AUSTRALIAN PRAYER NETWORK NEWSLETTER May 21, 2012

PRESIDENT OBAMA ENDORSES SAME-SEX MARRIAGE
VENEZUELAN PRESIDENT MAKES TEARFUL APPEAL TO JESUS FOR HEALING
GOD GIVES ILLITERATE MAN ABILITY TO READ SCRIPTURE
FACEBOOK EVANGELISM REACHING THOUSANDS OF YOUNG PEOPLE IN THE MIDDLE EAST
LAO OFFICIALS CONFISCATE CHURCH BUILDINGS
ALASKA VOTERS DEFEAT SPECIAL RIGHTS FOR HOMOSEXUAL AND LESBIANS
THE NEXT CONVENIENCE OF THE MODERN WORLD – DRIVE THRU PRAYER
PRESIDENT OBAMA ENDORSES SAME-SEX MARRIAGE

President Barack Obama has endorsed same-sex “marriage” saying his decision was motivated in part by his Christian faith and his belief in the Golden Rule. “I’ve just concluded that for me personally, it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same-sex couples should be able to get married,” Obama told ABC News reporter Robin Roberts in an interview. He added that his wife, Michelle, agreed with him. “We’ve talked about it over the years and she, you know, she feels the same way,” he said. “We are both practicing Christians and obviously this position may be considered to put us at odds with the views of others,” Obama stated, “but the thing that we think about is, not only Christ sacrificing Himself on our behalf, but it’s also the Golden Rule.”

He explained his foot-dragging reticence to support full same-sex “marriage” by saying he “was sensitive to the fact that, for a lot of people, the word marriage was something that evokes very powerful traditions – religious beliefs and so forth.” However, Obama had previously implied the Bible supports homosexual unions. “I believe in civil unions that allow a same-sex couple to visit each other in a hospital or transfer property to each other,” he said in 2008. “If people find that controversial, then I would just refer them to the Sermon on the Mount, which I think is, in my mind, for my faith, more central than an obscure passage in Romans.”

The president told the media his newly articulated position represents his private views, and that he believes each state should make its own decisions about marriage. However, he has publicly opposed state initiatives to define marriage as the union of a man and a woman in North Carolina and Minnesota. In the ABC interview, Obama highlighted his service to the homosexual political agenda, including “rolling back Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” “no longer defending the Defence Against Marriage Act,” and supporting civil unions. However, he said his personal relationships with homosexuals convinced him he had to go further. “My daughters have friends whose parents are same-sex couples,” he added. His most recent announcement followed closely on the heels of Vice President Joe Biden and Education Secretary Arne Duncan endorsing same-sex “marriage.”

Fox News Channel reported that according to numerous Democratic sources, the timing of Obama’s interview was not planned but came as a result of the vice president’s “gaffe.” Obama’s likely 2012 rival Mitt Romney clarified his position in return, saying, “My view is that marriage is a relationship between a man and a woman. I don’t intend to make any adjustments at this point – or ever, by the way.”

Meanwhile the movement to protect marriage as a union of one man and one woman took another step forward as an emphatic majority of North Carolina voters approved a constitutional amendment forbidding activist judges from redefining the family. Amendment One, the Defence of Marriage Act, passed by 61 per cent to 39 per cent in what some commentators referred to as a “landslide”. In Britain the Cameron government’s proposed “gay marriage” plans were not included in the Queen’s Speech in Parliament causing observers to speculate that the results of the recent nation-wide local elections, have prompted a frantic rewriting of the government’s policies on this issue. While “gay marriage” was not mentioned in the Speech, Same-Sex Marriage reform is still officially on the table.

Source: LifeSiteNews.com
VENEZUELAN PRESIDENT MAKES TEARFUL APPEAL TO JESUS FOR HEALING

The status of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez’s cancer is officially a state secret, but that didn’t stop him from making a tear-filled appeal for healing from Jesus at a Catholic Mass in his home state. Chavez shocked the world last June, when he disclosed that Cuban doctors had removed a cancerous tumour from his abdominal area. A report at the time indicated that his colon cancer perforated the intestinal wall and caused an infection.” But a few days later, the Venezuelan government denied he had colon cancer, stated that the tumour was completely removed, and that Ch ƒ ¡vez was headed for “complete recovery”. Despite the conflicting reports, the controversial socialist leader began traveling to Cuba at regular intervals for radiation treatments after the initial denials.

