# 1057 (11/12) "One Life Lost, All Lives Diminished..."

The Bulletin Board:(Please SCROLL DOWN this page to find the article titled on this post in LARGE CAPITAL LETTERS. Thank you.)

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)

PRAISE GOD!  Two Americans, including Kenneth Bae (after more than 2 years) have finally been released after unjust imprisonment by North Korea.
 http://townhall.com/tipsheet/danieldoherty/2014/11/10/kenneth-bae-released-post-n1916642?utm_source=thdailypm&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nl_pm

NOW THAT THE ELECTION IS OVER:1) Let's be  praying that God showed us grace in giving us representatives who will sincerely work to DO NO HARM to us and future generations. Let's also be praying that should He have chosen to give us those who WILL do us harm, that He extends mercy to us now and for the years ahead. His will is now done as far as the  results we have. Now it's up to us to be diligent to hold those elected accountable!, and 2) Let's be praying that the present lame-duck session in Congress will not be allowed to pass legislation that will do harm to our country as they can easily do. (See post #1051 - 'Return of the Zombie).

URGENT PRAYER REQUEST: Save Christian Mom Asia Bibi from Execution - A Christian mom has been sentenced to death in Pakistan for her faith. Asia Bibi was falsely accused of “blasphemy” – speaking against the prophet Muhammad. Now this wife and mother of five will hang for her Christian faith.She would be the first woman executed under Pakistan’s Shariah blasphemy law.This is the ultimate human rights violation. We’re mobilizing our international affiliate – the European Centre for Law and Justice – and its partner in Pakistan to stop this atrocity. Add your name to our letter to the government of Pakistan demanding Asia Bibi’s freedom.Go to http://aclj.org/persecuted-church/save-christian-mom-asia-bibi-from-execution; please add your signature to mine and over 35,000 others AND pray for Asia Bibi.

U.S. Supreme Court has Reconvened: Let's be praying WHENEVER the Court is in session as their decisions can have impact on GENERATIONS to come. The fact that they may have an opportunity this session to actually vote on same-sex "marriage" where it has the same impact on this country that Roe v. Wade did should be motivating enough!

ELECTION DAY, NOV. 4th.  Let's begin praying that the American people will have wisdom in voting into office those who will lead our communities and nation with integrity and wisdom from God and DO NO HARM!.

WORLD-WDE PRAYER REQUESTS:

Friday, Sept. 26th - Two Year Anniversary of  Pastor Saeed Abedini's Imprisonment in Iran! - [NOTE TODAY'S POST!]

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. [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

"Not Everyone Happy with Religious Ambassador Pick," Caitlin Burke,July 29, 2014;

http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/world/2014/July/Obama-Taps-Rabbi-for-Religious-Freedom-Ambassador/  "..An estimated 76 percent of the world's population live in countries where religious freedom is restricted. Secretary of State John Kerry said the United States must take a strong stand against those violations. "Around the world repressive governments and extremists groups have been crystal clear about what they stand against, so we have to be equally clear about what we must stand for," Kerry said. "We stand for greater freedom, for greater tolerance, greater respect, for rights of freedom of expression and freedom of conscience," he said A key development in the 2013 report is the large number of displaced members of religious communities, including entire Christian communities in Syria and Iraq that have been forced to flee their homes because of persecution."

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

Of course, let's CONTINUE PRAYING FOR AN END TO THE EBOLA CRISIS IN WEST AFRICA AND THE HEALING OF ALL THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN INFECTED.

PRAY FOR THE CRISIS HAPPENING NOW IN IRAQ (see post #907) Pray that allied forces will be able to drive the group ISIS back (see post #964)

/PRAYER ALERT- UKRAINE: 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.

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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"One Life Lost, All Lives Diminished -BRITTANY MAYNARD AND ASSISTED SUICIDE" - By: John Stonestreet| Breakpoint.org: November 10, 2014; http://www.breakpoint.org/bpcommentaries/entry/13/26371?spMailingID=9871647&spUserID=MTMyMjM2ODE5OQS2&spJobID=420617017&spReportId=NDIwNjE3MDE3S0

It’s sad whenever anyone dies too soon. And it’s even worse when they choose to die. 

