In This Issue:• The Daily Brief
• The Middle East in Focus
• The Daily Jot
• Rahm Emanuel's Power Grows
• Israelis sour on Rahm Emanuel
• NATION OF GEORGIA IN THE NEWS
• The Good News Corner
Greetings!
Capitol Hill Prayer Partners
P.O. Box 5152
Herndon, VA 20172-1970
chpp@patriot.net
The Daily Brief - Wednesday, August 19, 2009
". . . and the government shall be upon his shoulder . . ." (Isaiah 9:6)
The Daily Brief
1. Blue Dog Democrat: 'Excellent idea' to start over on health care reform - CNN
Acknowledging his amazement at the crowds gathered to debate health care at his town halls, Rep. Allen Boyd, D-Florida, faced three large gatherings on Monday with many questioners voicing skepticism about the proposals being debated in Washington. "Never have I had this attendance . . . that is a good thing," Boyd said as he started his third event of the day. When a questioner, Ray Evans, said he believed the President wants to do too much at once and asked whether Boyd would "be willing to scrap everything" and start over to do pursue reform more incrementally, the congressman responded: "I think that is an excellent idea . . . we may end up there."
- Praise the Lord that the voice of the American peoples are reaching our federal legislators. Pray that every Congressman and Senator will follow suit and be willing to really take a look at health care in the USA, honestly trying to deal with the problem and reading all the drafts of any bills focusing on this issue. Pray against any clandestine maneuvers such as attaching these issues to other unrelated bills. American freedoms must be preserved!
- "Let every thing that hath breath praise the Lord. Praise ye the Lord." (Psalm 150:6)
2. AARP, Losing Members Over Health Care - Fox News
About 60,000 seniors have quit AARP since July 1 due to the group's support for health care reform, a spokesman for the organization said this week. Meanwhile, the Atlanta-based American Seniors Association (ASA), which is opposed to President Obama's health care plan, is trying to capitalize on growing public dissatisfaction with the AARP.
- The voice of the American people is strong. These are the "baby boomers" (BB) who are now becoming senior citizens, who grew up the children of those who fought for freedom in WWII. The "BB" are now angry with the "liberal" AARP. Pray that our citizens will not lessen the pressure on Congress and the White House to make both afraid to violate the wishes of the people. Of course, this may be the time in which Christians begin to earnestly pray for healing for all those who are ill, as well. Praise the Lord!
- "A time to kill, And a time to heal; A time to break down, And a time to build up" (Ecclesiastes 3:3)
3. White House Shuts Down "Flag" Disinformation Tip Box - The Politico
After a furor over how the data would be used, the White House has shut down an electronic tip box - flag@whitehouse.gov - that was set up to receive information on 'fishy' claims about President Barack Obama's health plan.
- Again, another reason for giving the Lord praise for hearing and answering our fervent prayers. Actually, such information smacks of illegality, for after President Nixon revealed a similar type of list being kept by the White House, Congress passed a bill forbidding lists to be kept of the "enemies" of the White House. Never fail to continue to assert pressure on the White House, so that our government will function according to the principles of honesty, truth, and justice.
- "These are the things you shall do: Speak each man the truth to his neighbor; Give judgment in your gates for truth, justice, and peace" (Zechariah 8:16)
4. Six-Month Anniversary of Signing of Stimulus Bill: Unemployment Up - CHPP
Republican Study Committee Chairman Tom Price (R- GA) issued a statement on the six-month anniversary of the signing of the President's so-called stimulus bill. Since becoming law, over 2 million Americans have lost work and only 18% of Americans say that the trillion- dollar plan has helped the economy.
- Again truth and justice are revealed. Praise the Lord that He demands truth in all His ways and from all His people. As Aaron and Hur held up the arms of Moses to continue winning the battle of the Israelites, so must we intercessors hold up the spiritual arms of our legislators who battle against deception in the halls of Congress. Remind your federal legislators that they work for the people.
