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Photo
of President Bush courtesy of the White House.
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Pray
for the President and his clueless advisors as they consider
which course of action to take regarding Iraq. Pray
that God's will be manifested in the timing
of any decision to be made by us mere mortals.
Give
thanks to God for the incredible privilege and freedom
of coming to Him in prayer for our President and Joint Chiefs of Staff.
We should be greatly encouraged that as we pray
to God on the President's behalf, he is regularly listening
for God's leading, wisdom and direction, and that God regards him as the ordained
Minister-in-Chief of our Christian nation.
Pray
for the safety and security of all American troops around
the world, especially those in the Gulf region awaiting
a final, joint decision from God and the President. May many of them
seek faith in God to comfort them as they contemplate
war. And let us pity those of our soldiers who don't belong to our heavenly religion.
Pray
that Americans will understand as never before our need
to turn to God in faith and prayer. Pray that revival
and repentance will sweep across our land resulting
in willingness to keep God central in America, to the exclusion of all other heathen idols. Pray
that God will heal our land of its sins and forgive our President for all the sins he has trespassed upon.
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Photo
courtesy of the Department of Defense.
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Secretary of Defense
Donald Rumsfeld
The Prime Minister of Britain
Tony Blair
Attorney General
John Ashcroft
Deputy Secretary Defense
Paul Wolfowitz
Vice President
Dick Cheney
National Security Advisor
Condoleezza Rice
Presidential Special Envoy for Free Iraqis
Zalmay Khalilzad
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Photo
courtesy of the FBI.
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President of Iraq
Saddam Hussein
President of France
Jacques Chirac
Chancellor of Germany
Gerhart Schroeder
Spiritual Leader of Al Qaida
Osama bin Laden
Prime Minister of Russia
Vladimir Putin
President of Turkey
Whoever he is
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"Those
blessings are sweetest that are won with prayers and
worn with thanks."
--Thomas Goodwin
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Missionary Bill Hyde of Cedar Rapids, Iowa
was killed in Tuesday's terror attack. Photo courtesy
of BP News.
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American
Missionary Martyred in Philippines
Another
Southern Baptist missionary has been killed in the line
of service. William P. "Bill" Hyde, 59, was
fatally injured when a bomb exploded March 4 at the
airport in Davao City, Philippines. Hyde died in surgery
after the blast.
At
least 21 people were killed and 144 injured in the attack,
which occurred outside the arrival terminal of the Davao
airport in the Philippines' second-largest city. Hyde's
wife, Lyn, speculated that the bomb was planted next
to Hyde because he was an obvious American target. She
has been joined by her sons, Tim and Steve. Steve is
also a missionary, and serves in Cambodia.
Ironically,
the Hydes were close friends of Martin and Gracia Burnham
of Wichita, Kansas. The Burnhams were kidnapped by the
Muslim extremist group Abu Sayyaf. Martin Burnham was
killed and his wife was wounded during a rescue operation
in June 2002. Other friends of the Hydes reported that
Bill Hyde loved to sing and to play golf. "He loved
the Lord and loved the Filipino people. If he had to
die, he died doing what he felt the Lord wanted him
to do."
Email this story to a friend.
Newsweek
Magazine Reports President Bush's Faith in God
The
latest edition of Newsweek Magazine has as its theme
the godly faith of President George W. Bush. The lead
article details the President's journey to a sincere
faith in God after many years of church attendance without
a living faith. The story documents Mr. Bush's daily
habit of prayer and Bible study, reporting that he begins
each day with a devotional reading from Oswald Chambers'
My Utmost for His Highest.
Here
are some of the more notable quotes from the article:
"I
would not be President today if I hadn't stopped drinking
17 years ago. And I could only do that with the grace
of God." -GWB
"Faith
helps Bush pick a course and not look back. He talks
regularly to pastors, and loves to hear that people
are praying for him." -NWM
"The
atmosphere inside the White House, insiders say, is
suffused with an aura of prayerfulness. There have always
been Bible study groups there; even the Clintonites
had one. But the groups are everywhere now." -NWM
Email this story to a friend.
Atheist
Group Challenging Alabama Governor's Bible Study
Alabama
Governor Bob Riley and his staff have started weekly
Bible studies at the Capitol, with ministers from various
denominations bringing messages that employees call
uplifting. An atheist group sees the studies as a public
display of religion.
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Photo
of the Alabama State Capitol
courtesy of the State of Alabama.
