In This Issue• The Daily Brief
• The Middle East in Focus
• The First 100 Days
• Obama Signs Pork Package into Law
• The GOP and the Census
• The Daily Jot
• Food for Thought: Part 2
• Good News Corner
Greetings!
In This Issue
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The Daily Brief - Wednesday, February 18, 2009
"Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." (John 14:27 NKJV)
Daily Brief
1. White House: Obama Opposes 'Fairness Doctrine' Revival - Fox News
President Obama opposes any move to bring back the so-called Fairness Doctrine, a spokesman told FOXNews.com Wednesday.
The statement is the first definitive stance the administration has taken since an aide told an industry publication last summer that Obama opposes the doctrine -- a long-abolished policy that would require broadcasters to provide opposing viewpoints on controversial issues.
"As the president stated during the campaign, he does not believe the Fairness Doctrine should be reinstated," White House spokesman Ben LaBolt told FOXNews.com.
• Other White House spokesmen have expressed the opposite viewpoint in recent days. While we delight at this good news - surely an answer to prayer -- let's continue to pray that today's statement will hold true.
• "Simply let your 'Yes' be 'Yes,' and your 'No,' 'No'; anything beyond this comes from the evil one." (Matthew 5:37)
2. Barack Obama refuses to rule out second stimulus package - Cross Action News
President Barack Obama has not ruled out another stimulus package, even as with a few strokes of the pen he enacted the most expensive piece of legislation in US history at $787 billion.
• Heavenly Father, knowing we will all face You and account for every word and every deed, we are now in urgent need of a band of leaders who would turn from Haman- like insecurity, who needed the King's horse, the King's robe, and an association with a noble prince to feel honored. Father, we ask for more men and woman in our government to uphold honest gain and frugal spending policies for the good of the American people.
• He thwarts the plans of the crafty, so that their hands achieve no success. (Job 5:12)
3. Venezuela's Chavez Claims Victory In Controversial Referendum - Worthy News
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez celebrated on February 16, as his referendum to remove term limits from public officials allowing them to run for re- election as many times as they want.
• Father we pray for nations around the world. We ask for implementation of systems where tyranny and oppression would not be allowed to breed. We pray especially for Venezuela today. Father if most leaders could have one taste of their own medicine, they would spit tyranny and injustice out of their mouths.
• He that diligently seeks good procures favor; but he that seeks mischief, it shall come to him. (Proverbs 11:27)
4. Where's bin Laden? Science may hold the answer - USA Today
Fugitive terrorist Osama bin Laden is most likely hiding out in a walled compound in a Pakistani border town, according to a satellite-aided geographic analysis released today.
• Father, no one knows where evil hides better than You do. Allow bin Laden's exact whereabouts to be disclosed once and for all. Give him no rest and use his own folly to trip him up. Please pray fervently that this terrorist is captured, reckoned with, and that any and all who have aided him will stand trial also.
• Behold, You have driven me out this day from the face of the earth; and from Your face shall I be hid; and I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth; and it shall come to pass, that every one that finds me shall slay me. (Genesis 4:14)
5. Chinese Christian Activist Hua Zaichen Dies At 91 - Worthy News
Chinese Christian activist Hua Zaichen, who became known for helping reportedly persecuted Christians, has died in a Beijing hospital, shortly after his wife was released from prison, his supporters confirmed to Worthy News Monday, February 16. Hua was 91 years old.
• Father, first we continue to ask for mercy and grace for those carrying Your Word to this lost and dying world. Strengthen them and uphold them in a time of need. Just as Paul lead the keeper of the prison to Christ, so allow our prayers of intercession for persecuted Christians to forward the movement of Your Word. Lord, we thank You for Hua Zaichen's life of honor and service to You. Allow his faithful acts to be as seed for many to come forth as he did, being a safe haven for your people.
• Return to the stronghold, You prisoners of hope. Even today I declare that I will restore double to you. (Zechariah 9;11-12)
The Middle East in Focus
This week, for all the headlines cited below, please join us in proclaiming THIS DECREE:
"By me kings reign, And rulers decree justice." (Proverbs 8:15)
1. Parties begin pilgrimage to Peres - Jerusalem Post
President Shimon Peres begins his long-awaited consultations with the dozen factions in the 18th Knesset on Wednesday in an effort to determine whether he will task Likud chairman Binyamin Netanyahu or Kadima leader Tzipi Livni with forming a new government.
