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The Daily Brief - Wednesday, February 29, 2012
"His faithfulness is a shield and bulwark." (Psalm 91:4)
A SPECIAL NOTE TO OUR READERS:
We have been blessed over the years to bring you Bill Wilson's The Daily Jot, with his insightful commentaries on today's breaking news. His penetrating analyses and behind-the-scenes reports have been a blessing to us all. Amen!
However, the time has now come for us to devote our limited space to other breaking news of critical interest for prayer, so (sadly) we need to let go of The Daily Jot on a regular basis.
We urge all of our faithful readers to continue to visit The Daily Jot by going here, five days a week.
Thank you for your continued support of both Bill Wilson's ministry, and of ours.
In His Amazing Grace,
Sara C. Ballenger, Founder and President
Capitol Hill Prayer Partners
The Daily Brief
1. N. Korea agrees to halt nuke program for food - Times 24/7
The United States says North Korea has agreed to suspend uranium enrichment and a moratorium on nuclear, and long-range missile tests in exchange for 240,000 metric tons of food aid.
- Father, how will we monitor whether North Korea suspends their uranium enrichment in exchange for food? Give wisdom and strategy in this situation.
-Food gained by deceit is sweet to a man, but afterward his mouth will be filled with gravel. F(Proverbs 20:17)
2. Moslem threatens to shut down conservative news site - WND.com
A man who says he represents the United Moslem Nations International organization has warned WND to "moderate" its reporting on issues involving Islam because of how Muslims may react. The warning came in an email to WND from Faarooq al Mohammedi, who said he was asking on behalf of the Muslim organization that WND "comply as it would be in the companies [sic] best interest as we would not want to take you down the same rout [sic] as we have with other non-complaint media firms.
- Father, we do not moderate our news for any other organizations. We bind these tactics of fear and control. We pray these threats and plans of attack fall, and come to nothing. In Jesus Name.
- You shall not be afraid of the terror of night, nor of the arrow (the evil plots and slanders of the wicked) that flies by day. (Psalm 91: 5)
3. Treasury shuts down Iranian cash-for-oil scheme - The Wall Street Journal
The U.S. Treasury Department disrupted a Dubai-based banking operation that Washington believes had become Tehran's primary conduit for evading international sanctions and processing its oil sales, according to people briefed on the operation.
- Father, thank you for this discovery. Give our leaders a plan of action for this evasion of international sanctions. We pray this banking operation in Dubai be dissolved and scattered. In Jesus Name.
- The enemy shall not exact from him or do him violence or outwit him, nor shall the wicked afflict and humble him. (Psalm 89:22)
4. GM stiffs taxpayers, lavishes bonuses on workers - Times 24/7
General Motors plans to pay bonuses of at least $182 million to white-collar workers today, on top of $332.5 million in profit-sharing it's paying factory workers. Some Republicans believe the government should get back the money it spent to save GM before anybody gets a bonus.
- Father, settle the debate on this subject. Direct these leaders to the right course of action over this issue. In Jesus Name.
- A just balance and scales are the Lord's; all the weights of the bag are His work. (Proverbs 16:11)
5. Stunner: GOP blindsided by Snowe's plan to retire - Times 23/7
Maine Sen. Olympia Snowe's surprise retirement announcement Tuesday blindsided fellow Republicans and gave Democrats another morale boost when it comes to their prospects for holding the majority this fall. GOP sources said Snowe's decision caught party leaders completely flat-footed. Senate Republican aides were also stunned by the retirement.
- Father, we pray You bring forth a replacement for Senator Snowe. We cast the care of this over on You. We declare a "breakthrough" during this panic over her retirement. We pray Your plans be established for the state of Maine. Amen!
- For He performs (that which He has) planned for me (Maine), and of many such matters He is mindful. (Job 23:14)
6. Prayer in schools permitted, but only for sorrow - Fox News
In times of great tragedy, public school leaders inevitably seek guidance and solace from the same God they've expelled.
- Father, may these public school leaders across America recognize they need guidance and solace throughout the whole year, and not just in times of tragedy. May they see their need for God in the education of children. We speak comfort to this community in Ohio during this horrific tragedy.
- Blessed be the Lord, Who bears our burdens and carries us day by day, even the God Who is our salvation! Selah! (Psalm 68:19)
7. House GOP leaders announce vote on jobs package as early as next week - Conservative Byte
GOP leaders said on Tuesday that the House is set to vote on a package of job-creation bills as soon as next week.
House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.), who spearheaded the effort to bundle six bipartisan bills together, told reporters on Capitol Hill that the chamber would vote on the "Jumpstart Our Business Startups," or JOBS Act, in a little over a week.
Cantor, flanked by his fellow members of the House GOP leadership team, including Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and GOP Conference Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas), explained that the JOBS Act, in part, would "reflect the work of the president's jobs council."
- Offer a word of thanksgiving that this bill is now being introduced in Congress. Pray for swift passage of the JOBS bill in both the House and in the Senate in coming weeks, and for eventual signing into law by the president. Our people need to get to work NOW. Pray!
- "For the eyes of the LORD are toward the righteous, and His ears attend to their prayer." (I Peter 3:12)
8. Obama Attacks America's Founding Principles - Conservative Bytes
Hussein Obama - in a speech to the United Auto Workers union - said that "trying to climb to the very top" was not what America is "about," saying that it was "greed" and that in reality "we're all in it together."
