• The Daily Brief
• The Middle East in Focus
• The Daily Jot
• URGENT ALERT: N.K. REFUGEES
• Russia Warns Israel
• Netanyahu Coming to U.S. in March
• New York City (NYC) Pastors
• The Good News Corner
• God's Chisel Remastered
• Worship with Us Today!
Capitol Hill Prayer Partners
"Partners in Prayer for Our Nation"
P.O. Box 5152
Herndon, VA 20172-1970
chpp@patriot.net
The Daily Brief - Thursday, February 23, 2012
"And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come." (Matthew 24:14)
The Daily Brief
1. Rapid-Fire Attacks Across Iraq Kill 55 People - AP
A rapid series of attacks spread over a wide swath of Iraq killed at least 55 people on Thursday, targeting mostly security forces in what Iraqi officials called "frantic attempts" by insurgents to show civilians that their country was doomed to violence for years to come.
- Father, we could have foreseen this situation. We ask that You move across the nation of Iraq and bring the peace of Jesus Christ to both insurgents and nationals.
- "The Lord tries the righteous; but the wicked and him that loves violence His soul hates." [Psalm 11:5]
2. a).Iran protests to UN over Israel 'war game' campaign - Ynet News
Iran accused Israel of assassinating its nuclear scientists as part of a "war game" while it denied any role in attacks on Israeli diplomatic targets in several countries.
b).Iranian scientist's goal: To annihilate Israel - Ynet News
Iran is continuing to milk the assassination of its nuclear scientists for internal propaganda against the "Zionist entity": The wife of Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan, who was deputy director of the Natanz uranium enrichment facility, told the Fars News Agency in an interview published Tuesday that "Mostafa's ultimate goal was the annihilation of Israel."
- Thank You, Lord for Israel's resolve in this deadly situation, and we pray that You will continue to give their leadership wisdom and strategy against the nuclear program in Iran.
- "When my enemies retreat, they stumble and perish before You." [Psalm 9:3]
3. Oil price hits eight-month high on Iran-Israel war fears - UK Telegraph
Tensions with Iran have pushed the oil price to an eight-month high above $121 a barrel, and there are fears it could hit $150 before the end of the year.
- Lord, we bind the fear of oil prices to Your Word, and ask for new sources of oil to be found and utilized, so that we are no longer dependent on foreign oil.
- "and see that you not hurt the oil and the wine" [Rev 6:6b ]
4. Germ warfare: The creation of a lethal virus sparks a debate pitting science against security - GlobeandMail
Late last year, researchers in the United States and the Netherlands announced they'd manipulated the H5N1 virus so it could be spread between mammals and through the air. It's a global first for a virulent virus. And if the dangerous, transmissible mutation were unleashed - by accident or through malice - it could have pandemic consequences.
- Father, we know that scientists often create evil in the guise of stopping evil. We plead the Blood of Jesus over this virus and stand firmly on Your Word against it.
- "When the wicked spring up as grass, and when all the workers of iniquity flourish; it is they that shall be destroyed forever." [Psalm 92:7]
5. TV hosts sent letters warning of bio terror attacks as congress members find 'suspicious powder' - AP
Three members of the U.S. Congress have received threatening mail containing a suspicious powder later found to be harmless and law enforcement officials on Wednesday warned that more may be coming. Another U.S. law enforcement official said letters sent to television personalities Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert threatened biological attacks on U.S. senators.
- Lord, let no terror attack containing powders or any other biological agent be launched against any member of the US Congress. We pray for Your Blood to cover each and every one of them and their staff and families.
- "You will not fear the terror of the night, the arrow that flies by day, the plague that stalks in darkness, or the pestilence that ravages at noon." [Psalm 91:5,6 Holman Christian Standard Bible]
6. GOP Candidates Face Off in High Stakes Debate in Arizona - Fox News
The Republican presidential candidates head back on the campaign trail Thursday after a debate in Phoenix, Ariz. that, while fiery at times, ultimately changed little in the race for the 2012 presidential nomination.
- Father, we continue to pray that only Your choice for President will ultimately emerge from the field of candidates. We ask for the citizens of America to have eyes to see what faces us as a nation, so that we might choose wisely!
