Genesis 15:6

 "Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness." Genesis 15:6

Can Novelists Predict the Future?

Can Novelists Predict the Future? by Joel Rosenburg

Novelists are not prophets or psychics, clairvoyants or descendants of Nostradamus. They are not supposed to be, at least, but over the years, some have seemed pretty close.

Dean Koontz once wrote a thriller called, The Eyes of Darkness, which predicted a global pandemic started by a lethal virus called the “Wuhan-400,” originating in Wuhan, China. In his 1981 version the virus was produced in the Soviet Union and it was called the “Gorki-400.” In 1989, after the fall of the Berlin Wall, Koontz put out a new edition in which he changed the villain to the Communist Chinese government.

Plenty of naysayers say Koontz didn’t get it exactly right—but who cares? The similarities between his novel and real life are eerily close. The novel provided a chilling foreshadowing of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 1994, Tom Clancy wrote a thriller called, Debt of Honor, in which a commercial airline pilot flies a jumbo jet on a suicide mission into Washington, D.C., seeming to predict by seven years the al Qaeda attack on September 11, 2001. True, in Clancy’s version, the plane is a 747, not the 757s that were used in real life. Also, Clancy’s fictional pilot was Japanese, not Middle Eastern, but who cares? For a former insurance salesman with no military or intelligence training, Debt of Honor was prescient, indeed.

Stephen King wrote a horror novel in 1979 called, The Dead Zone, in which an angry, populist, demagogic, egomaniacal political outsider named Greg Stillson runs for Congress—saying and doing the craziest things—and wins.

The main character in the novel, Johnny Smith, has a psychic vision that Stillson is going to run for president of the United States in the future, win, and wreak havoc on the nation and the world.

The novel was turned into a film in 1983, in which Martin Sheen played Stillson.

“I was sort of convinced that it was possible that a politician would arise who was so outside the mainstream and so willing to say anything that he would capture the imaginations of the American people,” King said in one interview.

“They take him as a joke at first because he has these rallies and he throws hot dogs into the crowd and says, ‘When Greg Stillson is elected, you’re going to say hot dog! We’ve got a real mover and shaker at last!’—crazy stuff, that nobody would possibly believe, or so we thought."

“The man is a clown. He goes charging around the speaking platform at every rally….So, people want a giggle or two. Even more, they want to thumb their noses at the political establishment that doesn’t seem to be able to solve anything.

“The man had the high, hard, pumping delivery of a revival preacher. You could see a fine spray of spittle from his lips as he talked.”

“‘What are we going to do in Washington?’ Stillson asked the crowd. ‘We’re going to throw the bums out!’ A tremendous roar of approval ripped out of the crowd.”

In his classic dystopian thriller, 1984, George Orwell famously predicted all kinds of future technologies that have actually come to pass.

“Speakwrite” transcription services—today, just as Orwell foresaw, people no longer have to write or type; they can simply speak and their words are immediately typed up digitally and instantly translated into dozens of languages.

“Telescreens”—sure enough, today we have large screen smart TVs in our homes, as well as small smart phones, all of which have cameras and microphones, all of which are watching and listening to everything we say and do.

“Floating Fortresses”—massive nuclear-powered aircraft carriers are normal today, even though they barely existed in Orwell’s day.

And, of course, “Big Brother [Really] Is Watching You”—today, closed circuit TV cameras really are everywhere, tracking everyone’s movements, every moment of every day, combined with facial recognition software that can look for and identify specific “dangerous” and “troublesome” individuals, and track them through crowds so the authorities can find and arrest them.

My own career as a novelist was launched by seeming to predict the future.

In January of 2001, after working for various political leaders in Washington, I began trying my hand at writing my first political thriller.

It was called The Last Jihad. The first page put readers inside the cockpit of a hijacked plane coming in on a kamikaze attack into an American city. While Clancy had envisioned a Japanese pilot, I thought it was far more likely that radical Islamists would use such tactics today, and to my knowledge, The Last Jihad was the first such novel to envision actors from the Middle East making such an attack.

The city in my thriller happened to be Denver, not New York or Washington. The plane happened to be a Gulfstream IV business jet, not a 757 commercial airliner.

