In This Issue• The Daily Brief
• The Middle East in Focus
• The First 100 Days
• Commentary: Swine Flu
• Swine Flu Prayer Strategy
• Of Obedience, Occupation and Reward
• Specter the Defector
• Abraham Lincoln's Prayer
• The Good News Corner
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The Daily Brief - Thursday, April 30, 2009
" You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday." (Psalm 91:5,6)
The Daily Brief
1. Senate Passes $3.5 Trillion Budget Plan - Fox News
Following House vote, Senate approves $3.5 trillion budget outline that lays the groundwork for President Obama's ambitious initiatives on health care and education. The major legislative victory for Obama comes on the president's 100th day in office.
• Pray that God will have mercy over America, and stop the runaway train of spending. With governmental control of health care, education, and other items in this bill, America will not be debt free for many years into the future. Pray that He will give lawmakers, leaders, and the people of America strategies for wise actions.
• "Is this not the fast that I have chosen: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, to let the oppressed go free, and that you break every yoke?" (Isaiah 58:6)
2. U.S. House passes "hate crime" bill that Bush opposed - Reuters
"On a vote of 249-175, the House passed and sent to the Senate a bill backed by the new Democratic White House to broaden such laws by classifying as 'hate crimes' those attacks based on a victim's sexual orientation, gender identity or mental or physical disability."
• Pray that this bill will be stopped in the Senate and/or stopped in the Supreme Court. It's intentionally vague language fails to define the legal terms used, which leaves room for anti-Christian forces to target any stance on immorality.
• "The wicked plots against the just, and gnashes at him with his teeth. The Lord laughs at him, for He sees that his day is coming." (Psalm 37:12,13)
3. N.H. Senate passes marriage bill - Dartmouth
The New Hampshire state Senate voted 13-11 to legalize same-sex marriage on Wednesday. The legislation, which distinguishes civil marriages from religious marriages, will go into effect on Jan.
1, 2010 if it is not vetoed by Gov. John Lynch, D-N.H.
• If we didn't know why all of the difficult times have struck America before, we should know now. Lord, as our nation continues its slide into the morass of sin, we humbly ask that your spare Your chosen people.
• "Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of Your name; and deliver us, and provide atonement for our sins, for Your name's sake!" (Psalm 79:9)
4. Obama: Chrysler, Fiat To Form Partnership - Fox News
President says automaker will emerge quickly from bankruptcy as stronger, more viable company.
• Lord we praise You for a solution for the employees of Chrysler. Let this move be a stabilizing influence for the auto industry.
• "My eyes are ever toward the Lord, for He shall pluck my eet out of the net." (Psalm 25:15)
5. Obama's host dies from 'flu-like symptoms' - Independent UK
The White House says that Barack Obama is "highly engaged" in monitoring the swine flu outbreak that has spread over the border from Mexico into the US - and well he might. For a while, the President's doctors feared that he may have come closer than almost anyone in the country to contracting the virus.
According to alarming reports from Mexico City, Felipe Solis, a distinguished archaeologist who showed Mr Obama around the city's anthropology museum during his visit to Mexico earlier this month, died the next day from "flu-like symptoms". Mr Solis met the President at a gala dinner which was held at the museum on 16 April, before Mr Obama travelled on to the Americas summit in Trinidad and Tobago.Yesterday, the museum was shut, in common with most public attractions in Mexico City, and the nation's Health Minister confirmed that Mr Solis had died of pneumonia - but that it was not thought he had contracted swine flu.
In the US, the White House said that the President's doctors had given him an all-clear. Mr Obama showed no symptoms after the usual incubation period, his spokesman said.
• Lord, we thank You that the flu did not strike Mr. Obama. We do ask that if there be any hidden information or plan in this flu outbreak that you will reveal it to the American public. We also pray for wisdom for Mr Obama, that the decisions he makes will be in the best interests of America.
• "There are many plans in a man's heart, nevertheless the Lord's counsel - that will stand." (Proverbs 19:21)
6. Pandemic 'Imminent': WHO Raises Swine Flu Pandemic Alert Level to 5 - ABC News
The World Health Organization has raised its pandemic swine flu alert level to phase 5 -- its second-highest level.
• Lord, as WHO continues to raise the threat level of this flu strain, we thank You that we can come to You for mercy and protection from all pestilence. We understand that judgment happens when people forget You and fall into sin, but we ask for You to remember that humans are frail and foolish and in need of Your redemption. We thank You for the promise of protection to those who love You, and ask for mercy for those who do not.
• "Do not dread the disease that stalks in darkness, nor the disaster that strikes at midday. Though a thousand fall at your side, though ten thousand are dying around you, these evils will not touch you." (Psalm 91:6,7 NLT)
7. Hezbollah, allies positioning to win election - Washington Times
With quiet campaigning and moderate talk, Hezbollah is building its strength for Lebanon's June 7 parliamentary elections - and the militant Shi'ite Muslim group and its allies stand a good chance of winning.
