In This Issue• The Daily Brief
• The Middle East in Focus
• The Daily Jot
• A Media Conspiracy
• Senate Opens Hearings on Berwick
• Tea Party Caucus Forms on the Hill!!
• The Good News Corner
• Worship with Us Today!
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The Daily Brief - Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Jesus said, "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in Me. (John 14:1)
The Daily Brief
1. Judge Extends Order Blocking Okla. Abortion Law - NewsMax
A judge has issued an injunction extending a temporary restraining order blocking enforcement of an Oklahoma law that would require women seeking abortions to have an ultrasound and hear a description of the fetus. At a hearing Monday, Oklahoma County District Judge Noma Gurich said the order would remain in effect at least until a hearing Jan. 21. The law had already been temporarily blocked in May after the Center for Reproductive Rights in New York sued to have it declared unconstitutional.
• Lord, we pray against this assault of the Oklahoma law that would educate people about the babies' development. We pray that every effort to thwart this law will be defeated and this law be found constitutional. Let other states also enact such laws.
• "Take heed that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that in heaven their angels always see the face of My Father who is in Heaven." (Matthew 18:10)
2. BP Weighs New Way to Kill Gulf Well - Wall Street Journal
Oil giant BP PLC was Monday considering yet another method to kill its ruptured Gulf of Mexico oil well amid concerns that the cap it installed last week could be allowing oil and gas to seep out the sides. The company still intends to drill the relief well even if it proceeds with the newest plan, called a static kill, to confirm that the leaking well is dead. The first of two relief wells is currently "looking directly" at the well, and will be able to intersect it at the end of July, Mr. Wells said.
• Thank you, Lord, for answering our prayers regarding creative ideas on how to cap this oil leak successfully. We pray you will give us leaders in our government who will use the information learned from this crisis in ways to improve our response to national calamities. Let oil companies and our nation learn how we can respond better and quicker.
• Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles! Laud Him, all you peoples! For His merciful kindness is great toward us, And the truth of the Lord endures forever. Praise the Lord! (Psalms 117:1, 2)
3. Gulf Oil Well Cap Appears Successful - USA Today
Engineers battling the Gulf of Mexico oil spill are confident that the cap over the rogue well is strong enough that they may be able to plug it by pumping mud inside, bringing the three-month disaster closer to an end, BP and the Coast Guard said Monday. The ultimate solution - drilling down to the base of the leaking well and plugging it with cement - is also nearing completion. Workers are finalizing preparations to drill the final section of a "relief well" to intersect the damaged well, which could happen by the end of next week, Wells said.
Both Allen and Wells said that blocking the leak with a second well remained the best solution, and would proceed regardless of whether a top kill succeeds.
• Father God, we pray that companies will never drill deeply again without having a solid plan on what to do in case of an emergency. We pray the damage to wildlife, coastlines, and businesses will not be as bad as expected.
• May you be blessed by the Lord, Who made heaven and earth. The heaven, even the heavens, are the Lord's; But the earth He has given to the children of men. (Psalm 115:15)
4. BP Considers New Plan to Permanently Seal Well - New York Times
Kent Wells, a senior vice president for BP, said the company was studying the possibility of a "static kill," in which heavy mud would be pumped into the recently capped well. Also known as bullheading, the procedure would force the oil and gas back down into the reservoir.
He said that the procedure could speed the process of sealing the well and that the digging of a relief well, which has been seen as the ultimate solution and could be completed by August, might be needed only to confirm that the technique had worked.
• Thank you, Lord, for such an amazing turn of events. We pray this huge oil leak will be permanently sealed, and there will be no further problems. Give us safe fuels and companies in the world that have strict safety guidelines.
• The end of a thing is better than its beginning; The patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit. Do not hasten in your spirit to be angry, for anger rests in the bosom of fools. (Ecclesiastes 7:8, 9)
5. US Gay Rights Group Gets UN Accreditation - NewsMax
The U.N. Economic and Social Council voted Monday to accredit the U.S.-based International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission after strong lobbying by the Obama administration. The group will now be able to attend U.N. meetings, submit statements and collaborate with both government and U.N. agencies on human rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, commission officials said.
The group's accreditation is a victory for Obama, who has been chipping away at a long list of promises to gay voters, a strong source of support in the 2008 election.
• Lord, in the name of Jesus we bind this continual attack by the homosexual groups to overturn and pervert our laws. We pray, also, this administration will be blocked from working against our nation with actions that go against decency and our families.