- "When Joab saw that the front of the battle was against him before and behind, he chose of all the choice men of Israel, and put them in array against the Syrians." [2 Samuel 10:9]
7. 7 Marines Killed in Arizona Chopper Collision - AP
Two military helicopters crash during training mission, killing 7 Marines, as incident under investigation.
- We pray Your Holy Comfort and peace for the families of these victims, and a swift investigation into the cause of the crash.
- "Let, I pray, Your merciful kindness be for my comfort, according to Your Word to me." [Psalm 119:76]
The Middle East in Focus
This week, for all the headlines cited below, please join us in proclaiming THIS DECREE:
"I will extol You, my God, O King, and I will bless Your name forever and ever. Every day I will bless You, and I will praise Your name forever and ever. Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised, and His greatness is unsearchable." (Psalm 145:1-3)
1. Iran says claims that it is behind global attacks part of Israeli 'war game' - Ha'aretz
Iran submitted a letter of protest to the United Nations Security Council on Thursday, charging Israel of attacking its nuclear scientists and coloring recent accusations of Tehran's links to attempted attacks against Israeli officials worldwide as being part of a "war game" against the Islamic Republic.
2. Israel's New Super-Sub Revealed - Ynet News
The Navy will soon begin its test-deployment of Israel's new super-submarine, Yedioth Ahronoth reported Wednesday.
3. U.S. 'closely consulting' with Israel over Iran nuclear program - Ha'aretz
State Department Deputy spokesman Mark Toner said on Wednesday that the U.S. closely consults with Israel over its policy regarding Iran's nuclear program.
The Daily Jot
"Religion of Peace" is really a death cult of darkness
The death sentence handed down by the Iranian Supreme Court of Iranian pastor Youcef Nadarkhani is no less the brutal lack of respect for human rights, religious freedom and love for fellow mankind exemplified by this ruthless tyrannical system disguised as a religion called Islam. Nadarkhani is the 34 year old pastor, husband and father of two who refused to recant his Christian faith. The sentence is death. The gallant Nadarkhani has endured a lifetime of persecution in the time of this ordeal. This, however, is just one man, one example of thousands that take place every year emanating from Islamic nations. Yet, there is a campaign in America to not only tolerate but teach this barbaric theology to our children.
These atrocities are not isolated to Iran. Saudi Arabia, one of America's so-called friends in the Middle East, is just as bad, if not worse. Open Doors USA has compiled a World Watch List of the 50 top persecutors of Christians around the world. It really coincides with the State Department's Annual Report on Human Rights. Of the top ten nations that persecute Christians, eight of them are Muslim, including those where the United States has had the most influence over the past decade: Afghanistan (2); Saudi Arabia (3); Iraq (9). Iran ranks fifth. Of the top 50, some 39 are Islamic. In Sudan, for example, Islamists have killed most all of the Christians. Now they are focused on killing black Muslims.
In the Islamic creed everything comes under submission to the authority--ostensibly of the moon god allah, but in reality the satanic depravity of the system and its human consorts through which evil vicariously lives. Nadarkhani is considered a Muslim because his father's lineage is Muslim. Just as the man who occupies the Oval Office is considered Muslim by Muslims. In Iran, converting to Christianity requires recanting or death under Islamic law. In America you can worship any god you wish whether people believe you or not. The trouble is that this freedom also gives Islam the freedom to take roots and grow, which may in of itself lead to a tyrannical takeover, ultimately suppressing freedom.
Please pray for Youcef Nadarkhani and his family. Perhaps our prayers will bring a last minute reprieve of Islamic mercy. Notwithstanding, Nadarkhani and his family should be etched in the hearts of every Christian as an example of the brutality of the antichrist religious system. Christians worldwide should be reminded of how desperate Muslims must be for the light of Yeshua Ha Mashiach (Jesus Christ). Let us not ever allow what Nadarkhani has experienced, irrespective of how it ends, to fade from our memory as the darkness of evil steals the light. Remember the words of Yeshua in John 12:46, "I am come a light into the world, that whoseover believeth on me should not abide in darkness."
Have a Blessed and Powerful Day!
