In This IssueToday's Daily Brief
The Middle East in Focus
The Daily Jot
Franklin Graham and the Pentagon
Schumer Awakens From His Slumber
Another Look at Obamacare
A Look Back in History
The Good News Corner
Worship With Us Today!
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The Daily Brief - Tuesday, April 27, 2010
"All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be." (Psalm 119:16)
Today's Daily Brief
1. Clinton Raises Prospect of 'Regional Conflict' Over Iran - Financial Times
Hillary Clinton, US secretary of state, has warned of the risk of regional conflict if new United Nations sanctions are not imposed on Tehran's nuclear program, telling the Financial Times that "ignoring the threat posed by Iran will put the world in a more precarious position within six months to a year". Senior Pentagon officials last week said Iran could develop enough fissile material for a bomb within a year, although it would probably take three to five years for Tehran to develop a serviceable weapon.
· Heavenly Father, we lift up this situation to you; intervene and stop the plans and actions of Iran to develop enough material for a nuclear bomb. We bind these governments and terrorists. We command their plans to fail, and pray confusion and division in their camps so they will never succeed!
· The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms; He will thrust out the enemy from before you, and will say, 'Destroy!' Then Israel shall dwell in safety (Deuteronomy 33:27, 28)
2. Oil Spill Likely to Reach Land in Days - Wall Street Journal
The giant oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is likely to reach land as early as Saturday, despite massive containment efforts, a federal official charged with tracking the slick said Monday. The company is continuing with backup plans, bringing in two drilling vessels that might be able to stem the flow by injecting special heavy liquids into the well. Mr. Suttles said drilling the relief wells and shutting down the well in this manner would take two to three months.
Wildlife is already starting to be affected, and three sperm whales have been spotted in the area that is covered by an oily sheen.
· Heavenly Father we depend on you for our protection. We pray the Hedges of Protection will once again be restored around our nation and everything that pertains to us. Let our spiritual leaders call for prayers and fasting to restore those Hedges. Let us be mindful of your mercies!
· Have You not made a Hedge around him, around his household, and around all that he has on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. (Job 1:10)
3. Republican Rejection of Finance Bill May Open Party to Attacks - Financial Times
Senate Republicans blocked debate over new financial rules on the eve of a congressional hearing involving Goldman Sachs Group Inc., a move that may open the party to attacks that it's soft on Wall Street. Democrats failed on a 57- 41 vote yesterday, with 60 votes needed, to overcome unanimous Republican opposition and begin consideration of the bill calling for the biggest restructuring of financial market oversight since the 1930s.
· Lord, we pray these actions by our officials to gain control over every institution in our nation will be thwarted. Let the parties not be political - but honestly concerned to give us laws that are not overpowering for citizens and businesses. Let there be no abuse of power. Turn our nation to conservative again.
· There are many plans in a man's heart, Nevertheless the Lord's counsel - that will stand. (Proverbs 19:21)
4. US Senator Probing 2008 Financial Meltdown Blasts Goldman Sachs - VOA
A U.S. senator probing America's 2008 financial crisis says one of the nation's best-known investment houses marketed complex financial products to clients, while investing in instruments that would rise in value if those very same products failed. Democratic lawmakers seek to advance a bill to overhaul the U.S. financial industry after a crisis that accelerated the nation's plunge into economic recession and led to massive government bailouts of the private sector.
· Father God, we pray all the hidden things will be revealed in these financial institutions and our government. Let dishonorable people be exposed and removed from places of authority.
· You have set our iniquities before You, Our secret sins in the light of Your countenance . . . So teach us to number our days, That we may gain a heart of wisdom. (Psalm 90:8, 12)
5. A Bumpy Economic Recovery, with Hope in Midwest, South - USA Today
Only 41 of 135 metropolitan areas in the Northeast and West were in recovery in February, according to Moody's Economy.com. By contrast, two-thirds of the 249 metro areas in the Midwest and South were on the upswing based on the February data, the latest available.
