Prayer for our Nation, our Leaders and Topics of Concern for 1/10/14 - 1/16/14

Challenge to share your testimony:

Have you seen God turn tragedy into triumph in your life this past year?(or at any time?) I'd like to encourage you to share your testimony, see details below at the bottom of this blog.
Revelation 12:11 : And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony....

President Obama and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton were named the most admired people in 2013 for the sixth year in a row by a new Gallup survey. The open-ended poll had Obama at 16 percent and Clinton at 15. Michelle Snyder, the number two official at Medicare/Medicaid and the person responsible for the ObamaCare web site rollout, is the second person retiring as a result of problems with the healthcare.gov launch and implementation. Pray for President Obama and his Cabinet and advisers as they face daunting issues in the New Year.

Representative Mick Mulvaney (South Carolina) said that members of Congress are working in private on a deal to cut the deficit by $2.5 trillion over the next decade, although still deadlocked on spending and tax cut issues. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (California) said the top priority for Congress in 2014 should be to extend unemployment insurance. Long-term benefits for 1.3 million Americans expired last week. Pray for members of the House and Senate as they return from the Christmas recess and address national problems.

Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, herself a vocal and proud New Yorker, helped to ring in the 2014 ball drop in Times Square by pushing the button to start the famed count-down. A Pennsylvania appeals court overturned the child-endangerment conviction of a Roman Catholic official, upending a landmark court case saying there was insufficient evidence that he “promoted or facilitated” child sexual abuse. Pray for the members of America’s courts as they deal with civil, criminal and international issues.

THE WARS A mere 17 percent of Americans support the war in Afghanistan, according to a new poll, making the 12-year conflict both the longest and the most unpopular war in American history. Afghanistan has rejected as baseless a U.S. intelligence forecast that the gains of the United States and its allies have made in the past years will be significantly rolled back by 2017, even if some troops remain. Pray about the levels of American pessimism and skepticism about a post-American presence in Afghanistan. TERRORISM Russian President Vladimir Putin has vowed to fight terrorists “until their complete annihilation,” he said as he ordered dramatically increased security in and around the Winter Olympics sites in Sochi. Thousands of children are likely to have been separated from their families as a result of the latest violence in South Sudan, and many are surviving on their own in the bush or remote areas having seen parents killed and homes gone. Pray for the children in war-ravaged areas like South Sudan and Syria, and for the safety of the Olympics. THE ECONOMY Among the hundreds of new rules and regulations effective January 1 is the federal law banning production of the familiar incandescent light bulbs leaving halogens and fluorescents for your illumination pleasure. Home prices have zipped back into record territory in a handful of American cities seven years after the housing burst ravaged the market and the broader economy. Oklahoma City and metro-Denver lead the recuperation. Pray for the continued recovery of the American market and particularly for the millions who remain unemployed. ISRAEL AND THE MIDDLE EAST Secretary of State John Kerry is presenting Israeli and Palestinian negotiators with a U.S. proposal for a broad peace framework seeking to bridge core issues of Jerusalem, refugees, borders, settlements and security. A Syrian activist group said more than 500 people have been killed in the government’s two-week assault on opposition-held areas of Aleppo and its suburbs, pummeling the area from the air with crude barrel bombs. Pray for Israel’s security, both in the peace talk issues and from overflow of the civil war in Syria. HEALTH CARE High levels of unhealthy cholesterol may contribute toward one of the key signs of Alzheimer’s disease developing in the brain, researchers report, finding the link between LDL and amyloid plaque proteins in brain cells. Dietary supplements account for nearly 20 percent of drug-related liver injuries that show up in hospitals, up from 7 percent a decade ago, saying name teenagers and middle-age women who want to lose weight account for the upswing. Pray that Americans will learn how to better manage their personal health rather than be regulated by federal rules.

Turning Sorrow Into Joy Finding love from the marathon tragedy by Dave Ficere In the Christmas classic It’s a Wonderful Life, George Bailey goes from being a successful business owner to a man contemplating suicide in the face after a dramatic downturn in his business. Rescued by an angel, he finds true happiness and realizes the impact his life has had on others who come to his aid, leading him to conclude that he is the “wealthiest man in the world.” One of the film’s lessons is that good can come out of bad or tragic events and that every life is important because of the impact it has on others. Those lessons—so dramatically portrayed in director Frank Capra’s 1946 masterpiece—were vividly revisited this past year in the aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombing. While watching the marathon with five childhood friends, Jamie Costello headed to the finish line when two bombs exploded nearby, killing three people and injuring more than 270. Costello was famously pictured in press accounts around the world looking dazed as he staggered through the debris-strewn streets with his clothes ripped to shreds from the blasts. Costello’s right arm and right leg suffered such severe burns that he needed pigskin grafts and underwent several surgeries.

