#583 (7/18) Environmental Stories That May Surprise You

REMINDER: Check out this week's "Truth That Transforms" broadcast at www.truthinaction.org). This week’s program is Part 2 of a special program entitled “One Nation Under God” that looks at the Christian roots of America. Incredible program;  Don’t miss it

PRAISES AND PRAYER REQUESTS:

ATTENTION: TODAY is the 10th day of the 30 days of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. (see link below for resource material you can download.) Please join me in focusing your prayers EVERY DAY for these over one billion people who need to hear the gospel of Jesus.[NOTE: 1) You can download a  page of helpful basic information about Islam and Ramadan at: http://www.opendoorsusa.org/downloads/pdf-downloads/Islam_reference_guide-1.pdf ; and 2) The following is from a 30-day prayer guide you can download at: http://www.opendoorsusa.org/downloads/pdf-downloads/2013-ramadan-prayer-calendar-1.pdf (The following is from that prayer guide.)July 18 – 10^th Day of Muslim Month of Ramadan - EVERLASTING FATHER (Ethiopia)“For to us a child is born…and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called… Everlasting Father.” (Isaiah 9:6) Ethiopia’s population is two-thirds Christian, and yet persecution exists, from within! Ecclesiastical arrogance from the Ethiopian Orthodox Church has, for years, persecuted believers who left to join non-traditional Protestant churches, or joined renewal movements. As the threat of Islam is on the rise, pray in the name of Jesus for our Everlasting Father to bring unity to His church so that Muslims, who are seeking God during Ramadan, will find Him through the unified body of Christ Jesus.

"Egypt Facing Civil War? "Some Fear Civil War As Violence Spreads In Egypt," http://www.presidentialprayerteam.com/Prayerwatch?pw=1605 -- PRAY for the nation of Egypt, as it faces a crucial  moment, that the recent events would result in its becoming a true democracy and NOT an Islamic state. PRAY esp. that the peoples' freedoms, in particular the religious freedom of its minorities (specifically its oppressed Christians) would be protected.PRAY also: 1) For peace and stability in Egypt after the government overthrow, 2) That the U.S. will effectively reach out to the new government, and 3) For safety for Americans living in Egypt

"Angry Islamists Turn Wrath on Egypt's Christians,"  By George Thomas, CBN News Sr. Reporter http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/world/2013/July/Angry-Islamists-Turn-Wrath-on-Egypts-Christians/  Friday, July 12, 201 - "Egyptian Christians are facing growing retaliation by angry Islamists for opposing ousted President Moham3med Morsi. His supporters say Christian leaders were behind his removal from office....On Thursday, the body of a Christian merchant was found decapitated in a cemetery. Last Saturday, a Coptic Christian priest was shot by gunmen in an outdoor market. Also, days after the military coup that removed Morsi from office, Muslim extremists in southern Egypt burned dozens of Christian homes and stabbed four believers to death. "It's part of the Brotherhood's mobilization that they are targeting Christians, that they are renouncing them as behind this. If the Brotherhood is able to portray what happened as a Christian-dominated or Christian-driven protest, then they get to gain massive support in the streets," Tadros explained.

American Pastor Saeed Held Prisoner in Iran - June 5th Update - "Saeed's Wife Uses UN Speech to 'Plant Gospel'," by George Thomas, CBN News Sr. Reporter, June 05, 2013, http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/world/2013/June/Saeeds-Wife-Uses-UN-Speech-to-Plant-Gospel/?cpid=EU_CBNNEWSPM_2013_156"Prayers from Prison: American Pastor Held in Iran Releases Letter," May 22, 2013; http://www.presidentialprayerteam.com/Prayerwatch?pw=1458"...Abedini has been held at the brutal prison for 238 days, enduring long stints in solitary confinement, and, according to his supporters, beatings and torture at the hands of his jailers and fellow inmates. For months, he has been suffering from serious injuries, including internal bleeding from beatings with no proper medical attention, according to his family and attorneys."(Sources: Fox News, Assemblies of God website) Please PRAY:1) For the imprisoned Pastor Abedini, and for those Iranians who tend to his needs in prison to treat him more humanely. 2) For his family in Boise, Idaho. and their efforts to involve the U.S. State Department in securing Pastor Abedini’s release. And 3) For the impact of his witness upon believers and non-believers, in America and across the world. And if you have not yet, join the over 600,000 worldwide who have signed the petition asking for his release at www.SaveSaeed.org

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"Climate Change Science Is Biased," June 5, 2013 http://www.ncpa.org/sub/dpd/index.php?Article_ID=23246&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=DPD

"The majority of developed nations fund research scientists and rely on them for policy guidance. It is in the best interest of these government-funded scientists to ensure their fields, and therefore their jobs, are deemed of great importance, says Patrick J. Michaels, the director of the Center for the Study of Science at the Cato Institute.

This is a problem, however, when it comes to environmental science.

• In the United States, government-funded scientists are required to produce a National Climate Assessment every four years.
• The assessment is produced by the U.S. Global Change Research Program, a 13-agency behemoth with multibillion-dollar annual funding.
• Under its empowering legislation, the assessments are "for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for use in the formulation of a coordinated national policy on global climate change."

The research program and the individuals who write such reports are the largest consumers of federal largesse on climate science. Would they ever produce a report saying that their issue is of diminishing importance, so that EPA regulations of greenhouse gases are simply not needed? No, not unless they are tired of first-class travel and the praise of their universities, which are hopelessly addicted to the 50 percent "overhead" they charge on science grants..."

[bold and italics emphasis mine]

Source: Patrick J. Michaels, "'My Scientists Made Me Shrink Your Car': How Government Scientists Plunder the Till in the Name of Science," Washington Times, May 28, 2013.

"Sorry Global Warmists, But Extreme Weather Events Are Becoming Less Extreme," - May 30, 2013  http://www.ncpa.org/sub/dpd/index.php?Article_ID=23226&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=DPD

Just about every type of extreme weather event is becoming less frequent and less severe in recent years as our planet continues its modest warming in the wake of the Little Ice Age. While global warming activists attempt to spin a narrative of ever-worsening weather, the objective facts tell a completely different story, says James Taylor in Forbes.

Hurricane inactivity is setting all-time records.

• The United States is undergoing its longest stretch in recorded history without a major hurricane strike, according to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration data.
• It has been more than 2,750 days since a major hurricane struck the United States.
• This easily smashes the prior record of less than 2,300 days between major hurricane strikes. The number of tornadoes is also at an all-time low, even with enhanced detection capability.

Pretty much all other extreme weather events are also becoming less frequent and less severe.

• Soil moisture is in long-term improvement at nearly all sites in the Global Soil Moisture Data Bank.
• Droughts are less frequent and less severe than in prior, colder centuries.
• The number of wildfires is in long-term decline, despite a recent change in wildfire policy that no longer actively suppresses wildfires.

Just about any way you measure it, extreme weather events are becoming quite rare.

[ALL emphasis mine]

Source: James Taylor, "Sorry Global Warmists, But Extreme Weather Events Are Becoming Less Extreme," Forbes, May 8, 2013.