In This Issue• Today's Daily Brief
• The Middle East in Focus
• National Socialist Attacks Holocaust Museum
• Mirandizing Terrorists?
• Newsweek: Obama "a Sort of God"
• Catholic Group Sues IRS
• Update: Hate Crimes Bill
• Word for the Watchmen
• The Good News Corner
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The Daily Brief - Thursday, June 11, 2009
"Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand." (James 5:8)
Today's Daily Brief
1. WHO to Member Countries: Flu Pandemic Has Begun - AP
The World Health Organization told its member nations it was declaring a swine flu pandemic Thursday - the first global flu epidemic in 41 years - as infections climbed in the United States, Europe, Australia, South America and elsewhere.
• Lord, we pray that the media will be responsible on their reporting of this announcement, so that fear will not drive the actions of people or their governments. We plead the Blood of Jesus across the nations and ask for Your mercy over them. We also ask that You raise up Your people in the power of Your Name wherever healing is needed.
• "Behold, I give you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you." (Luke 10:19)
2. California Nears Meltdown as Revenues Tumble - Reuters
California's government risks a financial "meltdown" within 50 days in light of its weakening May revenues unless Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and lawmakers quickly plug a $24.3 billion budget gap, the state's controller said on Wednesday.
• Lord, we pray for an equitable and wise solution to California's crisis. We pray that You will grant Your wisdom to their legislature and governor. We pray they will understand that getting more money does not solve poor management practices, so that they will change their ways and methods.
• "Rebuke is more effective for a wise man than a hundred blows on a fool." (Prov 17:10)
3. Conyers Resurrects $2.5 Trillion Govt-Run Healthcare Bill in House - CNS News
Representative John Conyers (D-Mich) brought his annual government healthcare bill back to the table Wednesday, saying that if the government were to spend the same amount as individual Americans -- $2.5 trillion - universal healthcare could be a reality, adding that the current privatized system was "broken."
• Lord, we stand firmly against socialized medical care in America, and ask that You stop the runaway railroad train that is trying to force it upon us. We ask that You reveal truth about this type of government run health care, and open hearts and minds to understand its down sides.
• "He who speaks truth declares righteousness, but a false witness, deceit - but the tongue of the wise promotes health" (Proverbs 12:17a,18b)
4. Americans' Net Worth Shrinks $1.33 Trillion in First Quarter - Fox News
The Federal Reserve reported Thursday that household net worth fell to $50.38 trillion in the January-March quarter, the lowest level since the third quarter of 2004.
• Lord, as the economy continues to hit hard on families, we pray for You to reach out and help Your people survive the continuing battle. As You are Jehovah Jireh, our Provider, we call on Your name for help, to the people of America.
• "But I am poor and needy; make haste to me, O God! You are my help and deliverer; O Lord, do not delay." (Psalm 70:5)
5. Obama Extols Koran- Press Missed It - One News Now
A Christian writer says President Obama's recent speech in Cairo praising Islam is further evidence the American president has a "low view" of biblical Christianity.
Robert Knight, a senior writer for Coral Ridge Ministries, has written a column titled "Obama Nation's Low View of Christianity." Knight says he wrote the column as a service to everyone who wants thorough documentation -- not just bits and pieces -- of President Obama's statements distorting Christianity.
Knight argues that the most disturbing thing President Obama said in his Cairo speech was that the Middle East was the first place where Islam was "revealed."
"That word 'revealed' is very important," Knight explains. "It means an unveiling, and it means a divinely-inspired unveiling -- which would indicate that the president is saying the Koran is a holy book. In fact, he referred to the Koran several times as the 'Holy Koran.'"
Such a perspective from their elected chief executive, says Knight, should concern Bible-believing Christians.
• Lord, as we get more and more evidence that our President reveres Islam above You, we pray that You will hold Your people in the palm of Your hand, and cause us to rise up to remind our leaders of America's heritage and the One true Living God's hand in our lives. Let this be the church's finest hour, not its worst.
• "For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and deep darkness the people; but the Lord will arise over you, and His glory shall be seen upon you." (Isaiah 60:2)
6. Obama Breeds Climate of Hate Against Jews - Newsmax
By Rabbi Dr. Morton H. Pomerantz
Our new president did not tell a virulent anti-Semite to travel to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington to kill Jews, but he is most certainly creating a climate of hate against us.
