Prayer Focus: Uprooting The Advance of Homosexuality
How Gay Activism Shapes U.S. Politics
From CBN.com — He’s considered to be America’s biggest gay donor. And his out-of-the-box political strategies are reshaping public policy in the areas of marriage, family and gay rights.
Gay Activism Goes Undercover
You probably haven’t heard the name Tim Gill. And that’s just the way he wants it.
Carrie Earll, Senior Director of Issues Analysis for Focus on the Family explains, “Tim Gill is stealth. He’s under the radar. When he goes after a candidate he doesn’t make homosexuality the issue. He picks something else because he knows the issue of homosexuality is still risky among the electorate.”
A Colorado native, Gill still calls Denver home. He made his millions in the 80s and 90s as the founder of the publishing software giant Quark.
But in 2000, he moved to full-time philanthropy.
Gill favors giving to main-stream charities like the Denver Aquarium. He ties the money to so-called “non-discrimination” policies and establishes himself as a community pillar.
But it’s in the area of politics where his giving is starting to get the most attention.
Prayer Focus: Salvation & Deliverance for Tim Gill
Gill’s giving to candidates and causes began in 2000. According to Atlantic Monthly, it started with $300,000, then $800,000 in ’02 — and a whopping $5 million in ’04.
But unlike so many other big-time political donors, Gill focuses on state and local races–believing public policy starts from the ground up.
The ‘Gill Factor’ in Action
One of Gill’s 2004 targets was Ray Martinez of Fort Collins, Colorado.
As the three-time Republican mayor of this Republican leaning area, Martinez thought he had a great shot at winning a state senate seat. Martinez told CBN News “the odds looked very good. The polling we saw was very favorable.”
But in the last few weeks of the campaign, Martinez got hit with an avalanche of media attacking his personal character and pro-life stance.
“We didn’t know who was funding it,” Martinez said. “We heard rumors of their names, but we could never find their names and we couldn’t expose those because they were buried in a barrage of paperwork.”
Martinez had raised over $300,000 – more than enough he thought to win Fort Collins. But several published reports show Gill and various associates had poured close to $1 million into the race through ’527′ political organizations.
By taking out Martinez and other Republicans, Gill helped Democrats seize control of Colorado’s statehouse for the first time in 30 years.
The result? A slew of gay-friendly laws that redefine the family in Colorado.
The Payoff
Today, pro-family lawmakers in the Rocky Mountain state say the “Gill factor” is impossible to ignore.
State representative and Minority Whip Cory Gardner says “it puts extreme pressure on people who are trying to make a living at work and trying to raise money for a campaign who don’t have deep pockets.”
In 2005, Gill started the Gill Action Fund. The fund’s mission is “securing equal opportunity for all people, regardless of sexual orientation or gender expression.”
The next year, the fund’s success rocked the political world. According to several published reports, it orchestrated donations worth $15 million to Gill’s favored candidates and causes.
The payoff this time was wins in 50 of 70 targeted campaigns and power changes in the state chambers of Michigan, Pennsylvania, Washington, and Iowa.
Gill took out Iowa House Speaker Danny Carroll with one of his favorite stealth tactics: small checks from Gill and friends around the country. Carroll says he never knew what hit him until after the election when he checked campaign contributions for his opponent.
Out of the Closet
Today, Gill’s no secret in the gay world. Out magazine just named him the fifth most influential gay in the country.
But Gill, his spokesperson, and big-time gay rights organizations all refused requests from CBN News to talk about Gill.
Perhaps it’s because Gill fears the spotlight could hurt his current plans.
Gill did tell Atlantic Monthly that he has an even “larger target list in 2008.”
CBN News found that the New York statehouse is one of those targets.
Last fall, according to the New York Attorney General’s office, Gill gave $50,000 to the New York State Democratic Senate Campaign Committee.
Jason McGuire, a lobbyist with the New Yorker’s Family Research Foundation, is well aware of Gill. He notes, “a few thousand dollars in a state race can make a huge difference.”
Why did Gill pick New York? For starters, the Empire state teeters on the brink of legalizing same-sex marriage. The state assembly has already passed a bill and lawmakers agree: If Democrats can pick up one more Senate seat and take control of that chamber – same-sex marriage will pass.
McGuire says of Gill, “as far as his strategy, I think it’s brilliant. He rightly recognizes that many of the battles are being fought at the state level and so by trying to tip just a few races at the state level he can make a huge impact.”
