Join Us in Prayer for our Nation, our Leaders and Topics of
Concern for the week of 1/29/16 – 2/4/16
America Needs to Repent and Turn back to God
|
Our Nation is in
Desperate need of Prayer. America
has turned from God. God will Judge
America.
|
|
|
|
A New
Civil War
Are transgender rights crossing a
line?
By Diane
Markins
It’s
crazy-time in New York City and Washington State. New laws say that if
you offend someone, you may pay a fine of up to $250,000. Yes, you read
that correctly and the number of zeros is accurate.
This
doesn’t apply to just everyone. If you tell your boss her hair looks
like she combed it with a blender, you won’t likely be held responsible
(at least not by the government). But if you tell a man to turn left
toward the correct bathroom and he continues right, you might be in for
trouble if you try to alter his course again.
The New
York City Commission on Human Rights issued new enforcement guidelines
regarding discrimination on the basis of gender identity or expression
in December, but the ruling hasn’t attracted much notoriety as of yet.
According
to the National Law Review, “The protections also extend to
discrimination in public accommodations and housing. In the employment
context, the guidelines specify new requirements for employers to follow
in order to avoid liability for discrimination based on gender identity
or expression, and provide several examples of prohibited conduct.”
|
|
|
|
|
Loretta Lynch, Attorney General
Attorney General Loretta Lynch defended President Obama’s executive
actions curbing guns before Congress, telling lawmakers that the
president took lawful steps to stem firearms violence that kills and
injures tens of thousands of Americans yearly. The steps the president
announced two weeks ago had been attacked by some lawmakers who said the
measures were the latest of the president’s actions infringing on the
constitutional right to own guns and exceeding his executive branch
powers.
|
|
|
|
Rob Portman, United States Senator from Ohio
Senators on the Senate Finance Committee pressed a top ObamaCare
official over a string of failures in non-profit health insurers known as
co-ops. Twelve of the 23 co-ops, set up under ObamaCare to compete with
larger private insurers, have gone out of business due to financial
problems. “I think saying $1.2 billion has been wasted is probably
accurate,” said Senator Rob Portman of Ohio.
|
|
|
|
Eric Fanning, Nominee for Secretary of the Army
President Obama’s nominee for Army Secretary, Eric Fanning, told
lawmakers he is worried about the downsizing of the force. “I do worry
about the size of the Army today,” he told the Senate Armed Services
Committee at his confirmation hearing. “If confirmed, I would look for
ways to reverse as many of the combat cuts made last year. I do believe
it’s a risk.”
|
|
|
|
Judge Amy Berman Jackson, U.S. District Court for the District of
Columbia
After significant deliberation, U.S. District Judge Amy Bernan Jackson
has struck down President Obama’s assertion of executive privilege over
documents pertaining to Operation Fast and Furious, the Department of
Justice program that allowed the sale and trafficking of thousands of
weapons to violent Mexican drug cartels. On such weapon – a massive 50
caliber rifle that can stop a car or take down a helicopter - was
recently located at the hideout of Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman.
|
|
|
|
The
Battle of the Bay
President Obama holds fast to his
promise
By Holly
L. Meade
In the
fight against terrorism, there is a political battle in Washington
regarding the Guantanamo Bay Detention Camp – also known as “Gitmo.”
Located within Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba, the U.S. military
camp was established in 2002 after the 9-11 attacks. According to
then-Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, the purpose was “to detain
extraordinarily dangerous people, to interrogate detainees in an
optimal setting, and to prosecute detainees for war crimes.”
The
Department of Defense originally kept secret the identity of those held
in Guantanamo, but finally acknowledged holding 779 prisoners in the
camp. In January 2009, President Obama issued a request to suspend
proceedings at Guantanamo’s military commission for 120 days and to
shut down the detention facility that year. Days later, a military
judge rejected the White House request in the case of Abd al-Rahim
al-Nashiri, a Saudi Arabian citizen who is allegedly the
mastermind behind the bombing of the USS Cole and
other maritime terrorist attacks prior to his capture.
President
Obama, who promises to close the facility before his presidency ends,
stated in November 2015 that his strategy includes moving some of the
terrorist suspects held there to prisons in Kansas, Colorado and South
Carolina. In addition, the Pentagon recently announced it had
transferred 10 Yemeni detainees at Guantanamo Bay to the Arabian
nation of Oman. That now reduces the number of prisoners at Gitmo to
93.
|
|
|
|
|
What
Matters in This Election?
Candidates, voters and parties all
diverge on priorities
By Dr.
Tom Askew
Like most
Americans, you are probably weary from receiving e-mails or letters
declaring that “this is the most critical time in American history.”
In the
abstract, it is difficult to compare the crises of one historic era
with another. It is generally only in retrospect that historians see
the pivotal events that define the path of a nation in its history. But
for those who have lived more than a couple of decades in this country,
things look pretty serious right now.
Unfortunately,
Americans do not concur on which problems should have priority.
What do
the Democrats prioritize?
The
recent Democrat candidate debate revealed these concerns by each
candidate:
- Bernie Sanders: Healthcare for everyone, a $15 minimum wage,
creating new jobs through infrastructure spending
- Martin O’Malley: Higher wages and letting illegal immigrants
work, climate change and a “new agenda” for U.S. cities
- Hillary Clinton: Jobs and equal pay for women, building on
Obamacare, finding ways to unite the country and end the
“mean-spiritedness” seen in the last several years. In a speech
after the debate, Clinton stated, “There is no more important
issue than reproductive rights.”
|
|
|
|
|
|
President Obama has called for the rapid development of tests,
vaccines and treatments to fight the mosquito-transmitted Zika virus,
which is being linked to birth defects, and could spread to some of U.S.’
warmer climates.
