In This IssueThe Daily Brief
The Middle East in Focus
The First 100 Days
Senator Gregg Steps Down
Remembering Abraham Lincoln
Good News Corner
Greetings!
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The Daily Brief
Thursday, February 12, 2009
"When the enemy comes in like a flood, The Spirit of the LORD will lift up a standard against him." (Isaiah 59:19b NKJV)
1. Breaking News: Kadima, Likud Claim Victory In Israel's Vote - Worthy News
Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni urged Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu Wednesday, February 11, to join a national unity government after official results gave her Kadima party a narrow lead.
∙ Lord, we ask that if a coalition government is formed, You will change the hearts of the men and women to follow Your plan for Israel. And we ask that You bring full Holy Spirit conversion to the members of the Israeli government.
∙ "And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: The Deliverer will come out of Zion, and He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob; for this is My covenant with them, when I take away their sins." (Romans 11:26,27)
2. Global alert issued for 85 terror suspects - CNN
Interpol has issued a rare global security alert for 85 suspected al Qaeda-linked terrorists wanted by Saudi Arabia.
∙ Lord, we ask that You cut off the wicked from their evil plans of destruction. We pray that You will find and arrest these terrorists before they cause any death or harm.
∙ "The desire of the wicked shall perish." (Psalm 112:10b)
1. Breaking News: Kadima, Likud Claim Victory In Israel's Vote - Worthy News
Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni urged Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu Wednesday, February 11, to join a national unity government after official results gave her Kadima party a narrow lead.
∙ Lord, we ask that if a coalition government is formed, You will change the hearts of the men and women to follow Your plan for Israel. And we ask that You bring full Holy Spirit conversion to the members of the Israeli government.
∙ "And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: The Deliverer will come out of Zion, and He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob; for this is My covenant with them, when I take away their sins." (Romans 11:26,27)
2. Global alert issued for 85 terror suspects - CNN
Interpol has issued a rare global security alert for 85 suspected al Qaeda-linked terrorists wanted by Saudi Arabia.
∙ Lord, we ask that You cut off the wicked from their evil plans of destruction. We pray that You will find and arrest these terrorists before they cause any death or harm.
∙ "The desire of the wicked shall perish." (Psalm 112:10b)
3. A) Deal reached on U.S. stimulus plan - Int'l Herald Tribune
House and Senate leaders on Wednesday struck a deal on a $789 billion economic stimulus bill after little more than 24 hours of rapid-fire negotiations with the Obama administration, clearing the way for final congressional action later this week.
B) Update: House Expected to Vote on $789 Stimulus Package on Friday -Fox News
The House of Representatives is pushing off a vote on the final version of the economic recovery package until Friday, sources say, as lawmakers put the finishing touches on a bill President Obama hopes will jump-start the economy and create millions of jobs.
∙ Lord, while we know that a "stimulus plan" is necessary, some of the provisions of this one are grievous and send our nation in the wrong direction. We pray that if it passes as it appears, You will work with Congressional leadership to delete, dismantle, and disarm the portions of this plan that are in deliberate contradiction to Your ways.
∙ "All men shall fear; and shall declare the work of the Lord, for they shall wisely consider His doing." (Psalm 64:9)
4. A) Markets rise on stimulus-pact report - Washington Times
Wall Street closed moderately higher Wednesday in response to reports of a congressional agreement on a $789 billion stimulus package that investors hope will turn the economy around.
B) White House May Move to Buy Mortgages - MSNBC
The White House is considering a proposal to head off potentially millions more home foreclosures by using federal funds to buy up at-risk loans and then refinance them with more affordable terms.
∙ Lord, help us to place our hope in You rather than the government. We repent for our nation's foolishness in relying upon man and his wisdom instead of You and Your Word.
∙ "Do not put your trust in princes, nor in a son of man in whom there is no help." (Psalm 146:3)
5. Republicans Shut Out of Stimulus Conference Negotiations - Human Events
Republicans have caught the Democrats in a midnight "stimulus" power play that seeks to cut Republican conferees out of the House-Senate negotiations to resolve a final version of the Obama "stimulus" package. Staff members from the offices of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) met last night to put together the "stimulus" conference report.
∙ Lord, this partisanship has a vicious undertone that has removed reason itself from our leadership. We repent, Lord, for instead of working together, we have gone the way of greed, power, lust, and all other works of the flesh. Wisdom has left us, Father, and we ask that You return her to our leadership if it takes knocking all of us and our leaders physically to our knees in repentance.