Still, it did feel crazy-close to reality.

What’s more, in the aftermath of the attack, my fictional American president not only declares war on terror cells throughout the Middle East and North Africa, he also decides to deploy the U.S. military to remove Saddam Hussein from power.

Why? Because he fears the historic connection between Saddam and terrorism and weapons of mass destruction, and that Saddam might eventually use WMDs against the U.S., Israel and our allies.

I was finishing the manuscript on the morning of September 11, 2001. I was actually in the process of writing the final chapters in the townhouse where Lynn and I and our kids lived at the time, about 15 minutes away from Washington Dulles Airport, where at that moment Flight 77 was being hijacked, flown over our house, and into the Pentagon.

When The Last Jihad was finally published in November 2002, the American people and their leaders were in a ferocious debate over whether the real President of the United States—George W. Bush—should actually send U.S. forces to war in Iraq to remove Saddam Hussein from power because of the feared connection between Saddam, terrorism and WMDs.

Though I was an unknown, first-time author, the book surged to #1 on Amazon. It spent eleven weeks on the New York Times best-seller list. I was interviewed on 160 radio and TV shows and for various newspapers and magazines.

I’ll tell you what I told them at the time. I wasn’t trying to predict the future. I was simply trying to write a compelling first political thriller that felt “ripped from tomorrow’s headlines.”

What made my story so realistic was that I had worked for a former Israeli prime minister. I had spent a good deal of time talking to Middle East experts, military generals, and intelligence analysts. I had looked for a plot that was chillingly plausible.

Let me say it again: novelists are not prophets or psychics, clairvoyants or descendants of Nostradamus. We’re not supposed to be, at least. But it’s true that over the years, some of us have gotten a little too close for comfort.

The Garden of Gethsemane

 The Garden of Gethsemane by Dr. D. James Kennedy

"… Unlike those high priests, He does not need to offer daily sacrifices—first for His own sins and then for the people’s, for He did this once for all when He offered up Himself." Luke 22:42

When Jesus was praying in the Garden of Gethsemane on the night of His betrayal, He recoiled from the horror of the cup that He was about to drink from—the cup of God’s wrath. This is why He prayed that the cup be passed from Him, if possible. It was not possible, so He submitted to drink it.

Earlier that night, Jesus had said, “For the ruler of this world [Satan] is coming. He has no power over Me” (John 14:30). Satan has only a claim upon those who are guilty of sin and are under the curse. But Christ was the Sinless One, so Satan had nothing in Him and could not hurt Him at all.

Nevertheless, when Jesus hung upon the Cross, He became the very quintessence of sin. He was the most delectable morsel for that lion that goes about roaring, seeking whom he may devour. Therefore, the very demons of hell, with cackling sound, leaped upon Him and tore at His soul as He endured demonic rage.

Jesus saw all of that in the cup, and His soul recoiled against it. This was one of the last temptations of Christ, and our Savior met it magnificently.

He said, “Nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done” (Luke 22:42).

May we, at the moment of our greatest trials, surrender our wills to the Father, as Jesus did.

Events of Holy Week

 Events of Holy Week by Mary Fairchild

While the exact order of events during Holy Week is debated by biblical scholars, this timeline represents an approximate outline of major events of the most holy days on the Christian calendar. Follow along with the steps of Jesus Christ from Palm Sunday through Resurrection Sunday, exploring the major events that occurred on each day.

Day 1: Triumphal Entry on Palm Sunday

On the Sunday before his death, Jesus began his trip to Jerusalem, knowing that soon he would lay down his life for our sins. Nearing the village of Bethphage, he sent two of his disciples ahead, telling them to look for a donkey and its unbroken colt. The disciples were instructed to untie the animals and bring them to him.

Then Jesus sat on the young donkey and slowly, humbly, made his triumphal entry into Jerusalem, fulfilling the ancient prophecy in Zechariah 9:9:

"Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey."

The crowds welcomed him by waving palm branches in the air and shouting, "Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!"

