CHRISTIAN NEWS FROM RAY
A free service of Jesus Christ is Lord Ministries
News selected and edited by Ray Mossholder
Monday, February 24 through Tuesday afternoon, February 25, 2014
BILLIONS OF DOLLARS TO BE SLASHED FROM OUR MILITARY
LEAVING IT ONLY A SKELETON CREW OF WHAT IT HAS BEEN UNTIL NOW
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel will reportedly propose a Pentagon budget that will shrink the U.S. Army to its smallest number since 1940 and eliminate an entire class of Air Force attack jets. The New York Times reported late Sunday that Hagel’s proposal, which will be released to lawmakers and the public today, will call for a reduction in size of the military that will leave it capable of waging war, but unable to carry out protracted occupations of foreign territory, as in Afghanistan and Iraq. Under Hagel’s plan, the number of troops in the Army will drop to between 440,000 and 450,000, a reduction of at least 120,000 soldiers from its post-Sept.11 peak.
Officials told the Times that Hagel’s plan has been endorsed by the Joint Chiefs of Staff and protects funding for Special Operations forces and cyberwarfare. It also calls for the Navy to maintain all eleven of its aircraft carriers currently in operation. However, the budget proposal mandates the elimination of the entire fleet of Air Force A-10 attack aircraft, as well as the retiring of the U-2 spy plane, a stalwart of Cold War operations. The budget plan does keep money for the F-35 warplane, a project which has been beset by delays and criticism over design flaws.
Other characteristics of the budget will likely draw further ire from veterans groups and members of Congress. The Wall Street Journal reported Friday that Hagel would recommend a limit on military pay raises, higher fees for health-care benefits, less generous housing allowances, and a one-year freeze on raises for top military brass.
“Personnel costs reflect some 50% of the Pentagon budget and cannot be exempted in the context of the significant cuts the department is facing,” Defense Department spokesman Adm. John Kirby told the Journal. “Secretary Hagel has been clear that, while we do not want to, we ultimately must slow the growth of military pay and compensation.”
Former Vice President Dick Cheney said Monday that Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel’s proposed drastic cuts to the U.S. Army are “absolutely dangerous” and would cause long-term damage to the military. Cheney told Fox News’ Sean Hannity the proposed cuts would have a devastating impact on the ability of future presidents to deal with future crises. “This is really over the top,” Cheney said. “It does enormous long-term damage to our military.”
The Army had already been preparing to shrink to 490,000 active-duty members from a wartime peak of 570,000. Hagel is proposing to cut it further to between 440,000 and 450,000. “We are repositioning to focus on the strategic challenges and opportunities that will define our future: new technologies, new centers of power, and a world that is growing more volatile, more unpredictable, and in some instances more threatening to the United States,” Hagel said at a press conference at the Pentagon.
He defended the proposed reductions in troop strength, as a trade-off for building up “technological superiority” and priorities like Special Operations Forces and “cyber resources.” However, Cheney questioned how the cuts would affect military readiness, in a time where the U.S. faces threats from multiple areas of the world. “That would lead me to think I need the strength of military capabilities, not cut it,” he said.
Cheney said he believes the cuts are a reflection of President Obama’s beliefs, and that the president has always wanted to cut the military. “When he went to Cairo in that famous apology tour back in ’09, he apologized for our overreaction to the events of 9/11,” and today he is fixing it in a way where it will be almost impossible for future presidents to deal with that kind of situation.”
“This is a real uphill battle with Congress,” Mieke Eoyang, director of the National Security Program at Third Way, a centrist think tank in Washington, told the Journal. “God bless [Hagel] for trying to get a handle on these costs,” she said. “But in this political environment, in an election year, it’s going to be hard for members of Congress to accept anything that’s viewed as taking benefits away from troops.”
HEAD OF HOUSE ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE RESPONDS
The head of the House Armed Services Committee accused President Obama of ignoring the successes of the Afghanistan war, in a scathing address that also claimed White House staffers inappropriately meddled in military affairs.
Representative. Buck McKeon, R-Calif., delivered the lengthy and detailed speech on Monday at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. As the war winds down and the Obama administration prepares to withdraw most, if not all, U.S. troops, McKeon complained Obama has only talked about the war “a handful of times” since taking office. He charged Obama has even “openly campaigned” against his own strategy.
“So, if the president of the United States won’t give this speech, I will,” he said. “For the life of me, I can’t figure out why the president hasn’t taken credit for these victories. The gains since 2009 are three-fold — strategic, diplomatic and moral.”
McKeon used the address to highlight what he described as the successes of the war, and to urge the United States not to lose sight of its gains as security is handed over to the Afghan government. “You don’t need to look past Baghdad to see how quickly gains can unravel,” McKeon said.
He claimed that the sitting president has done little to draw attention to what has been achieved in Afghanistan, and that Obama’s White House undermined the military while in office. “Now I think it was the height of foolishness to announce a surge and — in the very same breath — the end date for the surge. I think the idea of military strategy being done by White House staffers rather than military planners, as some reports have suggested, is worthy of a head-examination,” he said, seemingly in reference to reports about White House officials turning down recommendations for more troops. He added: “But, even though the way that this White House has run this war has been outrageous, with White House staffers telling four-star generals their business, there has been unmistakable progress.”
Asked for comment on McKeon’s remarks, a White House spokeswoman noted Obama has repeatedly spoken about the Afghanistan war, pointing in part to this year’s State of the Union address. In that address, Obama touted that “the United States is more secure” because of America’s troops. He said the U.S. will “complete our mission” in Afghanistan, and told an emotional story about one veteran, Sgt. 1st Class Cory Remsburg, who was badly wounded — and who was in attendance that night as a guest.
McKeon on Monday cited major achievements like the training of the Afghan security forces, which just a few years ago were seen as hopeless by some trainers. These guys were taking their baby steps not five years ago. Today, they’re holding onto territory that took a 50-nation coalition to win,” he said.
McKeon claimed the biggest uncertainties are “diplomatic” and “moral.” He said that, despite ongoing problems getting Afghan President Hamid Karzai to sign a vital security agreement, it’s “hard to understate the diplomatic successes of the past several years.”
