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:
LATEST SAHEED NEWS! May 22 - "Pastor Saeed Forcibly Returned to Prison after Beating" - By Caitlin Burke,CBN News, May 22, 2014;http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/world/2014/May/Pastor-Saeed-Beaten-Sent-Back-to-Iran-Prison/ "Saeed Abedini, a U.S. pastor imprisoned for his faith, was severely beaten at an Iranian hospital before being returned to the brutal Rajai Shahr prison. His Iranian family claims the transfer was unexpected and the reason is unclear. But one of the guards involved in the transfer suggested recent Iranian nuclear talks could be a motive, the family said...""
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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This year marks the 70th anniversary of D-Day, the Allied invasion of Normandy, France, and the long-awaited opening of a western front.
The year before, Soviet leader Joseph Stalin had repeatedly asked British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and American President Franklin Delano Roosevelt to open a second front on the Atlantic Coast of Europe, to provide his army on the east with relief.
General Dwight D. Eisenhower, the supreme allied commander in Europe, planned and carried out the liberation of Western Europe and invasion of Germany, code-named Operation Overlord. This large-scale invasion required hundreds of thousands of troops to be assembled and trained for amphibious landing. The plans had to account for beach attacks and required information on the terrain and weather tracking.
Before the invasion began, Eisenhower sent a message of encouragement and support to the troops. He compared the invasion with a "crusade" and noted that their goal was nothing less than "security for ourselves in a free world." He expressed "confidence in your courage and devotion to duty and skill in battle," while noting, "We will accept nothing less than full victory." He ended with a request for assistance from "God Almighty upon this great and noble undertaking."
The invasion began on June 6, 1944. It included nearly 3 million soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines, some 11,000 planes and nearly 7,000 vessels carrying close to 200,000 tanks and other vehicles.
That night, Roosevelt broadcast his prayer. Biographer Jon Meacham noted, "the White House had distributed the text beforehand so that the audience -- an estimated 100 million Americans -- could recite the words with Roosevelt."
"My fellow Americans: Last night, when I spoke with you about the fall of Rome, I knew at that moment that troops of the United States and our allies were crossing the Channel in another and greater operation. It has come to pass with success thus far. And so, in this poignant hour, I ask you to join with me in prayer."
Imagine 100 million Americans reciting the words of this prayer with their president.
"Almighty God: Our sons, pride of our Nation, this day have set upon a mighty endeavor, a struggle to preserve our Republic, our religion and our civilization, and to set free a suffering humanity.
"Lead them straight and true; give strength to their arms, stoutness to their hearts, steadfastness in their faith. ...
"They will be sore tried, by night and by day, without rest -- until the victory is won. The darkness will be rent by noise and flame. Men's souls will be shaken with the violences of war.
"For these men are lately drawn from the ways of peace. They fight not for the lust of conquest. They fight to end conquest. They fight to liberate. They fight to let justice arise, and tolerance and good will among all Thy people. They yearn but for the end of battle, for their return to the haven of home.
"Some will never return. Embrace these, Father, and receive them, Thy heroic servants, into Thy kingdom.
"And for us at home -- fathers, mothers, children, wives, sisters and brothers of brave men overseas -- whose thoughts and prayers are ever with them -- help us, Almighty God, to rededicate ourselves in renewed faith in Thee in this hour of great sacrifice.
"Many people have urged that I call the nation into a single day of special prayer. But because the road is long and the desire is great, I ask that our people devote themselves in a continuance of prayer. As we rise to each new day, and again when each day is spent, let words of prayer be on our lips, invoking Thy help to our efforts.
"Give us strength, too -- strength in our daily tasks, to redouble the contributions we make in the physical and the material support of our armed forces. ...
"With Thy blessing, we shall prevail over the unholy forces of our enemy. Help us to conquer the apostles of greed and racial arrogancies. Lead us to the saving of our country, and with our sister Nations into a world unity that will spell a sure peace, a peace invulnerable to the schemings of unworthy men. ...
"Thy will be done, Almighty God. Amen."
There were more than 10,000 casualties among the U.S., British and Canadian troops, but the invasion succeeded in changing the direction of the war. Less than a year later, on May 7, 1945, the Germans surrendered unconditionally to the Allies.
Take the time today to say a prayer of thanks and gratitude for those who fought for our country and won.
[bold, italics, and colored emphasis mine]
"Why D-Day Matters" - By James Carafano, June 1, 2014
(Photo: DVIDS/Flickr) [1]
“I’ll bet they’re asleep in New York,” muses Rick in “Casablanca” as he realizes there’s no sitting this war out. “I’ll bet they’re asleep all over America.”
It’s an important line to recall as we prepare to mark the 70th anniversary of D-Day. Rick’s conversion from pacifist to patriot in the classic 1942 film mirrored America’s transformation after Pearl Harbor from isolationism to taking its fights to the frontier of freedom.
“Casablanca” and the waves of patriotic war films that followed were Hollywood’s payback for Pearl Harbor – Tinseltown’s counterattack against fascism. The real response was D-Day, the allied invasion of Normandy, France – the beginning of the campaign that took down Fortress Europe.
D-Day wasn’t America’s only D-Day during World War II. In the Pacific alone, MacArthur’s troops conducted 52 amphibious landings. Some of the fighting, in places like Guadalcanal and Iwo Jima, was as tough or tougher than the fight to takes the heights at Omaha Beach.
Yet, as America salutes the troops that staged the D-Day invasion, that battle has become emblematic – not just of every landing, not just every military operation during the Second World War, but every great moment in American military history.
More than any other battle in the American memory, D-Day symbolizes the Americans going forth in the world when they had no other choice but to fight for what is right.
In many ways, D-Day was America’s battle. Every branch of the armed forces fought during the invasion of Normandy. The Navy delivered the troops. The (Army) Air Force took command of the sky. Sixty U.S. Coast Guard cutters provided search and rescue. Even a handful of Marines were on hand. And 160,000 GIs hit the beaches.
To pause and remember D-Day is in truth an opportunity for all of us to stop and recall the service and sacrifice of every fighting American from Bunker Hill to Baghdad. We are free and safe because they fought.
A D-Day anniversary is also cause to recall the responsibilities of freedom. Another emblematic war film appeared a few years after the 50th anniversary of the assault on the Normandy coast. The first scenes of “Saving Private Ryan” are so real that combat veterans could not watch the movie without gripping their seats with white knuckles.
The rest of the film is, frankly speaking, a lot of Hollywood schlock. But the message of the movie is as profound a clarion call for this generation as “Casablanca” was for the Greatest Generation. After losing his men in a mission to bring back Private Ryan with his dying breath, Captain Miller tells Ryan to “earn it.” It’s a message we should all take to heart.
It is more than trite, but also more than true, to say that freedom isn’t free. D-Day was more than a liberation. It was reminder that as long as there is evil in the world, America must always be prepared for more D-Days. The nation’s leaders have the responsibility to put forces in harm’s way only when it is absolutely necessary – to use military force with prudence and judgment. It is the nation’s responsibility to respond to the call with courage and commitment. That is the lesson of all our D-Days.
[bold, italics, and colored emphasis mine] Originally distributed by McClatchy-Tribune News Service
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Article printed from The Foundry: Conservative Policy News from The Heritage Foundation: http://blog.heritage.org;URL to article: http://blog.heritage.org/2014/06/01/d-days-clarion-call/
URLs in this post:
[1] Image: http://blog.heritage.org/wp-content/uploads/dday.jpg
Copyright © 2014 The Heritage Foundation. All rights reserved.
"D-Day + 70 Years" - By: Erick Erickson (Diary) | June 6th, 2014; http://www.redstate.com/2014/06/06/d-day-70-years/ [This contains the next and video of President Reagan's speech at the 40th anniversary of D-Day in Normandy.]
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