"America's not just looking out for yourself, it's not just about greed, it's not just about trying to climb to the very top and keep everybody else down," Hussein Obama said at the UAW's annual National Community Action Program Legislative Conference in Washington, D.C.
"I keep on hearing these same folks talk about values all the time. You want to talk about values? Hard work, that's a value. Looking out for one another, that's a value. The idea that we're all in it together and [that] I'm my brother's keeper and [my] sister's keeper, that's a value," Obama declared. (Read more, including the video of this speech.) [Also reported by POLITICO]
- Pray that the American people are not deceived by this twisted rhetoric.
- "Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter." (Isaiah 5:20)
"If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?" (Psalm11:3)
9. Obama's Faith Advisory Council Has 'Gone Dark' - Conservative Byte; POLITICO
At a time during which Hussein Obama could desperately use the support of faith leaders, it seems his council of religious advisers, much like his relations with Catholic leaders, has gone, as Politico notes, "dark." While his initial weeks in office offered people of faith the promise that he would be in-tune with their needs, it seems the structure of religious leadership he had setup and assembled with great fanfare has since dwindled and gone unused. Politico has more:
Hussein Obama's first Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships delivered a 163-page report in March 2010 and then disbanded. The second council has waited more than a year for a full slate of appointees and has yet to meet. And the hottest issue - whether religious groups that receive public money can discriminate in hiring - remains unresolved more than three years after Obama promised to address it. Read more.
- Apparently, this "Advisory Council" has been only "window dressing" -- designed to appease people of faith and to hoodwink them into believing that Obama really cared about our values. Now, we know better.
Pray that the American people will wake up to this fact, and that we not be hoodwinked again.
- "For God will bring every work into judgment, Including every secret thing, Whether good or evil." (Ecclesiastes 12:14)
10. House Passes Bill to Overturn 'Kelo' Eminent Domain Decision - The Madisonian
While we hold House Republicans accountable for breaking their spending pledge, we should also publicize the good legislation they pass. Yesterday, the House passed a commonsense bill by voice vote to overturn an aspect of the 2005 Supreme Court eminent domain decision in Kelo v. City of New London.
The Fifth Amendment grants government the right to take private property and use it for public functions like roads and bridges, as long as the owner is fully compensated. In 2005, the Supreme Court shocked the country be extending eminent domain rights to other private entities for the purpose of economic development. The consequence of that decision was that if a local government deemed it necessary to tear down a Motel 6 and hand the property to the Ritz Carlton, it would be permissible under the guise of economic development. This decision was one of the most egregious infringements on our property rights ever. READ MORE.
- Offer praise for this good report!
- "Righteousness exalts a nation . . ." (Prov. 14:24)
The Middle East in Focus
This week, for all the headlines cited below, please join us in proclaiming THIS DECREE:
"The earth is the LORD's, and it's fullness; the world, and they that dwell therein. For He has founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the floods." (Psalm 24:1,2)
1. 'Naked Archaeologist' finds signs Jerusalem cave was used to bury Jesus' disciples - Haaretz
In the early Christian burials in the Catacombs of Rome are 108 depictions of Jonah, Jacobovici told Haaretz last week. Jonah's power as a Christian symbol comes from a verse in the Book of Matthew comparing Jonah's emergence after three days in the belly of the whale to Jesus' resurrection after three days.
2. Israel chides UN over its silence on rocket fire - Ynet News
Israel's Ambassador to the UN Ron Prosor sent a stern letter to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressing outrage over the UN's failure to condemn the firing of rockets from the Gaza Strip at Israel.
3. Modern day zealots envision new Jewish Temple in Jerusalem - France 24
for Jews, who revere the site as the former location of the First and Second Temples, it is a bitter reminder of a harsh reality -- they are not allowed to worship at Judaism's holiest site. Known to Jews as the Temple Mount...
4. WikiLeaks: Russia gave Israel Iranian system's codes - Ynet News
According to the leaked document, Israel gave Russia the "data link codes" for unmanned aerial vehicles that the Jewish state sold to Georgia, and in return, Russia gave Israel the codes for Tor-M1 missile defense systems that Russia sold Iran.
URGENT! SENATE TO VOTE TOMORROW ON HHS MANDATE
Senator Harry Reid has just announced that he will allow Senator Roy Blunt's amendment (S. 1318) to be brought to the Senate floor tomorrow. This is a critical vote!
The "Blunt Amendment" restores the conscience protections and civil religious liberties that were maliciously oppressed by President Obama's latest unconstitutional "mandate" that even religiously-affiliated organizations must provide contraceptives and abortion-inducing drugs to their employees.
This latest ObamaCare mandate extends far beyond contraception provision. In fact, this tyrannical mandate tramples on every American's First Amendment rights!
The Blunt Amendment states this regarding President Obama's "contraceptive and abortifacient" mandate:
"Nothing in this title (or any amendment made by this title) shall be construed to require an individual or institutional health care provider, or authorize a health plan to require a provider, to provide, participate in, or refer for a specific item or service contrary to the provider's religious beliefs or moral convictions."
Liberty Counsel Action strongly supports the passage of the Blunt Amendment and the restoration of our First Amendment rights!
++This critical vote is scheduled in the Senate tomorrow!
