ATTENTION: SCROLL DOWN to get TODAY'S article entitled in ALL CAPITAL LETTERS. PLEASE be sure to note the various PRAYER REQUESTS listed BEFORE and AFTER the posted article. (NOTE the list of DAILY prayer requests for the persecuted church.) They ALL deserve your intercession.
BE Prepared TO SPEAK OUT AGAINST ABORTION
"100 YEARS AFTER THE 19tTH AMENDMENT, ANOTHER RIGHT THE SUFFRAGES FOUGHT FOR IS STILL UNSECURE" - by Laura Grossberndt, FRC BLOG, Aug. 18, 2020; https://www.frcblog.com/2020/08/100-years-after-19th-amendment-another-right-suffragists-fought-still-unsecure/
"We hold this truth to be self-evident, that all women are endowed by their Creator with the same certain unalienable rights as men, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."
One hundred years ago [yesterday], on August 18, 1920, the United States of America effectively affirmed this truth by ratifying the 19th Amendment (also known as the “Susan B. Anthony Amendment”) to the Constitution, thus securing American women’s right to vote:
"The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation."
It is right and good for our government’s laws to acknowledge the unalienable rights and human dignity of women. Not only do these rights emanate from the Creator, but they also exist because women—like their male counterparts—are God’s image-bearers. As I wrote in a previous blog analyzing the preamble of the Declaration of Independence:
"[O]ur worth and dignity as human beings is directly contingent upon the identity of our sovereign, omnipotent Creator. Those who bear the Creator’s image (all humans) are due a certain type of treatment from their fellow image-bearers […] Such due treatment can be said to be “unalienable” in the sense that our status as God’s image-bearers cannot be taken away."
Governments are instituted for the purpose of securing humans’ unalienable rights, our Declaration explains. These governments, if just, derive their powers from the consent of the governed. In America, suffrage (the right to vote) is a key ingredient in giving one’s consent to be governed. By securing the right to vote, American women finally joined men in being able to give their consent to the government tasked with securing their unalienable rights.
The State Department’s recently launched Commission of Unalienable Rights cited the 1848 Seneca Falls convention, notable for propelling the women’s suffrage movement, in its inaugural report. It was at this convention that suffragist Elizabeth Cady Stanton appealed to the unalienable rights found in the Declaration of Independence: “[S]trange as it may seem to many, we now demand our right to vote according to the declaration of the government under which we live . . . The right is ours. Have it, we must. Use it, we will.”
But while American women have secured the right to vote, they have yet to wholly secure a much more fundamental right, the first right enumerated in the Declaration of Independence: life.
Today, a significant portion of our nation’s political discourse revolves around women’s rights. Not if women deserve rights, mind you, but what is to be included among those rights. Some believe “reproductive rights”—the ability for women to obtain contraception and abortions—ought to be included in the list.
However, early feminists, including members of the American women’s suffrage movement, saw abortion in a very different light than the self-proclaimed pro-choice feminists of today. They viewed abortion as being an unjust outcome of men’s exploitation of women. In her book A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792), Mary Wollstonecraft condemned such acts: “Nature in everything deserves respect, and those who violate her laws seldom violate them with impunity.”
Serrin M. Foster, president of Feminists for Life of America, observes about the American suffragists:"Without known exception, the early feminists condemned abortion in no uncertain terms. In the radical feminist newspaper The Revolution, the founder, Susan B. Anthony, and the co-editor, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, refused to publish advertisements for “Foeticides and Infanticides.” Stanton, who in 1848 organized the first women’s convention in Seneca Falls, N.Y., classified abortion as a form of “infanticide” and, referring to the “murder of children, either before or after birth,” said, “We believe the cause of all these abuses lies in the degradation of women.”
Abortion’s degradation of women hasn’t been left in the distant past, either. Today, American women are expected to be sexually available to the men they date, and then expected or even pressured to abort an unexpected or unwanted pregnancy. Men often face little to no consequences for their sexual behavior, whether consensual or nonconsensual, and abortion—by eliminating the children produced by their actions—makes holding men accountable even less likely. Worse yet, in other countries, abortion and sterilization have—and presently are—being used as tools of genocide.