• Get up, sanctify the people, and say, 'Sanctify yourselves for tomorrow, because thus says the Lord God of Israel: "There is an accursed thing in your midst, O Israel; you cannot stand before your enemies until you take away the accursed thing from among you." (Joshua 7:13)
6. A Showdown Over Immigration - USA Today
The outcome of the legal battle over immigration in Arizona could jeopardize hundreds of immigration laws passed by state and local governments. Yet the law institute's Michael Hethmon says they are still outmanned. "The number of attorneys involved on the alien side of this probably outnumber the legal team on the enforcement side by thousands to one," he says.
Community groups such as the Somos America Coalition train citizens in community centers, high school auditoriums and gatherings in people's living rooms about their rights, what to do if they are arrested and how their families should respond if they are separated.
• Lord, even though Arizona is being overwhelmed with lawsuits, we pray favor upon the state and declare the lawsuits will not be successful. We pray that illegal immigrants will chose to return to their original countries, rather than jeopardize their families. Close all loopholes and gaps in our security.
• For forty years I was grieved with that generation, and said, 'It is a people who go astray in their hearts, and they do not know My ways.' So I swore in My wrath, 'They shall not enter My rest.' (Psalms 95:10, 11)
7. National Guard to Head to Border States Aug. 1 - MSNBC
National Guard troops will head to the U.S.-Mexican border Aug. 1 for a yearlong deployment to keep a lookout for illegal border crossers and smugglers and help in criminal investigations, federal officials said Monday. The troops will be armed but can use their weapons only to protect themselves, Gen. Craig McKinley, chief of the National Guard Bureau. The troops will undergo initial training and be fully deployed along the nearly 2,000-mile southern border by September.
The announcement provides details on how the government will implement Obama's May decision to bolster border security. It also comes as the U.S. debate over illegal immigration has intensified in an election year.
• Lord, we pray that dispatching the guards to our borders will not become a political game, and there will be no resistance or violence as the guards take their place on the borders. We bind any persons or groups from trying to usurp this action to secure our borders.
• There is no wisdom or understanding Or counsel against the Lord. The horse is prepared for the day of battle, But deliverance is of the Lord. (Proverbs 21:30-31)
8. ALERT!! Senate Committee Approves Kagan for Supreme Court - AP
Pushing toward an election-year Supreme Court confirmation vote, a polarized Senate Judiciary Committee Tuesday approved Elena Kagan to be the fourth female justice.
Just one Republican joined Democrats to approve Kagan's nomination and send it to the full Senate, where she's expected to win confirmation within weeks.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., broke with his party to cast the sole GOP "yes" vote on President Obama's nominee to succeed retiring Justice John Paul Stevens. The vote was 13-6.
- In spite of all odds, be not weary in well doing, for a vote by the full Senate yet awaits us. It will now take a miracle to stop this nomination, but we serve a God who specializes in performing miracles. Trust, pray, act, and enlist others to join you in any effort to block this nomination before the full Senate.
- "Greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world." (I John 4:4)
9. Senate Clears Way for Vote on Jobless Aid - Fox News
Millions of people stuck on the jobless rolls would receive an extension of unemployment benefits averaging $309 a week under a Senate bill that appears set to break free of a Republican filibuster. Democrats have stripped the unemployment insurance measure down to the bare essentials for Tuesday's vote, which is a do-over of a tally taken late last month.
The measure passed late today. The House will take it up tomorrow and then send it to Obama for his signature.
- Offer praise that a compromise has been reached that is acceptable to both parties, so our citizens do not have to go hungry during this current downturn. Ask our Lord to bless His own, causing the current allocation of $309/month to stretch supernaturally, meeting all needs in affected households. Praise God for the United States of America -- which is STILL "one nation under God."
- "When I said, "My foot is slipping," your love, O LORD, supported me." (Psalm 94:18)
The Middle East in Focus
This week, for all the headlines cited below, please join us in proclaiming THIS DECREE:
Come, let us bow down in worship; let us kneel before the LORD our Maker. (Psalm 95:6)
1. Al-Qaida No. 2 blasts Arab leaders for 'surrendering' to Israel - Ha'aretz
Al-Qaida second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahiri blasted Arab leaders for having "surrendered" to Israel after their last summit in March, according to a new message posted Monday on Islamist websites.
2. Iron Dome passes final tests - Jerusalem Post
The Iron Dome defense system provides a complete solution to all rocket threats to Israel from Lebanon and the Gaza Strip, Yossi Drucker, director of Rafael's Iron Dome project, told Israel Radio on Tuesday.
3. Is Israel on the Brink of War? - CBN News
Will there be a war in the Middle East this summer? That's the question many are asking.
The Daily Jot
The race card and the Bible
READERS WARNING: This Jot may be shocking to you. It may challenge some of your thought process. It may anger you. Instead of being united under the nation's first president of color, it appears that the races have become even more polarized than they were before the presidential election. Race has become a major issue in the hearts and minds of Americans. Just recently, former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin tweeted "Peace-seeking Muslims, pls understand, Ground Zero mosque is UNNECESSARY provocation; it stabs hearts. Pls reject it in interest of healing."