This is our no-holds-barred call to action: We must tell Senators in no uncertain terms that the Blunt Amendment MUST BE PASSED! (Source: Mathew Staver, President; Liberty Counsel Action)
"Congress Gets Blunt about Faith "
By Tony Perkins, President, Family Research Council
This must be a leap year, seeing as the President wants religious freedom to take a flying leap from the public square. More than a month has passed since the administration ordered believers to check their conscience at the workplace door, but time has not healed all wounds. Americans are still incensed that the President would order taxpayers, including faith-based groups, to fund abortion drugs and contraception that violates what their churches teach. Refuse, and the Department of Health and Human Services will show you what pain is. Under the rule, HHS promises to take nonconformists to the cleaners with penalties of $100 per employee, per day. "A fine on faith," Peggy Noonan mused. "Who thought they'd live to see that in America?"
Congress is doing everything it can to stop the mandate from taking effect. The House has already held three hearings on the matter, including one yesterday featuring FRC's own Jeanne Monahan. Six Republicans and six Democrats weighed in with questions during the Judiciary Committee's panel, "Executive Overreach: the HHS Mandate Versus Religious Liberty." Jeanne was one of three women on the four-person panel, which drew a standing-room only crowd until members were called away to vote. Only one of the women, Dr. Lindsay Rosenstock, supported the President's policy, which surprised no one since she chaired the Institute of Medicine committee that pushed for contraception and abortion drugs to be classified as "preventative care" in the first place.
The panel made a powerful plea--but the biggest moment of the debate is expected to come tomorrow on the Senate floor. That's when leaders are gunning for a vote on Sen. Roy Blunt's Respect for Conscience Rights Act. Under his amendment, which Republicans plan to attach to a key highway bill, any person or institution could opt out of the mandate on religious grounds. The actual vote will be a motion to table, and if a majority of Senators agree to table the amendment, it fails. Sen. Blunt desperately needs your help to keep that from happening. A mix of Democrats and Republicans are on the fence about Blunt's amendment.
CALL CONGRESS TODAY!!
The Blunt Amendment MUST BE PASSED!
Please take a few minutes to call them today or tomorrow morning and urge them to vote "no" on the motion to table. They are Senators Kent Conrad, North Dakota (202-224-2043); Mary Landrieu, Louisiana (202-224-5824); Robert Casey, Pennsylvania (202-224-6324); Joe Manchin, West Virginia ( 202-224-3954); Bill Nelson, Florida (202-224-5274); Mark Pryor, Arkansas (202-224-2353); Joe Tester, Montana (202-224-2644); Joe Lieberman, Connecticut (202-224-4041); Olympia Snowe, Maine (202-224-5344), Susan Collins, Maine (202-224-2523). If you get a busy signal, try calling the Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121.
(Source: Family Research Council)
New Feature! Legislative Focus
Legislative Focus: Highway Bill
The Senate and House have gone in opposite directions regarding the highway bill. Thanks to your tenacious activism, John Boehner has pulled the House bill (H.R. 7) from the floor. He will no longer pursue a 5-year authorization, probably opting for a more modest two-year authorization. The Senate, on the other hand, is moving full-steam ahead on its 2-year version, S.1813. They are expected to take up the legislation when they return from recess on Tuesday, and debate the bill -along with its sundry amendments - until Thursday.
Senate amendments and keeping focus: The highway bill, as with most major Senate bills, will be used as a platform for members to offer numerous non-germane amendments. There will be some good amendments that will possibly come up for a vote, such as Roy Blunt's amendment to overturn the HHS's contraception mandate.
However, we must not lose sight of the underlying bill. Many senators will boast about their amendments to the bill, or inveigh against Harry Reid for blocking their choice amendment. Unfortunately, many of these senators, including at least half the Republicans, support the underlying bill. The underlying bill is terrible, as it raises taxes to fund a bloated highway bill that contains no federalism reforms.
House bill rope-a-dope:
While many people are touting Boehner's retreat on a 5-year highway bill as a victory for conservatives, we must be vigilant of bait-and-switch shenanigans in the new bill. It is very likely that Boehner will propose a new bill that incurs just as a large an annual deficit as the first bill. It's just that the authorization period will only go for 2 years instead of 5. This will allow him to claim that the bill is totally offset by the drilling revenue and spending cuts; however, the deficit in the trust fund will still be the same. Whether we spend $105 billion over 2 years or $262 billion over 5 years it is still the same annual level of $52.5 billion, roughly $14 billion more than the annual revenue from the gas tax. If the outline of the new bill follows along these lines, we must still oppose the bill, while demanding either a cut to mass transit or full devolution of transportation authority to the states. (Source: The Madisonian. You can sign up to receive these weekly analyses by going to: www.madisonproject.com)
TOMORROW:The Education Bill
(Whatever happened to "No Child Left Behind?")
Introducing "The Madisonian"
We are proud to introduce our readers and prayer partners to "The Madisonian" -- The Legislative Bulletin for Conservatives.
This report gives a weekly summary of key issues on the Hill, from a conservative perspective. Here, for example, is this week's overview by the author, The Honorable Jim Ryun, Chairman of The Madison Project:
The Week of Feb. 27- March 2
Team Madison,
Congress is back in session this week and there are a lot of issues of concern. We must be vigilant and cognizant of all the latest developments, while being prepared to hold Congress accountable.
