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)
Month of RAMADAN - Please make note that the Muslim month of Ramadan this year is June 28-July 27. This is the second year I will join with the over 1 billion Muslims in their annual time of prayer and fasting (sun-up to sun-down each day) and ask God to reveal Himself to them in dreams and visions. As this is the time each year when they are most open to spiritual things, I ask you to join me that God would speak clearly to each one and come to lead millions to leave their kingdom of darkness for Jesus' kingdom of light. (Col. 1:13-14) - Stan
RAMADAN 2014 - Day # 21 - Peace - "I am making my covenant of peace with him."(Num. 25:12) A few Christians encountered a Muslim trying to hang himself. In anguish he lamented, "I have money, a wife and children, but I have no peace. I want peace." Father, as Christians worship You today, may their prayers fill the air attracting Muslims seeking pace.- from Open Doors Ramadan Prayer Guide for the Persecuted Church.
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:
7/18 - PRAY FOR THE PRESENT CONFLICT BETWEEN ISRAEL AND HAMAS TO END SOON BEFORE MORE INNOCENT LIVES ARE LOST ON BOTH SIDES.
6/13 - PRAY FOR THE CRISIS HAPPENING NOW IN IRAQ (see post #907)
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
*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!"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.
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.]
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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.]
"The U.S. Must Do Everything Possible to Undermine Hamas" - James Carafano / July 15, 2014 / http://dailysignal.com/2014/07/15/silencing-hamas-voice-violence/?utm_source=heritagefoundation&utm_medium=email&utm_content=DD140715&utm_campaign=dailydigest [AS I SEE IT: This article clearly explains the thinking of the Hamas militants whose never-ending war against Israel has taken center-stage in the Middle East. It helps us understand why this is not a group one can ever hope to "broker a deal with" as this and too many US administrations have wrongly tried to do. America needs to finally understand that we must identify the uniqueness of each of our antagonists or those of our allies and approach them accordingly, appropriately. To do otherwise is pure foolishness. P.S. - Still not convinced? I invite you to go to the article listed at the end of this one entitled, "The Moral Difference Between Israel and Hamas"- Stan]
A Palestinian boy inspects the rubble of a destroyed governmental prison after an Israeli air strike in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, July 15, 2014. (Photo: Eyad Al Baba/APA Images/ZUMA Wire)
Hamas starts wars it knows it can’t finish. It also knows full well that wars in a very small place put innocents at risk. And Hamas is fine with that. No matter how this latest round of Palestinian-Israeli retribution ends, it won’t be the last. Long rooted in the Gaza Strip, Hamas will ever rise to the sound of the trumpets. It can do no differently.Waging wars that can’t be won, fighting battles where your own people are bound to bear the biggest loss, measured in funerals, missing limbs and smoking ruins, it ought to make no sense. But, to Hamas, that way of war makes perfect sense—and always will.
Those seeking to understand the Hamas way of war can gain great insights by reading a book on the Pakistan military. In “Fighting to the End: The Pakistan Army’s Way of War,” Georgetown University Professor C. Christine Fair unpacks the “strategic culture” which drives an endless military competition with India—a contest that logic dictates can never be won. The Pakistan-India long war, Fair argues, isn’t about the border dispute over Kashmir. In fact, she labels Pakistan a “greedy” state. If India just handed the district over and walked away, the Pakistan Army would still see New Delhi as an existential threat. That’s because Pakistan’s military defines its core purpose as opposing the larger and more powerful state to the south.
Similarly, Hamas defines its raison d’etre as fighting Israeli occupation. That is a worldview without end as long as Israel exists—and even then, one wonders if Hamas would not turn on its Arab neighbors as the next oppressors.
From the Hamas perspective, not fighting is not an option. The struggle is not about winning and losing, it’s what justifies the group’s existence. The casualties, the destruction, the deaths of innocents on both sides, all are secondary in the group’s strategic calculus. At its core, the Hamas strategic culture calls for constant conflict.
India and Pakistan share a subcontinent. Their endless struggle can go on forever, and both states can still—maybe—go about their business.
Palestine is a very different place. Hamas can’t have its wars without outsized human tragedy for the size of the ground that lives under its shadow.Israel can defend itself. It can punish Hamas. But Israel can no more win its war with Hamas than India could force the Pakistani army to play nice.
Both India and Pakistan have nuclear weapons—a reality that effectively constrains the scope of direct confrontation. Hamas has no nukes. But Israel could not root out Hamas without leveling Gaza and salting the earth. And, Hamas knows that Israel’s humanity will constrain them the way nuclear weapons hold back other states.
The Gaza Wars will continue until the Palestinian people purge themselves of the Hamas regime, throwing off the yoke of corruption, hate and economic repression.
The United States can best help not by brokering another deal, but by doing everything possible to undermine Hamas. This means cutting off its sources of funding and support, attacking its legitimacy, and publicizing its abuses and outrages. The end of this constant voice for violence is the truest path to peace.
[bold, italics, and colored emphasis mine] [Originally posted on National Interest.]
James Jay Carafano, a leading expert in national security and foreign policy challenges, is The Heritage Foundation’s Vice President, Foreign and Defense Policy Studies, E. W. Richardson Fellow, and Director of the Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis Institute for International Studies.
"The Moral Difference Between Israel and Hamas" - Steven Bucci / @SBucci / July 17, 2014;http://dailysignal.com/2014/07/17/moral-difference-israel-hamas/?utm_source=heritagefoundation&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=morningbell " ...Israel just wants to be left alone; Hamas wants the destruction of Israel. There is no moral equivalence there, and the tactics of the two sides prove the point."
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