Super User
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur
In September Adbuster magazine in Canada put out a call for supporters to occupy Wall Street and drew hundreds of protesters with 2,000 attending a march the following Saturday. This protest movement has been developing through Twitter, Facebook and shared Googledocs, enabling protesters to stand against corporate greed, unemployment and the political corruption that they say Wall Street represents. They have taken to the streets in Boston, Los Angeles, St Louis and Kansas City. The core group, Occupy Wall Street (OWS), claims people will take part in demonstrations in as many as 147 US cities this month, while the website www.occupytogether.org lists 47 US states as being involved. Around the world other protests are also planned. The speed of the leaderless movement's growth has taken many by surprise. Occupytogether.org, one of several sites associated with the protest, has had to be rebuilt to accommodate the traffic.
Pray: for a peaceful outcome to this movement's activities and that the media attention would not inspire violence.
More: reet-protest-movement-spreads?newsfeed=truehttp://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/oct/04/wall-st
Senior State Department and Diplomatic Security officials may have covered up or stopped investigations of inappropriate/criminal misconduct by staff according to an internal memo from the Office of the Inspector General. The timeline places incidents during former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's tenure. Sometimes the sources are one or more agents who became aware of cases from colleagues in ‘a shared environment.’ The documents provided by a lawyer for a whistle-blower who is a former senior inspector general investigator stated, ‘an active US ambassador routinely ditched his protective security detail in order to solicit sexual favorus from both prostitutes and minor children.’ A member of Clinton's security detail allegedly, ‘engaged prostitutes while on official trips in foreign countries’ and ’prostitution problem was endemic.’ Also In Iraq an ‘underground drug ring may have been supplying drugs to State Department security contractors, but an agent sent to investigate the allegations was prevented from completing the job’.
Pray: for suspected incidents of abuse or corruption to be investigated thoroughly. May all concealed episodes be revealed. (Am.5:7 & 15)
More: http://edition.cnn.com/2013/06/11/politics/state-department-allegations/index.html?hpt=hp_t1
Prayer changes things. While hundreds of thousands came to watch the inauguration, many came to pray during the event. Religious believers gathered in places like hotel ballrooms to pray for America and its president, but also to praise and worship God. ‘The glory is rising in the church. And the glory is rising upon His people, our people,’ Rev Rich Brink, with Global Celebration, told CBN News. ‘So we pray for leaders. In fact, we're believing even today the glory will come upon our leaders,’ he said. Many at a prayer breakfast in the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel also lifted up Israel, a nation of particular interest to evangelicals.
Pray: for those in support of, and those critical of, the Presidents policies, would be continually led by God’s Holy Spirit into informed intercession for the next four years of American politics. (1Tim.2:1-3)
More: http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/politics/2013/January/Prayer-Plays-Major-Role-in-Inauguration-Day/
In some places in the United States, it's getting more and more difficult for Americans to freely exercise their faith in Christ. Many places across the country are taking action against Christians for praying in public, or praying in Jesus' name, reports Mission Network News. Case in point - Pastor Terry Sartain. According to Fox News, he's been ministering to police officers in Charlotte, North Carolina for the past seven years. When he prayed at the request of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department, he prayed in ‘the name of Jesus.’ But he can't do that anymore. Volunteer chaplains in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department will no longer be allowed to invoke the name of Jesus in prayers at public events held on government property. Major John Diggs heads up the chaplain programme. He says it respects people of all faiths. Sartain says he's sad that as a pastor he can't give the one thing he has to offer: the Life and Person of Christ.