On Palm Sunday, Jesus and his disciples spent the night in Bethany, a town about two miles east of Jerusalem. This is where Lazarus, whom Jesus had raised from the dead, and his two sisters, Mary and Martha, lived. They were close friends of Jesus, and probably hosted Him and His disciples during their final days in Jerusalem.

Jesus' triumphal entry is recorded in Matthew 21:1-11, Mark 11:1-11, Luke 19:28-44, and John 12:12-19.

Day 2: On Monday, Jesus Clears the Temple

The following morning, Jesus returned with his disciples to Jerusalem. Along the way, he cursed a fig tree because it had failed to bear fruit. Some scholars believe this cursing of the fig tree represented God's judgment on the spiritually dead religious leaders of Israel. Others believe the symbolism extended to all believers, demonstrating that genuine faith is more than just outward religiosity; true, living faith must bear spiritual fruit in a person's life.

When Jesus arrived at the Temple, he found the courts full of corrupt money changers. He began overturning their tables and clearing the Temple, saying, "The Scriptures declare, 'My Temple will be a house of prayer,' but you have turned it into a den of thieves" (Luke 19:46).

On Monday evening Jesus stayed in Bethany again, probably in the home of his friends, Mary, Martha, and Lazarus.

Monday's events are recorded in Matthew 21:12–22, Mark 11:15–19, Luke 19:45-48, and John 2:13-17.

Day 3: On Tuesday, Jesus Goes to the Mount of Olives

On Tuesday morning, Jesus and his disciples returned to Jerusalem. They passed the withered fig tree on their way, and Jesus spoke to his companions about the importance of faith.

Back at the Temple, religious leaders were upset at Jesus for establishing himself as a spiritual authority. They organized an ambush with the intent to place him under arrest. But Jesus evaded their traps and pronounced harsh judgment on them, saying:

"Blind guides!...For you are like whitewashed tombs—beautiful on the outside but filled on the inside with dead people's bones and all sorts of impurity. Outwardly you look like righteous people, but inwardly your hearts are filled with hypocrisy and lawlessness

...Snakes! Sons of vipers! How will you escape the judgment of hell?" (Matthew 23:24-33)

Later that afternoon, Jesus left the city and went with his disciples to the Mount of Olives, which sits due east of the Temple and overlooks Jerusalem. Here Jesus gave the Olivet Discourse, an elaborate prophecy about the destruction of Jerusalem and the end of the age. He speaks, as usual, in parables, using symbolic language about the end times events, including His Second Coming and the final judgment.

Scripture indicates that this Tuesday was also the day Judas Iscariot negotiated with the Sanhedrin, the rabbinical court of ancient Israel, to betray Jesus (Matthew 26:14-16).

After a tiring day of confrontation and warnings about the future, once again, Jesus and the disciples returned to Bethany to stay the night.

The tumultuous events of Tuesday and the Olivet Discourse are recorded in Matthew 21:23–24:51, Mark 11:20–13:37, Luke 20:1–21:36, and John 12:20–38.

Day 4: Holy Wednesday

The Bible doesn't say what the Lord did on the Wednesday of Passion Week. Scholars speculate that after two exhausting days in Jerusalem, Jesus and his disciples spent this day resting in Bethany in anticipation of Passover.

Just a short time previously, Jesus had revealed to the disciples, and the world, that he had power over death by raising Lazarus from the grave. After seeing this incredible miracle, many people in Bethany believed that Jesus was the Son of God and put their faith in him. Also in Bethany just a few nights earlier, Lazarus' sister Mary had lovingly anointed the feet of Jesus with expensive perfume.

Day 5: Passover and Last Supper on Maundy Thursday.

From Bethany, Jesus sent Peter and John ahead to the Upper Room in Jerusalem to make the preparations for the Passover Feast. That evening after sunset, Jesus washed the feet of his disciples as they prepared to share in the Passover. By performing this humble act of service, Jesus demonstrated by example how believers should love one another. Today, many churches practice foot-washing ceremonies as a part of their ​Maundy Thursday services.