For Liberty
Jim Ryun
You can sign up to receive these alerts directly via email by going to their website at:
www.madisonproject.com
Blessings!
And now . . . a word from Rachel Maddow!
Obama Proposes New Law: 'Prevention Detention'
A commentary by Rachel Maddow
On The Rachel Maddow Show, Rachel discusses Obama's speech today with Vincent Warren with the Center for Constitutional Rights, who met with Obama at the White House yesterday with other human rights activists and civil libertarians about the concerns with Obama's embrace of Bush and Cheney policies. 'Preventive detention' at the top of the list.
To view this video, go here. (Posted on May 21, 2009; still in place today)
- This video, by a woman on the far, far left, is very revealing and is cause for much concern, as this policy has now been included in the recently-passed National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) -- the bill that Obama signed into law on New Years Eve, Dec.31, 2012.
- Pray that others on the far left will also see the dangers of this administration as it continues to violate constitutional law; and pray that the NDAA is contested in a court of law and quickly!
- [Regarding the joining of forces, left-wing and right-wing, to defend our freedoms]
" "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD. "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts." (Isaiah 55:8,9)
P.M. Netanyahu Heads for Washington
Pressure Rises for Strike on Iran
Ehud Barak Arrives Tomorrow Ahead of P.M. Netanyahu to Begin Talks in Washington
JERUSALEM - Israel's prime minister sets off this week on a U.S. visit clouded by a deepening rift with Washington, which is pressing Israel to hold off on any attack against Iran's suspect nuclear program.
Although Israel says it hasn't decided whether to strike, it has signaled readiness to do so -- a move that would have deep worldwide implications.
Senior Israeli officials say Israel would have to act by summer in order to be effective. U.S. officials, wary that an Israeli strike could drive up oil prices and entangle the U.S. in a new Mideast military confrontation during the presidential election season, want to give diplomacy and sanctions more time to work.
These differences have created tension ahead of Benjamin Netanyahu's arrival at the White House next Monday. Aides to the Israeli leader would not say what he plans to tell President Obama. (Fox News) Read more:
> > > Because the meetings that have been planned this weekend to take place between the president and P.M. Netanyahu are so critical to our future, we are calling all of our prayer partners who are able to do so to enter into a DAY OF PRAYER AND FASTING in advance of these discussions, throughout the day on FRIDAY, MARCH 2.
In addition, we are calling ALL who are able to do so to enter into ALL-NIGHT PRAYER on Friday night, as well.
"It is written . . . the effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much!" (James 5:16) AMEN
Please check back here tomorrow (Thursday) for more details on the all-night prayer initiative, and thank you for "praying into" this very special event, in your own closet of prayer, at that time.
The Good News Corner:
Rowan County Commissioners Have No Intention of Altering their Prayers
SALISBURY, N.C. - The American Civil Liberties Union and its threats to sue government bodies who open their meetings with prayer to a specific deity don't seem to have frightened Rowan County Commissioners, four of whom said this week they have no intention of altering the prayers they lift unashamedly in the name of Jesus.
In fact, Chairman Chad Mitchell started Monday's board meeting, which was packed with hundreds of prayer supporters, with an appeal to the "Father" in "Jesus name." His freedom to pray as he felt led was proclaimed loudly and clearly by some two dozen members of the public who encouraged the board not to back down from the ACLU.
Rowan is among some 25 to 30 government bodies across the state in the organization's crosshairs in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to let stand the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling in a Forsyth County case that effectively outlawed so-called "sectarian" prayers at public meetings. Katy Parker, legal director for the ACLU's Tar Heel chapter, told the media that Rowan was the first government to say that they're "going to completely disregard the law."
"The court's interpretation of the First Amendment is so contrary to the true meaning of our Constitution. These commissioners, who are exercising the freedom of religion guaranteed them by our nation's founders are standing firm and they are an inspiration to people everywhere," said the Rev. Mark Creech, executive director of the Christian Action League. "We commend their resolve and urge those residents who came out to sing and pray and spur them on to keep up their encouragement for what may result in a legal battle ahead."
While Rowan resident Chris Crowell suggested the board consider a moment of silence or a more general kind of prayer that didn't "advance or promote your religion," the vast majority of speakers said commissioners should pray according to their beliefs.
"If they tell county commissioners they can't pray, soon they're going to be in my church telling me I can't pray in the name of Jesus," resident Terry Brown told the crowd. Others said they hoped the issue would serve to wake up the church and spur revival.
As they spoke inside, the overflow crowd in the lobby of the Rowan County Administrative Office began singing hymns.
Commissioner Jim Sides let it be known that he had no plans of changing his approach to prayer. "I will continue to pray in Jesus name. I volunteer to be the first to go to jail for this cause," he said. The ACLU has requested an answer from Rowan commissioners about the matter by March 5, which is also the date of the next county board meeting. (By L.A. Williams, Correspondent, Christian Action League)
Read more.
Worship with Us Today!
All Things New
Nicol Sponberg
This old earth is fading,
and our hearts are aching
so we let go of our possessions
leave behind our successes
to take hold of one obsession, only Jesus.
So we watch and we wait and we hope and we pray
you will come and make all things new
and we won't be afraid
as we long for the day You will come and make all things new,
all things new (all things new).
• The Middle East in Focus
• URGENT SENATE VOTE TOMORROW!
• CALL CONGRESS TODAY!!
