"#2850 (11/18) "Trump Impeachment Not Justified by Evidence and Testimony Made Public So Far"

"TRUMP IMPEACHMENT NOT JUSTIFIED BY EVIDENFCE AND TESTIMONY MADE PUBLIC SO FAR" - Hans von Spakovsky / @HvonSpakovsky / November 15, 2019 / https://www.dailysignal.com/2019/11/15/trump-impeachment-not-justified-by-evidence-and-testimony-made-public-so-far

U.S. President Donald Trump departs the White House in Washington, D.C., Nov. 4, 2019. (Photo: Nicholas Kamm/AFP/Getty Images)

     House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., hasn’t yet produced most of his witnesses in the public impeachment hearings regarding President Donald Trump. But if the State Department’s George Kent and acting Ambassador to Ukraine William Taylor are representative of the testimony Democrats are relying on, future historians may label this episode “The Big Impeachment Blowout.”

   The House impeachment inquiry is not a criminal proceeding. But as I listened to the hearsay and speculation that Kent and Taylor were offering Wednesday at the opening public hearing on impeachment, I couldn’t help thinking of REO Speedwagon’s song “Take It on the Run.”
One line of the song says: “Heard it from a friend who heard it from a friend who heard it from another you been messin’ around.”
   Both Kent and Taylor admitted they never talked to Trump and only heard thirdhand what supposedly occurred in the president’s July 25 telephone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
   Democrats seem to have dropped the quid pro quo claim, since there was no evidence of it in the rough transcript the White House released of the call. The claim does not seem to be playing with the American public. Taylor admitted in the hearing that Zelenskyy had no idea that U.S. aid was being delayed, and Zelenskyy himself has said there was no quid pro quo.

   Democrats have now switched to using the terms “bribery” and “extortion,” no doubt because those terms sound more sinister, despite the fact that they’ve produced no evidence—so far—that would come even close to showing a violation of the federal laws defining bribery and extortion. Both witnesses expressed their opinions disagreeing with the way Trump has conducted diplomatic relations with Ukraine and the handling of U.S. aid to the country. 

   But the president is not a postman for Congress or the State Department. His job is to faithfully execute the law. As the chief diplomat of the United States, he defines our foreign policy, not George Kent or William Taylor. Our country doesn’t give money or aid to other countries for no reason. We give it with specific conditions attached.
   The president has a duty to make sure that our money is going to countries that will use it as we intend and not divert it into profiteering and personal corruption. State Department bureaucrats have never been good at ensuring that countries prevent such corruption.
   The priority of our diplomats is to maintain their access to government officials in the countries in which they are stationed. This too often overrides their duty to guard against corruption. The president has the final responsibility for ensuring U.S. aid is not improperly diverted in other nations.

   It was widely known that Ukraine had, and still has, a corruption problem. It would have been irresponsible for Trump not to look into corruption and demand changes before our money went there.Even Kent admitted in his testimony that Burisma, the Ukrainian company that employed former Vice President Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden as a highly paid board member, was part of the “pervasive and longstanding corruption in Ukraine.”

   Of course, we will not hear any facts about that because Schiff has refused to allow the Republicans to call Hunter Biden as a witness, which would enable the younger Biden’s possible self-dealing in Ukraine to be investigated. If everything Hunter Biden and his father Joe Biden did was ethical and above board when it came to Ukraine, why wouldn’t Democrats want Hunter Biden to testify?

   And why has Schiff’s committee blocked the Republicans from being able to call the so-called whistleblower who started this whole show trial that Democrats call an impeachment inquiry? What are they afraid will come out about this government employee that might damage his credibility and the claims he is making?

   Apparently, Schiff doesn’t want any testimony that would support the legitimacy of the president’s corruption concerns about Ukraine or would somehow detract from the impeachment narrative Democrats are trying to weave into the minds of the American public. 
We certainly won’t have an objective, bipartisan inquiry into all of the relevant aspects of what happened here—and why it happened. Schiff even interrupted Republican questioning to tell witnesses they should not answer questions based on “facts not in evidence,” a bizarre statement given the nature of a congressional hearing and how it is normally conducted.
   Schiff used to be an assistant U.S. attorney—a federal prosecutor. Like all people in that position, he had to follow the U.S. Attorneys’ Justice Manual. Before taking a case to a grand jury, much less to trial, Schiff had to convince his boss, in writing, that he had evidence establishing a case. He couldn’t just wing it and submit a case, however weak, based entirely on hearsay, to the grand jury on the off-chance it would indict.
   Yet that is exactly what Schiff is doing here—throwing witnesses into closed and now open hearings hoping that he can stir the political pot into an impeachment boil.

