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FIVE YEAR OLD STOPPED FROM PRAYING FOR HER FOOD
Mark 9:42 reports Jesus as saying “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea".

In an Oviedo, Florida public elementary school, five year old Gabriella Perez was told by a lunch monitor at the Carillon Elementary School that she was not allowed to pray and thank God for her food. The very impressive Gabriella (watch short video here) reported that she had bowed her head when the monitor told her she was not allowed to pray (in school). We all know the Supreme Court has ruled it IS constitutional for student-led prayer. This is bore out by the numerous Fellowship of Christian Athletes bible study groups in PUBLIC schools and the annual "See You at the Pole" prayer event. 

The thing is these public educators know the rules but their goal is indoctrinate as many parents' children as possible into a way of thinking, far from the Biblical and moral foundations of decent humanity. All kinds of social engineering are being promoted by the ungodly, and it is stunningly refreshing to see such a young saint boldly proclaim "IT IS GOOD TO PRAY"! 

After watching the movie GOD's NOT DEAD and seeing almost all students in the actor Kevin Sorbo's character's Philosophy class write down "God is Dead" in order to get along with the world, pass a class and not make waves....and knowing this actual sell-out of their souls for temporal material gain is the norm rather than the exception in real life, it is just heartwarming to see a 5 year old show up the majority of young people in America. Church youth groups in this country are packed with a majority of cultural Christians who put on their halo for a couple hours or so a week. They proceed to take off the facade and their faith the rest of the time and act just like anyone else around them.

Five year old Gabriella has shown them all up. She has not only shown up the spiritual paucity of the educated (and lost to perdition) class, but the religious. Her impressive statement that "they caught me again", when she resumed trying to do what she knows is right - being grateful to God, shows two things - this wonderful child, as part of the Elect, knows what Perseverance of the Saints really means. Secondly, it raises the following question: IF YOU WERE ACCUSED OF BEING A CHRISTIAN - WOULD THERE BE ENOUGH EVIDENCE TO CONVICT YOU? If there is any doubt in your mind, read what Jesus said in the following three verses; then examine yourself to see if ye be in the Faith, as this little child most definitely is:

Matthew 7:21-23

21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’

(Click here to read the full story)

6TH ANNUAL NATIVITY SCENE LAUNCH - BEST EVER!

On Tuesday December 3, 2013, the Springfield Nativity Scene Committee launched our 6th Annual placing of the beautifully arranged marble representation of the Holy Family. What is now an annual tradition, was powerfully gifted to the community in song, word, praise and prayer. We had one of our biggest crowds in years as the Springfield First Baptist Church Praise Team, led by Music Pastor Brian Morgan filled the Illinois State Capitol Rotunda with the heavenly sounds of hymnal Christmas carols.

Bernie Lutchman, SNSC member and president of Business Men In Christ Springfield/Decatur opened up the proceedings with a reading from Micah 5:2-6 and prayer and was followed by Springfield Archdiocese Bishop Thomas Paprocki; Pastors Charlie Carver (South Tower Community Church in Dawson), Brian Williams (Broken Chains Church) and our SNSC Legal Counsel Tom Brejcha. Springfield pro-life activist Beth Rogers also spoke. Tom Brejcha is the lead counsel of the Thomas More Society of Chicago, which has defended the constitutional rights of many citizens and continues to do so! His message gave the legal authority, under both the US and the Illinois state constitutions for a PRIVATE religious observance to be allowed in the People's House - The Illinois State Capitol itself. We are the first state to allow a Nativity Scene on government property. The states of Mississippi and Florida (this year) have followed. Rhode Island's governor has finally allowed a "Christmas" tree inside their capitol, after a big controversy there last year

Pastors Charlie and Williams gave the gospel of Christ and the salvation message loud and clear. Bishop Paprocki spoke eloquently, as he always does, on Religious Liberty and charity. But a new feature this year was the addition of my good friend United States Emergency Corps Chaplain Steve Holden, who had just returned from a long period of ministering to the victims of the tornade-devastated Washington, Il. Chaplain Steve started this national First Responder Chaplain Corps right after 9/11 and heads up "Wreaths Across America" which lays Christmas wreaths at ALL National Cemeteries around Christmas team, to honor those who have defended freedom. We had our own Veteran Memorial ceremony led by Chaplain and several veterans in the audience as well as our own committee member himself - Tom Brejcha!

The program is already in motion for the 7th Annual launch and our music is already set as several in attendance requested First Baptist Church Praise Team returns in 2014! Merry Christmas to one and all and thank you for participating with us, praying for us and for praising Jesus forever and ever! Amen. 
The Springfield Nativity Scene is the brainchild of the late Dan and Julie Zanoza. Julie is our Master of Ceremonies and did a fabulous job this year! 

US EMERGENCY CHAPLAIN CORPS FOUNDER STEVE HOLDEN 

CHAPLAIN STEVE AND I IN FRONT OF THE VETERANS MEMORIAL WITH WREATH

MASTER OF CEREMONIES JULIE ZANOZA (LEFT) WITH FIRST BAPTIST PRAISE TEAM IN BACKGROUND

SEE YOU AT THE POLE THIS WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 25

UPDATE:
SEE YOU AT THE POLE, GLENWOOD HIGH SCHOOL, WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 25, 2013
CHATHAM, ILLINOIS (PHOTOS)

See You at The Pole (SYATP) is a student led prayer movement on the fourth Wednesday every September, where Christian students gather around the US Flag pole of their local schools to pray, before the start of the day's classes. While many atheists groups and politicians have tried to stop SYATP in the past, this is a constitutionally protected activity under the First Amendment.

SYATP began in 1990, as a response to the loss of Religious Freedom and hostility to Christians in the public school, and has spread worldwide to all of western Europe, and some parts of Canada, Africa and the South eastern continents. Millions of students, and in some cases, teachers (in their own personal private capacities) are involved. 

Students have several things to worry about and be concerned in prayer and we, as adults should encourage them to pray about all of these weighty matters. Because of the mess America and the world leaders have made of this world, the future for most young people has almost been destroyed. This dying world is under the influence and rule of Satan, while God's remnant still operates freely for the most part. The answer to today's problems is still the Hand of The Lord guiding each and every person.

RECOMMENDED PRAYER LIST FOR SYATP 2013

So the prayer list should begin in earnest with the following and in order:

- Praise and Thanksgiving for Life, and Liberty

- Thanksgiving, even in the face of persecution by national leaders and even fellow so-called "Christians" and other religions, that Jesus Christ is STILL THE CREATOR AND THE MESSIAH AND SAVIOR OF THE WORLD!
- Thanksgiving that He was born as a man, lived a sinless life, ministered and gave us life's rules for three years, was persecuted Himself, nailed to a Cross, died for our sins, rose from the dead and is seated on the Right Hand of God where He reigns forever and prayers for His Elect, as Prophet, Priest and King.

- Pray for those persecuted Christians murdered by islam in Pakistan, Kenya, Syria and Nigeria this week while the western church stays silent.

- Pray for their school year and for Godly teachers, who even if they are not saved, will not openly rebel against God and try to promote ungodly agendas.

- Pray for their own spirit protection during the school day and for their fellow students' well-being, good health, joy and their own friends' salvation.

- Pray for their parents and their homes to be places where Christ is Lord and the ruler of that home.

- Pray for their future and their plans as they study and think about careers.

- Pray for their own well-being, safety, peace and strength with the heavy loads of homework put upon them each day.

- Pray for their Personal Purity in an evil and perverse generation, and to be able to stand against the culture, for such a time as this.