Contrary to a commonly-held belief in our culture, supporting women’s rights and opposing abortion are not at odds. A culture in which women’s bodies can be used for sexual pleasure by men and then discarded, together with any resulting human life, is not a culture that upholds women’s unalienable rights or recognizes their human dignity.
It isn’t just adult women who have been harmed by the prevalence of abortion. Millions of girls were never allowed the chance to grow up, consent, vote, dream, or earn any kind of wage because they were aborted before they were born. Some are aborted due to sex discrimination: untold numbers of girls worldwide have been aborted due to their sex. The first right enumerated in our nation’s Declaration of Independence is life, yet it is still denied to so many.
It is right and good for governments to acknowledge the unalienable rights and human dignity of women. The United States did this one hundred years ago, with the ratification of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution. But there is much more that we can do for women’s rights, including defending them both in and outside the womb.
[italics and colored emphasis mine]
PRAISE GOD for the continuing recent successes againstISIS ! Pray that coalition forces will be able to fully destroy the leadership and infrastructure of ISIS .
PRAYER ALERT:
URGENT
*That the Corona Virus outbreak may finally be contained and it's victims effectively treated. [P.S. - YOUR BLOOD can help someone specifically recovering from the cornavirus. Please consider donating blood as I have!] today's Happy Thots (: First time in history we can save the human race by laying in front of the TV and doing nothing. Let's NOT mess this up! // You know the world is upside down when you go to the bank and someone wearing a mask and gloves isn't tackled by security. // I never thought the comment, "I wouldn't touch you with a 6-foot pole" would become a national policy, but here we are!
*That the ongoing riots in America's cities will not lead to people being hurt and businesses - esp. those recovering from the pandemic - to not be destroyed by agitators.
*That the ongoing riots in America's cities will not lead to people being hurt and businesses - esp. those recovering from the pandemic - to not be destroyed by agitators.
*Pray for U.S. Pastor David Lin in China (see "Something Serious Is Happening In That Dark Place" - Tony Perkins, Washington Watch, April 09, 2019; https://www.frc.org/updatearticle/20190409/something-serious)
*Pray for Leah Sharibu is a courageous Nigerian Christian teen girl held captive by Boko Haram. The Islamic militia is threatening to kill or enslave her because she won't renounce Jesus Christ. Pray that the UN will intervene in her release. [2/13/19 – This day marked ONE YEAR since her kidnapping.
6/9 - Thank you for your prayers for my co-worker, Brandon. He surprised me by showing up for 2 long work shifts this past weekend. He looked great though he said he's still on the mend (8 months after his horrific motorcycle accident.
6/9 - Thank you for your prayers for my co-worker, Brandon. He surprised me by showing up for 2 long work shifts this past weekend. He looked great though he said he's still on the mend (8 months after his horrific motorcycle accident.
ATTENTION!
PERSONAL UPDATE: 7/15 Note my latest entry in the JOURNAL section on the right side of this page.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?=tEyFevaOoAs4
8/19 - PRAY for the President and others in leadership (1 Tim. 2:1-3)
Jacob Velazquez Audition on America's Got Talent 6-30-20;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?=tEyFevaOoAs4
Heavenly Father,
I pray that you will guide President Trump to seek YOU with all his heart, mind, soul, and strength. May he act with wisdom and strength against those whose actions would bring harm to this nation and the world now and for generations to come. I pray that you would strengthen his marriage and deepen the love he and his wife Melania share. Pray that you give them wisdom to speak into the life of their son Barron. Please protect him and his family and others in our leadership from physical harm that any might seek to do against them. May all that our President does bring honor and glory to YOU and cause him to draw in closer relationship with you. I ask this in the powerful name of Jesus Christ, Amen. P.S. - I highly recommend your reading "The Faith of Donald J. Trump." The copy I read is in my public library. It really helps us understand our 45th President better.
The above is a picture of the First Family on Mother's Day.
Can you believe how Barron has grown? Wow!
Can you believe how Barron has grown? Wow!
*For President Trump to have discernment as he works on the challenges facing the country.