A Little Discretion Goes a Long Way
Perhaps one of Gill’s smartest strategies is staying behind the scenes. In Albany, CBN News had a hard time finding a lawmaker who knew his name, let alone anything about his influence.
Even the hard-charging Senate Majority leader Joseph Bruno who stands to lose the most knew little – at least before CBN News alerted him.
When we asked Bruno about Gill he said he was not “intimately aware” of him. But on hearing of his campaign contribution to the Senate Democrats, Bruno asserted, “we’re not going to be influenced by pressure from people from out of state and especially just trying to jam and ram legislation through the legislature with dollars.”
Across the country in Colorado, state Republican chair Dick Wadhams insists that pro-family issues can and should win the day. “There is,” he says, “a myth in politics that the person who spends the most money always wins.”
But for many pro-family advocates, Gill’s multi-millions make it a David-and-Goliath fight. Matt Barber with Concerned Women for America says “we don’t have an evangelical Christian Tim Gill that has stepped forward.”
It’s ironic that Gill himself uses spiritual language to define his detractors. In Atlantic Monthly he called his opponents “the forces of darkness.”
It’s a warning, say his observers.
Earll says Gill and associates “are not shy about saying that every dollar they spend is with the goal of ‘punishing the wicked.’ And the wicked are anyone who has a moral or biblical opposition or concern about homosexuality.”
From their Denver office to Washington, D.C., Gill and his political co-horts are mapping the country, looking for the key ’08 races that could flip statehouse chambers and ultimately – the way the country views sexuality and the family.
*Original broadcast April 29, 2008.
Another Voice For Neli
Please join us in praying for this young autistic man who was detained by the police, searched and traumatized while he was waiting for the library to open. He has now been sequestered to an institution. We lift him, his family and all young men up for healing, who, due to their disability, are subject to the hazards of an unforgiving, harsh society and system that does not accommodate the weak among us.
For more information, please visit a website to address his cause:
- http://avoiceforneli.com/
Father, in the Name of Jesus, we lift this child before You, knowing that You are the God of all flesh and there is nothing too hard for You. We thank You for dispatching Your ministering angels to attend to this cause. Send laborers into the harvest that will be able to bring the light and deliverance of Christ into this situation. Bring salvation and healing to Neli from the crown of his head, to the soles of his feet, as well as his family. We thank You for providing salvation, wisdom, instruction and understanding to the family. Let them be drawn closer to You through this ordeal so that they may walk through this time in peace and faith in You. Thank You for moving miraculously on this child’s behalf not only for vindication, but for salvation and healing. Thank You, Father, that You shall address and correct the authorities who have acted unjustly in this circumstance. Intervene on this child’s behalf so that all know that You are God. Right every wrong, make every crooked path and individual straight, and let what is hidden in the darkness be brought to light. We cancel every assignment of the adversary and render it harmless and ineffective against this child, through the mighty Name of Jesus! We speak and salvation to Neli’s mind, O Father, and pray that he be drawn closer to Your heart! Thank You, Father, that this child shall emerge from this circumstance stronger and wiser, knowing You as he should. We trust that as we have brought this petition to You, that You will attend to it speedily. We believe You, Father, and love You, counting this circumstance done! In Jesus’ mighty and matchless Name we pray, Amen!
Persecution Alert
Christian Jailed in Afghanistan to Face Judge on Sunday
Do You Love Jesus This Much?
ISTANBUL (Compass Direct News) – An Afghani amputee in prison for his Christian faith since May will face a judge this Sunday (Nov. 21) without legal representation or knowledge of the charges against him, according to local sources.
Authorities arrested Said Musa, 45, on May 31, days after the local Noorin TV station broadcast images of Afghan Christians being baptized and worshiping. Though there were other arrests in May and June during the ensuing man-hunt against Christians, Musa is the only known Christian facing a court case.
Turning from Islam is a capital offence under strict Islamic laws still in place in Afghanistan, which was wrested from the Taliban regime’s hard-line Islamist control in 2001.
The subject of Afghans leaving Islam for Christianity became national news following the Noorin TV broadcast and ignited a heated debate in the country’s parliament and senate. In early June, the deputy secretary of the Afghan parliament, Abdul Sattar Khawasi, called for the execution of converts.
“Those Afghans that appeared on this video film should be executed in public,” he said, according to news sources. “The house should order the attorney general and the NDS [National Directorate of Security] to arrest these Afghans and execute them.”