President Obama said he will ban solitary confinement for
juveniles in the federal prison system and reduce the practice for
certain other inmates, saying it is linked to mental trauma and makes
rehabilitation difficult.
Pray for
President Obama as he gives directives to federal agencies and issues executive
orders during his final year.
|
|
|
|
Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (Nevada) and other Senate
Democrats have united to push for Puerto Rico to get bankruptcy
protections to help it get out from under its massive debt burden.
Representative Elijah Cummings (Maryland) and Delegate Eleanor
Holmes Norton (D.C.) are mobilizing liberal groups against a proposal
to privatize large portions of the nation’s air traffic control system on
March 31.
Pray for
bipartisan solutions to the nation’s problems to replace partisan
bickering.
|
|
|
|
A federal appeals court has rejected a bid to restore public access to
National Security Council records through the Freedom of Information Act
saying national security policy needs to be left to the Congress and
President.
The Supreme Court said those sentenced as teenagers to life
imprisonment for murder must have a chance to argue that they be released
from prison. It also ruled out capital punishment for teenagers.
Pray for
the nation’s judges and justices to consider all aspects of equity in
their rulings.
|
|
|
|
WARS AND TERRORISM
The Iranian
army warned a U.S. Navy ship Wednesday that it was too close to a naval
drill in the Persian Gulf and, after receiving two warnings from Iranian
naval vessels, the U.S. ship turned around.
Europe should be prepared for more ruthless coordinated attacks such as
was carried out in Paris last year, Islamic State warned, who said they
were planning more large-scale “Special forces style” assaults.
Pray about
U.S.-Iran relationships, and about the increasing threats of Islamic
State and other terror groups.
FOREIGN INTERESTS & CONFLICTS
Secretary
of State John Kerry warned that
if China failed to do more to curb North Korea’s enhanced nuclear
capacity, Washington would take steps like setting up missile defenses to
protect America’s allies in Asia.
The Danish parliament approved a controversial law allowing authorities
to seize refugees’ cash and valuables, and delay their being reunited
with family members up to three years, in a symbolic move to “scare
people away.”
Pray about
North Korea’s ongoing “saber-rattling” and pray about the refugee crisis
ongoing in Europe.
ISRAEL AND THE MIDDLE EAST
The Islamic
State has made it clear that Israel is its next target, high-ranking
Israeli armed forces officers said. The conflict will not necessarily “be
tomorrow or next year,” the IDF said, “but it will happen.”
Israel is experiencing one of the most severe cyber-attacks ever on its
electrical grid, its energy minister said, paralyzing many of its computers
and energy-supply systems. Some fear a Russian-linked hacking group did
it.
Pray for
God’s hand of protection over the land and people of Israel.
THE ECONOMY
The Federal
Reserve kept
interest rates unchanged on Wednesday and said it was “closely monitoring”
global economic and financial developments, but maintained an otherwise
upbeat view of the U.S. economy.
Consumer confidence in January rose to the highest level since October,
indicating that Americans are so far brushing off gyrations in the
financial markets.
Pray that
the volatility in financial markets will not have a long-term negative
effect on the American economy.
HEALTH CARE AND EDUCATION
Virginia
lawmakers say they want to expand early education and charter schools and
give parents more options on where they send their children to school,
although universal pre-kindergarten was left out due to costs.
ObamaCare will enroll significantly fewer people than expected in 2016,
ending the year with about 13 million customers; the Congressional Budget
Office reported. Last year’s enrollment was about 20 million.
Pray for
the leaders in local and state education and for legislatures looking to
improve educational opportunities.
|
|
|
|
“Artificial
Intelligence” and the Image of God
You are more than an “on/off” switch
By James
N. Watkins
Ewe arrgh
receiving this column buy hour fully-automated righting pro graham. Its
just won of the many amazing developments inn technology that,
unfortunately, May cause 5 million workers two loos there jobs in the
next fore years. Eye am jest a bit skeptical.
Seriously,
according to the World Economic Forum, developments in genetics,
artificial intelligence, robotics and other technologies could
eliminate the jobs of seven million workers but create two million jobs
in this brave new world.
When I
worked at Kellogg’s cereal company between college semesters, I did
tasks a trained chimpanzee could easily accomplish. And now those jobs
are performed by robotics and thousands of jobs at the company have
been eliminated. So the danger is real that routine manual labor may
one day be replaced completely by technology.
As a
writer, I’ve felt rather safe from being replaced by a machine – until
now. Robots are now writing the news! The Associated Press, in
cooperation with CNBC, Yahoo! and other news sources, has been using
Automated Insight’s “Wordsmith” program. Over 1,000 stories a month
have been produced in the past year and a half. Most of the
computer-written articles have been financial reports which are
data-heavy already. The respected Forbes financial journal,
along with nearly 30 other clients, is using Narrative Science to
produce computer-generated stories.
|
|
|
|
|
Has your company replaced jobs with automation or
robotics? ___Yes ___No
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
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;
You are welcome to go through any
of the bible studies on your own, by clicking on the link below.
Bible Study
You may visit the site anytime to study any of the posted bible
studies.
Next
Bible Study Topic and Date: TBD
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:
Follow my Bible Study Blog:
Follow the Weekly Prayer Blog:
