Join Us in Prayer for our Nation, our Leaders and Topics of Concern for 5/30/14 - 6/5/14

God Bless America Are these words still a reality? by Holly L. Meade God Bless America, the American patriotic song written by Irving Berlin is a prayer for the Lord’s blessing and peace for the nation. Yet, can God really bless a nation that has drastically turned from His truth and righteousness since Berlin wrote those lyrics in 1918? Will God bless America when the White House is waging an assault on religious liberty, public schools are indoctrinating children with secularism, Hollywood is spewing toxins into homes and the Internal Revenue Service is launching investigations into pro-life organizations? Considering its sinful state, this nation should be on its knees asking for His mercy instead, says Fox News conservative columnist Todd Starnes. Hence the reason that Starnes wrote his recent book, God Less America: Real Stories from the Front Lines of the Attack on Traditional Values. Starnes authored this collection of satire and real life events because he believes the “Culture War” is not just directed at religious liberty, but the Christian faith. “I cover the Culture War for Fox News. For quite some time now and I‘ve been collecting all of these stories and without fail every time one of these stories comes out, people generally say how in the world can this be happening in the country? And some people say there is a vast conspiracy that they have people at the networks saying ‘oh you know, let‘s get the Christians!’ I don‘t think that‘s the case. I think it‘s just a matter of worldview,” Starnes said.

Sally Jewell, Secretary of the Interior As part of the Obama Administration’s continued effort to bring relief to California communities suffering from the historic drought, Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell announced that the Bureau of Reclamation will invest $20 million in nine water reclamation and reuse projects.

Raul Grijalva, United States Representative for Arizona Congressional Democrats are pressing President Obama to take executive action to achieve his goals on immigration, as hopes for passage of a sweeping reform bill fade in Congress. “I think it’s necessary,” said Representative Raul Grijalva of Arizona. “Given that political tenor, the administration becomes the only relief left,” he said.

General John F. Kelly, USMC, Commander, U.S. Southern Command Marine Corps General John F. Kelly, the Commander of the U.S. Southern Command, concluded a three-day trip to Brazil last week after meeting with that nation’s top defense officials. Kelly discussed bilateral security cooperation during visits to military units in the heart of the Amazon. He also visited the Ministry of Defense in Brasilia, and they discussed common interests like transcontinental organized crime, border security and space modernization.

Judge Mark Bennett, United States District Court for the Northern District of Iowa A federal judge approved a temporary injunction that exempts two Christian colleges, one in Michigan and the other in Iowa, from an Affordable Care Act mandate requiring their employees’ health insurance plans pay for certain contraceptives.

Educational Mediocrity? The Common Core debate heats up by Diann Noles For the past 20 years, America’s youth have fallen behind their counterparts in many European and Asian countries in technology and other skills that should prepare them to take leadership roles in the world arena. In recent rankings, America is anywhere from 17th to 20th out of 40 industrialized nations, a “mediocre” ranking. While everyone agrees that changes must be made to America’s primary and secondary education system, a consensus has been difficult to achieve, resulting in some strange alliances. Meanwhile, America’s leaders and educators have tried different tactics including No Child Left Behind and the current Common Core State Standards Initiative (CCSSI). Developed by the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers, Common Core is a set of standards intended to raise the bar on education nationally. President Obama tied Common Core to his Race to the Top initiative, and awarded vouchers and grants to states that agreed to adopt the Common Core standards. Many see this connection as just the first step toward centralized, standardized education. “With the federal government pouring money into states to get them to adopt Common Core standards, there will be strings attached to develop a national education standard that replaces local values for one size fits all,” says Erick Erickson of RedState.com. The father of a second-grader, he is frustrated with the direction the education system is taking. “Once there is centralization, it makes it easier to politicize the standards,” he says.