Public opinion of the Afghanistan war has fallen steadily since after the 9/11 attacks, when the American people were overwhelmingly in favor of the war. Gallup last week reported that for the first time since 2001, more Americans consider the war a mistake than not.
The results, while within the margin of error, showed 49 percent say involvement was a mistake, compared against 48 percent who say it was not. The poll of 1,023 adults was taken February. 6-9. The margin of error was 4 percentage points. McKeon noted poll numbers in his speech on Monday and said “the American people are sick and tired of this war.” But he said: “Neither polls nor the press paint the full picture.”
MEDAL OF HONOR WINNER DIES
When Walter D. Ehlers was 23 years old, he charged through enemy fire to destroy two German machine gun nests, kill seven enemy soldiers, put a halt to a mortar barrage and carry a wounded buddy to safety – all after he had been shot in the side by a sniper.
The date: June 9, 1944.
The place: Normandy, France.
The mission: The D-Day invasions and the effort to liberate Europe from the grip of Nazi Germany.
Amid countless acts of bravery from young men like Ehlers, the Buena Park, resident’s heroism stood out, and he received the Medal of Honor. He died of kidney failure Thursday at the age of 92. His passing leaves only seven surviving World War II Medal of Honor recipients. “Walt was the kindest, gentlest person, and you would never have known he could have done the things that he did,” his wife, Dorothy, told FoxNews.com on Monday. “He always said, ‘if it’s you or them, you make sure it’s them.’”
To Ehlers, however, the real hero in the family was his older brother Roland, who enlisted with Walter in 1940. The day before the Normandy landings, military superiors separated the two brothers to improve the odds that at least one of them would survive. Walter, then a staff sergeant, made it off the boat on June 6 and helped all 12 of his men survive the landing. His brother, arriving on another boat, was killed. In later life, Ehlers would say he wore the medal to honor those who didn’t come home – his brother included. “One of the last things he said before he passed away was, ‘tell my Medal of Honor brothers goodbye,’” she said.
Funeral services with full military honors will be March 8 at Riverside National Cemetery
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
MEANWHILE………
George W. Bush, who as president led the United States into wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, said Sunday he’s now helping veterans try to successfully re-enter the workforce and other aspects of civilian life. “We’ve got a problem,” Bush told ABC’s “This Week.” “Too many veterans are unemployed.”
Former President Bush has acknowledged that having sent thousands of troops into Iraq weighs heavy on him and that his new project, a joint effort between the George W. Bush Institute and Syracuse University, is cathartic. “No question it helps,” Bush said. “I have a duty. You know, obviously, I get slightly emotional talking about our vets. … I’m in there with them.” President Bush also hosts a party 10 times a year for wounded veterans, something few in the present news media care to mention.
The institute and the university are studying the issues affecting veterans who have served since the September 11, 2001, terror attacks. Roughly 6,800 American service members were killed and 51,000 others were wounded in the wars.
Bush has largely stayed out of politics and the public spotlight since serving out his second term in 2009. But he has been active in helping veterans, mostly through smaller projects such as golf outings and mountain bike rides.
Jake Wood, a Marine veteran and entrepreneur, told ABC on Sunday the challenge is to bring together civilians and military service members to share their stories “so that there’s a mutual understanding, so that as a nation, we can heal together.”
THE UNITED STATES AND SOUTH KOREA BEGIN WARGAMES
The two sets of drills began Monday for the United States and South Korea as scheduled, but there was no immediate reaction from North Korea’s military, according to Seoul’s Defense Ministry.
After last year’s tumult on the Korean Peninsula in September, which included North Korea’s third nuclear test and the last-minute cancellation of the scheduled reunions of families between North and South Korea, Pyongyang has this year pursued a charm offensive, albeit one laced with occasional angry rhetoric. Families have been allowed to meet and the Korea’s have resumed work at a jointly run factory park in the North that Pyongyang had shut down last spring. Seoul also says that this year it has permitted five private groups’ to bring aid shipments to the North, worth about $1.4 million.
Even as Pyongyang eases its stance toward Seoul, it has repeatedly accused Washington of engineering efforts to divide the Korea’, The U.S.-South Korean military drills are an attempt by Washington to keep alive a “vicious cycle of escalated tension in the peninsula,” the North’s official Korean Central News Agency said in a recent commentary.
One of the drills is 11 days of computer-simulated war games involving 5,200 U.S. and 10,000 South Korean soldiers. The second one scheduled to last until April 18 is field training exercises involving 7,500 U.S. and 150,000-200,000 South Korean troops, according to Seoul’s Defense Ministry and the U.S. military command in Seoul. The allies didn’t disclose details of Monday’s drills.
MANHUNT ON FOR FORMER UKRAINE PRESIDENT YANUOVYCH
Ukraine’s acting interior minister announced Monday that an arrest warrant had been issued for that country’s president, Viktor Yanukovych. In a statement on his official Facebook page, Arsen Avakhov wrote that Yanukovych and several other officials were wanted on charges of “mass killing of civilians” in violence that engulfed Ukraine’s capital city, Kiev, earlier this week. At least 82 people, most of them protesters, were killed in clashes with members of the police and security forces. Some of the dead were shot by snipers in strategic positions overlooking the main protest camp in Kiev’s Independence Square.
Calls are mounting in Ukraine to put Yanukovych on trial after a tumultuous presidency in which he amassed powers, enriched his allies and cracked down on protesters. Avakhov said Yanukovych arrived in the pro-Russian Black Sea peninsular region of Sevastopol, Crimea, on Sunday and relinquished his official security detail before driving off to an unknown location. Sevastopol is the home of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet.
After signing an agreement with the opposition to end a conflict that turned deadly, Yanukovych fled the capital for eastern Ukraine. Ukraine’s border service said he tried to fly out of the country Saturday from Donetsk but was stopped by their officials. Opposition lawmaker Volodym Kurennoy said on his Facebook page that he had unconfirmed information that the president had been arrested by Russian marines in Crimea.
The speaker of parliament assumed the president’s powers Sunday, but a presidential aide told the AP that Yanukovych plans to stay in power.