Which State Sins the Most? Contrasting Kansas State University study with scriptural truth by Nikolas Grosfield “Only the name really thought Prohibition would do away with alcohol consumption,” mused the Chicago Tribune long after the infamous 13-year period in America when alcohol was outlawed. From 1920 to 1933, the 18th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution forbade the “manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors” in America, until the 21st Amendment repealed it. The Tribune reflected that “Chicago’s gangsters, crooked cops, corrupt politicians, and the booze-consuming public all conspired to keep the drinks coming…By 1924, there were 15 breweries in the city going full steam and an estimated 20,000 saloons.” Al Capone’s gang raked in some $70 million a year – roughly $900 million in today’s dollars. Despite the Prohibition drama, at least a dozen states had outlawed alcohol before the Civil War, and a strong anti-saloon movement had been growing for decades prior to World War I. Further, the 18th Amendment era saw a 60 percent drop in alcohol consumption per capita across the nation. “It did not cause organized crime” and “most Americans respected the law,” says usconstitution.net. But the national effort to legislate alcohol eventually collapsed.     Arne Duncan, Secretary of Education A single missing suffix among thousands of lines of programming code led a public school teacher in Washington, D.C. to be erroneously fired for incompetence, three teachers to miss out on $15,000 bonuses, and 40 others to receive inaccurate job evaluations. The miscalculation has raised alarms about the increasing reliance on nationwide complex “value-added” formulas that use student test scores to attempt to quantify precisely how much value teachers have added to their students’ academic performance. Those value-added metrics often carry high stakes: teachers’ employment, pay, and even their professional licenses can depend on them.  Marco Rubio, United States Senator from Florida Congress is taking a hard line against China in the showdown over a handful of tiny Pacific islands complicating the Obama Administration’s efforts to manage the issue. Senators of both parties are demanding that China rescind its new air defense zone over Japanese-held islands, going beyond the White House’s own admonishments. And several lawmakers have taken issue with the Administration’s recommendation that U.S. air carriers abide by China’s request to be informed of all flights through the zone. “I don’t think anyone should be reporting to them,” Senator Marco Rubio of Florida said.   General Lloyd J. Austin III, Commander, U.S. Central Command The top U.S. Commander for the Persian Gulf has ordered a review of how recommendations for battlefield awards are tracked by the Afghanistan command, which lost the paperwork for a Medal of Honor nominee and other heroes. Army General Lloyd J. Austin, who heads U.S. Central Command, said he is taking steps to prevent any more lapses.  Judge Brian Cogan, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York Recently Judge Brian Cogan of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York not only struck down ObamaCare’s contraception mandate as applied to religious non-profit organizations, but also sent a strong signal that federal courts were losing patience with President Obama’s many stretches of executive power.  Affordable Care Confusion Impact of new regulations hits home by Jim Ray The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, also known as “Obamacare,” is now the law of the land, and you have a problem. Or, actually, you may have several problems... as is about to be explained. But the first one is summed up by the Latin maxim i>ignorantia juris non excusat, a principle originated by the Romans and adopted by countless governments since: “Ignorance of the law is no excuse.” It means, simply, that you are responsible for obeying the law even if you haven’t read it. Yet it’s doubtful you’ve had the time or energy to peruse all the Obamacare regulations, which consist of about 11,000 pages, so far. The new law is daunting and, in some respects, incomprehensible. What is the very least you should know? Your participation is required Human nature being what it is, many people don’t bother buying health insurance until they need it. But now everyone is required by law to be insured. Theoretically, young and healthy people will flood new money into the health care system to help pay for the sick and the poor. If you don’t get insurance, the government will charge you what it euphemistically calls an “individual shared responsibility payment,” better known as a “fine.” In 2014, the fine is $95 or one percent of your household income, whichever is larger. Perhaps worse than the fine is the psychological trauma of knowing you will be in the cross hairs of the IRS, which is in charge of collections. There are a few limited “hardship” exceptions allowed, including a recent decision that waives the fine in 2014 if your existing insurance plan was cancelled because of new Obamacare requirements.    McDonalds in Pasco McDonald’s Restaurants Raise Over $100,000 for Mission In an effort to benefit a Pasco, Washington-based Union Gospel Mission organization, over a dozen local McDonald‘s restaurants have raised $115,000 to help fund renovations for the nonprofit‘s men‘s facility that serves men in need with shelter, food and clothing. For several weeks, 18 fast food locations in the Tri-Cities area of the state have donated 40 cents of every sold drink toward the project, which started out as a compelling initiative by Adams Enterprises, a company that oversees the area‘s McDonald‘s locations, along with regional restaurant managers who wanted to help.   "Challenge to share your testimony", is a segment I'd like to publish on my blogs an in my upcoming newsletter.  If God has answered your prayer, delivered you, blessed you and you would like to testify of his goodness and greatness in your life, consider sharing your testimony.  We are all witnesses of Jesus and what he has done in our lives.   Testimonies encourage, bring hope, and healing to others. Testimony Criteria: Must be no more than 2 - 4 pages double-spaced typed: 12 pt. Must be your own testimony or testimony of a loved one given with permission. Must include Your first and last name and contact information such as an email address. Must specify whether or not you want your last name used in the article i.e. your testimony.   You must agree to your first name being used for your testimony. Must agree to the testimony being edited for publication and all rights reserved by PGEM. Please check spelling and grammar. Email testimonies to:  contact@puregoldevangelisticministries.com 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 (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 Follow my Bible Study Blog: www.PureGoldMinistries.blogspot.com Follow the Weekly Prayer Blog: www.PureGoldEvangelisticMinistriesPrayer.blogspot.com