Healthcare@: October 30, 2013 - If My People

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ARMED AGENTS SEIZE RECORDS OF REPORTER OF WT

Maryland State Police and federal agents used a search warrant in an unrelated criminal investigation to seize the private reporting files of an award-winning former investigative journalist for The Washington Times who had exposed problems in the Homeland Security Department's Federal Air Marshals Service.

Reporter Audrey Hudson said the investigators, who included an agent for Homeland Security's Coast Guard service, made a pre-dawn raid of her family home Aug. 6 and took her private notes and government documents that she had obtained under the Freedom of Information Act.

This article carries a call to strong, concerted intercessory prayer everywhere across the U.S. Details beyond this report are sketchy, and further legal analysis is needed to determine whether a Constitutional violation of the First and Fourth Amendments has taken place. Such a "pre-dawn raid," as reporter Audrey Hudson described the search of her home and removal of confidential records will bring fear to some citizens who think such tactics belong only to repressive regimes. Pray that all illegal action in this case will be uncovered and brought to accountability. We will hear more of this case; intercessors should remain alert. Our strongest weapon for a return to the foundations God gave the U.S. through its Founders is continued prayer, with repentant hearts, as we cry out to God for His will and purpose to prevail. Let us encourage ourselves in the Lord. This exposure is a good thing. The Washington Times is bringing a lawsuit, which will bring public testimony. Is our government overreaching in its intrusion into personal freedom and privacy? Let us pray boldly in faith for righteous government. Pray that we, as Christians, will prepare our hearts for spiritual awakening and revival. The passage below cites an intercessor from the past who prayed for God's glory and for His name to be honored. Note the humility and confession, along with an appeal for God's mercy.

"So I [Daniel] turned to the Lord God and pleaded with Him in prayer and petition, in fasting, and in sackcloth and ashes. I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed: 'Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant of love with those who love Him and keep His commandments, we have sinned and done wrong. We have been wicked and have rebelled; we have turned away from Your commands and laws. We have not listened to Your servants the prophets, who spoke in Your name to our kings, our princes and our ancestors, and to all the people of the land. Lord, You are righteous, but this day we are covered with shame.... [But] the Lord our God is merciful and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against Him.... For we do not present our supplications before You because of our righteous deeds, but because of Your great mercies.'" (Daniel 9:3-9, 18)

FAITH AND FREEDOM: AN INDISPENSABLE PAIR

Those attending the Family Research Council's most recent Values Voter Summit heard a lot about religious liberty - and with good reason. In ways both large and small, that cornerstone of freedom has found itself under attack at home and abroad. All Americans should be concerned about its well-being.

Religious liberty is as characteristic of America as our democratic political system and our free-market economy. Nowhere in the world is there more religious diversity, with all manner of faiths existing in relative harmony in the same neighborhoods, and with different houses of worship sharing the same streets in many cases.

Let us be clear as we pray. Religious liberty is not a gift from human government and merely described as such in the U.S. Constitution. It is, in fact a gift from the Creator and may not-with impunity-be curtailed or trifled with by any other institution, including the State. All leaders, rulers, countries, cultures, empires, or false religions, in any historical era, that interfere with or squelch such liberty face inevitable divine judgment, whether sooner or later. The early Church had no power, no weapons, and no voting franchise. There is no hint in the New Testament that the followers of Jesus were to take up arms to protect themselves from government excess and evil. All they had was prayer, their commitment to the Gospel, and the power of God's Spirit. Yet the Roman Empire is gone, and the Church remains and will, with its Head, Jesus Christ, be triumphant in the end over all mistreatment, oppression, bullying, persecution-even martyrdom, if God allows such evil. We speak of it softly and carefully, with no hatred toward ungodly leaders, but our nation is turning from honoring religious freedom to acts and laws of religious repression, especially toward evangelical Christians. Pray for mercy for such perpetrators, and a heart-change for all leaders who revel in power and arrogance rather than service to those they are duty-bound to serve. May they repent while there is time; God is longsuffering. Pray that our country be saved.

"Jesus answered, 'My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here.'" (John 18:36)

"Then Simon Peter, having a sword, drew it and struck the high priest's servant, and cut off his right ear.... So Jesus said to Peter, 'Put your sword into the sheath. Shall I not drink the cup which My Father has given Me?'" (John 18:10-11)

"Jesus answered, 'You could have no power at all against Me unless it had been given you from above. Therefore the one who delivered Me to you has the greater sin.'" (John 19:11)

SEBELIUS TO APPEAR BEFORE HOUSE TODAY

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius on Monday put off Republican lawmakers who want to question her about the disastrous rollout of Obamacare this week, instead agreeing to testify about the program's computer problems next week.

A spokeswoman for Mrs. Sebelius said she cannot attend a House hearing Thursday due to a scheduling conflict. Late Monday, the House Energy and Commerce Committee announced she will appear before its members Oct. 30.

The delay angered Speaker John A. Boehner, Ohio Republican, who called it a "refusal" by Mrs. Sebelius to testify Thursday. He said the public deserves answers now about the burgeoning problems with the HealthCare.gov website.

