#596 (7/31) "Open Season on Christians after Pro-Gay Rulings,"

REMINDER: Check out this past week's "Truth That Transforms  broadcast at www.truthinaction.org. This week's broadcast is about believing God to do great things through each of us. Inspiring talk.  Don’t miss it

PRAISES AND PRAYER REQUESTS:

PRAISE! - "North Carolina Governor Signs New Pro-Life Legislation into Law"- 7/30/2013 http://www.presidentialprayerteam.com/Prayerwatch?pw=1706

North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory signed pro-life legislation into law late Monday requiring abortion clinics to comply with basic medical standards used in outpatient surgical clinics...Court action is certain to follow challenging the law. Considering abortion is a surgical procedure, holding abortion clinics to the same standards as surgical clinics is nothing extreme. Not to mention, nearly half of the states in the country now have this requirement. On the national level, Florida Senator Marco Rubio is preparing to introduce legislation in the U.S. Senate limiting abortions to five months of pregnancy.

(Sources: New York Times, TownHall) As the Lord leads, please pray:

• For the courage and integrity of more state legislatures to take pro-life positions.
• About the sanctity of life issues in America.
• For the national legislative attempts that will be introduced by Senator Marco Rubio.

ATTENTION: TODAY is the 23rd 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 31 – 23rd Day of Ramadam - -  MESSIAH (Turkmenistan)  “… anyone who gives you a cup of water in my name because you belong to the Messiah will certainly not lose their reward.”  (Mark 9:41) Exerting strict control in order to avoid the emergence of any independent economic, social or cultural groups, the government uses the ‘Council on Religious Affairs,’ police and the secret services, to keep the church under surveillance. Religious education and publications are almost totally banned; all unregistered religious activity is illegal. Pray today for believers in Turkmenistan to have the freedom to openly worship Christ, drawing many to Jesus, the Messiah.

"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.PRAY for the nation of Egypt, as it faces a crucial  moment, 1) that the recent events would result in its becoming a true democracy and NOT an Islamic state; 2)  that the peoples' freedoms, in particular the religious freedom of its minorities (specifically its oppressed Christians) would be protected; 3) for peace and stability to return; 4) that the U.S. will effectively reach out to the new government, and 3) for safety for Americans living in Egypt  

"American Pastor Saeed: 300 Illegal Days in an Iranian Prison,"  - by Jordan Sekulow, July 23, 2013 http://aclj.org/iran/american-pastor-saeed-300-illegal-days-iranian-prison

''Today [7/23] is the 300th day of American Pastor Saeed Abedini’s illegal imprisonment in Iran – 300 days away from his wife and kids, 300 days of torment for his Christian faith, 300 days and counting...Pastor Saeed’s wife, Naghmeh Abedini, responded to this positive step:"Thank you to all of the individuals who have prayed, written letters, signed petitions, called government officials, run benefit races, tweeted, and shared Saeed’s story. Thank you to all the government officials from around the world who have stood for my husband.  Iran has listened to your pleas.  While I am encouraged that Saeed is finally getting medical care, the fight is not yet over.  It has been a difficult 300 days – 300 days of torment simply because Saeed loves Jesus Christ.  I am hopeful Iran will do the just and honorable thing and release Saeed.'' ...We continue to work in this country and in the international community to secure Pastor Saeed’s freedom.  And more than 600,000 people around the world now stand in solidarity with Pastor Saeed at SaveSaeed.org. [ I urge you to pray DAILY for this courageous brother in Christ and his family and the hundreds of thousands of other Christians worldwide suffering persecution for their faith. - Stan] 

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"Open Season on Christians after Pro-Gay Rulings," - By Paul Strand, July 29, 2013
http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/us/2013/July/Open-Season-on-Christians-after-Pro-Gay-Rulings/

WASHINGTON - Christians who speak out and stand up for traditional marriage are more likely than ever to be persecuted and even prosecuted for it.That's because of how the majority at the U.S. Supreme Court wrote their June 26 pro-gay marriage rulings.

The high court majority attacked the motives of those who came up with the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) in 1996. DOMA enshrined traditional marriage in federal law and prevented federal benefits from going to same-sex couples."The avowed purpose and  practical effect of the law here in question are to impose a disadvantage, a separate status, and so a stigma upon all who enter into same-sex marriages," Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote in the United States v. Windsor ruling. "DOMA writes inequality into the entire United States Code," he added.