Then, Jesus shared the feast of Passover with his disciples, saying:

"I have been very eager to eat this Passover meal with you before my suffering begins. For I tell you now that I won't eat this meal again until its meaning is fulfilled in the Kingdom of God." (Luke 22:15-16)

As the Lamb of God, Jesus was about to fulfill the meaning of Passover by giving his body to be broken and his blood to be shed in sacrifice, freeing us from sin and death. During this Last Supper, Jesus established the Lord's Supper, or Communion, instructing his followers to continually remember his sacrifice by sharing in the elements of bread and wine (Luke 22:19-20).

Later, Jesus and the disciples left the Upper Room and went to the Garden of Gethsemane, where Jesus prayed in agony to God the Father. Luke's Gospel says that "his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground" (Luke 22:44).

Late that evening in Gethsemane, Jesus was betrayed with a kiss by Judas Iscariot and arrested by the Sanhedrin. He was taken to the home of Caiaphas, the High Priest, where the whole council had gathered to begin making their case against Jesus.

Meanwhile, in the early morning hours, as Jesus' trial was getting underway, Peter denied knowing his Master three times before the rooster crowed.

Thursday's events are recorded in Matthew 26:17–75, Mark 14:12-72, Luke 22:7-62, and John 13:1-38.

Day 6: Trial, Crucifixion, Death, and Burial on Good Friday

Good Friday is the most difficult day of Passion Week. Christ's journey turned treacherous and acutely painful in these final hours leading to his death.

According to Scripture, Judas Iscariot, the disciple who had betrayed Jesus, was overcome with remorse and hanged himself early Friday morning.

Meanwhile, before the third hour (9 a.m.), Jesus endured the shame of false accusations, condemnation, mockery, beatings, and abandonment. After multiple unlawful trials, he was sentenced to death by crucifixion, one of the most horrible and disgraceful methods of capital punishment known.

Before Christ was led away, soldiers spit on him, tormented and mocked him, and pierced him with a crown of thorns. Then Jesus carried his own cross to Calvary where, again, he was mocked and insulted as Roman soldiers nailed him to the wooden cross.

Jesus spoke seven final statements from the cross. His first words were, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." (Luke 23:34). His last words were, "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit." (Luke 23:46)

Then, about the ninth hour (3 p.m.), Jesus breathed his last breath and died.

By 6 p.m. Friday evening, Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea had taken Jesus' body down from the cross and laid it in a tomb.

Friday's events are recorded in Matthew 27:1-62, Mark 15:1-47, Luke 22:63-23:56, and John 18:28-19:37.

Day 7: Saturday in the Tomb

Jesus' body lay in its tomb, where it was guarded by Roman soldiers throughout the day on Saturday, which was the Sabbath. When the Sabbath ended at 6 p.m., Christ's body was ceremonially treated for burial with spices purchased by Nicodemus:

"He brought about seventy-five pounds of perfumed ointment made from myrrh and aloes. Following Jewish burial custom, they wrapped Jesus' body with the spices in long sheets of linen cloth." (John 19: 39-40)

Nicodemus, like Joseph of Arimathea, was a member of the Sanhedrin, the court that had condemned Jesus Christ to death. For a time, both men had lived as secret followers of Jesus, afraid to make a public profession of faith because of their prominent positions in the Jewish community.

Similarly, both were deeply affected by Christ's death. They boldly came out of hiding, risking their reputations and their lives because they had come to realize that Jesus was, indeed, the long-awaited Messiah. Together they cared for Jesus' body and prepared it for burial.

While his physical body lay in the tomb, Jesus Christ paid the penalty for sin by offering the perfect, spotless sacrifice. He conquered death, both spiritually and physically, securing our eternal salvation:

"For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And the ransom he paid was not mere gold or silver. He paid for you with the precious lifeblood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God." (1 Peter 1:18-19)

Saturday's events are recorded in Matthew 27:62-66, Mark 16:1, Luke 23:56, and John 19:40.

Day 8: Resurrection Sunday

On Resurrection Sunday, or Easter, we reach the culmination of Holy Week. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the most important event of the Christian faith and indeed in all of history. The very foundation of all Christian doctrine hinges on the truth of this account.