2. Cabinet to make declarative decision on Shalit - Ynet News
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was expected to ask the National Security Cabinet on Wednesday to declare that kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit's release would be the first condition for any truce agreement with Hamas.
3. Report: Hamas stole 7 tons of unexploded ordnance - Ynet News
Hamas has appropriated seven tons of weaponry and ammunition stored in UN warehouses in Gaza and intended to be destroyed by sappers, Israeli officials said Tuesday. Senior UN officials demanded the ordnance stockpile be returned immediately.
4. IAF aircraft strike Gaza Strip targets - Jerusalem Post
IAF aircraft struck smuggling tunnels under the Gaza- Egypt border and a disused Hamas security base near the town of Khan Yunis early Wednesday, local Palestinian security officials said.
5. 'Syria building chemical weapons plant' - Jerusalem Post
Syria has been conducting extensive construction work on a chemical weapons facility in the country's northwest, satellite images obtained by the defense analyst group Jane's reveal.
The First 100 Days
The First 100 Days: DAY 30
"The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD; he directs it like a watercourse wherever he pleases." (Proverbs 21:1)
1. Obama's Quiet Troop Surge in Afghanistan Stirs Questions - Fox News
President Obama's decision to announce his first troop deployment to Afghanistan raises questions about his war strategy.
2. Justice Department: We Fail to Enforce Deportation Orders - Fox News
An internal Justice Department study found that despite spending $20 million or more last year to litigate deportation orders, only one-fifth of illegals who reached the circuit courts and were ordered out have been shown the door.
3. Appeals Court Overturns Ruling That Would Transfer 17 Gitmo Detainees to U.S. - Fox News
A U.S. appeals court reversed a ruling Wednesday that would have transferred 17 Guantanamo Bay detainees, none of whom are labeled enemy combatants, to the United States.
4. Tax troubles for president's chief of staff - World Net Daily
Emanuel's rent-free Washington residence draws questioning. There could be tax troubles on the horizon for White Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, who reportedly has lived rent-free Washington for five years but hasn't paid taxes on the imputed income, according to reports. He's the latest in a growing list of President Obama's nominees to have been involved in tax issues.
• Concur with the wisdom in the Word of God. It is time for America to "Get your house in order". Father, in alignment with your word, allow this One Nation Under God to do this before You and expect the same from our elected officials and their appointees to the higher offices of this land. Do not allow us to grieve your heart this way any longer. Godly men live godly lives.
• "Know well the condition of your flocks, and give attention to your herds; for riches do not last forever, nor a crown for all generations." (Proverbs 27:23)
5. Pentecostal Pastor To Lead Obama's Faith - Based Programs - Worthy News
United States President Barack Obama has named a young Pentecostal pastor to lead the White Office on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships as part of attempts to improve relations with faith-based groups.
Joshua DuBois, 26, previously headed religious affairs for Obama's Senate office and his presidential campaign. "This is not a religious office or a religious administration," Dubois said. "We are going to try to find ways to work with faith-based and community organizations that are secular in nature, and don't cross the boundaries between church and state. We understand it is a fine line, but it's a line we're comfortable walking."
• Please pray that our nation would again find it's roots and the truth about the "separation between church and state" and that it would no longer be used as an 'agenda' for any man's truth. Pray for integrity to have it's grip on these kinds of appointments. Father, separate this man unto Yourself for this, Your work, we pray. Ask God to honor faith-based organizations at this time, that they would be allowed to prosper and shine.
• "For no matter how much they used, there was always enough left in the containers, just as the Lord had promised Elijah." (I Kings 17:15-16)
Obama Signs Pork Package into Law
With one stroke of the pen, President Obama vaulted into the record books yesterday, signing what may stand as the largest spending bill ever passed in the history of America. The legislation itself is eight inches thick, so large, a White House aide joked, that it "needed to be strapped in with a seat belt on Air Force One." |
Instead of relieving debt, President Obama's "stimulus" is expected to add $9,400 more debt to every family in America. According to the Congressional Budget Office, that may be a modest estimate. If the programs created by the stimulus are made permanent (as the late President Ronald Reagan said, "A government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth!") the 10-year cost of this bill will be $3.27 trillion- -almost triple the initial amount. Let me put that into perspective. If we spent a dollar every second, it would take 31,688 years to spend one trillion!