In February, he revealed that new lesions were present raising the spectre the cancer had spread. Indeed, Dr. Jose Rafael Marquina, a Venezuelan doctor who resides in Florida, told a Spanish newspaper that Chavez’s cancer had metastasized into the liver, adrenal glands, and bladder, which left radiation as his last hope – apart from a miracle from God. Other reports have suggested Cuban doctors botched his treatments, which left him with intestinal burns, and in a state of desperation for just such a healing miracle. While he once sang and danced before crowds after returning from his radiation treatments, a tone of sobriety and reflection has now emerged.

Chavez considers himself a Roman Catholic who follows in the “revolutionary” traditions of Jesus. At Mass recently, Ch ƒ ¡vez sat in the pews with his parents on either side. He held hands with them while a priest led a prayer for his health. At one point, tears rolled down his cheeks. Immediately following the Mass, Ch ƒ ¡vez placed a red rosary around his neck and became visibly moved as he spoke to a small group that attended with him. Brazilian media have reported that Chavez will make an emergency trip to Brazil after his failed treatments in Cuba. However, he previously refused treatment in Brazil because the hospital was not able to provide the level of security and privacy he requested.

In a public appearance on his 57th birthday, Chavez said his health trouble had led him to radically reorient his life towards a “more diverse, more reflective and multi-faceted” outlook, while he called on the middle classes and the private sector to get more involved in his revolution. Ch ƒ ¡vez wanted to become a priest as a young man. He believes his socialism has roots in the teachings of Jesus Christ, and has used the slogan of “Christ is with the Revolution,” even as his policies have led to disputes with Catholic and Protestant clergy. In an interview in 2005, he said, “Jesus accompanied me in difficult times, in crucial moments. Jesus Christ was a revolutionary. He confronted the religious hierarchies and confronted the economic power at the time.”

Source: God Reports
GOD GIVES ILLITERATE MAN ABILITY TO READ SCRIPTURE

A mysterious disease left Yilma Gudini unable to walk or speak for years. Then God brought a missionary into his life who prayed for healing, and the man received even more than he could have hoped. “Our goal is to raise up a prayer movement,” says Dr. Howard Folz, the president of AIMS. “We also want to see missionaries go to unreached peoples,” he says. “One of these missionaries in Ethiopia reached this man named Yilma.” Yilma Gudini lived in a rural area without access to education. Most of his childhood was spent herding cattle for his family and he never learned to read. While he enjoyed good health, a mysterious neurological ailment struck him in young adulthood that left him unable to walk or speak.
Gudini attributes the strange disease to the demonic realm. “Evil spirits bound my legs and closed my mouth,” he says. One day a missionary visited his village and began to pray for his healing. There was no sign of any improvement after he prayed, but the missionary wanted to return the next day to pray again. Several days passed and there was no sign of any change in Gudini’s condition. But the young missionary persisted in prayer, as he continued to come back, and by faith to call on God to move with power. On the eighth day, God answered. “The demons left me, and I could walk and speak again,” Gudini says. “It was a miracle.”Without any prodding, the joy-filled young man surrendered to Jesus Christ as his Lord and Saviour. Shortly after that, he experienced another miracle.
“God told me to fast and pray for 15 days,” Gudini says. On the tenth day, God approached him in the middle of the night while he slept. He had one of the most vivid dreams he could recall. “I saw the Word of God written on the wall,” he says. But as Gudini stared at the strange symbols on the wall, something unusual happened. He could actually read the words – they made perfect sense. In his dream, he read Scripture for many hours. When Gudini awakened, something even more unusual happened. He ran to get a Bible and when he opened the pages, he could read! Gudini praised and glorified God after this second great miracle in his life.
He ran excitedly to tell a friend – to confirm that what he thought was happening was real. The friend verified his newfound reading ability, supernaturally derived. With renewed confidence, Gudini decided to attend school for the first time. “But when I went to school I could not read anymore,” he says. “I lost the ability God had given me. I was very confused. But when I stopped going to school, I could read again. Since God did this for me, I have read from Genesis to Revelation. And now I teach the Bible in my church.” Gudini is convinced he knows why God showed him this kindness. “I know God did this for me because he loves me.”