It is no coincidence that we are witnessing this level of hatred toward Jews as President Barack Obama positions America against the Jewish state.
Just days ago Obama traveled to Cairo, Egypt. It was his second trip in a short time to visit Muslim countries. He sent a clear message by not visiting Israel.
But this was code.
In Cairo, Obama said things that pose a grave danger to Jews in Israel, in America and everywhere.
And if his views are not vigorously opposed they will help create a danger as great as that posed by the Nazis to the Jewish people.
Just last week, Obama told his worldwide audience - more than 100 million people - that the killing of six million Jews during the Holocaust was the equivalent of Israel's actions in dealing with the Palestinians.
• Father, we are aware that Your Word tells us of the day when all forsake Israel, a day when You will arise and show yourself mighty. We stand with the nation of Israel at this time, and speak peace and blessing to them. We ask that You reveal Yourself to Mr. Obama, and break past the deception to bring Your truth to his heart.
• "Now I, Nebuchadnezzer, praise and extol and honor the King of heaven, all of whose works are truth, and His ways justice. And those who walk in pride He is able to put down." (Daniel 4:37)
The Middle East in Focus
This week, for all the headlines cited below, please join us in proclaiming THIS DECREE:
Beautiful in elevation, the joy of the whole earth, is Mont Zion in the far north, the city of the great King. (Psalm 48:2)
1. Netanyahu tries to handle Likud opposition - Ynet News
Is Prime Minister Netanyahu set to recognize a future Palestinian state? Likud members are asking themselves that very question as the date of the premier's policy speech nears.
2. Mitchell: Peace includes Syria, Lebanon - Jerusalem Post
The regional agreement that the Obama administration is trying to push forward is not only about peace between Israel and the Palestinians, but also peace between Israel and both Syria and Lebanon, US special Middle East envoy George Mitchell said on Wednesday, on the eve of trips to both Beirut and Damascus.
3. Jordanian ambassador: 2 states only solution - Ynet News
Jordan's ambassador to Israel, Ali al-Ayed, said Wednesday his country supported the two-state solution as the only solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict.
National Socialist Attacks Holocaust Museum
The leftwing media and blogging world are on fire today trying to blame Christians, conservatives, Fox News, Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Karl Rove, gun owners and you for yesterday's vicious attack on the Holocaust Museum by James Wenneker Von Brunn. There's just one problem with their story.
Von Brunn was a committed neo-Nazi, and, as any student of history knows, Nazi in German means "national socialism." The same leftwing crowd that regularly warns us not to blame Islam when an Islamofascist kills Americans or attempts to blow up a synagogue now wants to blame Christian conservatives when a national socialist Jew-hating, Christian-hating white supremacist kills a brave guard at the museum.
When this horrible story broke yesterday, the first thing I did was a little online research on Von Brunn - the same kind of research any reporter should have done. I found savage rhetorical attacks on Jews - the same kind of rhetoric we regularly hear from Ahmadinejad, Hamas, Hezbollah and all the other Jew-haters that Israel is being pressured to compromise with in order to have "peace." I also found his rantings against Christianity, the Bible and the teachings of Jesus Christ.
Finally, he made it clear that he rejected capitalism and saw socialism as the only hope. In short, his views were closer to the far Left and radical Islamists than they are to Rush Limbaugh or Glenn Beck. By the way, news has just broken that the office of The Weekly Standard, under the leadership of my good friend Bill Kristol, was on a list of suspected targets found in Von Brunn's possession at the time of his arrest.
So let me summarize what we now know: Von Brunn hated Jews. He hated Christianity. He hated Fox News, The Weekly Standard and Bill Kristol. He hated capitalism and big corporations. He sounds like someone who would hang out at leftwing websites. I'll wait to see which major news outlet blames the Huffington Post or MSNBC for this attack.
The Aryan Nation and the neo-Nazi crowd are as evil as they come. And there is a great danger that these thugs will cooperate with the Islamofascists who share their hatred of Jews and America. (Gary Bauer; End-of-Day; June 11, 2009)
Mirandizing Terrorists?
The Weekly Standard and Fox News are reporting today that the Obama Administration has "quietly" ordered the FBI to read highly-valued terrorist suspects their Miranda rights at U.S. military detention facilities in Afghanistan. If you have watched any television crime show you are probably familiar with the Miranda warning. When a suspect is arrested, police are required to tell him:
"You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to speak to an attorney, and to have an attorney present during any questioning. If you cannot afford a lawyer, one will be provided for you at government expense."
