In This Issue• The Daily Brief
• The Middle East in Focus
• War on Terror
• Clinton on N.K., Iran
• What's in the Bill? (Part One)
• What's in the Bill?? (Part Two)
• The Dividing of a Nation
• The Good News Corner
Greetings!
Capitol Hill Prayer Partners
P.O. Box 5152
Herndon, VA 20172-1970
chpp@patriot.net
The Daily Brief - Tuesday, July 28, 2009
"Repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand." (Matthew 3:2)
The Daily Brief
1. 2nd Gitmo Detainee To Face Trial In U.S.? - Fox News
The Obama administration could be one step closer to transferring a second Guantanamo Bay detainee, Mohammed Jawad, to the United States to face prosecution in a criminal court. Jawad has been detained at Guantanamo Bay for more than six years. The government said it will now hold Jawad in a separate facility at Guantanamo Bay while the Justice Department completes a criminal investigation.
• We pray Lord, that You will not allow these Gitmo detainees to face trial in the U.S. We pray there will be a huge outcry against bringing them here and that those plans will come to nothing!
• There are many plans in a man's heart, Nevertheless the Lord's counsel - that will stand. (Proverbs 19:21)
2. Terrorists could use internet to launch nuclear attack: report - The Guardian
Terrorists groups could soon use the internet to help set off a devastating nuclear attack, according to new research. The claims come in a study commissioned by the International Commission on Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament (ICNND), which suggests that under the right circumstances, terrorists could break into computer systems and launch an attack on a nuclear state - triggering a catastrophic chain of events that would have a global impact.
• Lord, we pray that these plans of the terrorists will come to nothing. We pray for confusion to come upon them so that they will not succeed. Let us have victory over our enemies.
• "I will send My fear before you, I will cause confusion among all the people to whom you come, and will make all your enemies turn their backs to you." (Exodus 23:27)
3. Clinton says Iran's nuclear pursuit is "futile" - Reuters
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Sunday that Iran would not be allowed to have a nuclear weapon and reiterated Washington's commitment to protect close ally Israel from any threat posed by Tehran.
• We pray, that as Secretary of State, Clinton will continue to urge support of Israel as she deals with Iran. We pray that Iran will be stopped from nuclear weapons.
• Then the Lord will go forth And fight against those nations, As He fights in the day of battle. (Zechariah 14:3)
4. Iranian Police, Militia Attack Opposition Protesters - Fox News
Iranian police and pro-government militia attacked and scattered hundreds of protesters in a rare demonstration in Iran's capital Saturday, witnesses said.
• Father God, we have confidence that we can go to you in our times of trouble and be hidden from our enemies. We pray for the protesters to be shielded.
• "Do Not Destroy!" Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me! For my soul trusts in You; And in the shadow of Your wings I will make my refuge, until these calamities have passed by. (Psalms 57:1)
5. Sarkozy in hospital after strenuous jog - Washington Times
French President Nicolas Sarkozy's office says he was rushed by helicopter to a military hospital Sunday after he felt unwell during a strenuous jog on a hot afternoon.
• Lord, we pray for the health of Sarkozy. Keep all the leaders of our allies in good health. Lord, as we work together on different issues, like Iran and N. Korea, we pray for one vision among all of us.
• Uphold my steps in Your paths, That my footsteps may not slip. I have called upon You, for You will hear me, O God; Incline Your ear to me, and hear my speech. (Psalms 17: 5, 6)
6. EU top diplomats OK bank data talks - on terror investigations - Deutsche Welle
Although howls of protests had been raised, European Union foreign ministers meeting in Brussels on Monday gave the OK for further negotiations between the EU and the US on a new agreement to allow American authorities continued access to bank transfer data in terrorism investigations. The EU Commission and the United States consider providing access to banking data of the SWIFT banking transfer service essential in uncovering the financing of terror networks.
• Lord, we pray that all these negotiations among other nations will not be for our detriment. We pray that beneficial agreements will come out of these plans. Help us to be united against rogue nations.
• And it came to pass when all the kings who were on this side of the Jordan, in the hills and in the lowland and in all the coasts of the Great Sea . . . that they gathered together to fight with Joshua and Israel with one accord. (Joshua 9:1, 2)
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. Settler rally: Obama racist!; his regime will fall - Ynet News
1,000 rightists protesting demand to halt settlement construction march towards US Consulate, call for Special Mideast envoy Mitchell to 'go home'; yeshiva head: Era when Jews were banned from living in different places has ended.
2. Netanyahu meets special envoy Mitchell in Jerusalem - Ynet News
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with US special Mideast envoy George Mitchell in Jerusalem Tuesday. The meeting is part of a round of meetings being held by Mitchell and other top US administration officials in the region this week.
3. 'Obama unlikely to present peace plan' - Jerusalem Post
Recent talks with US envoy George Mitchell have left Israeli officials with the impression that - contrary to expectations in some circles - President Barack Obama is not going to unfurl his own regional peace plan.
