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Archive for September, 2013

IMPORTANT UPDATE Regarding Prayer for Our Nation


I am sorry, I am sorry, I am sorry. I am NOT an English professional.

Occasionally I use words assuming I know what they mean. Fortunately, I have my dad and friends who love me very much and loving correct my assumptions. I am sorry.

Yesterday in my post, “Prayer for Our Nation”, I used the word, “infamous”. After my dad asked me if I really meant to use that word, and I looked it up, I was, and remain embarrassed for using the wrong word. I should have used the word, “Famous” which expresses correctly the point I was trying to make.

If you look back at the post you will see I made the change.

Thank you all for your gracious words of encouragement, and patience with my clumsy attempt at expressing myself correctly.

In His Service,

Jerry Broussard

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Personal

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Prayer for Our Nation


During my devotions last Saturday, while reading in the book of Daniel, I read the following prayer by Daniel;

Daniel 9:4-19 NIV; “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—the people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and all Israel, both near and far, in all the countries where you have scattered us because of our unfaithfulness to you. We and our kings, our princes and our ancestors are covered with shame, Lord, because we have sinned against you. The Lord our God is merciful and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against him; we have not obeyed the Lord our God or kept the laws he gave us through his servants the prophets. All Israel has transgressed your law and turned away, refusing to obey you.

“Therefore the curses and sworn judgments written in the Law of Moses, the servant of God, have been poured out on us, because we have sinned against you. You have fulfilled the words spoken against us and against our rulers by bringing on us great disaster. Under the whole heaven nothing has ever been done like what has been done to Jerusalem. Just as it is written in the Law of Moses, all this disaster has come on us, yet we have not sought the favor of the Lord our God by turning from our sins and giving attention to your truth. The Lord did not hesitate to bring the disaster on us, for the Lord our God is righteous in everything he does; yet we have not obeyed him.

“Now, Lord our God, who brought your people out of Egypt with a mighty hand and who made for yourself a name that endures to this day, we have sinned, we have done wrong. Lord, in keeping with all your righteous acts, turn away your anger and your wrath from Jerusalem, your city, your holy hill. Our sins and the iniquities of our ancestors have made Jerusalem and your people an object of scorn to all those around us.

“Now, our God, hear the prayers and petitions of your servant. For your sake, Lord, look with favor on your desolate sanctuary. Give ear, our God, and hear; open your eyes and see the desolation of the city that bears your Name. We do not make requests of you because we are righteous, but because of your great mercy. Lord, listen! Lord, forgive! Lord, hear and act! For your sake, my God, do not delay, because your city and your people bear your Name.””

The first thing that struck me is that Daniel used the personal pronoun, “we”. He included himself as a participant of the sin that caused the destruction of Israel and the bondage his people were then suffering. Although recognized as a righteous man before God, he saw himself as a participator of the sinning that caused God’s wrath.

As you continue to read in that, and the next chapter, God sent His angel to give Daniel the answer the moment Daniel began to pray. We need that kind of response from God now.

That speaks to me about my participation in the multiple crisis our country is suffering right now. Although I can say without any fear of contradiction that I have been faithful to:

  • Pray for our country everyday
  • Speak out against the wrong and stand firm for the right
  • Willing to be used of God in any way necessary to save our nation and see a genuine;
    • Spiritual Revival
    • Moral Revival
    • Family Structure Revival
    • Education Revival
    • Constitutional Revival
    • Public Service Revival
    • Nationwide Financial Revival
    • National Pride Revival
    • Pray for President Obama and all our political leaders National, State and Local. Paying God’s wisdom be upon them and His guidance pervade their thinking and for genuine Revival to sweep through them.
    • Pray for our military everyday

Yet, I could be doing more. I have sinned in many ways, because, “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23). Like Daniel, I must include myself in any prayer petitioning God for forgiveness and national healing.

The famous passage often quoted here 2Chronicles 7:14;

“…if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” (NIV)

Let’s look at this passage. Solomon had just finished building the Temple of God. Israel gathered around him for the dedication. In 2Chronicles 6 we find the prayer Solomon prayed which turned out to be the “Prayer Covenant” Solomon wanted to establish with God and Israel. God’s answer was in the form of fire that came down out of heaven consuming the dedication sacrifices. How’s that for an answer to prayer.

In order to understand 2Chronicles 7:14, we have to look back at 2Chronicles 7:11-13; 11;

“When Solomon had finished the temple of the LORD and the royal palace, and had succeeded in carrying out all he had in mind to do in the temple of the LORD and in his own palace, 12 the LORD appeared to him at night and said:

“I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for myself as a temple for sacrifices.”

13 “When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people,” (NIV)

 There is so much we can discuss here, but let’s focus on this guideline to successful prayer with God as it applies to Daniels prayer and how we need to adapt it for our prayer for America.

  1. “If My People who are called by My Name”:
    1. “If” suggests a choice that has to be made. A DELIBERATE choice.

i.    I have found consistent with God is His demand that we do everything with Him by DELIBERATE choice.

ii.    We are to pray by choice, and to pray according to His “Prayer Book”.

  1. God’s prayer book is His Word, our Bibles. There we have His will expressed, His desires explained and our covenant with Him confirmed through Jesus.
  2. “My People”. If you belong to God, through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, and are filled with His Spirit, then you are included in “My People”.
  3.  “Will humble themselves”:
    1. Daniel obeyed this by including himself as a sinner. The Apostle Peter said in 1Peter 5: 6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. (NIV) Humility is a must. We are the weaker; His is the strong. He doesn’t need our strength, but we certainly need His.
    2. “…pray and seek my face”:
      1. Praying while seeking HIS face infers that our focus must be only on God, in Jesus Name, as the source for the solution we need, especially the healing of our nation.
      2. If you look back at all the historical evidence surrounding the Revivals that have happen in the Church, you will see consistently that God’s people determined to seek His face.
      3. “…and turn from their wicked ways”:
        1. The word the Bible uses for repentance literally means, “Turn around and go the opposite way you were traveling.” If we are serious about repenting for our sins, and the sins of the nation, means we must be serious about going in the opposite ways away from the coarse that led to the sin.
        2. “…then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”:
          1. In order to grasp this statement of God we must look at it this way, “Then, AND ONLY THEN, will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” Leave out any of the steps (ingredients) and we fail.
          2. God sets the standards and requires us to follow them. That is reasonable. We need from Him, He, therefore, can set the requirements for approval.

Using Daniels prayer as a template, I propose we, God’s people through our Lord, and Savior, Jesus the Christ, His Son, deliberately humble ourselves to pray, seek God’s face, turn from our wicked ways, and pray something like this;

“Heavenly Father, in Jesus Mighty Name, we seek You, 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 Spiritual leaders, our Pastors and our teachers, which included speaking to all the people of our Country which You created deliberately so we could worship You freely and spread You Gospel worldwide.

“Lord, You are righteous, but this day we are covered with shame—the people of America and the inhabitants of Washington D.C., our State Governments and our local Governments, because of our unfaithfulness to You. We and our political leaders, our self-appointed cultural leaders and our self-appointed Spokesman are covered with shame, Lord, because we have sinned against You. The Lord our God is merciful and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against him; we have not obeyed the Lord our God or kept the laws he gave us through his servants the prophets and the Teaching of Jesus Your Son and the Holy Spirit Jesus sent. All the people of the United States of America has transgressed Your law and turned away, refusing to obey You.

“Therefore the curses and sworn judgments written in Your Word have been poured out on us, because we have sinned against You. You have fulfilled the words spoken against us and against our rulers by bringing on us great disaster. Under the whole heaven nothing has ever been done like what has been done to America. Just as it is written in Your Word, all this disaster has come on us, yet we have not sought the favor of the Lord our God by turning from our sins and giving attention to Your truth. The Lord did not hesitate to bring the disaster on us, for the Lord our God is righteous in everything he does; yet we have not obeyed him.

“Now, Lord our God, who brought Your people out of Egypt with a mighty hand and who made for Yourself a name that endures to this day, we have sinned, we have done wrong. Lord, in keeping with all Your righteous acts, turn away Your anger and Your wrath from America, Your Country. Our sins and the iniquities of our ancestors have made America and Your people an object of scorn to all those around us.