- "But Moses' hands became heavy; so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it. And Aaron and Hur supported his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun." ( Exodus 17:12)
5. Law Requiring Ultrasounds for Abortions Is Struck Down - Washington Post
An Oklahoma judge decided Tuesday that doctors do not need to perform ultrasounds and offer women detailed information about the tests before performing abortions, striking down the strictest such law in the country.
- Pray for the soul of this judge, so that the judge be delivered from this deceiving spirit. Perhaps he thinks he has been given the right to judge who should live and who should die. The law, at least, allowed the mother to see her baby in the womb, giving every woman pause before she decided to take the life of her unborn child.
- "He feeds on ashes; A deceived heart has turned him aside; And he cannot deliver his soul, Nor say, "Is there not a lie in my right hand?" (Isaiah 44:20)
6. Obama administration moves to strike down Defense of Marriage Act - OneNewsNow
A pro-family leader says the Obama administration is playing dishonest "Chicago-style politics" by defending the Defense of Marriage Act while undermining the law in a court filing.
- Pray that this ploy be defeated.
- "Look, in this you are not righteous. I will answer you, For God is greater than man." (Job 33:12)
7. Obama: Encouraged on Mideast peace - AP
President Barack Obama won lavish praise from his Egyptian counterpart, President Mubarak, on Tuesday and spoke of an "extraordinary opportunity" for making peace in the Middle East, saying he was encouraged by U.S. efforts to restart talks between Israel and the Palestinians.
- Where is this encouragement coming from that our president is hearing? Certainly not from the Christians in America nor the ones in Egypt. Pray against our president's accepting any promises from Moslem countries and from the Fatah and Hamas, both of whom will work for the destruction of Israel.
- "Your fierceness has deceived you, The pride of your heart, O you who dwell in the clefts of the rock, Who hold the height of the hill! Though you make your nest as high as the eagle, I will bring you down from there," says the Lord." (Jeremiah 49:16)
The Middle East in Focus
This week, for all the headlines cited below, please join us in proclaiming THIS DECREE:
No weapon that is formed against you shall prosper, and every tongue that shall rise against you in judgment you shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of LORD, and their righteousness is of Me, says LORD. (Isaiah 54:17)
1. Mubarak's plan: 2-year peace process - Ynet News
Egypt is expected to ask the US limit the Israeli- Palestinian peace process to two years, Palestinian sources told Ynet Tuesday night shortly after President Hosni Mubarak met his American counterpart Barack Obama at the White House.
2. Israel aghast at Swedish report on IDF - Jerusalem Post
The Foreign Ministry responded furiously on Tuesday to a story in Sweden's largest circulation daily, Aftonbladet, that accused IDF soldiers of abducting Palestinians to steal their organs, saying this was a grotesque throwback to the blood libels of the Middle Ages.
3. Huckabee: 2-state solution 'unrealistic' - Jerusalem Post
Palestinians have a right to a homeland, but not within the boundaries of Israel, former governor of Arkansas and 2008 GOP presidential candidate Mike Huckabee suggested at a meeting with reporters in Jerusalem on Tuesday morning.
4. Egypt: U.S. to release Mideast peace-talk plans in Sept. - Washington Times
President Obama told Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak Tuesday that the U.S. government is planning to release a comprehensive blueprint for Middle East peace talks next month, the Egyptian government said after a meeting at the White House.
The Daily Jot
White House Reversing Again On Socialized Medicine - Seeking "Left of the Left" Advice
Within 48 hours after the White House floated a very public trial balloon that it was giving up on the so-called "public option" portion of the socialist healthcare reform, there has been yet another reversal. The New York Times is reporting that the man who occupies the Oval Office still wants the public option in the final bill. Administration officials, according to the Times, are upset that the public option had any impact on the outcome of whether socialized medicine would become law. A "White House advisor" quoted by the Times on the condition of anonymity said, "I don't understand how that has become the measure of whether what we achieve is healthcare reform."