In June authorities forced Musa to renounce Christianity publicly on television but have continued to hold him in prison without revealing accusations against him. In prison, Musa has openly said he is a follower of Jesus.
In a hand-delivered letter penned last month to the church worldwide, U.S. President Barack Obama and the heads of NATO’s International Security Assistance Forces, Musa wrote that he was physically and verbally abused by his captors and other prisoners at Ouliat Prison in Kabul.
In broken English, he wrote: “I am very and very in a bad condition in the jail,” and elsewhere in the letter, “I am alone between 400 of terrible wolves in the jail, like a sheep.”
In the two-page letter, a copy of which Compass received in late October, Musa addressed Obama as “brother” and pleaded with the international community: “For [the] sake [of the] Lord Jesus Christ please pray for me and rescue me from this jail otherwise they will kill me because I know they [have] very very very cruel and hard hearts.”
Musa wrote of being sexually abused, beaten, mocked, spat on and deprived of sleep because of his faith in Jesus. He wrote that he would be willing to suffer for his faith in order to encourage and strengthen other Christians in their faith.
Musa also described how he had repented for denying his faith publicly: “I acknowledge my sin before [the] Lord Jesus Christ: ‘Don’t refuse me before your holy angels and before your father because I am a very very weak and [sinful] man.’”
In his letter, Musa alluded to the lack of justice he faced in prison, saying that the prosecutor had given the judge a false report about him and demanded a bribe from the Christian.
Integrity Watch Afghanistan, an anti-corruption monitor, recently reported that corruption in Afghanistan is rampant and has doubled since 2007. Most Afghans polled in its 2010 report said that state corruption was fueling the Taliban’s growth. Bribes are frequently required for everything from health care to dealing with state bureaucracy.
Prison Transfer
Days after the letter was circulated, quiet diplomacy resulted in authorities transferring Musa to a different prison, to keep him separate from prisoners who would likely abuse him for his faith. He is now held at the Kabul Detention Center in the Governor’s Compound.
A state-assigned lawyer has refused to represent him because of his faith. No other lawyer has been willing to represent him, though he has sought legal help.
Musa, known as Dr. Musa, has worked for the International Committee of the Red Cross in Kabul for 15 years fitting people for prosthetic limbs. He also has a prosthetic leg. Married and the father of six young children, he has been a Christian for eight years. His name is also phonetically spelled Sayed Mossa.
For the first two months of his detainment, sources said, Musa’s employer and family could not find out where authorities were holding him. During that time his wife received threats that she must leave Musa. Authorities have so far denied his family access to his file, which includes the charges against him. It is believed that the charges could include apostasy and possibly espionage.
Local Christians and religious freedom monitors have expressed concern that Musa may be made an example.
“The court case against Said Musa is unique,” said one religious freedom advocate, a Christian, under condition of anonymity. “Authorities usually don’t want court cases against Christians. This is high profile, as Musa has been on TV and was put under pressure to deny his faith publicly. This is a kind of a test case to see which law prevails in the country: sharia [Islamic law] or international agreements.”
Afghanistan’s population is estimated at 29 million, with very few Christians among them. Afghan converts from Islam are not accepted or recognized by the predominantly Muslim society. In recent months experts have expressed concern over political threats against local Christians, and many, including those exposed by Noorin TV’s broadcast, have fled the country. Christians who remain are afraid, according to sources.
“Dozens of Afghan Christians left their homes, as the authorities were actively looking for Christians after the television programs,” said the religious freedom monitor.
In the face of societal stigmatization, Christians who dare to meet do so in small groups at homes. Sources report that since the hostilities in May and June, Afghan Christians are very intimidated.
Afghanistan ranks sixth on Christian support organization Open Doors’ World Watch List of countries where Christians are persecuted.
The country has signed the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights stipulating religious freedom, and the nation’s constitution also provides a measure of religious liberties under Article 2. Article 3 limits the application of all laws if they are contrary to the “beliefs and provisions of the sacred religion of Islam.”
“It seems that this measure of religious freedom does not apply to those who have turned away from Islam,” said the religious freedoms monitor. “They are seen as apostates, traitors of their faith and country.”
Prayer Agenda for Leaders in the Body of Christ
Father, it’s in the Name of Jesus that we lift up all leadership in the Body of Christ throughout the world. We plead for Your mercy to be applied to every person holding any responsible position in the church such as Pastors, Teachers, Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Bishops, ministers, ministry heads and leaders in para-church organizations. We cry out for all those who are in the forefront before Your people.