• New Feature! Legislative Focus
• Introducing "The Madisonian"
• And now . . . a word from Rachel Maddow!
• P.M. Netanyahu Heads for Washington
• The Good News Corner
• 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 - Wednesday, February 29, 2012
"His faithfulness is a shield and bulwark." (Psalm 91:4)
A SPECIAL NOTE TO OUR READERS:
We have been blessed over the years to bring you Bill Wilson's The Daily Jot, with his insightful commentaries on today's breaking news. His penetrating analyses and behind-the-scenes reports have been a blessing to us all. Amen!
However, the time has now come for us to devote our limited space to other breaking news of critical interest for prayer, so (sadly) we need to let go of The Daily Jot on a regular basis.
We urge all of our faithful readers to continue to visit The Daily Jot by going here, five days a week.
Thank you for your continued support of both Bill Wilson's ministry, and of ours.
In His Amazing Grace,
Sara C. Ballenger, Founder and President
Capitol Hill Prayer Partners
The Daily Brief
1. N. Korea agrees to halt nuke program for food - Times 24/7
The United States says North Korea has agreed to suspend uranium enrichment and a moratorium on nuclear, and long-range missile tests in exchange for 240,000 metric tons of food aid.
- Father, how will we monitor whether North Korea suspends their uranium enrichment in exchange for food? Give wisdom and strategy in this situation.
-Food gained by deceit is sweet to a man, but afterward his mouth will be filled with gravel. F(Proverbs 20:17)
2. Moslem threatens to shut down conservative news site - WND.com
A man who says he represents the United Moslem Nations International organization has warned WND to "moderate" its reporting on issues involving Islam because of how Muslims may react. The warning came in an email to WND from Faarooq al Mohammedi, who said he was asking on behalf of the Muslim organization that WND "comply as it would be in the companies [sic] best interest as we would not want to take you down the same rout [sic] as we have with other non-complaint media firms.
- Father, we do not moderate our news for any other organizations. We bind these tactics of fear and control. We pray these threats and plans of attack fall, and come to nothing. In Jesus Name.
- You shall not be afraid of the terror of night, nor of the arrow (the evil plots and slanders of the wicked) that flies by day. (Psalm 91: 5)
3. Treasury shuts down Iranian cash-for-oil scheme - The Wall Street Journal
The U.S. Treasury Department disrupted a Dubai-based banking operation that Washington believes had become Tehran's primary conduit for evading international sanctions and processing its oil sales, according to people briefed on the operation.
- Father, thank you for this discovery. Give our leaders a plan of action for this evasion of international sanctions. We pray this banking operation in Dubai be dissolved and scattered. In Jesus Name.
- The enemy shall not exact from him or do him violence or outwit him, nor shall the wicked afflict and humble him. (Psalm 89:22)
4. GM stiffs taxpayers, lavishes bonuses on workers - Times 24/7
General Motors plans to pay bonuses of at least $182 million to white-collar workers today, on top of $332.5 million in profit-sharing it's paying factory workers. Some Republicans believe the government should get back the money it spent to save GM before anybody gets a bonus.
- Father, settle the debate on this subject. Direct these leaders to the right course of action over this issue. In Jesus Name.
- A just balance and scales are the Lord's; all the weights of the bag are His work. (Proverbs 16:11)
5. Stunner: GOP blindsided by Snowe's plan to retire - Times 23/7
Maine Sen. Olympia Snowe's surprise retirement announcement Tuesday blindsided fellow Republicans and gave Democrats another morale boost when it comes to their prospects for holding the majority this fall. GOP sources said Snowe's decision caught party leaders completely flat-footed. Senate Republican aides were also stunned by the retirement.
- Father, we pray You bring forth a replacement for Senator Snowe. We cast the care of this over on You. We declare a "breakthrough" during this panic over her retirement. We pray Your plans be established for the state of Maine. Amen!
- For He performs (that which He has) planned for me (Maine), and of many such matters He is mindful. (Job 23:14)
6. Prayer in schools permitted, but only for sorrow - Fox News
In times of great tragedy, public school leaders inevitably seek guidance and solace from the same God they've expelled.
- Father, may these public school leaders across America recognize they need guidance and solace throughout the whole year, and not just in times of tragedy. May they see their need for God in the education of children. We speak comfort to this community in Ohio during this horrific tragedy.
- Blessed be the Lord, Who bears our burdens and carries us day by day, even the God Who is our salvation! Selah! (Psalm 68:19)
7. House GOP leaders announce vote on jobs package as early as next week - Conservative Byte
GOP leaders said on Tuesday that the House is set to vote on a package of job-creation bills as soon as next week.
House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.), who spearheaded the effort to bundle six bipartisan bills together, told reporters on Capitol Hill that the chamber would vote on the "Jumpstart Our Business Startups," or JOBS Act, in a little over a week.
Cantor, flanked by his fellow members of the House GOP leadership team, including Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and GOP Conference Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas), explained that the JOBS Act, in part, would "reflect the work of the president's jobs council."
- Offer a word of thanksgiving that this bill is now being introduced in Congress. Pray for swift passage of the JOBS bill in both the House and in the Senate in coming weeks, and for eventual signing into law by the president. Our people need to get to work NOW. Pray!
