NEWS /PRAYER ALERT"100,000 Russian Troops at Ukraine Border, Could Invade ’At a Moment’s Notice’" - 3/28/2014;http://www.presidentialprayerteam.com/Prayerwatch?pw=3716
The U.S. State Department believes the Russian army is now prepared to launch an invasion of eastern Ukraine if President Vladimir Putin decides to pull the trigger, according to a senior Administration official."At this point, they are amassed and they could go at a moment’s notice if Putin gave the go ahead," the official said...Top Ukrainian security officials said Thursday that Russia now has 100,000 troops on its side of the Russia-Ukraine border.(Sources: CBS News, Washington Post, Huffington Post, Daily Beast)
As the Lord leads, please pray:
*For God to suppress President Putin’s ambitions to "restore" the Soviet empire.
*For the people of Ukrainen [esp. for the church 'to be THE church'] as they wait to see if the Russian troops will advance.
*About President Obama and to use wisdom in crafting our foreign policy, and wisdom for his advisers.
PRAYER ALERT! "As Many as 108 People May be Missing in Washington State Mudslide" - March 25th; Presidential Prayer Team News Watch/ "
As the Lord leads, please pray:
* For rescue crews and other first responders as they work through unsafe conditions in search of the missing.
*For the families and friends as they await information regarding loved ones who may have been caught up in the mud slide.
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:
LATEST NEWS ALERT! - "Ukraine Diplomacy Stalled, Congress Eyes Sanctions" - CBNNews.com, March 06, 2014; http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/world/2014/March/Ukraine-Diplomacy-Stalled-Congress-Eyes-Sanctions/ "Diplomatic efforts to de-escalate the crisis in Ukraine are off to a very slow start, with talks between U.S., Ukrainian and Russian leaders going nowhere...Meanwhile, the U.S. Congress is rushing to impose stiff sanctions on Russia, whose troops have seized control of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula..."
NEWS /PRAYER ALERT! - Ukraine Accuses Russia of 'Invasion, Occupation'- By George Thomas, Friday, February 28, 2014; http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/world/2014/February/Ukraine-Accuses-Russia-of-Invasion-Occupation-/ - SIMFEROPOL, Ukraine -- Russian troops now control an airport near their naval base in Sevastopol, Ukraine. Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov is calling the siege a "military invasion and occupation." "It is in violation of all international treaties and norms," he charged. "This is a direct provocation to armed bloodshed on the territory of a sovereign state."... [Let's be in prayer as the Ukraine is facing an ever increasing threat of civil war. 1) Pray esp. for beievers to be submitted to and guided by the Holy Spirit in how to BE JESUS during these turbulent times. 2) Also keep in prayer Oleksandr Turchynov, a prominent evangelical Christia who continues to be the newly-appointed President of theUkraine, and 3) Pray that many who are and will encounter great suffering as a result of this continuing conflict find their hope and strength in Jesus by coming to faith in Him. - Stan]
NEWS ALERT/PRAISE! "Iran Allows Surgery on Ailing, Imprisoned Pastor" - CBNNews.com,March 07, 2014;http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/world/2014/March/Iran-Allows-Dire-Surgery-on-Ailing-Imprisoned-Pastor-/ The Iranian government has finally allowed doctors to perform surgery on imprisoned Pastor Benham Irani.Irani suffered from a herniated disc and bleeding intestines and urgently needed medical care. PRAY for the final release of Pastor Irani and others imprisoned for their faith.
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/ - 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.]
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.
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
- 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
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/ - 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.]
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.
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
- 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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http://www.breakpoint.org/bpcommentaries/breakpoint-commentaries-archive/entry/13/24882?spMailingID=8265089&spUserID=MTMyMjM2ODE5OQS2&spJobID=262784339&spReportId=MjYyNzg0MzM5S0
[AS I SEE IT: In case you're wondering, you're right. Yesteday's post DID ALSO speak on sending young people to what is called a Summit Conference. This is a follow-up of that appeal. It should speak to you of how important I believe it is for people to consider trying to get youth to attend this conference at some time. If you haven't talked to your church's youth pastor about this, I would suggest that you ALSO tell him or her about THIS post. - Stan; P.S. - If you or the youth you know can't attend, the written resources noted below would make an excellent gift.]]