• Father, You know the heartache and loss of life and property that the Hezbollah has perpetrated on Israel. You know the compromise and pain they have inflicted on the Christians of Lebanon. We ask that You intervene in this election, to show Yourself mighty, and drive out the evil influence of these extremists from Lebanon so that it may return to the peaceful, beautiful nation it was previously.
• "Is it not yet a very little while till Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful friend - in that day the deaf shall hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity and out of darkness." (Isaiah 29: 17,18)
The Middle East in Focus
This week, for all the headlines cited below, please join us in proclaiming THIS DECREE:
"Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever. Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom He has redeemed from the hand of the enemy, and gathered out of the lands, from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south." (Psalm 107:1-3)
1. Israel's Peres sees containment for a nuclear Iran - Washington Post
A nuclear-armed Iran could be contained through threats of retaliation, Israeli President Shimon Peres said Wednesday.
2. PM to tell Obama he accepts 'some form' of Arab peace plan - Jerusalem Post
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu plans to tell US President Barack Obama that Israel will accept "some form" of the Arab Peace Initiative, The Jerusalem Post has learned.
3. Obama: Bond with Israel 'unshakable' - Jerusalem Post
The US bond with Israel is "as unshakable as ever" as both nations pursue peace, President Barack Obama said on the state's 61st birthday.
4. 'Israel's response to drill with Syria doesn't concern us' - Ha'aretz
Turkey's military chief is not concerned about Israel's reaction to a joint drill involving Turkish and Syrian soldiers.
The First 100 Days
The White House and Democrat-controlled Congress have brought dizzying "change" to America - a virtual riot of profligate spending and borrowed trillions (to be repaid by our children), expanding big government and funding pet liberal projects. Candidate Obama promised to end earmarks, but as President signed a spending bill that included earmarks for 8,500 projects, costing $7.7 billion. The President's $3.6 trillion budget, passed by the Senate last night, will increase spending by $1 trillion over the next decade and raise taxes on all Americans by $1.4 trillion. Experts say higher inflation is inevitable.
Morally and spiritually, it has been even worse: Obama rescinded the conscience clause for health workers, rescinded the Mexico City Policy, eliminated restrictions and increased funding for embryonic stem cell research. His top appointees are dedicated to a pro-abortion, pro-homosexual agenda. His newly- confirmed HHS Secretary built her career on contributions from the nation's most egregious abortionist (80,000 abortions performed). She will implement Obama's Health Care plan, including federal abortion funding. President Obama has repeatedly declared, at home and abroad, that "the United States is no longer a Christian nation."
• May Americans awaken to understand that God will not bless a nation that defies his eternal laws. May Christians across America exercise their authority as citizens of Heaven and America, to turn the tide. With man it is impossible, but with God, all things are possible!
• "The LORD is known by his justice; the wicked are ensnared by the work of their hands." (Psalm 9:16) (Source: FRC Prayer Targets)
Commentary: Swine Flu
Federal Government Negligent and Culpable In US Swine Flu Deaths
The Federal Government should be held accountable in the court of law for deaths of Americans due to the swine flu. Knowing of the disease before it spread to the United States, the Feds failed to shut down the border with Mexico, stop flights from Mexico and quarantine those who had come down with the flu symptoms. After declaring a state of health emergency, the acting head of the Center for Disease Control Richard Besser said, "I fully expect we will see deaths from this infection. . . We are dealing with a new strain of influenza, we're dealing with a strain of influenza that appears to be moving through our community." The government refused to take the necessary steps to protect its citizens.
But in response to reporters' questions on Monday that the border between the US and Mexico should be closed until the swine flu threat passes, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano replied: "We're already doing passive surveillance at the border. . .You would close the border if you thought you could contain the spread of disease, but the disease already is in a number of states within the United States." Noting that those infected with swine flu may not show symptoms for a few days, Napolitano said border closure is "a very difficult judgment to make." So let's get this straight, according to the person in charge of protecting the "Homeland", the government is taking a "hands off" approach.
Napolitano believes because the swine flu was already in the United States in very small numbers, that closing the border down and further isolating the swine flu was a bad idea. Her reasoning is that there is no benefit in closing the border because you can't contain the spread of the disease anyway. That's like having a couple of thieves robbing your house and instead of calling the police, you call the county jail and ask if the sheriff can open the jail and send more thieves to your house. Because of this negligence, many believe the government is purposely allowing the swine flu into the US so it can impose mandatory flu vaccinations on the population.
