Give thanks to the Lord for this victory against attempts to undermine religious freedom in America. Ask for more decisions which will solidify our freedoms against those who would destroy them.

"These are the things that you shall do; speak every man the truth to his neighbor; execute the judgment of truth and peace in your gates." (Zechariah 8:16)

Ask the Lord to give wisdom to our national defense planners. Ask the Lord to grant a deep understanding of our nations needs for defense in the years ahead. Pray that our leaders will look to the Lord for insight and strength rather than relying upon man's wisdom and strength.

"'If you follow my decrees and are careful to obey my commands, I will send you rain in its season, and the ground will yield its crops and the trees their fruit. Your threshing will continue until grape harvest and the grape harvest will continue until planting, and you will eat all the food you want and live in safety in your land. I will grant peace in the land, and you will lie down and no one will make you afraid. I will remove wild beasts from the land, and the sword will not pass through your country. You will pursue your enemies, and they will fall by the sword before you. Five of you will chase a hundred, and a hundred of you will chase ten thousand, and your enemies will fall by the sword before you.'" (Leviticus 26:3-8)

As Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta prepares to introduce the strategy's first budget next month, the Navy has been in a furious fight behind the scenes to protect only 10 carriers, sources familiar with the issue told The Washington Times.

The sources say that, while the fiscal 2013 budget may well continue 11 carriers, the Navy will be down to 10 or even nine carriers within in the next five years.

A carrier typically transports about 80 aircraft and leads a battle group comprising 7,500 sailors, a guided-missile cruiser, two guided-missile destroyers, an attack submarine and a supply ship. Eliminating one carrier battle group would save billions of dollars.

In addition, the Navy complements its carriers with amphibious-ready groups of warships, helicopters, fighter jets and Marines for sea-land operations. Some of those groups also might be scrapped.

A scenario discussed inside the Navy: Reduce the carrier fleet by retiring the flattops short of their 50-year life spans, and continue to build more advanced carriers at the Newport News, Va., shipyard at seven-year intervals instead of launching one every five years.

Reducing one carrier would set off a fight in Congress, which under law has required the Navy to maintain 11 active flattops. A source familiar with the discussions said the Obama administration would not want to take up that fight until after November's presidential election, given the importance of Virginia and its 13 electoral votes.

In general, the Navy has three carriers at sea, three returning from six-month deployments, three preparing to be deployed and two in some type of overhaul. For example, the USS Ronald Reagan, commissioned less than 10 years ago, is going into dry dock this month for a year of extensive repairs.

The Nimitz-class carriers now in service are designed with 50-year service lives, which include a major refueling and complex overhaul (RCOH) at the midlife point. The Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) is now in the final year of her RCOH, and the Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) is scheduled to enter Newport News Shipbuilding in Newport News, Va. - where all the carriers are built and the RCOH overhauls done - next summer.

The Navy already is spending money for Lincoln's overhaul, and awarded Newport News a $206 million contract in February to continue planning and preparation work.

Asked Sept. 15 if the Lincoln overhaul might be canceled, Adm. Gary Roughead, then the chief of naval operations, shook his head, no. "There would be a lot of wastage on CVN 72 if you were to do that," he said.

But there were no such statements about the George Washington.

No contracts have been let for the GW overhaul. Although the savings won't appear for a few more years, the reductions would still take place within the 10-year window.

If the scheme goes forward, the ship could be decommissioned between 2016 and 2021. The deciding factor could be monetary, or a simple matter of how much nuclear fuel remains in the ship's two reactors.

Under Mr. Panetta, the Pentagon has clamped down on the release of any details about the budget - following the model of predecessor Robert M. Gates, who forced senior officials to sign nondisclosure forms.

But sources say a $488 billion in mandated savings will come from two principal sources: cutting the Army and Marine Corps ground forces by more than 100,000 troops combined and reducing the purchase and delaying the procurement of big weapons systems, such as the F-35 fighter. (Contributors: Washington Times, Defense News)

Pray that these sanctions will cause Iran to comply with international laws regarding its nuclear facilities and that the course of developing nuclear weapons will cease.

"O let the evil of the wicked come to an end, but establish the righteous; For the righteous God tries the hearts and minds." (Psalm 7:9)

The United States has long embargoed Iranian crude, but has just approved new sanctions targeting Iran's Central Bank, the main conduit for its oil revenues. The European Union, which collectively buys about 500,000 bpd of Iranian oil, is expected to soon impose an embargo halting imports. 

As soon as the central bank sanctions passed Congress in December, the U.S. House of Representatives passed another piece of legislation that would close some loopholes in existing sanctions and further choke off trade with Tehran. The House bill included a provision that would deny entry to the United States of any ship that has recently visited a port in Iran, North Korea or Syria.

Similar legislation has been introduced in the Senate. A bipartisan sanctions bill could be considered in committee soon after senators return to work from a winter recess later this month, a Senate aide said on Friday.