∙ "Forsake foolishness and live, and go in the way of understanding." (Proverbs 9:6)
6. High Winds Knock Out Power in South, East - AP
Severe storms with gusts sometimes reaching hurricane force knocked out power to hundreds of thousands of people overnight, disrupted travel and caused at least one death.
∙ Father, we ask Your help for these regions without power in winter. And, Lord as the winds have knocked out power to these regions, we ask that Your Wind knock out the power of evil over our nation, and let Your Holy Spirit blow over us for repentance and heart change.
∙ "For the wind passes over it, and its place remembers it no more. But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him." (Psalm 103:16,17a)
The Middle East in Focus
This week, for all the headlines cited below, please join us in proclaiming THIS DECREE:
". . . the most high God rules in the kingdom of men. He appoints over it whomsoever He will." (Daniel 5:21)
1. Kadima, Likud Claim Victory In Israel's Vote
Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni urged Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu Wednesday, February 11, to join a national unity government after official results gave her Kadima party a narrow lead.
2. Kadima officials: Livni should consider sitting in the opposition - Ynet News
"Tzipi Livni should consider sitting in the opposition and attacking the Likud's policy, and within a year-and-a-half Kadima will lead the country," a Kadima party official told Ynet Wednesday night amid coalition negotiations launched on the heels of Tuesday's inconclusive general elections.
"Tzipi Livni should consider sitting in the opposition and attacking the Likud's policy, and within a year-and-a-half Kadima will lead the country," a Kadima party official told Ynet Wednesday night amid coalition negotiations launched on the heels of Tuesday's inconclusive general elections.
3. Consensus forming on Likud-led unity gov't with Kadima - Jerusalem Post
The Likud and Kadima will be able to form a government together under the leadership of Likud chairman Binyamin Netanyahu, on the basis of equality between the two parties, senior officials in both parties said Wednesday.
The Likud and Kadima will be able to form a government together under the leadership of Likud chairman Binyamin Netanyahu, on the basis of equality between the two parties, senior officials in both parties said Wednesday.
4. US worried over prospect of right-wing gov't - Jerusalem Post
US officials are publicly taking a wait-and-see approach to the formation of a new Israeli government, but privately many have expressed concern that Likud leader Binyamin Netanyahu might preside over a right-wing coalition.
5. IAF attacks Hamas position in Gaza - Ynet News
An Israeli helicopter attacked a Hamas position in the southern Gaza Strip early Thursday, but no one was injured in the raid, witnesses and Palestinian security services sources said.
The First 100 Days
The First 100 Days: DAY 24
"The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD; he directs it like a watercourse wherever he pleases." (Proverbs 21:1)
1. Commerce Department Says Retail Sales Unexpectedly Rebounded in January
U.S. retail sales jumped 1 percent in January, reversing a six-month declining trend and defying economists' expectations by posting the biggest increase in 14 months.
2. Number of New Jobless Claims Drops, Slightly, to 623,000
The number of people requesting first-time unemployment benefits dropped slightly last week, but remained near a 26-year high as companies lay off thousands of workers amid a deepening recession.
The number of people requesting first-time unemployment benefits dropped slightly last week, but remained near a 26-year high as companies lay off thousands of workers amid a deepening recession.
3. Obama Honors Lincoln's Legacy at Ford's Theatre
Hollywood stars and Washington power brokers celebrated the theater's reopening Wednesday night, hearing Obama praise one of his favorite presidents for Lincoln's conviction that a divided nation could be made whole.
4. $789B Stimulus Package On Track for Final Votes
Tax cuts in the massive legislation at the heart of Obama's recovery plan will amount to about $13 a week more in people's paychecks starting late spring.
Obama, who has campaigned energetically for the legislation, welcomed the agreement, saying it would "save or create more than 3.5 million jobs and get our economy back on track."
5. Blagojevich: Lawmakers Who Ousted Me Are 'Drunkards and Adulterers'
Blagojevich seems open to spilling in a book at least some of what he saw during his two terms in Illinois' highest office. (All headlines in this section come from Fox News.)
Senator Gregg Steps Down
Senator Gregg Statement on His Withdrawal for Consideration of U.S. Commerce Secretary
Sen. Gregg stated, "I want to thank the President for nominating me to serve in his Cabinet as Secretary of Commerce. This was a great honor, and I had felt that I could bring some views and ideas that would assist him in governing during this difficult time. I especially admire his willingness to reach across the aisle.
