the program's effects. The typical family increased its spending on food, drug products and other daily merchandise by 3.5% when the rebates arrived relative to a family that hadn't received its rebate yet, the study found. The government started sending the payments at the end of April; checks totaling more than $90 billion have gone out so far. (The Wall Street Journal)
· Pray that consumer confidence will deepen, and that strength will return to our economy.
· "And now, Lord, what do I wait for? My hope is in You." (Psalm 39:7)
7. CONGRESS EXPANDS PRESIDENT'S PEPFAR PROGRAM
The bipartisan expansion of the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) - along with the President's Malaria Initiative - is significant in a number of ways. First, it is the congressional affirmation of a major legacy of George W. Bush - a grand, aggressive international compassion that dwarfs the Peace Corps and is unequaled since the Marshall Plan. Despite charges of simplistic militarism, the Bush Doctrine actually includes three elements: the preemption of emerging threats, the encouragement of responsible self-government, and the promotion of development and health as alternatives to despair and bitterness. In service of this third goal, Bush has more than quadrupled aid to sub-Saharan Africa. Americans are only dimly aware of this fact. Men and women in the remotest African villages are better informed. Historians will find it undeniable. (Michael Gerson, Op-Ed, "An AIDS Victory Up Close," The Washington Post, 7/30/08)
· Thank You Lord for a hopeful report! But we continue to pray that You will begin to move across nations with AIDS and malaria epidemics, bringing stability to strife-torn regions.
· "Then your light shall break forth like the morning, Your healing shall spring forth speedily . . ." (Isaiah 58:6,8)
8. CONGRESS FUNDS FORCED ABORTIONS OVERSEAS
On July 17 Congress voted to allow funding of organizations that promote and perform abortions in other countries, and organizations involved in forced abortions. The President has vowed that he will veto any legislation that "weakens current Federal policies and laws on abortion, or that encourages the destruction of human life at any stage." A Senate Committee and a House Subcommittee approved a bill that undermines two long-standing amendments that ensure U.S. tax dollars do not subsidize abortions overseas, nor facilitate forced abortions and sterilizations. The legislation Congress passed would increase funding to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), which assists the Chinese government in its program of coercive abortion and sterilization. It undermines Kemp-Kasten, an amendment which bars tax dollars from going to organizations assisting programs that commit forced abortions and sterilizations. In addition, the Senate Committee overrode the Mexico City Policy, which prevents non- governmental foreign organizations who fund or support abortions from receiving federal aid from the United States. (Concerned Women For America; 7/18/08)
· Pray that the President and our nation will continue to uphold his promise to "veto any legislation that weakens current Federal policies and laws on abortion, or that encourages the destruction of human life at any stage" and that should any such veto be necessary, that it would stand.
· "The king's heart is like channels of water in the hand of the LORD; He turns it wherever He wishes." (Proverbs 21:1)
9. FLIGHT CARRYING 7 MEMBERS OF CONGRESS MAKES EMERGENCY LANDING
Incident Occurred on July 22; None Injured HOUSTON -- A Continental Airlines flight carrying seven members of Congress from Houston to Washington was forced to make an emergency landing after it lost cabin pressure Tuesday afternoon (July 22). Flight 458 was bound for Reagan National Airport, but was diverted and landed safely in New Orleans, a spokeswoman for U.S. Rep. Ted Poe told 11 News. Poe and fellow Congressmen Nick Lampson, Ron Paul, John Carter, Ciro Rodriguez, Solomon Ortiz and Henry Cuellar were aboard the flight, said Poe's press secretary DeeAnn Thigpen. There were 118 people aboard the plane, said Continental spokeswoman Julie King. No one was hurt, the airline confirmed. Continental Airlines said the problem was caused by a sudden loss in cabin pressure. (KHOU.com staff report)
· Although details given here are a bit sketchy, at the time the news reported that the aircraft suddenly went into a "steep dive," causing the emergency landing. Offer praise for this good report, and in the coming summer weeks, please intercede for the safety of ALL members of Congress (House and Senate), as well as their family members and their staff, as they travel across the nation. Thank you!