Indeed, the White House is regrouping to find another way to impose socialism on all Americans through government control of healthcare--in short, the battle is not over just because the White House said it was surrendering. Obama will be meeting with thousands of loyal supporters tomorrow (by conference call and online) in a nationwide strategy call to try to regain momentum on socialized medicine. Part of the problem is that Obama's base support is, as the White House advisor in the Times story put it, "left of the left." Now in uncoded terms, this means the socialists and the Marxists who have wanted to turn America into a communist nation for over a generation.
The "left of the left" believes that leaving out the "public option" of healthcare guts the entire idea. In a way, it does--for any true Marxist, that is. It would mean that the government actually would not be taking control of the entire healthcare industry. It would mean that laws and regulations, which are easier to change if someone new is elected to office, would be the only firewall between a socialist government and the will of the people. It would mean that the government would have less control because a bureaucracy would still be lacking to take complete ownership of everybody's healthcare options. It would mean a great opportunity, created by a great media campaign of a perceived crisis, would be lost.
The White House and Congress did not expect the heavy backlash from Americans over socializing their nation. The more their plan was exposed, the more the citizens stood against it. Socialized healthcare, global warming, and gun control will be the issues these Marxists will use to complete their humanist coup against the American Republic. Jesus said in Luke 12:3, "Therefore whatsoever you have spoken in darkness shall be heard in the light, and that which you have spoken in the ear in closets shall be proclaimed upon the housetops." The more we proclaim the evil intent of these usurpers, the more their plans made in the dark will be exposed to the light.
Bill Wilson
Word of Life Ministry
www.dailyjot.com
Rahm Emanuel's Power Grows
Emanuel's Power Grows in Obama White House
White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel is emerging not only as the most powerful presidential aide in the Obama administration, but one of the influential Oval Office power brokers in a generation, according to The New York Times.
The Times reported Sunday that Emanuel's power is now so sweeping that he recently vetoed the hiring of Sidney Blumenthal by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Blumenthal had generated too much bad blood in the Obama ranks during the campaign, Emanuel bluntly told her, and could not join the administration.
The son of former Israeli freedom fighters, Emanuel is the principal author of Mr. Obama's do-everything-at- once strategy. His success may very much ride on how well and how quickly the administration stabilizes the economy and financial markets, overhauls the healthcare system and winds down one war while successfully prosecuting another.
Emanuel now must shepherd healthcare legislation into law for the White House, a task that is growing harder by the day.
"He's about to be tested; he's spinning a lot of plates over there and he breaks a lot of china," said Joel Johnson, a close friend and fellow veteran official of the Clinton White House told the Times. "They've had some good success early on, but they've got a number of major pieces of the agenda in the queue, and it's going to be really difficult."
The caricature of Mr. Emanuel as a profanity-spewing operative has given way to a more nuanced view: as a profanity-spewing operative with a keen understanding of how to employ power on behalf of a new president with relatively little experience in Washington, the Times reported.
"He can juggle 20 or 25 things in one day, in part by delegating and in part by picking only the things that matter," said Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, a Republican congressman recruited by Mr. Emanuel to serve in the cabinet, told the Times.
Where Mr. Obama is known for cool detachment, Mr. Emanuel presses until the breaking point, then presses some more. "The president has a zenlike quality," said Mr. Obama's senior adviser, David Axelrod. "Rahm is a pile driver." (New York Times; Newsmax)
- Only God can change a heart; and only He can show mercy where man would throw stones. Take the story of Aaron, the High Priest, for example:
While Moses ascended Mt. Moriah, to receive the law of God, Aaron was left leading the people . . . into idolatry as they worshipped the golden calf.
In the end, did God destroy Aaron? No, not only did he allow him to live, as Aaron repented of his sin ... in the end, Moses appointed Aaron the High Priest, overseeing the Tabernacle for the presence of the Lord!
May we, as the saints of the Most High God, allow Christ to rule our hearts, showing mercy to those who need mercy, and praying for all to come to repentance unto salvation. Selah . . .
