RNC CHAIR: "THE RUSSIANS DIDN'T WRITE THOSE EMAILS"

BY BOB ESCHLIMAN

Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus weighed in on the Democratic Party's woes in light of the WikiLeaks exposure last week

Almost immediately after WikiLeaks released nearly 20,000 emails retrieved by hackers from the Democratic National Committee's server, the spin cycle began.

It was already well known that Russian hackers had gained access to the email server, but the DNC took their message over the top by suggesting it was done at the behest of the Russian government and President Vladimir Putin. It was done, they added, to boost Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.

Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus responded to the Democrat spin, however, by refocusing attention not on who stole the emails, but rather on who wrote them in the first place. In an interview with nationally syndicated radio host Hugh Hewitt, he gave a very pointed assessment.

"I don't know who has the emails of the DNC," he said. "I mean, I don't know if we can definitively say who has them and who's taken them. But the point is, the Russians didn't write the emails. And neither did whoever else; the WikiLeaks people didn't write the emails.

"The DNC wrote those emails. So they have to answer for what those emails say and why paid staff and donors to the DNC were adding an arm to the Hillary Clinton campaign during the primary season. I mean, it just is, it was ridiculous. And so this is the issue they have to face this week.

"Forty percent, maybe 45 percent, of all the delegates that are here in Philadelphia, are here for Bernie Sanders. And what they're learning today and this week is that the committee that they're sort of partly celebrating took their person down, and they did it in a very dishonest and fraudulent way."

That isn't all that was found in the email dump. Someone took the time to read all 19,252 emails, and compiled a list of the most disturbingly hypocritical, that includes:
Making fun of an African-American woman's name
"I love you. No homo."
Disparaging remarks about FOX News Channel host Megyn Kelly (email not linked: contains vulgar language)

The email released by WikiLeaks also suggest the DNC may have engaged in illegal activity:

Email from Sanders campaign manager Jeff Weaver outlining how the Clinton campaign is fraudulently moving money around to avoid campaign finance laws.

Email from a DNC lawyer explaining that a fundraising email needs to be reworded to circumvent the Hatch Act (which prohibits White House staff from taking part in fundraisers).

Hewitt, in his interview with Priebus, asked about the rumors that Russia will release some of the emails it took from Hillary Clinton's personal email server while she was secretary of state. The RNC chairman took a dim view of those reports.

"If it's national security, you don't want to see that happening," he said. "You know, Hillary Clinton put our country at grave risk. And hopefully, we don't get to the point where those are released. But her sloppiness could lead to something very bad."

SENATOR WINS MAJOR RELIGOUS FREEDOM VICTORY IN FACE OF TREMENDOUS OPPOSITION

by TOM CIESIELKA

Senator Paul Wieland

A federal district judge in the Eastern District of Missouri granted a summary judgment in favor of Missouri State Senator Paul Wieland and his wife Theresa against the Obamacare abortifacient/contraceptive mandate, ruling that the federal government could not constitutionally compel them to pay for group health insurance for their family, including young daughters, that includes required coverage for medical services that they deem religiously objectionable.

Thomas More Society, which underwrote the lawsuit from its inception, joined its special counsel, Timothy and Matthew Belz of the St. Louis law firm, Otten, Leggat & Belz, LC, in calling this ruling "a significant victory for religious freedom" with significant national implications.

Judge Jean C. Hamilton granted Paul Wieland and his family permanent protection from Obamacare's mandate that individuals, as well as businesses and other non-church entities, must purchase health insurance coverage for contraception, including pharmaceutical "abortion pills" and sterilization. The court upheld the family's right to assert religious objections as a basis for exemption from the mandate as it imposes a substantial burden on the Weilands' exercise of their religious faith, contrary to the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act ("RFRA")—the same federal statute successfully invoked by the for-profit corporation, Hobby Lobby, and later invoked with partial success (so far) by non-profit religious groups such as the Little Sisters of the Poor.

The court rejected the U.S. Justice Department's arguments that the Wielands suffered no substantial adverse burden from having to comply with the mandate, noting that such compliance would not only entail their coerced purchase of coverage they consider morally objectionable, but that it also would subject them to substantial monetary fines if they chose not to comply. In her 13½ page opinion, Judge Hamilton wrote:

"The ultimate impact is that Plaintiffs must either maintain a health insurance plan that includes contraceptive coverage, in violation of their sincerely-held religious beliefs, or they can forgo healthcare altogether, which will result in the imposition of significant penalties (not to mention the potentially crippling costs of uninsured health care)."

Also rejecting the Obama Administration's insistence that the nation's insurance markets wouldn't be able to function if insurers had to tailor each health plan to individual needs and preferences, Judge Hamilton said that the government does not provide the insurance and that it was for private insurers to decide whether or not to offer contraceptive-free plans. 

St. Louis attorney Tim Belz, Thomas More Society Special Counsel, said, "The sad irony here is that this family had to take the Obama administration to court to preserve their constitutionally guaranteed right to religious freedom when, as Judge Hamilton agreed, all the government needs to do is allow people to check a box to opt out of contraceptive coverage."

Tom Brejcha, the Society's President and Chief Counsel, explained the potentially sweeping impact of this decision. "In 2014's Hobby Lobby decision, the United States Supreme Court ruled that privately owned businesses whose owners assert conscientious objections based on sincerely held religious beliefs may not be coerced to comply with the Obamacare Mandate. For the first time that we're aware of, this decision now vests that same right of religious liberty in individuals and families across America." The Justice Department lost a prior appeal in this same case, and whether it will appeal this final ruling for the Wieland family is unknown.

TIM TEBOW AT TOGETHER 2016 URGES THOUSANDS TO LOVE JESUS AND LOVE PEOPLE TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE

By Daniella Chen

Tim Tebow Speaking at the National Mall "Together  2016"

Tim Tebow may not be speaking at the Republican National Convention, but the NFL star captured the hearts of thousands of Christians at the Together 2016 at the National Mall, where over 40 speakers gathered to pray for the nation.

"It's a way of showing the country and the people that God is still with us and we will get better," Craig Tabor said of the gathering organized by Pulse and its founder Nick Hall.

Tebow challenged the audience to show the love of Christ to everyone around them.

Speaking of his college years in University of Florida where head coach Urban Meyer challenged his team to "finish strong," Tebow also recalled his later experience when Gators he led the Gators to a victory in the 2007 BCS National Championship Game, when Meyer told him how proud he was of Tebow for finishing strong, The Christian Post reported.

"That night, after all the celebrations and everything, I was sitting in my hotel room thinking about everything that had transpired in my life. ... That is really where I came up with my ultimate goal of what I want my life to be and what I want my life to represent," Tebow said.

"I thought how cool would it be for one day when I am standing before my Heavenly Father - who has given us a task, He has given us a command, He has asked us to do something - how cool would it be when I leave this Earth and I am standing before the God that created every single one of us, for Him to pull up His headsets that run this world and walk up to me with His arms open wide and say, 'Timmy, I just want you to know I love you, I am proud of you, you finished strong.'"

"The reason I tell that is because we have been given a command, we have been asked to do something," the 28-year-old quarterback added. "You know what? You can hear a lot of people give dissertations on this and this and this. But I will tell you what, for me, I will break it down into two things - loving Jesus and loving people."

Tebow then spoke to those in the crowd who did not know Jesus and His love shown on the cross, "He loves you so much that He died for you. If you were the only person on this Earth, He would have died for just you. That is how much He loves you."

Tim then also asked those in the audience who had accepted Jesus, saying, "I am going to challenge you to love every single person in your life. I am going to challenge you to love your husband, your wife, to love your kids, to love your families, to love your communities, to love your neighbors, to love every single person you come in contact with. So many times, we can get confused - 'what do I do and how do I do it?' I'll tell you what. Let's break it down and make it real simple. When we love Jesus and we love people, we are going to make a difference and make an impact."

"If this body of people right here decides that we are going to take on that challenge to love people and love Jesus with everything that we have, we can changed our communities, we can changed our neighborhoods, we can changed the Kingdom of God," he concluded.

FRANKLIN GRAHAM: AMERICA IS ON 'THE PRECIPICE OF ANARCHY'

BY SAMUEL SMITH

Franklin Graham, son of evangelist Billy Graham, addresses the crowd at the Festival of Hope, an evangelistic rally held at the national stadium in Port-au-Prince, January 9, 2011

In the midst of the nation's grief following the targeted killings of police officers in Texas and Louisiana, leading evangelist Franklin Graham says he fears America has lost God's hand of protection and is on the edge of anarchy.

Graham, president of both the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and the humanitarian organization Samaritan's Purse, hosted a Facebook Live video feed on Monday to pray with Christians all around the United States for the Republican National Convention being held this week in Cleveland, Ohio.

According to Graham's Facebook page, his live prayer feed was viewed by as many as 50,000 people all across the world. But before Graham jumped into the prayer, he gave a brief rundown on the state of the nation.

"Our country, I don't have to tell you, is in trouble, you know that. The only hope for this country is God. It's not the politicians, it is God," Graham explained. "But God uses politicians and we pray for the politicians, that they will listen to God's voice and that they will hear His voice."

Graham stressed that although God has blessed America more than any other nation on Earth, the country is heading in the wrong direction morally, spiritually and racially.

"As a nation, we have been running away from God — the secularists, the progressives, many of these people, most of them are people who would be atheistic. And we have taken God out of our country," Graham said. "We have taken Him out of our nation. We have taken Him out of our government. We have taken Him out of the education system. And, our country is beginning to implode. We are on the precipice of anarchy."

As proof for his assertion, Graham cited the recent violence that has been perpetrated not just against police officers but against peaceful American citizens.

He first cited the targeted shooting of police officers in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on Sunday by a suspect named Gavin Long. Three officers were killed and three were wounded.

Graham also cited the shooting of police officers in Dallas earlier this month by a man named Micah Johnson. Five officers were killed, while 11 were injured.

"There is no excuse for this. Because a policeman may make a mistake, because a policeman may do something wrong somewhere else, to think that we can have some kind of justice by going out and killing innocent policemen who are doing their job to protect us, this is crazy," Graham asserted. "This is lunacy."


Close ad X
Graham also mentioned the jihad-inspired massacre at an Orlando gay nightclub in June, where 49 civilians were killed and 53 were injured.

Prior to the Facebook Live event, Graham asked his followers on the social media platform to submit what it is that they are praying for. Graham read a response from a man named Ed who wrote, "If a nation forgets God, she will lose the blessing that God has given her."

"Ed, you are 100 percent right. We are losing God's blessing," Graham responded. "We are losing His hand of protection."

Graham commenced the prayer and asked God to guide the nation's political leaders.

"Father, we are guilty of bowing down to the false gods of materialism, pleasure. We have legalized the killing of children in their mother's womb. We have legalized same-sex marriage. Father, I know that this grieves your heart," Graham prayed. "As a nation and as a people, we seem to be in danger of losing our souls. We look at a world that is in desperate need of Your forgiveness. We are in trouble morally, economically, racially, spiritually. We see the wars in the Middle East, the migration of millions of refugees. We see the corruption, the greed, the lust. Who can save us? There is only one and that is Your Son, Jesus Christ."

As Donald Trump and Indiana Gov. Mike Pence are expected to be nominated as the Republican presidential and vice presidential nominees at the convention this week, Graham also offered a prayer for those two individuals.

"There is so much division that has come into this political season and it has shaken the Republican Party to the core. Father, it needed to be shaken. Our political system has become corrupt," Graham contended. "I pray that Donald Trump and Governor Mike Pence will surround themselves with godly men and women. We ask that You would guide them and our political leaders of this Republican Party and across this country with Your wisdom from on high."

Graham plans to host another Facebook Live event next Monday at 2 p.m. ET to pray for the Democratic National Convention.

REJECTING CALIFORNIA ABORTION MANDATE, PASTOR JIM GARLO FIGHTS FOR LIFE ON CAPTIOL HILL

by JOSH M. SHEPHERD/BOUND4LIFE

Jim Garlow, father of eight children and pastor of Skyline Wesleyan Church in San Diego, California, sat with his wife and a dozen congregants who prayed and discussed events unfolding on the House floor. While others visit the nation's capital city for summer vacation, this team came with purpose. (Courtesy)

On July 13, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill known as the Conscience Protection Act—intended to protect the rights of health care providers, churches and other groups that object to participating in abortion. Seated in the House Gallery, one man watched the vote with all the intensity of a general going into war.

Jim Garlow, father of eight children and pastor of Skyline Wesleyan Church in San Diego, California, sat with his wife and a dozen congregants who prayed and discussed events unfolding on the House floor. While others visit the nation's capital city for summer vacation, this team came with purpose.

Nearly two years ago, Garlow was thrust into a battle with the State of California—when his church objected to a new state mandate involving abortion. Since then, he has found that the pro-choice bias in state and federal government is no casual affair. "They are ruthless," Garlow says.

Yet his church refuses to bow to the state. Represented by Alliance Defending Freedom, their lawsuit against California is ongoing. In an interview following the House vote, Jim Garlow shares what he testified to Congress, his personal connection with the pro-life cause ... and the covert strategy he sees at work in politics today.

Bound4LIFE: What recent events in California led your church to file a lawsuit against the state to defend your pro-life convictions?

Pastor Jim Garlow: On August 22, 2014, some nameless, faceless bureaucrat at the Department of Managed Health Care in Sacramento made a decision by fiat that every insurance provider in the state of California had to include elective abortion in our plans.

I found out about that decision 60 days later. An attorney who assists us at Skyline Church said, "You're now covering abortions in your insurance." I said, "There's no way." "No, you are." "Surely not—we would've been notified or something! We would've seen this in the media?" I asked our team to follow-up about it and that attorney was right. We were being forced to pay for abortions, and in fact everyone in California is.

We began to ask what we could do—what is our legal recourse? There were many conference calls. We appealed directly to Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) at the time. She stalled our inquiry forever and did nothing. HHS would not enforce the law as written, which protects our rights.

A number of churches, hospitals, as well as Christian universities, both evangelical and Catholic, filed a complaint against the federal government. On June 22, a federal agency dismissed that coalition complaint. Our church filed a separate lawsuit against the state of California in a federal court, which is currently ongoing.

Bound4LIFE: Are there specific policies already enacted that protect medical professionals—or any citizens—who do not want to be involved in abortion?

Pastor Jim Garlow: If you're an OB-GYN doctor or a nurse, and you refuse to perform an abortion, there are several federal statutes that protect you. The Hyde Amendment is the most well-known, prohibiting federal funding of abortion. There's the Church Amendments—not named for "church," like a congregation; it refers to Frank Church, former senator from Idaho.

There's also the Coats-Snowe Amendment, named for Dan Coats and Olympia Snowe. They are two people on opposite sides of the abortion issue, but they agreed that people should not be coerced to be involved in abortion.

But the Weldon Amendment, named after Congressman Dave Weldon who is a medical doctor, is the most relevant. The Obama Administration has twisted the Weldon Amendment in such a way that, if any medical professional objected to providing abortions, they can be fired with no right to litigation.

It's bizarre. When the law is violated, people always have the right to sue—but now none of these people could. On top of that, churches are also coerced to cover abortions.

I testified this past Friday before the Energy and Commerce Committee—their Subcommittee on Health, chaired by Congressman Joe Pitts of Pennsylvania. I flew home, preached in San Diego, then flew back here Monday to speak to Congressional staff about this issue—60 key people influencing their bosses, who are Members of Congress.

We've been in meetings one after another with Congressmen, specifically bringing up the Conscience Protection Act and how it helps correct these issues. I also have a new book called Well Versed: Biblical Answers to Today's Tough Issues; a team from Skyline Church came as volunteers and hand-delivered copies to all 535 Members of Congress. They believe the message is that important.

Bound4LIFE: Now the vote just ended on this bill. How does it correct the issue of government discrimination against medical providers and churches like yours?

Pastor Jim Garlow: We had a victory moments ago, when the Conscience Protection Act passed by a bipartisan majority vote of 245-182 in the U.S. House. Our team was seated in the House Gallery praying. Now it will proceed to the U.S. Senate, where it will hopefully be voted on this fall.

This week, I've been sitting with attorneys who've been using all this legalese—some of which I did not follow, quite frankly. Let me approach the specifics in layman's terms. This bill tightens the screws down on these amendments already enacted. It gets rid of this notion that you cannot sue if you're coerced into providing an abortion. That's the quick and easy way of understanding it.

This bill would take out the language where they twisted the Weldon Amendment to mean something different. The Obama Administration released a statement last night saying the President would most certainly veto this bill if it arrives at his desk because it would "limit women's health care."

They are completely ignoring the reality of the shift. When they push for certain policies, the left at first says, "Let us do this—you've just got to tolerate it." Then next they say, "You've got to affirm it." And finally they say, "No, you've got to participate in this activity." In this case, they want us to participate in the killing.

They attempt these three levels every time: toleration, affirmation, participation. They are ruthless. They have no respect for the First Amendment rights of the Constitution.

Bound4LIFE: For someone who does not hold pro-life convictions, why should they support this bill?

Pastor Jim Garlow: Tonight, we had three Democratic members join the majority in voting for this bill. Now the Democratic Party, according to its platform, is unashamedly pro-choice—I would call it pro-abortion, to be honest.

Many leaders mentioned earlier who wrote these amendments, such as Senator Frank Church, were Democrats who said that a person's conscience should not be violated. There's been a fair amount of bipartisan support for conscience rights, because this policy is not fundamentally about the issue of abortion.

Rather, it addresses, Is the First Amendment going to be respected? That question is on two levels. On one level, there are those of us who uphold the sanctity of life based on Biblical reasons—we can point to chapter and verse, as well as church doctrine.

On a second level, there are atheists who object to abortion and they don't have to give a theological reason for that. It's a matter of conscience for them, period. No one should be forced to do something they find offensive.

This was emphasized strongly in the Energy and Commerce subcommittee forum. Two of us testifying were pastors, while two others were conscientious objectors whose stand for life was not tied to theological reasons. No American should be forced to participate in abortion.

Bound4LIFE: You noted your role as a pastor. Sometimes speaking of the value of every life seems distant or political to people. How does Skyline Church live out your pro-life beliefs?

Pastor Jim Garlow: It concerns me that we live in a culture where people wonder, Why should we care about a pro-life position? How ludicrous is that! The average person uses the word "abortion" with far too much ease. When I was in front of the Congressional committee, I said, "Let's call it what it is: abortion is dismembering a human being, ripping them to shreds. Innocent blood is flowing in the streets of our cities."

At Skyline Church, we are activists. We hold accountable those in public life. We also adopt babies—I've adopted four myself. One of my adopted children is an adult now, who has adopted children. My wife passed away a number of years ago and I remarried, then I had stepchildren; one of their children is adopted.

My daughter-in-law, whom I claim as my own, runs an adoption ministry. So she's standing for life full-time on the frontlines. Some of our congregation goes out to abortion centers for the purpose of praying and reaching out in compassion. When I pastored in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area, I was heavily involved on that important front.

Bound4LIFE: You mention Texas, which was at the center of a recent Supreme Court decision seen as a setback for the pro-life movement. Do you have hope as a pro-life pastor?

Pastor Jim Garlow: I do have hope. The pro-life movement is very encouraging to me as a pastor. How we're seeing the next generation take a stand against abortion is thrilling.

I have a cautious optimism, built on whether this nation has a critical mass of people who are willing to repent of sin, hold leaders accountable and refuse to tolerate the kind of actions we've seen going on. We have tough battles here, but they are winnable to the extent that we will follow the Word of God.

Josh M. Shepherd serves in communications at Bound4LIFE International – a grassroots movement to pray for the ending of abortion, carry the spirit of adoption, and believe for revival and reformation. He and his wife Terri live in the Washington, DC area. He previously served on staff at The Heritage Foundation, Focus on the Family and in the U.S. Congress.

CALIFORNIA DRIVES AMERICA CLOSER TO THE GREAT APOSTASY

by DWIGHT STEPHENSON/CHRISTIAN NEWSWIFE

On Thursday, July 14, the California Board of Education adopted a framework for a new "LGBT" social studies curriculum that will have national ramifications since textbooks will be written to comply.

Starting in second grade, students must be taught about diverse family types in a positive way and must accept that having families with children deprived of a married mother and father is a good thing. In fourth grade they must learn about the redefinition of marriage and therefore must accept that marriage has nothing to do with children and families; it is merely a lifestyle choice for adults. By high school the focus is on the right to create one's own sexual identity and how people have been doing that throughout history.

"The greatest concern is that the framework tends to normalize and reinforce things that have led to negative social and human consequences in society such as fatherlessness and children deprived of married mothers and fathers," said William B. May for the Marriage Reality Movement.

"Curricula should be evaluated by how well it promotes men and women marrying before having children, discourages conceiving children with the intention of depriving them of the fundamental right of knowing, being loved by and being in relationship with their own mother, father or both, and helps children understand the value of true friendship that can lead to stable marriages and families rather than friendships based on sexual relationships that are presented as love."

May emphasized, "It is not enough to oppose the agenda to provide our children with a corrupted understanding of love, sexuality, marriage and family that affects the choices they make in their own lives. We must provide a positive alternative to re-frame the dialogue."

"The Marriage Reality Movement starts with reintroducing love and marriage from the beginning to a culture that has forgotten its meaning. It provides parents and others with new ways of explaining the reality of marriage so the young children can understand and explain it to their friends, and it is building a new coalition to take back marriage for our children and family that is defined by clear objectives based on what we are for rather than against."

ADVOCACY GROUP GOING TO NEW HEIGHTS TO MAINTAIN SUPPORT FOR BIBLICAL MARRIAGE

by BOB ESCHLIMAN

During the opening celebration of the Republican National Convention on Sunday in Cleveland, one advocacy group will try to take their message to new heights, literally.

Public Advocate president Eugene Delgaudio announced Thursday his group will be welcoming the delegates with a special pro-family display. A plane towing a banner that reads "Protect Real Marriage" will fly above downtown Cleveland and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, where delegates will attend a welcome ceremony from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. EDT Sunday.

Public Advocate and Delgaudio explained their "air campaign" in a special press release Thursday:

The airborne PROTECT REAL MARRIAGE message is a call to action to Republican Delegates attending the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame to pass the pro-marriage plank in the just-passed Republican platform committee report that is being passed out at the first session on Monday, July 18.

Public Advocate president Delgaudio attended two days of the Platform committee this week to urge the passage of the pro-marriage plank. Delgaudio is also an alternate National Delegate from Virginia's 10th Congressional District.

"Real marriage and family values have never been more threatened in America than right now," Delgaudio said. "But thanks in large part to the on-the-ground efforts of Public Advocate during the convention preliminaries, the Platform Committee has kept a commitment to real marriage (one man + one woman) in the GOP Party platform.

"The Platform Committee also adopted Public Advocate's stance on opposing 'transgender bathrooms,'" he said. "Now it will be up to the Convention Delegates to ratify this platform."

In addition to the aerial banner, Public Advocate will post online banner ads on social media, internet ads, email messages to supporters, overpass banners and roadside signs put up by local volunteers. The online ads will be geared to target all Republican convention attendees.

THOUSANDS FASTING AFTER RUSSIAN PRESIDENT PUTIN SIGNS LAW BANNING EVANGELISM OUTSIDE OF CHURCHES

Russian President Vladimir Putin officially signed into law this week a measure punishing any kind of religious evangelization outside of churches, which some observers have called one of the most restrictive moves in "post-Soviet history."

"This new situation resembles the Soviet Union in 1929. At that time confession of faith was permitted only in church," Dr. Hannu Haukka, president of Great Commission Media Ministries, told National Religious Broadcasters (NRB). "Practically speaking, we are back in the same situation. These anti-terrorist laws are some of the most restrictive laws in post-Soviet history."

The law, which is supposed to be aimed against the spread of terrorism and extremism, has also been approved by the Russian Parliament's upper chamber. The move blocks the sharing of faith in any place that is not a government-sanctioned house of worship.

Several Christian groups in Russia have already spoken out against the draconian measures, with the Seventh-day Adventist's Moscow-based Euro-Asia Division stating that it is nearly "impossible" for religious believers to comply with the requirements.

"If this legislation is approved, the religious situation in the country will grow considerably more complicated and many believers will find themselves in exile and subjected to reprisals because of our faith," the group said before Putin's signature.

Charisma News reported that thousands of churches in Russia are coming together in prayer and fasting against the move, based on information shared by Haukka.

"The church is appalled at the news of the new law. About 7,000 evangelical/protestant churches are in fasting and prayer at the moment over the news," Haukka said.

Under the new law, foreign missionaries will not be allowed to speak at churches unless they have a work permit from Russian authorities; any kind of discussion about God with non-believers would be considered missionary activity and punishable by law; and religious activities even in private homes will not be allowed.

What is more, anyone from the age of 14 found to be preaching will be subject to prosecution, and every citizen is required to report religious activity to authorities, or face punishment him- or herself.

Haukka asked Christians around the world to join in prayer with the Russian churches as they face uncertain times.

"Russia is closing down in an awful way. The new law is in total conflict with the purpose and the task given to the church by the Lord. The law will send the church back into Soviet era Communist persecution," he warned.

NRB President Dr. Jerry A. Johnson further called on the United States government to pressure Russia to repeal what he described as an "unjust law."

"Let's pray this new iron curtain of Christian persecution in Russia will be lifted quickly and without harm to our brothers and sisters in Christ," Johnson said.

Read more at http://www.christianpost.com/news/thousands-fasting-after-russian-president-putin-signs-law-banning-evangelism-outside-of-churches-166345/#8cBSmjFpRXvbueBV.99

Read more at http://www.christianpost.com/news/thousands-fasting-after-russian-president-putin-signs-law-banning-evangelism-outside-of-churches-166345/#YVAkUUsS6LEG8Z4m.99

BY STOYAN ZAIMOV 

Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a religious service at the Cathedral of the Transfiguration of the Savior at Valaam Monastery, Russia, July 11, 2016.

Russian President Vladimir Putin officially signed into law this week a measure punishing any kind of religious evangelization outside of churches, which some observers have called one of the most restrictive moves in "post-Soviet history."

"This new situation resembles the Soviet Union in 1929. At that time confession of faith was permitted only in church," Dr. Hannu Haukka, president of Great Commission Media Ministries, told National Religious Broadcasters (NRB). "Practically speaking, we are back in the same situation. These anti-terrorist laws are some of the most restrictive laws in post-Soviet history."

The law, which is supposed to be aimed against the spread of terrorism and extremism, has also been approved by the Russian Parliament's upper chamber. The move blocks the sharing of faith in any place that is not a government-sanctioned house of worship.

Several Christian groups in Russia have already spoken out against the draconian measures, with the Seventh-day Adventist's Moscow-based Euro-Asia Division stating that it is nearly "impossible" for religious believers to comply with the requirements.

"If this legislation is approved, the religious situation in the country will grow considerably more complicated and many believers will find themselves in exile and subjected to reprisals because of our faith," the group said before Putin's signature.

Charisma News reported that thousands of churches in Russia are coming together in prayer and fasting against the move, based on information shared by Haukka.

"The church is appalled at the news of the new law. About 7,000 evangelical/protestant churches are in fasting and prayer at the moment over the news," Haukka said.

Under the new law, foreign missionaries will not be allowed to speak at churches unless they have a work permit from Russian authorities; any kind of discussion about God with non-believers would be considered missionary activity and punishable by law; and religious activities even in private homes will not be allowed.

What is more, anyone from the age of 14 found to be preaching will be subject to prosecution, and every citizen is required to report religious activity to authorities, or face punishment him- or herself.

Haukka asked Christians around the world to join in prayer with the Russian churches as they face uncertain times.

"Russia is closing down in an awful way. The new law is in total conflict with the purpose and the task given to the church by the Lord. The law will send the church back into Soviet era Communist persecution," he warned.

NRB President Dr. Jerry A. Johnson further called on the United States government to pressure Russia to repeal what he described as an "unjust law."

"Let's pray this new iron curtain of Christian persecution in Russia will be lifted quickly and without harm to our brothers and sisters in Christ," Johnson said.