Early Sunday morning, several women (Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Salome, and Mary the mother of James) went to the tomb and discovered that the large stone covering the entrance had been rolled away. An angel announced:

"Don't be afraid! I know you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He isn't here! He is risen from the dead, just as he said would happen." (Matthew 28:5-6)

On the day of his resurrection, Jesus Christ made at least five appearances. Mark's Gospel says the first person to see him was Mary Magdalene. Jesus also appeared to Peter, to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, and later that day to all of the disciples except Thomas, while they were gathered in a house for prayer.

The eyewitness accounts in the Gospels provide what Christians believe to be undeniable evidence that the resurrection of Jesus Christ did indeed happen. Two millennia after his death, followers of Christ still flock to Jerusalem to see the empty tomb.

Sunday's events are recorded in Matthew 28:1-13, Mark 16:1-14, Luke 24:1-49, and John 20:1-23.

Many today scoff at the notion of a resurrected Savior; to those who believe not the account of Christ's life, death and resurrection is "foolishness."

To those, the challenge has been made regarding the disciples who fled in fear during the events of Easter week -- how is it that thes frightened men who abandoned Him then spent the rest of their lives extoling Him? Why did they allow themselves to endure horrific deaths at the hands of godless unbelievers for the sake of a lie?

Easter Approaching

Easter Approaching by Bill Keller

The masses are still calling for Barabbas over Jesus today. As we enter the Easter season, we read and hear some of the great passages in the Bible about the events of Palm Sunday through the death, burial, and resurrection of our Savior Jesus.

One of the events that took place soon after Jesus was seized by the Romans was Pilate allowing the masses to vote for either Jesus or a criminal named Barabbas to be released as was custom of the Roman overlords during the Jewish Passover.

Pilate felt certain the people would ask for Jesus to be released, thus allowing him to escape being used by the Jewish religious leaders to put Jesus to death. After all, the crime Jesus was guilty of was stating that He was God, a non-violent theological debate that he really wanted no part of.

Barabbas on the other hand was a violent revolutionary working to overthrow Rome. However, when Pilate gave the people their choice, Jesus or Barabbas, they cried out for Barabbas to be released!

Whether people today understand this or not, the reality is that many are still crying out for Barabbas. They have rejected Christ, and His Truth, and are in open rebellion against Almighty God.

People today are calling for sin so they can live in opposition to God and His Truth. Our society has chosen to promote the agenda of satan while rejecting Christ and the Truth of God's Word.

God cannot forever wink at our sin. A day of reckoning must ultimately come, though He is longsuffering toward us and our rebellion seems unchecked.

Where will you be found on that day when Heaven opens and the Lord descends? Will you be among the lost who are indulging every corrupt pleasure in the darkness of sin or will you be in that number of saints who are awaiting His return with their lamps trimmed?

No man knows the day or the hour of His coming, so don't delay your decision too long.

Thoughts on Today's Verse

 "Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen." Ephesians 3:20-21

Thoughts on Today's Verse by Phil Ware

What is your biggest dream? God longs to do more than that through you! The real question is whether or not you will believe it, receive it, share it and then give him the glory for it!

My Prayer...

God, you are glorious, generous, and gracious. You have blessed me physically and spiritually with so many wonderful touches of your grace. I praise you for your faithfulness. I thank you for your grace. I exalt your name above every other name and hold it as a personal treasure. Please be glorified in me — my speech, may actions, my influence, my life. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

Psalm 118:26

 "Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord." Psalm 118:26

Baltimore Ending Prosecution of "Low Level Crimes"

Baltimore Ending Prosecution of "Low Level Crimes"

Baltimore Permanently Ends Prosecution of ‘Low-Level’ Crimes Like Prostitution – The Epoch Times

The city of Baltimore is permanently ending the prosecution of crimes described as low-level and non-violent, including prostitution and drug possession. Officials late last week said the adoption comes after a one-year period of trying the criminal justice approach was successful, as crimes across the board decreased.

“Clearly the data suggests that there is no public safety value in prosecuting these low level offenses,” Marilyn Mosby, a Democrat who serves as the State’s Attorney for Baltimore, told reporters at a press conference. Not prosecuting offenses like trespassing, urinating in public, and drug possession will allow prosecutors to focus on more serious crimes as courts reopen from closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Mosby added.