*For the officials and residents of Iowa as they endeavor to recover from the havoc caused by the derecho.
*For wisdom for President Trump as he works to ensure the safety and freedom of Americans, such as the border wall he will be visiting today.
*For the Lord to be with those in law enforcement, protecting them and giving them strength as they serve.
*For healing and recovery for those who are ill and for an end to the COVID-19 outbreak.
*For God to be at work through the president as he focuses on issues of national importance.
*For guidance for President Trump as he works on a variety of issues, that God’s will would be accomplished through him.
*For God’s will to be accomplished and for His name to be glorified and honored.
*For the officials and residents of Iowa as they endeavor to recover from the havoc caused by the derecho.
*For wisdom for President Trump as he works to ensure the safety and freedom of Americans, such as the border wall he will be visiting today.
*For the Lord to be with those in law enforcement, protecting them and giving them strength as they serve.
*For healing and recovery for those who are ill and for an end to the COVID-19 outbreak.
*For wisdom for the Coronavirus Task Force as they work to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
*For wisdom for the president and administration officials as they continue to lead in the midst of the pandemic and the ongoing economic impact that comes as a result.*For God to be at work through the president as he focuses on issues of national importance.
*For guidance for President Trump as he works on a variety of issues, that God’s will would be accomplished through him.
*For God’s will to be accomplished and for His name to be glorified and honored.
DECLARATION FOR LIFE: Please be sure to sign this at: https://www.focusonthefamily.com/pro-life
(...because ALL Babies Matter! - http://www.lifenews.com/2017/03/01/why-do-unborn-babies-matter-just-because-they-are/ : Go to: LIFE Training Institute - http://prolifetraining.com/resources/five-minute-11/
Be Prepared TO ENGAGE WITH THE PC CULTURE:Go to:"Tactics" -
http://townhall.com/columnists/mikeadams/2016/04/29/tactics-n2154983
"Don't Argue the Exceptions - Beating Bad Arguments For Abortion and Transgenderism" - by John Stonestreet, Breakpoint.org, May 25, 2017;
http://breakpoint.org/2017/05/breakpoint-dont-argue-exceptions/
"Don't Argue the Exceptions - Beating Bad Arguments For Abortion and Transgenderism" - by John Stonestreet, Breakpoint.org, May 25, 2017;
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"100 YEARS AFTER THE 19tTH AMENDMENT, ANOTHER RIGHT THE SUFFRAGES FOUGHT FOR IS STILL UNSECURE" - by Laura Grossberndt, FRC BLOG, Aug. 18, 2020; https://www.frcblog.com/2020/08/100-years-after-19th-amendment-another-right-suffragists-fought-still-unsecure/
One hundred years ago [yesterday], on August 18, 1920, the United States of America effectively affirmed this truth by ratifying the 19th Amendment (also known as the “Susan B. Anthony Amendment”) to the Constitution, thus securing American women’s right to vote:
"The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation."
It is right and good for our government’s laws to acknowledge the unalienable rights and human dignity of women. Not only do these rights emanate from the Creator, but they also exist because women—like their male counterparts—are God’s image-bearers. As I wrote in a previous blog analyzing the preamble of the Declaration of Independence:
"[O]ur worth and dignity as human beings is directly contingent upon the identity of our sovereign, omnipotent Creator. Those who bear the Creator’s image (all humans) are due a certain type of treatment from their fellow image-bearers […] Such due treatment can be said to be “unalienable” in the sense that our status as God’s image-bearers cannot be taken away."
Governments are instituted for the purpose of securing humans’ unalienable rights, our Declaration explains. These governments, if just, derive their powers from the consent of the governed. In America, suffrage (the right to vote) is a key ingredient in giving one’s consent to be governed. By securing the right to vote, American women finally joined men in being able to give their consent to the government tasked with securing their unalienable rights.
The State Department’s recently launched Commission of Unalienable Rights cited the 1848 Seneca Falls convention, notable for propelling the women’s suffrage movement, in its inaugural report. It was at this convention that suffragist Elizabeth Cady Stanton appealed to the unalienable rights found in the Declaration of Independence: “[S]trange as it may seem to many, we now demand our right to vote according to the declaration of the government under which we live . . . The right is ours. Have it, we must. Use it, we will.”