Source: God Reports
FACEBOOK EVANGELISM REACHING THOUSANDS OF YOUNG PEOPLE IN THE MIDDLE EAST

Thousands of young people in the Middle East are becoming ‘friends’ on Facebook because of a youth TV program established by Open Doors. The interactive program, Connect with Me, follows a group of young people and addresses subjects that teenagers and young adults across the Middle East can identify with such as fear, forgiveness and unemployment. Comments posted on Facebook vary widely. A 15-year-old boy responded to a show about fear, saying “I loved this episode because I have an issue with fear. Please help me.” One girl wrote, “I want to be closer to God and read the Bible more.” Another said, “I learned a lot from the forgiveness episode although it is very hard, but I will try, thanks.”

There are also added benefits to watching the program. An Open Doors worker explains, “Viewers are challenged to send in videos on Facebook. The maker of the film that receives the most ‘likes’ each week is invited to attend a sports camp, where the gospel is explained and they are challenged to commit their lives to Jesus. This creates connection with the viewers and gets them involved.” After a recent camp, more than 40 young people gave their lives to Christ. Many youth meet through social media networks like Facebook. albeit virtually, and believers have found it to be a great tool in generating responses to Christian TV programs.
Open Doors works in partnership with the Miracle Channel, a Christian broadcaster whose programs are regularly watched by more than 20,000 young people from all over the Middle East. As a spokesman for the Miracle Channel says, “God is moving in tremendous ways among Arab youth, despite political unrest and increased persecution.”

Please pray:
* thanking God that thousands of Middles Eastern youth are hearing the gospel through social media

* that God would inspire and protect the program makers and those involved in responding to young people’s questions

* for the ongoing safety of this ‘Facebook generation’ in the Middle East and that God would continue to work in their lives.

Source: Open Doors
LAO OFFICIALS CONFISCATE CHURCH BUILDINGS

Lao officials have confiscated and sealed a church building in Savannakhet Province in southern Laos after holding a two-day seminar warning against religious belief, according to advocacy group Human Rights Watch for Lao Religious Freedom (HRWLRF). Besides sealing the church building they also warned that other unrecognized churches would soon be shut down. Communist Party officials along with the deputy chief of police, and head of religious affairs, ordered all villages to attend the seminar entitled “Tricks of the Enemy.” According to villagers present at the seminar, the officials declared that Westerners, particularly those from the United States, were using the Christian faith to destabilize the government.

They then declared that the 745 Christians in the village could only meet in private homes, claiming that they did not have permission to construct the church building – even though it was erected in 1963, prior to the 1975 Communist takeover of Laos. “How do these officials know that proper procedures were not followed back in 1968?” HRWLRF asked in a press release. “And if a permit is required for the building, why wait 49 years to tell them?” The officials also declared that only one church in the district, located in Dongpoong village, was officially recognized and that all others would soon be shut down, HRWLRF reported. There are a total of 30 church buildings scattered throughout Savannakhet Province – but only seven are approved by the government.

Church members were instructed to submit a formal written request to village, district and provincial level officials if they wished to use the building again, according to a local church member who preferred to remain unnamed. The villagers argued that while permission was necessary, the local government routinely denied new applications for the construction of churches, thereby creating an impossible situation and denying them the right to worship freely as guaranteed in the constitution.