The Obama Administration is threatening to veto the House’s defense policy bill because it does not include several measures the Pentagon took to reduce defense spending and did not provide for moving prisoners in Guantanamo. Vice President Joe Biden said the U.S. and its allies must impose additional sanctions on Russia if it interferes with Ukraine elections scheduled for Sunday – the first election since the country was plunged into chaos by separatists. Pray for wisdom for President Obama and Vice President Biden as they deal with America’s security. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (California) said she is “leaning toward appointing a full complement” of Democratic members to the Select Committee investigating the Benghazi attacks “to ensure fairness.” Senate Assistant Majority Leader Dick Durbin (Illinois) vowed to keep fighting to give green cards to some illegal immigrants among the “Dreamers” who serve in the U.S. military. Pray for the leaders of the House and Senate as they deal with domestic and foreign issues. The Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case from a former air marshal who argued under whistleblower protection that he was fired for alerting reporters that armed, undercover marshals were being pulled from some flights. A federal judge ruled only Congress has the authority to give budget autonomy to Washington, D.C., restricting the District from enforcing a local referendum passed last year. Pray for the Supreme Court Justices as they draw close to the end of this session and have opinions still to write. THE WARS Afghanistan is on financial life support and U.S. Joe Citizen is its permanent IV, suggests the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction who reported that between $5 and $10 billion annually is promised to them. Al-Qaeda is operating a “shadow army” inside Afghanistan to conceal its numbers and the scope of its operations, while the Taliban is on the verge of major resurgence as U.S. military forces prepare to leave. Pray about the Afghanistan that will be left behind when the U.S. military departs at the end of this year. TERRORISM Russian Prime Minister Medvedev warned that the United States and Russia are approaching a “second Cold War,” saying that President Obama and not President Putin is to blame for the deteriorating relation. Pastor Saeed Abedini spent the last two months in an Iranian hospital for injuries allegedly suffered at the hands of prison guards, but has now been transferred back to one of the Islamic Republic’s most notorious prisons. Pray about the deteriorating relationship between the U.S. and Russia, and for Pastor Abedini and his family. THE ECONOMY U.S. consumers’ interest in spending – not saving – is coming back with a vengeance as spending on consumer items has topped $10 million, surpassing pre-recession levels, and it is expected to increase 3.5 percent this year. U.S. housing starts jumped in April and building permits hit their highest level in nearly six years, the Commerce Department said, offering hope that the troubled housing market may be finding stabilization. Pray with thanksgiving for every indication that the U.S. economy is working its way back for many Americans. ISRAEL AND THE MIDDLE EAST The Palestinian leadership does not intend to seek membership in or help from additional UN and other international organizations in the near future, as they wait to see what diplomatic developments are ahead after talks collapsed. A senior official in the White House reportedly said the U.S. would cooperate with a soon-to-be-formed Hamas-Fatah and PLO Palestinian unity government, despite Israeli opposition. Pray that the new Palestinian unified government would see the benefit of recognizing Israel as a Jewish State. HEALTH CARE Researchers in Italy have found that a dog’s sense of smell may be more accurate than advanced laboratory procedures when it comes to detecting certain forms of cancer, experiencing a 98 percent success rate in detecting prostate cancer. Minnesota is the first state to prohibit the use of a germ-killing ingredient found in many consumer-hygiene products such as soaps, deodorant and toothpaste because of health and environmental concerns about the product. Pray for the physicians, laboratories and researchers who continue to explore ways to combat disease. Meltdowns And Mental Cases Appraising politicians’ fitness to serve by Jim Ray You will be glad to know that not just any old Joe can be installed in the control room of a nuclear power plant. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s “Personnel Access Authorization Requirements” mandates a comprehensive assessment of all individuals before they can be granted access to nuclear assets. Extensive psychological testing is required, as is careful scrutiny of any “medical condition that could adversely impact an individual’s fitness for duty or trustworthiness and reliability.” As far as regulations go, it’s much easier to get into the White House. Theoretically at least, you can be certifiably crazy or deathbed-sick and still become president. Rather than establish restrictions for presidential candidates that would be controversial and perhaps unconstitutional, it is left to the voters and media to sift those who aspire to the position of Chief Executive. Whether this system works well is a matter of personal opinion, and the recent rumpus created by Karl Rove concerning the potential presidency of Hillary Clinton highlights the difficulty Americans have in deciding whether or not a candidate is fit to serve. Rove, the Republican campaign strategist who orchestrated former President Bush’s 2000 campaign, ignited the controversy at a recent conference when he discussed Mrs. Clinton’s 2012 injury, which was reported as a concussion and a blood clot. “Thirty days in the hospital?” Rove asked. “And when she reappears, she’s wearing glasses that are only for people who have traumatic brain injury? We need to know what’s up with that.”    Survey Results Results for the Survey on Education in America We asked for your opinion in this week’s Tell It To Us Tuesday – and you responded! Thank you. Here are the results. We’ll repeat the statement, and set out the percentages: The federal government should set uniform standards in reading, math and science that must be met by every 12th grade graduate. Those who strongly disagreed were 44.9%; who somewhat disagreed 20.3%. For those who somewhat agreed, the percentage was 18.5%, and who strongly agreed, 11.3%. Only 5.1% were neutral or of no opinion. Local school districts are best at setting standards and curricula for grades K-12. 57.1% strongly agreed, and 25.4% somewhat agreed. Those who somewhat disagreed were 7.3%, and who strongly disagreed, 4.6%. Neutral or no opinion – 5.6%. 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; Our weekly bible study will begin July 1, 2014 Topic: The Baptism of the Holy Ghost/ Holy Spirit Join us, by clicking on the link below.   Churches, Bible Study groups, etc., that would like Evangelist Waters to speak at your church, bible study, conference, women’s ministry, special program, etc.  Please contact Minister Waters on her website listed below, on the  “Speaking Engagements Page”. Contact Evangelist Waters: www.PureGoldEvangelisticMinistries.com Follow my Bible Study Blog: www.PureGoldMinistries.blogspot.com  Follow the Weekly Prayer Blog: www.PureGoldEvangelisticMinistriesPrayer.blogspot.com