But while American women have secured the right to vote, they have yet to wholly secure a much more fundamental right, the first right enumerated in the Declaration of Independence: life.
Today, a significant portion of our nation’s political discourse revolves around women’s rights. Not if women deserve rights, mind you, but what is to be included among those rights. Some believe “reproductive rights”—the ability for women to obtain contraception and abortions—ought to be included in the list.
However, early feminists, including members of the American women’s suffrage movement, saw abortion in a very different light than the self-proclaimed pro-choice feminists of today. They viewed abortion as being an unjust outcome of men’s exploitation of women. In her book A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792), Mary Wollstonecraft condemned such acts: “Nature in everything deserves respect, and those who violate her laws seldom violate them with impunity.”
Serrin M. Foster, president of Feminists for Life of America, observes about the American suffragists:"Without known exception, the early feminists condemned abortion in no uncertain terms. In the radical feminist newspaper The Revolution, the founder, Susan B. Anthony, and the co-editor, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, refused to publish advertisements for “Foeticides and Infanticides.” Stanton, who in 1848 organized the first women’s convention in Seneca Falls, N.Y., classified abortion as a form of “infanticide” and, referring to the “murder of children, either before or after birth,” said, “We believe the cause of all these abuses lies in the degradation of women.”
Abortion’s degradation of women hasn’t been left in the distant past, either. Today, American women are expected to be sexually available to the men they date, and then expected or even pressured to abort an unexpected or unwanted pregnancy. Men often face little to no consequences for their sexual behavior, whether consensual or nonconsensual, and abortion—by eliminating the children produced by their actions—makes holding men accountable even less likely. Worse yet, in other countries, abortion and sterilization have—and presently are—being used as tools of genocide.
Contrary to a commonly-held belief in our culture, supporting women’s rights and opposing abortion are not at odds. A culture in which women’s bodies can be used for sexual pleasure by men and then discarded, together with any resulting human life, is not a culture that upholds women’s unalienable rights or recognizes their human dignity.
It isn’t just adult women who have been harmed by the prevalence of abortion. Millions of girls were never allowed the chance to grow up, consent, vote, dream, or earn any kind of wage because they were aborted before they were born. Some are aborted due to sex discrimination: untold numbers of girls worldwide have been aborted due to their sex. The first right enumerated in our nation’s Declaration of Independence is life, yet it is still denied to so many.
It is right and good for governments to acknowledge the unalienable rights and human dignity of women. The United States did this one hundred years ago, with the ratification of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution. But there is much more that we can do for women’s rights, including defending them both in and outside the womb.
[italics and colored emphasis mine]
-------------------------------------
PRAYER MATTERS:
"To clasp the hands in prayer is the beginning of an uprising against
the disorder of the world. - Karl Barth
the disorder of the world. - Karl Barth
"Prayer is inviting God into a seemingly impossible situation and trusting/resting in His love and grace to accomplish His perfect will in His perfect time and for His greatest glory. Intercession is one of the great privileges AND responsibilities for EVERY believer."- Stan
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“INTERCESSORS ARE THE RUDDER” – A WORD OF ENCOURAGEMENT - Wanda Alger, June 28th, 2017; https://www.getamericapraying.com/blog/I was recently given a word by my good friend, Bill Yount. His word greatly encouraged me as an intercessor. Working for Intercessors for America
James 3:4 talks about the power of a small rudder to steer a large ship. In this scripture about the power of our tongue, consider the power of prophetic intercession! In the Forerunner Commentary on this verse we read, “…rudders manipulate the course of immense ocean vessels with a slight movement of a pilot’s hand. Since it is underwater and aft, the rudder of a ship does its work UNSEEN. A passenger is ignorant of its movements most of the time. Yet, when it is in proper working order, the rudder holds more power over the ship than the wind. The wind will blow, toss, even destroy the ship’s rigging, but the rudder guides the ship exactly where it directs.”