There will be cities, towns and other liberal enclaves, where this legal and constitutional activity will be under attack. Students will be mistakenly told that have no right or legal authority to do this. They do. If there are any questions about See You at the Pole or any school or town official who tells a student they cannot meet at the flagpole on Wednesday morning, a list of the Student's Rights and FREE legal advice was made available by the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) website. Click here for more information, but here are the major points:

The ACLJ supports the right of students (and in many instances, parents and teachers) to gather on public school campuses to exercise their constitutionally protected right to free speech and religion through prayer, particularly at See You at the Pole events.  See You at the Pole is a student-initiated and led prayer movement in which students from elementary schools to colleges gather around their school flagpole to pray on the fourth Wednesday of September. The Supreme Court has consistently upheld the students’ right to express themselves on public school campuses, even within group contexts similar to See You at the Pole, stating that “[n]either students [n]or teachers shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate.” Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District, 393 U.S. 503, 506 (1969).

Students

Student prayer, including prayer at See You at the Pole events, is a protected form of speech that school officials may not ban. In Board of Education v. Mergens, the Supreme Court interpreted the Equal Access Act and held that Bible clubs and prayer groups have the right to meet on public secondary school campuses that receive federal funding during non-instructional time to the same extent that any other non-curricular clubs are permitted to meet on campus. 496 U.S. 226, 247 (1990). Thus, if such federally funded schools permit non-curricular clubs such as Interact, Zonta, 4-H, Chess Club, and other service-type clubs to meet and hold events on campus, those schools must also permit See You at the Pole events to the same extent.

So long as a student’s conduct does not “materially or substantially interfere with school discipline,” Tinker, 393 U.S. at 504 (quoting Burnside v. Byars, 363 F.2d 744, 749 (5th Cir. 1966)), students may gather together on campus for prayer even if no Bible Club has been officially recognized. Public school students may also bring Bibles, wear Christian t-shirts, and even share their faith, including passing out pamphlets and tracts about Christ to peers on campus. See Murdock v. Pennsylvania, 319 U.S. 105, 108-09 (1942) (“[D]istribution of religious tracts is an age-old form of missionary evangelism . . . . This form of religious activity occupies the same high estate under the First Amendment as do worship in the churches and preaching from the pulpits.”). Moreover, the U.S. Department of Education requires every public school that receives federal funding to certify “that it has no policy that prevents, or otherwise denies participation in constitutionally protected prayer in public schools,” including “‘see you at the pole’ gatherings before school.” U.S. Dept. of Educ., Guidance on Constitutionally Protected Prayer in Public Elementary and Secondary Schools 68 F.R. 9646 (Feb. 28, 2003) (hereinafter “Guidance”), available at, http://www.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/religionandschools/prayer_guidance.html (last visited Mar. 11, 2011).

School officials, however, may impose reasonable, non-discriminatory regulations that govern the time, place, and manner of student activities. See, e.g., Chandler v. Siegelman, 230 F.3d 1313, 1317 (11th Cir. 2000) (Government “may neither prohibit genuinely student-initiated religious speech, nor apply restrictions on the time, place, and manner of that speech which exceed those placed on students’ secular speech.”). Such regulations cannot target the religious content of the student activity, must be narrowly tailored to serve a significant government interest, and are required leave open other alternative forms of communication.

FOR FREE LEGAL ADVICE, CONTACT THE ACLJ AS WELL AS THE LIBERTY COUNSEL.

THE LIBERTY COUNSEL'S PHONE NUMBER:  800-671-1776

THE LIBERTY COUNSEL'S WEBSITE HERE 

DAY 37/40 DAYS OF PRAYER FOR AMERICA

PRAYER FOR RELIGIOUS FREEDOM

(Already Constitutionally & Biblically guaranteed)

"So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed"...John 8:36
"It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery"....Galatians 5:1
Fast forward to the Constitution of the United States: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances" (FIRST AMENDMENT")

We have absolute proof that 1. Absolute Freedom comes from the One True God of Heaven and 2. It is guaranteed by the highest Law in the Land.

Since the dawn of time, man has tried to oppress other men...to take away freedoms endowed and bestowed by God, in order to promote selfish agendas. Today is not different. While these people come and go, in the course of 5773 years of creation, their evil legacies live on and will only be resolved when Messiah - the true Commander in Chief  of the World - Jesus, returns.

