REMINDER: Check out this week's broadcast of ''Truth ThatTransforms'' (http://www.truthinaction.org/index.php/tr/uth-that-transforms This week’s sermon is entitled “Life An Inalienable Right.” The special feature this weeks speaks of “Adoption A Better Choice.” PLEASE take time to check this program out!
[THANK YOU for your prayers for my friend David. He ended up not having that opportunity to share with his Mom as he had hoped recently. Pray that he might have such an opportunity very soon. – Stan]
URGENT PRAYER REQUEST: "Syrian Christians Brace for Strike, Ask for Prayer," - by Gary Lane, August 31, http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/world/2013/August/Syrian-Christians-Brace-for-Strike-Ask-for-Prayer/"As Syrians brace themselves for a possible U.S. military attack, many of the county's Christians are praying for divine intervention. They say military action against the Assad regime will only bring them greater hardship and suffering and they're asking Christians worldwide to pray that God intervenes to bring peace to their nation. They believe the collective prayers of Christians around the world could reverse an escalating conflict..."
[EGYPT - Continue to pray for the tense situation in Egypt and especially for the Christian believers who are being targeted with violence by Muslim Brotherhood members.]
“Abandoned” For Christ" - Graham Calls On White House To Support Abedini - By Dr. Tom Askew, Aug.8, http://www.presidentialprayerteam.com/opinion
Franklin Graham is the latest to join the chorus of voices calling for U.S. State Department and White House officials to take a more vocal role in protesting the Iranian imprisonment of American pastor Saeed Abedini. September 26 will mark the one year anniversary of Abedini’s imprisonment for allegedly “endangering the national security” of Iran.
Graham pointed out that, in contrast to Iranian accusations, “Pastor Saeed was in Iran trying to help children. With the permission of Iran’s government, he was working to build an orphanage. But his humanitarian mission led to an arrest on bogus charges and nearly a year of inhumane treatment, simply because he loves Jesus Christ.”...
Behind the scenes, more than 600,000 people around the world have signed a petition sponsored by ACLJ in support of pastor Abedini. A concerted movement this past May brought together Christians from many nations to set aside Pentecost to pray for Abedini. On June 13, demonstrations were held at Iranian embassies in at least six countries to protest Abedini’s treatment. And, on July 29, Arizona Republican Representative Trent Franks spoke on the floor of the House to urge other Congressmen to join him in “adopting” Pastor Abedini through the bipartisan Defending Freedoms Project.
Saeed’s response…and yours - Through his family living in Iran, Pastor Abedini has been made aware of these efforts on his behalf, and is grateful. “I heard that the persecution, my arrest and imprisonment has united churches from different denominations, from different cities and countries. That the churches have united together in prayer to put one request (my freedom) on one day (Pentecost) before God,” he wrote in a letter.
The story of Saeed Abedini, the jihad against Syrian Christians, the attacks on Coptic Christians in Egypt, and the ongoing desecration of churches in Nigeria and India should cause every American to reflect on the blessings of freedom still enjoyed in this nation.
PRAY: - For comfort and peace for Saeed’s wife and children here in the U.S.
- For a strong witness and testimony from Pastor Abedini in the prison where God has placed him
- For Christians around the world who are being persecuted for their faith in Christ
- BOLDly (Beside Our Leaders Daily) for leadership from the White House and State Department in defending the freedoms of Abedini and other Americans
Go to SaveSaeed.org to sign a petition over 600,000 others asking for his immediate release.
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US Portrayal of Syria Rebels 'Misleading, Dangerous' - by Chris Mitchell, CBN News Middle East Bureau Chief, September 06, http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/insideisrael/2013/September/Are-the-Rebels-in-Syria-Really-Moderate/
JERUSALEM, Israel -- The Obama administration might send U.S. military advisers to train Syrian rebels.
Officials say the idea is being discussed at the highest levels. If approved, it would significantly expand a CIA training effort currently taking place in Jordan.Some question the wisdom of directly supporting the rebels.
'Misleading' Testimony - During Secretary of State John Kerry's testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee earlier this week, he said the Syrian opposition is becoming more moderate. "The opposition has increasingly become more defined by its moderation, more defined by the breadth of its membership and more defined by its adherence to some, you know, democratic process and to an all-inclusive, minority-protecting constitution, which will be broad-based and secular with respect to the future of Syria," Kerry told the panel Wednesday.