   It would undermine our system of government for a duly elected president to be removed through impeachment for partisan reasons. Impeachment should only be used when there has been serious, substantial misconduct of such a nature that we can’t wait for the next election. As far as is publicly known at this time, that standard has not been met regarding Trump.

[italics and colored emphasis mine]

[Originally published by Fox News] Hans von Spakovsky is an authority on a wide range of issues—including civil rights, civil justice, the First Amendment, immigration, the rule of law and government reform—as a senior legal fellow in The Heritage Foundation’s Edwin Meese III Center for Legal and Judicial Studies and manager of the think tank’s Election Law Reform Initiative. Read his research.
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"Everything You Need to Know About What’s Happening in Impeachment Process" - Daniel Davis / @JDaniel_Davis / November 15, 2019; https://www.dailysignal.com/2019/11/15/everything-you-need-to-know-about-whats-happening-in-impeachment-process
"Here Are the Backgrounds of 4 Lawyers for Impeachment Witnesses" - Fred Lucas / @FredLucasWH / November 14, 2019; https://www.dailysignal.com/2019/11/14/here-are-the-political-backgrounds-of-4-lawyers-for-impeachment-witnesses/

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PRAYER MATTERS:

"To clasp the hands in prayer is the beginning of an uprising against 
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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Praying Through the Open Doors World Watch List for persecuted believers:https://www.opendoorsusa.org/take-action/pray/monthly-prayer-calendar/

Monthly Focus | SECRET PROJECTS - Sometimes the work Open Doors does is so risky we can’t speak about the details—to protect the believers involved and sometimes the work itself. This month as you join us in prayer, try to imagine being a Christian in an area so dangerous that things like owning a Bible, attending a Bible study or participating in a home church must be done in absolute secrecy. 

November 18 | INDIA - Five Christians were severely beaten for their faith by villagers. Ask God to give them wisdom in their relationships with others in their community and strength to show forgiveness toward their attackers. 
*Names changed to protect identities

#2849 (11/17) "What We Can Learn from Corrie ten Boom’s Faithful Witness"

"WHAT WE CAN LEARN FROM CORRIE TEN BOOM'S FAITHFUL WITNESS" - by Stan Guthrie, Breakpoint.org, November 7, 2019; http://www.breakpoint.org/2019/11/what-we-can-learn-from-corrie-ten-booms-faithful-witness/

     [This has been adapted from Stan Guthrie’s new book, Victorious: Corrie ten Boom and The Hiding Place, published by Paraclete Press.]

    The Enlightenment began the Western world’s slow decoupling from Christianity. In recent decades, the estrangement has begun to accelerate. In the United States, the share of those who claim Christian faith declined from 78.4 percent of the population in 2007 to around 70 percent in 2014—an amazing drop of about 1 percent each year. The latest figure from Pew, at 65 percent, is even more alarming.

   Given the increasing secularization of Western culture, “The Hiding Place” and the life of Corrie ten Boom have much to say to us concerning speaking up for Jesus Christ. But we must recognize that Corrie lived in a much different world than we do, so her words and actions won’t have unlimited applicability to ours. The Bible was generally trusted. Faith in Christ, while always a hurdle for sinful people, was still thinkable. At the least, it was respectable.

   Yet we need to remember that the Christian faith that Corrie knew and practiced was far from automatic. She recounts in “The Hiding Place” how she asked a local pastor to take an endangered Jewish mother and her baby into his home. The threat of Nazi punishment if he were discovered was very real. “No,” he replied. “Definitely not. We could lose our lives for that Jewish child!” At that moment, Father ten Boom walked in and said, “You say we could lose our lives for this child. I would consider that the greatest honor that could come to our family.”

   Such faith regardless of the consequences was also on display when Corrie was imprisoned by the Nazi regime. In her conversations with Lieutenant Rahms in Scheveningen Prison, Corrie was bold about her faith and his need to trust in Jesus. The morning after telling this officer that the Bible reveals a God who cares for the weak and mentally challenged, Corrie stood before him again. It was the Gestapo officer who would be doing the confessing that day.
   “I could not sleep last night,” Rahms said to Corrie, “thinking about that Book where you have read such different ideas. What else does it say in there?”
   “It says,” Corrie answered slowly, “that a Light has come into this world, so that we need no longer walk in the dark. Is there darkness in your life, Lieutenant?”
   After a long silence, the man replied, “There is great darkness. I cannot bear the work I do here.” Then Rahms told the prisoner about his family in Bremen and his worries about them because of the war.
   “There is One who always has them in His sight, Lieutenant Rahms,” Corrie replied with the courage supplied by Jesus the Victor. “Jesus is the Light the Bible shows to me, the Light that can shine even in such darkness as yours.”

   Corrie’s courage to speak of the Truth to a Nazi officer who held her life in his hands would not fail her in the coming decades. After the war, Brother Andrew recounts, Corrie was speaking at a cathedral in Karl Marx Stadt (now Chemnitz) in Communist East Germany. They saw the church was going to be too crowded and there would be a big overflow. Corrie wanted to reach them. Quickly she went to the city council—they were probably in session at that time. She marched in there and she said, “I want a loud speaker system.”
   Of course, in Communism you didn’t do that. Religion was okay, but only within the four walls. They objected and said, “Miss Ten Boom, we cannot do that.” She looked at them and said, “I need and I want a loud speaker system so that all the people in the square can hear me, because Jesus is the Victor! You know that, don’t you!” They looked at her in total astonishment and then said, “Ja, Ja.” Within a few minutes she had permission and they hurriedly put up big loud speakers and the whole square could hear Corrie preach that day.

   One might even say that what Corrie displayed when speaking about Jesus wasn’t courage. It was faith—confidence that the Jesus who had been with her when she was imprisoned would be no less with her when she was free. Her confidence, which was forged in the long decades of peaceful but productive preparation, had been tested and found genuine in the brief but burning fires of persecution.

   As the Christian worldview loses its prominence in the American psyche, we lose the ability to stand up in courage the way that Corrie ten Boom did in her day. The United States has rightly been called a post-Christian culture. Believers in the King of kings can no longer assume that the faith of the Apostles will be held in honor across the nation’s political, entertainment, and academic centers of power.

   Indeed, those who seek to uphold a Christian worldview on defending Jewish people, standing for religious freedom, upholding marriage, speaking up for refugees and the elderly, and refusing to affirm what God has condemned increasingly are seen as intolerant and worthy of contempt. When the fires of persecution came for Corrie ten Boom, the middle-aged watchmaker stood her ground … and changed the world. May we who honor her with our lips, if need be, do similarly with our actions.

 [italics and colored emphasis mine]

Stan Guthrie is author of the just-released book Victorious: Corrie ten Boom and The Hiding Place, available from Paraclete Press.

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PRAYER MATTERS:

"To clasp the hands in prayer is the beginning of an uprising against 
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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Praying Through the Open Doors World Watch List for persecuted believers:https://www.opendoorsusa.org/take-action/pray/monthly-prayer-calendar/

Monthly Focus | SECRET PROJECTS - Sometimes the work Open Doors does is so risky we can’t speak about the details—to protect the believers involved and sometimes the work itself. This month as you join us in prayer, try to imagine being a Christian in an area so dangerous that things like owning a Bible, attending a Bible study or participating in a home church must be done in absolute secrecy. 

 November 17 | PHILIPPINES - Pray for peace and wisdom for believers like Isagani* and Lila* who are caught in the middle of a bloody feud between clans. Pray for peace among warring families and for miraculous encounters with Jesus
*Names changed to protect identities

#2848 (11/16) PRO-LIFE SAT: "Christian College Blocks Display of Crosses to Memorialize Aborted Babies. It’s “Too Divisive”

"CHRISTIAN COLLEGE BLOCKS DISPLAY OF CROSSES TO MEMORIALIZE ABORTED BABIES. IT'S 'TOO DIVISIVE'" ” - Micaiah Bilger, NOV 14, 2019|
https://www.lifenews.com/2019/11/14/christian-college-blocks-display-of-crosses-to-memorialize-aborted-babies-its-too-divisive/ [AS I SEE IT: Displays such as what this student proposed as well as graphic images of aborted babies IS upsetting to those who support or promote abortion; it should be because abortion IS upsetting! It brings to mind the expression "A picture is worth a thousand words." Especially if a school (like the one featured in this article] teaches the sanctity of life in their classrooms, such displays only promotes what view the suposedly "Christian" school is teaching. [Too many "Christian" schools actually promote a "politically correct" and not a Biblically-centered view.] Too many schools today in fact promote the idea that no one should be exposed to ideas they find offensive, banning certain speakers and even public displays. The truth of a matter will always be offensive to those who promote a lie. - Stan] 

     A student says her Christian college refused to allow her to set up a pro-life display on campus because it would have been too “divisive.”

   The Blaze reports Rocky Mountain College student Emily Kokot recently requested permission to set up a display of crosses to represent the number of babies whose lives have been lost to abortion. She is the secretary and treasurer of Young Americans for Freedom, a conservative student club.

   The Billings, Montana college is affiliated with several Christian denominations, including the Presbyterian Church, the United Methodist Church and the United Church of Christ; but, despite Christian teachings about the sanctity of life, the administrators refused to allow the display, according to the report.

   Kokot said Dean of Students Brad Nason opposed the pro-life display, arguing that it would remove students’ “right [to] choose to engage or not engage” with divisive topics. “I’m sorry Emily, but that is not a program that would be allowed at RMC. The College has no objection to discourse and dialogue about/around the pro-life movement, but we draw the line at public displays of divisive topics,” Nason wrote in a letter to Kokot. “A physical ‘memorial for abortion victims’ falls into that category.”  He said the college recently refused permission for another controversial display with “liberal messaging” on the topics of immigration, racism and climate change. 

   Kokot replied by referring to the Student Code of Conduct, which encourages students to challenge each other intellectually and to seek to understand different points of view. “These statements are partially upheld in terms of allowing tabling and everything else you previously mentioned; however, they are not being fully upheld in terms of allowing all forms of free speech,” she said.

   Nason disagreed, responding: “If we allow a public display, we have effectively eliminated every student’s ability to choose to engage or not engage with that issue. The pro-life/pro-choice debate is incredibly divisive and in the College [sic] view, a public display is confrontational. We believe the College community has a right to choose to either engage in a program or not.”

   The legal group Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) also wrote a letter to the college advocating for freedom of speech on Kokot’s behalf, Campus Reform reports. 

   Pro-life students are facing increasing resistance by school administrators across the country. Earlier this month, a Florida public high school refused to allow a student to form a pro-life club. The pro-life legal group Alliance Defending Freedom is involved in the matter.

[italics and colored emphasis mine]

ACTION: Contact Rocky Mountain College Dean of Students Brad Nason with your complaints at 406.657.1018 or nasonb@rocky.edu

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PRAYER MATTERS:

"To clasp the hands in prayer is the beginning of an uprising against 
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

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Praying Through the Open Doors World Watch List for persecuted believers:https://www.opendoorsusa.org/take-action/pray/monthly-prayer-calendar/

Monthly Focus | SECRET PROJECTS - Sometimes the work Open Doors does is so risky we can’t speak about the details—to protect the believers involved and sometimes the work itself. This month as you join us in prayer, try to imagine being a Christian in an area so dangerous that things like owning a Bible, attending a Bible study or participating in a home church must be done in absolute secrecy. 

November 16 | INDIA - Please continue to pray for Tilak* as he still lives with threats against him for converting from a Hindu background. Thank God for the emergency supplies and
persecution preparedness training Open Doors partners have provided.
*Names changed to protect identities

#2847 (11/15) "Exposing China’s Cultural Genocide - Seeing Is Believing"

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.

PRAYER ALERT:

URGENT:
*11/8 -  Please pray for the humanitarian crisis that has resulted from the recent U.S. withdrawl from Northern Syria. Pray that President Trump will consider doing something to stop the geat suffering that has resulted from Turkey's subsequent actions in the area..Go to: https://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/

 For more info, go to: https://www.frc.org/updatearticle/20191010/syria-pray

*10/26 - Pray for an end to the contiuing partisan investigations by the U.S. House Democrats that prevent our country from addressing the real problems facing America.
*10/8 - Please pray for my co-worker Brandon who was in a horrific motorcycle accident several nights ago. He is expected to undergo several surgeries and be in recovery for around 6 months.

1) Pray for the continued violent crisis taking place in Venezuela and for America and other Latin American countries to respond appropriately;

2)  PRAY also that our leaders will finally implement an effective border policy that will prevent these incidents in the future.

3)  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)

4) 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 – This day marked ONE YEAR since her kidnapping.]

ATTENTION!

