Jesus is Lord, A Worshipping Christian’s Blog

Some time after this, Jesus crossed to the far shore of the Sea of Galilee (that is, the Sea of Tiberias), and a great crowd of people followed him because they saw the miraculous signs he had performed on the sick. Then Jesus went up on a mountainside and sat down with his disciples. The Jewish Passover Feast was near.

When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?” He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do.

Philip answered him, “Eight months’ wages would not buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!”

Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up, “Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?”

Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” There was plenty of grass in that place, and the men sat down, about five thousand of them. Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish.

When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, “Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted.” So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten.

After the people saw the miraculous sign that Jesus did, they began to say, “Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world.” Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself.
John 6:1-15 (New International Version)

“The willingness of a small boy to give all that he had to Jesus, and how Jesus used it to feed the multitude. What awesome power…what awesome compassion towards the hungry people.”
-Doug Westbrook, Artist of “Five Loaves and Five Fish - A Bible Story Mural”

See Mr. Westbrook’s Bible Story Murals here.

If your church is looking for a unique way to bring the Word of God to it’s children and young people, take a look at Doug Westbrook’s Bible Story Murals. Each wall sized mural is based on the hand painted originals Mr. Westbrook painted at Central Baptist Church in Houston, Texas and represents a different well known Bible story.
They are available on durable vinyl wallpaper for easy installation.

In July, 1940, following France’s military defeat at the hands of the Nazis, Marshal Phillippe Petain, a hero of the 1st World War, dissolved the existing “L`etat Republique” (the French Republic) and announced its replacement with “L`etat Francais” (the French State).

“L`etat Francais” was better known by its nickname, “Vichy France” named for Vichy, the city in central France where Petain headquartered his government.

The French government itself refused to surrender to the Nazis, so Petain sought a separate armistice with Hitler on France’s behalf. Hitler, fearing the French would fight on through its colonies in North Africa, agreed to the armistice.

Petain pledged to cooperate with the Germans, relieving Hitler of the burden of maintaining an occupation force to administer French territory. This allowed Hitler to take the war to Great Britain while tying up a minimum of troops.

Petain agreed to make ‘tribute’ payments to Germany in the amount of 20 million Reichmarks per day, reduce his military to an “Armistice Army” of 100,000 troops, close the borders and surrender anyone over to the Germans that they demanded, particularly French Jews.

The Vichy government agreed to allow Germany to classify the remaining 1.2 million French military as POW’s who were promptly imprisoned in Nazi POW camps.

France was then divided into two zones; “Occupied France” and collaborationist Vichy France. In Vichy France, Democratic liberties and guarantees were immediately suspended, as was freedom of speech and opinion.

As soon as it had been established, Pétain’s government took measures against the so-called “undesirables”: Jews, métèques (immigrants), Freemasons, Communists, gypsies, homosexuals, and anybody else the Germans declared to be anti-Nazi activists.

Jews were registered at local police stations, and officially excluded from government jobs, the armed forces, entertainment, arts, media, and certain professional roles (teachers, lawyers, doctors of medicine, etc.)

The Vichy government collaborated in rounding up and deporting 76,000 Jews, of whom only 2,500 survived the war. In total, more than 90,000 Jews died under the Vichy regime.

———-

Most of the Bush presidency has been focused on appeasing the peacenik element, with the net result being a mirror image of the political situation of the 1970’s.

The administration, trying to balance the threat from without against the threat from within, adopted a policy of appeasing Islam by pronouncing it a ‘religion of peace and love hijacked by a few terrorists’.

It embarked on a policy of appeasing the Left by diluting elements of the Patriot Act, refusing to crack down on domestic radical Islam to stave off charges of ‘racism’ and ‘racial profiling’ and conducting a half-hearted war aimed at maintaining the status quo rather than victory in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The half-hearted efforts convinced many Americans that the Clinton years were indeed the ‘good old days’ and handed the ‘peaceniks’ one political victory after another.

With the loss of the Congress to the peaceniks in 2006, and the probable loss of the White House to 1970’s radicals like Hillary Clinton in ‘08, America is poised for an American Vichy solution to the war with the Islamic world.