Tensions have been mounting in Crimea, where pro-Russian politicians are organizing rallies and forming protest units and have been demanding autonomy from Kiev. Russia maintains a big naval base in Crimea – the Black Sea Fleet that has tangled relations between the countries for two decades.
The speaker, Oleksandr Turchinov, said top priorities include saving the economy and “returning to the path of European integration,” according to news agencies. The latter phrase is certain to displease Vladimir Putin in Moscow, who wants Ukraine to be part of a customs union that would rival the EU and bolster Russia’s influence. Russia granted Ukraine a $15 billion bailout if Yanukovych would back away from the EU deal. U.S. Ambassador Geoffrey Pyatt said the U.S. is ready to help Ukraine get aid from the International Monetary Fund.
The European Union, meanwhile, is reviving efforts to strike a deal with Ukraine that could involve billions of euros in economic perks. EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton is visiting Kiev today and Tuesday.
Ukraine has struggled with corruption, bad government and short-sighted reliance on cheap gas from Russia. Political unrest has pushed up the deficit and sent exchange rates bouncing, and may have pushed the economy back into a recession. Per capita economic output is only around $7,300, even adjusted for the lower cost of living there, compared to $22,200 in Poland and around $51,700 in the United States. Ukraine ranks 137th worldwide, behind El Salvador, Namibia, and Guyana.
Ukraine has a large potential consumer market, with 46 million people, an educated workforce, and a rich potential export market next door in the EU. It has a significant industrial base and good natural resources, in particular rich farmland.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
NOW THAT THE OLYMPICS ARE OVER PUTIN WILL FOCUS ON UKRAINE
Like him or not, Vladimir Putin is extremely athletic and is about to throw his full weight against the opposition in Ukraine. Putin, who it is reported to have actually skied the steepest slope used in the Olympics and played a hard game of hockey against his Olympic team before the games began, at this point faces his toughest opponents of all – the new, self-imposed government in Ukraine; the absolutely determined protesters who believe they’ve overthrown the president they had come to hate; the EU and America. He wants Yanukovych back on the throne and under his thumb.
Losing Kiev from Moscow’s orbit is simply a non-starter for the Kremlin. Ukraine is a central part of Russia’s perception of its own history and security. It’s a critical buffer state between Russia and American-led NATO, surprisingly still part of the Kremlin’s paranoia two-plus decades after the end of the Cold War. Moscow sees the country as protecting its soft strategic underbelly where hopeful conquerors of the past (e.g., the Nazis) invaded Mother Russia.
To keep Ukraine as a loyal part of its periphery and locked into its sphere of influence, Russia is willing to use whatever influence is necessary to ensure success. That doesn’t mean Russian tanks will roll into Ukraine. But financial weapons will be used such as energy deals and foreign aid. Putin spent $50 billion on the less-than-strategic Olympics. How much do you think he’d spend to hold on to Ukraine?
There is an added caveat for Putin: He has to defeat the West — the United States and Europe — in the battle of ideas in the East. The West has a strong interest in the country of 45 million having political and civil liberties, the rule of law, free markets — and friendly ties with its European neighbors and the United States.
The United States and Europe are also concerned that Russia wants to reassert political, economic and security control over Ukraine and the region through the establishment of a Eurasian Union. Allowing Ukraine to have closer ties with the EU and its free neighbors through politics, trade or other ways could mean that Kiev would slip from Moscow’s grip and the wheels would come off Putin’s plans for rebuilding another Russian “empire.”
Even worse, Putin can’t take the chance that the “freedom flu” will spread from Ukraine to Russia or Belarus, another buffer state for Moscow. And while the battle for the heart and soul of Ukraine will continue, the effects will ripple well beyond Eastern Europe. Russia will be sure its displeasure is known elsewhere.
Putin would love to torpedo the talks on Iran’s nuclear program, but that wouldn’t be in his interest. Russia wants the Iran negotiations to succeed to protect the Motherland — as well as sink the justification for U.S. missile defense in Europe.
But the Kremlin will dig its heels in on Syria and its support for the Bashar Assad regime, opposing the West’s efforts at ending the three-year-old civil war that has taken 140,000 lives and caused immeasurable human suffering.
In fact, Putin probably doesn’t feel like he’ll have to double down on Ukraine because the West seems reluctant to contest the future of this strategic country. The American and European rhetoric and threats seems half-hearted — even empty.
In the short-term, that approach might preserve the already-tattered state of relations with Russia. But in the long-term the outcome of freedom and liberty in Ukraine — as elsewhere — really does matter.
Peter Brookes is a Heritage Foundation senior fellow and a former deputy assistant secretary of defense. Follow him on Twitter: @Brookes_Peter
MOSCOW’S PROTESTERS PROTEST THE TRIAL OF PROTESTERS
MOSCOW – Moscow police have detained dozens of people outside a courthouse where eight anti-government protesters are to be sentenced for their role in a 2012 protest against Vladimir Putin. The defendants were found guilty last week on a range of charges following a trial seen as part of the Kremlin’s efforts to stifle dissent. Some have been in jail for nearly two years.
Ahead of Monday’s sentencing, hundreds of their supporters gathered outside the courthouse. Police detained 65 people who they said had blocked the road or tried to break through police lines.
The May 6, 2012, protest on the eve of Putin’s inauguration for a third presidential term turned violent after police restricted access to Bolotnaya Square, across the river from the Kremlin, where the protesters had planned to gather.
ISRAELI SPECIAL FORCES KILL A VICIOUS KILLER INSIDE THEIR PRISON
SHARON PRISON, ISRAEL – Israeli special forces raided a prison in central Israel Sunday, killing a notorious prisoner who was serving time for a gruesome murder carried out in the United States. Police identified the inmate as Samuel Sheinbein, an American who fled to Israel after murdering and dismembering another man in Maryland in 1997 and whose case sparked a high-profile row between the two allies.
Police special forces rushed to this prison in central Israel after Sheinbein stole a weapon and shot three guards, wounding two of them seriously. He then barricaded himself inside the compound where a standoff ensued, with counter-terrorism units dispatched to the scene. The inmate then opened fire again, wounding three more guards, before the forces shot him dead, police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said. Hospital officials said one of the wounded guards was fighting for his life.