DECLARATION FOR LIFE: Please be sure to sign this at:  https://www.focusonthefamily.com/pro-life

PERSONAL UPDATE: 10/30 Note my latest entry in the JOURNAL section on the right side of this page.

11/15 - PRAY for the President and others in leadership
 (1 Tim. 2:1-3)

Heavenly Father,

 I pray that you will guide President Trump to seek YOU with all his heart, mind, soul, and strength in the New Year. 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.

(from Intercessors For America) As *the Lord Leads, please pray ...

*For wisdom for President Trump as he seeks to overhaul the healthcare system in a way that benefits the American people.
*For the president to be used by God to bring care and relief to Americans who experience health struggles on a daily basis.
*For God’s will to be accomplished through the policy announcement the prsident will make today in regard to our healthcare system.
*For guidance for the administration as they consider various bills to support the pro-democracy protests going on in China.
*For strength for the many immigration and border patrol agents working to secure the U.S. border.
*For wisdom for President Trump and his advisers as they examine the issue of gun violence in the U.S.;

*For wisdom for the president and secretary of state as they work on the next steps in negotiations with North Korea.
*For guidance for the president as he continues to tackle complex issues such as border security and immigration.
*For unity for Congressional leaders as they work to resolve the current issues with immigration law.
*For wisdom for President Trump, Cabinet members and advisers determining the best course of action for the United States in Venezuela.

*For safe travel for members of the administration who are making trips abroad.

*For unity in Congress as they work to solve the many pressing issues that face the nation.

*For guidance for President Trump  as he works on a variety of issues, that God’s will would be accomplished through him.\

     BE Prepared TO SPEAK OUT AGAINST ABORTION 

(...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/

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"EXPOSING CHINA'S CULTURAL GENOCIDE - SEEING IS BELIEVING" - by John Stonestreet and Roberto Rivera, Breakpoint.org, November 11, 2019; http://www.breakpoint.org/2019/11/breakpoint-exposing-chinas-cultural-genocide/

     In November of 1938, Nazi paramilitary forces destroyed 267 synagogues, plus thousands of Jewish-owned businesses, institutions, and homes throughout the Reich. “Kristallnacht,” or “The Night of Broken Glass,” made clear what awaited Jews under Nazi control. Even as the Jewish victims of Nazi violence were forced to clean up the broken glass and indemnify their persecutors, the world did nothing. It couldn’t even bring itself to offer refuge to Jews fleeing Nazi persecution.
   This inaction gave rise to a phrase now permanently associated with Israel and Jews throughout the world: “Never Again.” History cannot be allowed to repeat itself. Well, it is.

   In a recent Washington Post op-ed, Fred Hiatt, who is Jewish, wrote that “In China, every day is Kristallnacht.” The comparison to Nazi Germany is especially powerful when you learn that Hiatt’s grandfather founded an organization to help settle Jewish refugees after World War II. In other words, Hiatt’s comparison is not made lightly. In the article, he calls Beijing’s war on its Muslim Uighur population “a cultural genocide with few parallels since World War II.” This “cultural genocide” includes imprisoning one million Uighurs in concentration camps, “where aging imams are shackled, and young men are forced to renounce their faith.” There are also credible reports of beatings, rape, denial of basic medical care, and even organ harvesting.
   Not only is Beijing imprisoning Uighurs, it’s eliminating their history. Between 10 and 15 thousand mosques, shrines, and other religious sites have been destroyed. As Hiatt writes, “Anything that looks too ‘Islamic’” is flattened, even a dome on top a department store.

   A new report entitled “Demolishing Faith: The Destruction and Desecration of Uighur Mosques and Shrines” provides all the evidence we need. “Before and after” satellite photographs reveal the extent of the destruction in western China. We can see with our own eyes where mosques are turned into parking lots and Muslim cemeteries erased. By reproducing these photos, Hiatt has made it impossible for Beijing to deny what it is actually perpetrating here: cultural genocide. Hiatt and the Washington Post have done the world a valuable service. Now we are left with the question: “What have we learned in the past 81 years?”

  For the sake of the Uighurs, not to mention the Chinese Christians whose faith is also being targeted by Xi Jinping and his henchman, I hope we have an adequate answer. We often say things like “seeing is believing,” but to paraphrase writer Upton Sinclair, it’s difficult to get someone to look when their getting paid depends on not looking. Too many corporations, governments, and other institutions are refusing to look at China right now.