This is God’s promise to the intercessors in this hour of national turbulence. Don’t stop praying! Your prayers have great power to turn the ship! Continue praying, interceding, and discerning the workings and movements of the Holy Spirit, being faithful to God’s commands. As we come together to declare God’s faithfulness, this nation will, once again, head in the direction that God intends. Don’t give up and don’t give in. Regardless of the winds of adversity and the fires of the enemy, God’s people have a power that cannot be matched. Let us join in faith and continue to pray and speak of God’s faithfulness in order to bring God’s people and this nation into the fullness of God’s plans. Note this additional encouragement from God’s word:
Colossians 2:15 – “He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him” (ESV).
Psalm 33:8-11 – “Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the people of the world revere him. For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm. The Lord foils the plans of the nations; He thwarts the purposes of the peoples. But the plans of the Lord stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations.”
Wanda Alger, IFA Field Correspondent
PRAY FOR AMERICA : THANK GOD for His many blessings on America AMERICA America "but instead "God be merciful towards America
PRAY FOR OUR LEADERS: 1) Pray for President Trump and his advisers, that they would select Godly leaders at the federal level who will be accountable to do an excellent job (or be fired!) ; that he would seek God's wisdom and be enabled to lead our country effectively in the years ahead; and 2) Pray our leaders at every level of government will Spirit-filled, leading us with Godly wisdom and integrity; that they will only pass legislation and enact policies that will benefit Americans today as well as future generations and NOT do any lasting harm.
SUPREME COURT: PRAY that the justices will only hand down decisions that are Constitutionally sound and in the best interests of our country now and for future generations.
World-Wide Prayer Requests:
PRAISE GOD for the continuing recent successes against
*For believers in Syria
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Praying Through the Open Doors World Watch List for persecuted believers:https://www.opendoorsusa.org/take-action/pray/monthly-prayer-calendar/
Eunji: A brave NORTH KOREAn - North Korean women who have escaped to China are growing in their maturity and faith in Christ, thanks to the grace of God and the prayers and gifts of supporters like you. Eunji* is one such refugee who came to know Christ in a women’s ministry supported by Open Doors and attended a Bible study regularly, eventually becoming a co-leader. Last August, Eunji was arrested by Chinese officials and was at risk to be sent back to North Korea and imprisoned. Many around the world prayed for her release. We recently heard from Eunji that her deportation process has been delayed—she has been released from detention and reunited with her husband and son! She says, “Thank you for your prayer support and love in Christ!”
August 19 - Pray Eunji would continue to mature in her faith in Christ.
*Representative name or photo used to protect identity.
August 19 - Pray Eunji would continue to mature in her faith in Christ.
*Representative name or photo used to protect identity.
STANDING STRONG THROUGH THE STORM - OpenDoorsUSA.org
At my first defense, no one came to my support, but everyone deserted me. May it not be held against them.- 2 Tim. 4:16
SPEAK ON BEHALF OF THOSE WHO SUFFER
The Apostle Paul knew exactly what it was like to be alone, to be deserted by all who called themselves “brothers” and “sisters.” A former colleague who has done considerable travel among the persecuted says, “It is hard to believe that Christians are the largest persecuted group in the world today. But it is even more difficult to believe that this is so seldom mentioned in our gatherings and church services. More Christians know the names of their favorite actors than their fellow believers who are in prison.”
He continues, “With every trip something in my heart breaks as I hear the echoes of suffering:
I remember the echoes of an Egyptian mother as she shared how her young boy was stuck in a haystack because she refused to deny Jesus.
I remember the sounds of weeping as fellow students in Indonesia
I remember the cries of anguish as we walked from church to church that was burned to the ground on the island of Lombok
I remember the tears of Rebecca in Iran
I remember the voice of Pastor Daniel in Vietnam
I remember the fear of Grace from Sudan
Oh, I remember the cries of Caleb in Eritrea
And I remember the tears of Joy in the southern Philippines as she shared how her fiancé was shot to death in their church in Mindanao .
But, most all, I remember the deafening sounds of silence every time I return home.
RESPONSE
How can I be silent today? How can I not speak on behalf of those who suffer? How can I desert those that belong to the same body that I belong to and who desperately need the encouragement of my intervention?
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