Unfortunately for U.S. taxpayers, there seems to be no caboose on this money train. The ink had barely dried on the stimulus before President Obama called for another $50 billion to stabilize the housing crisis. The auto industry is also striking while the money press is hot, lining up for another $17 billion handout--on top of the roughly $20 billion carmakers already received from Washington. Wall Street's finest are not far behind, as plans for a TARP 2 (Troubled Assets Relief Program) are already underway. (Family Research Council)
The GOP and the Census
GOP Urges Obama to Come to His Census
In a November 2007 with ACORN leaders, candidate Obama said, "I've been fighting alongside ACORN on issues you care about my entire career." It took President Obama just 29 days to elevate that partnership beyond "fighting" to funding. After promising to ban "special interests" from his recovery plan, the new administration just handed his party's keys--and $2 billion of your tax dollars--to groups like ACORN, the liberals' get-out-the-vote powerhouses. The move is one of many political payoffs in the liberal swag bag known as the stimulus bill. Unfortunately for conservatives, it will go a long way toward creating the permanent liberal majority in Congress.
Unlike the old days, when ACORN had to go through the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for its share of the federal pie, the stimulus bypasses the middleman and wires the money directly to the group--without the typical lobbying restrictions it might experience under HUD. To an unsuspecting American, these "Neighborhood Stabilization Programs" sound like perfectly legitimate ways to jumpstart the economy. To those of us who have watched entities like ACORN, it's an outrageous abuse of taxpayer dollars.
Now that Obama has squeaked billions through Congress for his old buddies, he's set his sights on the second half of his plan to establish a liberal supermajority--the census. As we reported last week, the President made a big splash with his intent to move the Census Bureau directly under the White House and away from the supervision of the Commerce Department. The idea has incited Republicans and Democrats who disagree with the idea of politicizing the census. As the liberal San Francisco Chronicle points out, "The President will destroy the integrity of one of the U.S. government's most trusted institution... [the census is] more than a national nose count. It's used to divvy tax dollars for roads and hospitals, spot population trends for schools... social programs, and--did we forget?--play high-stakes politics."
Under Obama and Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, the census would become a weapon to redistrict America in the liberals' favor. As FRC's Ken Blackwell warns in an op-ed today, it would upset the balance of political power and jeopardize representative democracy as we know it. As former co-chairman of the U.S. Census Monitoring Board, Ken is uniquely qualified to talk about the implications of the move. If you'd like to read more from an insiders' perspective, please log on to www.frc.org and read Ken's "A Chicago-Style Census." (Family Research Council)
The Daily Jot
Dealing with the Damaging Winds of Change
The mood of the public is changing. Somehow the idea that Americans, known since the nation's beginnings as fiercely independent, are now turning into dependent little sheep with the government as the shepherd is, quite frankly, sickening. And the gall of the politicians running to jump off the cliff of free enterprise into the deep bog of socialism is astonishing. Now there are many politicians, including pansies on the Republican side-Senators Lindsey Graham and John McCain come to mind-who want to nationalize the US banking system then sell it off again when it is stronger. The socialists have finally succeeded in their revolution and Americans feel helpless to do anything about it.
Everywhere I go, people are talking about it. Their eyes are somewhat glazed over because the problem has become so large that it seems impossible to fix-not the problem of a failing economy-the problem of big government and misguided politicians thinking that they have the power to take the hard earned money from those who still have jobs and redistribute it to corporations who are failing or laying off by the thousands. This is not a method to help fix the ailing economy. It is a means to establish a socialist union, to topple the great United States of America without firing a shot. It is a long term takeover by those who are taking advantage of every one of us who love our nation.
Who is to hold these thieves and traitors accountable? The ballot box has been ineffective because those who do not own a stake in America-those who do not own real property -- have been duped by the cunning into believing their rhetoric about change in America and have stupidly voted this socialist monster into power-I am not talking about our President, but rather the entire system over a period of 40 years. Americans voted for change and that's what they got. But they have been voting for change for a generation- accepting the killing of the pre-born, normalizing perverted sexual behavior, accepting a society where gods of money and materialism have become the electrolyte of the soul.