Source: Compass Direct News
ALASKA VOTERS DEFEAT SPECIAL RIGHTS FOR HOMOSEXUAL AND LESBIANS

In a victory for traditional marriage, Alaska citizens overwhelmingly voted in favour of the natural family by rejecting Proposition 5 which would have given special rights to lesbian, homosexual, bisexual and transsexual behaviour (LGBT). The measure was put on the ballot and supported by a consortium of LGBT groups, called “One Anchorage” in hopes of adding “sexual orientation” and even “gender identity,” whether real or perceived, to the city’s code. The measure was defeated by a margin of 58% – 42%. “One Anchorage” outspent those opposed to Proposition 5 by a margin of four to one, but the funding was no match for the grassroots efforts of pro-family, religious, and conservative voters. ”

Anchorage citizens have taken a stand for the natural family. Proposition 5 would have given special rights to sexual behaviour and would have been used as a club to silence dissent of the faith community,” says Mathew Staver, founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel. “Alaska voters sent a loud and clear statement to the rest of the country that forcing people to provide special privileges based on sexual behaviour is unwise. Anchorage has proven that Americans will stand strong to protect the natural family.”

Source: Charisma News
THE NEXT CONVENIENCE OF THE MODERN WORLD – DRIVE THRU PRAYER

We all know that you can purchase everything from breakfast, lunch and dinner from the convenience of the front seat of your car. Now a church in Ft. Lauderdale USA is offering “drive-thru prayer.” The Christian Life Centre congregation has been offering their drive-thru prayer services each Friday for the last month. While some may scoff at the idea, outreach Pastor Sol Levy notes that many who take advantage of the convenient prayerful assistance are often desperate and have never darkened the inside of a church. The church’s volunteers will reportedly pray with those who drive up about any issue that is weighing on their heart. The church’s leaders stated that the outreach is becoming more widely known and they’ve already served about 150 people at the drive-thru prayer window.

Source: CBS4News
Have you visited our Web site? Australian Prayer Network
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Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin | RLPB 160 | Wed 23 May 2012

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SYRIA CONFLICT SPILLS INTO LEBANON
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by Elizabeth Kendal

The conflict in Syria is political, sectarian and increasingly jihadist;
local, regional and increasingly international. The US – Saudi – Gulf Arab
axis is determined to deal Iran a heavy blow and counter its ascendancy by
removing Syria from the strategic ‘Shi’ite Crescent’ through which Iran is
connected to Hezballah on Israel’s northern border. Further to this, al-
Qaeda elements are infiltrating Syria, keen to establish bases for
jihadists’ operations that will replace those bases lost in Iraq. Despite
Lebanon’s official policy of disassociation, geography made it almost
inevitable that the conflict would eventually spill over the border.

On 7 May Syria’s envoy to the United Nations, Bashar Jaafari, sent a
letter to the UN Security Council listing a dozen incidents since mid-
March of the smuggling or attempted smuggling of weapons from Lebanon to
Syria. The letter also accused al-Qaeda, Syria’s Muslim Brotherhood and
Lebanon’s Sunni Future Movement of supporting opposition and terrorist
fighters. A 21 May report from Stratfor Global Intelligence essentially
supports these claims, noting that a struggle is under way in northern
Lebanon, a Sunni stronghold. The US – Saudi – Gulf Arab axis is funnelling
money and weaponry through Lebanon to the Syrian rebellion – through
Tripoli via Akkar to Homs – while Syrian forces, together with their
allies in the Lebanese military and security agencies, are determined to
disrupt those supply-lines.

On 12 May plain-clothed officers from the General Security Directorate
arrested a popular Sunni Islamist and anti-Assad activist, Shadi Mawlawi
(27), in Lebanon’s northern port city of Tripoli. He was charged with
supporting regional al-Qaeda forces. Riots ensued, attracting an influx of
Salafis [Sunni hardliners]. According to Lebanon’s Daily Star, ‘Salafists
hurried to open the Bab Tabbaneh-Jabal Mohsen [Sunni vs Alawite] front.’
Armed groups from the two neighbourhoods exchanged rocket-propelled
grenade, mortar and sniper fire until a tenuous truce was brokered.
Stratfor reports that five Salaftist groups have now moved into Tripoli
and are calling for Sunnis in the Lebanese army to defect. Then on 20 May
Sunni cleric Ahmed Abdul-Wahid and his companion Sheikh Mohammad Hussein
al-Mereb were killed at an army checkpoint in Akkar district while en
route to a rally organised by the Sunni Future Movement. Lebanese soldiers
fired on them, reportedly for failing to stop. Local Sunni clerics have
denounced the ‘assassination’ and called for the creation of a ‘Free
Lebanese Army’. Gun battles erupted at the funeral on Monday 21 May,
spreading even into Beirut. Subsequently, reports that 11 Lebanese
Shi’ites on pilgrimage in Aleppo, Syria, had been kidnapped by the Free
Syrian Army (FSA) triggered Shi’ite rioting in southern Beirut.

