The Daily Brief: Monday, October 2, 2017

The Daily Brief: Monday, October 2, 2017 (Short Form)

1. Tillerson says US has 'lines of communications' to North Korea - Fox News

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Saturday during his visit to China that the U.S. is "probing" North Korea for talks and the two countries have communications with Pyongyang. Tillerson said the U.S. has contacted the hermit kingdom to see if it was interested in talks and the two countries have "lines of communications to Pyongyang," Fox News has confirmed.

"We are probing, so stay tuned," Tillerson told reporters in China. When asked how the two countries "probed" Tillerson said they would ask directly. "We ask: Would you like to talk? We have lines of communication open to Pyongyang. We're not in a dark situation, a black out. We have a couple of three channels open to Pyongyang. We can talk to them, we do talk to them," Tillerson said. (Read more)
- O righteous Father, we pray that You bind the enemy of darkness (under the mighty Blood of Jesus) who has North Korea under its power. All communications are lies which this demonic ruler of darkness speaks through those possessed by it. With that in mind, we pray God that you will give President Trump wisdom to act upon what You show him to do. There will be no agreeable negotiations with North Korea. Override all the evil and destructive plans made by North Korea by the Blood of Jesus. We trust God to answer prayer as we ask in the Name of Jesus.

- "But the Word of the Lord was unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept: line upon line, here a little, and there a little: that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken." (Isaiah 28:13)

2. Trump: Talking to Kim Jong Un a waste, 'will do what needs to be done' - Fox News

President Trump on Sunday sounded a war drum over North Korean leader Kim Jong Un refusing to abandon his nuclear weapons program, telling Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to stop wasting time negotiating with Kim because the U.S. "will do what needs to be done."

"I told Rex Tillerson, our wonderful Secretary of State, that he is wasting his time trying to negotiate with Little Rocket Man," tweeted Trump, using his mocking nickname for Kim. "Save your energy Rex, we'll do what has to be done!"

Several hours later, Trump sent another tweet that said that being nice to Kim hadn't worked for Presidents Clinton, Bush and Obama. Kim is 33 and came to power only six years ago after his father, Kim Jong Il, died in December 2011.

"Being nice to Rocket Man hasn't worked in 25 years, why would it work now? Clinton failed, Bush failed, and Obama failed. I won't fail," Trump wrote.(Read more)
- We are continuing our assignment to pray for our President - for his spiritual, mental and physical welfare and protection. Let us continue to pray in unity and agreement for him and our nation every hour. Amen. (Source of prayer: 24/7 Strategic Prayer Network)

- "I will stand at my watch and station myself on the ramparts . . ." (Habakkuk 2:1a)

3. State Department rebuffs own envoy for saying 'settlements are part of Israel' - Times of Israel

For the second time since David Friedman assumed his post as US ambassador to Israel, the US State Department has publicly rejected remarks he made pertaining to Israel's presence in the West Bank as not reflecting the administration's stance.

On Thursday afternoon, spokesperson Heather Nauert told reporters that Friedman's comments in an interview with the Israeli Walla news website that he considers West Bank "settlements are part of Israel" should "not be read as a shift in US policy."

Friedman told Walla, "When Resolution 242 was adopted in 1967, it was, and remains today, the only substantive resolution that was agreed to by everybody . . . The 1967 borders were viewed by everybody as not secure, so Israel would retain a meaningful portion of the West Bank, and it would return that which it didn't need for peace and security."

"They (Israelis) are only occupying 2 percent of the West Bank," he said. (Read more)
- O righteous Father, You have claimed the Land of Israel to be given to the twelve tribes of Jacob and did, in fact, section off in detail what area should go to each tribe. You said, "When the Lord your God shall bring you into the land whither you go to possess it, and have cast out many nations before you, the Hittites, the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than you: And when the Lord your God shall deliver them before you; you shall smite them, and utterly destroy them; you shall make no covenant with them, nor show mercy unto them. Neither shall you make marriages with them; your daughter you shall not give unto his son, nor his daughter shall you take unto your son." (Deuteronomy 7:1,2) Father, from this day forward, we pray that You guide the leaders of Israel to stand on the prophetic Word of God and obey it. In Jesus' Name we pray.