According to a new book by former CIA Director George Tenet, in 2002, Russian president Vladimir Putin confirmed that rumor that Russia could not account for all its nuclear weapons after the collapse of the Soviets in 1991.

He also confirmed that from late 2002 to spring 2003, Ayman al Zawahiri had been negotiating with Chechen rebels for the purchase of at least three Russian nuclear suitcases.

In his book, “Brotherhood of Terror” in 2002, author Paul Williams claimed that al-Qaeda had purchased as many as twenty Russian suitcase nukes from members of the Chechen mafia.

“After the devices were obtained, they were placed in the hands of Arab nuclear scientists who, federal sources say, ‘were probably trained at American universities,’” says Williams. al-Qaeda came up with a way of hot-wiring the bombs to the bodies of would-be martyrs, according to the book.

Williams also says al-Qaeda obtained chemical weapons from North Korea and Iraq.

Williams says the FBI confirmed to him that Saddam Hussein provided bin Laden with a “gift” of anthrax spores.

The FBI has picked up ‘chatter’ that suggests that al-Qaeda’s nuclear arsenal could be much larger than even Williams or Tenet suggest.

One intelligence source told me yesterday that it could also include battlefield tactical nukes purchased in the early 90’s from renegade Russian officers — tactical warheads large enough to level a city the size of Los Angeles.

This new information is given added crediblity, when one recalls that, in the early 1990’s many Russian generals had taken to selling their medals at Russian flea markets in order to buy food.

In the years prior to 9/11, al-Qaeda had a war chest of more that $300 million and the freedom to spend it without interference.

The problem for al-Qaeda until now, has been finding a way to get these warheads into the United States.

Thanks to the Venezuela/Damascus/Tehran air corridor, al-Qaeda now has the ability to bring them to the Western hemisphere. The recent decision to open the US to the Mexican trucking industry also provides them with the means to deliver them.

A lead-lined tanker truck could easily smuggle a nuclear warhead across the Mexican border and drive it to any city in America.

Islam’s goal is not to kill every American. It is to force America to submit to Islam. A nuclear attack against selected American cities would give America one of two choices.

Fight on, or negotiate a Vichy-style ‘armistice’.

Much of the American Left is already advocating a Vichy solution to the Iraq war — the same ‘peace with honor’ solution that ended the Vietnam War — by abandoning South Vietnam to the Communist North.

Thanks to the popular imposition of ‘political correctness’ Vichy-like suspension of democratic liberties, free speech and freedom of opinion are already well-entrenched in the American psyche.

Try expressing the ‘wrong’ opinions on topics like gay rights, global warming, Islam, or advancing pro-Christian, pro-life, or pro-American opinions and watch the reaction from the Left.

Opinions are one step away from being criminalized now — and in some cases, are already grounds for arrest and prosecution.

America is at a crossroads. It is but one more attack away from adopting one of two courses. Either Vichy America, or Occupied America.

It depends on whether America chooses the preferred course of the ‘peaceniks’ or the ‘neo-cons’. Sadly, I can only conclude that neither choice bodes well for America’s future.

(This helps to explain my ongoing insomnia).

But it does suggest an answer to the question, “Where is America in Bible prophecy?”

(Frankly, I would prefer to leave that question unanswered. I would sleep better at night if I did.)

Sometimes, ignorance truly is bliss.

Original Link.

This headline is on Michelle Malkin’s blog this morning:

Report: Reid will reintroduce shamnesty next week

Are you paying attention? (Hat tip: Allah)

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid will approve a new deal on immigration on Thursday and move to bring the once-dead legislation back to the Senate floor next week, Democratic sources told FOX News.

Details of the immigration compromise remain to be finalized, but top Democratic sources say Reid has closely monitored the behind-the-scenes dickering over policy changes and a finite list of amendments due for consideration. Based on the latest updates on the policy and amendments, Reid will approve the compromise and move late Thursday to put the bill back on the calendar for Senate consideration in the middle of next week.