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg's policy aid replied, "whose hearts? Racist hearts?"
Since when is Islam a race? Since this new dawn of playing the racist card as the first retort to anything with which anybody disagrees. Last week, I was called a racist for attending a rally in support of the Arizona illegal immigration law. I have been accused of being racist for criticizing the socialist policies and radical appointments of the White House. I have had well meaning people of color who love the LORD email me wondering why I believe that social justice is wrong minded, or why collective salvation is heresy. They believe that there needs to be balance in the Conservative Christian message so as to promote unity among the diverse ethnics and races in Christianity.
Whites are experiencing first hand the reverse racist policies of the White House. As my friend Robert Knight pointed out in a recent Washington Times article: "Attorney General Eric Holder, who accused his fellow Americans of being "a nation of cowards" for not talking more about race, dismissed charges against New Black Panther Party members caught on tape blatantly intimidating voters at a Philadelphia polling place in 2008. One defendant, King Samir Shabbaz, who wore military garb and brandished a baton, later told a black audience, "You want freedom? You're gonna have to kill some crackers! You're gonna have to kill some of their babies!" This is just one example of many.
Maybe us white folk are finally seeing much of what our Black brethren perceived to be a problem for generations. Two wrongs don't make it right, but common Biblical sense would go a long way toward healing these issues. For example, social justice in ending discrimination and establishing a man's rights as endowed by the Creator is appropriate. Social justice in establishing a dictatorial government and/or redistributing wealth is evil. We need to be a Matthew 22:39 people where Jesus commanded, "Thou shalt love they neighbor as thyself." If we were to love one another, and get back to the balanced principles of the Bible--not twisting them for political or economic gain--we would be a powerfully united country!
Have a Blessed and Powerful Day!
Bill Wilson
Word of Life Ministry
www.dailyjot.com
A Media Conspiracy
Liberal Media Conspired To Save Obama
There is a shocking report today from the Daily Caller exposing a vast left-wing media conspiracy to save Barack Obama's 2008 campaign by shutting down reporting on Jeremiah Wright.
This goes way beyond charges of media bias. This is much more than one reporter allowing his or her own opinions to slant coverage of an issue. This involves a cabal of journalists from multiple news organizations conspiring to control the news and plotting to impugn the reputations of other journalists all in an effort to aid a candidate for president of the United States. And it reflects a well-documented pattern.
After the Jeremiah Wright controversy emerged during a 2008 presidential debate, members of Journolist (an online community of liberal journalists, professors and activists) recognized the potential threat to Obama and began strategizing about how to respond. True to the Saul Alinsky playbook, their reaction was not to repudiate Jeremiah Wright, but to condemn those who dared to question Obama about his long-term relationship with Wright. Here was the plan, articulated by Spencer Ackerman of the Washington Independent:
"What is necessary is to raise the cost on the right of going after the left . . . let the right know that it needs to live in a state of constant fear.If the right forces us all to either defend Wright or tear him down, no matter what we choose, we lose the game they've put upon us. Instead, take one of them - Fred Barnes, Karl Rove, who cares - and call them racists."
Change the subject by calling your opponents racists. If this sounds familiar, it should. It worked for the Left during the 2008 campaign, so it has continued doing it for the past 18 months. "Racism" became the Left's retort to any policy disagreement. Whether it was town hall protestors worried about ObamaCare, Tea Party activists worried about out-of-control spending or Obama's policy toward Israel, in the fevered brows of liberals, racism was always the culprit motivating every critic.
With a media establishment so willing to protect him - even willing to ignore the virulent anti-Americanism and racism of Jeremiah Wright - it's no surprise that Obama feels free to distort the truth to advance his agenda.
Please, share this report with friends and family members who may be on the political fence. Many Americans, even some who are sympathetic to the liberal agenda, will be disgusted by these deceptive tactics. There are 105 days until the November elections. We cannot afford to take anything for granted. We must redouble our efforts in support of conservative candidates and causes. Working together, we can stop Obama's socialism and make America a shining city upon a hill once again! (Gary Bauer)
Senate Opens Hearings on Berwick
Senate Swings, Donald Ducks
Facing pressure about his new number one at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Service (CMS), Obama sent Donald Berwick back to the Senate for consideration after his controversial recess appointment. Senators from both sides were more than a little stunned that a man in his position--with control over a trillion dollar health care budget--would be hired without at least a public hearing about his views.