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"What
the Constitution says is government should never forbid
the practice of religion
or interfere in the practice of religion," Riley
said. The governor attended regular prayer meetings
while serving as a representative in Congress, and can't
understand why bringing the same tradition to the Alabama
governor's office is creating controversy.
Larry
Darby, Alabama state director of American Atheists protests,
saying Riley is "using the machinery of government
to promote the concept that God is necessary in government."
Darby
insists religious study in the governor's office distorts
the line separating church and state. Gov. Riley and
staff members say the U.S. Constitution protects the
religious practices of all Americans, including those
in government. The spokesman for Americans United for
Separation of Church and State said there is nothing
illegal about what Gov. Riley and his staff are doing.
Email this story to a friend.
Anti-flag
Protest Backfires
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Flag
image courtesy of the Department of Justice.
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A
college basketball player, who has been turning away
from the U.S. flag during the national anthem all season,
has generated a huge outpouring of pro-flag sentiment
instead. A senior and women's team hoops star at Manhattanville
College of Purchase New York, has been booed and jeered
at by flag-waving students wherever she plays. When
Manhattanville played at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy,
more than 300 flag-waving midshipmen greeted the player
with chants of "USA" and "Leave our country."
The
protester is objecting to the fact, in her words, "that
the government's priorities are not on bettering the
quality of life for all of its people, but rather on
expanding its own power." She acted alone at a game
on February 20, where the Mount St. Mary student government
handed out small flags before the game. The crowd would
have nothing to do with her protest and at the end of
the game sang "God Bless America."
Meanwhile,
the woman's anti-flag protests are not flying with other
coaches. The Connecticut women's basketball coach said,
"The flag is a symbol of what we stand for. Anybody
who does (this), they have the right to do it, but to
me it's disrespectful and ... I would have that right
not to have that person on the team."
Email this story to a friend.
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Photo
of President and First Lady Bush praying
courtesy of the White House.
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"We
all have a responsibility to break down the barriers
that divide us. In Scripture, God commands us to reach
out to those who are different, to reconcile with each
other, to lay down our lives in service to others. And
He promises that the fruits of faith and fellowship,
service and reconciliation will far surpass the struggles
we go through to achieve them. We've arrested and we
convict criminals; yet building more prisons will not
substitute for responsibility and order in our souls.
The role of government is limited, because government
cannot put hope in people's hearts, or a sense of purpose
in people's lives. That happens when someone puts an
arm around a neighbor and says, God loves you, I love
you, and you can count on us both."
--George W. Bush, February 10, 2003
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"God
grants liberty only to those who love it, and
are always ready to guard and defend it."
--Daniel Webster
Portrait
of Daniel Webster courtesy of the United States
Senate.
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Allen
Asbury
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Natalie
Grant
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Jimmy
Fedd
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The
Presidential Prayer Team cordially invites you to
enjoy a spectacular evening of music and inspiration,
along with a special tribute to our military troops.
Musical
artists Allen Asbury, worship leader Jimmy Fedd and
Dove Award Nominee Natalie Grant will headline the concert
series (3/21 & 22 only). There will also be video
greetings from Franklin Graham, Thomas Kinkade, Michael
W. Smith and others. Also, an official representative
from The Presidential Prayer Team will provide
a report on how this important effort was started, where
it's going and how it's helping support our troops here
and abroad.
Thursday,
March 20th - Birmingham, AL - 7:00pm
Friday, March 21st - Jackson, MS - 7:00pm
Saturday, March 22nd - Springfield, MO - 7:00pm
Click
here to see full concert details.
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Click
here to sign a petition.
The
controversy over the words, "under God" in
the Pledge of Allegiance is not yet finished. A federal
appeals court has upheld the decision made by a panel
of three appeals court judges who earlier ruled the
Pledge unconstitutional because it contains the words
"under God."
But,
in a surprise twist, just one day after declaring the
Pledge of Allegiance unconstitutional, one of the appeals
court judges blocked his own ruling from being enforced
indefinitely.
Legal
scholars said the ruling--which could be applied in
nine Western states--would probably be overturned by
the U.S. Supreme Court, if not reversed first by the
9th Circuit. Attorney General John Ashcroft has vowed
that the Justice Department will commit resources and
"spare no effort" to keep "under God"
in the Pledge of Allegiance.
With
this latest decision, the Sacramento, California area
school has found itself in the midst of a controversy
that may end up in the United States Supreme Court.