Bill Wilson
www.dailyjot.com
International Prayer Alert:
Pray for 30 North Korean refugees not to be sent back to be imprisoned and executed
URGENT
For the last two weeks, China has been threatening to repatriate 30 North Korean refugees. These are people who escaped the brutal oppression and starvation of their land, hoping to get a better life, and to go to South Korea eventually. They and three generations of their families (men, women and children too), potentially hundreds of people, will be sentenced to execution as an example by the Pyongyang government or at least to slave labor in one of the Nazi-style death camps in North Korea if China repatriates them as it says it will do.
The South Korean government has appealed to China to no avail so far and is now pressing the United Nations Human Rights Council. Yesterday, the New York Times reported that "South Korean diplomats are expected to call for the safety and humane treatment of North Korean refugees living in hiding in China." (See the whole article here.)
With this important issue finally before the world in such glaring manner, this could be a kairos time to see China's inhumane policy on refugees changed so that those suffering in the hell-hole of North Korea can freely escape. Please pray for the following and let's trust God together for this mountain to be moved (Matthew 17:20):
1. That the North Korean refugees and their families still inside North Korea will be protected from harm.
2. That China's government will be embarrassed and ashamed of their policies regarding North Korean refugees and allow refugees to come across the border to find asylum there or to go on to South Korea to live.
3. That China which supplies 80% of the resources to prop up the evil regime in Pyonyang will be moved to cut off those resources unless North Korea respects human rights and shuts down the Nazi-style prison camps in which hundreds of thousands of men, women and children are incarcerated. (In those camps, they are worked to death with little or no food and in terrible conditions or used for the testing of biological and chemical weapons.)
4. That the United Nations will take up this issue aggressively and that the international community will strongly pressure China and North Korea to respect the rights of the North Korean people and reform their policies concerning them.
Thanks for your persevering prayers of faith. The Lord will use them to shape history and bring His deliverance to North Korea!
Yours in Christ,
John Robb
Chairman, IPC
Russia Warns Israel
RUSSIA WARNS ISRAEL NOT TO ATTACK IRAN: PROPHETIC IMPLICATIONS?
By Joel C. Rosenberg
Washington, D.C., February 22, 2012) -- Make no mistake: the Russian-Iranian strategic alliance that I've been writing about for the last several years has deepened to the point where Moscow is now unequivocally and quite openly backing the mullahs in Iran. "Russia warned Israel on Wednesday that attacking Iran would be a disastrous and played down the failure of a U.N. nuclear agency mission to Tehran, saying there is still a chance for new talks over the Iranian atomic programme," reports Reuters. "'Of course any possible military scenario against Iran will be catastrophic for the region and for the whole system of international relations,' Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov told a news conference. It was one of Russia's starkest warnings against resorting to force, an option Israel and the United States have not ruled out if they conclude that diplomacy and increasing sanctions will not stop Iran from developing a nuclear bomb."
The big question now is this: Will Vladimir Putin win his bid for become Russia's President again during the March 4 elections, and would Putin then directly threaten Israel with retaliation for an attack on Iran? So far, Russia hasn't gone so far as to threaten a military response, but it's not out of the question. The latest poll shows Putin in a commanding lead to regain the presidency, with 58.6% support, compared to Gennady Zyuganov, the head of the Communist Party, who has 14.8% support. And Putin in recent years seems itching to rebuild the Russian military (something he promised again just this week; he's called for a $770 billion upgrade of Russia's military), strengthen his alliances throughout the Islamic world, and give the West a black eye. He's explicitly running his campaign on anti-Americanism, for example. He's close to the Iranians. He's defending the Bashar al-Assad, the butcher in Damascus. He's growing closer to the Turks, as they become hostile to Israel. Putin hasn't directly threatened Israel, but he's backing all of Israel's worst enemies and could find himself drawn into a war to prove his alpha-dog machismo.
Another question I'm getting asked these days: Is Putin "Gog," the evil leader described in the prophecies of Ezekiel 38-39? It came up during my recent speaking tour in Florida, and in a talk I gave to a group on Capitol Hill last week? Thus far, my answer remains the same. . .
[To read the rest of this story, please go to the blog.]
NETANYAHU COMING TO U.S. IN MARCH
President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are scheduled to meet at the White House for talks on March 5. Netanyahu is also expected to address the annual AIPAC policy conference and hold other meetings with senior Congressional officials.
