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The Daily Brief Thursday, August 8, 2013
"He is at my right hand, so that I will not be shaken." (Acts 2:25)
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The Daily Brief
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1. Al Qaeda intercept challenges narrative of terror group 'on the run' -
Fox News
Reports that top-level communications among Al Qaeda operatives prompted the ongoing security alert affecting U.S. embassies around the world have raised even more questions about the Obama administration's repeated claims that Al Qaeda is "on the run."
- Father, this administration has actually bolstered Al-Qaeda by their actions, in spite of what they claim. We ask You for protection against every plan and plot of our enemies from within the government and without.
-"The evil will bow before the good, and the wicked at the gates of the righteous." [Proverbs 14:19]
2. Obama cancels meeting with Putin- Fox News
President Obama has canceled a meeting next month with Russian President Vladimir Putin amid tensions over NSA leaker Edward Snowden and Russia's decision to give Snowden temporary asylum, White House official says.
Read More
- Father, we pray for a fair resolution to this problem, and for Your protection for Mr. Snowden. We ask that Mr. Obama's actions not create any further rifts in the relationship between America and Russia.
-"Woe to those who decree unrighteous decrees, who write misfortune, which they have prescribed" [Isaiah 10:1]
3. Putin visit to Cairo impending. El-Sisi moves to outlaw Brotherhood - DebkaFile
President Vladimir Putin is set to visit to Cairo . . . on the advice of Saudi intelligence chief Prince Bandar bin Sultan, debkafile reports exclusively. The prospect of a Russian presidential visit has fired Gen. El-Sisi with redoubled energy and impetus for his crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood.
The Obama administration is already seething over the Kremlin's decision to grant the fugitive former US intelligence contractor Edward Snowden temporary asylum in Russia for escaping trial in the States on a charge of espionage. Even more painful knocks are in store for Barack Obama's Middle East policy and prestige when Egypt's military strongman proceeds to outlaw the Muslim Brotherhood movement in defiance of his wishes and Putin turns up in Cairo with more provocations. (Read more)
- Father, we pray for Your protection regarding this meeting. While it seems that Vladimir Putin has more wisdom than our own President, help us remember that his KGB background makes him a stone cold killer. We pray for revelation of motives and agendas!
- "He who walks with integrity walks securely, but he who perverts his ways will become known." [Proverbs 10:9]
4. Obama standing by decision to lift moratorium on releasing Guantanamo Bay prisoners back to Yemen - Fox News
In spite of the ongoing terror threat emanating from Yemen, the White House says it does not plan to rethink President Obama's decision last May to lift a moratorium on releasing Guantanamo Bay prisoners back to that country.
Read More
- Father, we ask that You prevent the escape and re-focusing of all Guantanamo prisoners that may be released back to Yemen. Since Yemen has a track record of prisoner escapes, we pray that Your angelic host stand guard against such a scenario. We also pray for the move of Your Holy Spirit to convert the hearts of these men.
-"No weapon formed against you shall prosper" [Isaiah 54:17]
5. Congress Exempts Itself From the Law -American Spectator
Members of Congress are brazenly insisting the laws they pass apply to everyone but themselves.
- Father, we take authority over these continual exemptions and cut them off at the root. We pray for the Holy Spirit's conviction of sin, righteousness, and judgment throughout our legislators and the administration.
- "And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment;" [John 16:8]
6. Obama administration using housing department in effort to diversify neighborhoods- Fox News
In a move some claim is tantamount to social engineering, the Department of Housing and Urban Development is imposing a new rule that would allow the feds to track diversity in America's neighborhoods and then push policies to change those it deems discriminatory.
The policy is called, "Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing." It will require HUD to gather data on segregation and discrimination in every single neighborhood and try to remedy it.
Read more:
- Father, we bind up this spirit of control and witchcraft in the actions of our President, and all in leadership over the American people in the name of Jesus Christ and by His Blood. We pray for a release of Your freedom across the nation.
-"whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven" [Matthew 16:19b]
7. Religious university balks at 'accommodation,' re-files suit over Obamacare's contraception mandate -Washington Times
Colorado Christian University on Wednesday re-issued its lawsuit over the "contraception mandate" tied to the federal health care law, becoming the first religious nonprofit to revamp its civil complaint after the Obama administration finalized an "accommodation" in late June designed to assuage concerns among religious institutions, according to the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty.