- "That you may love the Lord your God, and thjat you may obey His voice, and that you may cleave unto Him: for He is your life, and the length of your days: that you may dwell in the Land which the Lord sware unto your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them." (Deuteronomy 30:20)

4. Tom Price's ouster complicates Republicans' latest health care push - Fox News

The exit of Tom Price as the U.S. health secretary has many wondering if Republicans will be able to deliver on their promise to repeal and replace ObamaCare. The Republican Party as of late has struggled to advance its health care agenda even though they have control of the White House and both chambers of Congress.

Price's exit on Friday amid investigations into his use of costly charter flights for official travel at taxpayer expense seems to be the latest self-inflicted blow. Regaining momentum to replace former President Obama's law will be more difficult now that Trump administration must now also find his replacement.

"I think health care is a dead letter through the next election," said Joe Antos, a policy expert with the business-oriented American Enterprise Institute. (Read more)
- O righteous Father, we ask that You will soon put the man of Your choosing to replace Mr. Price. God, pull the plug to any and all funding for Planned Parenthood and blow upon them Your holy breath that will sweep them into a place of dry desert, without moisture, and make them languid by moving them into the place of lifelessness. Almighty God, because ObamaCare was turned to sawdust a few years ago, bring it into fruition that indeed it was and is destroyed by Your hand. Now kill every counterfeit plan that has since been conjured up by enemies of God and create a new medical plan that will be drawn up by the presence of God moving upon someone to produce it. We pray in the Name of Jesus and for Your glory.

- "Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvelous work among this people, even a marvelous work and a wonder: for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid." (Isaiah 29:24)

5. Found: Election collusion between Facebook and Hillary - WND

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and COO Sheryl Sandberg colluded with Hillary Clinton's 2016 election campaign, charges WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.

Assange tweeted links to email exchanges between Clinton's former campaign chairman, John Podesta, and Sandberg, demonstrating Sandberg used her position at the leading social networking site to promote Clinton's candidacy.

"I still want HRC to win badly. I am still here to help as I can. She came over and was magical with my kids," Sandberg wrote in an email to Podesta.

In another email, Podesta thanked Sandberg for assisting the Clinton campaign. "Wishing you a happy New Year. 2015 was challenging, but we ended in a good place thanks to your help and support. Look forward to working with you to elect the first woman President of the United States," Podesta wrote to the Facebook COO on Jan. 2, 2016. (Read more)
- Father, will people ever realize that You chose Donald Trump to be president of the USA. Hillary had people using everything they had to get her into the White House but their methods were not God's ways. The people have spoken and the majority of votes proved that. God's ways are the highway to heaven. Unethical actions don't glean positive outcomes in our Father's plan. To God be the honor and the glory.

- "Who is wise? Let him understand these things. Who is prudent? Let him know them. For the ways of the Lord are right; The righteous walk in them, But transgressors stumble in them." (Hosea 14:9)

6. Special Counsel Robert Mueller has assembled a team of 16 seasoned prosecutors - ABC News

Special Counsel Robert Mueller has assembled a team of more than a dozen seasoned prosecutors to probe Russian interference in the 2016 election, including any potential collusion between Russian agents and members of Donald Trump's campaign.

In addition to a squad of agents from the FBI and the IRS, Mueller has 16 attorneys on staff, a spokesperson for Special Counsel Robert Mueller confirmed to ABC News, but only 14 of them have been identified publicly. (Read more)
- O righteous Father, we call upon You to be Almighty God over this group of prosecutors. Send an angel to stand in the middle of them that their counsel and conclusions with be bound together with the Truth and only the Truth, and that all opinions, conclusions and decisions will be those given by God and not those made by outside forces. Bind and break the powers of darkness and lies by the Blood of Jesus, that would hinder the Truth from being conclusive in the end. We pray in the Name of Jesus.