“He’s going to bless it and he’s going to get the Senate back in the business of dealing with immigration,” said a source in the Democratic Senate leadership…

…GOP sources tell FOX News that the new bill has enough support from Republicans for Reid to prevail on a procedural vote to get the bill to final passage.

It’s do or die time, people.

The GOP elites have chosen. If you have an objection, speak now or forever hold your peace.

Fox News Reports:

Senate Leaders Agree on Immigration Bill With Tough Border Security Measure

WASHINGTON — Senate leaders have agreed on a way to bring a pulled immigration bill forward, breaking the impasse that had stalled the bill, Fox News confirms.

The compromise legislation could come up as early as the middle of next week, once the Senate completes a large energy package. Legislators will consider 19 amendments (10 from Republicans and nine from Democrats) that are in need os some ‘polishing’ a senior Republican aide tells Fox News.

President Bush’s support for a $4.4 billion infusion of border security cash today apparently helped to ease concerns of many conservatives, as well as some liberals. Many members had feared the funds would, in the end, not be put foward to build 370 miles in new border fencing, hire border patrol officers, construct some 200 miles of vehicle barriers, and other beefed up provisions.

The funding will be allocated in a large amendment authored by Republican Sens Jon Kyl of Arizona, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, and Mel Martinez of Florida.

The measure designed as a “confidence builder” for many conservatives, and it went along way toward breaking the stalemate that resulted in Dem leader Reid pulling the bill from the floor last week.

Same bill, providing amnesty to illegal aliens, just a little more “show” of enforcement to win y’all over.

A must read from Michelle Malkin:
Kill the Bill, Part Deux: Redouble your efforts
Lott blames “talk radio,” threatens GOP dissenters
Bush speaks at National Hispanic Prayer Breakfast
Kennedy and Mel Martinez laugh it up

The pali terrorist or Hamas have conquered the Gaza strip. They are now in the process of setting up an Islamic government to rule it.
Meanwhile, over in the West Bank, Abas has fired all of the Hamas-ites and dissolved the so-called “unity” government they have been operating under since the last “elections”.
What this means is that Gaza will be ruled by the radical Islamic terrorist organization, Hamas, while the West Bank will be ruled by the slightly less radical, but somewhat more secular terrorist organization, Fatah.
Whew!! Makes my head spin.

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — On its first day of full rule in Gaza, the Islamic militant Hamas on Friday granted amnesty to Fatah leaders, signaling that it seeks conciliation with the defeated forces of moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Many had feared more bloodshed, particularly after victorious Hamas gunmen executed several Fatah fighters in the streets gangland-style on Thursday, in the final phase of the decisive five-day battle over Gaza.

Gazans awoke to the new reality of Hamas control Friday, fraught with uncertainty and fear that they’ll become even poorer and more isolated. Gaza’s crossings with Egypt and Israel — lifelines for the fenced-in territory — have been closed this week, and it was not clear if and when they would reopen. Extended closure could quickly lead to a humanitarian crisis.

A Hamas spokesman said Palestinian police, now under Hamas command, would take up positions at the crossings, but it’s unlikely Israel would acquiesce to such a deployment, after Hamas militants had frequently attacked the passages in the past.

Gaza’s streets, deserted in the past week, were crowded with cars, pedestrians and triumphant Hamas fighters, some driving in jeeps and firing in the air. Crowds converged on former Fatah strongholds and looted them.

Earlier Friday, Hamas announced it had arrested 10 of the most senior Fatah leaders in the strip, including the commanders of Abbas’ own elite guard unit and the chief of the National Security force. However, Hamas pokesman Abu Obdeideh later declared an amnesty for all Fatah leaders, and several Fatah leaders, including spokesman Tawfiq Abu Khoussa, were released shortly afterwards.

Abu Obeideh said his group will “offer amnesty” to all those who are with different opionions. “Our battle is not with Fatah…but with the group that tried to implement an external agenda,” he said. “We protect our people’s right, everywhere and anyone…regardless of their affiliation to move freely.”