In a culture that values perpetual adolescence, Christians need to help launch our young people into adulthood. And Chuck Colson has a suggestion for doing that. Back in 2011, Chuck Colson recommended that parents send their kids to a Summit Ministries worldview training conference. I’ve worked with Summit for years and couldn’t agree more! Here’s what Chuck had to say about Summit and about our kids maturing in their faith:
"Vaclav Havel, who helped overcome communist rule in Czechoslovakia once said, “It’s not that modern man knows less and less about the meaning of life. It’s that it bothers him less and less.”
He might well have been talking about many teenagers today. As Diana West noted in her book, “The Death of the Grownup,” “many young adults struggle to, well, grow up. It’s been called the “failure to launch,” or the “Peter Pan Syndrome,” or “perpetual adolescence.”
Much has been made of adolescence as a stage of development, but in America we make too much of it today. We treat teens like kids, market to them incessantly, and never ask them to grow up.
It’s a mistake and it’s contagious. In the 1980s, the movie characters who were the slackers were teenagers; in the 90s they were 20-somethings. But today, with movies like The Hangover, the goofball, perverted adolescents are now adult men! And, studies show men in their 30s spend more time and money on video games than teens do!
We used to think of adolescence as the stage of say between the ages of 13 and 18. Now the National Academy of Sciences defines adolescence as the stage of life between 11 and 30! And when more people know the names of celebrities than their elected officials, and when our knowledge of entertainment trivia trumps our knowledge of Holy Scripture—we’ve got a problem.
According to my friend Jim Dobson, that’s where his son Ryan was. A good kid, but with a very small vision of the world—one limited to skateboarding and meeting girls. Then, he went to a Summit Ministries Student conference and everything changed. According to Ryan, the two weeks he spent at Summit Ministries literally changed the trajectory of his life. Learning about the consequences of ideas, how the biblical worldview is true and how to defend it against other worldviews, led him to a bigger vision of life and put him on the path of standing for truth and making a difference in society.
My colleague John Stonestreet, host of “The Point,” works and teaches with Summit Ministries. John told me that a recent survey of Summit graduates revealed that they are more likely to pray, read the Bible, share their faith, and have beliefs in line with a biblical worldview than the typical Christian student. They also watch less television and read more books—and vote more often than their peers. What parent wouldn’t want that for their children?
What’s Summit Ministries secret? They treat students like adults and raise expectations about what they need to learn. A lot of youth camps focus on fun and games, but at Summit they focus on student learning—especially preparing them for the many challenges that will assault their faith in college and from the culture. And, you know what? The students love it. They want to be challenged, because for too long they’ve been the victim of low expectations.
Summit has set the gold standard for training students in Christian worldview. Ryan Dobson and a lot of others are proof it works.Come to BreakPoint.org, click on this commentary, and we’ll link you to Summit so you can find out more about their upcoming conferences for high-school- and college-age students. And you can search our website and find all sorts of materials you can use to have talks with your kids that treat them like serious adults. There’s no excuse for perpetual adolescence."
It’s always good to hear from our old friend, Chuck Colson. And by the way, if you apply for Summit by April 16, using the coupon code BreakPoint, you’ll receive an instant partial scholarship for a two-week session this summer.
[bold and italics emphasis mine]
RESOURCES
Summit Ministries website - http://www.summit.org/
"Mature Faith or Christian Adolescence?: He Has Risen, Part 1 " - John Stonestreet | BreakPoint.org | March 6, 2014; http://www.breakpoint.org/reseries/articles/entry/53/24699
How Now Shall We Live? - Charles Colson, Nancy Pearcey | Tyndale House Publishers | August 1999
How Now Shall We Live? study guide - Tyndale House Publishers | October 1999
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