Sheinbein, 34, was tried in Israel in 1999, two years after he fled to the country and successfully sought refuge from extradition, enraging Maryland authorities and briefly threatening U.S. aid to the Jewish state. An Israeli court sentenced Sheinbein to 24 years for his slaying and dismemberment of 19-year-old Alfredo Enrique Tello Jr. Sheinbein was 17 at the time of the killing and could have faced a life sentence in Maryland. His extradition to Maryland was blocked after a yearlong battle between Israel and the United States over an Israeli law that prohibited it. Following that embarrassment, Israel changed its laws to allow the extradition of Israeli citizens on condition that they are returned to Israel to serve any sentence imposed.
Sheinbein, of Aspen Hill, Maryland, confessed to strangling Tello with a rope and hitting him several times with a sharp object. Sheinbein then dismembered the body with an electric saw and burned it, authorities said. Another teenager charged in the killing, Aaron Needle, committed suicide while in jail in Maryland.
Sheinbein fled to Israel days after Tello’s remains were found in a garage. He successfully sought refuge under a law that prevented the extradition of Israeli citizens to foreign countries. Sheinbein had only passing contact with Israel, but his father, Saul, was born in the country and Sheinbein qualified for Israeli citizenship. Israel refused to extradite Sheinbein, prompting protests from senior officials, including then-Attorney General Janet Reno. Some congressmen who had otherwise been friendly to Israel threatened to cut aid in response.
Nitzana Darshan-Leitner, who represented Sheinbein in 1997, bemoaned the “terrible tragedy” that befell the families of both the wounded guards and the shooter and challenged the system for how it has handled her client. “When he was sentenced, he was 17, without a criminal background, a kid from a normal background,” she said. “It is hard to understand how after all these years in prison it was not able to help him rehabilitate.”
Maryland Attorney General Douglas Gansler, who tried to extradite Sheinbein back to the U.S. as a state’s attorney in the 1990s, said Sheinbein was a troubled young man whose mental health issues continued into adulthood. Gansler said the timing of Sheinbein’s prison outburst was most striking because he was close to serving two-thirds of his sentence and becoming eligible for parole. “He’s on the brink of being released from jail and then he goes on what basically seems to be a suicide rampage,” Gansler said. “So this was a young man who was still very troubled, and this ends a very tumultuous life.” Gansler said Sheinbein’s death “brings actual closure” to the gruesome Maryland murder case. He expressed sympathy for the families of the Israeli guards, “and hopefully they all survive.”
THE ENTIRE EGYPTIAN GOVERNMENT RESIGNS
The an entire military-backed interim government of Egypt has resigned en masse, the country’s interim Prime Minister said in a televised address Monday. Hazem el-Bablawi said that the cabinet “took a decision to offer its resignation to the president of the republic,” but did not give a specific reason for the action.
The resignations were first reported by the state-run newspaper Al-Ahram, and confirmed to Reuters by an unnamed Egyptian official prior to el-Bablawi’s address. The official said that the move was done to clear legal hurdles for army chief Field Marshal Abdel Fattah al-Sisi ahead of his declaration of candidacy for Egypt’s presidency. Sisi was serving as defense minister in the government, and would have needed to leave the post before running for president. However, that does not explain why the entire cabinet felt the need to resign as well. The next presidential and parliamentary elections in Egypt are due to take place sometime this year.
The government was sworn in on July 16 of last year, less than two weeks after the ousting of former Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi. Its resignation comes amid a host of strikes, including one by public transport workers and garbage collectors. An acute shortage of cooking gas has also been making front page news the past few days.
It was not immediately clear whether el-Beblawi will stay at the helm of a new government or will step aside for a new prime minister. He has often been derided in the media for his perceived indecisiveness and inability to introduce effective remedies to the country’s economic woes. El-Beblawi has also been criticized for the security forces’ inability to prevent high-profile terror attacks blamed on militants sympathetic with Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood.
The outgoing prime minister acknowledged the difficult conditions in which his Cabinet functioned, but suggested that Egypt was in a better place now that it was when he first took office. “The Cabinet has over the past six or seven months shouldered a very difficult responsibility … in most cases the results were good,” el-Beblawi said. The goal, he added, was to take Egypt out of a “narrow tunnel” brought about by security, political and economic pressures.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
A WHOLE NEW MEANING TO THE SAYING “NO NEWS IS GOOD NEWS”
Around the world, there’s no good news. As it continues its savage bombardment of civilians, Syria shows no signs of keeping its promise to destroy its chemical weapons.
As Ukraine neared a civil war, its military leader refused for more than a week to return phone calls from U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel.
Iran insists negotiations over its nuclear program will not involve its ballistic missiles. One official took a dig at President Obama, saying the missiles are a “red line.”
Welcome to global disorder. You know America’s power is waning when the mullahs mock our empty threats.
The bad guys have figured out that “leading from behind” isn’t leading at all. Russia’s Vladimir Putin is acting like a grandmaster of chess while Obama stumbles at checkers. it’s easy to see why he keeps bullying Israel. The tiny Jewish state gets singled out because nobody else listens to America anymore. Once the Israelis figure that out, we’ll really be alone.
Michael Goodwin is a Fox News contributor and New York Post columnist.
“NO NEWS IS GOOD NEWS” FOR CHRISTIANS EITHER
The culture war may be lost and religious liberty might not be that far behind, according to a new survey from LifeWay Research, the research arm of the Southern Baptist Convention. Seventy percent of senior pastors at Protestant churches say religious liberty is on the decline in the United States, and 59 percent of Christians believe they are losing the culture war. Eleven percent considers that war already lost.
The survey results are staggering – indicating grave concerns about the moral direction of the nation from both the pulpit and the pew. “Ten years ago we were talking about who would win the culture war, and now we’re talking about how will Christian rights be protected after the culture war,” Ed Stetzer, the president of LifeWay Research, told me. “We’ve lost our home field advantage. There are going to be some things that are different.” Stetzer said it’s a big shift, “and it’s a shift I would not have guessed.”