“Now, our God, in Jesus Mighty Name, hear the prayers and petitions of Your servants. For Your sake, Lord, look with favor on Your country, America. Give ear, our God, and hear; open Your eyes and see the desolation of the nation that You created for Yourself. We do not make requests of You because we are righteous, but because of Your great mercy. Lord, listen! Lord, please forgive us in Jesus Name! Lord, hear and act! For Your sake, my God, do not delay, because Your nation and Your people bear Your Name. In Jesus Name we pray, Amen””

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Spiritual

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For America to live – Amerika Must Die


http://clashdaily.com/2013/08/america-live-amerika-must-die/#pS7mHqdSHMVdpYRT.99

By Skip CoryellAmerican_Flags

I have long held there are two Americas: the America of my youth, and the Amerika of my children. It’s a sad thought to acknowledge failure; that my children have inherited a world far worse than the one my parents gave to me. But it’s true. Anything less is denial at best or outright dishonesty at worst.

I recall with fondness growing up in the rural Midwest. I hunted. I fished. I played ball, cops and robbers, and cowboys and Indians. The hills were alive with the sound of music as Julie Andrews danced and twirled with a smile on her face. Along with my siblings, I also weeded and hoed the garden, milked the cow, gathered the eggs, and churned the butter. I remember every Sunday night watching a show called Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Color. My first crush was on a petite little girl named Tinkerbelle.

It was a far from perfect world (as I watched on television the Vietnam War, the Cold War and the Race Riots of the sixties) but I always knew certain inalienable Truths:

1. My father was king.
2. My mother was queen.
3. God was watching me and told the king and queen everything I did.

As a child I didn’t really like the hierarchy of life. After all, I was at the bottom of the pecking order, and I did, from time to time, kick at the goads, trying desperately to take control. But it never worked. I swore that once I left my childhood home I would never again weed a garden. I would be my own man. I would be free.

I was wrong.

Today, by choice, I weed the garden, harvest the crops, and process any food that’s not nailed down. I want to be self-sufficient. I want to be independent. I want to feed my family, to take care of them, to educate them, and to teach them the ways of being a man. Just a few moments ago my 17-year-old son sent me an email complaining about his mother (that would be “The Queen”). In response, I (“The King”) sent him a short decree via royal email express.

Just be the best man you can be.
You hold the future of the world in your hand.
Fear God. Obey God. Serve your fellow man.
Service to others gives life meaning.

And then I politely reminded him to feed and water the chickens.

So that was the America of my youth.

But what about Amerika?

What inalienable Truths has Amerika passed on to our children?

1. My father is queen. He used to be king, but he exercised his freedom of choice and the government paid for his sex-change operation.
2. My mother is now king. (Father took the last train to the coast with his life-partner (Fred) as the back-up drummer in a small, but expressive, rock-n-roll band, thereby capitulating his traditional and God-given responsibility as protector and provider of the family.)
3. God has been replaced by “The Government” who is watching me via my cell phone, laptop or other electronic device. Drones are overhead and if I speak out against The Government I will lose my food stamps, Obamaphone, health and educational benefits and housing subsidy.

As I write, I am reminded of one of my favorite cartoons of my youth, the immortal Bugs Bunny. I recall one time he was fighting against Yosemite Sam who made the statement: “This town ain’t big enough fer the two of us!”

And I can’t help but think the same way about America vs. Amerika. There has to be a showdown. In order for one to live, the other must die. Right now, I’d say our country is split right down the middle. Half of us have been bought and paid for by the US Government. We sit on our collective lazy ass all day long eating free food, watching make-believe reality shows, googling, texting, sexting, surfing porn, FaceBooking and Tweeting. The other half of the country struggles to pay their bills, while working three jobs to also pay for the “free” stuff given to others and to raise children of their own with God-Family-Country values.

Something has to give.

Yosemite Sam was right. “This town ain’t big enough fer the two of us!”

When I think of Amerika, I’m reminded of another eloquent and insightful quote by Bugs Bunny from his 1949 short cartoon called Rebel Rabbit: “Could it be that I carried this thing too far?”

As I look around me at the state of our public schools, the bankruptcy of our cities, the moral decrepitude of our leaders, the erosion of personal freedom and the Godless attitude of our citizens, I lower my head and nod to Bugs.

“Eh, could be … could be.”

I never thought I’d be rooting for Yosemite Sam, but his words are appropo.

“This town ain’t big enough fer the two of us!”

