SIGN A PETITION TO THE UN FOR THE PROTECTION OF CHRISTIANS :" The church in Syria has shone brightly for 2,000 years. But today violence and persecution threatens its survival. Thanks to an incredible response, Open Doors is helping 8,000 families in Syria survive each month. We believe the signatures and prayers of 500,000 people will encourage the UN to act and protect the rights and lives of all Syrians, especially the vulnerable Christian community." Go to: http://lp.opendoorsusa.org/emails/nov-13-action/save-syria.html?utm_source=action&utm_medium=email&utm_content=button&utm_campaign=november
WORLD-WDE PRAYER REQUESTS:
"Missionary in Philippines: 'Bodies Laying Everywhere'- By Dale Hurd and Heather Sells, November 12; http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/world/2013/November/Truckloads-of-Bodies-Filipinos-Plead-for-Help/ - [PRAY that relief supplies will get to the needed area in time to help the tens of thousands who are in great need. PRAY that security can be established in the midst of looters causing problems in the midst of the devastation. - Stan]
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/ 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]
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.]
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.]
NEWS ALERT: Monday, November 04, 2013 - Saeed's Life in [Greater] Jeopardy After Prison Transfer - CBNNews.com, ; http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/world/2013/November/Saeeds-Life-in-Jeopardy-after-Prison-Transfer/ 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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"Sotomayor and the Little Sisters - What We Mean by Religious Freedom,"- By: John Stonestreet| Breakpoint.org., January 3, 2014; http://www.breakpoint.org/bpcommentaries/breakpoint-commentaries-archive/entry/13/24190?spMailingID=7689409&spUserID=MTMyMjM2ODE5OQS2&spJobID=111500349&spReportId=MTExNTAwMzQ5S0
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Yesterday on BreakPoint, I told you that 2014 was “shaping up to be a momentous, perhaps even defining, year when it comes to religious freedom in the United States.” The issue in the legal challenges to the HHS mandate go “far beyond healthcare” all the way to what we mean when we say ‘freedom of religion.’”
I have to tell you that I recorded that broadcast before the holidays. Little did I know that even before 2014 began, a potentially important blow would be struck for the cause of religious freedom.The blow was struck by Justice Sonia Sotomayor who issued a stay that blocked the HHS contraceptive mandate from going into effect.The stay was issued at the behest of the Little Sisters of the Poor, specifically their Home for the Aged in Colorado. The attempt to force the Little Sisters of the Poor, of all people, to provide contraception best symbolizes the indifference, if not hostility, to religious freedom embodied in the mandate.
The Little Sisters are nuns whose mission “is to offer the neediest elderly of every race and religion a home where they will be welcomed as Christ, cared for as family and accompanied with dignity until God calls them to himself.” They do the work that must be done but few are willing to actually do in a decent society. Without an injunction staying the mandate, they would have had to choose between “violating [their] religious beliefs” or paying ruinous fines.
Nevertheless, the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals denied their request for an injunction, despite the fact that the same court had ruled in favor of for-profits Hobby Lobby and Mardel Christian Stores, waiving millions of dollars of potential fines for them.Thus, we were faced with the prospect of charitable nuns being in a worse position vis-a-vis the mandate than for-profit companies.
Thankfully, Sotomayor rectified this absurd situation. On Tuesday, New Year’s Eve, just two hours before she pushed the button to drop the famous ball in her hometown of New York City, she issued an order that “temporarily enjoined [the Federal government] from enforcing against applicants the contraceptive coverage requirements imposed by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.” The order gave the Obama administration until today to reply.
The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty spoke for many of us when, by way of expressing its delight, it said “The government has lots of ways to deliver contraceptives to people . . . It doesn’t need to force nuns to participate.” The fact that the Obama administration thought otherwise tells you almost everything you need to know about the precarious state of religious freedom in contemporary America. It was not enough that lay people should be forced to choose between violating their beliefs or paying potentially ruinous fines, the Little Sisters of the Poor had to make the same choice.
This isn’t a disagreement about policy. It’s not even a disagreement about the morality of contraception. It’s about Caesar deciding that God only deserves personal platitudes and privatized opinions, even while demanding that he, Caesar, is due our complete allegiance whenever we enter the public square.
So we won a battle, but the struggle clearly goes on. Like I said yesterday, 2014 is shaping up to be a momentous year. And keep in mind that national issues like the HHS mandate are only part of the struggle. Local threats to religious freedom like badly conceived nondiscrimination statutes are just as dangerous. Just ask that Denver baker who was told he has to bake cakes for same-sex weddings in a state that doesn’t recognize same-sex “marriage.”
[bold and italics emphasis mine]
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