Pray: that the prayers of the saints in the name of Christ will be effective and that those who are speaking against will be blessed. (Ps.33:12)
A conservative group is preparing legal action to challenge last Tuesday’s vote that cleared the way for a mosque to be built near the site of the Sept. 11 attacks. The American Center for Law and Justice is representing New York City fire-fighter Timothy Brown, a first responder who survived the 2001 terrorist attacks but lost nearly 100 friends. It is planning to file a petition in state court alleging that there has been an abuse of discretion in the Landmarks Preservation Commission's decision. The city commission voted 9-0 Tuesday to deny landmark status to a building on Park Place that a Muslim group wants to convert into a mosque and Islamic community centre. Landmark status would have made it difficult for the group to build the centre there. (See Prayer Alert 2410) Thousands have protested the proposed ‘mega mosque,’ arguing that an Islamic centre just two blocks away from Ground Zero is insensitive and insulting to the families of the 9/11 victims. Pray: for God to weave His purposes into the atmosphere over and on Ground Zero. (Ps.2:1) More: http://www.christianpost.com/article/20100804/aclj-petitions-to-stop-ground-zero-mosque/index.html
A Christian pastor in the US state of Florida has called off and then threatened to reconsider plans to burn copies of the Muslim holy book in a bonfire on Saturday to mark the ninth anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington, DC. The event had been roundly criticised and stoked fears of violence around the globe. (e.g. see below) Rev Terry Jones said on Thursday that he made the decision to cancel the event because the leader of a planned Islamic centre near the so-called Ground Zero site in New York had agreed to move its location. However, the developers behind the planned Islamic centre said they had not agreed to any such deal. During a televised news conference on Thursday, Jones called on others not to burn copies of the Qur’an. He said instead, he would fly to New York to speak with Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, the head of the planned New York Islamic centre. Pray: that this proposed disrespectful action will not go ahead and that God would over-rule here and in other similar situations. (1Pe.2:17) More: http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2010/09/20109921337885578.html
Democrat President Barack Obama says it's not his job to defend his Christian faith against doubters who suspect he's Muslim. His Republican Party challenger Mitt Romney says religion is ‘integral’ to his life - he often avoids mentioning his Mormon faith by name. The men responded in writing to nine questions about their faith. Religion has been a tricky political issue for both men. A recent Pew Research Centre poll found that 49% of Americans correctly identify Obama as a Christian. More Americans know that Romney is Mormon, but 30% do not believe that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is Christian. Both men said that political candidates should be judged by their works not faith. Both also said that religion is central to their lives.
Pray: for the race to the next term of office in the White House to focus on helpful facts, leading to informed choices when voting. (Dt.16:18-20)
Approximately 160 churches in New York will be evicted from their premises by February 12th after the U.S. Supreme Court decided not to hear a case to reverse an Education Department decision banning schools from allowing churches to use their premises for worship. Many local churches may not find alternative venues and could close. It could also have ramifications for thousands of churches meeting in public buildings throughout the US. Critics of the decision are concerned the ban will eventually extend to religious organisations meeting in any state-funded building. (University auditoriums house worship services of larger churches). Last Thursday seven people were arrested, including four pastors, for protesting outside the New York Law Department, where they kneeled and sang hymns with others protesting against the Court’s decision. They were released without charge after 3 hours.
Pray: this would not escalate into the closure of churches, but rather an eleventh hour solution that all could agree with is found. (Ps.27:13)
A US lawyer who successfully defended Rifqa Bary, a teenage Christian convert from Islam, has had his organisation’s website destroyed by a Muslim hacker. John Stemberger is also facing a $10 million lawsuit filed by the lawyer who represented Miss Bary’s Muslim parents. Mr Stemberger represented Rifqa Bary, who hit the headlines last year when she told US media that she would not be safe with her Muslim parents and feared an ‘honour killing’. Her father has denied the allegations. Earlier this week Mr Stemberger’s pro-family organisation, the Florida Family Policy Council, said that a Muslim hacker had managed to access their website, disabling parts of it and interfering with the inner workings of the site. The hacker left an ‘obscene message on the events page explaining in broken English who he was and why he was hacking the site’, according to Mr Stemberger. Pray: that God would put a spiritual firewall around Christian websites. (Pr.2:8) More: http://www.christian.org.uk/news/muslim-wipes-website-of-lawyer-who-helped-convert/
The anti-abortion movement's policy known as a ‘personhood amendment,’ which legally defines a person as existing at the moment of fertilization, has been rejected twice in recent years by voters in Colorado. But the effort has found new life in the state of Mississippi, where a personhood amendment will appear on the Nov. 8 ballot.
Pray: that Mississippi, the nation's most conservative state, would agree to outlaw abortion. (Ps.36:6)