- Lord, we pray for Your favor to rest on this University as it works to restore religious liberty in America.
-"For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened." [Luke 11:10]
8. Sun's poles are set to FLIP within four months; could lead to bad weather and radio disruption - The Telegraph
The sun's magnetic field is expected to flip in the next three to four months and it could lead to changes in our climate, storms and disruption to satellites. (Read more)
- Lord, in the Name of Jesus, we apply the Blood of Christ around the earth like a bubble of Your protection against this solar storm. We know that we have sinned, but we also know that You are the lover of mankind. We call upon Your mercy and grace in this time of need.
- "You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, nor of the arrow that flies by day." [Psalm 91:5]
9. Yemeni Officials say al-Qaeda Plot for Pipeline, City Takeover Stopped - Breaking Christian News
According to news reports, government officials in Yemen claim to have stopped a plot by the terrorist organization al-Qaeda to storm the country's oil pipelines and take over cities.
However, there is concern over a larger plan which may still be in play.
Yemeni government spokesman, Rageh Badi, told reporters that al-Qaeda had targeted the "southern cities of Mukalla and Bawzeer, and then was going to attack two oil ports using al-Qaeda members disguised as Yemeni military.
- We offer praise to the Lord for this good report!
- "Praise the Lord!" (Psalm 112:1)
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The Middle East in Focus
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The Middle East in Focus
This week, for all the headlines cited below, please join us in proclaiming THIS DECREE:
"I will subdue all your enemies." (I Chronicles 17:10)
1. EU, Israel headed for showdown over settlement rules - Times of Israel
Despite heavy criticism from Israel, the European Union will not cancel, modify or delay the implementation of recently published guidelines that block EU funding from Israeli institutions either located or maintaining any links beyond the Green Line, a top EU official said this week.
2. Israeli gas group in talks on pipelines to Turkey, Jordan, Egypt - Reuters
A group of energy companies that discovered large amounts of natural gas off Israel's Mediterranean coast said they were in talks to export the gas to Europe via a pipeline to Turkey.
3. Jews protest visitation restrictions at Temple Mount during Ramadan - Jerusalem Post
Dozens of demonstrators peacefully gathered at the locked Mugrabi Gate leading to the Temple Mount early Wednesday to protest unusually stringent police restrictions against the admission of Jews to the site during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
4. US peace envoy to come to Israel next week - Times of Israel
The US envoy to peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians will arrive in the country on Sunday for a round of meetings with top Israeli officials.
5. Official: Israel capable of unilateral strike on Iran, if US not committed - Jerusalem Post
Israel is capable of carrying out a unilateral military strike against Iran's nuclear facilities without operational support from the United States, a senior Israeli official said to Israel Radio on Tuesday morning.
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The Persecuted Church
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Today's Focus: The Persecuted Church
"For this reason I also suffer these things; nevertheless I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day." (I Timothy 1:12)
1. Car Bomb in Southern Philippines Kills Eight, Islamists Suspected - AsiaNews
Eight people were killed in a car bomb attack yesterday in one of the busiest streets of Cotabato, a city on the island of Mindanao in the southern Philippines, the scene of a decades long conflict between Manila troops and Islamist rebels. The bomb was placed in a vehicle and also wounded more than 30 people, some in seriously; fragments and splinters have reached nearby buildings, which caught fire. This is the second deadly attack in Mindanao in just ten days. On 26 July, a bombing killed eight people.
2. Another Byzantine Church Becomes Mosque in Turkey - Al Monitor
Perched on a grassy hill overlooking the Black Sea, the Hagia Sophia church in the northeastern port city of Trabzon is hailed as one of the finest, and pitifully rare, examples of late Byzantine architecture still standing in Turkey. As The Economist's Bruce Clark put it in Twice a Stranger, his much acclaimed history of the population exchange between Turkey and Greece in the early 1920s, "the frescoed biblical scenes in the church of Hagia Sophia. . . are evidence that the Greek spirit flowered with particular brilliance in the 13th century."