  The NBA is only the most recent and obvious example, but their response is like a profile in courage compared to the non-response of companies such as Apple, not to mention so many in academia, Hollywood, video game companies, and the government. As Chinese human rights lawyer Teng Biao puts it, “the West kowtows to China through self-censorship.”  Even more, China is exporting its authoritarianism to other countries. Beijing is not only a threat to its own people anymore.

   Christians must do whatever we can to make people look with painful clarity at the persecution of religious minorities in China. We must care, and we must call our leaders to care. Business-as-usual with a regime committing cultural genocide is no more acceptable today than it was 81 years ago. There can be no excuse for doing nothing yet again.

 [italics and colored emphasis mine]

RESOURCES
"In China, every day is Kristallnacht" - Fred Hiatt The Washington Post November 3, 2019; https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/11/03/china-every-day-is-kristallnacht/?arc404=true
"China's Export of Authoritarianism Explored on Capitol Hill" - Michael Bowman VOA News June 07, 2019; https://www.voanews.com/usa/chinas-export-authoritarianism-explored-capitol-hill

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PRAYER MATTERS:

"To clasp the hands in prayer is the beginning of an uprising against 
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, I soon realized it was not just a word for me, but for all who have been praying for our nation, wondering if their prayers are truly making any difference. Bill told me, “I kept seeing you as a small rudder on a huge ship. Hidden, but giving guidance. Although it seemed slow it was turning the whole ship. Patience was needed to see the impact of your…ministry. I sense the Lord saying, ‘Don’t jump ship! I’ve made you the rudder!’ ” I was immediately touched in my spirit by this encouragement, knowing that our seemingly small place in prayer was having a great impact.

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 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) Short of that, we should not be saying "God Bless 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 ISIS! Pray that coalition forces will be able to  fully destroy the leadership and infrastructure of ISIS.

*For believers in Syria and in this region as they navigate so much uncertainty. May they remain faithful to God through these most difficult times as He sustains them with peace and His Spirit's strength.

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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/

Monthly Focus | SECRET PROJECTS - Sometimes the work Open Doors does is so risky we can’t speak about the details—to protect the believers involved and sometimes the work itself. This month as you join us in prayer, try to imagine being a Christian in an area so dangerous that things like owning a Bible, attending a Bible study or participating in a home church must be done in absolute secrecy. 

November 15 | SUDAN - Please continue to pray for our Christian family in Sudan where unrest and violence have permeated the country after the ousting of former dictator al-Bashir. Sudanese Christians need much grace to live out their faith. 
*Names changed to protect identities

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 shared how Sariman, their co-student, was hacked to death.

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 as she showed the picture of her father who was stabbed to death for sharing the gospel.

I remember the voice of Pastor Daniel in Vietnam as he shared how he was chained to the ground for six months.

I remember the fear of Grace from Sudan as she shared how her church was attacked and her friend was shot through the head.

Oh, I remember the cries of Caleb in Eritrea as he shared with tears how two dear friends were executed in front of him because of their faith.

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?

#2846 (11/14) "Turks and Chaos: A View from the Frontlines"

"TURKS AND CHAOS: A VIEW FROM THE FRONTLINES" - by Tony Perkins, November 13, 2019; https://www.frc.org/get.cfm?i=WA19K21&f=WU19K05 [AS I SEE IT: 1)In light of all that those on the front lines are telling us (as they do in this article), I am shocked and incredulous that President Trump actually called the president of Turkey "a good guy." He has to know what is happening and yet in his meeting with the Turish president, he ignored all of that. I simply cannot imagine what purpose the president has in doing this and am sorely disappointed as I have rarely been with our president, and 2) I found it ironic that, in their obvious attempt with the country's Left to find something, anything to criticize President Trump for, they chose to focus on the sham inquiry into possible actions by the president, they totally ignored  his whitewash of the atrocities of the Turkish president. I could not find one word by any network new sources about what traspired in that meeting. THAT was something worth talking about but instead they focused on the Democrats fishing expedition. Sheesh!- Stan]

    "It's a zone of death, of murder, of ethnic cleansing and displacement. The people here call it a zone of genocide. And right now, the U.S. has done nothing to stop it." -- Dave Eubank, on the ground in Syria

   An ocean away from the meeting between Turkish President Erdogan and Donald Trump, the reports from Syria's frontlines are a mix of horror and chaos. Whatever assurances Erdogan is offering American leaders comes with a bloody backdrop -- a 30-kilometer trail of carnage, tanks, and terror. Dave Eubank, founder of the humanitarian group Free Burma Rangers, knows. He's seen it with his own eyes -- Erdogan's proxies marching on villages, just miles from where they are. And the losses are personal. One of Dave's own medics was taken out, another casualty of the "ceasefire."