But the purpose and intent of this White House, filled with socialists, those who have refused to pay their taxes, and have consistently made anti-American public statements, appears to be far more than population control-it appears intent on destroying the country-first the economy and then the people. Jesus said in John 10:10, "The thief comes not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy." And in verse 12, He says, "But he that is a hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own sheep the sheep are not, sees the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep." In verse 11, Jesus says, "I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd gives his life for the sheep." Be not deceived, the Federal Government is not Jesus.
Bill Wilson
Word of Life Ministry
www.dailyjot.com
Swine Flu Prayer Strategy
By Donna Diorio
Isn't it apropos that the first strong candidate for a pandemic flu or virus the health people have been warning us was coming would turn out to be Swine Flu? Texas and other cities in the U.S. have seen a sudden increase in confirmed reports of this flu, and deaths from it. It is something that we should not shrug off, but pray about. Not panic, but seek a word of the Lord to speak to it.
The past week I have been reading in Exodus - when God was sending plagues on the Egyptians.
At a certain point in the midst of plagues God began telling Moses that He would put a division between the Egyptians and His people who lived apart from the Egyptians in the land of Goshen. Goshen means "drawing near" so God was saying He would put a distinction between His people who are drawing near and those who are not His, do not obey His Word nor have a regard for His presence in their lives.
The plagues would be on the rest of Egypt, but in the land of Goshen where the Israelites lived - the plagues would not come nigh their dwellings. Later, when the death angel would claim all the first born of Egypt, God instructed the children of Israel to put the blood of the lamb over their doorposts in Goshen and not to come outside until morning, because every human and animal firstborn not covered by the blood would be struck dead.
I believe we should speak for our family and friends as this Swine Flu sweeps through - a covering of the blood of Jesus over them all.
The promise of the Word of God is in Job 22:30 "He will even deliver one who is not innocent; Yes, he will be delivered by the purity of your hands."
Father, we pray the covering of the Blood of the Lamb over our loved ones to be protected from this Swine Flu epidemic. We ask that You would make a division between Your children so that this plague does not come nigh our doors and households.
We also intercede and speak for those without a voice or knowledge of the Son of God to call upon You for help in this hour of need - that the enemy cut off none who will ultimately respond to Your salvation, Yeshua, whose very name means salvation. We speak the Blood of the Lamb over our households, over our friends and that none be cut off before they that passed from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of Light.
We speak to Swine Flu: Be stopped in your tracks, and cast into the sea - not the sea of humanity, but the place that drowns contagion. In Jesus' name.
Of Obedience, Occupation and Reward
Many Christian Americans are distraught over the turn of current events. They do not believe that there is any use in opposing the current government because it is too out of control and too powerful. They see their Constitutionally guaranteed freedoms being diminished one by one. They see the overarching dominion of the current administration as against everything Christian-using hard earned tax money to nationalize major financial and manufacturing businesses, to fund abortion in America and abroad, to support sexual immorality-and they throw up their hands and say "we cannot do anything, let us just pray and hide in the shadow of our Lord's protection until He returns."
In the gospel of Luke Chapter 19, Jesus speaks a parable to those who believed that the kingdom of God should immediately appear. The parable was about a nobleman who went into a far away country to receive a kingdom for himself, and then to return. Jesus said in verse 13, "And he called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, 'Occupy till I come.'" And after he returned, he called the servants together to see how they had managed the money. Some had done well and multiplied the money, others not so well. The servant who disobeyed, hid the money, and did not multiply it for the noblemen was punished and the money was taken away and given to the obedient servants.
Take heart Christian Americans: Jesus said "Occupy till I come." The dictionary says an occupier is one who "takes possession and control, such as a military invasion." It is not a passive charge. In order to occupy in this nation, where the Lord saw fit that the people choose its leaders and government, one must be clear on his mission. And to do that, one must know the Bible. God's word gives us all the tools and the Holy Spirit gives us the spiritual gifts to occupy. To do so, we must understand His word as it is meant, not as it is taught by deceivers who loosely translate the word of God to their advantage. Then we must know the US Constitution, which was based on the word of God. Then we must act.
By using the word of God as our understanding, the Constitution as our legal standing, and by discerning the times and the events of the nation, we must take possession and control. A government that terrorizes its people for photo opportunities; that casually says it expects deaths from pandemic disease, yet is doing virtually nothing to protect its citizens; that uses citizens' money for wicked purposes against both the Bible and the Constitution; is a government that must be brought into alignment with both. And Christian Americans, charged to occupy by their King, Lord and Savior, must engage the fight. Otherwise, When the Lord returns, we will be treated like the servant who was disobedient.
Bill Wilson
Word of Life Ministry
www.dailyjot.com
Specter the Defector
After more than four decades, Sen. Arlen Specter (D- Penn.) is officially going home. The once-GOP leader announced his re-affiliation with the Democratic Party yesterday after years of work as one of its greatest allies. Although I have visited often with Sen. Specter and genuinely like him as a person, his "moderate" agenda as a senator on life, spending, marriage, and judges often did more harm to the pro-family cause than good. When asked about the switch, the Pennsylvanian said frankly that he didn't believe he could win the Republican primary against a staunch conservative like Pat Toomey.