· "He will give His angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways." (Psalm 91:10) "Pray for . . . all in authority . . ." (I Timothy 2:1,2)
10. U.S. HEADED FOR HEIGHTENED ALERT
Government officials have been quietly stepping up counter-terror efforts out of a growing concern that al Qaeda or similar organizations might try to capitalize on the spate of extremely high-profile events in the coming months. Security experts point to next month's Olympics as evidence that high-profile events attract threats of terrorism, like the one issued this past weekend by a Chinese Muslim minority group that warned of its intent to attack the Games. Anti-terror officials in the U.S. cite this summer and fall's lineup of two major political parties' conventions, November's general election and months of transition into a new presidential administration as cause for heightened awareness and action. This is what the Department of Homeland Security is quietly declaring a Period of Heightened Alert, a time frame when terrorists may have more incentive to attack. According to drafts of government memos the period would run roughly from this August through July 2009. (ABC News and Intercessors for America)
· As watchmen on the wall of our nation, may we be alert to God's leadings and have His vision concerning effective prayers for America. Pray that no plan of the enemy comes to fruition, and that a hedge of fire be placed around us all.
· "No weapon that is formed against you shall prosper." (Isaiah 54:17)
In This Issue On Capitol Hill This Week; Vol. XV, No. 22b
Greetings!
Capitol Hill Prayer Partners
P.O. Box 5152
Herndon, VA 20172-1970
On Capitol Hill This Week Volume XV, Number 22b
* * * INTERNATIONAL ISSUES * * *
"Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine. . . " (Psalm 43:1)
PLEASE NOTE: Congress has now gone into recess, and will return the week of September 8. The next edition of "On Capitol Hill This Week" will also be published on Monday, September 8th. Thank you!
* * * INTERNATIONAL ISSUES * * *
PRESIDENT BUSH LEAVES TONIGHT FOR OLYMPICSSEN.
BROWNBACK: CHINA TO SPY ON OLYMPIC VISITORS
IRAN ENDS COOPERATION WITH UN NUCLEAR ARMS PROBE
WORLD POWERS TO PURSUE NEW SANCTIONS ON IRAN
AL-QAIDA LEADER URGES ASSASSINATION OF SAUDI KING
MAJOR VICTORY IN IRAQ GOES LARGELY UNREPORTED
GATES OMITS ISRAEL FROM LIST OF "CLOSE" U.S. ALLIES
PM OLMERT WON'T RUN IN PRIMARIES
BARAK WARNS SANCTIONS WILL NOT STOP IRAN
1. PRESIDENT BUSH LEAVES TONIGHT FOR OLYMPICS
Will Visit Several Other Countries En Route
President Bush leaves tonight for a week-long trip to Asia, visiting several nations en route to view the Olympic Games in Beijing, China.
During his trip, the President will visit the presidents of the Republic of Korea (South Korea), tomorrow; and will then fly to Thailand to visit the Prime Minister of Thailand. While there, President Bush will also receive a briefing on the disaster relief efforts in neighboring Burma.
On Friday, President Bush will fly to Beijing, China where he will participate throughout the weekend in events sponsored by the Beijing Olympics. The Presdient's trip will end in Beijing on Sunday, first attending a church service and then visiting the president of the People's Republic of China.
· Pray much for the safety and the security of President Bush, the First Lady, the White House Press Corps, and all who will travel with him on this journey. May he be blessed with favor wherever he goes; and may he find rest and refreshment along the way. Finally, lift up a special prayer for our President on Sunday, as he visits with the President of the People's Republic of China. Amen.
· "The effectual, fervent prayers of a righteous man availeth much." (James 5:16)
2. SEN. BROWNBACK: CHINA TO SPY ON OLYMPIC VISITORS
Sen. Sam Brownback has charged that China is preparing to spy on visitors to the Olympics Games, which begin on Aug. 8. The Kansas Republican told reporters that China has "carefully plotted to take advantage of the situation of having thousands of foreign visitors on its soil" and "set up a system to be able to spy and gather information about each and every guest at hotels where Olympic visitors are located."
Brownback said China's targets will include journalists, athletes' families, and human rights advocates, The Hill reports. He disclosed that his office had been contacted by attorneys for international hotel chains who said the Chinese Public Security Bureau told foreign-owned hotels to install Internet monitoring equipment. "These measures are designed to assist the PSB to spy on the Internet activities of guests and record Web sites visited, searches entered and even keystrokes. The text alludes to harsh punishment for failure to comply with the order, including loss of license to operate a hotel in China," Brownback said. (Newsmax.com 7/29/08)
· Since Senator Brownback alerted the public to this threat, the Chinese government reported that it would drop this policy. However, as of tonight, reports are now coming in from journalists on site in Beijing, stating that these rules are, indeed, still in place.
