#460 (3/10) Sunday Special:- When God's People PRAY - Supernatural Rescue!

CONTINUE TO PRAY FOR PASTOR SAEED - News as of 2/22 from
the American Center for Law and Justice on American Pastor Saeed
(who just started an 8 year sentence for helping the underground churches
in Iran) - "As Iran continues to abuse imprisoned American Pastor Saeed
Abedini, its goal is now clear -- force Pastor Saeed to deny Christ.We've
obtained a new letter from Pastor Saeed detailing his continued mistreat-
ment in the deadly Evin Prison, including Iran's efforts to force him to convert
from Christianity back to Islam. Pastor Saeed writes: "[A]fter all of these
pressures, after all of the nails they have pressed against my hands and 'feet,
they are only waiting for one thing…for me to deny Christ.' Yet he is standing
strong, declaring '"they will never get this from me.' Now is the time to redouble
our efforts to save this courageous pastor, this U.S. citizen, from the darkness
of an Iranian prison. Help us get to 300,000 signatures before our attorneys meet
with U.N. Human Rights officials on March 5. Help us deliver a loud and clear
message to the U.N.".(Read of the letter he has written from prison at http://aclj.org/iran/pastor-saeed-writes-psychological-warfare-physical-violence
-death-threats-iranian-prison) SIGN THE PETITION and read these new updates
on the work of the ACLJ. They would like tens of thousands more signatures
on the petition to the U.N on March 5. If you have not already, please join over
300,000 (was recently130,000) who have signed the petition for Pastor Saeed's
release and tell your friends about it. http://aclj.org/iran/save-american-pastor-
from-iranian-prison-sentence

PLEASE Continue to PRAY: "Libya Arrests Suspected Christian Missionaries ," February 16, 2013; "Four foreigners were arrested in Libya on suspicion of distributing books about Christianity and proselytizing, a Libyan police spokesman said on Saturday. Spreading Christianity is a crime in the predominantly Muslim North African county. The four were arrested in the eastern city of Benghazi on Tuesday and are under investigation for printing and distributing books that proselytize Christianity. Police said they found 45,000 books in their possession and that another 25,000 have already been distributed. The suspects are from South Africa, Egypt, South Korea, and one holds both Swedish and U.S. Nationality. The U.S. Embassy in Libya has declined comment. "(Sources: CBS News, USA Today, Associated Press) [So much for the so-called "Arab Spring." - Stan]As the Lord leads, PLEASE PRAY: · For the timely release of the arrested missionaries. · For all who share God’s loving salvation in Muslim countries.

DECLARE YOUR SUPPORT FOR TRADITIONAL MARRIAGE. Please SIGN THE PETITION BELOW to declare your support for the traditional definition of marriage and in support of an amicus brief to go to the Supreme Court as it considers the redefinition of marriage on March 27th. Their decision on whether to uphold the Definition of Marriage Act passed by Congress in 1996 could be as piviotal to marriage in America as Roe v. Wade was to the definition of the sancity of human life in America. MOST IMPORTANTLY, please keep the upcoming Supreme Court review of this case and their final decision in your PRAYERS.

https://www.truthinaction.org/index.php/the-affirmation-of-marriage/?utm_source=Truth+In+Action+News+List&utm_campaign=9d8fb2dcc6-DOMA+%231+AB+TEST+Length&utm_medium=email

"Supernatural Rescue and the Escape of Chen Guangcheng ," - by Eric Metaxas, Breakpoint.org, March 4, 2013 http://www.breakpoint.org/bpcommentaries/breakpoint
-commentaries-archive/entry/13/21623 [AS I SEE IT: For too many Christians, the truth is
that we really do NOT believe in prevailing, intercessory prayer. We do not MAKE THE
TIME to invite God into the many situations of evil and turmoil in our country and for needs throughout the world because we do NOT really believe in the power of prayer. May we not be found guilty for the non-action regarding intercessory prayer because of our unbelief. God cause us to engage in unleashing the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit through prayer into the world and people around us! - Stan]

When China's blind dissident, Chen Guangcheng, escaped from house arrest last year, angry Chinese leaders were sure the U.S. had somehow helped him. Well, they were wrong. Someone helped him, all right—but the help came from another Source. I learned the details of Chen's remarkable rescue from my friend, Reggie Littlejohn, founder of Women's Rights Without Frontiers.