The big question for Obama appears to be: When is Israel planning to hit Iran, and is there any way the White House can stop Netanyahu from launching preemptive air strikes? That is precisely the wrong question, however. The American President should be asking: How can the U.S. help Israel stop Iran without a full scale war, and if such a war is needed, how can we work together to win quickly and decisively and make the world safer?
By Joel Rosenberg
Read more here.
Update: New York City (NYC) Pastors
Last week, a NY District Court issued a temporary restraining order to prevent the NYC Department of Education (DOE) from evicting the Bronx Household of Faith (BHOF) from its rented public school facility. Encouraged, scores of evicted churches planned to meet Sunday in their own rented schools. On Friday, the DOE requested a stay and the Circuit Court ruled that the lower court's restraining order applied only to BHOF, not the other churches.
The churches are now literally on the street. The Heavenly Vision Christian Center met Sunday outside of the school where they have usually met. With music and singing, congregants heard testimonies from fellow church members who had been convicts and gang members before turning to Christ. A bill passed by the State Senate, but awaiting action in the Assembly, remains the best hope for the evicted churches' rights to be restored.
The pastors are now asking believers everywhere to ask Speaker Sheldon Silver to bring the bill to the floor (Albany: 518-455-3791, Manhattan: 212-312-1420)
- May NY Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver shepherd this urgent bill to the Assembly floor and passage. Pray that God will grant Mayor Michael Bloomberg repentance and that Governor Andrew Cuomo will sign the bill into law. May all hostility toward people of faith by some in NYC government cease
- He allowed no one to oppress them; for their sake he rebuked kings: "Do not touch my anointed ones; do my prophets no harm." (Psalm 105:14,15)
(Source: FRC Prayer Targets)
The Good News Corner
Ultrasound Program Reaches New High
Focus on the Family's Option Ultrasound Program (OUP) announced new milestones today. In addition to saving the lives of an estimated 120,000 preborn babies since its inception in 2004, the program now works with pregnancy medical clinics in all 50 states and one foreign country.
Vermont became the 50th state to add a pregnancy medical clinic offering ultrasound to abortion-minded women through OUP on Jan. 23.
"We're very excited about both those developments," said Kelly Rosati, Focus vice president for community outreach. "A key component (of OUP) is to ask these pregnancy medical clinics that receive our grants to provide for us this data on what's happening with the machine in their clinics, so that we can verify what we know intuitively - that ultrasound saves lives."
OUP, which releases updated data every six months, provides three types of grants to pregnancy clinics: One helps them convert from pregnancy resource centers (which provide information and assistance to women in unexpected pregnancies) to pregnancy medical centers (which also offer ultrasound services); one covers 80 percent of the cost of purchasing an ultrasound machine; and one covers the cost of training nurses and staff to use it.
OUP Director Robyn Chambers said working with a clinic in Burlington, Vt., was an eye-opening experience. The state has no laws restricting abortion at any point during pregnancy, no parental-consent or -notification laws for minors seeking abortion, and no informed-consent laws requiring abortionists to tell women about fetal development or the dangers abortion poses to their own emotional and physical health.
"When the OUP site rep was there, there were protestors. The executive director said it happens all the time - almost daily, they'll have protestors who will come out," she said. "(Opponents) made a big deal about converting to a pregnancy medical clinic and having an ultrasound machine. But the staff is determined to stay there and know it's something the Lord has called them to do."
Though OUP has been seeking a center in Vermont to work with for eight years, Chambers said it took a long time to find a pro-life obstetrician willing to oversee the project - one of the grant criteria.
With the Vermont ultrasound grant, "OUP's impact is truly felt in every state in our nation," Rosati said, "and that's good for women and their preborn babies."
A clinic in Bucharest, Romania, has been working with OUP since 2008. (CitizenLink)
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Learn more about the Option Ultrasound Program
God's Chisel Remastered
"He is the potter . . . we are the clay . . ."
Something to think about today! Go here.
Worship with Us Today!
"When Love Was Slain" by Selah
This world is not my home,
Oh, this world is not my home,
My home's been made at Heaven's throne,
This world is not my home.
This life is not my own,
Oh, this life is not my own,
I am His and His alone,
This life is not my own. . .
I was bought when Love was slain,
What I cost, to pay death's wage,
Now ransomed, I am freedom's slave,
My Jesus raised me from the grave.
