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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http://townhall.com/columnists/kathrynlopez/2014/06/08/try-a-little-tenderness-n1848664/page/full
"Growing up, Mom always told me, 'The answer to life is yes.'" That was Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood, speaking and Barnard College's commencement last month.Richards is the daughter of a former Texas governor, the late Ann Richards, and in her speech Cecile Richards went on to praise another feminist icon, Margaret Sanger, the mother of Planned Parenthood. In describing the "movement" Sanger gave birth to, Richards left out its eugenics-based origins and its current dark side, which give a dark irony to her life-affirming message above.
A new report from Live Action, a group that has been doing undercover investigations of Planned Parenthood clinics for six years, addresses those issues and more. Planned Parenthood clinics "committed 327,166 abortions -- about a third of the national total," from 2011-12, the report says.
The report notes Planned Parenthood's insistence on campaigning against just about every possible law that might curtail "abortion rights" in the least -- including bans on sex-selective abortions and waiting periods for the procedure. Live Action also makes the case that Planned Parenthood's ideological commitment to abortion and contraception for women and girls of all ages seems to blind the organization to the difference between "choice" and exploitation when it comes to sexually active minors.
Around the time of Richards' commencement speech, Toni Braxton, the singer of the '90s hit "Unbreak my Heart," released a memoir by that title. If you remember the song, you can recall the audible depth of her pain and despair as she sings.So, too, in her life. Braxton describes becoming pregnant unexpectedly. She was taking an acne drug at the time, which had a warning label describing possible birth defects. She admits that while she took that "medical" excuse for an abortion, she also said she would have had the abortion even if the medication had not been a factor, describing it as a matter of "convenience." When she gave birth to a son with autism years later, she thought the autism must be punishment from God. Braxton wrote: "In my heart, I believed I had taken a life -- an action that I thought God might one day punish me for ... My initial rage was quickly followed by another strong emotion: guilt. I knew I'd taken a life ... I believed God's payback was to give my son autism."
This is the kind of pain and regret that is out there, even though society is trying its best to ignore it. Which is no small reason why, when Pope Francis recently canonized two recent popes, John Paul II and John XXIII, he did so on Divine Mercy Sunday. Because hearts need to know that there is healing out there. Our culture, too, in the throes of severe alienation, desperately needs to be a culture of encouragement that holds motherhood as a sacred honor, something that we celebrate and support.
In her Barnard speech, Richards declared her message to the young female graduates to be: "Life as an activist, troublemaker, agitator is a tremendous option and one I highly recommend." As the recent social media concern for a group of kidnapped girls in Nigeria makes clear, we do feel for those who are suffering, and, in a particular way, for girls and women. Amidst boasting of shattering glass ceilings, though, hearts are broken and lives are ended in the name of not just "women's freedom," but also "women's health." At one point in her commencement address, Richards said: "The world can be tough. It can be unjust ... Each one of you has the power to do something about it. You get to build the world you want to live in."
Richards and Planned Parenthood have extraordinary power over the political process in the United States. That power can be used for good -- to make the world a little more just, a little more tender -- if those who have been so stubbornly wedded to the abortion ideology considered the unnecessary pain that it inflicts, and lifted us out of this culture of death, destruction and broken hearts.
[bold and italics emphasis mine]
Kathryn Jean Lopez, editor of National Review Online, writes a weekly column of conservative political and social commentary for Newspaper Enterprise Association.
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