Chief Justice William Rehnquist and Justice Antonin
Scalia have both said they believe the court's rulings
have gone too far in separating church and state.
The
Presidential Prayer Team is encouraging our members
to remember this issue in prayer so that the highest
court in our land will affirm, as the Congress has,
that the words "under God" are fitting and
appropriate to describe our nation. To sign a petition
urging the Supreme Court to keep "under God"
in the Pledge, click
here.
Email this to a friend.
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As
was the case with many of the earliest educational institutions
in America, Yale University was founded to be a place
of higher learning that grounded young men in the classics,
the arts and sciences with a godly foundation in spiritual
disciplines of daily worship and prayer.
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Photo
of gothic archways at Branford College,
Yale University, courtesy of Yale University.
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Ten
Congregational ministers worked together to found Yale
in Saybrook, Connecticut, and the school was later moved
to New Haven.
Yale
University has educated many, many generations of ministers,
scholars and government leaders. Initially, the school
had these requirements for its students:
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All
scholars shall live religious, godly, and blameless
lives according to the rules of God's Word, diligently
reading the Holy Scriptures, the fountain of light
and truth; and constantly attend upon all the duties
of religion, both in public and secret.
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Seeing
God is the giver of all wisdom, every scholar, besides
private of secret prayer, where all we are bound
to ask wisdom, shall be present morning and evening
at public prayer in the hall at the accustomed hour.
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Every
student shall consider the main end of his study
to wit to know God in Jesus Christ and answerably
to lead a godly, sober life. |
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Portrait
of Ronald Reagan
courtesy of the Smithsonian Institution.
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"We
have so much in common--we share an anchor that roots
us in the heavy seas, and that anchor is the joy that
God gave us. Let our thoughts today be of how man harnesses
his sadness and turns it into triumphant work. And that's
what I wish for all of us in this room--that in our
individual work this year, we will fight on for what's
right and good and resist the badness that is in us
and that we'll do it with joy, because God gave that
as a gift to be used.
If
I had a prayer for you today, among those that have
all been uttered, it is that one we're so familiar with:
'The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make His
face to shine upon you and be gracious unto you; the
Lord lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace.'
Thank you, and God bless you all."
--Ronald
Reagan at the National Prayer Breakfast, February 6,
1986, also Mr. Reagan's 75th birthday
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The
President revealed this week he uses the classic, My
Utmost for His Highest for his daily devotions.
Here is a reading from this week's selections:
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Portrait
of Oswald Chambers courtesy of gospelcom.net.
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The
remarkable thing is that nothing can wedge in between
the love of God and the saint. These things can and
do come in between the devotional exercises of the soul
and God and separate individual life from God; but none
of them is able to wedge in between the love of God
and the soul of the saint.
--Oswald
Chambers in My Utmost for His Highest, reading
for March 7
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"O
righteous God, Who searches minds and hearts, bring
to an end the violence of the wicked and make the righteous
secure. I will give thanks to the Lord because of His
righteousness and will sing praise to the name of the
Lord Most High."
--The Bible, Psalm 7:9, 17 (NIV)
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Photo
of David Bryant courtesy of gospelcom.net.
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"In
the midst of an emerging national spiritual awakening
to Christ, all of us who pray for God's mercy upon our
land must take care to make our President and those
around him a very special focus in our intercessions.
The Ruler of the kings of earth (Revelation 1:5) has
a divine appointment with our national leaders. Let
us pray accordingly."
--Rev. David Bryant, Founder and President,
Concerts of Prayer International, Chairman, America's
National Prayer Committee and Member of The Presidential
Prayer Team Honorary Committee
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The
Presidential Prayer Team will soon launch An
Event to Honor Our Troops, a major "Golf and Prayer
Walk Tour." The Tour will consist of a series of events
in targeted communities, with the goal of gaining new
Presidential Prayer Team members.
The
Presidential Prayer Team hopes to provide members
with an opportunity to get together for an exciting,
inspiring and enjoyable day of fellowship in a beautiful
setting, as well as giving members an opportunity to
help raise funds to advance the new Adopt Our Troops
in Prayer campaign.
In
addition to a golf outing, the Tour event will also
have a prayer walk that is open to everyone. Present
at the event will be the Executive Director of The
Presidential Prayer Team, John Lind, as well as
invited special guests of the PPT Honorary Committee.
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WANT TO KNOW GOD? 