Over the past few years, I’ve documented hundreds of instances of religious persecution in the United States. And the targets have been exclusively Christians.
The military labeled evangelical Protestants and Catholics as religious extremists. Christian organizations like Family Research Council and American Family Association were labeled by the military as domestic hate groups. Bibles were briefly banned from Walter Reed Medical Center.
The Internal Revenue Service targeted Christian ministries engaged in pro-life activities. The government demanded to know the content of one group’s prayers. A Wyoming church was ordered by government officials to turn over their membership roles. A Baptist newspaper in North Carolina was audited – as was America’s evangelist, Billy Graham.
The list of attacks on Christians goes on and on – from students ordered to stop praying in front of the Supreme Court to chaplains being told they could no longer pray in the name of Jesus.
In recent days, the battleground has pitted gay rights groups against Christian-owned businesses that cater to the wedding industry. Christian bakers, florists and photographers have then hauled into court and brought up on state discrimination charges for declining to participate in same-sex weddings.
And in every single instance, lower courts have ruled that gay rights trump religious rights.
Scott McConnell, vice president of LifeWay Research, said the concern is widespread. “Half of Americans say that religious liberty is on the decline,” he said. “That’s a lot of people.”
Robert Jeffress, the pastor of First Baptist Church of Dallas, Texas, conceded that Christians are losing the culture war and they are losing ground every day. “The primary reason Christians are losing the culture wars is that pastors are AWOL when it comes to informing and energizing their congregations,” Jeffress told me. “A religious leader once told me, ‘My successor will see the tax-exempt status removed from churches and his successor will go to jail,’” Jeffress said. “That is probably on the horizon.”
But there are some pockets of resistance – like the town of Greenwood in the Mississippi Delta. Jim Phillips is the senior pastor of North Greenwood Baptist Church. He told me that Mississippi still has a “very high respect for the historical Judeo-Christian ethic. Every one of my son’s community college football games around the state last season began with a prayer on the loudspeaker – in Jesus’ name,” he told me. “Will that eventually be challenged? I suspect so at some point.” But right now, he said, “Pockets of religious boldness still exist.”
Phillips said national trends, though, are disturbing. “Christians have slowly given away their impact on culture by becoming more and more worldly instead of confronting the culture to become more and more godly,” he said.
So who is to blame for the loss? Phillips blames Christians. “Sadly, Christians have often wimped out and grown silent instead of being bolder for the Gospel,” he said. “Christians get subdued into thinking they’re not supposed to rise up.”
Jeffress agreed with that assessment and said the church must involve itself in the political process. “There are 50 to 80 million evangelicals in America,” he said. “Only half are registered to vote and only half of those voted in the last election.” Jeffress said it’s imperative for people of faith to engage the culture. “Every time we go to the voting booth we are casting a vote for righteousness or unrighteousness,” he said.
Pastor Phillips also urged his fellow pastors to step up to the plate. “My calling is to keep leading the charge,” he said. “As a local pastor, my goal is to keep encouraging my church to seek to raise the bar and not lower it when it comes to confronting culture.”
Stetzer said he hopes the survey will spark a “fruitful national conversation about religious liberty concerns. The perception was that the culture war was once a winnable war,” Stetzer said. “But it’s switched from an offensive battle to a defensive battle.” Pastor Jeffress urged Christians to stand their ground. “We ought to do everything we can to push back against this encroachment on religious liberty and protect our right to spread the Gospel,” he said.
I write about this very issue in my new book, “God Less America,” which will be published in May. But I’m reminded of a quote by President Ronald Reagan: “If we ever forget that we are one nation under God, then we will be a nation gone under.”
A few years ago, a New York public school teacher was ordered to remove that quote from her classroom wall. She was told that it violated the U.S. Constitution. I’m afraid we may be “gone under.”
Todd Starnes is host of Fox News & Commentary, heard on hundreds of radio stations.
COULD “SON OF GOD” BEGIN A NATIONAL REVIVAL? PRAY
The motion picture described as “The Gospels on film,” begins showing in a massive amount of theaters throughout America the day after tomorrow – the 28th of February. Could that be the date that goes down in history as the day Christ brought a national revival to America?
“Son of God” is the first wide-release film about Jesus since 2004’s “The Passion of the Christ,” which has earned $612 million worldwide.
Christian films typically have limited showings in a few dozen cinemas. “Son of God” is opening on 3,000 screens nationwide.
Churches and religious organizations also are renting out entire theaters for previews on tomorrow and Thursday before the movie is released Friday. “For the purpose of evangelism, for inviting someone to know Jesus, this is awesome,” said Pastor David Williamson of Saddleback Church in Corona, California. David said, “I think people will leave there with a great understanding of who Jesus is.”
The church sold the tickets at 2-for-1 and encouraged congregants to ask a non-Christian friend, family member or neighbor to accompany them, Williamson said. “The film’s high-end production and its screenings in multiplexes alongside secular Hollywood movies make it more accessible to non-Christians than other religious films.”.
“It’s one thing to go through the Bible, but this film puts the pictures in your mind and gives you a visual image of what’s already in your heart,” he said.
Williamson saw the movie earlier this month at Saddleback’s main Lake Forest location with an audience of pastors that he estimated at about 1,000, part of a nationwide effort to promote the film among churches. “Son of God” producers Mark Burnett, producer of TV shows such as “Survivor” and “The Apprentice,” and his wife Roma Downey, who starred in the TV series “Touched by an Angel,” spoke at the showing.
“Son of God” is based on the hit 10-hour History Channel miniseries “The Bible” and includes parts of the miniseries that were about Jesus along with segments specially filmed for the release, said Paul Lauer, a publicist for the film. The DVD of “The Bible” is the biggest-selling TV miniseries ever, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Burnett and Downey are Christians who have the rare ability to create entertainment that Christians embrace and that appeals to a wide audience, said Professor Diane Winston, who studies the intersection of religion and entertainment and is the Knight Chair in Media and Religion at USC.