Today, the Greek spirit at Hagia Sophia has been all but extinguished, its frescoes determinedly concealed by tenting stretched under its central dome, and its magnificent tiled floors obscured by crimson carpeting. A Turkish flag hoisted by a newly erected preacher's pulpit drove the message home: Hagia Sophia is ours. What had happened?
Sadly, it came as no surprise that Hagia Sophia had been converted into a mosque. Built in in the mid-13th century, the church had been at the heart of a long-running dispute between Turkey's secularists and its Islamists. Its outcome has dramatic implications for the world-famous Hagia Sophia in Istanbul and flies in the face of the ruling Islam-based Justice and Development Party's (AKP) moves to restore various Christian monuments across the country.
3. Churches in Sri Lanka Face Increased Attacks in Closures as Persecution Intensifies - Baptist Press
SRI LANKA (BP) -- It was just a normal Sunday. Around 75 people gathered in the house rented as their church building for worship. Praise music wafted out the door. Prayers lifted to heaven. Pastor Saman Perera* stood behind the pulpit and asked the congregation to open their Bibles.
That's when "normal" came to a crashing end.
Local Sri Lankan authorities stormed in from every exit, demanding the church service stop. Church members sat in shock until a bald man in saffron robes appeared. With the entrance of the village's head monk, people hid in back rooms, jumped out open windows or knocked chairs over to get out the door only to meet up with an angry mob of nearly 1,000 yielding sticks and stones.
"Leave or be killed," the mob chanted.
That was nearly four months ago, yet Perera recounts the story as if it happened yesterday. In a way, it did -- he relives it with each visit to the courtroom where he must face those who violently closed his church.
For more news about the Persecuted Church, and how you can be more involved in intercession for these precious saints, go here.
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The Daily Jot
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We don't spy on Americans, really?
The president seems to have a lot of extra time to play golf and appear on late night comedy shows as problems for America rise up like an impending tsunami gaining momentum in Washington, DC. Jesus said in Luke 6:45, "A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh." The president's latest comments on a taping of the Tonight Show with Jay Leno are revealing--both as a matter of the heart and as a matter of how Isaiah 59:14 applies to this person: "truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter."
Press pool reports say the president told Leno, "government surveillance is a 'critical component' to counterterrorism." But, he said, he knows that the surveillance programs have "raised a lot of questions for people. We don't have a domestic spying program. What we do have is some mechanisms that can track a phone number or an email address that is connected to a terrorist attack . . . That information is useful." If there is no domestic spying program, why is the FBI, the IRS, the NSA, and the Secret Service under fire for spying on Americans? It has been confirmed that our phones have been tapped, records kept of our phone calls, emails perused and so on. Ever hear of "See something, say something"?
The president also told Leno: "The odds of dying in a terrorist attack are a lot lower than they are of dying in a car accident, unfortunately." What is he saying here--That it is unfortunate that the odds of dying in a terrorist attack are not higher than those of dying in a car accident? Why would he add the word "unfortunately" at the end of that sentence? I know that many apologists for this person will dismiss this comment as him meaning that he wishes traffic-related deaths were lower, but it sure didn't come across that way. Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. There should be no odds of dying in a terrorist attack in this country if this government would do the right thing.
This person has a lot of nerve to go on a late night comedy show and emphatically state that his administration is not spying on Americans. He is lying. His association with the Muslim Brotherhood and support of Islam throughout the world is treasonous. From Benghazi to the IRS to Fast and Furious to NSA/FBI/Secret Service spying on Americans to inciting hatred and violence over Trayvon Martin, the president has a lot to answer to. None, however, can escape the ultimate accountability. Psalm 109:8 says, "Let his days be few; and let another take his office."
Have a Blessed and Powerful Day!
Bill Wilson
www.dailyjot.com
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News from the CPC Foundation
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News from the Congressional Prayer Caucus Foundation
To learn more about the Congressional Prayer Caucus Foundation, and how to receive these alerts (with links included), go to www.CPCFoundation.com
1. House Refuses To Fund 'Atheist Chaplains' At Defense Department
(CNSNews.com) - House members voted Tuesday to bar the use of federal funds to hire "atheist chaplains" at the Department of Defense after Rep. John Fleming (R-La.) reminded his colleagues that the concept didn't make any sense.