Representative Mike Rogers (R-MI), a former FBI special agent and U.S. Army officer, recently traveled to Afghanistan, where he learned of the policy change after meeting with military officials. "The administration has decided to change the focus to law enforcement. Here's the problem. You have foreign fighters who are targeting U.S. troops today-foreign fighters who go to another country to kill Americans. We capture them and they're reading them their rights-Mirandizing these foreign fighters."
Rep. Rogers was shocked when he heard of the newly implemented policy. "I was a little surprised to find it taking place when I showed up because we hadn't been briefed on it, I just didn't know about it. We're still trying to get to the bottom of it, but it is clearly a part of this new global justice initiative."
Republicans on Capitol Hill are in an uproar about the policy. "When they Mirandize a suspect, the first thing they do is warn them that they have the right to remain silent," and Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-MI), the ranking Republican on the House Intelligence Committee. "It would seem the last thing we want is Khalid Sheikh Mohammed or any other al-Qaeda terrorist to remain silent. Our focus should be on preventing the next attack, not giving radical jihadists a new tactic to resist interrogation-lawyering up."
When the story broke, the Obama Administration went into damage-control mode. It is denying any "direct" policy changes, but the evidence strongly suggests that Rep. Rogers is right. We will follow this story very closely and keep you informed of any new developments. (Gary Bauer; End-of-Day; June 11, 2009)
Newsweek: Obama "a Sort of God"
President Is God According To Newsweek Editor
In Matthew, chapter 24, Jesus Christ reveals what would happen in the end times. He starts in verse four by saying "Take heed that no man deceive you." Deception will fall upon the world in the end times. Jesus warns in verse five, "For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many." And in verse 11, he says, "And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many." In verse 24, Jesus says, "For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect."
The man who occupies the Oval Office is being compared with and even called "God." This was most glaring when in a June 6 interview with MSNBC's Chris Matthews, Newsweek editor Evan Thomas said that Obama "is standing above the country, above the world. He's sort of God. He's going to bring all different sides together." In the news clip you can hear Matthews in the background agreeing. Lawrence Carter, dean of the Martin Luther King, Jr. International Chapel said on November 29, 2008, "No one saw him coming, and Christians believe God comes at us from strange angles and places we don't expect, like Jesus being born in a manger."
Certainly, Obama does nothing to dispel the image makers. He often invokes scripture and seems comfortable doing so, even though much of the time he has taken great license with it. For example, in his speech to Notre Dame graduates, he said of the Golden Rule, "the law binds people of all faiths and not faith together. It is no coincidence that it exists in Christianity and Judaism; in Islam and Hinduism; in Buddhism and humanism. It is, of course, the Golden Rule--the call to treat one another as we wish to be treated."Obama apparently missed the point in his Indonesian Islamic school that it was Jesus Christ who originated the Golden Rule in his Sermon on the Mount.
Eamon Javers of Politico reports that already Obama's invocation of the Christian Messiah is more overt than Americans heard in the public rhetoric of President Bush throughout his time in the White House. Javers reports that Obama's "public embrace of his Christianity so far has not included choosing a church in the capital. Since taking office, he has attended Sunday services in Washington just once, on Easter Sunday." Obama also appointed a homosexual activist to his faith-based advisory council. He has opened the floodgates to US funding of abortions, internationally. Perhaps yet another quote from the Sermon on the Mount is in order--"Ye shall know them by their fruits."
Bill Wilson
Word of Life Ministry
www.dailyjot.com
From Capitol Hill Prayer Partners:
Our nation is now hitting a bottom that none of us would have thought existed, even a year ago. This has to stop! The first commandment is clear: "Thou shalt have NO OTHER GODS BEFORE ME!"
MAY WE ALL FALL ON OUR KNEES ON SUNDAY, JULY 5, IN THE "CALL2FALL" IN REPENTANCE, FOR ONLY OUR HOLY GOD CAN SAVE US NOW.
