Presidential Prayer Team Update

Issues

An Empty Shell?

NASA's "outreach" to Muslim nations -- and the questions it raises

by Dr. Tom Askew

Behind the recent media flap over whether or not the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) should foster better international relations -- especially to predominately Muslim countries -- there are some questions every thinking American and praying Christian should be asking.

NASA Administrator Charles Bolden first mentioned the directives he had been given by President Obama in a February speech, saying: “He charged me with three things. One was he wanted me to help re-inspire children to want to get into science and math; he wanted me to expand our international relationships; and third, and perhaps foremost, he wanted me to find a way to reach out to the Muslim world and engage much more with dominantly Muslim nations to help them feel good about their historic contribution to science ... and math and engineering.”

Pray for President Obama and Administration

President Barack Obama has unveiled the nation's first national oceans policy intended to cut through many competing interests -- from offshore drilling to fishing to shipping -- and established a National Oceans Council.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton received a "noticeably less toxic" reception on her visit to Pakistan, possibly because she brought with her more than $500 million in economic aid. "I could feel the change," she said.

Pray that our nation's efforts at home and abroad would bring the desired results.

Pray for Congressional Leaders

The Senate and House are squabbling over $22.8 billion in supplemental funds for U.S. troops in Afghanistan, attempting to offset the expenditure with recession to government programs no longer needing funding.

House Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey (Wisconsin) has proposed a 40% cut to the White House's $1.35 billion request for the 2011 "Race to the Top" incentive designed to spur reforms in K-12 education.

Pray that Congress would work to get governmental spending and programs under control.

Pray for Judicial Leaders

(The Supreme Court is in recess.) The Senate Judiciary Committee has approved Elena Kagan to be the fourth female Justice of the Supreme Court, paving the way for full Senate confirmation in a floor vote.

A federal grand jury in New York has subpoenaed Toyota's U.S. subsidiaries for documents related to problems with rods that connect a vehicle's steering to its front wheels. Hundreds of lawsuits against Toyota are pending.

Pray that the Supreme Court Justices will have a restful and restorative summer recess.

Pray for Current Events

THE WAR

The U.S. Navy has used a laser weapon to shoot down four unmanned aerial vehicles (drones) in a test off the coast of California. Shooting down the drones over water constitutes an advance over focusing on static targets.

A major conference in Afghanistan has endorsed President Hamid Karzai's goal that Afghan forces should lead security operations across that country by 2014. Insurgents still retain control of parts of Afghanistan.
Pray for our military men and women in every branch of service and whoever operating.

TERRORISM

The U.S. will impose new sanctions on North Korea, following the crisis over the sinking of a South Korean warship. The decision was announced this week as Secretary of State Clinton visited South Korea.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Iran's enemies are "idiots" employing "cowboy logic" and that UN sanctions will not make this country abandon its nuclear program.

Pray about the world's rogue nations and their desires to accumulate nuclear weapons.

THE ECONOMY

The Senate cleared the way for 2.5 million out-of-work Americans to start receiving unemployment checks again, even as economists disagree on whether extending these benefits discourages the jobless from seeking work.

President Obama's offshore drilling moratorium will cost approximately $2.1 billion in economic loss to the states along the Gulf of Mexico and more than 8,000 jobs in the first six months, according to a recently released study.

Pray for the stability of American families who are dealing with work and job losses.

ISRAEL AND THE MIDDLE EAST

Israel's outgoing Ambassador to the UN said that Israel is the "most isolated, lonely country in the world," and that the biggest threats to its existence are the international attempts to delegitimize it.

Israel successfully finished testing its "Iron Dome" missile defense system designed to intercept salvos of rockets from Gaza and Lebanon. "It's a relief, but it isn't a silver bullet," one official said.

Pray for God's protection over Israel on both the physical and diplomatic -- relational levels.

HEALTHCARE

Research suggests the babbling of infants with autism differs from that of children without it. The differences were spotted with 86% accuracy using automated vocal analysis technology, not yet a diagnostic tool.

A vaccine patch having hundreds of microscopic needles which dissolve into the skin could cut out the need for painful needles and boost the effectiveness of immunization against disease, according to Emory University researchers.

Pray for the researchers who continually investigate and test methods for improving the health of Americans.

Presidential Quote of the Week

Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924), 28th President of the United States
"The Nation has been deeply stirred by a solemn passion, stirred by the knowledge of wrong, of ideals lost, of government too often debauched and made an instrument of evil. The feelings with which we face this new age of right and opportunity sweep across our heartstrings like some air out of God's own presence, where justice and mercy are reconciled and the judge and the brother are one."
-- Woodrow Wilson's First Inaugural Address, March 1913.

Armed Forces Prayer Focus

Robert Scher, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for South and Southeast Asia

Robert Scher serves as the principal advisor to senior leadership within the Department of Defense for all policy matters pertaining to strategies and plans. His responsibility includes bilateral security relations.

Executive Prayer Focus

John Holdren, Director of White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.

President Obama has created a National Ocean Council (NOC) - chaired by John Holdren and will include the secretaries of all departments involved with the environment and economics.

Legislative Prayer Focus

Sue Myrick, United States House of Representatives, North Carolina

Rep. Sue Myrick has asked Homeland Security to set up a special task force to investigate reports that Hezbollah is working with the drug cartels along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Judicial Prayer Focus

Tami Cantil Sakauye, Nominee to Chief Justice, Supreme Court of California

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has nominated Appeals Justice Tami Gorre Cantil Sakauye as the next chief justice to the California Supreme Court, which would make her the first Filipina American to lead the state's judiciary .

Opinion

Temptation Trio

Responding to the socialistic wave in this nation


by Marsha Crockett


Is there today a surge of socialism in the United States threatening to quiet the voice of Christianity and diminish our religious freedoms? 


Pastor and author Dr. Charles Stanley cautioned in an Independence Day message that there is reason to be concerned, saying this movement toward a socialistic culture can place the means and methods of production and distribution in the hands of the government.


True, we are hard-pressed to find a socialistic government that has honored Christianity ... or any other religion for that matter. At best, such authority has hassled Christians; at worst, it has attempted to destroy it as seen in Marxist regimes. Many believers in Jesus are quick to rise to this challenge of fighting against the powers that dishonor our God-given free will. Such an economic and political philosophy, in fact, squashes the foundational element of God's image within all human beings -- to be creative as we live our lives. But as we address our concerns over our diminished freedom, let us at the same time prayerfully consider the temptations we face in the midst of the uproar.

    

Our Godly Heritage

“Give ‘em Watts!”
The heroic, bittersweet story of Rev. James Caldwell

by Adam Colwell


America's revolutionary history is filled with ministers of the Gospel who also served as great patriots willing to sacrifice all for the cause of independence.


Known as the "Fighting Parson" of the Revolutionary War, Rev. James Caldwell was one such man. Born in Cub Creek in Charlotte County, VA, the seventh son of Scots-Irish settlers, Caldwell became pastor of the Presbyterian church in then-Elizabethtown, New Jersey in 1762. 

Among his congregation's members was Abraham Clark, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, and more than 40 commissioned officers of the Continental Army. In 1776 Caldwell was named chaplain of a regiment that mainly consisted of members of his church, and later served as a commissary for New Jersey militia troops. 

 

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