In This Issue• The Daily Brief
• The Middle East in Focus
• The Daily Jot - Part One
• The Daily Jot (Part Two)
• Clinically Insane?
• Defund Planned Parenthood
• Mubarak Obama?
• The Good News Corner
• Worship with Us Today!
Greetings!
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The Daily Brief - Tuesday, February 15, 2011
And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. (Romans 8:28)
The Daily Brief
1. Mubarak in Life/death State in Germany Hospital - Examiner
We have learned through foreign sources that Hosni Mubarak was flown this morning to a Baden hospital in Germany after falling into a coma. The report was confirmed this morning by Bahrain daily Al Wasat who indicated that just prior to leaving for his resort in Sharm-el-Sheikh, Mubarak became comatose.
Apparently, prior to delivering his last speech on national Egyptian television, we also learned that Mubarak had fainted. This is the explanation given for the delay between the announcement of his anticipated speech and his actual appearance several hours later. His fragile state of health was also cited as the reason for which the army did not insist that he leave earlier.
• Lord, we pray for the intrigues that are going on in the Middle East to be exposed including what has happened to Mubarak. We pray that those who want to create crisis in the Middle Eastern area will not succeed. Let them fail utterly and let no wicked governments be set up. Give the people of that region super caution and abundant wisdom about who they want for their leaders.
• Let them be ashamed who persecute me, But do not let me be put to shame; Let them be dismayed, But do not let me be dismayed. Bring on them the day of doom, And destroy them with double destruction! (Jeremiah 17:18)
2. Obama Unveils $3.73 Trillion Budget for 2012 - Fox News
Obama is sending Congress a $3.73 trillion spending blueprint that pledges $1.1 trillion in deficit savings over the next decade through spending cuts and tax increases. The one-third of savings would come from tax increases. The biggest tax hike would come from a proposal to trim the deductions the wealthiest Americans can claim for charitable contributions, mortgage interest and state and local tax payments. Obama's budget avoided painful choices in some areas although it does call for $78 billion in reductions to Pentagon spending over the next decade by trimming what it views as unnecessary weapons programs such as the C-17 aircraft, the alternative engine for the Joint Strike Fighter aircraft and the Marine expeditionary vehicle.
"Americans don't want a spending freeze at unsustainable levels," said Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell. "They want cuts, dramatic cuts." Boehner said that Obama's budget "will continue to destroy jobs by spending too much, borrowing too much and taxing too much." Lew rejected criticism that the $1.1 trillion deficit-cutting goal fell far short of the $4 trillion in deficit cuts outlined by the president's own deficit commission in a plan unveiled last December.
• Lord, a $3.73 trillion budget is still too high. We pray for those who would spend recklessly without taking into account the consequences. We pray our defense budget will not be cut. Let solid, conservative, Christians now be in leadership so that we can once again follow the disciplines you have told us to follow.
• "See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil . . . blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live (Deuteronomy 30:15, 19)
3. Obama Walking Tightrope in Mideast, Say Experts - NewsMax
"Tunis was a shockwave. Cairo will be the tsunami and every autocrat in the Arab world and the autocrats in (non-Arab) Irain will now have to worry what this means for their future," analyst Bruce Riedel told AFP. He said, if popular revolts challenge the kingdoms of Jordan and oil-rich Saudi Arabia, Washington must try to ensure these "allies don't get more rattled than they already are." Otherwise, they could become defensive and resort to violent crackdowns that would spur instability and send shockwaves throughout the region, he warned.
Hillary Mann Leverett, who worked in former president George W. Bush's National Security Council, said she feared the Obama administration could repeat the mistakes of its predecessors. She recalled how past U.S. administrations misread Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution and the 2006 Palestinian elections that gave the Islamist Hamas a victory. Leverett said the Obama administration must be careful to back a broad array of credible opposition members in Egypt - but avoid helping the Muslim Brotherhood.
• Lord, we pray for the president and his administration to have reserve and wisdom on how to present the American viewpoints to the Middle Eastern nations. We pray for the peace of the Lord to permeate this area, and turn this around for the good of all the people. Let this administration not support any Moslem groups especially those who believe in Sharia. Protect the Christians living there.
• And the Lord said: "I have surely seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows. (Exodus 3:7)
4. How the Obama Budget Might fall on Your Shoulders - AP
Crumbling inner-city sidewalks, cleaner air, dirtier drinking water, more debt for some college students and higher heating costs for low-income families could be part of the legacy of Obama's proposed budget. One way or another, his effort to save money in hundreds of programs might touch every American.
In other ways, too, the government would give with one hand and take with the other. After expanding other programs that help students with their college debt, Obama wants to achieve some savings for the government from the same pot. He is proposing to reduce loan subsidies for graduate and professional students, exposing some of them to interest on their college loans while they are still in school.
• Lord, there must be wisdom in what programs to cut and how to go about it. We do not want confusion and chaos, but a streamlined government that will help the ones truly in need. Give them a plan for incentives to help people get off welfare that do not truly need it.
• How long will you slumber, O sluggard? When will you rise from your sleep? A little sleep, a little slumber - So shall your poverty come on you like a prowler, and your need like an armed man. (Proverbs 6: 9, 11)
5. Allen West closes CPAC promising 'new dawn in America' - The Hill
Freshman Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.) gave a speech to close this year's Conservative Political Action Conference that earned a more enthusiastic reaction from conservative activists than those given by most rumored 2012 presidential hopefuls over the past three days. The first-term congressman brought the audience to its feet several times late Saturday, repudiating President Obama's social and economic policies and promising "a new dawn in America."
West said now is the time to reform the tax code, lower taxes on business, eliminate the capital gains tax and fight for the adoption of a Constitutional balanced budget amendment. "I say we start looking at every government agency and program that's been created in the last ten years, and let's start making some hard choices," said West, who received a loud cheer when he singled out the Environmental Protection Agency. He said "liberal progressivism" has failed all over the world and he devoted a sizable portion of his speech to social issues, emphasizing his opposition to abortion and gay marriage.
• Lord, we thank you for raising up candidates like Rep. Allen West to come forward and be elected at this time of crisis in our nation. He is a true representative of our people because he is a man who is a Christian, Conservative, Prolife, and was willing to lay down his life for us in military service. We pray for more like him to run for office - especially the presidency.
• Some Gadites joined David at the stronghold in the wilderness, mighty men of valor, men trained for battle, who could handle shield and spear, whose faces were like the faces of lions, and were as swift as gazelles on the mountains (1 Chronicles 12:8)
6. Republicans, White House Brace for Twin Budget Battles - Fox News
Republicans looking to make deep spending cuts are girding for twin budget battles in Washington starting this week -- a fiscal fight one lawmaker said will define the rest of President Obama's term. Congressional Budget Office Director Douglas Elmendorf told a congressional committee last month that cumulative deficits over the next 10 years could run as high as $12 trillion. He said without serious cutbacks, the national debt could reach nearly 100 percent of GDP in that period.
White House Budget Director Jacob Lew, pressed to weigh in, reserved comment on the GOP plan Sunday. "Our budget will get us, over the next several years, to the point where we can look the American people in the eye and say we're not adding to the debt anymore, we're spending money that we have each year. And then we can work on bringing down our national debt," he said.
• Lord, we cannot wait until several years to make serious cuts in the spending. This administration still lacks urgency in this debt crisis. Let the new congress make the cuts as you direct them, and let there be little or no opposition. Let those cuts be in unnecessary programs and not to the vital ones.
• Restore now to them, even this day, their lands, their vineyards, their olive groves, and their houses, also a hundredth of the money and the grain, the new wine and the oil, that you have charged them." (Nehemiah 5:11)
7. 7 Charged in New York With Conspiring to Aid Taliban - Fox News
Terrorism charges filed against seven men accused of selling drugs and weapons to help the Taliban fight U.S. troops overseas. Seven men, including two American citizens, Orbach and Pouryan, were charged Monday with selling drugs and weapons in an effort to help the Taliban fight U.S. troops overseas.
As the drug relationship blossomed, the DEA also began negotiating to buy anti-aircraft missiles and automatic weapons, prosecutors said. Those inquiries led the DEA to Orbach and Pouryan, who discussed selling anti-tank missiles, grenade launchers and other weapons to the Taliban. An e-mail seized by prosecutors revealed a price list ranging from $120 or so for an M16 rifle to $87,000 and up for a Javelin anti-take missile. Prosecutors said they believe the men were working with a co-conspirator in Lebanon. The co-conspirator was not named.
