REMINDER/CHALLENGE: On either NEXT Sunday (1/19) or the FOLLOWING Sunday (1/26), thousands of churches across the U.S.\will mark the 41st anniversary of the American Holocaust. It was on Jan. 22, 1973 that our Supreme Court legalized the murder of unborn children and we have collectively destroyed over 55 million lives! Call your pastor and ask in what way your church will recognize a Sanctity of Human Life Sunday this month. Let’s be sure to honor the Author of All Life and ask forgiveness for our country continuing to destroy its most innocent citizens
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:
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
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------"Extending Unemployment Benefits Won’t Solve Unemployment"- Julie Borowski | Jan 13, 2014; http://townhall.com/columnists/julieborowski/2014/01/13/extending-unemployment-benefits-wont-solve-unemployment-n1777183/page/full
[AS I SEE IT- This article is a great review of WHY things such as continued extension of unemployment benefits - in essence, more taxes spent on more government spending - is never a good long term solution. We need to pray that Congress and the President finally understand this. Be informed and help others to understand this. - Stan]
Congress is currently debating extending long-term unemployment benefits for another three months. Most mainstream media sources would have you believe that members of Congress who support the extension are compassionate souls, while the ones opposed don’t care about unemployed people. This shortsighted narrative ignores the facts and puts politics over real solutions to the jobs situation in the United States.
At the height of the financial crisis in 2008, Congress set up a temporary federal unemployment compensation program. Most state unemployment benefits last about 28 weeks. The intention of the federal program was to take over after state benefits ran out. The program has been running for five years, and some people have been able to collect unemployment benefits for up to 99 weeks.
Late economist Milton Friedman said it best, “Nothing is so permanent as a temporary government program.”
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is determined to renew the program, which expired on December 28, 2013. Meanwhile, other members of Congress are calling for the $6.4 billion benefits extension to be offset by spending cuts elsewhere in the federal budget. This is a more fiscally responsible option that will ensure the cost of extending the program will not add to the federal deficit. True to form, Senator Reid has refused to compromise.
Simply extending federal unemployment benefits will not address the root problem of long-term unemployment. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, over 4 million Americans have been jobless for over 27 weeks or more. Supporters of extending the benefits argue it’s necessary to assist people who can’t find a job after many months. But more unemployed benefits is just putting a Band-Aid on a huge problem that needs to be immediately addressed.
The fact that Congress is discussing prolonging long-term unemployment benefits signals that the economy is still stalled five years after the Great Recession. Chronically unemployed people who are at risk of losing their unemployment benefits are a symptom of that problem.
Unemployment benefits are not a form of economic stimulus. Throwing more money at the problem will not fix the job situation. It will do nothing to encourage entrepreneurs to create more jobs or help people find jobs to feed their families.
The priority should be to get people back to work.Unemployment benefits provide only partial income when someone is out of work. Many people are struggling to live comfortably on unemployment benefits. People have to cut back on their expenses since the benefits are usually much less than their normal salary.
Conservatives and libertarians want people to be able to earn a full salary again. We want people to be able to live comfortably without worrying about how they are going to pay their bills this month. We want people to feel the happiness and self-pride that is often associated with being gainfully employed.
The Obama administration failed to live up to its promise of fixing the economy. The Washington establishment continues to push economic policies that limit job opportunities. Of course, government doesn’t create jobs. But it has created the current environment which punishes entrepreneurs and discourages them from creating new jobs.
It’s time to try something new. The solution to fixing long-term unemployment is to get the government out of the way. Let entrepreneurs flourish. Jobs will open up if business owners can afford to hire in the first place.
Excessive taxes and regulations are denying people job opportunities. The United States has the highest corporate tax in the world at 35 percent. Entrepreneurs would surely love to spend their money focusing on growing their business and hiring new workers rather than handing it over to the government.
The Obama administration takes the cake for the largest number of costly regulations ever proposed. During Obama’s first term in office, regulatory burdens on Americans increased by nearly $70 billion. There were 25 “major” rules issued by the administration, costing a total of $23.5 billion in 2012.
A Gallup poll finds that 41 percent of small business owners have frozen hiring because of ObamaCare. The Dodd-Frank Wall Street “Reform” law ignores the root cause of the 2008 financial crisis, while imposing unnecessary obligations and rules on the financial services industry. The EPA has run amok with ridiculous standards that hurt the energy industry and consumers.
Extending long-term unemployment benefits won’t fix anything. We will be in the exact same rut a couple months from now when the benefits run out again. The real solution is to grow the number of job opportunities by unleashing entrepreneurs from hampering regulations and taxes.
Let’s get people back to work. [bold and italics emphasis mine]
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