- "Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth." (I Timothy 2:1-4)
Israelis sour on Rahm Emanuel
As the Obama administration presses Israel to cease settlement expansion as part of a renewed push for a Middle East peace deal-a course of action that many Israelis have interpreted as evidence of the president's favoritism towards Palestinians-Israelis have increasingly focused their disappointment not on Obama, but rather on his chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel.
An observant Jew with deep ties to Israel, Emanuel is viewed as something of a native son, his rise through the ranks of American politics celebrated by Israelis who reveled in details such as his childhood summers spent in Israel and his volunteer stint during the first Gulf War in an Israeli military program for civilians. When Emanuel was tapped to be Obama's chief of staff, a headline in the Israeli daily newspaper Haaretz kvelled "Obama's first pick: Israeli Rahm Emanuel as chief of staff," while the Jewish news service JTA went with "Rahm Emanuel: attack dog, policy wonk, committed Jew."
But in a dramatic emotional shift, Israelis have become increasingly disenchanted with Emanuel, and the disappointment is especially intense on the Israeli right, which supports Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in his opposition to Obama's call for ceasing settlement activity. Israelis across the political spectrum were skeptical of Obama's commitment to the Jewish homeland during the presidential campaign but many viewed Emanuel as a guarantor of their interests, the best hope for continuing the U.S. government's favorable treatment of the Jewish state.
Today, however, widespread unhappiness with their treatment at the hands of the Obama administration has led to feelings of betrayal-and Emanuel is bearing the brunt of it. (Politico)
- The name "Emmanuel" means "God with us." Would "Emanuel" - with only one letter "n" - have the same meaning? Pray that the Holy Spirit pierces the heart of Rahm Emanuel, overwhelming him with the love of our Savior. As he comes to know Yeshua as Savior and Lord, good things will follow for the nation of Israel. Pray!
- "Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?" (Romans 2:4)
NATION OF GEORGIA IN THE NEWS
WEST GIVES RUSSIA A SEPTEMBER DEADLINE
by Joel Rosenberg
Russian President warns Israel not to attack Iran, but might Russia attack Georgia? Last month, the Obama administration and the leaders of the G8 industrialized nations gave Iran a deadline of September to accept serious, high-level negotiations over its nuclear program or risk stiffer economic sanctions. Thus far, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his senior aides have rejected any negotiations with the "infidels."
In separate but related developments, I'm hearing concerns coming from evangelical Christian leaders in Georgia - now voiced by a Washington military analyst in a newspaper column - that Russia may be preparing for another attack against the small, democratic republic. Last week, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin visited Abkhazia, a breakaway section of Georgia, and announced that Moscow would build a $500 million military base there. Today, Georgia officially quit the Commonwealth of Independent States, an organization of former Soviet republics. Recent reports from the region indicate Russia and Ukraine are negotiating a ban on arms to Georgia.
It was just a year ago in August that tensions between Russia and Georgia erupted into armed conflict. As noted last year, one of the interesting elements about this particular conflict from the perspective of Bible prophecy - notably Ezekiel 38-39 and the "War of Gog and Magog" - is that for Russia to send ground forces south to surround Israel, Russian commanders would need to move through Georgia and the Caucasus and eventually through Turkey, Syria and Lebanon to reach the northern borders of the Jewish State.
- This is a situation worth keeping an eye on. Pray for peace for the people of Georgia, and the people of Israel. Whether or not this sword rattling on the part of Russia is fulfillment of Ezekiel 38-39, time will reveal. But we must pray for the citizens of Georgia, that they be protected and safe in the Days ahead, and that each one find Jesus Christ as his own Savior and Lord. Amen.
- "For wisdom is a defense as money is a defense, But the excellence of knowledge is that wisdom gives life to those who have it." (Ecclesiastes7:12)
The Good News Corner
3-Year-Old Girl Prays the Lord's Prayer
"And a little child shall lead them . . ." Go here.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujrJKeprpVo&feature=player_embedded