We continue to pray that God will raise up righteous government for our country. Part of that process is for Him to expose dishonesty and subterfuge among national leaders. As we pray, let us seek to avoid two temptations. Let us 1) not become "weary in well-doing" so as to stop praying; and 2) not become so angry at government dishonesty, exemplified by Mrs. Sebelius' waffling and excuses, that our prayers are hindered. Some prayer leaders are suggesting that the continual confusion surrounding the Obamacare rollout is an answer to Christians' intercession and thus, a blessing from God, simply because neither the program nor the people are ready. Let us remember that our battle is not against our leaders but against spiritual wickedness and evil forces withstanding God's laws. Our nation is in God's hands. His purposes will prevail. So let us press on in prayer. Repentance always brings change of heart, goals, and direction.

The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord, Like the rivers of water; He turns it wherever He wishes. (Prov. 21:1)

Then Job answered the Lord and said: "I know that You can do everything, and that no purpose of Yours can be withheld from You. You asked, 'Who is this who hides counsel without knowledge?' Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know. Listen, please, and let me speak; You [God] said, 'I will question you, and you shall answer Me.' "I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees You. Therefore I ... repent ..." (Job 42:1-6)

OBAMACARE DEBACLE CALLS FOR SEBELIUS TO RESIGN

Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius said officials are working "24/7" to improve the government's health insurance website.

Nevertheless, calls for her resignation continue.

But Sebelius fired back at her critics, saying, "The majority of people calling for me to resign I would say are people who I don't work for and who do not want this program to work in the first place."

"I have had frequent conversations with the president," she continued. "And I've committed to him that my role is to get the program up and running and we will do just that."

Although this seems like a repeat of the previous item, it is not. We urge united prayer for government accountability, which is in short supply in the present administration. This is not a partisan statement or accusation but a summation of facts. Without accountability, citizens are in peril of becoming people without a voice. When government goes undercover and makes excuses instead of being open and accountable, the people have reason for concern. Americans still want government "of the people," through their representatives. Elected officials of the president's own party, some closest to him ideologically, make no secret of their fears of fall-out pending the 2014 election cycle. Constituents are demanding accountability for the myriad scandals plaguing this administration, of which Obamacare is just one example. Secretary Sebelius (HHS) may be the lightning rod for the country's anger. Historians will recall the war crimes trials in Nuremberg, Germany following WW 2, where "I only followed orders" was not a justifiable defense. Our Founders did not trust human nature, insisting on checks and balances. Leaders are to be servants of the people not masters over them. Pray accordingly.

"But Jesus called them to Himself and said to them, 'You know that those who are considered rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant. And whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.'" (Mark 10"42-45)

CALIFORNIA STRIPS PRIVACY FROM CHILDREN

Families, we need your help this week.

As I wrote recently, California is dead set on stripping away the privacy of children - and we need to do what we can to stop the madness.

A few short months ago, California Gov. Jerry Brown signed AB 1266, a first-of-its-kind legislation, now known as the Co-Ed Bathroom Law. The law, as I've noted previously, opens girls' restrooms, locker rooms, and school showers to any child who "self-identifies" as a girl - including boys who decide they really "are" transgender girls. The same holds true for boys - a girl who decides her "true gender self" is a boy, must be allowed to use the boys' restrooms, showers and locker rooms. In addition, "transgendered" children must be allowed to play on opposite-sex sports teams if they so choose. (It really means that enterprising boys will dominate girls' sports teams.)

This report speaks for itself. Most readers of these alerts are not from California, but we can all do God's work there through active and unrelenting intercessory prayer. The state law, signed by the governor, is reprehensible, even for liberal California. It flies directly and defiantly in the face of God's design and natural law. The children are being used as social-engineering guinea pigs or other laboratory test animals. This is yet another step in the downward spiral of a nation that is rapidly throwing off all restraint in its determination to dethrone Almighty God and replace Him with the golden calf of human reason. It is man saying, "Let us make 'god' in our image." Let us pray in faith and in the fear of God for this atrocity to be stifled before it wrecks the lives of countless bewildered children. The Scriptures remind us of God's sovereignty, so intercessors may worship as they pray. Psalm 2 reminds us that the nations belong to God, a gift from the Father to the Son. All will "kiss the Son" or experience divine judgment and wrath. We quote only part for space considerations but suggest the entire passage be read carefully for perspective.

"Then God said, 'Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.' So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Then God blessed them, and God said to them, 'Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion ...'" (Gen. 1:26-28)

Know that the Lord, He is God; it is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; we are His people and the sheep of His pasture. (Psalm 100:3)

"Why do the nations rage, and the people plot a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and against His Anointed, saying, 'Let us break Their bonds in pieces and cast away Their cords from us.' "He who sits in the heavens shall laugh; the Lord shall hold them in derision. Then He shall speak to them in His wrath, and distress them in His deep displeasure: 'Yet I have set My King on My holy hill of Zion.' I will declare the decree: the Lord has said to Me, 'You are My Son, today I have begotten You. Ask of Me, and I will give You the nations for Your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for Your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron; You shall dash them to pieces like a potter's vessel....'" (Psalm 2:1-9)