Offer prayer that the Chinese will lift these stringent regulations, so that the Western press can enjoy the free speech rights to which they are accustomed. Bind the spirit of paranoia off the heads of state in the People's Republic of China and loose a spirit of trust. Ask for a miracle!
· "If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer." (Matthew 21:22) 3.
3. IRAN ENDS COOPERATION WITH UN NUCLEAR ARMS PROBE
Iran signaled Thursday that it will no longer cooperate with U.N. experts probing for signs of clandestine nuclear weapons work, confirming the investigation is at a dead end a year after it began. The announcement from Iranian Vice President Gholam Reza Aghazadeh compounded skepticism about denting Tehran's nuclear defiance, just five days after Tehran stonewalled demands from six world powers that it halt activities capable of producing the fissile core of warheads.
Iran, which is obligated as a signer of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty not to develop nuclear arms, raised suspicions about its intentions when it admitted in 2002 that it had run a secret nuclear program for nearly two decades in violation of its commitment. (AP)
· Pray that Iran's false public face and hidden actions will be revealed even to our enemies as the danger that they truly are. Let the actions of America and her allies operate only out of God's wisdom and power.
· "They have taken crafty counsel against Your people, and consulted together against Your sheltered ones. . . Let them be confounded and dismayed forever . . ." (Psalm 83:3,17a)
4. WORLD POWERS TO PURSUE NEW SANCTIONS ON IRAN
Representatives of the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council - Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States - and Germany decided in a high-level conference call that Iran's lack of response to an incentives package aimed at getting it to halt sensitive atomic activity left them no option other than to pursue new punitive measures, the Bush administration said Monday.
The conference call among senior diplomats from the six nations took place after Iran's top nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalali told European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana that Tehran would deliver a written response to the offer on Tuesday, Gallegos said. He would not say if sanctions would be pursued if Iran accepted the offer then. "Iran has a clear choice: engagement or isolation," Gallegos said. "The incentives package contained everything Iran needed to pursue a modern civil nuclear power program, which Iran's leaders claim is their aim. The pressure on Iran to comply with the demands of the international community and its (U.N. Security Council) obligations will only grow."
On July 19, the six nations set an informal two-week deadline for Iran to either accept or reject the package economic incentives in return for curbing its uranium enrichment. The deadline passed this weekend with no clear response from Tehran. On Sunday, however, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said diplomacy was the only way out of the standoff and insisted he was serious about negotiations. Those comments came a day after he asserted his country would not give up its "nuclear rights," signaling that it would refuse demands to stop enriching uranium or at least not to expand its enrichment work. (AP)
· Pray that the Lord remove Ahmadinejad from his position of power in Iran, for this man is straining the patience of the world with his bullying and bluster. He obviously has no intention of complying with UN sanctions for the safety of the nations. Apparently he is interested in being a world dictator, ruling with Islamic jihadism. Pray that the Lord closes his mouth as He did with the lions when Daniel was thrown into the lion's den.
· "Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God." (Philippians 4:6)
5. AL-QAIDA LEADER URGES ASSASSINATION OF SAUDI KING
An al-Qaida commander who escaped from a US prison has posted a Web video urging Moslems to kill the Saudi king for leading an interfaith conference in Madrid earlier this month. Abu Yahia al-Libi, who escaped from Afghanistan's Bagram prison in 2005, says "bringing religions together...means renouncing Islam." al-Libi also says "equating Islam with other religions is a betrayal of Islam." He calls for "the speedy killing of this tyrant."
Saudi King Abdullah sponsored the dialogue among Jews, Moslems, Christians, Hindus, and Buddhists and encouraged all faiths to turn away from extremism. The 43-minute video was posted late Monday on an Internet site frequently used by militants. Its authenticity could not be independently verified. (The Jerusalem Post)
· Pray for the soul of this deceived fanatic of Islam. Pray that the light of the love of Jesus of Nazareth enters this man's heart and that he renounces his call for the killing of the Saudi king. Pray also for the safety of the Saudi ruler that he may be protected from assassination. Finally, as the forces of Islam begin to turn upon themselves, offer praise to OUR King for His plan -- to bring all the people of Islam to salvation through the Cross of Christ. Praise God!
