#683 (10/28) "Health Care or Control "

URGENT PRAYER REQUESTS:

NEWS ALERT: Oct. 23: "Christians Fleeing IRAQ Area Once Considered Safe," - CBNNews.com, http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/world/2013/October/Christians-Fleeing-Iraq-Area-Once-Considered-Safe/  "Increased violence in northern Iraq is pushing Christians out of that part of the country. The Kurdish north was considered a safe area for Christians fleeing from violent persecution in the central and southern regions. But bombings in recent months are causing panic and many are fleeing the country. Al qaeda has claimed responsibility for several of those attacks. Some Christians have been told by local police that they "should not be in Iraq because it is Muslim territory." The Christian charity Open Doors International is urging people around the world to pray for Christians in Iraq. They say that if the persecution continues, there may be no Christians left in Iraq by 2020.[PRAY that believers in Iraq will know God's protection and provision; that believers will know[ whether they are called to flee or remain and persevere; and that their persecutors  may come to hear the gospel and come to faith in Christ. - Stan] 


"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..."

Continue to Pray for 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.]  

Oct. 14, NORTH KOREA -"Kenneth Bae, Mom Meet; Release Not Guaranteed"  - CBNNews.com,  http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/world/2013/October/Mother-Visits-Missionary-Jailed-in-North-Korea/Update on Kenneth Bae: "US Ready to Bargain with N. Korea for Bae's Release,"-  CBNNews.com,  Aug 14, 2013  http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/world/2013/August/S-Ready-to-Bargain-with-N-Korea-for-Baes-Release/  - The United States is willing to engage North Korea to secure the release of imprisoned American Christian Kenneth Bae. State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said the United States is "willing to consider a number of different options" to bring him home.In a video recently released by a North Korean newspaper, Bae requested the United States send a high-ranking official to North Korea to seek his pardon. It is unclear if he spoke of his own volition in the video. Bae, 45, was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor for sharing his faith. He suffers health problems such as diabetes and is currently hospitalized.[PRAY for 1) God's healing of and presence with Pastor Bae, 2) His earliest release by the North Korean government, and 3) God's comfort for his family and friends.] 

IRAN - Vigils Mark One Year Imprisonment of Pastor Saeed - CBNNews.com, Thursday, September 26, 2013 - Today marks one-year that American pastor Saeed Abedini has been held in an Iranian prison. He is serving an eight-year sentence because of his Christian faith. It has been a year of torment as he has suffered beatings, physical pain from untreated medical conditions, and separation from his wife and two children... The suffering has not dampened his passion for Jesus. Pastor Abedini has led more than 30 prisoners to Christ during his time in prison. This afternoon, thousands of Americans from coast to coast will pray for his release. Events will be held in 40 states at capitols, city halls, parks and churches. Thousands more will join from 15 nations around the world

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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"Health Care or Control" - 

An American history lesson - By Dave Ficere, Oct. 24, 2013 http://www.presidentialprayerteam.com/issues

“Obamacare is really, I think, the worst thing that has happened in this nation since slavery [and] in a way, it is slavery…because it is making all of us subservient to the government.” – Dr. Ben Carson, former pediatric neurosurgery director at the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center

The renown neurosurgeon has never been one to shy away from politically incorrect speech, and his address last week at the Values Voter Summit was no exception. Carson – who rose to fame earlier this year after delivering a speech at the National Prayer Breakfast – not only compared The Affordable Care Act (ACA) – also known as Obamacare – to slavery, but also challenged Americans to not be ashamed of their Judeo-Christian heritage.

The ACA, Carson told the assembled group, “was never about health care – it was all about control.” People don’t understand the critical importance of health, Carson added, until someone close to them or they themselves become deathly sick and have to struggle to survive. Your health, Carson said, “is the most valuable thing that you have – everything else pales in significance compared to your health…and that’s the reason that your health should be controlled by you and not by the government,” he proclaimed to loud applause and cheers.

“It’s time – it’s really time for the people – we, the people of America, to stop being afraid of the government and put it in its place,” Carson declared, drawing a lesson from history.

“Vladimir Lenin, one of the fathers of socialism and communism, said that socialized medicine is the keystone to the establishment of a socialist state,” the neurosurgeon said, adding that those who don’t know history are the ones that think fears about Obamacare are irrational.

Using another historical reference, the neurosurgeon cited French commentator Alexis de Tocqueville, who was impressed by the public use of religious principles in America. “What impressed him the most was the fact that we taught, in our public schools, values and principles, and we were not ashamed to use the Bible as the source of those values and principles,” Carson said. Today, however, there is debate over whether or not America is a Judeo-Christian nation. Those who doubt America’s Judeo-Christian heritage “don’t know anything about the founding of this nation,” the neurosurgeon asserted. “If we try to throw God out of our nation, he will neglect us, and we will go down the tubes. We must not be ashamed of our relationship with God,” Carson added, warning if we are, we’re going to lose it.

Along with the importance of faith, Carson also cited the family as one sign of a stable nation. “We need to recognize that God created the family structure for a reason, and marriage is a sacred institution by God himself,” he declared. “There is no reason that man needs to change the definition of marriage,” he added.

Part of the family structure, Carson said, is plain old hard work. Using his mother as an example, the neurosurgeon argued that the best way to help the poor isn’t welfare but opportunity and “that can-do attitude that allows people to move up” the economic ladder. “When the government provides for the poor, they become dependent and lose the drive that is necessary to achieve in our society,” Carson pointed out.

Returning to Tocqueville, Carson said the French political thinker and historian was amazed that “anybody finishing the second grade was completely literate, could read the newspaper, could have a political discussion, could tell him how the government worked.” By contrast, Carson said, today 30 percent of Americans don’t even finish high school.

Your forefathers – and mine – most likely came to America from a foreign country. Many of them immigrated to the “Land of Opportunity” seeking just that: a better way of life for their family and the chance to build their own “American Dream.” Today, as government expands into every area of life those opportunities become harder to achieve. The current debate over the Affordable Care Act represents not only a question about healthcare but a discussion over what kind of nation America will be in the 21st century and beyond. Will it be the “land of the free” or morph into a European-style state where the government controls virtually every aspect of life?

Pray today, for America and her leaders as the nation faces the challenge of remaining the beacon of freedom to the world.

[bold, italics, and colored emphasis mine]

Dave Ficere’s articles and writing have been featured in a wide array of media including radio promotions, devotional publications, websites, magazines and newsletters. The owner of his own writing business, Dave is married to Patt and lives in Phoenix, AZ.