• Lord, we thank you for answered prayers. We have asked and continue to ask that you place vigilant people in charge of our defenses. Remove anyon
e who is not of you, and give us people with wisdom and discernment to make sharp decisions about guarding our security and our nation.• Thus says the Lord: "Behold, I am fashioning a disaster and devising a plan against you. Return now everyone from his evil way, and make your ways and your doings good." (Jeremiah 18:11)
8. Bill to Ban Abortion Advances in Iowa - ABC News
Abortion clinics across Iowa may be on the way out. A republican lawmaker introduced a bill that would ban abortion and a house sub-committee advanced the legislation after a 2-1 vote Monday. The measure introduced by Republican Representative Kim Pearson would make all forms of abortion illegal in Iowa. Pearson says it's important for the Iowa Legislature to go on record as being pro-life. Opponents of the bill say by defining life as beginning at the moment of conception, the bill would also prohibit many forms of contraception such as Plan B, also known as the morning after pill and for some Democratic lawmakers, that choice belongs to the mother.
Planned parenthood did comment on the bill Monday, saying the real reason behind all of this is to challenge a US Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion. The bill would have to pass in order for that to happen and it still has a ways to go before it would end up on Governor Terry Branstad's desk.
• Lord, we thank you that you are raising up officials who have your heart and mind on this topic. Restore holiness to our nation from the highest position to the least. And give us righteous courts, and judges that remember your laws.
• These six things the Lord hates, Yes, seven are an abomination to Him: A proud look, A lying tongue, Hands that shed innocent blood, A heart that devises wicked plans, Feet that are swift in running to evil. (Proverbs 6:16-17)
9. Gay Love, Equality Examined in Nationwide Valentine's Day Campaign - ABC News
Advocates for same-sex marriage marked Valentine's Day with a nationwide campaign to tout the merits of gay love and urge greater legal protections for it. Organizers from GetEQUAL and Marriage Equality USA, two gay rights groups coordinating the campaign, said 37 events were scheduled to take place in 13 states, with most taking place in California and Texas.
Meanwhile, New York City-based advocacy group Freedom to Marry launched what it called the largest-ever national TV ad campaign aimed at educating the public on gay love and why marriage rights matter to same-sex couples. The ad was slated to run for the first time on CNN today. The group said it would raise and spend $10 million in the next three years to support same-sex marriage. "As Americans see their gay and lesbian friends, families and coworkers in loving and committed relationships, they realize there is no good reason to withhold the protections and support that only come with marriage," Freedom to Marry spokeswoman Thalia Zepatos said. "It is as simple as the Golden Rule."
• Lord, we pray for the eyes of the nation to be opened to see that this is an abomination. Stir their hearts to see that it is wrong, and that it is not the golden rule. We pray that their campaigns will fail. Let their minds see how objectionable this lifestyle is, and give these people a Damascus Road experience.
• The look on their countenance witnesses against them, and they declare their sin as Sodom; they do not hide it. Woe to their soul! For they have brought evil upon themselves. (Isaiah 3:9)
The Middle East in Focus
This week, for all the headlines cited below, please join us in proclaiming THIS DECREE:
Blessed be the name of God forever and ever: for wisdom and might are His. He changes the times and seasons. He removes kings, and sets up kings. He gives wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding: (Daniel 2:20-21)
1. Israel Gets New Military Chief - VOA News
The Israeli cabinet on Sunday approved the appointment of a new armed forces chief at a time when Israel is forced to deal with political uncertainty in the Middle East.
2. Iran blames Israel, US for supporting protests - Jerusalem Post
Hardline Iranian lawmakers called on Tuesday for the country's opposition leaders to face trial and be put to death, a day after clashes between opposition protesters and security forces left one person dead and dozens injured.
3. Israel fears Hezbollah behind terror threats on its embassies - Ha'aretz
Israeli embassies around the world received several terror threats, allegedly from Hezbollah; Foreign Ministry considering temporarily closing the embassies, instructing Israeli diplomats to stay home.
4. Mideast Unrest Spreads - Wall Street Journal
As Egypt's new military leadership suspended the constitution, dissolved parliament and promised fresh elections, demands for similar political reform swept across the Arab world -- from Libya to Iran -- following the resignation of President Hosni Mubarak.