His departure officially puts the RINO's (Republicans In Name Only) on the endangered list. One of the few liberal senators left in the GOP, Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), lamented Specter's passage in a New York Times editorial. " It was when we began to emphasize social issues to the detriment of some of our basic tenets as a party that we encountered an electoral backlash." She aggressively tried to make this case to her colleagues yesterday as Republican senators met to discuss Specter's departure.
Of course, the fundamental problem with Snowe's theory is that in the last eight years, the GOP's emphasis on social issues has been as absent as its fiscal discipline. And that, not Snowe's "shrinking ideological confines," is what has banished Republicans to the political wilderness. Moderates like Specter and Snowe voted for the stimulus, the bailouts, legislation that takes innocent human life, and bills that harness free speech. With a track record like that, what exactly is the difference between the two parties if social issues don't distinguish them?
Abraham Lincoln's Prayer
Today, millions of believers across the nation have responded to the call by Dutch Sheets and other ministry leaders to enter into seven days of prayer and fasting for our beloved nation in its hour of crisis.
We have been asked to read out loud the prayer that President Abraham Lincoln prayed during another time in our history when America was in peril.
Please find the words to this prayer, below, and please join us from now through May 7th -- the National Day of Prayer -- in coming before the Lord in repentance for our sins as a nation, and in reciting the words of Abraham Lincoln. Amen.
In 1863, amid civil war, Congress asked President Abraham Lincoln to proclaim a national day of "public humiliation, prayer and fasting." Like Congresses, governors, and presidents before him, Lincoln called the nation to "fervent supplications to Almighty God."
Whereas it is fit and becoming in all people, at all times, to acknowledge and revere the Supreme Government of God; to bow in humble submission to his chastisements; to confess and deplore their sins and transgressions in the full conviction that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; and to pray, with all fervency and contrition, for the pardon of their past offences, and for a blessing upon their present and prospective action. . .
[It] is peculiarly fit for us to recognize the hand of God in this terrible visitation, and in sorrowful remembrance of our own faults and crimes as a nation and as individuals, to humble ourselves before Him, and to pray for His mercy, -- to pray that we may be spared further punishment, though most justly deserved; that our arms may be blessed and made effectual for the re-establishment of law, order and peace, throughout the wide extent of our country; and that the inestimable boon of civil and religious liberty, earned under His guidance and blessing, by the labors and sufferings of our fathers, may be restored in all its original excellence. . .
Therefore, [I appoint] a day of humiliation, prayer and fasting for all the people of the nation. And I do earnestly recommend to all the People, and especially to all ministers and teachers of religion of all denominations, and to all heads of families, to observe and keep that day according to their several creeds and modes of worship, in all humility and with all religious solemnity, to the end that the united prayer of the nation may ascend to the Throne of Grace and bring down plentiful blessings upon our Country.
The Good News Corner
Holding Out Hope of a Cure for Deafness
An Israeli hearing loss expert has discovered one of the root causes of deafness, opening up the potential for a whole new range of treatments, and even possibly a cure for both genetic and age-related deafness. In a landmark study, Prof. Karen Avraham of Tel Aviv University has revealed that microRNAs-tiny molecules that regulate cell functions found in the "hair" cells of the ear-help us to hear.
Avraham, a world-renowned geneticist, whose groundbreaking work has previously discovered four deafness genes and novel mutations in 10 deafness genes, among 46 known ones, looked to microRNA's for the answer.
MicroRNAs are tiny pieces of RNA, the chemical building blocks that carries genetic information between DNA, to becoming proteins. MicroRNAs control whether or not a protein will actually be made. The important roles of microRNAs in animals have been discovered only during the last decade, and major efforts are being made to develop strategies for inserting these tiny molecules into cells, in order to use them as new drugs and potential cures.
Working with an international team of researchers, including Avraham's post-doctoral fellow Dr. Lilach M. Friedman, and scientists from Purdue University, Avraham discovered that "hair" cell microRNAs are regulators involved in the normal development and survival of cells in the inner ear and are necessary for proper hearing.
If scientists can figure out how microRNAs regulate hair cells, they could be used to rescue the cells that are dying, says Avraham, who believes that this knowledge will have both diagnostic and therapeutic applications on hearing loss in the near future, even in people where the hearing loss has no genetic basis, like after a major injury to the ear.
(Excerpts from Staff, www.Israel21c.org, April 14, 2009)
Reported by: Bridges for Peace
• Pray for the success of this project and the rapid and widespread use of the information to bring relief to millions of people worldwide who suffer with deafness.
• "Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped." (Isaiah 35:5)