• The Middle East in Focus
• The Daily Jot
• URGENT ALERT: N.K. REFUGEES
• Russia Warns Israel
• Netanyahu Coming to U.S. in March
• New York City (NYC) Pastors
• The Good News Corner
• God's Chisel Remastered
• Worship with Us Today!
Capitol Hill Prayer Partners
"Partners in Prayer for Our Nation"
P.O. Box 5152
Herndon, VA 20172-1970
chpp@patriot.net
The Daily Brief - Thursday, February 23, 2012
"And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come." (Matthew 24:14)
The Daily Brief
1. Rapid-Fire Attacks Across Iraq Kill 55 People - AP
A rapid series of attacks spread over a wide swath of Iraq killed at least 55 people on Thursday, targeting mostly security forces in what Iraqi officials called "frantic attempts" by insurgents to show civilians that their country was doomed to violence for years to come.
- Father, we could have foreseen this situation. We ask that You move across the nation of Iraq and bring the peace of Jesus Christ to both insurgents and nationals.
- "The Lord tries the righteous; but the wicked and him that loves violence His soul hates." [Psalm 11:5]
2. a).Iran protests to UN over Israel 'war game' campaign - Ynet News
Iran accused Israel of assassinating its nuclear scientists as part of a "war game" while it denied any role in attacks on Israeli diplomatic targets in several countries.
b).Iranian scientist's goal: To annihilate Israel - Ynet News
Iran is continuing to milk the assassination of its nuclear scientists for internal propaganda against the "Zionist entity": The wife of Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan, who was deputy director of the Natanz uranium enrichment facility, told the Fars News Agency in an interview published Tuesday that "Mostafa's ultimate goal was the annihilation of Israel."
- Thank You, Lord for Israel's resolve in this deadly situation, and we pray that You will continue to give their leadership wisdom and strategy against the nuclear program in Iran.
- "When my enemies retreat, they stumble and perish before You." [Psalm 9:3]
3. Oil price hits eight-month high on Iran-Israel war fears - UK Telegraph
Tensions with Iran have pushed the oil price to an eight-month high above $121 a barrel, and there are fears it could hit $150 before the end of the year.
- Lord, we bind the fear of oil prices to Your Word, and ask for new sources of oil to be found and utilized, so that we are no longer dependent on foreign oil.
- "and see that you not hurt the oil and the wine" [Rev 6:6b ]
4. Germ warfare: The creation of a lethal virus sparks a debate pitting science against security - GlobeandMail
Late last year, researchers in the United States and the Netherlands announced they'd manipulated the H5N1 virus so it could be spread between mammals and through the air. It's a global first for a virulent virus. And if the dangerous, transmissible mutation were unleashed - by accident or through malice - it could have pandemic consequences.
- Father, we know that scientists often create evil in the guise of stopping evil. We plead the Blood of Jesus over this virus and stand firmly on Your Word against it.
- "When the wicked spring up as grass, and when all the workers of iniquity flourish; it is they that shall be destroyed forever." [Psalm 92:7]
5. TV hosts sent letters warning of bio terror attacks as congress members find 'suspicious powder' - AP
Three members of the U.S. Congress have received threatening mail containing a suspicious powder later found to be harmless and law enforcement officials on Wednesday warned that more may be coming. Another U.S. law enforcement official said letters sent to television personalities Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert threatened biological attacks on U.S. senators.
- Lord, let no terror attack containing powders or any other biological agent be launched against any member of the US Congress. We pray for Your Blood to cover each and every one of them and their staff and families.
- "You will not fear the terror of the night, the arrow that flies by day, the plague that stalks in darkness, or the pestilence that ravages at noon." [Psalm 91:5,6 Holman Christian Standard Bible]
6. GOP Candidates Face Off in High Stakes Debate in Arizona - Fox News
The Republican presidential candidates head back on the campaign trail Thursday after a debate in Phoenix, Ariz. that, while fiery at times, ultimately changed little in the race for the 2012 presidential nomination.
- Father, we continue to pray that only Your choice for President will ultimately emerge from the field of candidates. We ask for the citizens of America to have eyes to see what faces us as a nation, so that we might choose wisely!
