In This Issue• The Daily Brief
• The Middle East in Focus
• The Daily Jot
• Iran Warships Complete Suez Canal Voyage
• Feds Appeal Defeat of Secret Surveillance Policy
• The Good News Corner
• Worship with Us Today!
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The Daily Brief - Wednesday, February 23, 2011
"Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him." (John 6:27)
The Daily Brief
1. It's Crunch Time for Organized Labor - Wall Street Journal
U.S. labor unions are facing the most direct challenge to their political and financial clout since Ronald Reagan broke the air-traffic-controllers union 30 years ago.
Across the industrial Midwest, a union stronghold long vital to Democrats and key to Obama's re-election prospects, Republicans are trying to roll back the bargaining and dues-collecting powers not just of public-employee unions but also of groups that represent auto workers and carpenters.
Democratic members of Indiana's House of Representatives refused to show up for work Tuesday, in an effort to block debate on a Republican-backed "right to work" bill that would allow workers to opt out of paying union dues even in a union-represented shop. Such laws are in force in 22 states.
- Declare and decree that the love of money and devious unions be broken, but that employers and employees gain the wisdom needed for the future of the American Workforce. Pray that only the God of the Bible and His principles rule and reign over business in the US and around the globe, as this diabolical way of running business is no longer sustainable.
- Wherefore if Demetrius, and the craftsmen which are with him, have a matter against any man, the law is open, and there are deputies: let them implead one another. But if ye inquire any thing concerning other matters, it shall be determined in a lawful assembly. (Acts 19:38-39)
2. Arizona Senate Panel Passes Sweeping Bills Targeting Illegals, Birthright Citizenship - Associated Press
An Arizona Senate committee late Tuesday narrowly approved a sweeping bill that would target illegal immigrants in public housing, public benefits and the workplace.
The committee earlier Tuesday also approved a bill that would deny automatic citizenship to the children of illegal immigrants in a measure designed to set up a possible U.S. Supreme Court case on the issue.
Republican state Sen. Russell Pearce, who authored Arizona's controversial illegal immigration law last year that touched off a nationwide debate on whether states can enforce federal immigration laws, sponsored Tuesday's more sweeping measure.
"If you're in the country illegally, you don't have a right to public benefits, period," he said.
- Beseech the Father to take us back to the good old days where immigrants worked hard and came legally into this country. Pray for illegal immigrants to have repentant hearts before God and not man, to "obey all men's ordinances", and decree that politicians get out of the law's way.
- And many that believed came, and confessed, and showed their deeds. (Acts 19:18)
3. Dems Dare GOP on Federal Shutdown - Fox News
Democrats are daring Republicans to continue to press for deep cuts in federal spending with a potential government shutdown now just nine days away.
Agencies in the Obama administration are making ready for a government shutdown and congressional Democrats have responded to Republican calls for deep spending cuts with a proposal for no reductions and accusations that House Speaker John Boehner is a pawn of Sarah Palin. It's getting ugly.
- As "Big Brother" is enraged by someone actually taking a stand in Washington and doing his job to listen to "We The People", pray that the deceit and the lying will take a back seat to the truth about what the American people want. Intercede to pry away weird elites in government who do not understand that they are employed by us.
- On the day set for their meeting, Herod, robed in pomposity, took his place on the throne and regaled them with a lot of hot air. The people played their part to the hilt and shouted flatteries: "The voice of God! The voice of God!" (Acts 12:21-22)
4. Saudi Arabia Uprising Could Mean $140-Plus Oil - CNBC
The events unfolding in Libya mark the first uprising in a major oil producing country this year, giving energy traders their first indication of where crude could climb if Mideast turmoil were to spread to Saudi Arabia or Iran.
- Lord, we bring this situation to you. You know what is ahead regarding the Mideast turmoil. We plead the blood of Jesus over this entire situation. We turn the care of it over on You, and trust you will turn it for good.
- until you learn and know and recognize that the Most High God rules the kingdom of mankind (Daniel 4:25b)
5. 'Islam is regarded as the biggest threat to Europe for many Europeans' - MSNBC
An estimated 44 million Muslims live in Europe -- about six percent of the continent's total population -- and the figure is expected to grow to 58 million by 2030, according to The Pew Research Center's Forum on Religion & Public Life.
- Lord, we lift up this threat to Europe. Protect their system of government from sharia law. We pray that native Europeans will hold places of authority. Give the leaders wisdom in this situation. Let them not be outwitted by extremists who would try to "take over" the country for Islam.
- By me kings reign and rulers decree justice. By me princes rule, and nobles, even all the judges and governors of the earth. (Proverbs 8: 15,16)
The Middle East in Focus
This week, for all the headlines cited below, please join us in proclaiming THIS DECREE:
The LORD has prepared His throne in the heavens; and His kingdom rules over all. ( Psalm 103:19)
1. 'Arab unrest signals Messiah's coming' - Ynet News
Prominent rabbis from the Lithuanian ultra-Orthodox sector have offered their own curious interpretations for the upheaval that is spreading through the Middle East, stating that the events are a clear proof that a higher power is at work.
2. FM sends document to EU ministers on Palestinian violations - Jerusalem Post
Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman submitted a document to foreign ministers in the EU in Brussels which lists all the violations made by the Palestinian Authority against previous agreements in the last two years, Israel Radio reported.