“I want my prosecutors working with the police to focus on violent offenses like armed robbery, carjackings, and, yes, drug dealing and distribution organizations that are the underbelly of the violence in Baltimore, not using valuable jury trial time on those that suffer from addiction,” she said, adding later, “America’s failed war on drugs on drug users and the city of Baltimore is over.”

- Father, we ask that You move to help those who are caught in addictions and sexual sins. This move by the prosecutor does not seem a logical one, but You alone are the One who can work in the hearts of all who need You. Deliver them and release them from the bondage they have been under.

I Corinthians Chapter Nine (9)

 I Corinthians Chapter Nine (9)

Am I not an apostle? am I not free? have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord? are not ye my work in the Lord?

2 If I be not an apostle unto others, yet doubtless I am to you: for the seal of mine apostleship are ye in the Lord.

3 Mine answer to them that do examine me is this,

4 Have we not power to eat and to drink?

5 Have we not power to lead about a sister, a wife, as well as other apostles, and as the brethren of the Lord, and Cephas?

6 Or I only and Barnabas, have not we power to forbear working?

7 Who goeth a warfare any time at his own charges? who planteth a vineyard, and eateth not of the fruit thereof? or who feedeth a flock, and eateth not of the milk of the flock?

8 Say I these things as a man? or saith not the law the same also?

9 For it is written in the law of Moses, Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn. Doth God take care for oxen?

10 Or saith he it altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt, this is written: that he that ploweth should plow in hope; and that he that thresheth in hope should be partaker of his hope.

11 If we have sown unto you spiritual things, is it a great thing if we shall reap your carnal things?

12 If others be partakers of this power over you, are not we rather? Nevertheless we have not used this power; but suffer all things, lest we should hinder the gospel of Christ.

13 Do ye not know that they which minister about holy things live of the things of the temple? and they which wait at the altar are partakers with the altar?

14 Even so hath the Lord ordained that they which preach the gospel should live of the gospel.

15 But I have used none of these things: neither have I written these things, that it should be so done unto me: for it were better for me to die, than that any man should make my glorying void.

16 For though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of: for necessity is laid upon me; yea, woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel!

17 For if I do this thing willingly, I have a reward: but if against my will, a dispensation of the gospel is committed unto me.

18 What is my reward then? Verily that, when I preach the gospel, I may make the gospel of Christ without charge, that I abuse not my power in the gospel.

19 For though I be free from all men, yet have I made myself servant unto all, that I might gain the more.

20 And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law;

21 To them that are without law, as without law, (being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ,) that I might gain them that are without law.

22 To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.

23 And this I do for the gospel's sake, that I might be partaker thereof with you.

24 Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain.

25 And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible.

26 I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air:

27 But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.

Enter Without A Warrant!

 Biden Admin Presses Supreme Court To Let Police Enter Homes Without A Warrant And Seize Firearms: Report - Daily Wire

 
Democrat President Joe Biden’s administration pressed the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold a warrantless gun confiscation this week when the nation’s top court heard oral arguments in Caniglia v. Strom.
 
The case that started after Edward Caniglia, 68, got into an argument with his wife, Kim, in 2015 that ultimately ended up with the police seizing Caniglia’s firearms. After fighting, Kim went and stayed at a hotel and later contacted law enforcement, believing that her husband might hurt himself. Edward did not have a criminal record or any history of self-harm.
 
Forbes reports:
Still, police were convinced that Edward could hurt himself and insisted he head to a local hospital for a psychiatric evaluation. After refusing and insisting that his mental health wasn’t their business, Edward agreed only after police (falsely) promised they wouldn’t seize his guns while he was gone.

Compounding the dishonesty, police then told Kim that Edward had consented to the confiscation. Believing the seizures were approved by her husband, Kim led the officers to the two handguns the couple owned, which were promptly seized. Even though Edward was immediately discharged from the hospital, police only returned the firearms after he filed a civil rights lawsuit against them.
 
Police never claimed that their actions were in response to an emergency or to prevent imminent danger, and instead argued that their actions were a form of “community caretaking.” (Read more)

- Father, we pray Your wisdom over the Supreme Court to protect the rights of Americans against unreasonable search and seizure.

