"Afghan ’Insider Attack’ Kills Two U.S. Troops," (March 11)http://www.presidentialprayerteam.com/Prayerwatch?pw=1235
"Two US soldiers in Afghanistan have been shot dead in a so-called insider attack, US and Afghan sources say. A number of Afghan troops also died in the shooting at a remote military base in Wardak province, not far from Kabul..." (Sources: BBC News, NBC News)
As the Lord leads, please pray: * For the comfort of the soldiers' grieving familis *For protection of American and NATO forces serving in Afghanistan. * That the tensions developing between President Karzai and the U.S. will not become a broken relationship due to lack of mutual trust.
CONTINUE TO PRAY FOR PASTOR SAEED (Iranian-born AMERICAN pastor 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.
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 yopur support for the traditional marrriage definition of marriage and in support of an amicus brief to go to the Supreme Court as it considers a redefinition of marriage on March 27th. Their decision on whether to uphold the Defense of Marriage Act passed by Congress in 1996 could be as pivotal to marriage and the family in America as Roe v. Wade was to the sanctity of human life in America. MOST IMPORTANTLY, please BE PRAYING EACH DAY for when Supreme Court reviews of this case (and Prop. 8 passed years ago in CA that made the traditional definition into law) on WED. 34/27 and for their decisions. 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
"Two US soldiers in Afghanistan have been shot dead in a so-called insider attack, US and Afghan sources say. A number of Afghan troops also died in the shooting at a remote military base in Wardak province, not far from Kabul..." (Sources: BBC News, NBC News)
As the Lord leads, please pray: * For the comfort of the soldiers' grieving familis *For protection of American and NATO forces serving in Afghanistan. * That the tensions developing between President Karzai and the U.S. will not become a broken relationship due to lack of mutual trust.
"GOP Sen. Backs Gay Marriage after Son Comes Out," CBNNews.com , March 15; http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/politics/2013/March/GOP-Sen-Backs-Gay-Marriage-after-Son-Comes-Out/ [AS I SEE IT: This Senator's change of position - to even saying he now sees "same-sex" marriage as consistent with the Bible's teaching of compassion - demonstrates how people can be easily swayed by emotions when the issue involves instead a dispassionate look at the facts, esp. when considering the Bible's teaching on a subject. When Christians - especially those who are among their nation's leaders - become so easily swayed, we are in greater danger as a nation of losing our moral strength. PRAY for Sen. Portman's son, his family, and our nation. - Stan]
[NOTE: The following TWO articles (the second one from 12/12) are presented to urge you to begin DAILY PRAYING about the U.S. Supreme Court's review of cases involving traditional marriage vs. "same-sex" marriage that happens on Wed., March 27. The future may impact the institution of marriage - positively or negatively - for now and future generations!]
"Attorney General Edwin Meese on Marriage and the Courts," Sophie Giberga and Ryan T. Anderson, March 12, 2013; http://blog.heritage.org/2013/03/12/attorney-general-edwin-meese-on-marriage-and-the-courts/
The current legal challenges to Prop 8 undermine citizens’ democratic authority protected by the California Constitution and years of judicial precedence. Meese and Eastman explain the importance of the initiative process in California to ensuring a responsive government: "The California Supreme Court has described the initiative power in California as central to ensuring that the government is responsive to its citizens, and as “one of the most precious rights of [California’s] democratic process.” Initiatives in California are designed to circumvent unresponsive government officials who wield the power to create law.
Citizens have good reasons for wanting the government to get marriage policy right. Meese and Eastman explain that “marriage is and always has been about much more than the self-fulfillment of adult relationships, as history, common sense, legal precedent, and the trial record in this case itself demonstrate.” They go on to explain that “the institution of marriage is the principle manner in which society structures the critically important function of procreation and the rearing of children.” Marriage is based (http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2013/03/marriage-what-it-is-why-it-matters-and-the-consequences-of-redefining-it) on the anthropological truth that men and women are different and complementary, on the biological fact that reproduction depends on a man and a woman, and on the social reality that children need a mother and a father.State recognition of marriage protects children by encouraging men and women to commit to each other and to take responsibility for their children. While respecting everyone’s liberty, government rightly recognizes, protects, and promotes marriage as the ideal institution for childbearing and childrearing.
To charges that marriage laws violate legal guarantees of equal protection, Meese and Eastman argue that same-sex and opposite-sex relationships are not similarly situated: "Given the near-universal view, across different societies and different times, that a principal, if not the principal, purpose of marriage is the channeling of the unique procreative abilities of opposite-sex relationships into a societally beneficial institution, it is clear that same-sex and opposite-sex couples are not similarly situated with respect to that fundamental purpose."
Meese and Eastman argue that authority for marriage policy is reserved to the people and their elected representatives: "At bottom, both constitutional questions turn on whether the Constitution deprives the people of the authority to make basic policy judgments about the definition and purpose of an institution as important to civil society as marriage. The decisions by the courts below negating the policy judgment made by the citizens of California should be reversed."
Meese and Eastman conclude by arguing that redefining marriage poses a direct threat to the institution of marriage and to civil society as a whole. It is of the utmost importance that policy decisions about marriage be placed in the hands of the people. Meese and Eastman urge that the Supreme Court respect the constitutional authority of the American people to reaffirm marriage between a man and a woman as the most important institution to maintaining a flourishing civil society.
[bold and italics emphasis mine]
"The Supreme Court’s Challenge: Restore Marriage Decisions to Citizens," by Ryan T. Anderson and Jennifer Marshall, December 7, 2012 http://blog.heritage.org/2012/12/07/the-supreme-courts-challenge-restore-marriage-decisions-to-citizens/
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