But Middle East analyst Jonathan Spyer feels Kerry's assessment is not only misleading but potentially dangerous."I would say Secretary Kerry's estimate does not accurately reflect the reality in rebel held parts of northern Syria which I have personally visited," Spyer told CBN News. "I think it's dangerous in the sense that it's creating a rosy and false picture of the situation on the ground in the rebel held part of the country," he said. "As an analyst it is my duty here to present a clear a picture as possible of the situation as I have seen it."
Spyer says the picture inside Syria's rebel groups is not a pretty one.Who are these rebel forces and what do they stand for? To help understand the situation, CBN News Middle East Bureau Chief Chris Mitchell spoke with Jonathan Spyer, an analyst with the IDC in Israel.
"Some of these rebel groups are very, very extreme indeed," he warned. "It's become a very dangerous place, full of jihadis, full of criminal elements also; by no means a burgeoning center for democracy if that is what somebody wants to try to sell."
Who Are the Rebels? - Spyer says there are three main rebel groups.
One is al Qaeda.
"Then there is still a larger group called the Syrian Islamic Liberation Front. These are the guys that we often hear described as the moderates," he explained. "These are the people that I think Secretary Kerry and those around him are talking about when they're talking about moderate."
"I spent some time with one of these important brigades within that group, called the Tawid Brigade, in Aleppo city and I would not describe them as moderate," he continued. "I would say these people from a Muslim Brotherhood type outlook." "It doesn't mean they are necessarily organizationally connected to the Brotherhood but it's that kind of politics, the kind of politics we're familiar with by Hamas around here or Morsi and the Brotherhood down in Egypt," Spyer said. "It's that kind of politics and I would question very much the description which we're hearing a lot in the media right now of those people as moderates.Those people are Islamists, not al Qaeda but Islamists," he told CBN News.
PLEASE BE IN PRAYER as Congress will soon decide if they believe there are moderates inside Syria they can trust.
[bold and italics emphasis mine]
Brutality of Syrian Rebels Poses Dilemma for U.S.- 9/5/2013;http://www.presidentialprayerteam.com/Prayerwatch?pw=2060
... a growing body of evidence of an increasingly criminal environment populated by gangs of highwaymen, kidnappers and killers. Syrian rebels posed casually, standing over their prisoners with firearms pointed down at the shirtless and terrified men. The prisoners, seven in all, were captured Syrian soldiers. Five were trussed, their backs marked with red welts. They kept their faces pressed to the dirt as the rebels’ commander recited a bitter revolutionary verse...(Sources: New York Times, ABC News, TownHall)
++"Israel Is Squarely In the Crossfire Of This Conflict".[The following is from from Liberty Counsel - alert@libertlaction.org, Sept 6, 2013] [PRAY for Israel to be able to effectively defend themselves throughout this crisis.]
Since the start of talk about military intervention, Syria and Iraq have both threatened to attack Israel if the United States and/or international alliances retaliate against the Syrian government.
As reported in The Times of Israel… “Khalaf Muftah, a senior Baath Party official, warned that ‘if the US or Israel makes the mistake of taking advantage of the chemical issue… the region will go up in flames… that will affect security not only in the region but across the world.’
‘No military attack will be waged against Syria,” said Hossein Sheikholeslam, a member of Iran’s Islamic Consultative Assembly. ‘Yet, if such an incident takes place, which is impossible, the Zionist regime will be the first victim of a military attack on Syria.’”
Israel has reportedly been taking intense security precautions. “Our hand is always on the pulse,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday. “Our finger is a responsible one and if needed, is on the trigger. We will always know how to protect our citizens and our country against those who come to injure us or try to attack us.” Syria’s leaders also defiantly declared, “The Syrian government will not change position even if there is World War III.”
Israeli leaders are already being forced to deal with the fallout from any potential intervention in Syria, in the same way in which they have been continually disadvantaged by Barack Obama’s incoherent and badly executed policy in the region.
Our current administration’s failed Middle East policies have already resulted in shed American blood, escalating violence, strong anti-American sentiment, and the threat of total chaos in the Middle East ;;;The bottom line: The Middle East is facing a meltdown of epic proportions – and Israel remains at the epicenter of the conflict. Israelis need friends to stand with them!
++We MUST stand with Israel! We have written an open letter which will be delivered to Prime Minister Netanyahu, Secretary of State John Kerry, U.N. Ambassador Samantha Power, and seven key American congressional leaders. We believe the letter will be widely distributed among the senior Israeli leadership, as well. Click here to read and add your name to the open letter (as I have done):
http://www.libertyaction.org/367/petition.asp
[bold and italics emphasis mine]
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