PRAY AGAINST PASSAGE OF H.R. 1

 Father God, we praise You for You alone are holy; You alone are righteous; You alone are omnipotent, and You alone are omniscient. We praise You because it is written:

"I the LORD do not change. So you, the descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed." (Malachi 3:6)

> > > As it was then . . . so it shall be NOW.

Father, we thank You that, just as the Israelites stood on the shore of the Red Sea in the day of Moses, boxed in with no hope of escape, seeing NO WAY OUT . . . we, too, are now standing at the edge of our own RED SEA, facing the imminent destruction of our nation.

BUT GOD!

Lord God, in ONE INSTANT and AT THE PERFECT TIME, You SHOWED UP! The wheels of Pharoah's chariots got STUCK IN THE MUD and FELL OFF - canceling their pursuit. The waters returned, the sea OVERWHELMED THEM, and they (and their plot) were DESTROYED in one instant!

Lord God, today we do not see the way of escape, but YOU DO! We stand in faith believing that just as You have brought us TO this place, You will now bring us THROUGH this place; and that this shall be accomplished by Your mighty hand and not that of MAN.

We now wait expectantly, as Your people of FAITH, to see what shall become of this bill AND of the wicked who are trying to see it pass. In Your Name we pray, amen and amen! And unlike the time of Moses, we now stand, asking that the lives of the wicked be spared unto salvation while their wicked scheme -- H.R. 1 -- is destroyed. AMEN.

IT IS WRITTEN:

- "You divided the sea before them, and they crossed through it on dry ground. You hurled their pursuers into the depths like a stone into raging waters." (Psalm 106:9)

- "I tell you that He will bring about justice for them quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:8)

- "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 . . ." Psalm 2:1-5

Pray Against This Legislation

 SR – 1 is coming up for a final vote this Wednesday in the Senate…

From Michelle Bachman – " . . . without God’s miracle, the passing of SR 1 would be the “cementing of the Communist coup that began with the theft of the elections.”

Facts about this bill …

It would codify into law all the fraud that put this rogue administration in power – Giving permanent power to the left wing Democrats

Republicans would never win another election

Senators Manchin and Sinema could prevent the passing of this bill. Manchin’s wife has just been awarded a high paying job in Biden’s cabinet.

87% chance of it passing

These are the Facts - Michelle Bachman said – this would happen without God’s miracle – let’s pray in God’s miracle intervention….

Some thoughts on prayer by Zane Anderson - “My prayer life changed dramatically when I began to see who I was ‘in Christ,’ and the kingly authority He had bequeathed to me – to us –through our relationship with Him. Prayer went from a religious form to a powerful instrument of advancing His kingdom and tearing down strongholds of darkness. Prayer went from hoping for things to happen, to expecting them to happen – indeed, legislating them into being as we pray with an authoritative expectation that God not only hears but will answer!"

Let this PROCLAMATION inspire you to advance His kingdom and tear down strongholds of darkness!!:

In authoritative expectation of what God is going to do in the face of insurrection, the threat of tyranny, and the specter of Communism, we declare, in the name of Jesus, that SR-1 WILL UTTERLY FAIL.

> > > Because of our RIGHTEOUS FOUNDING and of WHO GOD IS -- JUSTICE, HOLINESS, RIGHTEOUSNES AND TRUTH – We declare that He will NOT allow the architects of a godless America strip us of our Biblical foundation and destiny.

We call the presence of the Holy Spirit to invade the Senate chambers this week!

We call down the Holy Fear of God upon every Senator!

We declare the Constitution to be the law of the land!

We declare God’s purposes to be fulfilled for America to be a light shining the Gospel of Hope to the nations of the world!

We declare the United States to be ONE NATION, UNDER GOD, INDIVISIBLE, WITH LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL!!

We proclaim: JESUS CHRIST IS LORD AND KING OVER THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND HE ONLY SHALL REIGN HERE!!

Standing with you to see RIGHTEOUSNESS, JUSTICE AND TRUTH prevail!

Barbara

Rev. Barbara L. Potts