However, Hamas also said that a Fatah supported was thrown to his death by the family of a man he was accused of having killed earlier. Elsewhere, a senior Fatah official committed suicide after learning he was on Fatah’s wanted list, Fatah said.

Abu Obeideh also called for the immediate release of BBC journalist Alan Johnston, who was kidnapped in March and is believed held by a powerful Gaza clan whose members had ties to both Hamas and Fatah. “We will not allow for his continued detention,” Abu Obeideh said of Johnston.

The battle for Gaza ended Thursday night when Hamas forces took the last Fatah stronghold, the seaside office complex of Abbas. The Fatah forces had collapsed quickly under Hamas’ systematic onslaught. One by one, Hamas seized Fatah’s security installations and marched once-feared Fatah fighters down the street shirtless and with hands raised.

The Palestinian territories are in effect split in two. Gaza is now controlled by Hamas, which has close ties to Syria and Iran. The more populous West Bank, with about 2 million residents to Gaza’s 1.4 million, is dominated by the more moderate Fatah, which has ties to Israel and the West.

From his office in the West Bank town of Ramallah, Abbas declared a state of emergency Thursday, firing the Hamas-led government and its prime minister, Ismail Haniyeh.

Haniyeh brushed off Abbas’ decision, calling it “hasty” and refusing to leave office. The situation was “not suitable for unilateral decisions,” he said.

“The era of justice and Islamic rule has arrived,” Hamas spokesman Islam Shahawan announced.

Fearful that Hamas’ momentum could spread to the West Bank, Fatah went on the offensive there. In the city of Nablus, Fatah men shot dead a Hamas member early Friday, Hamas said, the first to be killed in the West Bank. The Al Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, a violent Fatah offshoot, claimed responsibility.

Original Link.

More on the legal murder of innocent babies.

(CNSNews.com) - Despite a drop in donations and the first fall in income from clinics in its history, the nation’s biggest abortion provider made a record profit last year, thanks to the American taxpayer. Pro-lifers want this to stop.

During its 2005-2006 fiscal year, the Planned Parenthood Federation of America performed a record 264,943 abortions, attained a record profit of $55.8 million and received record taxpayer funding of $305.3 million.

According to its annual report, income is divided roughly into three major categories: clinic income (fees charged to customers at clinics); donations (gifts from corporations, foundations and individuals); and taxpayer money (grants and contracts from federal, state and local government).

For the year July 1, 2005, through June 30, 2006, Planned Parenthood received $345.1 million in clinic income, $305.3 million in taxpayer funding and $212.2 million in donations. Total income reached $902.8 million while total expenses came to $847.0 million, leaving a profit of $55.8 million.

Original Link

June 14 - According to breaking new reports from Gaza, the escalation of infighting between Hamas and Fatah forces has reached a zenith, with Hamas claiming victory after conducting a series of execution style killings of Fatah members. Over 80 Palestinian terrorists have been killed in Hamas-Fatah factional fighting since Sunday. Hamas declared that it had taken control of the town of Rafiah in southern Gaza after blowing up the Fatah headquarters there. All of northern Gaza is already under Hamas control. According to an Arutz Sheva report of 6/14/07, “Fatah was beaten so badly that Egyptian reports said 40 PA officers broke through the Gaza-Egypt border fence and fled to Sinai for safety. The Hamas-affiliated Popular Resistance Committee announced Thursday that it had taken control of the border to prevent weapons smuggling (to Fatah) and mass emigration by local Gazans.”

The report went on to say that; “hundreds of Fatah terrorists were seen surrendering to Hamas in Gaza Wednesday ahead of an ultimatum set by Hamas that ends Friday night. Hundreds of members of a mercenary local clan fighting for Fatah surrendered, ending a pitched two-day battle. The Bakr clan members were led to a local mosque. Hamas blew up one of the clan’s homes and women were shot dead when they tried to transport a sick girl to the hospital, according to PA reports. During a protest by hundreds of Gazans against infighting and for uniting to fight Israel, a man was killed when Hamas terrorists opened fire on the protesters. The protest, billed as “peaceful”, was organized by Egyptian intelligence and attended by armed Islamic Jihad terrorists.”

On Thursday night, Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen), the head of Fatah, announced that he is dissolving the government of the PA. By dismissing the PA’s legislative head, Ismail Haniyeh, and other Hamas officials, Abbas formally ended the power-sharing agreement between Hamas and Fatah. The agreement had been in effect for just a few months and was marked by intermittent violence between the two groups from the start.

Media sources have speculated that the Hamas-Fatah civil war could spill over to the West Bank. According to an Arutz Sheva report of 6/14/07 it stated, “The Executive Committee of the PLO recommended that Abbas ask for international protection against Hamas. In Jenin, Fatah terrorists seized a Hamas school, hospital and offices on Wednesday, and 200 Fatah activists marched in Jenin streets and shot in the air, after having burned down a Hamas club center. Al-Aqsa Brigades terror chief Zakhariya Zubeidi announced a ban on all Hamas activity in the city until further notice. In Ramallah and nearby Bituniyah, Fatah is engaged in rounding up and arresting Hamas commanders from their homes. Hamas reported that armed Fatah men had kidnapped a Ramallah city councilman and burned his office. Two prominent Hamas officials in the araea were shot at in separate incidents, but no one was hurt in those attempts.

South of Ariel, in Salfit, Fatah men burned a Hamas office and raided other offices in the region. In Tul Karem, as well, east of Netanya, a Hamas office was shot at, and two Hamas cars were burnt. Fatah-Hamas gun battles were reported in Shechem and Bethlehem as well. With Fatah on the run in Gaza, it has now called on Hamas members in Judea and Samaria to renounce their allegiance to Hamas if they do not wish to be harmed. Fatah has begun mass-arrests of Hamas leaders, and Fatah chief Abu Mazen has reportedly ordered a counter-attack in Judea and Samaria.”

It appears that the Hamas victory over Fatah forces in Gaza was due in no small measure to the extensive funding and support of the Iranian government. Iran has thrown its support behind Hamas in its quest to control Gaza. Meanwhile, back in Washington, US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice called PA President Abbas and expressed her government’s support for the forces of Fatah, which she defined as “moderate.” Hamas gunmen claimed to have found documents proving strong ties between Fatah and the United States Central Intelligence Agency. Spokesmen for Hamas said they would show the documents on local television on Thursday night.

While the bloody conflict between Hamas and Fatah continues, the Jerusalem Post reports that the US is more than willing to conduct direct negotiations with Iran if Iran agrees to suspend its uranium enrichment program. The report of June 12th states, “Washington remains interested in joining any direct nuclear talks with Iran if it heeds UN Security Council demands, a US envoy said Tuesday, even as Tehran warned that America will regret detaining five Iranian officials in Iraq.”

Both political and military analysts have aired their views in the media and many blame the US for the current conflict by not recognizing and legitimizing Hamas when they won the PA elections in January of 2006. Others assign blame to the US for lending their support to Israel and for not being an “honest broker” in the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.

The bottom line is quite clear. The United States is flagrantly abrogating its own policy of isolating and punishing terrorists of all stripes. If the US can support an organization such as Fatah, which clearly and openly conducts terrorist operations against both Israel and its rival factions and has called for the annihilation of the State of Israel, then something is gravely amiss in US foreign policy as it pertains to the Middle East. If the US can seriously entertain the notion of conducting negotiations with the terrorist government of Iran who is bankrolling the arch terrorist group Hamas, (which is listed on the State Department’s list of foreign terrorist organizations) and who has called for the destruction of both Israel and America, then some re-evaluation of US policy is in order.

There is no doubt about it. The terrorists in the Middle East are winning the war on terror. Whether they are the Sunnis and Shiites in Iraq or Hezbollah and Hamas in Israel, the forces of evil, death and destruction are prevailing. The United States has lost its credibility by not standing behind the bombastic rhetoric on how to succeed in the war on terror that once emanated from the Bush administration.