Alarm bells started sounding early on, when Berwick's quotes surfaced about his preference for health care rationing over treatment. His comments were so outlandish that even Democrats didn't want to schedule a hearing on his confirmation. With an election looming, they don't want to have to defend this doctor in public--an d, frankly, neither does Obama.
Berwick is the poster boy for rationed, universal care. And while liberals may have the votes to push him through the process, they never wanted to let America in on his dirty little secret: he's a cheerleader for socialized medicine. his top 10 outrageous views, and Berwick is so outside the medical mainstream that he even calls ultrasound technology "scientifically unnecessary." For an administration hoping to avoid a messy PR campaign over Berwick's appointment, this belated attempt at transparency is too little, too late. (Family Research Council)
Tea Party Caucus Forms on the Hill!!
House Administration Committee Gives Bachmann OK to Form Tea Party Caucus
Tea Party Caucus to Host Debut Event on Wednesday
The House Administration Committee Monday approved a request by Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., to form the Tea Party Caucus.
House caucuses are semi-official congressional member organizations that lawmakers create, ranging across the political and policy spectrum. No congressional money is allotted for this. But lawmakers can use official congressional resources for these functions.
Last week, Bachmann requested House Speaker Nancy Pelosi approve the caucus "to promote Americans' call for fiscal responsibility, adherence to the Constitution and limited government."
"This caucus will espouse the timeless principles of our founding, principles that all members of Congress have sworn to uphold," Bachmann said.
House Administration Committee Chairman Robert Brady, D-Pa., informed Bachmann Monday that the Tea Party Caucus appears "to be in full compliance with the applicable regulations."
It's unknown how many lawmakers may join the Tea Party Caucus, but Bachmann's stewardship bears watching since the national Tea Party movement has neither a formal leader nor administrative structure.
Shortly after the announcement, Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind., announced his plan to join the caucus, saying that he supports "any opportunity to encourage focus on common sense Republican values" on Capitol Hill.
In other news, a big Capitol Hill Tea Party starts Wednesday at 9 a.m -- the first official meeting of the Congressional Tea Party Caucus.
At least eight House members, all Republicans, are joining the Tea Party Caucus. The members include Reps. Mike Pence of Indiana, Pete Hoekstra of Michigan, Paul Broun of Georgia, Todd Tiahrt of Kansas, John Carter of Texas, Cliff Stearns of Florida and Dan Burton of Indiana.
Prayer Point:
Offer a chorus of PRAISE upon hearing this breaking news on Capitol Hill. We rejoice that Rep. Michele Bachmann has found the wisdom to organize this caucus which will, indeed, "espouse the timeless principles of our founding, principles that all members of Congress have sworn to uphold," as she has stated. (Fox News)
Pray for the protection of Rep. Bachmann, as well as the other eight members named in this report; and come against any backlash against them or their family members. It's time to take a stand for America -- it's time to take a stand FOR the righteous on the Hill!
- "Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people . . " (Proverbs 14:34)
The Good News Corner
Another US State Chooses Life
Missouri 5th State to Opt Out of Taxpayer-Funded Abortion
[Last Week], Missouri Governor Jay Nixon allowed SB 793 to become law without his signature. The law will significantly enhance the state's informed consent protections for pregnant women and make Missouri the fifth state to opt-out of the abortion mandate in the federal health care law.
A spokesman for the governor, Scott Holste, would not say whether the governor personally supports or opposes the abortion bill.
"Gov. Nixon believes that that given the legislative deliberations, appropriate action is to allow the bill to go into effect," Holste said, according to the Associated Press.
Under the new informed consent provisions, women must be advised of the risks of abortion, given information about the physiological characteristics of their unborn child, and be presented with what resources are available to women who choose to bring their child to term.
Abortionists will also be required to provide a brochure proclaiming: "The life of each human being begins at conception. Abortion will terminate the life of a separate, unique, living human being."
Women must also be given the opportunity to view an ultrasound, learn about the pain an unborn child may feel during a later term abortion, and to have access to a telephone if she is at the abortion facility under duress from a third party.
"We applaud our allies in the Missouri legislature for dramatically enhancing the informed consent protections for women in Missouri and making Missouri the fifth state to opt out of taxpayer-funded abortion," said Dr. Charmaine Yoest, President & CEO of Americans United for Life (AUL). "This new law protects women, their unborn children, and taxpayers making it a win for everyone in the state."
AUL's State Director Kerry Messer had worked extensively with Senate sponsor Rob Mayer on the legislation.
"Throughout my career, I have had a strong pro-life record, and today is really a big leap forward in protecting the lives of the unborn," Sen. Mayer stated. "I truly believe that anyone who can hear the heartbeat of these children, or see the pain the child goes through, and is told about the many options they have, will ultimately choose life." (Breaking Christian News)
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