· Lord, we pray during these times of hardship, people will find comfort and direction and provision through you. Let there be testimonies of your lovingkindness and miracles! Give the people a heart of compassion towards one another.
· For the Lord God is a sun and shield; The Lord will give grace and glory; No good thing will He withhold From those who walk uprightly. (Psalm 84:11)
6. Tornado Survivors Recount God's Protection - One News Now
A Mississippi man says he prayed to God under a communion table as his church was blown to pieces around him by a tornado on Saturday. Yazoo County Coroner Ricky Shivers -- a Baptist deacon -- says he was in his truck when the twister picked it up and flipped it four times. Shivers says he told God that if it was his time to die, he was ready.
· Heavenly Father, we give you the praise, glory and honor for these people who were spared. We pray those affected in this storm and other storms will have all the help they need. Send them provisions and people to minister to them.
· I have not hidden Your righteousness within my heart; I have declared Your faithfulness and Your salvation; I have not concealed Your lovingkindness and Your truth From the Great Assembly. (Psalm 40:10)
7. Obama Renews Vow of New Beginning with Muslims - Reuters
Hussein Obama on Monday renewed his commitment to a "new beginning" with the Muslim world, vowing no let-up in U.S. efforts to promote Middle East peace, curb militant violence and boost economic development.
"Despite the inevitable difficulties, so long as I am president, the United States will never waver in our pursuit of a two-state solution that ensures the rights and security of both Israelis and Palestinians," Obama pledged. But he offered no new initiative to revive long-stalled peace talks.
· Lord, God, we are a Christian nation and we pray that our courts and citizens will declare and proclaim that fact. We will have no foreign gods before us, and we will bless and not divide Israel.
· I will also gather all nations, and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat; and I will enter into judgment with them there On account of My people, My heritage Israel, Whom they have scattered among the nations; for they have also divided up My land. (Joel 3:2) Babylon shall become a heap, a dwelling place for jackals, an astonishment and a hissing, without an inhabitant. (Jeremiah 51:37)
The Middle East in Focus
This week, for all the headlines cited below, please join us in proclaiming THIS DECREE:
" . . . I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be pulled up out of their land which I have given them, says LORD your God." (Amos 9:15)
1.'Al-Qaida terrorists may pose as Ethiopians to sneak into Israel' - Ha'aretz
The Yemen-based arm of Al-Qaida is examining the possibility of infiltrating terrorists into Israel disguised as Somali refugees crossing the border from Egypt or even as new immigrants from Ethiopia.
2. After three millennia in exile, Bnei Menashe lost tribe heads home - London Times
When Tzvi Khaute landed at Tel Aviv for the first time, he wanted to kiss the earth. Alas, the modern airport was all tarmac and stone, so he kissed the first soil he came across, in a flowerpot. Thousands of diaspora Jews from around the world make aliyah -- the migration to Israel -- every year, but for Tzvi and his fellow Tibeto-Burmese immigrants from the far northeast of India, the journey was particular freighted with symbolism. They believe they are descendants of one of the ten lost tribes of Israel, sent into exile by the Assyrians almost 800 years before the Romans destroyed the temple in Jerusalem.
3. Egyptian FM calls Israel 'enemy' - Ynet News
Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit referred to Israel as an "enemy" during a press conference in Beirut on Saturday.
4. Abbas: I don't want to declare unilateral statehood - Ha'aretz
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Monday said he opposes the unilateral declaration of a Palestinian state, in an exclusive interview on Channel 2 news.
5. Mitchell to arrive in Israel Thursday - Ynet News
Special US envoy to the Middle East George Mitchell is slated to arrive in Israel on Thursday, Jerusalem officials said.
The Daily Jot
Repeating the Pilgrim's Mistakes of Communism From 400 Years Ago
There are many states lining up to oppose the federal government's socialized healthcare mandate. If there ever was an issue that marked the historic beginnings of the federal government becoming the enemy of the people, this is it. On one side, the communists that occupy our government are pulling the compassion strings of American's hearts, saying that everyone has a right to health care. On the other side, the communist regime will ration care and dismantle the very best health care system in the world. There is no American citizen that is denied reasonable, life sustaining health care in this nation. The system may need reform, but it is not in need of destruction.