House of Representatives Majority Leader Eric Cantor said some officials in the Middle East shared his sense of urgency about the need to stop Iran from getting the capacity to build nuclear weapons. "I think that the consensus is, no one wants Iran to be a nuclear power," Cantor said.

"Our intent is to implement this law in a timed and phased approach so that we avoid repercussions to the oil market and ensure that this damages Iran and not the rest of the world," the senior U.S. official told Reuters. "The idea here is to reduce Iran's oil revenues."

Recent history of Iranian sanctions include: The United States imposing an arms ban and an almost total economic embargo on Iran, with sanctions on companies doing business with Iran, a ban on all Iranian-origin imports, sanctions on Iranian financial institutions, and an almost total ban on selling aircraft or repair parts to Iranian aviation companies. A license from the Treasury Department is required to do business with Iran.

In June 2011, the United States imposed sanctions against Iran Air (Iran's main commercial airline) and Tidewater Middle East Co. (which runs seven Iranian ports), stating that Iran Air had provided material support to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which is already subject to UN sanctions, that Tidewater Middle East is owned by the IRGC, and that both have been involved in activities including illegal weapons transportation.

The U.S. has also begun to designate a number of senior Iranian officials under the Iranian Human Rights Abuses Sanctions Regulations. On December 14, 2011, the U.S. Department of Treasury designated Hassan Firouzabadi and Abdollah Araqi under this sanctions program. (Contributors: Capitol Hill Prayer Partners, Jerusalem Post, Wikipedia)  

Pray that our 2012 legislative sessions will reflect the heart of God's will for this nation. The Lord desires to bless the nation that honors Him. Pray that our legislators will be sensitive to the needs of our populous and that they be granted wisdom for how best to address those needs with the stressed 2012 budget. Pray for reconciliation between the House and the Senate on the important issues which include the economy and national defense.

"Come behold the works of the Lord, who has made desolations in the earth. He makes wars to cease to the end of the earth: He breaks the bows and cuts the spear in two. He burns the chariot in the fire." (Psalm 46: 8, 9)

 

It's official: Congress ended its least-productive year in modern history after passing 80 bills - fewer than during any other session since year-end records began being kept in 1947.

Furthermore, an analysis by The Washington Times of the scope of such activities as time spent in debate, number of conference reports produced and votes taken on the House and Senate floors found that Congress set a record for legislative futility by accomplishing less in 2011 than any other year in history.

The Senate's record was weakest by a huge margin, according to the futility index, and the House had its 10th-worst session on record.

Of the bills the 112th Congress did pass, the majority were housekeeping measures, such as naming post office buildings or extending existing laws. Sometimes, it was too difficult for the two chambers to hammer out agreements. More often, the Senate failed to reach agreement within the chamber.

That left much of the machinery of the federal government on autopilot, with the exception of spending, where monumental clashes dominated the legislative session.

"Absent unified party control with a bolstered Senate majority, I think it's just very hard to get things done, particularly in a period when revenues aren't growing and the decisions are how to cut, and how to cut in the long term," said Sarah Binder, who studies Congress as a Brookings Institution scholar and professor at George Washington University. "Congress just isn't very good at solving long-term problems."

The Times' analysis looked at six specific yardsticks for legislative activity: the amount of time each chamber spent officially in session; the total number of bills that passed; the number of floor votes each chamber took; the number of pages amassed in the Congressional Record, which records floor debates; the number of conference reports written; and the number of bills each chamber had signed into law by the president.

Using the Resume of Congressional Activity, printed in the Congressional Record at the end of each year since 1947, The Times ranked each session on all six of those measures, then compiled that into a "legislative futility" index.

In 2011, the Senate ranked poorly on all the measures relating to bills and was in the lower half on votes and pages in the record. The only yardstick by which it performed well was on time spent in session, where it logged more than 1,100 hours - slightly better than the median.

Combining those rankings gave the Senate a futility score of 70, or 19 points lower than the Senate's record of 89 established in 2008.

The House record was more mixed. It spent more time in session than all but 10 other congresses, compiled the eighth highest number of pages of debate and took more floor votes than all but two other congresses. But it passed the fewest number of bills in its history and had fewer bills signed by the president than any other Congress and shared the same poor performance on conference reports.

Combining those rankings gave the House a futility score of 144, making it 10th worst. (Contributor: Washington Times)

Pray that those families that choose to teach their children at home and foster the freedom of incorporating scriptural application to studies. Pray that their homeschooling rights not be disrupted or ceased in the nation of Sweden.

"Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it." (Proverbs 22:6)

HSLDA, ADF say changes would violate international legal standards on human rights  

Swedish policy on home education is at odds with recognized international legal standards that uphold the right of parents to direct the education of their children."