Sorry, Amerika, but one of us has to die. And I’m voting to keep the America of my youth.

Image: M.Fitzsimmons; Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license

About the author:
Skip Coryell Skip Coryell lives with his wife and children in Michigan. Skip Coryell is the author of eight books including Blood in the Streets: Concealed Carry and the OK Corral, RKBA: Defending the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, The God Virus, and We Hold These Truths. He is the founder of The Second Amendment March, a Marine Corps veteran, and the President of White Feather Press. He is an avid hunter and sportsman, a Marine Corps veteran, and a graduate of Cornerstone University. For more details on Skip Coryell, or to contact him personally, go to his website at skipcoryell.com

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Political

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Reports: Saudi Prince Bandar Using US to Topple Syria’s Assad – Freedom Outpost


http://freedomoutpost.com/2013/08/reports-saudi-prince-bandar-bin-sultan-using-us-to-topple-assad/

 By Joshua Cook

According to reports in Mint Press News made by veteran Associated Press reporter Dale Gavlak, the chemical attack came from Syrian rebel arms by Prince Bandar, not the Assad regime.

Gavlak writes, “The U.S., Britain, and France as well as the Arab League have accused the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad for carrying out the chemical weapons attack, which mainly targeted civilians. U.S. warships are stationed in the Mediterranean Sea to launch military strikes against Syria in punishment for carrying out a massive chemical weapons attack. The U.S. and others are not interested in examining any contrary evidence, with U.S Secretary of State John Kerry saying Monday that Assad’s guilt was ‘a judgment …already clear to the world.'”

Gavlak’s report states that the U.S. is not interested in differing opinion, despite evidence that points to Saudi Arabian Prince Bandar.

The report continues,

“However, from numerous interviews with doctors, Ghouta residents, rebel fighters and their families, a different picture emerges. Many believe that certain rebels received chemical weapons via the Saudi intelligence chief, Prince Bandar bin Sultan, and were responsible for carrying out the dealing gas attack.”

“They didn’t tell us what these arms were or how to use them,” complained a female fighter named ‘K.’ “We didn’t know they were chemical weapons. We never imagined they were chemical weapons.”

“When Saudi Prince Bandar gives such weapons to people, he must give them to those who know how to handle and use them,” she warned.

She, like other Syrians, do not want to use their full names for fear of retribution.

Prince Bandar is said to have close ties to Washington, serving as Saudi Arabia’s ambassador. According to a report in the UK’s The Independent, Prince Bandar has re-emerged as a pivotal figure in the struggle by America and its allies to tilt the battlefield balance against the regime in Syria.

According to the Independent, it was Prince Bandar’s intelligence agency that first alerted Western allies to the alleged use of sarin gas by the Syrian regime in February.

According to the report,

“It is a long-term Saudi goal that in the past several days has been subsumed by the more immediate crisis over the purported use of chemical weapons by Damascus …That message is being delivered to President Barack Obama by the current Saudi Ambassador in Washington, Adel al-Jubeir, who is a Bandar protégé.”

This situation continues to become eerily similar to President George W. Bush’s intel on weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.

In fact, according to Washington Post journalist Bob Woodward, on January 11, 2002, Rumsfeld, Cheney and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Richard Myers met in Cheney’s office with Prince Bandar, the Saudi ambassador to the United States to discuss plans to attack Iraq.

The Washington Post reported that Bandar, who helped arrange Saudi cooperation with the U.S. military, feared Saudi interests would be damaged if Bush did not follow through on attacking Hussein, thus Bandar became another advocate for war.

“Months of applying pressure on the White House and Congress over Syria have slowly born fruit. The CIA is believed to have been working with Prince Bandar directly since last year in training rebels at base in Jordan close to the Syrian border,” the Independent reported.

The Saudis are “indispensable partners on Syria” and have considerable influence on American thinking, a senior US official told The Wall Street Journal yesterday. He added: “No one wants to do anything alone.”

And right now, Secretary of State John Kerry is trying to justify intervening in Syria on the basis of crimes against humanity.

But it makes you wonder: Whose crimes?

Is Saudi Arabia using an attack on Syria by the west as a way to advance its own agenda?

Joshua Cook lives in Travelers Rest SC. He received his BA from Southeastern University and MBA from North Greenville University.

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Political

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