PHOTOS SHOWING WHAT HAPPENED AT THE SUPREME COURT DURING MARCH FOR LIFE

Due to extreme blizzard conditions [last] weekend, the March for Life received unprecedented national attention. Beyond crowd estimates or miracles in the midst of travel, a longtime Bound4LIFE intercessor tells firsthand what she saw and experienced.
(Washington, DC)—[Bound4Life.com] Hundreds of times I have stood in silent prayer outside the court—but with a blizzard bearing down on the city, this time would be like no other. We had committed to stand in silent prayer for two hours, in solidarity with the silent cries of pre-born babies. (All photos by Aaron Wong for Bound4LIFE International. Used with permission from Bound4LIFE)

No matter what the weather threw at us, we were determined to pray.

As we arrived at the steps of the United States Supreme Court, the air was already charged.

We lifted up our fellow pro-life advocates who would arrive at this endpoint of the March for Life. If past years were any guide, their peaceful demeanor would clash with the raised voices and angry chants of the few pro-choice activists gathered.

With our fingers getting cold, we began to write out Life Tape for the three dozen intercessors who had joined us. One by one, we took our place before the barricades—making up a wall of intercession before the court.

Shoulder to shoulder, as the snow began to fall, we lifted our hearts in appeal to the court of Heaven for the Lord to release His wisdom and justice on behalf of unborn babies—and the women and men wounded by abortion.

Intercessors from across the nation, undeterred by the forecast and bitter cold, had joined us to intercede on this critical day. Many of these individuals have had their lives shifted by prayer sieges like this very one.

Like Randy Bohlender who came with his son Zion. While standing on this same stretch of pavement eleven years earlier, he felt the call of God to help raise up an adoption movement to be the answer to abortion.

Now he and his wife Kelsey have started up Zoe's House Adoption Agency in the midst of raising their ten children, six of whom are adopted.

Mindy and Denny, along with their three precious daughters, embody the Father's heart through adoption—dedicating their time and talents to the Orphan Justice Center. They also serve as directors of LIFE Initiatives at International House of Prayer-Kansas City, part of the Bound4LIFE prayer network.

In the midst of the tumult of protestors and bullhorns, our faithful band of intercessors experienced the peace of God. We set our hearts on our heavenly King, whomIsaiah 42 ensures will faithfully bring forth justice in the earth.

For those like Jared from the International House of Prayer-Tallahassee, the snow would not deter him and his young family from taking part. He has labored for years in the Sunshine State praying and advocating for life.

This has opened doors for their team to present red Life Bands to a number of presidential candidates—a symbol of commitment to defend the unborn, and a daily reminder to pray.

Many of us, like these two pro-life advocates from Texas, focused our prayers on the nine justices of the Supreme Court who will be weighing eight pro-life cases in a matter of weeks.

Especially pertinent will be a challenge to the commonsense Texas law HB2 that requires abortion clinics to abide by widely accepted health, safety and sanitation standards.

For the leader of Bound4LIFE, Matt Lockett, this day brought a mixture of emotions: a solemn reminder of eleven long years of intercession as the injustice of abortion has continued, while filled with hope for the year ahead.

The driving wind and icy cold could not dampen our spirits, as we know the momentum is shifting in America: public opinion now reflects firm beliefs in upholding the value of every life, including among millennials.

Even young children like 12 year-old Samuel wanted to join us in prayer for the pre-born babies to have their right to life protected—before heading back inside, out of the cold.

For Monique, uniting in prayer with Bound4LIFE Chapter Leaders from across the nation was especially meaningful. As a strong single mother, she has been faithfully praying with a small remnant for years outside a Planned Parenthood abortion clinic in the Bronx in New York City – where more babies of color are aborted each year than born.

On this pivotal day, she did not stand alone. Monique returned to the Big Apple with a renewed hope for her community.

Just as the cries of the unborn are heard by God, we know our prayers and tears are heard in Heaven. "Jesus, I plead Your Blood over my sins and the sins of my nation. God, end abortion and send revival to America."

We do not stand in prayer begging to get God's attention.

Regardless of the path we took—pro-life since childhood, adopted out of broken situations, or finding healing from our own involvement in past abortions—we see the common thread that God arrested our hearts over this great injustice that shatters His.

Jesus is serious about ending the scourge of abortion. It is He who called us here. He will use prayer, and advocacy like the Silent No More Awareness Campaign, to change hearts and shift culture.

It is out of love for Him—and for the pre-born children, mothers and fathers made in His image—that we will continue to stand in the gap. We are bound for life to this cause.

So week by week, day by day, small groups of intercessors will put on freshly hand-written pieces of Life Tape outside abortion clinics and court houses across America—as a witness to the silent unborn who are crying out for life.

If Roe v. Wade is still the law of the land in 2017, no matter the weather conditions, you'll know right where to find us at the March for Life—on that sacred space of pavement before the court of man and the court of Heaven.

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WALK FOR LIFE IN SAN FRANCISCO DRAWS HUGE CROWD

by Dustin Siggins

SAN FRANCISCO, January 25, 2016  Women "should never have to buy success with the blood of our babies," a pro-life Nigerian activist told thousands of attendees at the 12th annual Walk for Life in San Francisco.

Speaking three thousand miles from where hundreds of pro-life activists were stranded in hotels and on roadsides, Obianuju Ekeocha said, "They tell us the lie that women-- in order to have opportunities and in order for us be successful-- we must have abortion rights." However, Ekeocha, who founded and runs Culture of Life Africa, stated that "I stand here before you not just as a black person or an African person. I stand here before you as a woman to say we should never have to buy success with the blood of our babies."

Center for Medical Progress founder David Daleiden also spoke, leading the one-hour rally's speakers. "The videos raise the biggest question that Planned Parenthood and their allies cannot answer," he said. "That is how on the one hand in our country the humanity of the baby fetus is not considered to be equal enough to our own in order to be totally protected by law. But at the same time, it is precisely their equal and identical humanity to our own that makes them so valuable for sale."

San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone, in his speech, mentioned both Daleiden's videos and the state's new assisted suicide law. "The big question is, what does this say about us as a society. How can we do this to ourselves?" He said that pro-life advocates must be Jesus' "light shining in the darkness."

LifeSiteNews was unable to obtain an official count of the size of the Walk for Life by press time; however, NBC's San Francisco affiliate reported that tens of thousands of people participated.

Last year's Walk saw 50,000 participants. As in past years, the marchers took their traditional route down Market Street in one of America's most liberal cities. A pro-abortion website said the group Stop Patriarchy and other abortion-supporting organizations brought "hundreds" to counter-protest, but San Francisco News reported about one hundred counter-protestors.

A spokesperson for Students for Life of America told LifeSiteNews they estimated the counter-protestors at between 50 and 60.


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DR BEN CARSON ROLLS OUT PLAN TO DEFEAT GLOBAL JIHAD



Dr. Ben Carson, the renowned retired neurosurgeon and Republican candidate for President, just unveiled a comprehensive plan to defeat the Islamic State (IS) terror group.


His “We The People” PLAN presents “A strategy to eliminate the threat from radical Islamic terrorism.”

Describing the Islamic State as the most “urgent foreign policy priority” facing the United States, Carson warns the U.S. currently has no “coherent strategy” to defeat the jihadi terror outfit

“14 years after 9/11,” the United States still has no plan to take our “transnational organization that wage jihad” against us, he adds.

American can no longer stand to see the group retain unfettered access to multiple regions throughout the globe, where IS grabs territory and proceeds to “enslave young girls, oppress civil societies and perpetrate terrorist attacks against the United States,” Carson said.

There are elements of Islam that “fuel the terrorists’ wrath and pose a threat to the United States and the civilized world,” the statement says in criticizing the Obama administration for refusing to name the jihadist enemy.

“While acknowledging that Islam is a complex religion, we must recognize that among its radical adherents, Islam requires conversion, submission or death for those who worship differently,” his strategy adds. Though the United States must hone in on the jihadi elements of Islam, and not trample upon the “peaceful and tolerant worship of God,” Carson says.

Even if America succeeds in taking out the Islamic State, the threat from global Islamic terrorism will still remain alive, his strategy explains in stating: “The Islamist threat is now like a hydra, and cutting off the head that is [Islamic State] will not kill the beast.” The retired neurosurgeon pledges to “wage war against radical Islamic terrorism as a global movement, not just as discrete entities.”

Three principles are key to defeating the global jihad, Carson explains. They are: “focusing the national will, engaging the threat at its source and protecting the American way of life.”

“Just as the United States opposed the spread of Communism in every form and in every place, it must now oppose the spread of the terrorists’ supremacist, totalitarian and radical Islamism whenever and wherever it arises,” he adds.

Muslim leaders both inside and outside of the United States will have a decision to make: “they must choose between radical jihad and peaceful coexistence,” Carson says in his strategy memo.

“A Carson administration will work toward a more peaceful and secure world that is free from the threat of radical jihad for generations to come,” he concludes. “Under my leadership, America will be stronger and safer, and will resume its rightful role of leading the world.”


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OBAMA VS. JEFFERSON ON ISLAMIC TERROR

BY DAVID BARTON

Democrats have long heralded Thomas Jefferson (along with Andrew Jackson) as the founder of their Party. i They traditionally hold annual Jefferson-Jackson Day fundraising dinners, and President Obama is one of their most sought after speakers. But this past year, Democrats began to remove any mention of Jefferson’s name from their functions. ii They claim that this is because Jefferson was a bigoted racist, iii but this excuse is historically inaccurate, based on an errant modern portrayal. iv

If you doubt this, ask yourself why black civil rights leaders over the past two centuries (such as Frederick Douglass, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, Benjamin Banneker, Francis Grimke, Henry Highland Garnett, and so many others) openly praised Jefferson as a racial civil rights pioneer and champion, v as did abolitionists such as John Quincy Adams, Abraham Lincoln, and others. viThey recognized that Jefferson led a vocal lifelong campaign to emancipate all slaves in the United States, but that the laws of Virginia prevented him from freeing his own slaves. (All of this is covered in my new book, “The Jefferson Lies.”)

The real reason that Democrats should discard Jefferson is that he held nearly no policy position similar to those Democrats hold today. Consider fifteen major categories where the policies of Presidents Jefferson and Obama are opposite.

1. RADICAL ISLAM AND THE WAR ON TERROR. President Obama’s approach to the War on Terror throughout his two terms has been non-engagement. As described by one national political observer, he “feels the U.S. should do as little as is politically feasible in battling these groups overseas. Bump off some of their bigwigs by drones, bomb them from time to time with air strikes and provide a bit of training and military assistance to their foes.” vii In attempting to negotiate and pacify rather than annihilate and defeat, he has spent $779 billion on the War on Terror, viii making it a big-ticket item in his administration.

When President Jefferson took office in 1801, he had been personally dealing with Muslim nations for almost two decades, and the terrorism issue was also a big-ticket item for him as well: twenty percent of the federal budget was being spent to mollify radical Islamicists. ix

By way of background, in 1784 shortly after the close of the American Revolution, Congress dispatched Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and Benjamin Franklin as diplomats x to negotiate with five Muslim nations attacking American ships and citizens in the Mediterranean area xi (the same general region where conflict is still occurring today). At that time, America had no military capable of traveling overseas to destroy the seedbed of the war-mongering Islamicists plaguing Americans, so America resorted to large payments of money and goods in attempts to purchase peace and end the attacks. This unhappy policy, adopted under the Confederation Congress, continued under President George Washington.

Washington expressed his open frustration with this approach, declaring:

Would to Heaven we had a navy able to reform those enemies to mankind, or crush them into non-existence. xii

As he neared the close of his presidency, he requested that Congress appropriate money to build a navy capable of traveling to the Mediterranean to smash the Islamicists. xiii Congress did, and the navy was constructed under President John Adams, xiv who became known as “The Father of the Navy.” xv But Adams refused to use the new navy, continuing the payments instead.

The Jefferson Lies: Exposing the Myths 
You've Always Believed 
About Thomas Jefferson Paperback – 
January 12, 2016 by David Barton
When Jefferson became president, his long experience with Muslim leaders and nations taught him there were three possible solutions: (1) continue to rely on negotiations and diplomacy, which also required large concessions of rights and payments of monies in hopes of placating the terrorists, (2) limit American lifestyles and activities by keeping American business interests and shipping out of that predominately Muslim part of the world (which would destroy American commerce), or (3) use decisive military force to put an end to the attacks. xvi Jefferson discarded the first option out of hand:

I was very unwilling that we should acquiesce in the . . . humiliation of paying a tribute to those lawless pirates. xvii

Jefferson had earlier concluded that the second option was bad policy, explaining:

The persons and property of our citizens are entitled to the protection of our government in all places where they may lawfully go. xviii

He favored the third option:

I very early thought it would be best to effect a peace through the medium of war. xix The power of making war often prevents it, and in our case would give efficacy to our desire of peace. xx

There were several reasons Jefferson believed this option was the best policy:

Justice is in favor of this opinion; honor favors it; it will procure us respect in Europe (and respect is a safeguard to interest) . . . [and] I think it least expensive [and] equally effectual. xxi

Understanding that it was time to end terrorist attacks against American persons and interests, he deployed an expeditionary force under General William Eaton and Commodore Edward Preble to exterminate the radical Islamicists. xxii The terrorists, after five years of being pounded by American military superiority, decided the price they were paying was too high and thus signed a treaty of peace. xxiii

Interestingly, Jefferson understood that in dealing with Islamicists, a drawdown of American forces was bad policy – that an insufficient application of American strength would cause the enemy to escalate their attacks. He therefore initiated a military surge, explaining to Congress:

There was reason . . . to apprehend that the warfare in which we were engaged with Tripoli [Libya] might be taken up by some others of the Barbary Powers [Algiers, Tunis, Morocco, Turkey, et. al]. A reinforcement therefore was immediately ordered. xxiv

He also related to Congress an account of how an Islamic warship had attacked a much smaller American vessel and the result was “a heavy slaughter of her [Islamicist] men, without the loss of a single one on our part.” xxv He observed:

The bravery exhibited by our citizens on that element will, I trust, be a testimony to the world that it is not the want of that virtue which makes us seek their peace but a conscientious desire to direct the energies of our nation to the multiplication of the human race and not to its destruction. xxvi

We sought peace not because we were weak (as had been the American situation for the previous two decades) but rather because our use of superior military force drove the Islamicists to peace, thus ending further human devastation at their hands. We were willing to take lawless lives in order to save countless times more innocent ones. Waging war in this situation was thus humanitarian.

bama holds the opposite view. His refusal to use military force has led to an increasingly strong Iran xxvii(the chief global sponsor of terrorism xxviii) as well as the explosive growth of ISIS, xxix which has been responsible for thousands of civilian murders. xxx ISIS acknowledges that the only army it fears is that of Israel, xxxiand consequently it has largely refrained from martyring Jews (although it loudly blusters about doing so xxxii) But fearing nothing from America, it openly martyrs Christians. (It is a lesson of note that when ISIS murdered Egyptian Coptic Christians, Egypt responded promptly and with decisive military force xxxiii and further martyrdoms halted.)

Jefferson’s use of unequivocal military force against terrorists brought America its first respite in the decades old Islamic attacks but Obama’s refusal to do so has caused the numbers of murders committed by Islamicists to soar. President Obama would have done well to have heeded Jefferson’s observation that:

[H]istory bears witness to the fact that a just nation is taken on its word when recourse is had to armaments and wars to bridle others. xxxiv

2. THE “RELIGION OF PEACE.” President Obama (and other Democratic leaders) often repeat the platitude that Islam is a “religion of peace.” xxxv They therefore place its adherents into positions of influence within the Obama administration, xxxviincluding even those from the Muslim Brotherhood, xxxvii which is recognized as the radical wing of Islam that fuels many of its most violent adherents. xxxviii
President Jefferson did not believe that Islam was a religion of peace. He personally learned this from the mouth of its own leaders, and from Islam’s own writings. In 1786 (two years after Congress dispatched him to negotiate with leaders of the terrorists), he and John Adams approached the Muslim Ambassador, inquiring as to the reason behind the unprovoked attacks against America. According to Jefferson:

We took the liberty to make some inquiries concerning the grounds of their pretentions to make war upon nations who had done them no injury, and observed that we considered all mankind as our friends who had done us no wrong, nor had given us any provocation. xxxix

So why were the Islamicists so fixated on attacking Americans even though America had done nothing against them?

The Ambassador answered us that it was founded on the laws of their prophet [Mohammed], that it was written in their Koran, that all nations who should not have acknowledged their authority were sinners, that it was their right and duty to make war upon them wherever they could be found, and to make slaves of all they could take as prisoners, and that every Musselman [Muslim] who should be slain in battle was sure to go to Paradise. xl

It was Muslim leaders who told Jefferson that Islam was not intrinsically a religion of peace. Certainly, not all of its adherents were as warlike as the religion itself had historically tended to be (after all, there had been individual Muslims living in America since 1619 xli ), but wherever Islam was dominant in a nation or a region, lasting peace seldom accompanied it. As the Ambassador affirmed, war was the one sure guarantee of spiritual salvation for Muslims, so they had a compelling spiritual motivation to engage in perpetual violence.

One way for Americans in Jefferson’s day (and today also) to determine for themselves whether the Ambassador’s claim was true was by reading the Quran for themselves, so the first American edition of the Quran was published during the Jefferson administration. xlii The editor’s preface promised that once Americans had read it for themselves, “Thou wilt wonder that such absurdities have infected the better part of the world and wilt avouch that the knowledge of what is contained in this book [the Koran] will render that [Islamic] law contemptible.” xliii

Jefferson believed what Islamicists said about their religion and acted accordingly. Obama dismisses the same claims as mere hyperbole and tries to explain why Islamicists do not really mean what they say and why we should ignore what they do.


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IRS TARGETS MORE AMERICANS WHEN DEMOCRATS ARE IN CONTROL

Keith Peacock, of Hainesport, holds a sign during a
 tea party rally protesting extra IRS scrutiny of their groups
 in the IRS scandal of 2013. (AP Photo/Mel Evans)
By PAUL BEDARD

The Internal Revenue Service has a history of going after more individual Americans and corporations when Democrats control Washington, especially the White House, according to a comprehensive study of the agency going back to 1978.

What's more, when Democrats run the Senate, as they did during the Obama administration's IRS targeting scandal, the agency is typically given more money to hire more auditors who conduct more audits.

"Democratic control of the Senate is correlated with an increased IRS budget and workforce. The president's party has a statistically significant impact on the number of IRS enforcement personnel when both houses of Congress are controlled by Democrats," said the study promoted by Harvard University last week and published in the Journal of Public Policy.

During the heyday of the IRS scandal, when conservative groups critical of President Obama saw their applications for tax exempt status delayed, questioned or killed, Democrats controlled the House and Senate.


Author Sutirtha Bagchi, assistant professor of economics at Villanova University, used IRS budget and personnel figures to determine political influence and found it greater under Democrats.

Bagchi wrote, "Democratic administrations are significantly more likely to audit tax returns compared to Republican administrations."

In its writeup of the report, Harvard's Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy, highlighted these findings:

-- Democratic control of the Senate is correlated with an increased IRS budget and workforce.

-- The president's party has a statistically significant impact on the number of IRS enforcement personnel when both houses of Congress are controlled by Democrats.

-- The president's party has a statistically significant impact on the number of corporate income returns audited by the IRS, with 5 percent more on average performed under Democratic administrations. The party in control of the houses of Congress has no such statistically significant impact.

-- The president's party has a statistically significant impact on the number of individual income returns audited by the IRS, with 4 percent more on average performed under Democratic administrations. The party in control of the houses of Congress has a mixed impact of smaller magnitude.


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FLORIDA: CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS CAN'T PRAY AT CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

By Todd Starnes

Prayer is important at Florida’s Cambridge Christian School.

“We train our students that prayer is foundational to their walk with Christ,” Head of School Tim Euler told me. “Our faith is founded in prayer.”

So when Cambridge Christian faced off against University Christian School last December in the 2A state championship football game, they asked the Florida High School Athletic Association if they could begin with a word of prayer.

The FHSAA said no.

They told both Christian schools that offering a pre-game prayer was against the law – that it could be viewed as an endorsement of religion since the schools would be praying on government property.

“This is ridiculous,” said Jeremy Dys, an attorney with Liberty Institute. “We’ve got two Christian schools being told they can’t pray.”

Liberty Institute, a law firm that specializes in religious liberty issues, is representing Cambridge Christian.

Dys said the FHSAA broke the law when they forbade the Christian schools from praying last December at the Citrus Bowl.


“We have the state trying to impose strictures upon the church,” he told me. “I think we’ve gone a long way away from who we are as a country when the state starts telling Christian schools they can no longer pray in public.”

Liberty Institute sent a demand letter to the FHSAA demanding a written apology for what they call a “gross violation” of the law. Should they fail to do so, the law firm has threatened to file a federal lawsuit.

The FHSAA has yet to respond to their demands.

The prayer ban disturbed not only the administration but also the football team.

Jacob Enns, the team’s 17-year-old kicker, told me the prayer is extremely important.

“It’s something we did before every game this season,” he said. It’s been our tradition ever since I’ve been on the team and our tradition was ruined. It made me wonder, is it wrong to pray?”

Still, the team gathered on the field and recited “The Lord’s Prayer” before the game – and some spectators joined in.

“Prayer is something we’ve been taught to do and to do no matter what – even in public,” Jacob told me.

For Cambridge Christian prayer is a means to glorify god in all that it does – including on the gridiron.

“We are raising godly young men that can make a difference in the world they live in,” head coach Bob Dare said. “This is why CCS is so committed to praying before every home football game.”

It serves as a reminder to the young men on the field, Euler said.

“Football is great, but in reality their walk with Jesus and prayer is vitally more important,” he said.


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CHRISTIANS "DRINKING KOOL-AID" ON CHURCH-STATE SEPARATION

Christians in America should not hesitate to engage in national affairs, according to minister and national speaker Rafael Cruz.

 Rafael Cruz helped mobilize millions of Christians 
to elect a man he considered a great servant 
and great leader: Ronald Reagan
Christians have been lied to and have believed the lies, have been drinking the Kool-Aid for too long with things like so-called separation of church and state, which of course is neither in the Constitution nor in the Declaration,” Cruz said Thursday on the Breitbart News Daily radio program.

Cruz, the father of GOP presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and the author of the new book “A Time for Action: Empowering the Faithful to Reclaim America,” believes too many pastors interpret Jesus’ commandment to “render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s” to mean they must divorce themselves completely from civic society.

However, in doing that they ignore something else Jesus commanded, according to Cruz.

“If we follow the teachings of Jesus, he said that we are to be salt and light,” Cruz stated. “Well, light is worthless unless you point it to darkness.”

He believes too many pastors for too long have been “hiding behind the pulpit,” refusing to address political issues for fear of losing their tax exemption or driving angry congregants away from the church. These pastors are afraid of being criticized, but as Cruz noted, the only surefire way to avoid criticism is to not make an impact.

“When you make an impact, you can be sure that those that disagree with you will be speaking loudly, so persecution is something that shows you that Christians are making an impact,” Cruz said. “I mean, the reason why there’s so much persecution of Christians is that the message of Christ is a life-changing message, and it threatens those who don’t believe in Christ.”

The minister urged Christians to take the message of Christ outside the church and “shout it from the rooftops.”

He said it’s especially important for American Christians to get involved in civic affairs given the unique history and structure of the U.S. government.

Cruz pointed out that throughout history, most governments have followed the same man-made model: Authority flowed from God to the government to the people. Kings and tyrants used that model to justify oppression of their people, claiming God gave them the authority to do whatever they wanted to do.

On the other hand, the framers of the U.S. Constitution, whom Cruz believes were inspired by God, instituted a different model of government.

“No longer does authority come from God to the government to the people, but rather authority comes from God to the people to the government,” Cruz lectured. “All authority under the Constitution is placed upon ‘We the people.’

“And I’ll tell you what, with that authority comes an awesome responsibility for us to elect righteous leaders, elect leaders that have a love for America, a love for the people of America, that want to be servants – not dictators, but servants – to we the people.”

Cruz said he thinks humility is a key trait an American leader must possess, and Barack Obama is not a humble man.

“If you listen to any speech of Obama, the word that most often he says is ‘I,'” Cruz noted. “And he’s all about himself; he’s very egocentric. And, you know, Jesus said he who wants to be the greatest must become the servant of all. And I think the greatest quality of leadership is servanthood. It needs to be a purpose of leadership to serve others, and when we look at the highest position in the land, it’s to serve every citizen of the United States of America.”

In the late 1970s and 1980s, Cruz helped mobilize millions of Christians to elect a man he considered a great servant and great leader: Ronald Reagan. Cruz emphasized that Christians were able to elevate Reagan to the presidency back then without many of the resources they have today.

“In 1980, we didn’t have Internet, we didn’t have Facebook, we didn’t have Twitter, we didn’t have bloggers, we didn’t have email, we didn’t even have conservative radio; but we the people elected Ronald Reagan,” Cruz recalled.

Therefore, Christians today, with so many outlets at their disposal, have no excuse to not band together and elect another faithful and principled president.

“We need for the church, we need for people of principle, people of faith to unite and coalesce around a candidate that upholds the principles that have made America great and that will stand and fight for those principles,” Cruz declared.



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HUCKABEE: PULLS DON'T DICTATE MY VALUES

Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee speaks
at a campaign event at the Cherokee Train Depot on Jan. 20, 2016, i
n Cherokee, Iowa.
 (Photo: Mary Altaffer, AP)
Kathy A. Bolten, The Des Moines Register

HARLAN, Iowa — For 12 years, Mike Huckabee served as a Baptist minister, but the Republican told a group of mostly retired veterans on Wednesday that if he's elected president, he won't be America's pastor.

Still, Huckabee said that the first thing he would do when he walked into the Oval Office as president is “get down on my knees and pray.

“I don’t believe this is a job that mere human brains can handle without inspiration. If you believe that a person can do this job and do it solely on his own instincts and not upon God, then elect somebody else,” he said. “I’m not your guy.”

The campaign stop at the American Legion Hall in Harlan was the first of four events on Wednesday for Huckabee. Since Jan. 2, Huckabee has held 42 campaign events in Iowa. By Feb. 1, the date of the Iowa caucuses, the candidate has said he will hold 150 events.

At least two will be concerts.

Huckabee, who plays bass guitar, will join the 1990s rock band FireHouse on Friday atClear Lake’s Surf Ballroom. On Monday, he’ll play with country music recording artist Josh Turner at Wooly’s in Des Moines.

Shelby County Supervisor Charles Parkhurst introduced Huckabee on Wednesday. Parkhurst said he supported Huckabee in 2008 when the former Arkansas governor won the Iowa caucuses and that he’ll likely support the candidate again.

“He’s got a good moral character and he’s real straightforward,” Parkhurst said.

The point is one Huckabee made at his stops in Harlan and Carroll. He told audiences in both communities that he hasn’t changed since the 2008 caucuses and neither have his values.

“My values don’t come from the latest political polls, they come from my faith,” Huckabee said. He added that the electorate wants elected officials who are consistent in what they say and believe.

Harlan resident Janet C. Miller told Huckabee that she was disappointed all of the Republican candidates weren’t on the same debate stage and asked him whether there was anything he could do to change it.

Huckabee said he too is frustrated by the debate process.

“If a candidate will go after another candidate and trash them they’ll get a whole lot of attention,” he said. “If they get a whole lot of attention, they’ll get on the news more. If they get on the news more, their poll numbers go up. If their poll numbers go up, they’ll get on the main stage …

“I will not sacrifice my honor and my integrity just to be able to please the rating system and become part of the entertainment culture instead of taking a serious run the White House.”


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HOMESCHOOLING FAMILY SUED FOR ALLOWING CHILDREN TO PLAY OUTSIDE

Kelly Counts with her children in their backyard.
By Garrett Haley

A husband and wife in Texas are being sued by their neighbors for allowing their homeschooled children to play in their backyard.

Andrew and Kelly Counts moved into their Plano, Texas, home in September of 2014. They reportedly chose the house in part because it had a concrete patio in the backyard—a perfect spot for their kids’ outdoor playhouse and swing set.

“One of the big reasons we chose the house was because we would be able to move this playhouse,” Kelly Counts told reporters.

“We love this house, and we love this neighborhood,” she added.

The Counts’ four children, who are 10, 7, 4, and 2 years old, enjoy spending time in their playhouse and swing set. Because the kids are homeschooled, they sometimes play outside during the day, when other kids are at school.

But two of the Counts’ next-door neighbors, Irving and Anita Ward, are now suing the homeschooling family, saying the kids are a nuisance and make too much noise. First, the neighbors asked the local homeowners association and the City of Plano to force the Counts to remove the playhouse and swing set. When that initiative failed, they took the issue to court.

“It’s unfathomable to me,” Counts said, according to the local CBS affiliate. “I can’t imagine the sound of kids playing at any age or stage of my life and thinking that I needed to sue someone over it.”

The Wards allege that the homeschooled children are upsetting their “tranquil quality of life” and should not be allowed to play in their backyard. According to a report from “Inquisitr,” their lawsuit blamed the Counts for allowing their children to play outside when “most children are in regular schools.”

In retaliation to the homeschoolers’ time outdoors, the upset neighbors blared loud rap music with obscene, vulgar lyrics from their property to prevent the Counts’ kids from playing outside last summer.

“For a while, I’d bring the kids inside and it would stop, and when we went out it would start again,” Counts told “Dallasnews.com.” “I knocked on the door and said, ‘Mrs. Ward, my kids are trying to play in the side yard and there’s some music playing with very vulgar language.’”

But the Wards refused to speak about the issue, so the Counts responded with a lawsuit of their own last month. The Counts say their neighbors’ loud, explicit music makes them feel uncomfortable in their own backyard.

Rebecca French, a homeschool mom who blogs on “Patheos.com,” encouraged homeschoolers to pay close attention to this Texas case, saying it has the potential to affect homeschoolers’ rights.

“Do our children have the right to play outside during school hours?” French asked in a recent blog post. “Do our neighbors have a reasonable expectation to not have to hear the sounds of children at play during the time when ‘most children are in regular schools’?”

“Imagine the precedent that a victory in this case could set for overbearing neighbors everywhere,” she continued. “If the Wards prevail, will the courts have handed those who are against home-based education an effective new way to attack our families and our way of life? … Have we really reached the point as a society where the natural sounds of playing children is a recognized legally actionable nuisance? What does that say about our future?”


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BEN CARSON SPARKS "IN GOD WE TRUST" SOCIAL MEDIA CAMPAIGN

BY STOYAN ZAIMOV

Republican Presidential candidate Ben Carson prompted a new social media campaign on Facebook, encouraging believers to post photos of themselves holding a sign that reads "In God We Trust."

"Change your profile picture to you holding a 'In God We Trust' sign if you believe God should remain a core principle of our nation," Carson wrote in a Facebook message on Tuesday.

The original photo of Carson holding such a sign has received close to 100,000 likes in less than 24 hours, and prompted a lot of discussion in the comments section.

The retired neurosurgeon, who has been outspoken about his Christian faith, has in the past talked about how it is that God gave him the motivation and inner peace to succeed.

Carson has previously said that America's relationship with faith is not unlike schizophrenia, noting that there are faith-positive messages printed on U.S. currency, and at the same time there is a seeming aversion to talk about religion.

"The pledge of allegiance to our flag says we are one nation under God. Many courtrooms in the land, on the wall it says 'In God We Trust.' Every coin in our pocket, every bill in our wallet says 'In God We Trust,'" Carson said at an October 2015 speech at the Free Chapel megachurch in Gainesville, Georgia.

"So if it's in our founding documents, it's in our pledges, in our courts and it's on our money, but we're not supposed to talk about it, what in the world is that? In medicine it's called schizophrenia. And I, for one, am simply not willing to kick God to the curb," Carson added.

The Republican candidate has started other faith-focused social media campaigns in the past as well, including one in October where he urged believers to post photos of themselves with the sign "I Am A Christian" as a sign of solidarity.

The message in particular was a reference to the shooting massacre at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Oregon, where nine people were killed. Reports at the time said that the gunman, Chris Harper-Mercer, was heard asking "Are You a Christian?" before shooting his victims.

Carson said that it is especially important for Christians in the country to stand together in tragedies like this.

"Today, many of your questions were in regards to the sorrowful event that took so many precious lives in Oregon yesterday. We don't have all the details yet, but as time passes more are coming out," Carson wrote at the time.

"Millions of people are posting pictures of themselves declaring they are Christians in support of the victims and their families. I did so on Facebook this afternoon. If you have a moment, please consider doing it as well," he added.


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SOUTHERN BAPTIST LEADER "SONNY HOMES" ENDORSES HUCKABEE


Huckabee: " Values voters are sick of politicians who say one thing for votes and another for campaign contributions, and I'm proud to have the support of Sonny Holmes and Christian conservative leaders from across the country."

DES MOINES, Iowa-Prominent pastor and former President of the South Carolina Southern Baptist Convention, Sonny Holmes, endorsed Gov. Mike Huckabee today.

"Values voters are sick of politicians who say one thing for votes and another for campaign contributions, and I'm proud to have the support of Sonny Holmes and Christian conservative leaders from across the country," said Gov. Huckabee.

Last week, Huckabee announced the first in a series of social conservative endorsements, including Dr. Tim LaHaye, minister and author of the New York Times best-selling Left Behind book series.

"It's time for some integrity. In the Scriptures, James says we should be doers of the Word and not just hearers. I want to support a candidate who has stood on-the-line in public office for his ideals. I'm past voting for blow-hards who talk their way into the hearts of the electorate. Mike Huckabee's politics are consistently driven by his Christian world view and there's no political speak clouding his positions on any of the issues," said Holmes.

"Huckabee is an articulate, pinpoint communicator who can connect with people across the demographic spread of the nation. He is passionate for the nation because he loves the nation," said Holmes.

"Before entering the political arena, Huckabee also pastored two Southern Baptist Churches. Perhaps its some pastoral hyperbole on my part, but anyone who can pastor two Baptist churches can function in Washington too. Just saying!" said Holmes.

HUCKABEE: US BASICALLY PAID IRAN BILLIONS IN RANSOM

by Pam Key
On Fox News Channel’s “Fox & Friends Weekend,” Republican presidential candidate and former Gov. Mike Huckabee (R-AR) said while the release of the U.S. hostages form Iran was good news, the United States “basically paid Iran billions in ransom.”
Huckabee said, “I am delighted they are going to be released. I mean there is no other way to express any other emotion for the hostages and their families, but that’s just it, they were hostages, they were not prisoners, they were not there because they had committed some international crime for which they had been justly tried. They were being held hostages by a government that we just made a deal with and just released $100 billion, maybe up to $150 billion. This is not a good deal because this wasn’t a deal. We were basically paying ransom is what it really came down to.”

He continued, “This is an invitation to go and find an American, hold him hostage, come up with phony charges, hold him a few years, humiliate the United States of America and then demand something of ridiculously high value and know that as long as this administration is in power, you’re going to get it. Because they’re so anxious to make a deal with the Iranians and for what reason, I’ve never been able to understand it.”

 

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President Obama State of the Union Address: "Embracing homosexuality is America’s future"

by Ben Johnson

WASHINGTON, D.C., January 13, 2016 (LifeSiteNews) - President Obama hailed gay "marriage" as one of his proudest accomplishments and looked forward to the day when Americans would shed traditional sexual morality to embrace homosexuals in his final State of the Union address last night.

WhiteHouse.gov
The president told a combined chamber of Congress, Cabinet members, and most of the Supreme Court that upholding our "unique strengths as a nation" and heeding the "spirit of progress" made our national celebration of sexual minorities possible.

"That's how we secured the freedom in every state to marry the person you love," Obama said early in his rather short national address.

The reference to a highly contested, 5-4 Supreme Court decision infuriated pro-family advocates.

"The Republican leadership ought to set aside an empty chair in the front of the chamber to represent the more than 50 million Americans whose votes in support of traditional marriage were stolen by...an anti-constitutional, illegitimate ruling of the U.S. Supreme Court," said Brian Brown, president of the National Organization for Marriage. "It's a national insult that President Obama would celebrate such an affront to democracy."

To underscore his commitment to the issue, First Lady Michelle Obama invited James Obergefell, the plaintiff in the Supreme Court case, as one of her special guests. Ohio Congressman Jim Jordan gave a spare ticket to the Family Research Council, which in turn invited county clerk Kim Davis, who refused to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples on religious liberty grounds. Obergefell said if he confronted Davis, he would tell her that her stance "isn't right, it isn't fair, and isn't what America is about," but there is no indication that the two met. For her part, Davis said she hoped her presence helped "encourage" Christians who "want to make a difference" in our nation.

The president, who gave his final State of the Union address, returned to the subject of homosexuality later in the hour-long speech.

"I have such incredible confidence in our future, because I see your quiet, sturdy citizenship all the time," he said.

He said he found hope in "the son who finds the courage to come out as who he is, and the father whose love for that son overrides everything he's been taught" about homosexual behavior.

Once again, Obama made no reference to abortion in the national address, although he praised ObamaCare, saying that premium hikes caused by "health insurance inflation" were now increasing at a lower rate than in previous years.

He once again advanced federal intervention in education policy, calling the No Child Left Behind bill "an important start" to offering universal, publicly funded preschool.

"In the coming years, we should build on that progress, by providing Pre-K for all," he said.

Obama has advocated federally funded daycare since his first presidential campaign in 2008, mentioning it in previous State of the Union addresses, and even including a reference in the nation's first-ever report to the UN Human Rights Council.

Policy experts warn that the new entitlement would not be helpful, and that most Americans do not want that kind of government tinkering with traditional family roles.

“Families seem to prefer caring for their children at home in their early years," said Lindsey Burke, a scholar at the Heritage Foundation.

Multiple studies show that any educational benefit the child received by attending Head Start disappears by the spring of first grade, but well-documented "negative effects of preschool on children’s behavior" - such as increased aggression andarrested emotional development - "remain.”

Obama took several swipes at Republican presidential hopefuls Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, and Marco Rubio, although not by name.

He warned that, without heeding his advice, America may descend into a virtual civil war fueled by xenophobic religious fanatics bitterly clinging to their guns, religion, and antipathy to those who are different.

Unnamed forces may soon "roll back the equal rights and voting rights that generations of Americans have fought, even died, to secure," he warned darkly. "As frustration grows, there will be voices urging us to fall back into tribes, to scapegoat fellow citizens who don't look like us, or pray like us, or vote like we do, or share the same background."

During past epochs, he said, "there have been those who told us to fear the future; who claimed we could slam the brakes on change, promising to restore past glory if we just got some group or idea that was threatening America under control. And each time, we overcame those fears."

In one of the more remarked upon passages of his speech, Obama lamented the fractious nature of American political discourse - something his rivals said he has done more than anyone to create.

"It's one of the few regrets of my presidency ," he said, " that the rancor and suspicion between the parties has gotten worse instead of better."

Actions that lead to this outcome include questioning the other side's motives, he said.

However, the Obama administration has released multiple reports accusingChristians and members of the pro-life movement of being incipient domestic terrorists and held a joint training session on terrorism led by Planned Parenthood. The rhetorical gambit has been picked up by Hillary Clinton.

Obama promised to "keep trying to be better so long as I hold this office."

Sen. Marco Rubio found the remark surreal. "This president has been the single most divisive political figure this country has had over the last decade," he said after the annual event.

Overall, conservatives dismissed the speech. Kim Davis proved to be underwhelmed by the oration. When asked for her reaction, she replied curtly, "It was a speech."


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ANOTHER STATE REBELS AGAINST SAME-SEX ‘MARRIAGE’ MANDATE

by BSU
In the latest move that suggests that a bare five-lawyer, same-sex “marriage” endorsing majority on the U.S. Supreme Court is far out of step with many Americans, lawmakers in South Carolina have proposed the South Carolina Natural Marriage Defense Act, which would withdraw recognition of homosexual duos. [Read full article]

The unconstitutional decision of the Supreme Court legalizing same-sex marriage has done what the minority in the decision warned, namely, “that it would create constitutional conflicts.” While the Constitution doesn’t mention marriage, it does say anything not mentioned in the document should be left to the states and the people. Even the Supreme Court’s own opinion in the Defense of Marriage Act case said that states have exclusive power over marriage in their jurisdiction.

What changed in the two years since that decision? The pressure to accept the homosexual agenda has grown tremendously during that time. We are headed down the slippery slope of losing states’ rights altogether, and even The Tenth Amendment Center has rightly said “the bill would lose in court because of the present weakness of states’ rights,” recognizing the lack of willpower on the state level to fight the Supreme Court, regardless of its lawlessness. Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin has shown, however, that the state still has power to act on behalf of marriage and in defense of the First Amendment. The simple act of removing clerks’ names from marriage licenses eliminated the conflict Kim Davis faced over her religious objection to signing a license for same-sex marriage.

If the South Carolina state legislators will stand strong in defense of traditional marriage, perhaps we’ll see more states taking steps to do the same. The Founders were strong believers in states’ rights and understood that to maintain individual liberty, there must be safeguards against centralized power. In Federalist Paper #45, they said “The powers delegated by the proposed Constitution to the federal government, are few and defined. Those which are to remain in the State governments are numerous and indefinite.” Until we return to our founding principles, we will continue to face conflicts with an overreaching, overpowering federal government.




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NO "GOD BLESS AMERICA" IN HADDON HEIGHTS SCHOOL

by Phaedra Trethan

HADDON HEIGHTS - An elementary school's tradition that began after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, has been challenged by the American Civil Liberties Union, the principal said in a letter addressed to parents.

Students at Glenview Elementary School have said the phrase "God bless America" after reciting the Pledge of Allegiance each morning outside before classes begin. But a letter from the ACLU sent last month to the school's attorneys said that "invoking God’s blessing as a daily ritual is unconstitutional and in violation of the Establishment Clause, since it allegedly promotes religious over non-religious beliefs, especially with young, impressionable children," according to a letter from Principal Sam Sassano to parents.

Sassano said Monday that the tradition, one the school has never formally taught to nor required of students, began with two kindergarten teachers who wished to show support to first responders and victims in the wake of the 9/11 attacks.

"It just became sort of a habit," said Sassano, who has been principal at the Sycamore Street school since 2005. "Now it's part of the culture here."

The teachers who began the tradition are no longer with the school, he added.

In a letter to the school's attorney dated Dec. 30, the ACLU-NJ's legal director, Ed Barocas, called the practice "unconstitutional."

"The Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibits the government not only from favoring one religion over another, but also from promoting religion over non-religion," stated the letter to Joseph Betley of the Mount Laurel firm Capehart Scatchard. "The greatest care must be taken to avoid the appearance of governmental endorsement in schools, especially elementary schools, given the impressionable age of the children under the school's care and authority."

Citing legal precedent, the ACLU noted the U.S. Supreme Court previously rejected the practice of invoking God's blessing in daily school rituals. In a 1962 ruling, the letter noted, "the Court halted a school district's practice of students' acknowledging God and asking God's 'blessings on us, our parents, our teachers and our Country' immediately following recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance."

The tradition is unique to Glenview, Sassano said, and no other Haddon Heights schools end their pledge the same way.

In his letter to parents, Sassano said that the school was mindful of the line separating church and state, but that "it has been our view that the practice is fundamentally patriotic in nature and does not invoke or advance any religious message, despite the specific reference to God’s blessing."

However, his letter acknowledged, "Whether the practice of having the students say 'God bless America' at the end of the Pledge of Allegiance is more akin to religious prayer or simply a manifestation of patriotism has no clear cut legal answer."

Glenview Elementary will not prevent its approximately 265 students from saying the phrase, Sassano said. Citing a potentially costly legal battle in his letter to parents, Sassano said the school will "explore alternative methods of honoring the victims and first responders of the 9/11 tragedy."

Parents, he said, have called to express disappointment but have largely been understanding. Many parents, he added, said they would tell their children to continue saying "God bless America" after reciting the Pledge of Allegiance, and the school would not prevent them from doing so.

Kerri Simon, putting her two children into her car after school let out Monday, said she hadn't seen the letter from Sassano until her husband mentioned it to her. Her children, she said, would probably continue to say "God bless America."

"We're Christians," she said as her daughter, Hudson, 6, and son, Jackson, 9, peered at a reporter from the back seat. "My brother is in the military, and I think it's a really nice way to honor our country."

Giovanna Giumarello, walking with her son Gabriel, a fifth-grader at the school, said she was "shocked" when she saw Sassano's letter, though she did not blame him for the controversy.

"I was just talking to someone about it, and we said what a great tribute it is, to our country and to free speech and religion," she said. "It's really a shame that one person had to have a problem with it, and now it has to change."

She noted references to God and religion sprinkled throughout American life: "It's on our money: 'In God We Trust.' Isn't the person who complained out there spending that money?"

"I understand (Sassano's) hands are tied," said Kim Sergeant as she and her son, Connor, left the school. "But it's still upsetting. We always prided ourselves on being small school, and doing this in a small setting, having this little tradition."

Hector Diaz, whose stepson is a student at the school, said "too many rules and regulations" were changing the nation for the worse.

"God bless America, God bless Africa, God bless South America and Europe ... that's what we should be saying," he said. But, he shrugged, "It is what it is."

Debi Krezel, who posted Sassano's letter to her Facebook page after receiving it, said she contacted Gov. Chris Christie's office, the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the state Department of Education to register her dismay and ask for their support.

"I really feel like this is taking our children's rights away," said Krezel, who has a sixth-grader at the school. "And it's sad. I believe everyone has a right to feel the way they feel, but don't take away my beliefs and rights."

Reached for comment late Monday, Barocas said the invocation was a question of the context in which it's done.

"This was not students' speech, this was a daily recitation at an official school assembly led by the school officials," he said, adding the ACLU has defended people on both sides of the religious speech issue.

Parents, he said, are the only ones who have a right to direct a child's religious upbringing — not the government or public schools.


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