- "When Joab saw that the front of the battle was against him before and behind, he chose of all the choice men of Israel, and put them in array against the Syrians." [2 Samuel 10:9]
7. 7 Marines Killed in Arizona Chopper Collision - AP
Two military helicopters crash during training mission, killing 7 Marines, as incident under investigation.
- We pray Your Holy Comfort and peace for the families of these victims, and a swift investigation into the cause of the crash.
- "Let, I pray, Your merciful kindness be for my comfort, according to Your Word to me." [Psalm 119:76]
The Middle East in Focus
This week, for all the headlines cited below, please join us in proclaiming THIS DECREE:
"I will extol You, my God, O King, and I will bless Your name forever and ever. Every day I will bless You, and I will praise Your name forever and ever. Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised, and His greatness is unsearchable." (Psalm 145:1-3)
1. Iran says claims that it is behind global attacks part of Israeli 'war game' - Ha'aretz
Iran submitted a letter of protest to the United Nations Security Council on Thursday, charging Israel of attacking its nuclear scientists and coloring recent accusations of Tehran's links to attempted attacks against Israeli officials worldwide as being part of a "war game" against the Islamic Republic.
2. Israel's New Super-Sub Revealed - Ynet News
The Navy will soon begin its test-deployment of Israel's new super-submarine, Yedioth Ahronoth reported Wednesday.
3. U.S. 'closely consulting' with Israel over Iran nuclear program - Ha'aretz
State Department Deputy spokesman Mark Toner said on Wednesday that the U.S. closely consults with Israel over its policy regarding Iran's nuclear program.
The Daily Jot
"Religion of Peace" is really a death cult of darkness
The death sentence handed down by the Iranian Supreme Court of Iranian pastor Youcef Nadarkhani is no less the brutal lack of respect for human rights, religious freedom and love for fellow mankind exemplified by this ruthless tyrannical system disguised as a religion called Islam. Nadarkhani is the 34 year old pastor, husband and father of two who refused to recant his Christian faith. The sentence is death. The gallant Nadarkhani has endured a lifetime of persecution in the time of this ordeal. This, however, is just one man, one example of thousands that take place every year emanating from Islamic nations. Yet, there is a campaign in America to not only tolerate but teach this barbaric theology to our children.
These atrocities are not isolated to Iran. Saudi Arabia, one of America's so-called friends in the Middle East, is just as bad, if not worse. Open Doors USA has compiled a World Watch List of the 50 top persecutors of Christians around the world. It really coincides with the State Department's Annual Report on Human Rights. Of the top ten nations that persecute Christians, eight of them are Muslim, including those where the United States has had the most influence over the past decade: Afghanistan (2); Saudi Arabia (3); Iraq (9). Iran ranks fifth. Of the top 50, some 39 are Islamic. In Sudan, for example, Islamists have killed most all of the Christians. Now they are focused on killing black Muslims.
In the Islamic creed everything comes under submission to the authority--ostensibly of the moon god allah, but in reality the satanic depravity of the system and its human consorts through which evil vicariously lives. Nadarkhani is considered a Muslim because his father's lineage is Muslim. Just as the man who occupies the Oval Office is considered Muslim by Muslims. In Iran, converting to Christianity requires recanting or death under Islamic law. In America you can worship any god you wish whether people believe you or not. The trouble is that this freedom also gives Islam the freedom to take roots and grow, which may in of itself lead to a tyrannical takeover, ultimately suppressing freedom.
Please pray for Youcef Nadarkhani and his family. Perhaps our prayers will bring a last minute reprieve of Islamic mercy. Notwithstanding, Nadarkhani and his family should be etched in the hearts of every Christian as an example of the brutality of the antichrist religious system. Christians worldwide should be reminded of how desperate Muslims must be for the light of Yeshua Ha Mashiach (Jesus Christ). Let us not ever allow what Nadarkhani has experienced, irrespective of how it ends, to fade from our memory as the darkness of evil steals the light. Remember the words of Yeshua in John 12:46, "I am come a light into the world, that whoseover believeth on me should not abide in darkness."
Have a Blessed and Powerful Day!