"However, it has become apparent during this process that this will not work for me as I have found that on issues such as the stimulus package and the Census there are irresolvable conflicts for me. Prior to accepting this post, we had discussed these and other potential differences, but unfortunately we did not adequately focus on these concerns. We are functioning from a different set of views on many critical items of policy.
"Obviously the President requires a team that is fully supportive of all his initiatives.
"I greatly admire President Obama and know our country will benefit from his leadership, but at this time I must withdraw my name from consideration for this position.
"As we move forward, I expect there will be many issues and initiatives where I can and will work to assure the success of the President's proposals. This will certainly be a goal of mine.
"Kathy and I also want to specifically thank Governor Lynch and Bonnie Newman for their friendship and assistance during this period. In addition we wish to thank all the people, especially in New Hampshire, who have been so kind and generous in their supportive comments.
"As a further matter of clarification, nothing about the vetting process played any role in this decision. I will continue to represent the people of New Hampshire in the United States Senate."
· Offer praise to the Lord for this development, because now the filibuster can still be used by the Republicans in the Senate, as needed. This will preserve the back-and-forth in dialogue, that was the intent of our Founding Fathers when they wrote the Constitution -- a healthy climate of debate that is the hallmark of our republican form of government.
· Offer praise, too, that Senator Judd Gregg is a man of integrity, who has clearly discerned the path ahead and who is now charting a new course for himself, based upon his own beliefs and principles. Continue to lift up the president in prayer, as he seeks to find men and women who will agree with his own policy decisions as members of his cabinet. Praise the Lord.
· "This is what the LORD says: "Maintain justice and do what is right, for my salvation is close at hand and my righteousness will soon be revealed." (Isaiah 56:1)
Remembering Abraham Lincoln
On the 200th Anniversary of His Birthday
FEBRUARY 12, 1809 (Two stories from his life as President)
On FEBRUARY 11, 1861, newly elected President Abraham Lincoln left Springfield, Illinois for Washington-never to return.
In his Farewell Speech he said:
"I now leave, not knowing when or whether ever I may return, with a task before me greater than that which rested upon Washington.
Without the assistance of that Divine Being who ever attended him, I cannot succeed. With that assistance I cannot fail.
Trusting in Him who can go with me and remain with you, and be everywhere for good, let us confidently hope that all will yet be well . . .
Let us all pray that the God of our fathers may not forsake us now."
Forty-five days before his assassination, Lincoln stated in his Second Inaugural Address, March 4, 1865:
"Both read the same Bible and pray to the same God . . .The prayers of both could not be answered. . .
If God will that it continue until all the wealth piled by the bondsmen's two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said 'the Judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.'" (Source: The American Minute, by Bill Federer)
Good News Corner
Raising the Dead:
A Doctor Encounters the Supernatural (ASSIST News Service)
The audience of 120 doctors from 50 countries sat in stunned silence as a renowned heart doctor produced evidence of how, after he had prayed for a patient who had died and was being prepared for the morgue, was brought back to life after prayer.
Dr. Crandall making his dramatic presentation on Friday, July 13th, 2007, at the 4th Annual World Christian Doctors Network Conference in Miami, Florida. Dr. Chauncey W. Crandall IV, who serves at the Palm Beach Cardiovascular Clinic in Palm Beach, Florida, Dr. Crandall making his dramatic presentation on Friday, July 13th, 2007, at the 4th Annual World Christian Doctors Network Conference in Miami, Florida.
He produced dramatic evidence that was shown on the screen and told of that day on October 20, 2006 when a middle-aged auto mechanic, Jeff Markin, walked into the Emergency Room at the Palm Beach Gardens Hospital and collapsed from a massive heart attack.
Forty minutes later he was declared dead. After filling out his final report, the supervising cardiologist, Dr. Chauncey Crandall, started out of the room.
In a later interview Dr. Crandall explained, "Before I crossed its threshold, however, I sensed God was telling me to turn around and pray for that dead patient."
Crandall had learned to follow that impulse even if he was embarrassed. "Father God," he said, under his breath, "I cry out for this man's soul. If he does not know you as his Lord and Savior, raise him from the dead now, in Jesus' name."
With that prayer and Dr. Crandall's instruction to give the man what seemed one more useless shock from the defibrillator, Jeff Markin came back to life-and remains alive and well today.