- "For the eyes of the LORD are toward the righteous, and His ears attend to their prayer." (I Peter 3:12)
8. Obama Attacks America's Founding Principles - Conservative Bytes
Hussein Obama - in a speech to the United Auto Workers union - said that "trying to climb to the very top" was not what America is "about," saying that it was "greed" and that in reality "we're all in it together."
"America's not just looking out for yourself, it's not just about greed, it's not just about trying to climb to the very top and keep everybody else down," Hussein Obama said at the UAW's annual National Community Action Program Legislative Conference in Washington, D.C.
"I keep on hearing these same folks talk about values all the time. You want to talk about values? Hard work, that's a value. Looking out for one another, that's a value. The idea that we're all in it together and [that] I'm my brother's keeper and [my] sister's keeper, that's a value," Obama declared. (Read more, including the video of this speech.) [Also reported by POLITICO]
- Pray that the American people are not deceived by this twisted rhetoric.
- "Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter." (Isaiah 5:20)
"If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?" (Psalm11:3)
9. Obama's Faith Advisory Council Has 'Gone Dark' - Conservative Byte; POLITICO
At a time during which Hussein Obama could desperately use the support of faith leaders, it seems his council of religious advisers, much like his relations with Catholic leaders, has gone, as Politico notes, "dark." While his initial weeks in office offered people of faith the promise that he would be in-tune with their needs, it seems the structure of religious leadership he had setup and assembled with great fanfare has since dwindled and gone unused. Politico has more:
Hussein Obama's first Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships delivered a 163-page report in March 2010 and then disbanded. The second council has waited more than a year for a full slate of appointees and has yet to meet. And the hottest issue - whether religious groups that receive public money can discriminate in hiring - remains unresolved more than three years after Obama promised to address it. Read more.
- Apparently, this "Advisory Council" has been only "window dressing" -- designed to appease people of faith and to hoodwink them into believing that Obama really cared about our values. Now, we know better.
Pray that the American people will wake up to this fact, and that we not be hoodwinked again.
- "For God will bring every work into judgment, Including every secret thing, Whether good or evil." (Ecclesiastes 12:14)
10. House Passes Bill to Overturn 'Kelo' Eminent Domain Decision - The Madisonian
While we hold House Republicans accountable for breaking their spending pledge, we should also publicize the good legislation they pass. Yesterday, the House passed a commonsense bill by voice vote to overturn an aspect of the 2005 Supreme Court eminent domain decision in Kelo v. City of New London.
The Fifth Amendment grants government the right to take private property and use it for public functions like roads and bridges, as long as the owner is fully compensated. In 2005, the Supreme Court shocked the country be extending eminent domain rights to other private entities for the purpose of economic development. The consequence of that decision was that if a local government deemed it necessary to tear down a Motel 6 and hand the property to the Ritz Carlton, it would be permissible under the guise of economic development. This decision was one of the most egregious infringements on our property rights ever. READ MORE.
- Offer praise for this good report!
- "Righteousness exalts a nation . . ." (Prov. 14:24)
The Middle East in Focus
This week, for all the headlines cited below, please join us in proclaiming THIS DECREE:
"The earth is the LORD's, and it's fullness; the world, and they that dwell therein. For He has founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the floods." (Psalm 24:1,2)
1. 'Naked Archaeologist' finds signs Jerusalem cave was used to bury Jesus' disciples - Haaretz
In the early Christian burials in the Catacombs of Rome are 108 depictions of Jonah, Jacobovici told Haaretz last week. Jonah's power as a Christian symbol comes from a verse in the Book of Matthew comparing Jonah's emergence after three days in the belly of the whale to Jesus' resurrection after three days.
2. Israel chides UN over its silence on rocket fire - Ynet News
Israel's Ambassador to the UN Ron Prosor sent a stern letter to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressing outrage over the UN's failure to condemn the firing of rockets from the Gaza Strip at Israel.
3. Modern day zealots envision new Jewish Temple in Jerusalem - France 24
for Jews, who revere the site as the former location of the First and Second Temples, it is a bitter reminder of a harsh reality -- they are not allowed to worship at Judaism's holiest site. Known to Jews as the Temple Mount...
4. WikiLeaks: Russia gave Israel Iranian system's codes - Ynet News
According to the leaked document, Israel gave Russia the "data link codes" for unmanned aerial vehicles that the Jewish state sold to Georgia, and in return, Russia gave Israel the codes for Tor-M1 missile defense systems that Russia sold Iran.
URGENT! SENATE TO VOTE TOMORROW ON HHS MANDATE
Senator Harry Reid has just announced that he will allow Senator Roy Blunt's amendment (S. 1318) to be brought to the Senate floor tomorrow. This is a critical vote!
The "Blunt Amendment" restores the conscience protections and civil religious liberties that were maliciously oppressed by President Obama's latest unconstitutional "mandate" that even religiously-affiliated organizations must provide contraceptives and abortion-inducing drugs to their employees.
This latest ObamaCare mandate extends far beyond contraception provision. In fact, this tyrannical mandate tramples on every American's First Amendment rights!
The Blunt Amendment states this regarding President Obama's "contraceptive and abortifacient" mandate:
"Nothing in this title (or any amendment made by this title) shall be construed to require an individual or institutional health care provider, or authorize a health plan to require a provider, to provide, participate in, or refer for a specific item or service contrary to the provider's religious beliefs or moral convictions."
Liberty Counsel Action strongly supports the passage of the Blunt Amendment and the restoration of our First Amendment rights!