According to Ken Klukowski, director of the Center for Religious Liberty, the rationale for this ruling basically undermined the motive of those for traditional marriage only."The Court said that the federal Defense of Marriage Act is literally irrational, that it was just the fruit of bigotry and beknighted souls rather than the thoughtful actions of elected, national leaders," he said.Rep. Gerald Nadler, D-N.Y., agreed with Justice Kennedy, summing up the majority's judgment of DOMA as being "motivated by animus." "Animus means hatred and discrimination," the New York lawmaker said. "It says there was no conceivable legitimate purpose of the law."

DOMA passed in Congress with huge majorities, but Klukowski said the high court has now decided "that 85 percent of Congress in passing it and Democratic President Bill Clinton signing it into law were not motivated by any sound reason, by any rational thought whatsoever, that they were motivated either by ignorance or by hostility."

Stage Set for Persecution? - Such talk by the nation's highest court will likely propel pro-homosexual rights groups and pro-gay government officials to go after backers of traditional marriage harder than ever. "There's absolutely a growing threat under this administration and under this court," Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, told CBN News. "I think what Justice Kennedy did in his opinion was basically assign a false motive to those who are opposed to the redefinition of natural marriage, acting as if they were a threat to people, therefore declaring open season," Perkins stated.

"And I think you will see open hostility, increasing open hostility," he predicted. "I mean, we've seen very recent gay pride events where there were Christians beaten because they took a stand for biblical morality." Thomas Peters, communications director for the National Organization for Marriage, says up until now, action against traditional marriage backers has mostly come at the state level, and cases have been piling up in recent years.

Peters listed some. - "The Colorado baker who right now could spend a year in jail for refusing to give a wedding cake to a gay ceremony, or the town clerks in New York who had to resign their jobs because they simply asked that someone else in the office would sign the same-sex marriage licenses so that they wouldn't have to do it," he said. "Or the wedding photographer in New Mexico who's been fined thousands of dollars simply for saying she didn't want to photograph a gay ceremony," he continued.

There's likely to be much more of this kind of legal action if America's neighbor to the north can serve as an example. Same-sex marriage came to Canada in 2005. In a recent five-year period there, 200 to 300 cases against opponents of gay marriage were brought before courts, human rights commissions, and employment boards .Now, Perkins expects a steep rise in cases across the United States and he said that's going to have a major impact on America."This is about fundamentally altering the American society," Perkins stated, "loss of religious freedom, loss of parental rights, employers - bakers, photographers, florists - being forced to participate by threat of law in same-sex marriages."

Florist Refuses Gay Couple - One such florist in Washington state has made national news. In March, Barronelle Stutzman refused to supply the flowers for the gay wedding of longtime customers Curt Freed and Robert Ingersoll because of her Christian beliefs.Freed and Ingersoll weren't going to take any legal actions, but Washington's state attorney general went after Stutzman anyway.

Peters summed up Stutzman's case. - "She said, 'I will happily serve you as individuals, but I don't believe in gay weddings, so I'm not going to do your wedding ceremony,'" he said. "The attorney general and the ACLU colluded to sue her with civil and criminal penalties. This is just a gross overreach of power." 

In state after state that's voted to legalize gay marriage, religious opponents have been promised they wouldn't face legal action because of their opposition.But Peters said of the legal action against Stutzman, "It's exactly what the same officials promised would never, ever happen if you redefined marriage. We saw only a few months later those promises meant nothing."

Gay Activists: Passivity = Bigotry - Peters and Perkins point out these days the most active of gay rights activists demand affirmation from everyone in society. And these activists suggest it's anti-gay to do anything less than show full support for them. Standing outside the U.S. Supreme Court after its pro-gay marriage rulings in June, Chad Griffin, with the leading homosexual rights group the Human Rights Campaign, stated, "At this moment, apathy and passivity are no better than bigotry."

For instance, an email went to Department of Justice managers this spring saying they should display a gay pride symbol in their office. It instructed when it comes to gays, "Don't judge or remain silent. Silence will be interpreted as disapproval." 

Many worry what will happen to federal workers who believe homosexuality is unbiblical. Some military members have already run into trouble. Retired Col. Ron Crews, a former chaplain, told CBN News of two Christians having Bible study in their Post Exchange food court, reading Romans 1 - a chapter that condemns homosexual behavior."Two tables over, a soldier heard them, came up to them and started cursing at them for talking 'about him,'" Crews said. "And then called an MP over, wanted to reprimand them for talking 'about him,' while all they were doing was reading Scripture."

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