TODAY [May 1st] is the 63rd Annual National Day of Prayer. May we each take time at some point during this day (every day?) to THANK GOD for His many blessings on America throughout it's history. May we then ask that AMERICA once again be a blessing TO GOD, by once again submitting to HIS will in our affairs - both personal and national - that He may truly "heal our land." (2 Chron. 7:14)
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:
April 22 - LATEST SAHEED NEWS! "Saeed Sends Easter Message from Hospital Bed" - CBNNews.com, ; http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/world/2014/April/Saeed-Sends-Easter-Message-from-Hospital-Bed/ "Sometimes we want to experience the glory and resurrection with Jesus without experiencing death with Him," Abedini wrote. "We do not realize that unless we pass through the path of death with Christ, we are not able to experience resurrection with Christ."Abedini signed the message from a "prisoner of darkness in Iran, but free for the kingdom and light."
We need to continue to pray for Pastor Saeed - that his health will improve and that he will be re-united with his wife and two young children who live in the United States. We also remain hopeful that in addition to getting the medical care he so desperately needs, that Iranian officials display the kind of humanitarian treatment that often accompanies the start of the Iranian New Year which began on March 21st. This is the time of year when the Iranian government frequently offers clemency to prisoners of conscience. [If you have not yet, please sign the petition for his clemency- http://beheardproject.com/saeed#sign]
PRAY ALSO : - 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
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.
NEWS/PRAYER ALERT!"Kim Jong-un Calls for Execution of 33 Christians" - 3/7/2014; http://www.presidentialprayerteam.com/Prayerwatch?pw=3651 "North Korea tyrant Kim Jong-un has reportedly ordered that 33 Christians believed to be working alongside South Korean Baptist missionary Kim Jung-wook be put to death. The South Korean missionary - who was arrested last year - and his accomplices have reportedly started 500 or so underground churches..."[PRAY that the plans for execution would be rescinded, and these believers released.] [Che\ck out: They'll Be Dead By Morning (What Difference Will It Make) http://loristanleyroeleveld.blogspot.com/2014/03/theyll-be-dead-by-morning-what.html
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.]
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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.]
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[AS I SEE IT: For decades now, "free" speech on American college campuses not only doesn't exist, but "political correctness" is more important than even tolerance of alternative viewpoints. Did you hear that recently 2 soldiers were quietly having a Bible study while having lunch and they were attacked as being 'insensitive" to homosexuals because their Bibles were opened to Romans ch. 1 (which in part addresses God's condemnation of homosexuality) but which they were not themselves discussing. And of course we've heard oif the many business people who've been forced to shut down their businesses rather than choose to not endorse homosexual "marriage" It is therefore a very legitimate question to ask if violence towards those with conservative or with Christian, views that differ from the "culturally accepted" views is just around the corner. - Stan]
COPENHAGEN, Denmark -- America is facing a new fascism that does not tolerate any views it doesn't like -- where "wrong" speech is being hounded, demonized and shouted down.
The head of Mozilla, maker of Firefox web browser, was forced to step down because he gave money to a campaign several years ago that was against gay marriage.
Brandeis University recently withdrew an honorary degree to Ayaan Hirsi Ali, an internationally acclaimed champion of women's rights and a victim of female genital mutilation and forced marriage, because her opposition to Islam was deemed offensive.
Across the Water - If you want a glimpse into how bad it could become in the future, Americans need not look any further than across the Atlantic to Western Europe.
Transplant American conservative values of 'God, country and traditional family' in Western Europe and, more likely than not, you'd be branded "extreme right," "anti-woman," "homophobic," and even "Nazi." If you're against radical Islam or immigration, you can be labelled a racist. Wave your nation's flag too much and you're a fascist.And should you be brave enough to demonstrate publicly for a conservative cause or run for office on conservative principles, you could be physically attacked or, in Sweden, your home might be wrecked.
Danish Journalist Lars Hedegaard publishes the Scandinavian online newspaper Dispatch International. "You could get beaten up. We see that in Sweden. You have these so called 'anti-fascists' coming to known right-wingers' homes and wrecking their apartments," Hedegaard said. "They go destroy the furniture, tear up the books, and then they make a video of it and put it out on the web."
Under the banner of "fighting racism," left-wing radicals terrorize those who dare to speak out against the Left's experiment in multiculturalism."They call them 'anti-racists' or they fight for a 'better environment' and a 'more humane society,' but their goal is to smash democracy as we know it. They're revolutionary communists," Kim Møller, a leading expert on the extreme, violent left groups in Denmark, said. "If you say you want revolution, people say you're crazy, but if you say you want to fight racism, people support that," Møller said.
Free Speech Farce - Throughout Western Europe, those who hold to American-style conservative values are the outsiders.
Freedom of speech -- the right to say things the majority doesn't like -- is gone in most of Europe, including Britain, George Igler, with Discourse Institute in London, says.No, Britain is not a country that has free speech. Britain is not a country that has the rule of law," Igler said."We have populations who believe they have free speech and then they do something, maybe they tweet something a politician doesn't like, and a knock comes on the door and they realize they don't live in the same kind of democracy they thought they lived in," he added.
Last week, Liberty Party candidate Paul Weston was arrested in Winchester for publicly repeating Winston Churchill's criticism of Islam, in which Churchill wrote about the "curses of Islam." It's a similar situation in France, where Libertarian publisher Jean Robin described how the government and the media seem to work in tandem to control information and what viewpoints people will see. "You can't really say it's a democracy with free media. It's an oligarchy. It's not a democracy anymore," Robin said.
Shut Up and Unlearn Liberty - Many conservative Europeans cope by simply not expressing their opinions publicly. "Americans who look at Europe idealistically just don't have a clue," Christopher Doss, with the Leadership Institute near Washington, D.C., said.Doss studied at the University of Oslo in Norway and still works in European politics.
He said America risks going the way of Europe, especially because most of our universities are training young people to be intolerant. "We're headed in the same direction as we unlearn liberty, as students go through four years or more of college indoctrination, they become inculcated with the notion that all speech shouldn't be allowed," Doss said.
If this new fascism is not turned back, life for conservatives in America could become very unpleasant, as it already is for conservatives in Europe.
**Editor's note: This article uses the American meaning of "conservative." In Europe, conservatives are called "liberals."
[bold and italics emphasis mine]
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