Jesus set us free from the yoke and bondage of sin, if we repent and put our trust and faith in the Lord and Savior. He did this on Calvary. No human (or demon) can take that away. The Founding Fathers gave all, along with the Continental Army, and guaranteed that Freedom, not just in the Bill of Rights of the Constitution, but here in the Declaration of Independence "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness".

Yet in the pursuit of death - abortion on demand, we have an American government mandate that the people of God violate their God-given freedom to "free exercise thereof" and pay for readily available contraceptives, if they are employers. This includes ANY religious and christian- based hospital; university; bookstore; hotel; BIBLE Publisher  and more! Included in these contraceptives mandated by the secular, increasingly anti-Christian government, are abortion pills or pills that induce abortion immediately after sex (aka...the "morning after" pill). This is not the act of Christian people, or followers of Christ. This is power gone mad and an stunning acknowledgment to the abortion industry led by Planned Parenthood and others.  If this is not stopped by the Courts and/or Congress, which has a duty under the First Amendment to protect Religious Liberty, next will be the ability to preach from pulpits from Bible! There are already politicians and liberal "christian" theologians, who in their support of gay "Marriage", want to ban Romans 1 from being preached. Already in Canada, priests have gone to jail for that. In Canada, pastors and priests are being told by secular authorities they MUST perform "marriages" of gay couples, regardless of what the Bible says or conscience. This is the slippery slope on which the United States is heading, if personal and religious freedoms, guaranteed by the US Constitution and underlined by the Word of God, are not protected NOW!

So Father in the Name of Jesus, we know You said that in this world, we will have many troubles, trials and tribulations and that You have overcome the world, but for the first time ever in America, we see its own government violating not just the Founding document of the Constitution, but we see them spitting in the Eye of Christ and all that is holy, but demanding YOUR people pay for the furtherance of the evils of Abortion and an immoral lifestyle. Father, first of all, we pray this evil policy into Your Hands knowing that once the solution comes from You, there is no appeal! We pray for the protection of innocent life from the purveyors of abortion who are Planned Parenthood and Marie Stopes and from those who are promoting it in the public square. We pray for Your people who run bed and breakfasts or photography services etc and refuse, on Biblical grounds, to do so-called gay "marriages" then get persecuted by society and local courts and governments. Lord we know their reward is in heaven, while those who persecute them will be sent to eternal judgment away from You, but we pray that they will continue to do as the Bible says that they will continue to "keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery" of those who support evil and call it good.

We pray for leaders of government, the social compact and even those so-called religious leaders in liberal "christianity" who are not different from Caiaphas and those who persecuted the Lord Jesus, because every act done against Your Word and Your unborn babies - now up to 54 million since 1973 - is an act against You. We pray that even though they know they are violating Your commands and decrees, that they will cease this, repent and be saved. Lord, we also pray for those church leaders like the Roman Catholic bishops who are out there this morning proclaiming the Gospel of Life and liberty across America, while Your protestant preachers stay silent ....and especially those who command popular acclaim. Father, bless those bishops and priests who speak Your Word from pulpits this day as well as men like Billy and Franklin Graham and the few solid local preachers around the country, who are putting those big name preachers to shame, by their bold stands for Biblical integrity and life. We pray for men who will stand on Romans 1:16 and really mean it, when they say "I am not ashamed of the Gospel", Lord. We pray You gave them courage and boldness but most of all, You give Your elect and those who stand for righteousness a double portion of Grace, Power, Hope, Love, Protection and Covering in the Shadow of Your Wings, in these evil times...until such time, as the Lord returns, in Jesus' Holy Name, amen.

"For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline"...2 Timothy 1:7

FORTNIGHT OF FREEDOM & PRAYER ENDS POWERFULLY

Each day for the past two weeks, we, here pressed into the Throne Room of God. We repented for our personal sins and corporate sins. We prayed for leaders of all stripes and levels of leadership, according to the Commands of Scriptures. We prayed for our families and especially our children, who have been under constant assault by a corrupt culture led by the movers and shakers of society. We prayed for Religious Liberty, under whose umbrella the country was founded. We prayed for that same Religious Freedom which is now under serious attack by secularists in government.