· (For Abu Yahia al-Libi) "A man of great wrath shall suffer punishment; for if thou deliver him, yet thou must do it again." (Proverbs 19:19)(For the defeat of the forces of Islam and the deliverance of its captives) "Now when they began to sing and to praise, the LORD set ambushes against the people of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah; and they were defeated. For the people of Ammon and Moab stood up against the inhabitants of Mount Seir to utterly kill and destroy them. And when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, they helped to destroy one another. So when Judah came to a place overlooking the wilderness, they looked toward the multitude; and there were their dead bodies, fallen on the earth. No one had escaped." (2 Chronicles 20:22-24)
6. MAJOR VICTORY IN IRAQ GOES LARGELY UNREPORTED
What would happen if the U.S. won a war but the media didn't tell the American public? Apparently, we have to rely on a British newspaper for the news that we've defeated the last remnants of al-Qaida in Iraq .
London 's Sunday Times called it "the culmination of one of the most spectacular victories of the war on terror." A terrorist force that once numbered more than 12,000, with strongholds in the west and central regions of Iraq, has over two years been reduced to a mere 1,200 fighters. The destruction of al-Qaida in Iraq (AQI) is one of the most unlikely and unforeseen events in the long history of American warfare. We can thank President Bush's surge strategy, in which he bucked both Republican and Democratic leaders in Washington by increasing our forces there instead of surrendering.
We can also thank the leadership of the new general he placed in charge there, David Petraeus, who may be the foremost expert in the world on 2008 counter- insurgency warfare. And we can thank those serving in our military in Iraq who engaged local Iraqi tribal leaders and convinced them America was their friend and AQI their enemy. Al-Qaida's loss of the hearts and minds of ordinary Iraqis began in Anbar Province and spread out from there.
Now, in Operation Lion's Roar the Iraqi army and the U.S. 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment are destroying the fraction of terrorists who are left. More than 1,000 AQI operatives have already been apprehended. Sunday Times reporter Marie Colvin, traveling with Iraqi forces in Mosul, found little AQI presence even in bullet- ridden residential areas that were once insurgency strongholds and reported that the terrorists have lost control of its Mosul urban base, with what is left of the organization having fled south into the countryside. Meanwhile, the State Department reports that Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's government has achieved "satisfactory" progress on 15 of the 18 political benchmarks - a big change for the better from a year ago. Things are going so well that Maliki has even for the first time floated the idea of a timetable for withdrawal of American forces. He did so while visiting the United Arab Emirates, which over the weekend announced that it was forgiving almost $7 billion of debt owed by Baghdad - an impressive vote of confidence from a fellow Arab state in the future of a free Iraq.
But where are the headlines and the front-page stories about all this good news? As the Media Research Center pointed out last week, "the CBS Evening News, NBC Nightly News and CNN's Anderson Cooper 360 were silent Tuesday night about the benchmarks" that signaled political progress. The war in Iraq has been turned around 180 degrees both militarily and politically because the president stuck to his guns. Yet apart from IBD, Fox News Channel and parts of the foreign press, the media doesn't seem to consider this historic event a big story. (Investor's Business Daily)
· Shout your praises to the Lord from every area of the USA. Email the "silent" media about their lack of attention to the real news. Give thanks to the Lord for President Bush, General Petraeus, our military, and all those who stand for victory against evil. Pray that the American public gets the real story and the actual news.
· "But the king shall rejoice in God; everyone that sweareth by Him shall glory; but the mouth of them that speak lies shall be stopped." (Psalm 63:11) 7.
7. GATES OMITS ISRAEL FROM LIST OF "CLOSE" U.S. ALLIES
In a document bearing his signature that is due to be published soon, the 2008 National Defense Strategy, Gates omits Israel from the list of the United States' main allies.
The National Defense Strategy is an official document that reflects the secretary's directives to the armed forces. It replaces the version issued in 2005 by Gates' predecessor, Donald Rumsfeld. Although Gates signed off on the document about a month ago, it has yet to be published officially; however, a copy appears on the Inside Defense Web site. (
· Please pray that this omission is not what it sounds like. Americans believe very firmly that Israel is our friend and ally. What is our military leadership proposing - that it can wipe out the desire of the American people quietly and completely? God is greater than Gates and all the American leadership. It is not an official document that matters but the hearts of Americans united with God's heart towards Israel.
· "God hath spoken once; twice have I heard this; that power belongeth unto God." (Psalm 62:11)
8. ISRAEL'S PM OLMERT WON'T RUN IN PRIMARIES WILL RESIGN AFTER NEW GOVERNMENT IS FORMED
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, in a nationally broadcast message from his residence, announced that he would not compete in the Kadima party's upcoming primary, and would resign from office after a new government is formed. With six criminal investigations opened against him on various corruption charges, Olmert evidently decided that this would be the most graceful way out.
THE CONTENDERS TO BE ISRAEL'S NEXT PRIME MINISTER: Tzipi Livni, Shaul Mofaz, and Bejamin Netanyahu are the top three politicians most likely to succeed Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.
-- Tzipi Livni - Foreign Affairs Minister. A lawyer who was first elected to the Knesset, Israel's Parliament, in 1999. Left the Likud Party in 2005 and helped form the Kadima Party. Critical of Ehud Olmert's handling of the 2006 Hezbollah war. She is favored to become prime minister.
-- Shaul Mofaz - Minister of Transportation. Mofaz served a distinguished career in the Israeli Military and was promoted to major general in 1994. He served as the minister of defense from 2002 until 2006. Member of Kadima Party. In June, Mofaz said Israel would attack Iran if they continued their nuclear weapons program.
-- Benjamin Netanyahu - Chairman of the Likud Party and Olmert's top political rival. Served as prime minister from 1996-1999. If elected, vows to "bring down" Hamas in the "terrorist enclave" of Gaza. Netanyahu has called for general elections to be held now. (Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, AP, Jerusalem Post 7/31/08)
· Intercede for political and spiritual leaders of Israel and the United States - that every decision, action or plan to pressure Israel to give up land or evacuate its people from any territory would be frustrated and abandoned. May God raise up leaders in the U.S. and Israel who would support His end-time purposes for the Jewish people. Intercede for Messianic believers in Israel and for the establishment of religious freedom. Intercede for the revelation of Jesus as Messiah in the Middle East and for "the peace of Jerusalem." (Ps 122) [Intercessors for America]
9. BARAK WARNS SANCTIONS WILL NOT STOP IRAN
After meeting with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon in New York on Wednesday, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak reiterated that "no option should be removed" for stopping Iran from making nuclear weapons, and adding that UN sanctions already placed against Iran were not strong enough to deter the Islamic Republic's nuclear quest.
"Basically, it's a challenge for the whole world," said Barak. "If Iran turned into a military nuclear power, this would be the end of any conceivable nonproliferation regime and it will significantly risk any considerable stable world order." Barak stressed to Ban that Israel does not see the UN sanctions against Tehran as effective and "is basically not working well enough" because "a flow of munitions, rockets and other weapons systems," are still being smuggled into Lebanon.
His warnings came as over 100 countries in the Non-Aligned Movement supported Tehran's right to pursue the 'peaceful' atom. The backing is essential to Iran in its defiance of UN security Council sanctions to stop its uranium enrichment program. The endorsements came at a Non-Aligned gathering hosted by Tehran this week. Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said yesterday that the support from the conference negates claims that the global community is opposed to Iran's nuclear program. (ICEJ News)
· If we ever needed to pray for wisdom for the leaders of the world, it is now. Faced with a madman who is now armed with nuclear weapons, the leaders of the free world must know what to do, by seeking the mind of God. PRAY FOR WISDOM; and let us never, ever abandon Israel!
· "If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him." (James 1:5)
This Week, Worship Our Lord As . . .
LORD OUR GOD (Adoni Ehlohaynu)
"Exalt the LORD our God and worship at His footstool. He is holy." (Psalm 99:5)
Lord God, how I praise You for this wonderful plan of redemption that You had before time began. Thank You that You made a way where there seemed to be no way, Lord our God. You did it back then and I thank You that You continue to work like that today. It is a privilege to be Your child. (Taken from: Intimate Moments with the Hebrew Names of God, by Barri Cae Malin and Shmuel Wolkenfeld; Bridge-Logos Publishers; Gainesville, FL, 32614. ISBN: 0-88270-801-5)
