PRAY FOR AMERICA: 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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In a surprise to many, the Supreme Court has ruled you can not only open a town meeting in prayer, you can even mention Jesus. Since 1999, the town board of Greece, New York, has opened its monthly meeting with a prayer given by a local member of the clergy. Because Monroe County, New York, is approximately two-thirds Catholic, one-quarter Protestant and the rest mostly Jewish, the demographics indicated that the vast majority of these clergy would be Christian. And not surprisingly, Christian clergy prayed like, well, Christians, ending prayers with “in Jesus’ name.”
And that’s how this town with a population of only 94,000 people wound up at the Supreme Court.
Two residents of Greece took the city to court claiming that the prayers violated the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause. They weren’t challenging the practice of praying before meetings. After all, the Supreme Court in the 1983 Marsh v. Nebraska decision had upheld prayers before the start of legislative business, due to the long history of the practice that predates the Constitution itself. Instead, they argued that the prayers were too Christian, and thus the town board was “promoting” Christianity. They also argued that the relative intimacy of a local town board meeting, as compared to a state legislature, created a “coercive” environment.
By a 5-4 vote, the Supreme Court disagreed and upheld the practice. Writing for the majority, Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote that nothing in the Constitution or the applicable case law mandates that only the “most general, nonsectarian reference to God” is permissible in the public sphere, as the plaintiffs contended. He pointed out that the drafters of the First Amendment “would have been accustomed to invocations containing the explicitly religious themes” that the plaintiffs objected to.He noted that Congress “continues to permit its appointed and visiting chaplains to express themselves in a religious idiom,” not by “proscribing sectarian content,” but by allowing them to express their beliefs. Thus the Dalai Lama invoked the Buddha, a Hindu clergyman cited the Hindu scriptures and an imam called Muhammad “The final prophet of God.”
As Justice Kennedy wrote, “From the earliest days of the Nation, these invocations have been addressed to assemblies comprising many different creeds . . . . Our tradition assumes that adult citizens, firm in their own beliefs, can tolerate and perhaps appreciate a ceremonial prayer delivered by a person of a different faith.” This call for toleration and appreciation led Kennedy to reject the argument that the prayers “create social pressures that force non-adherents to remain in the room or even feign participation in order to avoid offending the representatives.” He noted that board members and constituents are ‘free to enter and leave with little comment and for any number of reasons.’” And in any case, “quiet acquiescence will not, in light of our traditions, be interpreted as an agreement with the words or ideas expressed.”
The decision is good news. And while it doesn’t break any new ground, it certainly protects old ground which seems, at times, very vulnerable these days. So, we’ll take it.
The Alliance Defending Freedom, which helped support the town of Greece before the Court, said the ruling “preserves the public prayer tradition that began with our founding, protects the freedom of community volunteers to pray according to their faith in a public setting, without censorship, and defends the prayer giver’s freedom of speech over an ‘offended’ person’s demands for censorship.”
But do keep this in mind: The ruling makes it clear that Christianity's place in the American public square is that of one truth claim among many. The ability to open a town council meeting by praying in Jesus’ name is contingent on the ability of Muslims, Hindus, and even Wiccans to invoke their deities as well.
As Eric Metaxas and I have said on BreakPoint before [see links below] the freedom to worship God and serve God—or not—is God’s gift not just to Christians, but to all people.
[bold and italics emphasis mine]
RESOURCES
Alliance Defending Freedom website - http://alliancedefendingfreedom.org/
"Supreme Court Permits Jesus Prayers at Government Meetings" - Ruth Moon | Christianity Today | May 5, 2014; http://www.christianitytoday.com/gleanings/2014/may/supreme-court-permits-jesus-prayers-at-government-greece.html
"Supreme Court win for public square religion" - Emily Belz | World magazine | May 5, 2014; http://www.worldmag.com/2014/05/supreme_court_win_for_public_square_religion
"Religious Freedom in Retreat" - Eric Metaxas | BreakPoint.org | July 30, 2012; https://www.breakpoint.org/bpcommentaries/breakpoint-commentaries-archive/entry/13/19890?spMailingID=8544830&spUserID=MTMyMjM2ODE5OQS2&spJobID=300707047&spReportId=MzAwNzA3MDQ3S0
"Sterilizing Religious Freedom" - John Stonestreet | BreakPoint.org | September 6, 2012; https://www.breakpoint.org/bpcommentaries/breakpoint-commentaries-archive/entry/13/20225?spMailingID=8544830&spUserID=MTMyMjM2ODE5OQS2&spJobID=300707047&spReportId=MzAwNzA3MDQ3S0
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