Chen had endured months of vicious beatings by Chinese guards. He'd been released from prison with terrible intestinal problems. Kept under house arrest, Chen and his wife were shut off from the outside world. Friends who attempted to approach his house were detained and beaten. Six thousand miles away, in California, Reggie Littlejohn was praying for Chen's safety. In late 2011, a rumor spread that Chen had died from his brutal treatment. Reggie refused to believe it. And she became convinced that the only way for Chen to survive was for him to escape to the West.

In human terms, this was impossible. Chen's house was guarded ‘round the clock by almost a hundred guards. But with God, all things are possible. On December 7, 2011, Reggie spoke on a Voice of America program broadcast throughout China. She discussed the rumor that Chen had died, as well as his weakened physical condition. And then, led by the Holy Spirit, Reggie asked “Every person who is a believer who is listening … to … lift up prayers for Chen Guangcheng, that he would be free.” She also asked listeners to fast, adding “I think that God needs to intervene in this situation.”

Just two months later, Chen did escape. He later told Reggie that he began planning his escape soon after Reggie called for prayer.Chen and his wife scrutinized the movements of the guards. Then one day, helped by his wife, Chen jumped over the courtyard wall, breaking three bones in his foot. He felt his way to his neighbor's pigsty, and lay motionless until late at night. Limping and crawling, Chen made his way past checkpoints in the village and waded across a river. And remember, he’s blind. A villager found him and took him to the home of a family he had once helped. The family connected Chen to his network, and in short order, he was driven to Beijing and put in touch with the U.S. Embassy.

Last May, after Chen flew to the U.S., he and Reggie met in New York. Although Chen is not himself a Christian, he acknowledged to Reggie that he knows that supernatural forces played a role in his incredible escape. On January 29 of this year, Chen was in Washington receiving the 2012 Tom Lantos Human Rights Prize. Through an interpreter—who just happened to be the actor and human rights activist Richard Gere—Chen boldly spoke truth to both U.S. and Chinese power: “The government [of China] should take note of this,” he warned. “There has never been a dynasty that was able to achieve longevity through forceful oppression.” And he told U.S. leaders—some of whom were in the audience—that “If you approach [a dictatorship] with dialogue and reason in the hope that they will give up some of their authoritarian power, you will, in effect, become an accomplice to their work.” [If only the Obama administration would take this warning to heart as this is exactly what they have continued to do - towards Iran, towards terrorists in general. - Stan]

The secular world believes in earthly power. But we Christians—having witnessed the power of prayer through Chen's great escape—know better. So as we pray for the persecuted Church in China, we must also pray for our own leaders. May God grant them the wisdom to know what is right—and the courage to do it.

[bold, italics, and underline emphasis mine]

TAKE THE NEXT STEP. What would you do if you discovered a leading dissident, just escaped from a cruel, political prison, hiding in your pigsty?

Knowing that continuing to hide him or even help him get to a friendly foreign embassy could doom you and your family to prison or even death, would you take that risk? Yet that is exactly what Chen's neighbors did when they discovered him. And now he is safe in the US.

THE POINT IS THIS: Are we too soft in the US? Are Christians too sheltered from persecution for the sake of faith or basic human rights? Are we strong enough to do risky, tough things to stand up to oppression? The day may be coming when we will have to suffer here as well, and we should strengthen ourselves.

First, learn to obey, pray and trust God. Get involved with organizations that help Christians or others in lands where they are persecuted now. Women's Rights Without Frontiers and China Aid are two of these. There are others, representing persecuted people in other lands.

Second, follow the Biblical teaching of praying for rulers and leaders in countries where they persecute people for conscience or faith. I Timothy 2:-3 mandates this