   "There hasn't been one single day of ceasefire since this invasion started," he said on "Washington Watch." "Not one... I've seen their tanks, leopard tanks, smaller tanks, armored personnel carriers, crew-served weapons...They have airstrikes every single day from drones... I'm looking on my board right now. And just what our medics have treated and taken care of. I see 149 wounded. Eighty-three killed. That's just what we've taken care of. The hospital that we're in partnership with, the Kurdish Red Crescent, they've got about 1,000 dead and more than that, maybe four times that many wounded." There isn't even a no-fly zone. "Last night, it took us about four hours hiding from drones to go out in the field to drag two dead people and three wounded back."

   Erdogan's allied rebels are taking out innocent people on the ground, while the Turkish drones hover menacingly overhead. "We've been driven backwards," Dave tells me from his location, "losing men every day, all the way to here outside of town of Tal Tamer, which is in the Khabur River Valley's historic Christian area." Only now, just 200 Christians are left. "And they will not stay if the Turks get here," he says soberly. "The Turks and the Free Syrian Army are about four to five kilometers outside the town. That's two to three miles. That's where they are now... They've [already] taken out six ambulances, including a strike right behind ours which killed one of my team members..."

   When he treats kids in the refugee camp that Free Burma is trying to help, Dave has asked them why they left. "They said, 'The Turks will kill us.' That's what they said. 'The Turks will kill us.' These are jihadis." And they leave no doubt of it.

   "The Free Syrian Army -- when they capture people, they torture them. They beheaded Syrian Army troops that came up to try to plug the gap. It's on many different videos now about three weeks ago when they captured two women fighters then mutilated them. And then we have civilians -- an old couple in their 70s whipped and left on the ground, Kurds, [who] didn't run away fast enough. So you're going to have the same things that ISIS did when they came to an area: beheadings, torture, rape. These are war crimes. And I think Erdogan is responsible directly for these crimes by unleashing this attack and supporting it by air artillery and other support. And we as United States... we knew this attack would come when we stepped out of the way."

   Not only has the conflict jeopardized the containment of ISIS, Dave points out, but a rare haven of religious tolerance in the Middle East -- a place where Christians, Yazidis, and Kurds have all lived together in peace. Obviously, the U.S. can't solve all of these problems, "but our presence gave them a chance to solve these problems," he insists. "So we needlessly threw away a wonderful partnership. We needlessly gave away the moral high ground and betrayed these people, [our allies]. I think we can regain that by one saying we're sorry [and by] pushing our troops back up here."

But are apologies on the agenda today in the meeting between Erdogan and Trump? Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas) wouldn't count on it. While the Turkish president sits down with GOP leaders to "clear the air," the former Navy SEAL had some advice for President Trump. "I think we should take a hard, hard line with them," he insisted. "I think it should be made clear to them that they haven't been acting as good allies -- not a good NATO ally or a good ally in the fight against ISIS in Syria. If anything, they're making the situation worse now..." Not to mention, he told listeners on "Washington Watch," "comfortably operat[ing] alongside Islamic terrorists."

"I was supportive of sanctions against Turkey for their actions. I still am. ...Allies act like the Kurds acted... They trusted us and we fought alongside them. The Turks have not acted in that same way. And so we want to hear how they're going to make that right..." So does the rest of the world -- some of whom, if the hostilities continue, won't live to see it if they do.

[italics and colored emphasis mine]

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PRAYER MATTERS:

"To clasp the hands in prayer is the beginning of an uprising against 
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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Praying Through the Open Doors World Watch List for persecuted believers:https://www.opendoorsusa.org/take-action/pray/monthly-prayer-calendar/

Monthly Focus | SECRET PROJECTS - Sometimes the work Open Doors does is so risky we can’t speak about the details—to protect the believers involved and sometimes the work itself. This month as you join us in prayer, try to imagine being a Christian in an area so dangerous that things like owning a Bible, attending a Bible study or participating in a home church must be done in absolute secrecy. 

November 14 | CHINA - Pastor Timothy* is a church leader in his 70s. He asks for prayer that believers would stand strong in this ongoing crackdown—and that the young Christians in his church would hold fast to their faith. 
*Names changed to protect identities