October 6, 2017 PRO-LIFE BILL PASSES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES Thank God for the passage of legislation banning abortion for babies older than 20 weeks gestation. Thank God for all the pro-life members of Congress. Pray that the Senate will pass this bill, which President Trump promises to sign. [F]or everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. (1 Jn 5:4) The U.S. House voted 237 to 189 today to ban most abortions after 20 weeks, when the pre-born baby can feel pain. The United States is one of seven countries with no federal limits on late-term abortion. Abortion throughout all nine months of pregnancy for any reason is legal in many parts of the country. The bill, the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, was sponsored by strongly pro-life Rep. Trent Franks, R-AZ. Two Republicans voted against the bill. Three Democrats voted for it. Similar legislation passed the U.S. House in 2013 and 2015. It s never passed the U.S. Senate. The bill contains rape and incest exceptions. For an abortion to take place, the abortionist must file a medical report with a state or federal agency saying an act of rape or incest conceived the child. At 20 weeks halfway through pregnancy an unborn baby is the size of a small cantaloupe. Mothers can feel their babies kicking. When they are operated on in the womb at this age, it s standard medical practice to give the babies anesthesia... Marjorie Dannenfelser, the President of the Susan B. Anthony List, said she spoke with Trump last week and that he considers signing this legislation high priority. One of Trump s campaign promises was to sign the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act into law. Rep. Mia Love, R-UT, pointed out some of the double standards that we have in this country. Killing a pregnant woman is considered double homicide, but abortion isn't considered murder, she noted.
This begs the question when does the unborn have a right to protection just like their mother? asked Love... In advocating for the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, SBA List has called attention to Micah Pickering, who was born at 22 weeks and four days. He s now a healthy five-year-old boy. Some Republicans called H.R. 36 Micah's Law on the House floor. According to the Centers for Disease Control, in 2013 there were at least 5,770 late-term abortions on babies older than 20 weeks. (Excerpted from Life Site News, reporting by Claire Chretien.) A HEAVEN-SENT INVITATION TO AWAKEN THE DAWN Pray for God to move in a mighty way this weekend at Awaken the Dawn in Washington, DC. Pray for powerful praise, strategic and effective intercession, and an outpouring of the Holy Spirit. For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour out my Spirit on your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants. (Is 44:3) Is God still speaking through dreams and visions today? God revealed Joseph s future in a dream (Genesis 37:5-11), and Daniel was shown Kingdom realities through a vision (Daniel 8:1-7). Paul received an assignment from the Lord through a vision in the night (Acts 16:9). Could God be revealing prayer strategies for our nation today through unusual dreams and visions? David Bradshaw is the founder and director of Fredericksburg Prayer Furnace in Fredericksburg, VA. Through a series of dreams and divine appointments starting in 2011, David began to sense the Lord calling intercessors and worshipers to prayer in an unprecedented way on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. These dreams and encounters have culminated in the upcoming prayer gathering called Awaken the Dawn, to take place October 6-9, 2017, on the Mall. It is the extraordinary number of dreams and sovereign appointments involved that seems to set this gathering apart. Bradshaw s journey began with a prophetic word in 2011 regarding tent cities on the National Mall, drawing masses of young people centered around music and prayer. Two years later, during an extended fast, someone in their community had a dream about a prayer gathering on the Mall with similar characteristics. Being stirred in his spirit, Bradshaw set up an appointment with several national prayer leaders to process the idea. He then heard from another friend who had a dream the previous night, showing Bradshaw meeting with one of those very leaders. With no prior knowledge of Bradshaw s plans, this friend repeated the same vision about a gathering on the Mall. Next, Bradshaw received a text from an associate who had a dream detailing not only these specific leaders involved, but the indication that this gathering would specifically reach young people. At this point, Bradshaw and his wife went on another fast to seek the Lord regarding his involvement in initiating such a monumental vision. In the middle of this fast he received an email from a friend he hadn t talked to in several years. This friend had a dream with Bradshaw in the middle of a huge prayer gathering. In the dream, this friend walked up to Bradshaw telling him to... not be afraid to do the new thing that God had been showing him.
Bradshaw has now embraced this vision from the Lord and has been calling intercessors and worshipers to America s Tent of Meeting for 24/7 prayer and worship around the worth of Jesus. Executive team member Brian Hume says, We re not building this prayer gathering on a platform of speakers or celebrities. It s about you, the sons and daughters of the Lord to cry out to God. Bradshaw states, If there s not a move of God that doesn t specifically reach the millennials within the next five years we might lose them. Consisting of 50 tents (one for every state), along with 12 regional tents, this gathering will focus on worship and intercession, pursuing national revival. It was only after securing the dates of October 6-9 that Bradshaw s team realized that these dates are during the Feast of Tabernacles when Israel gathers in tents in their nation s capital, Jerusalem. Bradshaw and many other intercessory leaders see this as a divine appointment initiated by heaven and are encouraging believers to take part in a procession of prayer leading up to the historic event. To learn more about this gathering and how to get involved, go to www.awakenthedawn.org. (By Wanda Alger, IFA Field Correspondent) AFTER THE SHOOTING: LAS VEGAS PASTOR HAS NEVER SEEN THE CITY SO OPEN TO THE GOSPEL Pray for the Body of Christ in Las Vegas to be equipped and unified in reaching those who are open to the Gospel. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. (Eph 4:3) Pastor Chris Marlin and his wife, Katherine, moved to Las Vegas three years ago to serve a church called Grace City. Marlin calls Vegas a city of transplants that oftentimes doesn t feel like much of a community. But after the tragic events of October 1, 2017, Marlin has hope that the city and the church in particular can come together to bring about positive change. We re sin city and the biggest thing we need is for Jesus to break through here, Marlin says. We caught up with Pastor Marlin to hear his thoughts on how the church can be the church to Las Vegas as it attempts to heal from Sunday s shooting. Q: What is it like to live in Las Vegas? A: We are a city of transplants. Hardly anybody is born and raised here There s not a whole lot of city pride Everyone moves here to make money while you re a millennial. Maybe you stay until you re 35 or 40 and then you try to get out. [The mass shooting] has brought the city together more than anything. In terms of blood banks, they re at capacity. Everyone I know is collecting gift cards or food and passing out water. Q: What has your church done to minister to people in the city? A: We walked the strip yesterday and were praying for people and offering prayer. It was the strangest experience I ve ever had on the strip. And then my wife and other people went to UNLV (University of Nevada, Las Vegas) and were praying for people there. Especially at UNLV, people are really shaken up and open to things that they haven t been open to before.