2. FFRF Objects To Religious Quotations On U.S. Passports
The Freedom From Religion Foundation sent a letter to the U.S. State Department on July 25 to object to religious quotations printed on official United States passports. FFRF has been protesting religion in passports since 2007.
3. FFRF Says U.S. Postal Service Trucks No Place For Religious Imagery
From FFRF Site: The Freedom From Religion Foundation sent a letter to the U.S. Postal Service today to implore them to remove religious iconography from contract vehicles, after receiving a complaint about an image of praying hands on the side of a truck carrying U.S. mail.
4. Chaplain Ordered To Remove Religious Essay From Military Website
A chaplain at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Alaska was ordered to remove a religious column he had written titled, "No Atheists in Foxholes: Chaplains Gave all in World War II," because it allegedly offended atheists serving on the Air Force base.
5. Group Ask Naval Academy To Allow Humanist Wedding
ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) -- An attorney for the American Humanist Association says the organization will consider taking legal action after the U.S. Naval Academy denied a request for a humanist wedding ceremony in the academy's main chapel.
6. Freedom From Religion Foundation vs. Intelligent Design
WASHINGTON D.C. (Worthy News)- The Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) has joined Darwinian scientists who objected to Ball State University's hiring of Guillermo Gonzalez, an astronomy professor who advocates Intelligent Design, according to TheBlaze.
7. Todd Starnes - Textbook Denigrates Christianity
A world history book used in an Advanced Placement class is under review by a Florida school board over allegations it favors Islam at the expense of Christianity and Judaism. State Rep. Ritch Workman told Fox News the Prentice World History textbook rewrites Islamic history and presents a biased version of the Muslim faith.
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Chaos In Cairo
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Chaos In Cairo
During his opening monologue last night, Jay Leno joked about President Obama sending Senator John McCain to Egypt. Here's what he said:
"President Obama has sent John McCain to Cairo to help solve the political problems that brought the Egyptian government to a halt. I got an idea. How about solving the problems that brought our government to a halt."
The audience roared, but there is a serious point here. It is bad enough that the Obama Administration is pressuring the Egyptian government to go soft on the Muslim Brotherhood, demanding that it bring those terrorists-in-suits into the government. But do Lindsey Graham and John McCain really have to be partners in this absurdly counterproductive effort?
We are having a hard enough time trying to figure out how to handle Islamists in the U.S., like the Tsarnaev brothers. Even though they took the oath of citizenship and swore their allegiance to our country, they were essentially a cancer in our society and turned the Boston Marathon into a bloodbath.
There is also the case of Nidal Hasan, a military officer who "switched sides" and went on a shooting rampage at Fort Hood. Rather than recognize this act of jihad for what it was, the Obama Administration classified it as "workplace violence."
Why are we telling the Egyptians how to handle the Islamists? The people who overthrew Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood are the real moderates in Egypt.
There was a change in the government because millions of Egyptians wanted nothing to do with the Muslim Brotherhood. They were disgusted with the Brotherhood's incompetence, fed up with its version of radical Islam and increasingly worried that Morsi was setting himself up as a dictator.
And what are we doing now? We are telling the Egyptian people that they must negotiate with Morsi and his radical gang. In the process Obama is turning the most pro-Western segments of Egyptian society against America, as if we needed any more enemies in the Middle East.
John Kerry (and I can't believe I'm writing this) got it right when he said that by removing Morsi, the Egyptian military was effectively "restoring democracy." By the way, the reason the Muslim Brotherhood was banned in Egypt was because of its support for terrorism, including the assassination of Egyptian President Anwar Al-Sadat in 1981.
A military government is not necessarily the worst thing, especially if the alternative is an elected civilian government that wants to do great evil. Would anyone have shed a tear if the German military had stepped in and removed Adolf Hitler in the 1930s? (Gary Bauer; End-of-Day; Wed., August 7, 2013)
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Is the Gospel a "hate crime?"
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Is the Gospel a "hate crime?"
Advocates of same-sex marriage are classifying Biblical teachings as "hate speech."