• "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." (Matthew 3:2)
Catholic Group Sues IRS
Catholic Apologetic Group Sues IRS Over Church, Non-Profit Intimidation
According to Catholic Answers president Karl Keating, the IRS has gone far enough in intimidating churches and non-profit groups into silence on politically controversial moral issues. The Catholic News Agency reports that the lawsuit stems from a fine levied by the IRS against Catholic Answers over an e-letter it wrote saying "Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry should not be allowed to receive Holy Communion." The IRS judged this as "intervening" in the election. The fact that the IRS uses vague criteria to intimidate pastors and non-profit leaders is well known. The intention of the suit is "to set a legal precedent holding that the IRS cannot prohibit speech on religious or moral issues." We ask the Lord to bless all those who are fighting for our religious freedoms and the free speech rights of pastors and Christian leaders.
• Pray for a favorable outcome in this critical case.
• "When a man's ways please the LORD, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him." (Proverbs 16:7)
Update: Hate Crimes Bill
The Family Research Council is requesting targeted prayer for the Hate Crime bill, as follows:
Please pray for God to intervene against Hate Crimes legislation. A bill has passed the House and may soon be attached as an amendment to other legislation in the Senate. Ask your church members on Sunday to begin calling their Senators on Monday. Here is the Capitol Switchboard Number: (202) 224-3121. Tell them to ask for their Senators, and tell them they are against Senate Bill 909, the Hate Crimes Bill. Click here for a Bulletin Insert that you can download, print double-sided, cut down the middle, and hand out the half-sheets on Sunday. Pray for the defeat of this dangerous bill that will eventually compromise our Constitutional freedoms of speech and religion. Father Richard Neuhaus has written, "People should be punished for what they do, not what they think."
• "But you, O man of God, flee these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness." (I Tim. 6:11)
Word for the Watchmen
History was unearthed again this week. You probably saw the news. Archaeologists unearthed a 400-year-old, 4 by 8 inch slate tablet in Jamestown, Virginia. Researchers sent this fascinating find to NASA Langley, putting it through a three-dimensional digital analysis in order to decipher its pictures and text. An eagle, a heron, lions, three types of unidentified plants, and the phrase "a minon [minion] of the finest sorte," appear on the slate. The Washington Times reports, "The archaeologists think a colonist deposited the tablet into what's thought to be the 'well of sweet water' built by Capt. John Smith during the winter of 1608-1609." A truly interesting find indeed, causing many to seek diligently for the meaning of the writing.
This discovery reminds us of a find of far greater significance, one that would shake the nation of Judah from the throne to the kitchen. In the days of Josiah, Hilkiah the priest sent word to the king by Shaphan the secretary, "I have found the Book of the Law of the house of the LORD." (2 Kings 22:8, ESV) The aftershocks of this discovery are truly astonishing because it led to a call from the King for national repentance and it resulted in revival. Such is the convicting power of the Word of God. Today, pastors preach on everything from bumper stickers to gas prices. Wouldn't you agree that God has called us to preach His Word so that the Holy Spirit call people to God's standard of righteousness? Biblical illiteracy among our congregations is rampant. Before we feel the need to repent, we will have to come face to face with our sins as God sees them. Among our many duties and assignments, pastors must allow the Spirit to convict His people of sin through the preaching of the Word.
PRAYER REQUEST:
Pray for the Call2Fall National Day of Humility and Repentance. Visit www.Call2Fall.com and click on "I'm in" and become a host church. We are asking pastors to call their people to at least 3-5 minutes of time on our knees on Sunday, July 5th. (Source: Family Research Council; The Watchman Report) Pray that thousands of churches and millions of Christians will join this movement for the kind of change America needs - humility and repentance. Pray that God will open our eyes to our desperate need to fall on our knees before Him in repentant prayer (2 Chron. 7:13-14; Joel 2) so that our sins may be wiped out and times of refreshing might come from the lord (Acts 3:19).
The Good News Corner
UCLA Will Allow Graduate to Mention Jesus
The University of California, Los Angeles, will allow a Christian student's graduation statement to mention Jesus, thanks to a letter from the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF).
The Molecular Cell and Developmental Biology Department collected short statements from graduating students to be read as they cross the stage June 13. Christina Popa was told she could not mention Jesus in her statement. On Friday, the university changed its mind.
"Christian students are entitled to the same rights as all other students," said Heather Gebelin Hacker, litigation staff counsel for ADF. "We are pleased that UCLA officials understand that denying religious liberty to students is a violation of the First Amendment. We commend UCLA for acting quickly to protect Ms. Popa's constitutional rights."