This is not about health care, it is about government control over the financial and physical lives of every individual in the nation. This is where the guarantees of free speech and freedom of religion come into play. The exercise of worship is not connected to the compulsory government conduct of social justice--this is reserved for the church. Jesus said in Luke 4:18,19, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the broknenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord."
From a Christian worldview, it is Christ's people, not a centralized government, that must minister to the poor, and provide healing, restoration, comfort and vigilance over Liberty. The earliest account of American history provided by Mayflower leader William Bradford indicates that the ability to worship freely was the central theme of the Pilgrims. And in that, he writes, "We are knit together as a body in a most strict and sacred bond and covenant of the Lord, of the violation whereof we make great conscience, and by virtue whereof we hold ourselves straitly tied to all care of each other's good." And they proved this when they were dying sometimes two or three per day in their care for one another's health.
Bill Wilson
Word of Life Ministry
www.dailyjot.com
Franklin Graham and the Pentagon
Military Won't Take Graham at Faith Value
Almost nine years after 9-11, the Pentagon is the site of a new attack--this time on religious freedom. After a few days of speculation, the military advanced its policy of political correctness to bar Rev. Franklin Graham, son of the evangelist Billy Graham, from speaking at the Pentagon's National Day of Prayer event.
Apparently an outside group had complained about Graham's statements about Islam and the evil perpetrated under its banner. Their concerns were fueled by his unapologetic view that only Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life.
As political correctness envelops the nation under this administration's watchful eye, Christianity is being tossed from the public square. Military spokesman Col. Tom Collins tried to defend the decision by saying, "We're an all-inclusive military." But to be "inclusive," as the Pentagon defines it, is to exclude Christianity. Contrary to what Col. Collins says, this has nothing to do with tolerance and everything to do with the military's new hostility toward the Gospel. Franklin Graham is a man of courage and integrity whose biblical beliefs should not preclude him from sharing the message of Jesus Christ.
Under President Obama, we're witnessing the First Amendment, designed to protect the religious exercise of Americans, retooled into a sword designed to sever America's ties with orthodox Christianity. As believers, we cannot sit idly by and watch our freedoms be swept away. When I was disinvited from a prayer luncheon at Andrews Air Force base, it was because I made comments supporting the law banning gays from the military. Some dismissed that as a result of my involvement in public policy. Rev. Graham, whose ministry has served to the physical and spiritual needs of millions of people (including Muslims!) around the globe, was making some key distinctions between Christianity and the religion that flew radicals into the Pentagon.
Schumer Awakens From His Slumber
New York Senator Charles Schumer, a loyal and liberal Democrat, fired a warning shot at the White House yesterday. Referring to the Obama Administration's treatment of Israel, Schumer said, "This has to stop." Schumer was interviewed on a New York radio show and said, "I told the President, I told Rahm Emanuel and others in the administration that I thought the policy they took to try to bring about negotiations is counter-productive..Palestinians don't really believe in a state of Israel."
Schumer blasted the State Department's "terrible" suggestion that American support for Israel depended on "the pace of [peace] negotiations." Schumer said, "That is the dagger because the relationship is much deeper than the disagreements on negotiations, and most Americans - Democrat, Republican, Jew, non-Jew - would feel that."
Senator Schumer also warned, ". . . right now there is a battle going on inside the administration, one side agrees with us, one side doesn't, and we're pushing hard to make sure the right side wins."