As the Fortnight of Freedom, which included Prayer and Fasting across the board, as a conservative Evangelical Reformed Protestant, I wish to personally thank the US Conference of Catholic Bishops for calling out the Body of Christ. All prayers, discussion and Scriptures in the past two weeks on this blogsite were Christ-honoring, free of hatred towards anyone (except the evil that corrupted the world from Genesis 3 until now) and full of Biblical Integrity. Conservative praying Protestants prayed all over the world and the hundreds of heart-felt power prayers were heard in the Throne Room of God.

Therefore it was with Joy, absolute joy, that I read of the Archbishop Chaput of Philadelphia, echo almost exactly the same themes discussed here and prayed over, in the past two weeks. The Archbishop made these statements in a powerful message on Wednesday July 4 in the National Cathedral, as reported in LifeNewsNow.com. Here, in part is his homily. Please click the link at the bottom of this page to read the full remarks on Independence Day:

Below is the full text of the address from the Archbishop of Philadelphia, given at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C.:

Paul Claudel, the French poet and diplomat of the last century, once described the Christian as “a man who knows what he is doing and where he is going in a world [that] no longer [knows] the difference between good and evil, yes and no. He is like a god standing out in a crowd of invalids . . . He alone has liberty in a world of slaves.”

Like most of the great writers of his time, Claudel was a mix of gold and clay, flaws and genius. He had a deep and brilliant Catholic faith, and when he wrote that a man “who no longer believes in God, no longer believes in anything,” he was simply reporting what he saw all around him. He spoke from a lifetime that witnessed two world wars and the rise of atheist ideologies that murdered tens of millions of innocent people using the vocabulary of science. He knew exactly where forgetting God can lead.

We Americans live in a different country, on a different continent, in a different century. And yet, in speaking of liberty, Claudel leads us to the reason we come together in worship this afternoon.

Most of us know today’s passage from the Gospel of Matthew. What we should, or should not, render unto Caesar shapes much of our daily discourse as citizens. But I want to focus on the other and more important point Jesus makes in today’s Gospel reading: the things we should render unto God.

When the Pharisees and Herodians try to trap Jesus, he responds by asking for a coin. Examining it he says, “Whose image is this and whose inscription?” When his enemies say “Caesar’s,” he tells them to render it to Caesar. In other words, that which bears the image of Caesar belongs to Caesar.

The key word in Christ’s answer is “image,” or in the Greek, eikon. Our modern meaning of “image” is weaker than the original Greek meaning. We tend to think of an image as something symbolic, like a painting or sketch. The Greek understanding includes that sense but goes further. In the New Testament, the “image” of something shares in the nature of the thing itself.

This has consequences for our own lives because we’re made in the image of God. In the Greek translation of the Old Testament, the same word, eikon, is used in Genesis when describing the creation. “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness” says God (Gen 1:26). The implication is clear. To be made in the image of God is more than a pious slogan. It’s a statement of fact. Every one of us shares — in a limited but real way — in the nature of God himself. When we follow Jesus Christ, we grow in conformity to that image.

Once we understand this, the impact of Christ’s response to his enemies becomes clear. Jesus isn’t being clever. He’s not offering a political commentary. He’s making a claim on every human being. He’s saying, “render unto Caesar those things that bear Caesar’s image, but more importantly, render unto God that which bears God’s image” — in other words, you and me. All of us.

And that raises some unsettling questions: What do you and I, and all of us, really render to God in our personal lives? If we claim to be disciples, then what does that actually mean in the way we speak and act?

CLICK HERE TO READ THE REST OF THIS MESSAGE 

A FORTNIGHT OF PRAYER

DAY 11

FREEDOM: of WORSHIP or RELIGION?

The Word of God has suffered at the hands of many a tyrant who has tried to destroy it. Pagan kings of Israel/Judah had tried to wipe it out...but could not. After the period of Christ's Ministry, the persecution of the Church began in earnest as Christianity spread to the western world.


