In This Issue• The Middle East in Focus
• The First 100 Days
• Good News Corner
Greetings!
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The Daily Brief - Wednesday, April 8, 2009
"So fear not, little flock; it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom." (Luke 12:32)
The Daily Brief
1. Obama pledges new US engagement - Worthy News
US President Barack Obama has ended his European tour by saying he is committed to opening a "new chapter in American engagement" with the Muslim world. In an address to students in Istanbul, he said Americans and Muslims could no longer "afford to talk past one another and focus only on our differences". Mr Obama earlier met religious leaders and visited the famous Blue Mosque. On Monday, the president told the Turkish parliament that the US was "not and will never be at war with Islam".
Mr Obama spoke too of his deep appreciation for the Islamic faith and said the US had been enriched by Muslim Americans. "Many other Americans have Muslims in their family, or have lived in a Muslim-majority country - I know, because I am one of them," he said.
• If Mr. Obama is one of them, then he must understand full well the threat of Jihad enveloped within the teachings of Islam. Intercede for our country so that diplomacy, policy, and procedure will be addressed, first from the Throne Room of our God, and secondly in the dealings of men. Pray that God will not allow this country to embrace confusion or deception. While Obama is talking about "a new chapter in American engagement", intercede that God in His Mercy will shine His glory, impenetrable as it is, into each situation as a bulwark and a barricade for the United States of America.
• And (I) prescribed bounds for it, and set bars and doors, and said, 'Thus far shall you come, and no farther, and here shall your proud waves be stopped'? (Job 38:10-11)
2. Analyst Warns Eligibility Could Become Flashpoint - WND
A security analyst who provides intelligence information to a wide range of law enforcement, private corporation and security interests has written in a publicly released "white paper" that the issue of Barack Obama's eligibility to be president could become a "flashpoint" in the United States.
The suggestion comes from Lyle Rapacki, a former police officer who has worked in the field of psychological disorders for years. Since the 1990s, he has provided his analysis in public "white paper" reports and classified documents to various safety and security interests.
Rapacki's report cited the continuing controversy over Obama's birth certificate and a long list of lawsuits that have alleged he is not eligible to be president under the Constitution's requirement that the office be occupied only by a "natural born" citizen. If the president would be found to be ineligible, Rapacki suggested, there would be a "constitutional crisis" over which of his orders, laws and actions "should be valid."
• Father, as this issue has been heating up for so long, we ask now that, once and for all, every document that is significant and relevant come forward in Jesus name. The court ordered sealing of such information, which should be public record, breeds unrest of unprecedented proportions. Pray that all such information be released to the public and that the United States of America have full disclosure on this matter, as is Constitutionally sound and has been adhered to by all other Presidents of the United States of America.
• A false witness shall not be unpunished, and he that speaketh lies shall not escape. (Proverbs 19:5)
3. President's mail worker claims letter campaign 1 of largest in 35 years - WND
The White House mail office has confirmed it received a "deluge" of as many as 2.25 million red envelopes symbolizing the empty promise of lives snuffed out in abortion in a massive campaign that was larger than most White House mailing movements in the last 35 years.
The Red Envelope Project is an idea sparked in the mind and prayers of a Massachusetts man, Christ Otto, who envisioned in January thousands of red envelopes sent to the White House, a visual expression of moral outrage over the president's position on abortion.
• Heavenly Father, we praise you for inspiring Christ Otto this way and allowing so many concerned Americans, from youth groups to the elderly, to show support for the case for life this way. We ask that every envelope speak exceedingly loud on behalf of each and every unborn child. We pray that these and other acts of courage, along with Your unmatched spirit of conviction, turn the hearts and minds of Washington on the matter of life and death, aborted children. Ask God for His Mercy to heal this nation's men and women over this issue.
• "He who covers his sin will not prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy." (Proverbs 28:13)
4. Electricity Grid in U.S. Penetrated By Spies - Cross Action News
Cyberspies have penetrated the U.S. electrical grid and left behind software programs that could be used to disrupt the system, according to current and former national-security officials.
The spies came from China, Russia and other countries, these officials said, and were believed to be on a mission to navigate the U.S. electrical system and its controls. The intruders haven't sought to damage the power grid or other key infrastructure, but officials warned they could try during a crisis or war.
"The Chinese have attempted to map our infrastructure, such as the electrical grid," said a senior intelligence official. "So have the Russians."
The espionage appeared pervasive across the U.S. and doesn't target a particular company or region, said a former Department of Homeland Security official. "There are intrusions, and they are growing," the former official said, referring to electrical systems. "There were a lot last year." Many of the intrusions were detected not by the companies in charge of the infrastructure but by U.S. intelligence agencies, officials said. Intelligence officials worry about cyber attackers taking control of electrical facilities, a nuclear power plant or financial networks via the Internet.
Authorities investigating the intrusions have found software tools left behind that could be used to destroy infrastructure components, the senior intelligence official said. He added, "If we go to war with them, they will try to turn them on."