4. 'Say 'No' to US settlement pressure' - Jerusalem Post
Calling on Israel to simply say "no" to US pressure to freeze settlement activity and to divide the capital, close to a thousand people rallied outside Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's Jerusalem home Monday evening.
5. 'US determined to forge peace' - Jerusalem Post
Special Mideast envoy George Mitchell met Sunday with Syrian President Bashar Assad, afterwards saying in a joint press conference that the meeting had addressed various ways of promoting regional peace and improving the relations between Washington and Damascus.
War on Terror
U.S. MAN WAS 'GOLD MINE' OF TERROR INTEL
When the American-born Al Qaeda recruit Bryant Neal Vinas was captured in Pakistan late last year, he wasn't whisked off to a military prison or a secret CIA facility in another country to be interrogated. Instead, the itinerant terrorist landed in the hands of the FBI and was flown back to New York to face justice. Months before Barack Hussein Obama took office with a pledge to change U.S. counterterrorism policies, the Bush administration gave Vinas all the rights of American criminal suspects.
And he talked.
. . . the circumstances of Vinas' treatment may point to a new emphasis in the fight against terror, one that relies more on FBI crimefighters and the civilian justice system than on CIA interrogators and military detention. "This was by the numbers. It was a law enforcement operation and it worked," said a senior law enforcement official, one of several authorities who spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to publicly discuss the case. The official said Vinas provided "an intelligence gold mine" to U.S. officials, including possible information about a suspected militant who was killed in a Predator drone strike last November. Another law enforcement official said that under questioning, the 26-year-old Vinas gradually provided a "treasure trove" of information, allowing U.S. counterterrorism officials to peer deep inside the inner workings of Al Qaeda.
At first after his capture, Vinas appeared scared and dejected. When he was brought back to the United States, an official said, he "started to turn the corner" and trust them, little by little. One of the first leads he gave investigators was admitting to his own role in helping al-Qaida plan an attack on U.S. soil. "I consulted with a senior al-Qaida leader and provided detailed information about the operation of the Long Island Rail Road system which I knew because I had ridden the railroad on many occasions," Vinas later told a judge in a secret guilty plea to terrorism charges. Vinas said the terrorists wanted to launch a bomb attack on the train system.
Vinas' most important contribution, authorities said, was disclosing the locations of safe houses and suspected terrorists, officials said. Vinas pleaded guilty Jan. 28 to conspiring to murder U.S. nationals. He faces life in prison, but his cooperation will likely earn him a reduced sentence. (AP)
• Pray that more Americans who joined al-Qaeda will be arrested by the FBI and will sing like the proverbial canary. Something in the American soul is set into motion when these homegrown terrorists are on their native land. While terrorists from Moslem countries resist the American thought and culture, an American instinctively knows that he is truly on blessed land. Pray that the Lord gives more techniques and strategies for getting terrorists to reveal any plans detrimental to Americans.
• "Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit." (Proverbs 18:21)
Clinton on N.K., Iran
CLINTON: NORTH KOREA, IRAN FACE INTERNATIONAL OPPOSITION
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Sunday that the international community was united in pressuring North Korea to abandon its nuclear program and preventing Iran from starting one. Clinton told NBC's "Meet the Press" that North Korea is isolated as never before and that China has been enormously helpful in pressuring the regime to abandon its nuclear program. The secretary of state recently returned from a tour of Asia and credits China with being "extremely positive and productive" in respect to North Korea. (Fox News)
• Praise the Lord that China is acting with the international community in pressuring N. Korea to abandon its nuclear program. Pray that Secretary of State Clinton is revealing the full truth of this joint effort in forcing North Korea to back down. Does China have some shrewd purpose in helping the pressure? Hardly seems likely that China would freely help the USA without demanding some favor in return, and knowing that China has bought up most of the debt of the USA, we have to ask the Lord to expose any favors promised to China by Clinton. After all, China is a communist country.
• We do not want to be like Esau, who stated to his brother Jacob," Look, I an about to die; so what profit shall this birthright be to me?" (Genesis 25:32)
What's in the Bill? (Part One)
More Abortion Funding Found in Senate Bill
SUMMARY: As lawmakers in Washington consider appropriations bills, more evidence surfaces of their attempts to use taxpayer money to fund abortions.
An amendment that prohibited taxpayers from paying for abortions has vanished from the U.S. Senate version of a spending bill.
The text of the bill recently became available, and pro-life groups discovered the deletion of the amendment by Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J. That means 8 million federal employees would be eligible for abortion coverage under the Federal Employee Health Benefits Program (FEHBP).
"This is particularly noteworthy in light of what's going on with the national health care reform," said Tom McClusky, vice president of government with the Family Research Council FEHBP has been repeatedly used to show what the new national health care system might look like. In that context it is alarming that the Senate is now proposing to fund abortion through the program."
The House has already passed its Financial Services Appropriations bill (HR 3170) that will allow taxpayer-funded abortions in the District of Columbia. A companion bill in the Senate sealed the deal.
The District already has the highest abortion rate in the country and Dr. Charmaine Yoest, president and CEO of Americans United for Life, worries that more funding will drive that number even higher.
