THE WARS
In Afghanistan, two fatal attacks on French literary relief workers this week have raised concerns that insurgents have begun deliberately targeting them, after years during which aid groups worked separate from any military forces.
Islamic extremism inside Afghanistan continues its upward creep with the bringing back of public stoning, particularly in the case of women charged with adultery, earning sharp rebuke from human rights workers.
Pray about whether Afghanistan will fall back into Taliban rule when the Americans and our allies are gone.
TERRORISM
The United States dispatched two unarmed B-52’s to reinforce its protest over China’s attempt to control the airspace over a clump of desolate islands in the South China Sea which are the subject of a territorial dispute with Japan.
An international peace conference aimed at ending Syria’s civil war will be held January 22 in Geneva, the first face-to-face talks with Assad representatives and the rebel groups seeking to overthrow him.
Pray about a clear understanding of America’s foreign policy both in Asia and the Middle East.
THE ECONOMY
Leading U.S. banks have warned that they could start charging companies and consumers for deposits if the U.S. Federal Reserve cuts the interest it pays on bank reserves, because deposit-making should not be a free service.
Travelers may soon be able to bring liquids aboard aircraft, after the Los Alamos National Laboratory announced a breakthrough in liquid screening using MRI and X-ray technologies, although it could take years to implement.
Pray about the often-unseen influences upon the American economy, from bank fees to airplane security.
ISRAEL AND THE MIDDLE EAST
Israel’s top security adviser will come to Washington next week to discuss the comprehensive nuclear deal the U.S. and other powers made with Iran. Prime Minister Netanyahu has labeled the agreement “a historic mistake.”
Israel will do “whatever is necessary” to stop Iran from going nuclear, said its Defense Minister. “We were not part of the negotiations,” he said, “and we would not have signed this agreement. Iran is playing with the superpowers.”
Pray about the impact of the U.S.-Iran agreement on Israel, Lebanon, Syria, Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States.
HEALTH CARE
President Obama vowed to fend off attacks on his signature healthcare law. Speaking in California, he said, “The product is good, and the people want it,” and, “We’d be a lot further along but for the dysfunction in Washington.”
The Food and Drug Administration made a U-turn from a ruling three years ago, and has now removed restrictions from the diabetic drug Avandia, saying it no longer had concerns about heart-attack risks of the drug.
Pray about the issues surrounding ObamaCare, and for the overall health of the American public.
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Susan Rice, National Security Advisor
The White House says that National Security Advisor Susan Rice is in Afghanistan to meet with government officials, including President Hamid Karzai, and to visit U.S. troops for the Thanksgiving holidays.
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Judge Diane S. Sykes, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals became the fifth federal appeals court to weigh in on the contraceptive mandate controversy, holding that the Obama Administration may not enforce the Affordable Care Act’s preventive services mandate for women against for-profit, secular corporations whose owners object on religious grounds.
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Commander Steven J. Stasick, Commander, U.S. Navy Mobile Construction Battalion (Seabees)
The Commander of the Seabees and his Master Chief visited some of the battalion’s detachments on the continent of Africa earlier this month. Commander Steven J. Stasick and Comand Master Chief Moses E. Sampson traveled from the current deployment headquarters in Spain to see the level of progress made on projects and to get some face time with Seabees throughout two of its detachments.
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Tom Cole, United States Representative for Oklahoma
U.S. budget talks are aiming for a two-year deal that would end divisive fiscal showdowns that have plagued Congress since 2011, while also easing the severe across-the-board spending cuts that otherwise would trigger in 2014 and 2015, Representative Tom Cole of Oklahoma said.
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The War on Christmas
Humanist organization opposes Operation Christmas Child
by Diann Noles
The war is on again…the war against Christmas, that is. In what has almost become an annual tradition, the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) along with humanist and atheist organizations have once more targeted public religious displays and school Christmas pageants, threatening them with lawsuits.
One of this year’s targets – New Jersey’s Bordentown Regional School District – received a threatening letter from the FFRF and initially halted the traditional Christmas carols in their seasonal concerts. However, after consulting legal experts, the Christmas carols have been reinstated.
The American Humanist Association (AHA) seems to have taken this “war” to a whole new level when they sent letters to two public charter schools threatening a lawsuit unless the schools “cease and desist” their Operation Christmas Child projects. Operation Christmas Child – a ministry of Samaritan’s Purse founded by Franklin Graham, son of world-renowned evangelist Dr. Billy Graham – provides toys and hygiene items packed in shoe boxes and distributed to poor children around the world. The letters state the ministry project is unconstitutional because it violates the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause.
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Help For Haiyan
Aid to the Philippines shifts to private recovery work
by Gigi Cook
Typhoon Haiyan, the most powerful storm to make landfall this year, struck the central Philippines on November 8, killing more than 5,200 people, displacing more than four million and destroying an estimated $274 million in crops and infrastructure. The devastation is categorized as “total” in several areas and many survivors are still in desperate need of the basics.
Jeremy Konyndyk, director for Foreign Disaster Assistance at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), said the U.S. military is reducing its presence to allow civilian aid agencies to step up their efforts; shifting the focus from emergency relief operations to recovery and rehabilitation.
“What we have seen, particularly over the past week, is civilian and private-sector commercial capacity start coming back up again and that is taking the burden off of the military…you don‘t want the military in the long run, they are an interim bridging capacity, it really needs to be a civilian role,” he said.
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Paved With Good Intentions
Affordable Care Act illustrates failure of central control
by Dr. Tom Askew
By now everyone has heard a litany of stories about failures in implementing the Affordable Care Act (ObamaCare): web site shut downs, long waiting periods online, inaccessibility to health care exchanges, cancelled policies, and much more. Those in favor of nationalizing health care are responding to these glitches with blind faith, as illustrated in House Minority leader Nancy Pelosi’s response to reporters’ criticism. “I will tell you this,” Representative Pelosi affirmed on CBS’ Meet the Press. “Democrats will stand tall in support of the Affordable Care Act.”
All prayer requests are made directly from our Presidential Prayer Leader. We ask you all to pray for our leaders as the scripture says.
1 Timothy 2:1-3
King James Version (KJV)
1 I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men;
2 For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.
3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour;
Contact Evangelist Waters:
www.PureGoldEvangelisticMinistries.com
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www.PureGoldMinistries.blogspot.com
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