The Daily Jot - Part One
The consequences of accepting deceit
While most of the Islamic rhetoric is focussed on the "Great American Satan" and "Illegitimate Israel," what has happened in Egypt over the past two weeks indicates a radical change in American policy toward Islam. The diplomatic signals are clear--a willingness to work with, even hold talks, with the MOslEm Brotherhood, the godfather of surrogate terrorist activities; the demand that the Egyptian ruler step down in response to protests; the guise of democracy that is covering the true nature of the move by Islamists in Egypt; the ignoring of advice from the most experienced democracy and faithful ally in the Middle East--Israel. This American presidency is Islamist-friendly and is endangering both Israel and America.
It seems all too pat. Public opinion would never support an American president working toward an Islamic Caliphate. The Islamists cannot appear too chummy with their redeemer, so they ratchet up the rhetoric against America. The president claims over and over again that he is a Christian, but denies the very deity of Christ in saying that there are more ways to heaven than just one. All the while he runs up insurmountable debt using illogical theories that spending far more than you have will somehow magically bring your finances into balance. And at every corner, he challenges Israel to give its land to terrorists in the name of peace--even making Israel's Prime Minister exit the White House through an ally of trash.
The American people have been taken. There is no other explanation. We have been sold a bill of goods and if we truly want to know what is going on, we have to close our ears to the rhetoric and open our eyes to the actions. Jesus said in Matthew 7:15,16, "Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits." It is astounding that the well-educated masses in the world's most prosperous nation would not catch on to the reality that spending does not bring prosperity; that denying the deity of Christ does not make a Christian; that supporting Islamic terrorists does not bring peace; that making allies exit through trash is not honor.
Israel's Labor Party leader Benjamin Ben-Eliezer told IDF Radio: "We learn from history. We remember what was said when Carter proposed that the Shah of Iran give up nicely and allow Khomeini to take his place. In Gaza, too, when the Americans came in, they supervised the democratic elections [via which Hamas came into power]. If there are elections in Egypt the way the Americans want, I will be surprised if the Muslim Brotherhood does not win. This will be a new Middle East--radical, Islamic and extremist . . . I think the Americans still don't realize the extent of the catastrophe into which they have pushed the Middle East." Al-Takeyya is Islam's term for lying to advance Islam. I wonder if its pronounced "I'll Take Ya" in Chicago.
Bill Wilson
Word of Life Ministry
www.dailyjot.com
The Daily Jot (Part Two)
Clinically Insane?
In a state with some of the toughest abortion clinic regulations in the country, it came as quite a shock to Pennsylvania leaders that Kermit Gosnell's horror house went unnoticed for as long as it did. During last week's hearing in the state senate, lawmakers were outraged that a doctor was essentially "operating as a serial killer" right under the state's nose. According to LifeNews.com, Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams, who headed up the 200-plus page grand jury report filled with gruesome details, said there was "more oversight of women's hair salons and nail salons" than abortion facilities.
Under former Governor Tom Ridge , health officials quit their clinic inspections entirely because of Ridge's pro-abortion views. This nightmare, however, has served as a warning to other states.
Now that we're back in a legislative season, it's time to pressur e leaders to pursue tough abortion clinic regulations in states that don't have any. In places that do have restrictions, more has to be done to enforce them. Conservatives and liberals alike need to see this tragedy as a wake-up call for women's health, and together they need to lean on state and local health officials to protect patients--which should be a common goal of both parties. (Family Research Council)
Defund Planned Parenthood
Defend Life: Defund Planned Parenthood
In recent days, the abortion industry has been rocked by a series of undercover reports exposing Planned Parenthood's willingness to cover-up child sex trafficking. Much like the "pimp and prostitute" videos that helped bring down ACORN, Lila Rose of Live Action should be commended for exposing the callousness of the abortion industry. You can learn more about the videos here.
House Republicans are taking action. Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN) has introduced legislation to cut off taxpayer funding of Planned Parenthood. I do not believe taxpayers should subsidize abortion even in the best of times. Most Americans don't either. But when we're running a $1.5 trillion deficit, this should be a no-brainer.
ACTION ITEM: Urge your representative to support Rep. Pence's bill to defund Planned Parenthood. Click here to quickly and easily send a message to your elected representative in the House. (Gary Bauer)
Mubarak Obama?
The Egyptian people have overthrown Mubarak. He couldn't get the economy to grow. He ignored thousands who demonstrated against him. He defied court rulings that said his laws were unconstitutional. He tried to exert government control over the Internet. He and his allies smeared average Egyptians that dared to confront him. He exploited class difference.