"What we're finding is the classic, classic cliche: The more you fund, the more you get," she said. "At the same time that we are hearing reassurances that we not worry about federal funding of abortion, every time we see a piece of legislation, we see language that really does raise concerns."
Ashley Horne, federal issues analyst for Focus on the Family Action, encouraged life advocates to speak up.
"It's so important for lawmakers to hear from the folks back home," she said. "We're asking people to call their senators and ask them to vote against this bill unless the Smith Amendment is reinstated."
TAKE ACTION:
Call your two U.S. senators and tell them to vote "No" on the Senate Financial Services Appropriations bill. For contact information, go here.
http://ydr.inyork.com/ci_12725598
What's in the Bill?? (Part Two)
What's in the Healthcare Bill?
Family Research Council Sponsors One Hour Webcast:
"Government Takeover of Health Care"
The White House and the Congress have been working to rush their health care reform plan through before most, if not all, have even read the bill. (To date, not a single Congressman or Senator who has expressed support for the plan has signed Let Freedom Ring's pledge to read the bill.) Since Congress doesn't know what is in the bill, you need to know. Tomorrow evening, July 28, at 8:30 p.m. ET, FRC Action will bring you a special live one hour webcast from our headquarters in Washington D.C. Government Takeover of Health Care: The Moral, Ethical and Financial Dangers of the President's Health Care Reform Plan.
Join me, Senator Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), Congressman Mike Pence (R-Ind.), FRC Action's Tom McClusky and David Christensen, Doug Johnson of National Right to Life, Bryan McManus with the Health Care Freedom Coalition, and others. FRC Action will also be unveiling its first 30-second TV ad that we plan to use in targeted states. To be a part of the evening and find out what you can do to make a difference in this critical debate, click over to www.frcaction.org/takeover on Tuesday night. If you're concerned about your values, your dollars, and your health, this is one event you won't want to miss!
The Dividing of a Nation
The approval ratings of the man who occupies the Oval Office have been declining precipitously in the last two weeks. The latest polls--even from those who appear to take samples weighted in favor of liberal leaning voters--have indicated that some 40% of Americans disapprove of the job Obama is doing, bringing his approval index rating to a minus 11. Only 25% of those polled believe the so-called economic stimulus has helped the nation's economy. And it would appear that the growing disapproval numbers are a signal that the socialization of the nation's financial, mortgage, and healthcare industries is meeting resistance among the population.
One indicator is Texas, where populist Republican Governor Rick Perry is playing the state's rights protections of the Constitution's 10th Amendment. Perry told reporters he hopes socialized healthcare will not pass Congress, "But I'm certainly willing and ready for the fight if this administration continues to try to force their very expansive government philosophy down our collective throats." In support of a state resolution on the 10th Amendment, Perry said, "the federal government has become oppressive in its size, its intrusion into the lives of our citizens and its interference with the affairs of our state." He predicted many more states will say no to overreaching federal government.
The example of Texas could be a bubble of revolt under the veneer of what the news media and political media consultants have portrayed as a new Camelot at the White House. Viewed by many as a messiah, OOO has until this month received superstar treatment by the news organizations and media managers, which has created the image of a smooth running juggernaut of remaking America into a new social democracy. The free fall in approval ratings is a clear indicator that Americans are pushing back hard against socialization of the economy and nationalized healthcare. But even more is a division not seen since the civil rights movement.
The Rasmussen Report, which tracks the daily approval ratings of the White House, is also reporting a huge divide on all questions between whites and blacks. Neither political nor racial division is good for America. It would seem that Martin Luther King, Jr.'s remarks in August 1963 are appropriate today as they were then: "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character." And Jesus warned in Mark 3:24, "And if a kingdom be divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand." Let us stand on the righteousness of Christ that we may not fall by the divisions of race.
Bill Wilson
Word of Life Ministry
www.dailyjot.com
The Good News Corner
GOOD NEWS FROM THE PENNSYLVANIA STATEHOUSE!
Pennsylvania Pastor to Pray Before State Senate
After Turning Down House Invitation
That Prevented Him From Using Jesus' Name
(Straban Township, PA)-The Rev. Gerry Stoltzfoos will be praying to Jesus in front of Pennsylvania legislators when he serves as guest chaplain on July 29.
Stoltzfoos, pastor of Freedom Valley Worship Center, recently declined an invitation from state Rep. Will Tallman, to write and recite a prayer before a House session last week, because Speaker of the House Keith McCall, D-Carbon County, asked that he remove a single reference to Jesus from the prayer's closing.
Unwilling to compromise his beliefs, Stoltzfoos said, "I just feel like if you want me to pray, then I have to pray to the one thing I know. I only know one God personally. I only serve one God. How do I do something that dishonors Him?"
However, as reported in The Daily Record, Stoltzfoos is going to accept the offer of Sen. Rich Alloway to offer a prayer before the Senate opens session, after finding out that "the Senate does not enforce the same guidelines" as the House. (Teresa Neumann ; Breaking Christian News)