++This critical vote is scheduled in the Senate tomorrow!
This is our no-holds-barred call to action: We must tell Senators in no uncertain terms that the Blunt Amendment MUST BE PASSED! (Source: Mathew Staver, President; Liberty Counsel Action)
"Congress Gets Blunt about Faith "
By Tony Perkins, President, Family Research Council
This must be a leap year, seeing as the President wants religious freedom to take a flying leap from the public square. More than a month has passed since the administration ordered believers to check their conscience at the workplace door, but time has not healed all wounds. Americans are still incensed that the President would order taxpayers, including faith-based groups, to fund abortion drugs and contraception that violates what their churches teach. Refuse, and the Department of Health and Human Services will show you what pain is. Under the rule, HHS promises to take nonconformists to the cleaners with penalties of $100 per employee, per day. "A fine on faith," Peggy Noonan mused. "Who thought they'd live to see that in America?"
Congress is doing everything it can to stop the mandate from taking effect. The House has already held three hearings on the matter, including one yesterday featuring FRC's own Jeanne Monahan. Six Republicans and six Democrats weighed in with questions during the Judiciary Committee's panel, "Executive Overreach: the HHS Mandate Versus Religious Liberty." Jeanne was one of three women on the four-person panel, which drew a standing-room only crowd until members were called away to vote. Only one of the women, Dr. Lindsay Rosenstock, supported the President's policy, which surprised no one since she chaired the Institute of Medicine committee that pushed for contraception and abortion drugs to be classified as "preventative care" in the first place.
The panel made a powerful plea--but the biggest moment of the debate is expected to come tomorrow on the Senate floor. That's when leaders are gunning for a vote on Sen. Roy Blunt's Respect for Conscience Rights Act. Under his amendment, which Republicans plan to attach to a key highway bill, any person or institution could opt out of the mandate on religious grounds. The actual vote will be a motion to table, and if a majority of Senators agree to table the amendment, it fails. Sen. Blunt desperately needs your help to keep that from happening. A mix of Democrats and Republicans are on the fence about Blunt's amendment.
CALL CONGRESS TODAY!!
The Blunt Amendment MUST BE PASSED!
Please take a few minutes to call them today or tomorrow morning and urge them to vote "no" on the motion to table. They are Senators Kent Conrad, North Dakota (202-224-2043); Mary Landrieu, Louisiana (202-224-5824); Robert Casey, Pennsylvania (202-224-6324); Joe Manchin, West Virginia ( 202-224-3954); Bill Nelson, Florida (202-224-5274); Mark Pryor, Arkansas (202-224-2353); Joe Tester, Montana (202-224-2644); Joe Lieberman, Connecticut (202-224-4041); Olympia Snowe, Maine (202-224-5344), Susan Collins, Maine (202-224-2523). If you get a busy signal, try calling the Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121.
(Source: Family Research Council)
New Feature! Legislative Focus
Legislative Focus: Highway Bill
The Senate and House have gone in opposite directions regarding the highway bill. Thanks to your tenacious activism, John Boehner has pulled the House bill (H.R. 7) from the floor. He will no longer pursue a 5-year authorization, probably opting for a more modest two-year authorization. The Senate, on the other hand, is moving full-steam ahead on its 2-year version, S.1813. They are expected to take up the legislation when they return from recess on Tuesday, and debate the bill -along with its sundry amendments - until Thursday.
Senate amendments and keeping focus: The highway bill, as with most major Senate bills, will be used as a platform for members to offer numerous non-germane amendments. There will be some good amendments that will possibly come up for a vote, such as Roy Blunt's amendment to overturn the HHS's contraception mandate.
However, we must not lose sight of the underlying bill. Many senators will boast about their amendments to the bill, or inveigh against Harry Reid for blocking their choice amendment. Unfortunately, many of these senators, including at least half the Republicans, support the underlying bill. The underlying bill is terrible, as it raises taxes to fund a bloated highway bill that contains no federalism reforms.
House bill rope-a-dope:
While many people are touting Boehner's retreat on a 5-year highway bill as a victory for conservatives, we must be vigilant of bait-and-switch shenanigans in the new bill. It is very likely that Boehner will propose a new bill that incurs just as a large an annual deficit as the first bill. It's just that the authorization period will only go for 2 years instead of 5. This will allow him to claim that the bill is totally offset by the drilling revenue and spending cuts; however, the deficit in the trust fund will still be the same. Whether we spend $105 billion over 2 years or $262 billion over 5 years it is still the same annual level of $52.5 billion, roughly $14 billion more than the annual revenue from the gas tax. If the outline of the new bill follows along these lines, we must still oppose the bill, while demanding either a cut to mass transit or full devolution of transportation authority to the states. (Source: The Madisonian. You can sign up to receive these weekly analyses by going to: www.madisonproject.com)
TOMORROW:The Education Bill
(Whatever happened to "No Child Left Behind?")
Introducing "The Madisonian"
We are proud to introduce our readers and prayer partners to "The Madisonian" -- The Legislative Bulletin for Conservatives.
This report gives a weekly summary of key issues on the Hill, from a conservative perspective. Here, for example, is this week's overview by the author, The Honorable Jim Ryun, Chairman of The Madison Project:
The Week of Feb. 27- March 2
Team Madison,
Congress is back in session this week and there are a lot of issues of concern. We must be vigilant and cognizant of all the latest developments, while being prepared to hold Congress accountable.