Winston said that no major film about Jesus had been made after “Passion” because of the difficulty of making religious films that can sell millions of tickets. “Finding a script that is written sensitively and that doesn’t offend certain groups, and that is not going to be wildly costly, is not easy to do,” she said.
Upcoming Hollywood films on Noah and Moses already are running into problems with Christians who say the movies are not faithful to the Bible, she said.
“Son of God” has received plaudits from leading evangelical, Catholic, African-American, Latino and Asian American religious leaders, including Saddleback’s Pastor Rick Warren and Los Angeles Roman Catholic Archbishop José Gómez. Fifty “faith advisers” of various theological outlooks helped producers to ensure the film is one that all Christians can embrace, Lauer said. “The broader the appeal of any piece of entertainment that has an opportunity to evangelize people, the better,” he said.
Churches across the country have received “Son of God” promotional materials, including links to a 22-minute video and emails with suggested Facebook, Twitter and Instagram postings about the film. Warren created a study guide to accompany the movie, and a trailer of the film has gotten more than 2.8 million hits on YouTube.
The Knights of Columbus, a Catholic organization, bought tickets for Spanish-language screenings at 10 California cinemas, including Riverside’s AMC Tyler Galleria 16, said Santiago Pozo, founder and CEO of Arenas Entertainment, which is spearheading Latino marketing for the film. Arenas is working with about 1,000 priests and pastors around the country to promote the movie, he said.
“The films out there other than this don’t lend themselves to what we believe as Christians and the way Jesus calls us to live,” she said. “They’re against that in a lot of ways. It’s great to have a movie about Jesus that shows people who He is and His story and why we believe what we believe.”
Contact David Olson at 951-368-9462 or dolson@pe.com
(Hollywood, CA)—In an opinion piece by Teresa Neumann that first appeared in USA Today, actress Roma Downey explains in her own words why the character of satan was cut from the upcoming movie, “Son of God.” (Photo via FOX News)
For those unfamiliar with the controversy that preceded the decision, it began with the miniseries “The Bible” in which actor Mohamen Mehdi Ouazanni played the role of the devil. To Downey, and her husband Mark Burnett’s dismay,critics accused them of selecting an actor who some felt resembled President Barak Obama. To this criticism, Downey has replied: “Someone made a comment that the actor who played the devil vaguely resembled our president, and suddenly the media went nuts …That next day, when I was sure everyone would only be talking about Jesus, they were talking about satan instead.”
“It became ugly,” added Downey, “and we were caught in the middle of spiritual warfare. I knew it was just like satan, the narcissist, to make it all about him and create division. I am sure he loved being the center of attention for even one day. But for our movie, ‘Son of God,’ I wanted all of the focus to be on Jesus. I want His name to be on the lips of everyone who sees this movie, so we cast satan out. It gives me great pleasure to tell you that the devil is on the cutting room floor. This is now a movie about Jesus, the Son of God, and the devil gets no more screen time, no more distractions. You may think of me as a gentle Irish angel,” she continued, “but nobody, not even the devil, should mess with me. Get behind me satan.”
“This is a love story, and nothing anyone can do will stop that message from reaching millions of people,” said Downey.
“We have so many people praying for the movie and we are grateful for all the prayers for us, our team and our movie. We pray that all the “snakes” that may be thrown in our path will be cleared between now, and February 28, so that the movie will have a successful opening, and will bring glory to God.”
JORDANIAN SHEIKH QUOTES KORAN AS SAYING
ISRAEL BELONGS TO THE JEWS UNTIL JUDGMENT DAY
(Jordan)—Sheik Ahmed Aladoan of Amman, a member of Jordan’s well-known Adwan tribe, posted to Facebook this week that there is no such place as “Palestine,” and provided references from the Koran to back up his assertion.
One of the Koranic verses the sheik proves this by states that Allah gave the Holy Land to the sons of Israel until the Day of Judgment (Surah Al-Ma’ida, verse 21), and the other (Surah Al-Shara’a, verse 59) says that the land was bequeathed to the Jews.
The sheik turned to those who “distort the words of the Koran,” whom he labeled as liars, and questioned where they had even come up with the name “Palestine.” He insisted their claims to the Land of Israel were forfeit because “Allah is the protector of the Children of Israel.”
And if that wasn’t enough, the sheik went on to turn the tables on the anti-Israel propaganda machine by accusing the Palestinians of killing children, the elderly and women, of using human shields, and of having not an ounce of mercy for even their own children.
The sheik’s words caused a storm in the Arab media, and were picked up by the Israeli Embassy in Amman. The Arabic daily Al-Quds Al-Arabi further explained the sheikh’s position, noting that he supports the notion that Jordan is Palestine, and insists that Arabs living both in Jordan and the Palestinian Authority-controlled territories would almost all love to be Israeli citizens.
The Adwan tribe issued a statement distancing itself from Sheikh Aladoan’s remarks. But the sheik was not intimidated, and insisted he will continue to make his voice heard on these matters.
Last year, Sheikh Aladoan visited Israel and spent time with the chief rabbi of Tsfat (Safed), Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu. The sheik informed Rabbi Eliyahu and his students that in the Koran, “there is no name ‘Palestine’ for this land, and therefore, the Arabs should not be fighting the Jews over control of this land.”
JORDON SIGNS WITH ISRAEL TO SUPPLY ITS NATURAL GAS
JERUSALEM, Israel — Jordan signed an agreement Wednesday to purchase $500 million worth of natural gas from Israel’s Tamar offshore field. The 15-year contract, which begins in 2016, has the potential to expand to a multi-billion dollar deal that would make Israel the Hashemite Kingdom’s major supplier of natural gas. Jordan uses natural gas to fuel its power plants.
Before the downfall of President Hosni Mubarak in February 2011, Egypt supplied natural gas to Jordan and Israel. Not long after Mubarak’s ouster, Islamist terror cells began systematically blowing up the gas pipeline, cutting off supplies to both countries.
A second and potentially bigger natural gas field, Leviathan, is also expected to come online in Israel in 2016. In 2012, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with Cypriot President Demetris Christofias to discuss developing the large natural gas deposit discovered off the coast of Cyprus. Christofias envisions this contributing substantially to the European Union’s energy needs.