Bill Wilson
www.dailyjot.com
International Prayer Alert:
Pray for 30 North Korean refugees not to be sent back to be imprisoned and executed
URGENT
For the last two weeks, China has been threatening to repatriate 30 North Korean refugees. These are people who escaped the brutal oppression and starvation of their land, hoping to get a better life, and to go to South Korea eventually. They and three generations of their families (men, women and children too), potentially hundreds of people, will be sentenced to execution as an example by the Pyongyang government or at least to slave labor in one of the Nazi-style death camps in North Korea if China repatriates them as it says it will do.
The South Korean government has appealed to China to no avail so far and is now pressing the United Nations Human Rights Council. Yesterday, the New York Times reported that "South Korean diplomats are expected to call for the safety and humane treatment of North Korean refugees living in hiding in China." (See the whole article here.)
With this important issue finally before the world in such glaring manner, this could be a kairos time to see China's inhumane policy on refugees changed so that those suffering in the hell-hole of North Korea can freely escape. Please pray for the following and let's trust God together for this mountain to be moved (Matthew 17:20):
1. That the North Korean refugees and their families still inside North Korea will be protected from harm.
2. That China's government will be embarrassed and ashamed of their policies regarding North Korean refugees and allow refugees to come across the border to find asylum there or to go on to South Korea to live.
3. That China which supplies 80% of the resources to prop up the evil regime in Pyonyang will be moved to cut off those resources unless North Korea respects human rights and shuts down the Nazi-style prison camps in which hundreds of thousands of men, women and children are incarcerated. (In those camps, they are worked to death with little or no food and in terrible conditions or used for the testing of biological and chemical weapons.)
4. That the United Nations will take up this issue aggressively and that the international community will strongly pressure China and North Korea to respect the rights of the North Korean people and reform their policies concerning them.
Thanks for your persevering prayers of faith. The Lord will use them to shape history and bring His deliverance to North Korea!
Yours in Christ,
John Robb
Chairman, IPC
Russia Warns Israel
RUSSIA WARNS ISRAEL NOT TO ATTACK IRAN: PROPHETIC IMPLICATIONS?
By Joel C. Rosenberg
Washington, D.C., February 22, 2012) -- Make no mistake: the Russian-Iranian strategic alliance that I've been writing about for the last several years has deepened to the point where Moscow is now unequivocally and quite openly backing the mullahs in Iran. "Russia warned Israel on Wednesday that attacking Iran would be a disastrous and played down the failure of a U.N. nuclear agency mission to Tehran, saying there is still a chance for new talks over the Iranian atomic programme," reports Reuters. "'Of course any possible military scenario against Iran will be catastrophic for the region and for the whole system of international relations,' Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov told a news conference. It was one of Russia's starkest warnings against resorting to force, an option Israel and the United States have not ruled out if they conclude that diplomacy and increasing sanctions will not stop Iran from developing a nuclear bomb."
The big question now is this: Will Vladimir Putin win his bid for become Russia's President again during the March 4 elections, and would Putin then directly threaten Israel with retaliation for an attack on Iran? So far, Russia hasn't gone so far as to threaten a military response, but it's not out of the question. The latest poll shows Putin in a commanding lead to regain the presidency, with 58.6% support, compared to Gennady Zyuganov, the head of the Communist Party, who has 14.8% support. And Putin in recent years seems itching to rebuild the Russian military (something he promised again just this week; he's called for a $770 billion upgrade of Russia's military), strengthen his alliances throughout the Islamic world, and give the West a black eye. He's explicitly running his campaign on anti-Americanism, for example. He's close to the Iranians. He's defending the Bashar al-Assad, the butcher in Damascus. He's growing closer to the Turks, as they become hostile to Israel. Putin hasn't directly threatened Israel, but he's backing all of Israel's worst enemies and could find himself drawn into a war to prove his alpha-dog machismo.
Another question I'm getting asked these days: Is Putin "Gog," the evil leader described in the prophecies of Ezekiel 38-39? It came up during my recent speaking tour in Florida, and in a talk I gave to a group on Capitol Hill last week? Thus far, my answer remains the same. . .
[To read the rest of this story, please go to the blog.]
NETANYAHU COMING TO U.S. IN MARCH
President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are scheduled to meet at the White House for talks on March 5. Netanyahu is also expected to address the annual AIPAC policy conference and hold other meetings with senior Congressional officials.