They have paid the one true God lip service once a week or twice a year. And they have become rich in the world. In Matthew 19:24, Jesus told His disciples, "And again I say unto you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God." The disciples, the Bible says were exceedingly amazed, asking who then can be saved? And Jesus replied "With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible." With God ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE. Those of us who know Christ must shine His light at every opportunity, changing one heart at a time, believing that our nation, once truly "One nation under God" will be restored, revived, renewed and re- blessed.
Bill Wilson
Word of Life Ministry
www.dailyjot.com
Food for Thought: Part 2
By Pastor Faye Higbee
Raven Ministries
Idaho
Part Two: Panic and fear produce blindness
Just after Christmas, I went to find a plastic container that held my gold and silversmithing supplies. It had been sitting on the table in the kitchen in plain sight. It was no longer in its place, and panic set in. My husband and I searched high and low in every place in the house, but to no avail. It was gone. My disappointment was overwhelming. In the current economic crunch in our household, I could never replace those items. Heaviness enveloped me. We took one more tour around the house and still nothing. I climbed the stairs and retreated to my home office to pray.
I spoke to the Lord. "Lord, I can't replace those things. Myron got me that nice new Dremel tool for Christmas and now I have nothing to use it on. Lord if we accidentally threw it away, I'm sorry. Please hold me together and keep me from falling into this sadness."
I went about my business and forgot about it until the next day, when my husband, for some reason, lifted a cover from the table in the living room and whalla! There was the missing plastic container. It probably had been there all along, but in our panic, we simply didn't see it! The Lord told me simply: "Panic and fear cause blindness."
When fear and panic drive a nation, bad laws are passed and foolish policies are implemented. One violence researcher once testified before Congress that as people became more fearful, they would allow themselves to be controlled by governmental powers just to get relief. When fear and panic drive us, terrible mistakes are made. (Not to mention high blood pressure and other nasty physical side-effects.) We may miss what God is doing, or what He wants us to do simply because our minds are hooked up into wrongful thoughts. Remember that your thoughts are easily placed in the position of dominoes that are meant to fall over. Intervention by the Lord is something YOU must request by faith.
The solution:
"For although we are walking in the flesh, we do not wage war in a fleshly way, since the weapons of our warfare are not fleshly, but are powerful through God for the demolition of strongholds. We demolish arguments and every high-minded thing that is raised up against the knowledge of God, taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ." (2 Cor 10:3-5)
"Don't worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God, and the peace of God, which surpasses every thought, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable - if there is any moral excellence and if there is any praise - dwell on these things. Do what you and learned and received and heard andseen in me, and the God of peace will be with you." (Philippians 4:6-9)
TOMORROW: Part 3
Darkness causes disorientation
Good News Corner
HOME ALONE: A Shooting in Butte, Montana
Shotgun preteen vs. illegal alien Home Invaders: Butte, Montana November 5, 2008
Two illegal aliens, Ralphel Resindez, 23, and Enrico Garza, 26, probably believed they would easily overpower home-alone 11 year old Patricia Harrington after her father had left their two-story home.
It seems the two crooks never learned two things: they were in Montana , and Patricia had been a clay shooting champion since she was nine.
Patricia was in her upstairs room when the two men broke through the front door of the house. She quickly ran to her father's room and grabbed his 12 gauge Mossberg 500 shotgun.
Resindez was the first to get up to the second floor only to be the first to catch a near point blank blast of buckshot from the 11-year-old's knee crouch aim. He suffered fatal wounds to his abdomen and genitals.
When Garza ran to the foot of the stairs, he took a blast to the left shoulder and staggered out into the street where he bled to death before medical help could arrive.
It was found out later that Resindez was armed with a stolen 45 caliber handgun he took from another home invasion robbery. That victim, 50-year-old David Burien, was not so lucky. He died from stab wounds to the chest.
Ever wonder why good stuff never makes NBC, CBS, PBS, MSNBC, CNN, or ABC news . . . an 11 year old girl, properly trained, defended her home, and herself . . . against two no count, illegal immigrants. . . . and she wins, she is still alive.
Now that is Gun Control!