The Indestructible Book still could not be stopped. The Jews preserved the aging Hebrew manuscripts when the 72 scholars translated, what we call the Old Testament, into Greek less than 2400 years ago in Alexandria, Egypt. The early Christians used this Greek translation of the "Old Testament" (called the Septuagint) as the basis of our Faith. Most Christians spoke Greek in the new territories, hence the appearance of the letters and Gospels of the New Testaments in Greek.


Copies of some precious documents, especially the New Testament still exist. The earliest copy of the New Testament is from 150 AD and was written/copied over just decades after John the Revelator wrote the original gospel Book of John! Today, that which was preserved, is again under assault. If you wish to read about the Burning of Bibles by the religion of peace, which also burns down Christian churches and homes in their religion of peace middle eastern countries, CLICK HERE FOR A SHORT LIST. Just three years ago, US soldiers in Afghanistan were revealed to have burned Bibles sent from the US there, on orders from the High Command, after a news report from the Middle East TV Network Al Jazeera broke the story. Watch video here.


But we don't have to go far abroad to find instances of persecution of Christians in North America. Whether it is some school district banning six year olds from singing "God bless America"; or a leftist judge ruling that a teenage kid cannot wear his Christian Faith T-shirt to school or even  Orange County, California shutting down a Bible Study in somebody's home....let me repeat that - INSIDE A COUPLE'S OWN HOME...it is happening now with rapid frequency in the United States.

TO READ MORE ABOUT CURRENT PREJUDICE AGAINST CHRISTIANS IN THE UNITED STATES, CLICK HERE.

FREEDOM OF WORSHIP VS FIRST AMENDMENT 

EARLY CHURCH:
CHRISTIAN MARTYRS FACE THE LIONS

There is an increasingly disturbing pattern by US State Department and others in power, both here and in the United Nations, to refer more to the "Freedom of Worship" and never mention "Freedom of Religion"....even in countries where Christians are persecuted. 

The First Amendment of the United States Constitution says "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances".

There is a reason that phrase is used (Freedom of Worship). The communist Chinese have official state churches there, which is not the true bible-based underground church, where over 300 million Christians live in Faith. In an official church with officially sanctioned Bibles etc, attendees keep their religion or whatever they are practicing within the four walls of that church.

Freedom of Worship also implies manipulation. Freedom of Worship means they tell you how to worship and when. Freedom of Worship means one day, you will be called upon to compromise what little faith you may have for the greater good of the state. Freedom of Worship also implies that the Body of Christ is not supposed to be under His Great Commission, to "go and make disciples of all the world", but that human mandates and laws supersede and are more important than the Savior!

Freedom of Religion is the choice to choose to follow Christ or go the other way onto a 12 lane highway, leading away from Him. Freedom of Religion is absolutely what this country was founded on and has function as, based on Christian Principles since the Pilgrims Landed. This experiment is the only one like it ever in human history, and only worked because it was based on the Word of God, which man has tried to trample on for centuries.

This is what is beginning in America. From the moment Eve bought the lie of the Serpent in Genesis 3, man has tried to put his theories above the Will of God. Nothing has changed and it will not stop until the Return of Christ to reign with His saints.

So Father in the Name of Jesus, I pray, oh God that YOU, our Heavenly Father, seal Your Word in our hearts.  I pray that the Holy Scriptures, which many have lost their lives defending - including Your Son - be sealed in our hearts. That means, that You give us the ability and drive and willingness to read it, study it, devour it, share it, pray it and believe it and then hide the entire Word in our hearts that a. we will not sin against You and b. that NO ONE can take it from our hearts, mind, body and soul...in these evil last days.  

I thank You for the Freedom to both worship You and to practice this Great Grace called Christianity for over 400 years as America has been the world's greatest body of missionaries to the world. Because You have blessed this land, more food - physical and spiritual in the form of flooding the global mission field - has left this country to go around the earth, than any other country in history. Now we have become a mission field ourselves, in need of spiritual rejuvenation as we have both lost our way and allowed others to chip away at the Freedom You gave us in the Gospel. 