We got to pray for a number of people that I don t think would claim Jesus as Lord. But one [of our worship leaders], her name s Lia, felt like the Lord highlighted this woman to her on the bridge as we were walking across Las Vegas Boulevard. She went and she started talking to her, and this woman has three children: One s in Puerto Rico, one s in Florida, and one s in Houston. So, all three of her kids in the last month have lost almost everything because of a hurricane hitting each one of those places. And her husband died two months ago. This woman used to be in faith, and for almost understandable reasons, has walked away. And she just wept with Lia as Lia prayed for her and shared the gospel with her and got to pray and speak hope and life into her. This woman actually was at the concert and what she believes was a nine-year-old boy died in her arms. This woman is homeless and she s hopeless The woman said, You know, I thought I was going to go get drunk after this because there is no hope in my life anymore. I ve surveyed our church. There are some people that go straight to meeting physical needs while others of us went out and prayed for people. That s the body of Christ, where some people are going to be more given to [one form of service than another]. Q: What have you learned from this experience that you can offer to pastors who are trying to help people cope with trauma? A: The thing I ve learned most in my few years here is to not come in especially in times like this with an agenda. As people are vulnerable (and this is such a time for Kingdom expansion), I don t want to just let people get through their stories so I can jump straight to how Jesus fixes that. I want to truly be invested in what they re saying. And of course I m going to present the gospel because that s the only thing that truly heals, but I think if we come in with too heavy of an agenda I think we could maybe do more wounding than even help. But if we truly love the person in front of us and it s slower and it s less efficient, but it s more real then we might help less people because it s going to take longer, but Jesus really loved the one who was in front of him. I think really not coming in with an agenda to shell out the gospel as quickly as we can but actually listen and then say, How would Jesus respond in this incident? It might be slower than we would like. No one wants you to be selling them something in the midst of tragedy. If our primary objective is to love that person, the gospel is going to come out as a natural flow instead of as you re vulnerable, let me push this on you. What specific prayer and action points can you offer those who are eager to help Las Vegas? Prayer points: 1. Pray for the Kingdom to break through. Marlin says he s never seen people in Las Vegas so open to the gospel than they seem to be in the face of this tragedy. 2. Pray that churches won t use this as a time to fight against each other, but that there would be a real unity among churches in the city. 3. Pray for Christians in Las Vegas to actually go out and be the church. Marlin hopes that there would be church happening on the corner of Las Vegas Boulevard and Tropicana, and there would be church happening at the airport, and all these other places.
4. Pray for the move of unity that is happening, especially among younger, smaller churches. Marlin hopes the churches in Vegas would not be hindered by things like territorialism but would focus on a common, Kingdom mission. Pray that my church would work with the big one and the newest one, and whatever. What you can do: 1. Look for reputable churches or organizations on the ground you can give to. 2. Consider sending a team from your church to Grace City or another Las Vegas church to assist in their evangelism efforts. Marlin says his church is ready to receive teams and they have a program already in place through their School of Ministry. More information is available on their site or by contacting gracecityvegas.com. (Reprinted with permission of Churchleaders.com.) SATANISTS TARGET CHRISTIAN BAKERS Pray against this evil attack on Christian values and for preservation of religious freedom. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross. (Col 2:15) Christian bakers who are awaiting an upcoming Supreme Court Case revolving around same-sex wedding cakes will soon face a new kind of customer from The Satanic Temple. The Supreme Court plans to hear a First Amendment case this fall related to Jack Phillips, the Christian baker who made national headlines when he was ordered by the Colorado Civil Rights Commission to bake wedding cakes for same-sex couples. Members of The Satanic Temple, however, will add pressure on like-minded business owners in the meantime with a campaign that co-founder Lucien Greaves says is about religious freedom. The Satanic Temple (TST) has announced a plan for those who feel alienated or oppressed by the privileged status that religion holds over sexual orientation: Request your homophobic baker make a cake for Satan, a press release provided to The Daily Caller on Thursday reads. Because religion is a protected class, a baker may refuse service to LGBTQ people, but they may not refuse service based upon someone s religion. If they aren t willing to make a cake for same-sex unions, let s have them make a cake to honor Satan instead, the statement continues. (Excerpted from The Washington Times, reporting by Douglas Ernst.)