According to Lebanese Druze leader, Walid Jumblatt, the minorities are
essentially being ‘ground between two stones’: Sunni and Shi’ite. His
solution: ally with the winner, which he believes will be the Sunnis in
Syria and Shi’ites in Lebanon. The Middle East’s Christians, like other
minorities, have long sought security through alliances with hegemonic
powers. In the end though these powers either prove to be insufficient or
fail to be true allies. Not only are they limited and mortal, they are
generally self-interested pragmatists – often liars. They will protect
Christians as long as it is convenient – often exploiting them in the
process – but will betray and sacrifice them as soon as it is not. In
reality the Christians of the Middle East have only one protector. His
name is Yahweh Sabaoth: the Lord of hosts (literally, the Commander of
heaven’s angelic armies). In truth, a better ally could not be found! But
for Christians to receive his grace, they must seek it in faith. In the
face of massive violence and destabilisation, such faith is more radical
than natural. So we must pray.

PLEASE PRAY SPECIFICALLY THAT GOD WILL –

* draw Christians in Syria and Lebanon to him, so they will look to him,
finding comfort and refuge as well as strength for endurance as the
security situation deteriorates. ‘ . . . in the shadow of your wings I
will take refuge, till the storms of destruction pass by.’ (Psalm 57:1b
ESV.)

* for the sake of his Church, guide Christian religious and civic leaders
in Syria and Lebanon with wisdom, discernment, moral conviction and
courage, that they might not be influenced by misplaced fear and will
do what is right regardless of circumstances.

* redeem these dark days by exposing and bringing down all that is false
so that Christ alone will be exalted; that ‘the earth might be filled
with the knowledge and glory of the LORD as the waters cover the sea’
(Habakkuk 2:14 ESV).
To see this RLPB with hyperlinks go to
http://rlprayerbulletin.blogspot.com.au

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SUMMARY TO USE IN BULLETINS UNABLE TO RUN THE WHOLE ARTICLE
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SYRIA CONFLICT SPILLS INTO LEBANON

In the Sunni Muslim stronghold of northern Lebanon a struggle is raging.
The US – Saudi – Gulf Arab axis is funnelling money and weaponry through
Lebanon to the Syrian rebellion, while Syrian forces, together with their
allies in the Lebanese military and security agencies, are determined to
disrupt those supply-lines. Incidents have escalated in recent weeks and
include killings, arrests, riots and gun battles, mostly in northern
Lebanon but also in Beirut which on Monday 21 May experienced its worst
violence since May 2008. Security is deteriorating, tensions are high and
risk is extreme. The region’s minorities are described as being ‘ground
between two stones’: the Sunnis and the Shi’ites. These besieged
Christians need our prayers that they will endure and that God will be
their refuge and strength.

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We suggest that churches and fellowships using the above Summary might also provide a copy of the listed prayer points to be used in their worship by people who are leading in prayer.
For more information, updates and helpful links see Elizabeth Kendal’s blog ‘Religious Liberty Monitoring’ <http://elizabethkendal.blogspot.com>.

Previous RLPBs may be viewed at <http://rlprayerbulletin.blogspot.com/>.

This RLPB was written for the Australian Evangelical Alliance Religious
Liberty Commission (AEA RLC) by Elizabeth Kendal, an international religious liberty analyst and advocate, and a member of the AEA RLC team.

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