Lord, I pray that the liberties and freedoms won by those who gave their lives creating and defending the country from 1776 onward, will stand by Your Grace and by Your Power. I pray into Your restraining Hands, those who wish to lead Your children astray by not just feeding them the false gospel of man, but who then proceed to take away spiritual bread and living water from the hungry and thirsty. I pray Great Grace upon America this day, and may You shine Your Mighty Face on her, from sea to shining sea, as we stand in the cause of Religious Liberty, in Jesus' Holy Name, amen.

(images by google)

DEBATE CONTINUES OVER MILITARY BIBLES ISSUE

UPDATE (July 13, 2012): "Holman Publishing was only asked to remove the military insignia's after they VIOLATED their agreement with the military branches. They were given permission to use the commercial versions of the military seals on the boxes the bibles came in, but the branches found out last year that he had since started putting the official seals on the bibles themselves, thus VIOLATING HIS AGREEMENT WITH THE MILITARY!"  (Informed Sources).

EDITOR'S NOTE:  Bibles are still sold on US Military Bases. This will continue. The only Bibles removed are these pictured here with the Military insignia

The US Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty has asked Congress to intervene over the removal of Holman Christian Standard Bibles from PX's and US Military base stores and restore the sale of these special designated Holman Bibles to the store shelves.  

The Christian Post has reported that due to just a few complaints from a small, but hostile atheist organization, the Pentagon policy makers have made this strange decision. This comes right on the heels of news from this same politicized Pentagon, that the rate of suicides among US Soldiers has now reached one suicide per day! There have been 154 US military personnel suicides from January 1 to June 3, 2012!  Retired US Chaplain Peter Sousa told the Christian Post in part "..."I am speaking from experiences in my perspective, but I do believe that the young people coming into the military today do not have the firm foundation in religious belief that previous generations had. More and more soldiers are saying they have no religious preference". 

This is the latest religious freedom issue involving US soldiers who need the Cleansing Power of the Blood of Christ and the Word of God to give them a hope and a future. It just came out that 1 in 5 returning service personnel face Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).They face divorce, separation from their families and unconventional warfare only to find their spiritual knees have been cut out from under them by their own superiors who sit behind desks. Here is a list of attacks on Christians and the Bible in the past two years....and a lot of it successfully instigated by a guy named Michael Weinstein, a confirmed atheist whose apparent main purpose in life is to dishonor our God; remove as many bibles from the US Military as possible and deny hurting servicemen and women true Spiritual counsel. Weinstein runs something called the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, which is about anything but religious freedom.
- Rev. Franklin Graham was kicked out and disinvited from a National Day of Prayer service inside the Pentagon in 2010 because of his solid stance for Christ!
-  Rev. Franklin Graham runs the worldwide charitable SAMARITAN'S PURSE, which gave over 8 million shoeboxes full of gifts to poor children of all races and religion around the world. This past December 2011, the US Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs kicked Samaritan's Purse off the Campus because two atheists complained!  Yet this same Air Force Academy has given witches some high ground to build and conduct their Pagan rituals!!!
-  US Chaplains are forbidden from praying in the Name of Jesus.

-  In the fall of 2011, the brass at Walter Reed Hospital, the largest military one where wounded military from Iraq and Afghanistan are treated, sent down a written memo banning ALL bibles from Reed! After it was discovered and some US congressman started condemning the ban from the floor of Capitol Hill, the US government took back their memo and allowed families to bring bibles for their wounded sons and daughters again.
-  This past February 2012, all Army chaplains were banned by the government from reading a letter from the Catholic bishops, where the bishops spoke against the church being made to buy and give employees contraception and pregnancy prevention pills for free...against the tenets of church teaching.


The answer to all of this is - PRAY for the brave men and women of the US Military and the people who send them to war.  PRAY for those suffering PTSD and families of those who are living in desperation due to the high rate of suicide among their loved ones, who have served.