• Father, as it seems the enemy may have the US in it's crosshairs, we raise up a cry to You for a complete nullification of any plan that does not fit with The Word of God for this hour. We thank you for your protection and Your wisdom flowing through the hearts and minds of Your people. Nothing can happen that Your timing will not preempt. Please, intercede for every aspect of American life to be under the Hand and the Purposes of God.
• And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their pre-appointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings. (Acts 17:26)
5. Federally Funded Group Advises Teens on How to Decide if They Are Gay - CNS News
A group that has received more than $16 million in grants from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services over the past 15 years maintains Web sites that advise young people on how to decide if they are gay, how to come out to their parents and getting active in causes ranging from abortion to "comprehensive" sex education.
The group says none of the federal grants it receives are used to support its Web sites.
Advocates for Youth is a non-profit group that describes itself as an "organization dedicated to creating programs that help young people ages 13 to 24 years old to make informed and responsible decisions about their reproductive and sexual health."
Its main Web site contains many pages of advice and information about sexuality. The Web site also includes "tool kits" and "lesson plans" for "youth, parents, professionals and press and policymakers," including a "heterosexual questionnaire" to give "straight people an opportunity to experience the types of questions that are often asked of gay, lesbian, and/or bisexual people."
• Father, we decry any and all acts of such perpetrators using schemes of indecent persuasion on our youth. These people are anything but advocates of the truth. Renounce this as an act of wickedness on the part of uninformed, unbelieving people and cry out for their salvation. Please pray that this false information and rhetoric will not reach the ears and eyes of innocent children. Guard them in prayer and intercession from the tactics and schemes of the evil one. Put a fire in the hearts of taxpayers to reject this misrepresentation of life and also, to cry out for this gross misuse of federal funds.
• And you return to the Lord your God and obey His voice, according to all that I command you today, you and your children, with all your heart and with all your soul, that the Lord your God will bring you back from captivity, and have compassion on you, and gather you again from all the nations where the Lord your God has scattered you. (Deuteronomy 30:2-3)
6. Anti-Communists Storm Moldova's Parliament - Worthy News
Facing student-led demonstrations, the Moldova's ruling Communists has agreed to recount parliamentary election returns that gave the victory in Sunday's vote to the Communist Party. The decision was made late Tuesday, April 7, after the anti-Communist demonstrators stormed the parliament building and the offices of President Vladimir Voronin to protest alleged election fraud. Moldovan television said the violence in the capital, Chisinau, has claimed at least one life and injured more than 20 people. Shouting "Down with the Communists" and "Freedom, Freedom," a mainly young crowd of protesters carrying European Union, Moldovan and Romanian flags, broke through several police lines around the parliament building.
• Father, we thank you for freedom loving people everywhere, who would rather raise a voice of protest then give up their inalienable rights. Praise God for the heroic acts of these students who made it clear that they understood the consequences of their silence. Ask God to protect them and this situation now as He obviously has answered them and has His Hand in this turn of events. Ask Him, fervently, to give us the courage to connect with the great example of what it takes to retain freedom.
• And he answers from within, 'Do not bother me; the door has already been locked, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything.' I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, at least because of his persistence he will get up and give him whatever he needs. "So I say to you, Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. (Luke 11:7-10) Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity. (I Timothy 4:12)
7. Somali Pirates Hijack Ship, Seize 20 Americans - Fox News
Somali pirates on Wednesday hijacked a U.S.-flagged cargo ship with 20 American crew members aboard, FOX News has learned. The 17,000-ton Maersk Alabama was carrying emergency relief to Mombasa, Kenya at the time it was hijacked, said Peter Beck-Bang, spokesman for the Copenhagen-based container shipping group A.P. Moller-Maersk. A Kenya-based diplomat identified the vessel and told the Associated Press all crew members are American. The diplomat spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
The U.S. Navy confirmed the hijacking early Wednesday off the eastern coast of Somalia and said it is monitoring the situation with its own ships.
Spokesman Lt. Nathan Christensen said the attack happened in the early hours of the morning, about 280 miles northeast of Eyl, a town in the northern Puntland region of Somalia. "The area, the ship was taken in, is not where the focus of our ships has been," Christensen told The Associated Press on the phone from the 5th Fleet's Mideast headquarters in Bahrain. "The area we're patrolling is more than a million miles in size. Our ships cannot be everywhere at every time," Christensen said. The vessel is the sixth to be seized within a week and the first with an all-American crew.
• Father, thieves and kidnappers have no place in You. We ask for the safe return of the 20 crew members, this ship, and all else seized. We plead Your Mercy for every unsuspecting crew member and ask for their lives now, in Jesus Name. Regardless of the enormity of the area, they are not out of Your sight, no, not for a moment.
• Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full. (John 16:24)
The Middle East in Focus
This week, for all the headlines cited below, please join us in proclaiming THIS DECREE:
"And the LORD spake unto Moses, go unto Pharaoh, and say unto him, thus saith the LORD, Let my people go, that they may serve me." (Exodus 8:1)
1. Biden: New Israel would be 'ill-advised' to attack Iran - AFP
US Vice President Joe Biden said Tuesday the new Israeli government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would be "ill-advised" to attack Iran, but stressed that it was unlikely to do so.
2. Kremlin to supply PA with new weapons - Jerusalem Post
Moscow has promised to supply the Palestinian Authority security forces in the West Bank with new weapons, including two helicopters.
3. U.S. giving Palestinian security forces top-level training - Ha'aretz
The United States has been training senior Palestinian security officials in an advanced officers course in Ramallah for top-brass, Haaretz has learned.
4. IDF planning largest-ever drill to prepare Israel for war - Ha'aretz
The Home Front Command is preparing to hold the largest exercise ever in Israeli history, scheduled to take place in about two months, in hopes of priming the populace and raising awareness of the possibility of war breaking out.
5. Israel tests system to shoot down Iranian missiles - USA Today
Israel successfully tested an anti-missile system designed to protect the country against Iranian attack, the Defense Ministry said, perfecting technology developed in response to failures of similar systems during the 1991 Gulf War.
The First 100 Days
DAY 79
"The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD; he directs it like a watercourse wherever he pleases." (Proverbs 21:1)
1. Virginia House Rejects $125M in Stimulus Cash
The House turned down amendments by Democratic Gov. Timothy M. Kaine that were necessary to make Virginia eligible for the federal aid.
2. 10 Holy Cross Priests Object to Obama Notre Dame Invite
Ten priests from the order that founded the University of Notre Dame say the school risks its "true soul" and could distance itself from the Roman Catholic Church by inviting President Obama to campus next month.
The members of the Congregation of the Holy Cross, which helps run the university, asked the Rev. John Jenkins, the Holy Cross priest who is Notre Dame's president, and the university's board of fellows to reconsider the invitation to Obama because he supports abortion rights. "Failure to do so will damage the integrity of the institution," said the letter published Wednesday in Notre Dame Observer.
3. Medical Providers Urge Obama to Save 'Conscience' Rule
Thirty organizations have banded together, sending a letter to President Obama asking for a meeting before he decides whether or not to repeal the conscience clause regulation
4. D.C. City Council Puts Gay Marriage on Path to Congress
The council's unanimous vote Tuesday came the same day Vermont became the fourth state to legalize gay marriage and the first to do so with a legislature's vote.
5. Al Jazeera's Presence on PBS Alarms Some
PBS' new program, WorldFocus, airs international reports from Al Jazeera's English channel, leading some lawmakers to declare that PBS, which is partially funded by taxpayer dollars, should not be promoting Al Jazeera.
6. Life Insurers Could Get Aid From Treasury Bailout Program
Shares of large U.S. life insurance companies surged Wednesday following news they may receive aid from the government's $700 billion financial industry rescue program.
But the Treasury Department said only life insurers that own banks or saving and loans qualify for assistance, and that no new programs for the industry were being considered.
(All articles from Fox News)
Good News Corner
White House confirms it got 2 million red envelopes
President's mail worker claims letter campaign 1 of largest in 35 years
The White House mail office has confirmed it received a "deluge" of as many as 2.25 million red envelopes symbolizing the empty promise of lives snuffed out in abortion in a massive campaign that was larger than most White House mailing movements in the last 35 years.
White House mail worker "Steve" has handled letters for 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. for more than three decades. Every single package and letter destined for the White House goes through his office. Asked if he has seen a flood of red envelopes bound for the White House, Steve chuckled.
"Uh, yes," he said emphatically. "Believe me, they made it here."
Steve said while Obama has been occupied in Europe, his administration has noticed millions of red envelopes on behalf of aborted children.
"Quite frankly, there was definitely a deluge of mail coming through," he laughed. "I had to handle them all." "I've been here 35 years, so I've seen presidents come and go," Steve told WND. "This campaign ranks up there with the big ones."
The Red Envelope Project is an idea sparked in the mind and prayers of a Massachusetts man, Christ Otto, who envisioned in January thousands of red envelopes sent to the White House, a visual expression of moral outrage over the president's position on abortion.
Asked if he hopes President Obama will be influenced by the campaign Otto said, "I really hope that he is seeing them. I know that somebody in Washington is seeing them, for whatever that's worth. I do hope that it changes the president's heart." (WorldNetDaily)
• Offer praise to the LORD for this GREAT RESPONSE on the part of our people to this invitation to send an empty red envelope to the White House, in support of LIFE. We now pray in agreement with Christ Otto, that this "tsunami" of support for the livesof the unborn will reach the heart of the man in the Oval Office, causing him to stand for LIFE in all policy decisions he must make now while in office.
• "This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live." (Deuteronomy 30:19)