The forces of terror have brought the giant to its knees. The world’s great superpower, the United States now stands in a position to negotiate with those who make no secret about calling for it’s destruction.

And for the Jewish people and the land of Israel? With Hamas clearly in power in both northern and southern Gaza, we can expect that the amount of Kassam rockets directed at Sderot and other Jewish communities in the western Negev to continue unabated. We can expect more attempted kidnappings of Israeli soldiers and the wanton murder of Israeli civilians. Was it only two years ago, back in the summer of 2005 that the Jewish people in Israel were promised peace on its southern border by evacuating the settlements of Gush Katif and handing over the land to the Palestinian Authority. The world watched as Israeli soldiers forcibly removed thousands of Jewish inhabitants of the Gush Katif region. Prosperous businesses, schools, homes, synagogues and yeshivas were burned to the ground in the name of “peace” with our “Arab neighbors”.

“Let’s give the Palestinians in Gaza their independence and full autonomy,” the forces of “peace” declared. They insisted in their arrogance that this move will insure peace in that region and will expedite the process of long term harmony between Israelis and Palestinians. So much for that fallacy and for those who peddled that canard.

Today we have witnessed the birth of a new Arab state. Today the world stayed glued to their television screens as they watched the launching of a new state in Gaza called “Hamastan”. A state predicated on the most heinous forms of terrorism. A state that was conceived by those who promulgate bloodshed, torture, and capricious murder. A state that nurses on the mother’s milk of those who called for the eradication of Israel, and who, fueled by religious fanaticism and dogma will not rest until it achieves it ultimate goal.

This state of “Hamastan” was helped through the birth canal by a Jewish state that has lost its sense of purpose, vision and clarity. The state of “Hamastan” exists today because of empty and vapid Jewish leaders of Israel who did everything in their power, directly and indirectly to create this entity. And so today, if we see a multitude of Kassam rockets being launched by Hamas into Israel, rest assured that this will be nothing compared to what lies ahead. Let us not remain myopic in our perspective on the extent to which the Jewish State is in danger. Today, Judea and Samaria, also known as the West Bank has been transformed into “Fatahstan” as well. The violence is Gaza is just a harbinger of things to come in the liberated territories of Judea and Samaria. While the US may tout the line that Fatah is a “moderate” Palestinian force, we know the opposite to be true. Their rhetoric is on par with their rival Hamas as far as Israel is concerned and they make no bones about it. They too are terrorists of the worst kind and are dedicated to shedding the blood of all Jews. Their bloodlust is not more “moderate” than Hamas.

So there we have it. “Hamastan” and “Fatahstan”. Two new terrorist Arab states, living side by side with Israel. Today, we must raise our voices to the heavens and cry out to the Almighty G-d of Israel. Today we must beseech the Master of the Universe to provide us with authentic Jewish leaders. Today the State of Israel and the Jewish people stand on a dangerous precipice. Life and death is before us. It is up to us to choose life. It is up to us to summon up the internal strength to rededicate our lives to G-d and to Torah. It is up to us to fear no man, no government, and no new Arab terrorist states. It is time to stand with strength and power in the face of adversity and destruction. It is time to fear only G-d and to offer our heartfelt prayers, for in the end, it is only through the hand of G-d that the Jewish people and the State of Israel will survive.

———————————————-

Fern Sidman holds a B.A, in political science from Brooklyn College. She was the educational coordinator for the Betar Youth Movement in the late 1970s and early 1980s. She was national director of the Jewish Defense League from 1983-1985. She was a researcher for several books written by Rabbi Meir Kahane, ZTK”L. She was the managing editor of the publication entitled, The Voice of Judea, and is a regular contributor to its web site. She is currently a writer and journalist living in New York City. Her articles have appeared in The Jewish Press, The Jewish Advocate, The Jewish Journal of Los Angeles, and numerous Jewish and general web sites including, Front Page Magazine, Daniel Pipes and Michael Freund.
We are delighted to have Ms. Sidman as a regular contributor to the Jesus is Lord, A Worshipping Christian’s Blog.