Turkey, which has occupied the northern part of the island since 1974, scoffed at the meeting, warning it would take “all necessary measures” to protect its interests.
Rabbis Threaten Kerry with ‘Divine Wrath’
by Ari Yashar
A group called Rabbis from the Committee to Save the Land and People of Israel sent a letter to US Secretary of State John Kerry this Sunday, warning him to end his “antagonism” towards Israel. The rabbis sharply criticized Kerry for his plans to establish an Arab capital in Jerusalem for Palestine and to have Israel withdraw to the 1949 Armistice lines. On Saturday, Kerry threatened Israel with an international boycott if peace talks fail. Last year he had threatened them with a “Third Intifada.”
“Your incessant efforts to expropriate integral parts of our Holy Land and hand them over to Abbas’s terrorist gang, amount to a declaration of war against the Creator and Ruler of the universe. For G-d awarded the entire Land of Israel to our ancestors, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, in order that they bequeath it, as an everlasting inheritance, to their descendants, the Jewish people, until the end of all time,” opens the rabbis’ letter.
The letter was signed by Rabbi Gedalya Axelrod, emeritus head of the Haifa Rabbinical Court, Rabbi Yisrael Ariel, Chairman of the Temple Institute, Rabbi Ben Tziyon Grossman of Migdal Haemek, Rabbi Shalom Dov Wolpo, Dean of the Institute for the Complete Code of Maimonides, and Rabbi Yigal Pizam, Dean of Yeshivat Kiryat Shmuel.
Warning of the imminent security threat that Kerry’s plans would place Israelis in, and bringing the example of Gaza’s having turned into a launching pad for rockets, the rabbis slammed the plan for seeking to immediately uproot “20% of the Jews now living productively in Judea, Samaria and the Jordan valley.”
The letter adds that Kerry’s plan “would force tens of thousands of Jews to be evicted from their homes and livelihoods, devastating their lives financially, economically and psychologically, as happened to those expelled from the flourishing Gaza settlements, most of whom still suffer from the expulsion’s ruinous after–effects.”
Drawing on Jewish history, the letters declares to Kerry: “If you continue on this destructive path, you will ensure your everlasting disgrace in Jewish history for bringing calamity upon the Jewish people – like Nebuchadnezer and Titus who destroyed, respectively, the first and second great Temples and the entire Holy City of Jerusalem, and who, by Heavenly punishment, brought eventual disaster upon themselves, too.”
“By the power of our Holy Torah, we admonish you to cease immediately all efforts to achieve these disastrous agreements – in order to avoid severe Heavenly punishment for everyone involved,” warned the rabbis.
The letter closed with a reference to the upcoming Jewish holiday of Purim, in which the Book of Esther records Haman’s genocidal plots against the Jewish people were turned against him and he was “hung on the very same gallows he had prepared for Mordechai, the Jew.” (Esther 7:10)
Employing the language of scripture, the rabbis warned“conspire a plan and it will be frustrated; talk the talk and it will not be fulfilled, for G-d is with us” yourself(Isaiah 9:5)
PASTOR FREED IN KAZAKHSTAN
Pastor Bakhytzhan Kashkumbayev, 67, served eight months on charges that he harmed the health of a church member, incited hatred and led an organization that harms others. The retired pastor’s conviction came even though the alleged victim said she’d not been harmed. On Monday, a Kazakh court suspended his four-year prison term and dropped all the other charges against him. He still must pay an $11,000 fine.
Members of Astana Grace Church said the Kazakh government has often targeted the pastor and their church.
UGANDA LAW SIGNED TO IMPRISON HOMOSEXUALS
ENTEBBE, UGANDA – Uganda’s president signed an anti-gay bill Monday that provides for prison sentences ranging up to life behind bars, saying it is needed because the West is promoting homosexuality in Africa. Arrests of gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender people. were expected as a result.
The new law goes into effect immediately and calls for first-time offenders to be sentenced to 14 years in jail. It sets life imprisonment as the maximum penalty for “aggravated homosexuality,” defined as repeated gay sex between consenting adults and acts involving a minor, a disabled person or where one partner is infected with HIV.
U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay warned that the law would institutionalize discrimination and could encourage harassment and violence against gays.
The law is expected to send the country’s beleaguered gay community further underground as the police try to implement it amid fevered anti-gay sentiment. At least six people have already been arrested over alleged homosexual offenses and more than a dozen have fled Uganda since lawmakers passed the bill in December, according to a prominent Ugandan gay activist, Pepe Julian Onziema. “The president is making this decision because he has never met an openly gay person. That disappoints me,” he said.
President Yoweri Museveni signed the bill at the presidential palace as government officials, journalists and Ugandan scientists looked on. Government officials applauded after Museveni affixed his signature. The scientists had written a report which found there is no proven genetic basis for homosexuality, no homosexual gene. “It was learned and could be unlearned,” he said. Museveni said the report disproved that people can be born homosexual.
In passing this law, Britain and other European nations have threatened to withdraw aid to Uganda, which relies on millions of dollars from the international community. Shortly after his announcement, U.S. President Barack Obama warned that enacting the bill would affect relations between the two nations. He described the proposal as an “affront and a danger to the gay community and will now “complicate” the East African country’s relationship with Washington. But in signing the legislation passed by Parliament, Museveni rejected such reaction as interference in Ugandan affairs. A similar measure was signed into law recently in Nigeria by its president.
A Ugandan lawmaker first introduced the bill in 2009 with a death penalty clause for some homosexual acts. It was briefly shelved when financially supporting countries made these same threats, but the move to stop homosexuality in Uganda continued to grow.
“We Africans never seek to impose our view on others. If only they could let us alone,” Museveni said. “We have been disappointed for a long time by the conduct of the West. There is now an attempt at social imperialism.”
Museveni accused “arrogant and careless Western groups” of trying to recruit Ugandan children into homosexuality, but he did not name these purported groups.
Museveni said he believes Western homosexuals have targeted poor Ugandans who then “prostitute” themselves for the money, an allegation repeated by the bill’s Ugandan defenders. Museveni did not cite any examples of people he called “mercenary homosexuals.”