3. Iran Sends Two Naval Vessels Through Egypt's Suez Canal - Wall Street Journal
Israel put its navy on alert as two Iranian naval vessels sailed through Egypt's Suez Canal on Tuesday, staking out what Israeli officials called a provocative, symbolic presence in the Mediterranean.
The Daily Jot
Are you at your post?
When our son Christian was old enough to understand, I taught him The Great Commission. He could recite it to his teachers in the home school co-op, and to this day at nearly 19, he still knows it by heart. If you ask him what his purpose in life is, he will still tell you "To glorify God!" Jesus gave us The Great Commission in several places of the Bible. Matthew 28:19, 20 says, "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and lo I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world." I am not telling you that Christian is without imperfections, I am saying he knows his mission.
Jesus, after he was crucified, appeared unto the eleven and, as Mark 16 recounts, "upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them which had seen him after he was risen." In verse 15 Jesus says, "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature." And before Jesus ascended to heaven, His last words to those in witness were "But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth." The message is very clear--that we need to be making disciples and being witnesses of Jesus to all.
Jesus also gave us parables, such as the one about the ten virgins and the oil in their lamps. He warns us in Matthew 24:44-46, "Therefore be ye also ready for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh. Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season? Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he comes shall find so doing." He tells us the parable of the nobleman who was to go far away to receive a kingdom and return. Jesus says in Luke 19:13, "Occupy till I come." "Occupy" here means "to busy oneself with." We truly are to be about the Lord's business until his return.
This week, Jean and Scott Adam, Phyllis Mackay and Robert Riggle were slaughtered by Islamic Somali pirates. The Adams, on their yacht S/V Quest, were a retired couple who traveled the world giving out Bibles. Their stated mission is: "To allow the power of the Word to transform lives." On their website, they wrote: "We seek fertile ground for the Word and homes for our Bibles...AND even more extraordinary are the times when people have been praying for Bibles for their group or their schools and when we arrive we are often greeted by the attitude of, "We were expecting you." Like them, my prayer is that me and my family will be at their post, glorifying God, when he comes for us.
Have a Blessed and Powerful Day!
Bill Wilson
Word of Life Ministry
www.dailyjot.com
Iran Warships Complete Suez Canal Voyage
Iran Warships Complete Suez Canal Voyage Amid Israel Objection
Iranian warships sailed through the Suez Canal to reach the Mediterranean Sea for the first time since 1979 as Israel stressed its objection to their voyage to Syria. The two ships entered the canal early today after the approval of Egypt's Defense Ministry, the state-run Middle East News Agency cited Ahmed El Manakhly, head of traffic at the Suez Canal Authority, as saying. MENA didn't specify when the vessels reached open water. Crude reached its highest level in a week in New York on Feb. 18 as the heightening of tensions between Iran and Israel because of the trip increased concerns over instability in the region. Iran is the second-biggest producer, after Saudi Arabia, in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries. Oil jumped to the highest in more than two years in New York today as Libyan unrest stoked further concern over supplies. (Bloomberg News)
Iran hails warships' mission in Mediterranean
CAIRO - Iranian officials on Tuesday hailed the passage of two warships through Egypt's Suez Canal as a milestone in Iran's effort to play a greater role in maritime affairs. Israeli officials called it a worrisome provocation at a time of upheaval and deepening tension in the Arab world. Brig. Gen. Abdolrahim Mousavi, the deputy commander of Iran's military, was quoted by the country's official Islamic Republic News Agency as saying that the Suez transit had succeeded "by the grace of God" and describing Israeli officials' concerns as "negative propaganda." Iranian officials did not provide details about the ships' mission. (Washington Post)
Feds Appeal Defeat of Secret Surveillance Policy
The Obama administration is appealing the first and likely only lawsuit resulting in a ruling against the secret National Security Agency warrant-less surveillance program adopted in the wake of the 2001 terror attacks. A San Francisco federal judge in December awarded $20,400 each to two American lawyers illegally wiretapped by the George W. Bush administration, and granted their counsel $2.5 million for the costs litigating the case for more than four years. Although U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker had called it "unlawful surveillance," the judge went soft on the government because the authorities, he said, believed they were protecting the country in the aftermath of the worst terrorist attack on U.S. soil.
Walker did not declare the administration's so-called Terrorist Surveillance Program unconstitutional, and he declined to issue punitive damages to punish the government for wiretapping in the country without warrants. Instead, the judge granted the two spied-upon lawyers for the now-defunct Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation charity $100 a day for each of the 204 days their telephone calls were wiretapped beginning February 2004, an amount they sought. In addition, they requested about $200,000 each in punitive damages, and the same amount to be awarded to the charity - all of which was denied. (Wired News)
The Good News Corner:
4,000 Homeschoolers sing "America The Beautiful" at the IL State Capitol Building
Just prior to a hearing on SB136, a proposal that would force Home Schoolers to register with the state and undergo criminal background checks, 4000 home schoolers converged on the IL State Capitol in Springfield to make their voices heard in protest to this attempt to take away their freedom. While waiting for the hearing, they started singing "America The Beautiful".
God protect our home-school kids from Government control!
This is how we win!
Worship with Us Today!
(God makes) All Things New by Steven Curtis Chapman
Enjoy this powerful worship video with verses embedded in the graphics. Thank You, God!