Christians, the homosexual activist are never going to give up on criminalizing your stance against homosexuality. We must continue to fight against their agenda at every opportunity.
Once again, they are attempting to silence the church and redefine the family. Here is an email from the American Family Association:

June 14, 2007

Please help us get this information into the hands of as many people as possible by forwarding it to your entire email list of family and friends.

A bill in Congress makes it a crime for pastors and churches to speak against homosexuality

Message to pastors and other Christians: Just keep your mouth shut

Dear Steve,

If pastors and other Christians don’t aggressively oppose a bill now in Congress, in the near future they will be subject to huge fines and prison terms if they say anything negative about homosexuality.

The proposed law would make it a crime to preach on Romans Chapter 1 or I Corinthians Chapter 6. Or even to discuss them in a Sunday School class. If churches and individuals want to keep the government from telling them what they can and cannot preach and teach about homosexuality, they better get involved now!

House bill H.R. 1592 and Senate bill S. 1105 would make negative statements concerning homosexuality, such as calling the practice of homosexuality a sin from the pulpit, a “hate crime” punishable by law. This dangerous legislation would take away your freedom of speech and your freedom of religion. Consider what has already happened:

• A California lawsuit which is headed to the U.S. Supreme Court would make the use of the words “natural family,” “marriage” and “union of a man and a woman” a “hate speech” crime in government workplaces. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has already ruled in favor of the plaintiffs!
• CNN and The Washington Post both reported that General Peter Pace, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was fired because he publicly expressed moral opposition to homosexual behavior.

• For the Alliance Defense Fund’s summary of this bill, click here.
  Take Action

  We are looking for one million Americans willing to take a stand and not allow a small group of homosexual activists to take away our freedoms. Can we count on you? Click on the link below to sign our Petition to Congress in Defense of Religious Freedom.

  Please forward this to others, especially your pastor, and ask them to get involved in protecting our freedoms of speech and religion. This threat to our religious freedoms is real!

  Sign the Petition to Congress Today

  If you think our efforts are worthy, would you please support us with a small gift? Thank you for caring enough to get involved.

  Please help us get this information into the hands of as many people as possible by forwarding it to your family and friends.

  Sincerely,

  Donald E. Wildmon, Founder and Chairman
  American Family Association

  P.S. Please forward this e-mail message to your family and friends!

Please continue to pray for Rev. Billy Graham and his family during this difficult time.

MONTREAT, N.C. — Ruth Graham, who surrendered dreams of missionary work in Tibet to marry a suitor who became the world’s most renowned evangelist, died Thursday. She was 87.

The wife of Billy Graham died at 5:05 p.m. at her home at Little Piney Cove, surrounded by her husband and all five of their children, said a statement released by family spokesman Larry Ross.

“Ruth was my life partner, and we were called by God as a team,” Billy Graham said in a statement. “No one else could have borne the load that she carried. She was a vital and integral part of our ministry, and my work through the years would have been impossible without her encouragement and support.

“I am so grateful to the Lord that He gave me Ruth, and especially for these last few years we’ve had in the mountains together. We’ve rekindled the romance of our youth, and my love for her continued to grow deeper every day. I will miss her terribly, and look forward even more to the day I can join her in Heaven.”

Ruth Graham has been bedridden for months with degenerative osteoarthritis of the back and neck and underwent treatment for pneumonia two weeks ago. At her request, and in consultation with her family, she had stopped receiving nutrients through a feeding tube for the last few days, Ross said.

The family plans a private interment ceremony and a public memorial service. Those arrangement had yet to be made on Thursday.

As Mrs. Billy Graham, Ruth Graham could lay claim to being the first lady of evangelical Protestantism, but neither exploited that unique status nor lusted for the limelight.

Behind the scenes, however, Ruth Graham was considered her husband’s closest confidant during his spectacular global career — rivaled only by her father, L. Nelson Bell, until his death in 1973.

Bell, a missionary doctor, headed the Presbyterian hospital in Qingjiang, China, that had been founded by the father of author Pearl Buck. Ruth grew up there and spent three high school years in what’s now North Korea.

Original Link.