For Liberty
Jim Ryun
You can sign up to receive these alerts directly via email by going to their website at:
www.madisonproject.com
Blessings!
And now . . . a word from Rachel Maddow!
Obama Proposes New Law: 'Prevention Detention'
A commentary by Rachel Maddow
On The Rachel Maddow Show, Rachel discusses Obama's speech today with Vincent Warren with the Center for Constitutional Rights, who met with Obama at the White House yesterday with other human rights activists and civil libertarians about the concerns with Obama's embrace of Bush and Cheney policies. 'Preventive detention' at the top of the list.
To view this video, go here. (Posted on May 21, 2009; still in place today)
- This video, by a woman on the far, far left, is very revealing and is cause for much concern, as this policy has now been included in the recently-passed National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) -- the bill that Obama signed into law on New Years Eve, Dec.31, 2012.
- Pray that others on the far left will also see the dangers of this administration as it continues to violate constitutional law; and pray that the NDAA is contested in a court of law and quickly!
- [Regarding the joining of forces, left-wing and right-wing, to defend our freedoms]
" "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD. "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts." (Isaiah 55:8,9)
P.M. Netanyahu Heads for Washington
Pressure Rises for Strike on Iran
Ehud Barak Arrives Tomorrow Ahead of P.M. Netanyahu to Begin Talks in Washington
JERUSALEM - Israel's prime minister sets off this week on a U.S. visit clouded by a deepening rift with Washington, which is pressing Israel to hold off on any attack against Iran's suspect nuclear program.
Although Israel says it hasn't decided whether to strike, it has signaled readiness to do so -- a move that would have deep worldwide implications.
Senior Israeli officials say Israel would have to act by summer in order to be effective. U.S. officials, wary that an Israeli strike could drive up oil prices and entangle the U.S. in a new Mideast military confrontation during the presidential election season, want to give diplomacy and sanctions more time to work.
These differences have created tension ahead of Benjamin Netanyahu's arrival at the White House next Monday. Aides to the Israeli leader would not say what he plans to tell President Obama. (Fox News) Read more:
> > > Because the meetings that have been planned this weekend to take place between the president and P.M. Netanyahu are so critical to our future, we are calling all of our prayer partners who are able to do so to enter into a DAY OF PRAYER AND FASTING in advance of these discussions, throughout the day on FRIDAY, MARCH 2.
In addition, we are calling ALL who are able to do so to enter into ALL-NIGHT PRAYER on Friday night, as well.
"It is written . . . the effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much!" (James 5:16) AMEN
Please check back here tomorrow (Thursday) for more details on the all-night prayer initiative, and thank you for "praying into" this very special event, in your own closet of prayer, at that time.
The Good News Corner:
Rowan County Commissioners Have No Intention of Altering their Prayers
SALISBURY, N.C. - The American Civil Liberties Union and its threats to sue government bodies who open their meetings with prayer to a specific deity don't seem to have frightened Rowan County Commissioners, four of whom said this week they have no intention of altering the prayers they lift unashamedly in the name of Jesus.
In fact, Chairman Chad Mitchell started Monday's board meeting, which was packed with hundreds of prayer supporters, with an appeal to the "Father" in "Jesus name." His freedom to pray as he felt led was proclaimed loudly and clearly by some two dozen members of the public who encouraged the board not to back down from the ACLU.
Rowan is among some 25 to 30 government bodies across the state in the organization's crosshairs in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to let stand the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling in a Forsyth County case that effectively outlawed so-called "sectarian" prayers at public meetings. Katy Parker, legal director for the ACLU's Tar Heel chapter, told the media that Rowan was the first government to say that they're "going to completely disregard the law."
"The court's interpretation of the First Amendment is so contrary to the true meaning of our Constitution. These commissioners, who are exercising the freedom of religion guaranteed them by our nation's founders are standing firm and they are an inspiration to people everywhere," said the Rev. Mark Creech, executive director of the Christian Action League. "We commend their resolve and urge those residents who came out to sing and pray and spur them on to keep up their encouragement for what may result in a legal battle ahead."
While Rowan resident Chris Crowell suggested the board consider a moment of silence or a more general kind of prayer that didn't "advance or promote your religion," the vast majority of speakers said commissioners should pray according to their beliefs.
"If they tell county commissioners they can't pray, soon they're going to be in my church telling me I can't pray in the name of Jesus," resident Terry Brown told the crowd. Others said they hoped the issue would serve to wake up the church and spur revival.
As they spoke inside, the overflow crowd in the lobby of the Rowan County Administrative Office began singing hymns.
Commissioner Jim Sides let it be known that he had no plans of changing his approach to prayer. "I will continue to pray in Jesus name. I volunteer to be the first to go to jail for this cause," he said. The ACLU has requested an answer from Rowan commissioners about the matter by March 5, which is also the date of the next county board meeting. (By L.A. Williams, Correspondent, Christian Action League)
Read more.
Worship with Us Today!
All Things New
Nicol Sponberg
This old earth is fading,
and our hearts are aching
so we let go of our possessions
leave behind our successes
to take hold of one obsession, only Jesus.
So we watch and we wait and we hope and we pray
you will come and make all things new
and we won't be afraid
as we long for the day You will come and make all things new,
all things new (all things new).