- "Divine counsel also comes forth from the Lord of hosts, which is wonderful in counsel, and excellent in working." (Isaiah 28:29)

7. Supreme Court kickoff: Trump agenda, union dues, Kennedy speculation - Fox News

When it comes to touting the successes of his first months in office, President Trump often boasts about the "S.C." in his tweets -- his shorthand for the U.S. Supreme Court and the contentious confirmation of Justice Neil Gorsuch. But with a shaky conservative majority in place, the justices are poised to give a hard legal look in the coming months to the president and his party's policies -- in a new term that could either fuel or significantly set back the administration's political and legislative momentum.

"There's only one prediction that's entirely safe of the upcoming term, and that is it will be momentous," Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said at an event last week, with a slight smile. To boot, the prospect of a resignation or two adds an extra layer of drama and unpredictability surrounding the session that kicks off Monday.

The high court will begin its work with a full bench and a full plate of hot-button cases, including Trump's executive order on an earlier version of his so-called "travel ban." That case is on hold for the moment, as Trump's initial order for a 90-day pause in travel from six nations has lapsed and the president has issued a new policy restricting travel indefinitely from nine nations. That prompted the high court to cancel scheduled oral arguments and is likely to toss the issue back to the lower courts -- for now. (Read more)
- O righteous Father, we lift up the nine Justices of the Supreme Court, as they begin their year of labor, before the very throne of God and lay each and every decision that will be made before the Lord God Himself. Father, give each one the mind of Christ, the confidence to hear God and speak the Truth, and the wisdom to separate the Light from darkness involved in the cases presented. We ask that You assign a myriad of angels to be all around these Justices, to protect them from all danger and evil. Bring down their enemies through the efforts of the angelic host around them. Cast off the works of darkness from every enemy of Light. We pray and trust in the holy Name of Jesus the Christ. Thank you Lord.

- "Now unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us." (Ephesians 3:20)

8. ICE nabs nearly 500 aliens in sweep of sanctuary cities - Washington Times

Federal deportation officers swarmed sanctuary cities this week, netting nearly 500 immigrants in a series of targeted operations designed to go after people that counties and cities were shielding through their noncooperation policies. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said it netted more than 100 migrants in Los Angeles and Philadelphia each, and dozens more in Baltimore, Chicago, Denver and New York, among other sanctuary jurisdictions.

Of the 498 aliens caught, 310 of them were targets and the other 188 were "collateral" arrests of illegal immigrants whom officers encountered while going after their targets, the agency said.

ICE officials also said they're seeing an increase in resistance from aliens as they step up enforcement of the law. Through the first 11 months of fiscal year 2017, the agency recorded 37 assaults on officers, compared to just nine assaults in all of 2016. A senior official briefing reporters on the numbers Thursday said one gang member they tried to arrest in the latest actions attempted to run over the officers with a vehicle, and then, when he was taken into custody, he was found to have a loaded firearm.

"These are dangerous individuals we're going after," the official said, adding that's why they would hope for better cooperation from state and local authorities, to help take dangerous criminal aliens into custody from prisons and jails, where the handoff can be controlled. The official said none of the officers involved in the vehicle incident or any of the other arrests was seriously injured. (Read more)
- Abba Father, send Your protection to surround the ICE officers as they seek and find these illegal immigrants. Send the illegal aliens back to their homelands and let them come into the U.S. legally if they wish to return. We pray for these officers and the immigrants to come to know You as their personal Savior. Thank You for loving us and for shedding Your precious blood for us. Amen.

- "Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler, No evil shall befall you, Nor shall any plague come near your dwelling; For He shall give His angels charge over you,To keep you in all your ways. In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone. I will be with him in trouble; And show him My salvation." (Psalm 91: 3a, 10 -12)

9. ISIS leader seemingly breaks 11-month silence in audio recording - CNN

The leader of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, seems to have broken his 11-month silence with a long audio message in which he mocks the United States, calls on jihadis to rally against the Syrian regime and insists that ISIS 'remains' despite its rapid loss of territory. A spokesman for the US Office of the Director of National Intelligence, Timothy Barrett, told CNN that after analyzing the recording, the intelligence community has determined the message "appears to be authentic."

The speech seems to have been recorded relatively recently, as it references North Korean nuclear threats against Japan and the United States, as well as Syrian peace talks -- in which Russia, Turkey and Iran are trying to extend ceasefires across Syria.