There isn't much that Chuck Schumer and I agree on. But on this issue New York's senior senator and I wholeheartedly agree. America and Israel share a common bond, face the same Islamofascist enemy and must stand united. I will never abandon the Jewish state, and I will continue to speak out against the evils of anti-Semitism and Islamic jihadism. (Gary Bauer; End-of-Day; 4/23/10)
Another Look at Obamacare
ObamaCare = Higher Taxes & Broken Promises
The Obama White House got slammed yesterday by two government agencies charged with analyzing the costs of ObamaCare. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services reported yesterday that the healthcare "reform" legislation will not, as President Obama repeatedly promised, reduce healthcare costs. To the contrary, it will "increase national health care spending by $311 billion" over the next decade.
Previously, anyone who said that more government intervention would lead to higher costs was accused of making "bogus" and "wild" claims. But according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, it was Barack Obama who was making bogus claims.
In addition, the Congressional Budget Office reported that fines stemming from the individual mandate would raise nearly $4 billion in tax revenue in one two-year period. But the CBO also noted that 76% of those affected by the individual mandate to purchase health insurance will make less than $120,000 a year.
As Senator Charles Grassley explained, "The mandate is a tax increase that hits middle-class America the hardest. And these people make less than $250,000, which breaks the president's pledge to not raise taxes on individuals earning less than $200,000 and families earning less than $250,000 a year."
Whether it's Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton or Barack Obama, the liberal agenda never changes. It always ends in broken promises, bigger government, higher taxes and increased spending. (Gary Bauer; End-of-Day; 4/23/10)
A Look Back in History
Roots of Islamic fundamentalism lie in Nazi propaganda for Arab world, book claims
The roots of Islamic fanaticism can be traced to Adolf Hitler's radio messages broadcast around the Arab world during the Second World War, according to a new book. "Your only hope for rescue is the destruction of the Jews before they destroy you!" Hitler said in a 1942 message, one of thousands broadcast across the Middle East in an attempt to woo the Arab world. In a broadcast aimed at provoking an anti-Semitic uprising in Egypt, he said: "A large number of Jews who live in Egypt, along with Poles, Greeks, Armenians and Frenchmen, have guns and ammunition. "Some Jews in Cairo have even asked the British authorities to set up machine guns on the roofs of their houses," he claimed.
But the Nazi's wartime broadcasts had remained a largely hidden chapter in the history of the war until the transmissions were unearthed by a US scholar, who believes they have fuelled continuing unrest in the Middle East. "The conflict between Israel and the Palestinians would have been over long ago were it not for the uncompromising, religiously inspired hatred of the Jews that was articulated and given assistance by Nazi propagandists and continued after the war by Islamists of various sorts," said Jeffrey Herf, a history professor at the University of Maryland. (Daily Telegraph - London)
Read more.
The Good News Corner
Louisville Sluggers for Decency
Just when we thought nothing good could possibly come out of these courts, the Kentucky Supreme Court delivered a huge victory for local families. With more than 175 sexually-oriented businesses to its name, Louisville used to be the Midwest's " Sin City." That all changed when a local church got fed up with having their community worn down and unregulated. With help from our friend Phil Burress, Southeast Christian Church launched ROCK (Reclaim our Culture Kentuckiana) at Southeast Christian Church. Together, the group started attending hearings, talking to city officials, and testifying in cases over sexually-oriented businesses. "It's almost like a tea party for decency," said one businessman. In just six years, they've chased 112 shops out of town.
And after this week's ruling, there will certainly be more. Angry with the tighter scrutiny, the local adult industry sued to overturn the 2004 ordinances--and lost. All seven justices on the high court found the city's rules "lawful," shocking the state's ring of filthy businesses. Among other things, the provision bans "alcohol sales inside clubs with nude dancing, limits hours of operation, creates a six-foot buffer zone between stage dancers and customers." It also forces these locales to pay annual fees and fill out a battery of paperwork. Congratulations to a community that not only had the courage to stand up, but the will to keep standing even when things got tough! (Family Research Council)
Worship With Us Today!
LORD GOD OF ABRAHAM - By PAUL WILBUR
PRAISE AND GLORY BE TO YOU GOD OF ABRAHAM, ISAAC, AND ISRAEL, OUR LORD AND SAVIOUR!
Worship Him now with all your might!!