Some critics believe Museveni signed the bill in hopes of galvanizing political support within his party, the National Resistance Movement, ahead of an upcoming meeting that is expected to endorse him as the party’s sole choice in the 2016 presidential election.
Fox Odoi, a Ugandan lawmaker who was once Museveni’s legal adviser and the only legislator who publicly opposed the anti-gay measure, predicted more arrests over alleged homosexual offenses now that the bill is law. “I find it utterly primitive,” he said. “But the president doesn’t think so. It is a very dark day for the gay community. It is going to result in a big harassment of gay people.”
The bill in its original draft called for the death penalty for some homosexual acts. That penalty was removed from the legislation following an international outcry.
Homosexuality is illegal in 38 African countries, where most sodomy laws were introduced during colonialism. They still exist because these nations say that homosexuality is destructive to family life.
CNN’s Antonia Mortensen in Entebbe, Uganda, and Yousuf Basil in Atlanta contributed to this report.
NIAGARA FALLS NO, BUT MAYBE ENOUGH TO SURVIVE
SAN FRANCISCO – For California, the rain can’t come soon enough.
Meteorologists forecast a pair of storms could dump several inches of rain on parched cities and croplands throughout California in the coming week, bringing welcome news to a state that has just endured its driest year in recorded history.
While the rain won’t be enough to end the drought, the National Weather Service projected Sunday that the much-needed precipitation could nearly double the amount of rainfall in parts of Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area this year. By next Saturday, the twin Pacific storms are expected to bring as much as 2 inches of rain to the coast and several feet of snow to the Sierra Nevada.
The first storm on Wednesday won’t offer much relief, just light overnight rains heading into Thursday. By Friday, radar images show the second storm should drench the entire state for 24 hours. The heavy rains will likely lead to flash flooding and runoff, carrying mud, trees and debris in areas burned in recent fires, such as the Colby fire, near Glendora. “People who live around the burn areas need to be aware that Friday and Saturday could be potentially dangerous days,” said Andrew Rorke, senior meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Oxnard. At higher elevations, the storms could blanket the Sierra in several feet of snow reaching down as low as about 4,500 feet, Bagnall said.
The San Jose Mercury News says that looking further into the future, meteorologists say computer models show another sign of hope: by August 2014 there is a 49% chance of El Niño conditions with its accompanying rainfall.
IN OTHER NEWS
Alice Herz-Sommhomeer, believed to be the oldest-known Holocaust survivor, died Sunday morning in London at the age of 110, a family member said. Herz-Sommer recently appeared in an Oscar-nominated documentary, Haaretz.com reported. The film, “The Lady in Number 6: Music Saved My Life,” is nominated for best short documentary at the Academy Awards.
20 children in California have contracted a polio-like illness since 2012, and doctors and public health officials don’t yet know why. The illness is not polio. All of the patients studied had been vaccinated against the disease. However, in five cases he had studied, all of the children developed paralysis in one or more of their arms or legs, and none had recovered limb functions after being diagnosed. The median age of the children is 12.
(CNN)– Harold Ramis, the gifted actor, writer and director whose films included “Caddyshack,” “Ghostbusters, ”Groundhog Day,” and “Analyze This,“ died Monday in his Chicago–area home. He was 69. Most of the films that Ramis either wrote or co–wrote were huge box-office favorites and grossed amazing profits. Lines from his movies are still often quoted today. Ramis also played roles in several of his films.
School leaders around the country are tearing up their calendars to cram in more teaching time after extreme numbers of weather cancellations. But students in Ohio now have iPads purchased by his or her parents, and they’ve used the tablets in class and at home since the start of the school year. So when kids are snowed in everyone can still have the same lessons and the teachers can answer their questions, just as if they were in the classroom. This could be the school snow day or any crisis day of the not-too-distant future.
LOS ANGELES –Prime-time talk show “Piers Morgan Live” is coming to an end, the news channel said Sunday. Morgan, who succeeded Larry King in the 9 p.m. EST time slot three years ago, was drawing lackluster ratings. Morgan told The New York Times that his show lately has “taken a bath in the ratings.” CNN’s audience has tired of hearing a Brit weigh in on American cultural issues, Morgan said in a story posted online Sunday. That and the fact that Fox News Channel lineup that included a strong new performer at 9 p.m. EST with Megyn Kelly’s “The Kelly File.” (Editor’s Note: I consider “The Kelly File” on Fox and “Crossfire” to be the two finest news presentations on television today.)
NEW YORK – Imprisoned Ponzi king Bernard Madoff’s longtime secretary plans to defend herself from the witness stand at her trial on charges she aided the historic fraud, her lawyer says. Three other Madoff ex-employees are accused of assisting Madoff in a fraud that cheated thousands of investors out of nearly $20 billion. The fraud was revealed in December 2008 when Madoff ran out of money and confessed that he had been running a Ponzi scheme for decades. The defendants all say they were all duped by Madoff, just the same as federal regulators and sophisticated investors who say they had no idea he was operating a massive fraud.
A FUNERAL PARLOR AND ITS DOG
Mourners at an Iowa funeral home are getting help dealing with the loss of a loved one from a 1-year-old Goldendoodle who is always ready to lend a comforting paw. This special pooch has found a home at the Mitchell Funeral Home in Marshalltown where he is the “ambassador of grief.”
“He is a calming presence here,” Mary Drake, the dog’s owner and the funeral home’s business manager, told the Marshalltown Times-Republican
Gabriel is a registered service dog, one of only two grief dogs in Iowa. He’s been comforting mourners since December.
“Just having someone to talk to, sometimes with families, they may not be able to talk to each other — they could use him as their intermedium,” Drake told the newspaper. “‘Remember when Dad had a dog’ or ‘Remember when we had a family pet.’ It’s a way of opening communications with them.”
On command Gabriel will kneel against a flat surface with his head down. His release is “Amen.” “He’s the only dog I know that can pray,” Drake told the paper
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THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
A dog is the only thing on earth that loves you more than it loves itself.
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Monday, February 24 through Tuesday afternoon, February 25, 2014 CHRISTIAN NEWS FROM RAY
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