The release appears to lay to rest claims by the Russian military that they had almost certainly killed Baghdadi in an airstrike near Raqqa on May 28. US officials say ISIS has largely been forced out of Raqqa as well as Mosul, and Baghdadi may be somewhere in the middle of the Euphrates River Valley. (Read more)
- Precious Lord, we call for a silence to this bragging voice of the enemy of all people who value freedom and liberty. Lord, cut off the source of this voice and cut this voice off from all who would listen to it. Thank You, Lord, for the decrease in the territory these evil people control and bring Your order and Word into the lives of those once held captive by this pagan religion. May the truth prevail in the matter of this man's continued existence.

- "They utter speech, and speak insolent things; all the workers of iniquity boast of themselves." (Psalms 94:4)

" . . . the mouths of those who speak lies will be stopped." (Psalm 63:11c)

10. Southern Baptist Slams Jesuit Priest's Teaching on LGBT Christians; Priest Calls Criticism 'Absurd' - Christian Post

Fr. James Martin, a Jesuit priest who has stirred controversy for calling on the Catholic Church to change its language toward LGBT Christians, has pushed back against criticism by prominent Southern Baptist Albert Mohler. "My point is simply that we have to be sensitive to the language we use. We can't pretend that language like that isn't harmful," Martin told Catholic News Agency on Thursday, speaking about his recently released book, Building a Bridge.

Mohler pointed out last week on his radio show, The Briefing, that although Martin has not necessarily called for the Roman Catholic Church to change its teaching that marriage is solely a union between a man and a woman, the Jesuit priest is still suggesting a controversial "re-orientation." Martin has called for Catholics to consider the language they use toward LGBT people, and has pushed back against phrases in the catechism of the Catholic Church which describe homosexual acts as "intrinsically disordered." (Read more)
- Albert Mohler definitely knows the Bible and its teaching that marriage is solely a union between a man and a woman. No offense there. God's word doesn't change and what is written stands true. Teaching the nations to, "Come unto me." is far more important to God than their being sensitive to untruth. God's way leads all to live eternally with Him if they choose. The world's way does not lead anyone to salvation. Fr. Martin can't change the word of God. If that were possible, it becomes just another book with words of man. Lord, forgive him for he doesn't know what he is asking. Lead him to the cross for repentance and salvation. Thank You, God for Your everlasting words.

- "He who is of God hears God's words; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God." (John 8:47)

ALSO:
Call to Prayer and Action: The UN Pushes for International Law to Make Abortion a Human Right - Life Site News

Imagine a day in the not-too-distant future when we finally have the coveted fifth vote necessary to strike down Roe v. Wade. Recall the many years of sweat and tears, ups and downs, wrangling about judicial nominations, and arguing about presidential elections. Then imagine that fifth vote no longer even matters because abortion has been declared a human right by international law. The issue is not just out of the hands of the Supreme Court - it is out of the hands of the American people.

This nightmare is now unfolding before our very eyes as the UN Human Rights Committee wraps up a draft legal commentary on the right to life that excludes unborn children from membership in the human family and the protections of international treaties. . . . The committee then proceeded to exclude unborn children from the protection of Article 6.

States parties must provide safe access to abortion to protect the life and health of pregnant women, and in situations when carrying a pregnancy to term would cause a woman substantial pain or suffering, most notably when the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest, or when the fetus suffers from fatal impairment. And it excluded also the terminally ill.
Governments should be urged to act by all means possible, whether it is through public statements from politicians, public petitions, or research and publications. No person, institution, or organization that cares about the pro-life cause should sit this one out . . . The committee must realize that there is real international outrage at what it is doing. The deadline for governments and civil society to express displeasure with the committee is October 6. Details can be found on the committee's website. You can also sign this petition and forward it to others.
- LORD GOD ALMIGHTY IN HEAVEN! We ask that in the next 5 days, this news will reach believers around the world, so that we might ALL raise our voices in OUTRAGE that this legal document is ILLEGAL in the Court of Heaven! Save us, O Lord, we pray! Let believers TAKE ACTION that this not be allowed to pass at the U.N. this week. Amen!

- " . . . faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead." (James 2:17)