"Some on the left are criticizing Senator Ted Cruz's recent comments about how the drive to redefine marriage may threaten religious freedom - but a closer inspection of the issue reveals his worries were accurate, prescient, and maybe even too cautious.
. . . . Advocates of redefining marriage contend that the First Amendment ensures that pastors, priests, and other clergy in America will remain free to preach what they want to-they will never be forced to celebrate a same-sex wedding, and liberals suggest that this is the extent of the challenge to religious liberty posed by the redefinition of marriage.
To the contrary, if marriage is redefined, then a belief that marriage is the union of a man and a woman ordered to procreation and family life-a notion once shared by virtually every human society-would increasingly be characterized as an irrational prejudice that ought to be driven to the margins of culture. The consequences for religious believers are becoming apparent. . . .
Thomas Messner, a visiting fellow at the Heritage Foundation, has documented multiple instances in which laws forbidding discrimination based on sexual orientation, as well as laws redefining marriage, have already eroded religious liberty and the rights of conscience. . . . The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty reports that 'over 350 separate state anti-discrimination provisions would likely be triggered by recognition of same-sex marriage.'" (Source: National Review) Read more.
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The Good News Corner
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The Good News Corner:
Government Office to Investigate Planned Parenthood's Use
of Taxpayer Funds
A division of the federal government has accepted a request from lawmakers to investigate the nation's largest abortion seller and its affiliates to determine how they are using taxpayer dollars.
Four Republican lawmakers in February asked the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to review the use of money for Planned Parenthood and other organizations. More than 50 members of Congress signed the request.
Rep. Diane Black said she's pleased with the GAO's decision. (CitizenLink) Read more.
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Billion Souls Revival Prayer Call
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Billion Souls Revival Prayer Call
Devotional for Day 3
8 August 2013
Submitted by: David Bereit, 40 Days for Life
www.40daysforlife.com
Intention:
Pray that God will awaken in His people a full awareness of the abortion crisis, and that they will respond to His call to "speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves." Scripture:
"Rescue those being led away to death; hold back those staggering toward slaughter. If you say, "But we knew nothing about this," does not he who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not he who guards your life know it? Will he not repay each person according to what he has done?" (Proverbs 24:11-12, NIV).
Reflection:
Abortion has become the leading cause of death worldwide, ending the lives of more than 42 million babies every year. More lives are lost annually to abortion than to war, hunger, cardiovascular disease, or AIDS. Every child that dies is precious in God's sight - made in His image and likeness. In addition to the millions of babies who perish, millions of women are harmed each year by abortion. Some are killed by abortions, many are physically scarred, and millions more are wounded emotionally, psychologically, and spiritually.
No different than Christian persecution in China or genocide in Darfur, once we become aware of a grave abuse of human rights anywhere in the world, we can no longer say we didn't know. Lives are at stake, and we are called to respond.
As we pray - and as we work to end the worldwide injustice of abortion - God will hear, and He will move mightily. I have witnessed this first hand. From just one hour of prayer around an old wooden table in Texas, God birthed the 40 Days for Life movement, which has since grown to more than half a million volunteers in 501 cities around the world over the last six years. 7,536 lives have been spared from abortion, 38 abortion facilities have gone out of business, and 83 workers have experienced conversions and quit their jobs in the abortion industry.
All because God's people acknowledged the abortion crisis . . . and were willing to rescue those mother and babies at risk.
What can God do through YOU, as you pray - and work - to end abortion?
Prayer:
Lord, help me to see your children as you see them - as precious, unique gifts made in your image and likeness. Break my heart over the loss of these babies through abortion.
Help me resolve today to never be silent when human life is at risk. Help me to do everything I can to rescue those at risk of abortion, and to work until that day when no more women cry, and no more children die from abortion. I ask this in your most holy name, Amen.
Continue in prayer using the 4 prayer points as the Lord leads you.
To view the Four Daily Prayer Points, as well as the Introduction to this prayer strategy, please visit their website by going here.
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Worship With Us Today!
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Worship With Us Today!
I Bless Your Name
The Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir
I bless Your Name
I bless Your Name
I give You honor
Give You praise
You are the Life
The Truth, the Way
I bless Your Name
I bless Your Name