Several of you have called me to suggest that these grievances sound familiar. They point out that our Obama can't get the economy growing, mocked and ignored hundreds of thousands Tea Party demonstrators who came to Washington to dissent, defies courts that rule his ObamaCare is unconstitutional, constantly demonizes those conservatives who confront him and has used greed and envy to divide Americans by class.
I don't know what will happen next in Egypt, but I know here in our constitutional republic we must send our own autocratic president packing in November 2012 after we exercise our right as free men and women to vote. (Gary Bauer)
The Good News Corner
After near-death experience, boy says "Heaven is Real"
IMPERIAL, Neb. -- It sounds like a story dreamed up by a little boy, but to understand what Colton Burpo says you have to hear what he says happened to him. It all started during a trip to Colorado.
Colton complained of a stomach ache, which led to a trip to the doctor and a diagnosis of the flu. Afterward, the Burpo family went home to the small town of Imperial, Neb., where another doctor dismissed suggestions that Colton was suffering from appendicitis. Just two days later, Todd and Sonja Burpo rushed their lifeless son to another medical center, where he was immediately taken into surgery. Colton's surgeon estimates that the boy's appendix had ruptured five days before he was properly diagnosed. Todd remembers thinking, "as parents we felt sick, what did we do wrong?"
While Colton was in surgery, Todd and Sonja prayed in separate rooms. They thought their son was dying and they blamed themselves.
Miraculously, after a difficult recovery and another surgery, Colton survived. But his story is far from over.
There were things Colton did and things he said after the surgery that were out of the ordinary, but none of it made sense until a drive past the hospital four months after the surgery. His Dad jokingly asked Colton if he wanted to go back to the hospital. Colton's response? "You know Dad, the angels sang to me while I was there," the boy said.
Todd remembers looking into the mirror and seeing his son's face being dead serious, with no smile or notion that he was joking in return. Todd looked at his wife and asked, "Has he ever talked about angels with you before?"
Colton claims that while on the operating table he went to heaven and that he met his great-grandfather Pop. Colton says his grandfather didn't look like the man in the photo in his house, but instead looked like the man in the picture sent months later by his Grandmother, a young man without glasses.
But perhaps the most shocking part of Colton's story, the baby he never knew about.
One day while Colton was playing he walked up to his mom, and out of the blue asked, "Mom, I have two sisters, you had a baby die in your tummy didn't you?" Sonja was shocked and overwhelmed by what her little boy had just said. When she asked him who told him, he said, "she did Mommy, she said she died in your tummy." Todd and Sonja had never told their son about the miscarriage Sonja had before Colton was born. After all, it was more than a four-year-old would ever need to know. Colton went on to tell his mom that she was a girl and, "she looked familiar and she started giving me hugs and she was glad to have someone in her family up there."
Over time his visions became more believable. He described Jesus, and he even talked about Armageddon and how God told him his father would fight in the final battle. Although Todd was a pastor, he says he never talked detail like this with his preschool aged son.
After years of stories and new details, Todd's friends and members of his church started asking him to write his stories down. They encouraged Todd to write a book, which wasn't something he wanted to do or had any idea how to do. He remembers praying about it, and he said he would only do it if the opportunity fell right into his lap. It wasn't long after his prayer that a publisher called him.
Now Colton's stories of Heaven are documented in a book titled "Heaven is for Real." 500,000 copies of the book have been printed and there are now talks of a movie. Sonja says it's a lot for her small town family but they are seeing their story make a difference in many lives.
As for Colton, he is now 11 and he loves to sing, wrestle, and play the trumpet. His Dad says his experience in heaven hasn't changed his son, but because Colton was so young when it happened it has defined his life.
When asked why he thinks his son and his family had this experience, Todd says, "I don't know why God picked us. If we had a chance to vote when we saw our kid suffering about to die, we would have said no, we don't want this. We are just normal people that God did a miracle for."
Source: KDVR-TV
To view the video of an interview with Colton about his experience in heaven, go here.
Worship with Us Today!
Make Me a Servant - Kids Praise 4
This is a day to honor children! We dedicate this worship song to Colton Burpo, whose interview appears elsewhere in today's Daily Brief.
Worship with us by going here.
"And he said: "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." (Matthew 18:3)
