Pray for our Nation in Turmoil

Do you have one minute each day to stop and pray for America?

 Read the news, pray the scriptures, change history.

14 States Sue to Repeal Obamacare
Let Us Pray. Almighty God, from Psalm 121:2 we declare that our help comes from You who made heaven and earth. Which means that You, God, can easily reverse the healthcare bill that was just passed against the will of the American people. We pray God gives victory to the 14 states suing to uphold the Constitution, and stop our tax dollars from killing innocent children. God inspire more of the 50 State Attorneys General to stand up for what is right, and give wisdom to those who will be arguing these cases, in Jesus Name, Amen.

The Liberty Counsel Sues to Repeal Obamacare
Let Us Pray. Almighty God, while we grieve the socialist take-over of the United States healthcare system by the tyrants in power, we thank You for groups like The Liberty Counsel who are among those who have filed a lawsuit against the implementation of this unconstitutional bill. And while the Democrats pour out their arrogance and boastful words, we pray Psalm 94:4 for God to boldly silence them, and to derail this bill in court. Please also deliver us from being forced to pay for abortion with our own money through tax-dollars, in Jesus Name, Amen.

College Professor Attacked for Using the Bible in Class
Homosexuality is biologically abnormal, a learned behavior which has become culturally acceptable.  Help the people who want help against this disease.  Help our country turn back to its roots.  Let Us Pray. Almighty God, we thank you for health sciences instructor Bradley Lopez, who was accused of anti-gay remarks and who boldly used the Bible to teach students about life beginning at conception.  Psalm 119:66 reads, “Teach me good judgment and knowledge” and was not ashamed to share truth with his students. God bless the enemies of Jesus who attacked and accused him, some of whom did not even attend his class. God help the Fresno City College protect his freedom of religious and academic expression, in Jesus Name, Amen.

Salvation Army Bans Jesus, Caves In to ACLU
Let Us Pray. Almighty God, we are grieved by the recent lawsuit that was settled by the Salvation Army with the ACLU, which has forced Christians to set aside their mission of presenting the gospel of Jesus Christ, in order to provide for the needy. Father, we ask that you would continue to use the Salvation Army to share about Jesus, regardless of the results. From Acts 5:29 we declare that we must obey God rather than men, even if that means losing government funding, in Jesus Name, Amen.

Senate Should Reject the Nomination of Goodwin Liu
Let Us Pray. Almighty God, thank you for the work of the Conservative Action Project that exposed the reasons why Judge Goodwin Liu should be rejected by the U.S. Senate, for a lifetime appointment to the 9th Circuit. Liu does not have bipartisan support, completely disrespects the Constitution, and fails to meet the requirements of the American Bar Association which says he requires at least a dozen years experience which he doesn’t have. We pray from Proverbs 29:2 knowing that when the righteous increase, the people rejoice, but when the wicked rule, the people groan. So we pray for righteous leaders, in Jesus Name, Amen.

Encouraging People of Faith to Not Support ENDA
Let Us Pray. Almighty God, we pray You thwart the plans of the pro-homosexual Human Rights Campaign who are lobbying religious leaders to support the so-called Employment Non-Discrimination Act, or ENDA, which would force Christian employers to hire quotas of homosexuals, trans-genders, and even pedophiles to work in Christian businesses, against biblical standards. We pray God condemns the Human Rights Campaign for mocking Holy Week by offering a trans-gender perspective on Easter. From Psalm 141:10 we pray the wicked fall into their own nets, and God please deliver your people from evil laws, in Jesus Name, Amen.

Video shows Bart Stupak planned to betray life a year ago
Let Us Pray. Almighty God, we pray You condemn the betrayal of preborn children by Congressman Bart Stupak, who betrayed innocents for his 'thirty pieces of silver,' when he voted “yes” for the socialized government take-over of America’s healthcare system. We thank you for the video that surfaced recently that exposed how he planned in advance to betray life, while telling his constituents that he would vote “no” against the healthcare takeover. Lord, please help our country to see through deception and vote wisely. We pray for Stupak’s repentance from Matthew 3:8, and ask that he would produce fruit in keeping with repentance, in Jesus Name, Amen.




Above copied and adapted from the Pray in Jesus Name Project
Disclaimer: The views of Chaplain Klingenschmitt, who was honorably but involuntarily discharged from the Navy in 2007 after facing court-martial for praying 'in Jesus name' in uniform (but was later vindicated by Congress) are his own personal views, not the views of any political party, government, or organization.

The Insidious Health Care Bill

Watching Nancy Pelosi, King Barack Obama, Joe Biden, and other democrats celebrating their ill-gotten victory in passing the so-called health care package for the American people made most of us angry, saddened, and disgusted. This bill was passed without the consent of the people.


While our leftist leaders are making speeches about how they fought so hard for the good of Americans, that is not at all what their ambition is about. Their drooling is all about their desire for power over the masses. And what better way than to harness all of us, each as a number, under something so expansive and far-reaching as human health.







Furthermore, because of this power they want over us, they are now well on their way in completing their destruction of the basic principle under which our country is founded--that each person is valuable and is created free to make their way in life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.  Such a principle is not conducive to their ultimate goal. 


While many leftists openly admire the likes of Fidel Castro and Hugo Chavez, they not-so-openly express, at least not yet, the why of their admiration, which is their desire to have the same total intrusive power of such dictators over us Americans. Thus, they are hell-bent in finding ways to take away from and slow down individuals who are capable and productive.


After listening for months to a parade of moronic leftists muddling our country with their anti-American sentiments magnified by our media outlets, one bright spot did make me smile in Ozzie Guillen who verbally put power-loving wannabes in their places by calling Sean Penn a “payaso” (clown) and an “izquierdista estupido” (stupid leftist). For my money, that about sums them all up

Oh, and, by the way, the debate is not over yet. 
Real Americans still care about the Constitution, and they still outnumber the izquierdistas estupido.

See The Conservative Examiner: http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-42947-Yakima-Conservative-Examiner~y2010m3d26-The-Insidious-Health-Care-Bill
Dem win is built on sand - NYPOST.com

ACLJ - Is the new bill Constitutional?

Governor Jindal, “We have reached out to the Attorney General and asked him to join with other states to assert the rights afforded to us by the U.S. Constitution that protect citizens against a federal requirement to purchase a product – like insurance.

“I encourage those in Washington, D.C. to pick up a U.S. Constitution and read it. The legislation’s requirement on all citizens to purchase insurance is fundamentally an unconstitutional expansion of federal power. If the 10th Amendment of the Constitution means anything, we need to stand up for the fact that the federal government can’t force Americans to buy a certain product as a requirement to be an American. If the federal government can do this, what can’t they do? Where does it stop?”

There will be a tomorrow when we face eternity. Give today what you can while you can.

Give Your Flowers to the Living

Someday, when dead your loved ones lies

Beneath the grasses of the plain,

Will you be happy for the years you spent,

Or ridden by guilt and its pain?

After they’re gone it is too late to give flowers,

You might as well not do it and save.

If you didn’t give them when they were alive

It is much too late at their grave.

Cherish them while you can

And love them before they die.

So when they’re no longer here

You won’t need to cry.

Then you can feast on the memories

And treasure them one by one,

Instead of feeling guilty

About what should have been done.

Because in this way you’ll remember,

Through the action of heart-felt giving,

It is better to love them while they’re alive

And give your flowers to the living.

By Dan Langerock

Chaplain Dan Langerock is a former hospital chaplain from California. After thirty three years of marriage, he was widowed. He recently married again, moved to Michigan, and is now looking for a full time job and ministry there.


Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Matthew 6:19-21
 
Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. 1 Timothy 6:18

 And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased. Hebrews 13:16

If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. 1 John 3: 17-18

Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 2 Corinthians 9:6-7

Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to do it. Proverbs 3:27

Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.. Matthew 5:43-44

But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Luke 6:35

Love is very patient and kind, never jealous or envious, never boastful or proud. Love is never haughty or selfish or rude. Love does not demand its own way. Love is not irritable or touchy. Love does not hold grudges and will hardly notice when others do it wrong. Love is never glad about injustice, but rejoices whenever truth wins out. If you love someone, you will be loyal to them no matter what the costs. You will always believe in them, always expect the best in them, and will always stand your ground in defending them. I Corinthians 13:4-7


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See Sweet Devotions, Through the Doors of Eternity

Yes, we are fully confident, and we would rather be away from these earthly bodies, for then we will be at home with the Lord. 2Corinthians 5:8 (NLT)

But if I live, I can do more fruitful work for Christ. So I really don’t know which is better. I’m torn between two desires: I long to go and be with Christ, which would be far better for me. Philippians 1:22-23 (NLT)

Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.  John 14:1-3 (NIV)

Saint Patrick

March 17, 460 AD, is the day St. Patrick died, and the Irish continue to honor his memory on that date each year. As the Irish people spread out around the world, so, too, did the religious holiday of St. Patrick's Day as a time for spiritual renewal and the offering of prayers for missionaries worldwide before the serious celebrating begins. What do we know about this Saint Patrick so revered?

Patrick was born around 385 in Kilpatrick of Scotland. HIs parents were Calphurnius and Conchessa, Romans of high rank living in Britain.

At age 16, Patrick was carried off into captivity by Irish marauders and sold as a slave to a druidical high priest named Milchu in a territory of the present county of Antrim in Ireland. For several years the young boy tended sheep, learned the Celtic tongue, and became familiar with the pagan practices of druidism. He relates in his "Confessio" that during his captivity while tending the flocks he prayed as much as a hundred prayers in a single day so that his faith grew and the Spirit was fervent within.

"The love of God and his fear grew in me more and more, as did the faith, and my soul was rosed, so that, in a single day, I have said as many as a hundred prayers and in the night, nearly the same."   "I prayed in the woods and on the mountain, even before dawn. I felt no hurt from the snow or ice or rain."

 It was on a special night that he received a dream which instructed him to escape his captors by going toward the Coast. The next day he was able to leave without notice and, after traveling west some 200 miles, he found sailers who took him back to Britain to reunite with his kinsmen.

It wasn't long in his homeland before he had another dream about Ireland which begged him as a holy youth to come and walk once again upon their soil.

This dream shook him up much so that he began studies for the priesthood with the people of Ireland in mind. After years of study, he was ordained by St. Germanus, the Bishop of Auxerre, and was sent to take the Gospel to Ireland. Though the people there vehemently resisted this new message at first, it is told that a chieftain of one of the tribes was struck with the inability to move his arm until he listened kindly to what Patrick had to say.

Patrick was allowed the freedom to preach the Gospel throughout Ireland for the next 40 years, all the while in poverty and enduring much suffering, and yet able to perform miracles to show God's power.

Most of what we know about Patrick is from his 'Confessio' (spiritual autobiography) and from his 'Epistola' (denunciation of British mistreatment toward Irish Christians).

The English referred to the druids as 'snakes' because many of them adopted snakes as personal symbols to signify wisdom and cunning. Saint Patrick attempted to do away with those traditions, and that is where the myth about Saint Patrick chasing all snakes out of Ireland came from.

Familiar with Celtic cultural practices, Patrick was effectively able to combine their traditions with ideas of Christianity in order to ease them gradually toward Christian beliefs.  He used their tradition of worship with fire by celebrating Easter with bonfires.  He took the symbol of the sun they loved and put it on the Christian cross to create today's Celtic cross.  From Saint Patrick came the idea to use the shamrock in explanation of the Trinity.

Entire kingdoms were converted, churches were built, and new believers came on board to help preach the Gospel to Ireland.

For all this, Patrick remained thankful in heart to our Creator as he described himself as a "most humble-minded man, pouring forth a continuous paean of thanks to his Maker for having chosen him as the instrument whereby multitudes who had worshipped idols and unclean things had become the people of God."
See The Examiner 


Note: The first parade celebration took place in the United States when Irish soldiers serving in the English military marched through New York City in 1762. The music gave the soldiers a sentimental journey to reconnect with their Irish roots.

"It is a curious contradiction, not very often remembered in England, that for many generations the private soldiers of the British Army were largely Irish."   Cecil Woodham-Smith

"We have always found the Irish a bit odd. They refuse to be English." Winston Churchill

 
 "There is, for whatever reason, an international tendency to be well-disposed towards Ireland - a tendency that elevates us beyond our actual standing on the world stage."  Ivana Bacik, Irish barrister and Labour Party candidate




A bit o'fun
An Irishman, an Englishman and a beautiful girl are riding together in a train, with the beautiful girl in the middle.The train goes through a tunnel and it gets completely dark. Suddenly there is a kissing sound and then a slap!
 The train comes out of the tunnel. The woman and the Irishman are sitting there looking perplexed. The Englishman is bent over holding his face which is red from an apparent slap.
 The Englishman is thinking "Damn it, that Mick must have tried to kiss the girl, she thought it was me and slapped me."
 The girl is thinking, "That Englishman must have moved to kiss me, and kissed the Irishman instead and got slapped."
The Irishman is thinking, "If this train goes through another tunnel, I could make another kissing sound and slap that Englishman again!
Thank you Patrick Dennis for  submission.

"Whisky was invented so the Irish wouldn't rule the world."

"If wars were fought with words Ireland WOULD BE ruling the world!"


"Well, it takes all kinds of men to build a railroad."
"No sir, just us Irish."
- Railroad barons in "Dodge City," Warner Bros., 1939

"I am a drinker with a writing problem."


"When I told the people of Northern Ireland that I was an atheist, a woman in the audience stood up and said, 'Yes, but is it the God of the Catholics or the God of the Protestants in whom you don't believe?"  - Quentin Crisp