Brittany Maynard was the perfect story for the so-called “death with dignity” movement: Young, intelligent and facing a debilitating and extraordinarily painful death from brain cancer. And on November 1st, with the support of loved ones, she chose to end her life, as she said it, “on her own terms.”

But her decision was misguided and it was wrong, for all of us. Let me explain.

First, let’s clear up the euphemisms that are involved with the death with dignity movement. “Ending your own life” is called suicide. That’s what it is. And the phrase “on your own terms”? It’s a concept signifying nothing—it’s an illusion. If we were in control, we’d choose not to contract a fatal illness in the first place.

Second, “ending one’s own life” affects others—and not just those close to the self-appointed victim, but all of us. The impulse to avoid suffering and spare loved ones the pain of watching is understandable. But it assumes that nothing good can come from pain and suffering. And that just isn’t true.

I lost my grandfather earlier this year. It was hard to watch this once strong, independent dairy farmer literally wither away. The last month of his life he couldn’t get out of bed. It was hard for us, and especially for his wife, and for him.And he lived longer than we thought. Shortly before Pop died, I asked my pastor why hadn’t God taken him sooner. “Because,” he said, “your grandmother needs to fulfill the vows she made before God six decades ago. And your grandfather needed to be reminded he is mortal before he meets God.”

Those wise words are a stark contrast to our attempts to avoid suffering at all costs. Yet it is precisely through suffering that we learn life’s most important lessons. In fact, it was through suffering, not in spite of it, that Christ brought eternal life.

Now many people ask, as a young person I know did, “Why should we Christians, who oppose assisted suicide, impose our beliefs on Brittany or on anyone?”

It’s a heart-felt question, but it assumes that we all act in a vacuum. Who gets to decide which lives aren’t worth living, even if it’s our own? In the long run, this is about protecting all human life, especially the lives of the most vulnerable among us. The so-called “right to die,” quickly devolves into the duty to die.

We talked about this on BreakPoint a few weeks ago. What started in Europe as a movement to allow the terminally ill to end their suffering has evolved into the practice of eliminating lives deemed not worth living. Dr. Peter Saunders of the Care not Killing Alliance says that “In the Netherlands … dementia patients are euthanized, mobile euthanasia clinics operate and the ‘Groningen protocol’ allows euthanasia for disabled babies.  In Belgium, organs are harvested from euthanasia patients and 32 percent of all euthanasia deaths are ‘without consent.’” And just last week, a British mom received the court’s permission to euthanize her own autistic daughter.

This is why so many organizations that represent people with disability are emphatically opposed to physician-assisted suicide. As Joni Eareckson Tada wrote in the Wall Street Journal, society’s goal should be to help “disabled people live independent lives with dignity,” not to encourage them—or as we see in Europe, force them—to die.

In this unbearably individualistic culture of ours, we have to constantly remind ourselves of what the Christian poet John Donne wrote: “No man is an island, entire of itself . . .  any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.”

But don’t just take it from me. On BreakPoint This Week, I interviewed Kara Tippetts, the brave Christian mother of four who has stage 4 cancer. I want you to hear what she has to say about her inevitable death and the beauty of life, even in the midst of her own tremendous suffering. [see link below]

[bold and italics emphasis mine]

RESOURCES
Kara Tippett, blog - http://mundanefaithfulness.com/
"The Disability Double Standard" - Joni Eareckson Tada | Wall Street Journal | January 9, 2014;http://online.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702303933104579302893600224348
"Euthanasia: The right to die can so easily become the duty to die" - Dr Peter Saunders | Mirror | August 19, 2013;http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/euthanasia-right-die-can-easily-2182129
"Life, Suffering, and Dignity: The Courageously Mundane Faithfulness of Kara Tippetts" - John Stonestreet | BreakPoint.org | November 7, 2014;
http://www.breakpoint.org/bpcommentaries/entry/13/26362
"BreakPoint This Week - John Stonestreet, An Interview with Kara Tippetts" | BreakPoint.org | November 8, 2014; http://www.breakpoint.org/features-columns/discourse/entry/15/26375
"Facing death, Lauren Hill teaches us life lessons" - Paul Daugherty | Cincinnati.com | October 27, 2014;
http://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/local/2014/10/26/facing-death-lauren-hill-teaches-life-lessons/17937979/