The big question for Obama appears to be: When is Israel planning to hit Iran, and is there any way the White House can stop Netanyahu from launching preemptive air strikes? That is precisely the wrong question, however. The American President should be asking: How can the U.S. help Israel stop Iran without a full scale war, and if such a war is needed, how can we work together to win quickly and decisively and make the world safer?
By Joel Rosenberg
Read more here.
Update: New York City (NYC) Pastors
Last week, a NY District Court issued a temporary restraining order to prevent the NYC Department of Education (DOE) from evicting the Bronx Household of Faith (BHOF) from its rented public school facility. Encouraged, scores of evicted churches planned to meet Sunday in their own rented schools. On Friday, the DOE requested a stay and the Circuit Court ruled that the lower court's restraining order applied only to BHOF, not the other churches.
The churches are now literally on the street. The Heavenly Vision Christian Center met Sunday outside of the school where they have usually met. With music and singing, congregants heard testimonies from fellow church members who had been convicts and gang members before turning to Christ. A bill passed by the State Senate, but awaiting action in the Assembly, remains the best hope for the evicted churches' rights to be restored.
The pastors are now asking believers everywhere to ask Speaker Sheldon Silver to bring the bill to the floor (Albany: 518-455-3791, Manhattan: 212-312-1420)
- May NY Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver shepherd this urgent bill to the Assembly floor and passage. Pray that God will grant Mayor Michael Bloomberg repentance and that Governor Andrew Cuomo will sign the bill into law. May all hostility toward people of faith by some in NYC government cease
- He allowed no one to oppress them; for their sake he rebuked kings: "Do not touch my anointed ones; do my prophets no harm." (Psalm 105:14,15)
(Source: FRC Prayer Targets)
The Good News Corner
Ultrasound Program Reaches New High
Focus on the Family's Option Ultrasound Program (OUP) announced new milestones today. In addition to saving the lives of an estimated 120,000 preborn babies since its inception in 2004, the program now works with pregnancy medical clinics in all 50 states and one foreign country.
Vermont became the 50th state to add a pregnancy medical clinic offering ultrasound to abortion-minded women through OUP on Jan. 23.
"We're very excited about both those developments," said Kelly Rosati, Focus vice president for community outreach. "A key component (of OUP) is to ask these pregnancy medical clinics that receive our grants to provide for us this data on what's happening with the machine in their clinics, so that we can verify what we know intuitively - that ultrasound saves lives."
OUP, which releases updated data every six months, provides three types of grants to pregnancy clinics: One helps them convert from pregnancy resource centers (which provide information and assistance to women in unexpected pregnancies) to pregnancy medical centers (which also offer ultrasound services); one covers 80 percent of the cost of purchasing an ultrasound machine; and one covers the cost of training nurses and staff to use it.
OUP Director Robyn Chambers said working with a clinic in Burlington, Vt., was an eye-opening experience. The state has no laws restricting abortion at any point during pregnancy, no parental-consent or -notification laws for minors seeking abortion, and no informed-consent laws requiring abortionists to tell women about fetal development or the dangers abortion poses to their own emotional and physical health.
"When the OUP site rep was there, there were protestors. The executive director said it happens all the time - almost daily, they'll have protestors who will come out," she said. "(Opponents) made a big deal about converting to a pregnancy medical clinic and having an ultrasound machine. But the staff is determined to stay there and know it's something the Lord has called them to do."
Though OUP has been seeking a center in Vermont to work with for eight years, Chambers said it took a long time to find a pro-life obstetrician willing to oversee the project - one of the grant criteria.
With the Vermont ultrasound grant, "OUP's impact is truly felt in every state in our nation," Rosati said, "and that's good for women and their preborn babies."
A clinic in Bucharest, Romania, has been working with OUP since 2008. (CitizenLink)
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Learn more about the Option Ultrasound Program
God's Chisel Remastered
"He is the potter . . . we are the clay . . ."
Something to think about today! Go here.
Worship with Us Today!
"When Love Was Slain" by Selah
This world is not my home,
Oh, this world is not my home,
My home's been made at Heaven's throne,
This world is not my home.
This life is not my own,
Oh, this life is not my own,
I am His and His alone,
This life is not my own. . .
I was bought when Love was slain,
What I cost, to pay death's wage,
Now ransomed, I am freedom's slave,
My Jesus raised me from the grave.