Liberal Party politician Lotta Edholm called for the change to the country's social services law in a Jan. 10 column in Aftonbladet, a prominent Swedish newspaper. Edholm then wrote on her blog: "Today I write with Ann-Katrin Aslund on Aftonbladet's debate page that the social services law should be amended so that social services are able to intervene when children are kept away from school by their parents -- often for religious or ideological reasons."

The statement is the most direct and serious threat to date for home-schooling families in the Nordic country, where the climate for home-schooling has continued to deteriorate. The Swedish Court of Appeal has agreed to review three different cases in which government officials denied permission to home-school.

"ADF and HSLDA will continue to defend home-schooling families in Sweden and other European countries until we win," Donnelly said.

HSLDA is an international advocacy organization dedicated to advancing the right of parents to educate their own children at home. Since 1983 HSLDA has been defending homeschooling parents and represents tens of thousands around the globe. (Contributor: Photo-Liberty Magazine, Home School Legal Defense Association, Christian Newswire)

Pray that the citizens of the U.S. wake up to the reality that there is a systematic plan for population control fostered and perpetuated by organizations like "Planned Parenthood" and liberal governmental authorities. Pray that these organization structures be exposed for what they are and that Federal and state legislatures find creative ways to stop the murder of innocent lives.

"Truly children are a gift from the Lord; the fruit of the womb is a reward." (Psalm 127:3)

The Radiance Foundation re-released a powerful video to honor the fight against the injustice of abortion, featuring Dr. King. The thought provoking video entitled "EPIDEMIC" deals with the human rights issue of our day, too often dismissed with bizarre euphemisms like "reproductive freedom" and "reproductive justice". Abortion is decimating the black community, outnumbering all other causes of death, combined.

The Radiance Foundation launched their TooManyAborted.com media campaign to expose Planned Parenthood's history of racism and eugenics and unaltered present. Over 400 billboards have been placed across the country, since 2010, to awaken the African-American community about how a billion dollar abortion industry makes millions by killing, disproportionately, black unborn children. In New York City, home of Planned Parenthood, 60% of all black pregnancies end in abortion; in Philadelphia, 50% end in abortion.

"Planned Parenthood brags about how, in 1966, Martin Luther King, Jr. accepted their first annual Margaret Sanger Award. What they don't mention is that abortion wasn't legal then. They don't mention how every birth control initiative targeting blacks, like The Negro Project, failed miserably to lessen poverty. But they repackage it today under the guise of 'choice' pushing The Negro Project 2.0" says Ryan Bomberger, Chief Creative Officer of The Radiance Foundation. As an adoptee and adoptive father, Bomberger (who is black) is a national public speaker who uses design to communicate how each individual's worth, born and unborn, is undeniable and irreplaceable.

Across the country, studies show that abortion mills are predominantly located in disproportionately black neighborhoods resulting in abortions that are over 5 times higher than in the majority population. "EPIDEMIC" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YYw0_dRqQk) reveals the alarming statistics that are the result of the eugenics movement which birthed Planned Parenthood, the nation's largest abortion chain.

"Planned Parenthood is not the savior of the community. They've done nothing to reduce poverty in the black community. Their business depends on abortions. They're a billion dollar taxpayer funded organization that fails to reduce the unintended pregnancy rate, but they're highly successful in increasing the number of unborn children killed each year," says Bomberger citing CDC statistics and Planned Parenthood's own Annual Reports. (Contributor: The Radiance Foundation, Christian Newswire)

View the video "EPIDEMIC" by clicking here.  

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Conference Location

• Eliyahu Ben-Haim (chairman)
• Chuck Cohen
• Lance Lambert
• Peter Tsukahira
• Claude Ezagouri
• Jeremy Smith
• Marc Chopinsky
• Devin Mitchell

For conference details <click here>.

Download the conference PDF brochure + registration form  

 Deltona, Florida

January 27-28, 2012

Clearly our nation is in trouble. And many believers feel powerless to help. But Jesus Christ is not powerless!

History teaches us that while there have been sweeping revivals without great speakers or leaders, there has never been a revival without earnest prayer.

We believe that God is the Reviver, and only His mighty hand can reach into our families, churches, and nations to bring renewal. Prayer needs to be the foundation. Become one of the building blocks of this prayer foundation.

This conference will encourage, equip, and challenge you to pray more effectively ... for yourself, your church, and our nation. Come to Deltona Florida and learn how you can join an army of like-minded believers who are lifting up One Cry for revival and spiritual awakening.

Registration <click here> 

Deltona, FL, Event Details

Location:
Deltona Alliance Church
921 Deltona Blvd
Deltona, FL 32725

Housing:
Best Western Deltona Inn (1.5 miles from church)
481 Deltona Blvd
Deltona, FL 32725
386-860-3000

Hampton Inn (2 miles from church)
308 Sunrise Blvd
De Bary, FL 32713
386-668-5758

Holiday Inn Express (3.5 miles from church)
1330 Saxon Blvd

Orange City, FL 32763
386-917-0004

Airports: