Democrats Secure Votes for Measure Blocking Trump’s National Emergency
Republican Sen. Rand Paul on Sunday apparently gave Democrats the final vote they need to block President Trump’s national emergency declaration to build a border wall, although neither the House nor the Senate have enough votes to overturn a certain veto.
A resolution of disapproval passed the House last week and needs only four Republican votes in the Senate to pass that chamber, assuming that all 47 senators who caucus with the Democrats back it. Paul (Ky.) is the fourth GOP senator to announce support for it, joining Sens. Susan Collins (Maine), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) and Thom Tillis (N.C.).
Trump has pledged to veto it. The resolution could come before the Senate in the next two weeks, Politico reported.
“My oath is to the Constitution, not to any man or political party,” Paul wrote in a column at FoxNews.com. “I stand with the president often, and I do so with a loud voice. Today, I think he’s wrong, not on policy, but in seeking to expand the powers of the presidency beyond their constitutional limits. I understand his frustration.
“Dealing with Congress can be pretty difficult sometimes. But Congress appropriates money, and his only constitutional recourse, if he does not like the amount they appropriate, is to veto the bill. I look forward to working for a constitutional way to deal with our border security issue.”
Kindergarteners Learn Transgender Kids Are ‘Born This Way’ in NEA-Sponsored Event
Public schools across the country participated in an annual event to support transgender and gender-expansive students Thursday by reading I Am Jazz, a book that tells the real-life story of Jazz Jennings, who was a transgender child.
In some schools – like Ashlawn Elementary School in Arlington, Va. – the book was read to kindergarteners.
“I have a girl brain but a boy body. This is called transgender. I was born this way,” Sarah McBride, a transgender person and a spokesperson for the Human Rights Campaign, read to kindergarteners from the book.
The Washington Post covered McBride’s talk to the children.
“I’m like Jazz,” McBride told the children when done reading. “When I was born, the doctors and my parents, they all thought that I was a boy.”
McBride asked the students, “Can some girls have short hair? And can some boys have long hair?”
One girl responded, “Anyone can be anything.”
The fourth-annual “Jazz and Friends National Day of School and Community Readings” was sponsored by HRC, a gay rights group, and the National Educational Association, the nation’s largest teachers union. The event spotlights transgender and gender-expansive students. Other books on the list: Julián Is a Mermaid by Jessica Love and They She He Me: Free to Be!by Maya and Matthew Smith Gonzalez.
Rt Rev Christopher Foster’s been speaking to Premier after two more teenagers died over the weekend.
Yousef Makki and Jodie Chesney were killed in separate knife attacks in different parts of the country.
The Bishop of Portsmouth, who’s sitting in the House of Lords this week, says many people need to take responsibility for the issue.
He said: “This needs to be a coordinated response.
“It needs to begin in the home, then schools certainly are important and there is no doubt that the work of the police, particularly perhaps the community support officers, can be really critical in encouraging and helping young people and in prevention too.”
The Metropolitan Police has said tackling violent crime remains its top priority but says it wants to work with others to prevent young lives being lost.
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Utah Bill Banning Abortions of Babies with Down Syndrome Heads to Governor’s Office for Approval
A final vote has approved legislation to ban aborting babies with Down syndrome in Utah. With the legislature’s approval, the bill has been cleared to be sent to pro-life Gov. Gary Herbert to be signed into law. The Senate voted 20-6 last Thursday, and the state House 54-15 earlier this month to approve the bill.
House Bill 166 prohibits abortions from taking place should they be motivated “solely because the unborn child had or may have had Down syndrome.” The bill will not take effect “unless and until similar bans in other states are upheld by the courts,” wrote The Salt Lake Tribune.
The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Karianne Lisonbee, said last month that “in recent years there has been a shocking increase in abortions performed for no other reason than because a prenatal test identified the potential for a trait a parent didn’t like. For a society that claims to uphold tolerance and inclusiveness, it appears we still have a long way to go.”
According to the Charlotte Lozier Institute, abortion reduces the Down syndrome community in the United States by 30%. “It has been estimated that 90% of babies in Great Britain to receive a Down syndrome diagnosis are aborted, 65% in Norway, virtually 100% in Iceland, and 95% in Spain” wrote Life Site News.
“A Down Syndrome diagnosis shouldn’t be a death sentence,” said…
Pastor Lorraine Jones from London lost her son Dwayne to a knife attack and now campaigns on the issue.
She’s been speaking to Premier after the fatal stabbing of 17-year-old Jodie Chesney in an east London park on Friday night in what Jodie’s family branded a “totally random and unprovoked attack”.
On Saturday night, 17-year-old Yousef Ghaleb Makki was stabbed to death in Hale Barns, near Altrincham, in Greater Manchester.
Meanwhile an investigation by Channel 4’s Dispatches found the number of recorded offenders aged under 18 committing homicides using a knife or sharp instrument rose by 77% from 2016 to 2018, up from 26 to 46.
Calling for churches to respond, Pastor Lorraine said: “I mean, right now our communities have very limited community centres, so therefore there’s no safe spaces for young people to go to that they can engage with workers or even just be children.
“And I’m appealing now to churches to, if they can, start running a sort of community hub for kids because we’ve got hundreds and hundreds of kids that are just on the streets with nowhere to go after school.
“One of the things which I think would be really, really useful is if we could have on a weekly basis just open up our church halls and just have a social for the children.”
Theresa May has promised a cross-Government response to knife crime as she rejected claims police cuts had contributed…
Report Shows 57 Percent Jump in Aggression against Christians in India
NEW DELHI, March 4, 2019 (Morning Star News) – Cases of hate and violence against Christians in India increased 57 percent the first two months of this year compared with the same period last year, an advocacy group reported.
The Evangelical Fellowship of India’s Religious Liberty Commission (EFIRLC) documented 77 incidents of hate and targeted violence against Christians in January and February, up from 49 cases during the same period last year. The cases include the murders of one Christian in Odisha state and another in Chhattisgarh state, both in February.
“We have reasons to believe that both men, who were in their 40s, were killed because of their faith,” the Rev. Vijayesh Lal, general secretary of the EFI, told Morning Star News. “We have recorded cases where Christians have been facing social boycott and have been excommunicated from their villages, and in a few instances have had to flee to save their lives.”
Of the 77 incidents, 16 took place in Tamil Nadu state, 12 in Uttar Pradesh, six in Maharashtra and five in Chhattisgarh, the report found. The states of Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and, surprisingly, Kerala each saw four cases, followed by other states, Lal said.
The 49 cases recorded in the first two months of 2018 followed the documenting of 50 cases during the same period the previous year.
Francis told officials and personnel of the Vatican Secret Archives that documents would be open to researchers starting on March 2 next year.
Pius was elected pontiff on March 2 1939, six months before the war erupted in Europe. He died on October 9 1958 at the Vatican summer residence in Castel Gandolfo, near Rome.
The Vatican usually waits 70 years after the end of a pontificate to open up the relevant archives, but the Holy See has been under pressure to make the Pius XII documentation available sooner, while Holocaust survivors are still alive.
Vatican archivists had already started preparing the documentation for consultation in 2006, at the behest of Francis’s German-born predecessor Benedict XVI.
The Vatican has defended Pius, saying he used behind-the-scenes diplomacy to try to save lives. Francis indicated he embraced that interpretation.
Pius’s actions will be scrutinised as part of efforts to decide if he should be declared a saint.
Francis indicated that the church was confident the papacy would withstand the findings by historians studying the archives, saying Pius was “criticised, one can say, with some prejudice and exaggeration”.
“The church isn’t afraid of history – on the contrary, it loves it, and would like to love it even more, like it loves God,” Francis told staff at the archive.
“Thus, with the same trust of my predecessors, I open, and…
‘Is it OK to Still Have Children?’: Representative Ocasio-Cortez Weighs Cost of Having Kids on Environment
U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) asked on her Instagram page this weekend if it’s OK for people to have children in light of climate change around the world.
“There’s a scientific consensus that the lives of children are going to be very difficult,” Ocasio-Cortez told her Instagram followers. “And it does lead young people to have a legitimate question: is it OK to still have children?”
She said it’s a “basic moral question.”
Ocasio-Cortez has been pushing for a Green New Deal, a wish list program that asks the country to upgrade or replace U.S. buildings with state-of-the-art energy efficient features.” The deal would supposedly eliminate the nation’s carbon footprint in 10 years.
Ocasio-Cortez said in her Instagram live stream that it may not also financially be the best decision for people to have children because many end up with thousands of dollars in student loans.
“There’s also just this basic moral question, like, what do we do?
“And even if you don’t have kids, there are still children here in the world and we have a moral obligation to them to leave a better world to them.”
In response to her Instagram post, the CEO of the group Concerned Women for America, called Ocasio-Cortez’ comments “anti-children.”
“What’s is old is new again. AOC questioning if it is…
Open Heaven 5 March 2019 Tuesday Daily Devotional By Pastor E. A. Adeboye – A Friend Indeed?
Topic: A Friend Indeed? (Open Heaven 5 March 2019)
Memorise: “A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.”- Proverbs 18:24
Read: Luke 11:5-8 (KJV)
5 And he said unto them, Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight, and say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves;
6 For a friend of mine in his journey is come to me, and I have nothing to set before him?
7 And he from within shall answer and say, Trouble me not: the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give thee.
8 I say unto you, Though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth.
Bible in One Year: Acts 25-26, Isaiah 54
Open Heaven 5 March 2019 Tuesday MESSAGE:
Friendship is so important, powerful and beneficial to human life. Unfortunately, it is commonly said that true friends are very scarce. The reality of this statement is a fact we live with everyday. However, my question today is, what can we do to change this situation? It is not enough for you to add your voice to those lamenting that there are no true friends; you should do something about it. The answer is not far-fetched: it lies in each of us deciding to be a true friend to those we choose as our friends! Ask yourself, how true and genuine are you to those who consider you their friend?
It’s amazing when we consider that Jesus Christ describes us as His friends. He said to us in John 15:13-14:
“13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. 14 Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.”
In today’s Bible reading, he also reveals to us the cost of being a true friend. A friend goes the extra mile to make his friends happy because he shares in their happiness. As followers of Jesus Christ, though the world may practice a supernatural form of friendship characterized by denial, betrayal and backstabbing, we must be different. As the light of the world, we must teach the world what true friendship means.
It is true that friendship attracts a high premium and can be demanding. This is why you must choose the number of friends you can effectively and faithfully manage. Many people mistake mere acquaintance for friendship; this is wrong. An acquaintance cannot pay the price that friendship demands. This is why many people feel disappointed when their expectation from a casual associate at work or brother in church is not met. When the Bible says there is a friend that sticks closer than a brother (Proverbs 18:24), it reveals another misconception that must be corrected in the Body of Christ. The fact that someone is a Christian brother does not mean he is a friend! Although a brother or sister in Christ should not be taken as an enemy, nevertheless, do not expect much from such a fellow. Beloved, the good news for you today is that Jesus can be that perfect friend you desire. How true are the words of this hymn written by Joseph Scriven: What a friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and grieve to bear; what a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer! Make Him your friend today, and He will never disappoint you.
Open Heaven 5 March 2019 Tuesday Action Point:
Reach out to Jesus and make Him your friend by doing His will always.
Open Heaven 5 March 2019 Tuesday Hymn 9: In Christ Alone
1.In Christ alone my hope is found
He is my light, my strength, my song
This Cornerstone, this solid ground
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm
What heights of love, what depths of peace
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease
My Comforter, my All in All
Here in the love of Christ I stand.
2.In Christ alone, who took on flesh
Fullness of God in helpless babe
This gift of love and righteousness
Scorned by the ones He came to save
‘Til on that cross as Jesus died
The wrath of God was satisfied
For every sin on Him was laid
Here in the death of Christ I live.
3.There in the ground His body lay
Light of the world by darkness slain
Then bursting forth in glorious Day
Up from the grave He rose again
And as He stands in victory
Sin’s curse has lost its grip on me
For I am His and He is mine
Bought with the precious blood of Christ
4.No guilt in life, no fear in death
This is the power of Christ in me
From life’s first cry to final breath
Jesus commands my destiny
No power of hell, no scheme of man
Can ever pluck me from His hand
Till He returns or calls me home
Here in the power of Christ I’ll stand.
Open Heaven 5 March 2019 Tuesday Daily Devotional guide was written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye, the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, one of the largest evangelical church in the world and also the President of Christ the Redeemer’s Ministries. The Open Heavens devotional application is available across all mobile platforms and operating systems: iOS, Android, Blackberry, Nokia, Windows Mobile and PC. Open Heaven 5 March 2019 Tuesday Daily Devotional
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Members of the group Christian Climate Action have blocked roads, glued themselves to the fences outside Downing Street and lay in the roads around Parliament to raise awareness of the dangers of climate change.
Eight members of the group have been arrested, with some members being arrested up to five times over the initial two weeks of the Extinction Rebellion in November last year, a continuous protest involving many environmental groups.
Three members of the group, who had been summoned to stand trial for their charges, had been issued with March court dates.
They were planning to attending court and plead not guilty – claiming that their actions were necessary as part of a desperate attempt to urge those in power to take action on climate change.
However, over the last week, each of these individuals have had their court cases dropped, reasoning being cited as that “a prosecution is not needed in the public interest”.
Ruth Jarman, 55, a trustee of a charity and member of and Anglical church, had her court case discontinued.
Jarman said: “Part of me is relieved that the court case has been dropped. Standing court is an anxiety provoking experience for anyone and I can’t help feeling relieved that I can have a bit more time, energy and head space.
“However, another part of me is very frustrated. We are living in a…
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