We stand in the gap and repent for these leaders and any sins we have committed (Ezek. 22:30). We cry out like David did, it’s against You only that we have sinned. Forgive us, oh Lord and cleanse us from all unrighteousness, purge us with hyssop and renew the right spirit within us (Ps. 51).
Help us, Lord, to keep our hearts tender before You; being quick to repent, quick to forgive. Help us to lay aside every weight and the sin that so easily besets us so we can run the race before us with patience (Heb. 12:1). Keep us as only You can keep us, guide us as we go through each day and every decision that we make.
Holy Spirit, we welcome Your continued conviction of our sins that we may admit our sins, confess (agree with You), repent (turn away from our sins); so we can be restored to a right relationship with You (II Chron. 7:14, 1 John 1:9). Then Lord, we ask that You raise up godly counselors and accountability persons that are confidential that can challenge leaders and members to live righteous lives before You and before their fellow man. We shall not take counsel from the ungodly (Ps. 1).
Give us godly accountability partners that can speak to any of our besetting sins or reoccurring challenges in our lives, whether physical, mental, spiritual or emotional. Your Word says when we see a man overtaken in a fault, we who are spiritual must restore such a one in a spirit of meekness, lest we be overtaken (Gal. 6:1). Help us to grow up spiritually so we can be a part of someone else’s restoration process and reconciliation to You.
Father, we thank You for the sheep under our charge, and thank You that they will be instructed, nurtured and trained in the fear and admonition of the Lord. Thank You Father for divine connections that You have ordained from the foundation of the world. Thank You that boundaries will not be crossed, but we will abide together in righteousness and true holiness!
We lift up Bishop Eddie Long, his family, the New Birth Church family, all churches and ministers under his leadership, and we ask for mercy. You said You would have mercy on those that You would have mercy on. We don’t know what the truth is, but You know, Lord. You are the Ancient of Days, You know the end from the beginning. Begin to move in this situation and bring clarity that none will be lost. You said it is the goodness of the Lord that leadeth man to repentance, so overshadow them with Your goodness and bring conviction for the purpose of repentance.
Your Word says that no weapon that is formed against Your servants shall prosper and every tongue that rises against us as Your servants shall be condemned, this is the heritage of Your servants (Isa. 54:17). So we condemn every weapon and every tongue that has risen up against Bishop Eddie Long, attacks against his character. We pray for resolution of all unresolved issues in his heart. Lord, send vindication and for there to be a quick turnaround in this situation. We plead the blood of Jesus over Bishop Long’s mind, spirit soul and body. You said You would preserve our spirit, soul and body, which means You will keep us complete until the end (I Thess. 5:23-24).
We ask for exposure for every lie, every ungodly innuendo and insinuation in this current situation. We know that Your mercy suits the case and Your mercies are new every morning and great is Your faithfulness. So we approach Your throne boldly today to obtain grace and mercy for Bishop Eddie Long in his time of trouble. We also seek Your face on the behalf of the plaintiffs in this case, that there would be salvation, deliverance, and healing where it needed as all abide in the truth of Your Word.
We lift up the New Birth Church Family and we ask that the saints’ minds would be on You through this entire situation. We pray that none be lost, none fall away but they hold steadfast to their faith in You. You have always told us that You wouldn’t leave us, You wouldn’t forsake us and You would never fail us. So our hope and their hope is in You today Lord to work this situation out. Correct where there needs to be correction and bring vindication where there needs to be vindication. We declare You as sovereign and Lord, so Adonai be Lord over this situation and bring truth and clarity into their lives and this court situation. We pray that the peace of God shall rule and keep their hearts and minds in perfect peace as they keep their minds on You, in Jesus’ mighty and matchless Name. Amen.
Prayer for Finances in the Body
Prayer for Finances in the Body of Christ
Deuteronomy 8:18 (King James Version)
But thou shalt remember the LORD thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day.
Father, in the mighty Name of Jesus, we lift up finances in the Body of Christ before You, specifically for tithers and those who are striving to be faithful.
Deliver Your people from negligence, ignorance, greed, lust, pride, slothfulness and presumption, for according to Your Word, these things bring poverty.
Proverbs 23:21
For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty: and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags.
Help us to be good stewards over that which You have entrusted into our hands. Grant us the means to keep our vows, loans, debts, guaranties:
Ecclesiastes 5:4-6:
When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for he hath no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou hast vowed. Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay. Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin; neither say thou before the angel, that it was an error: wherefore should God be angry at thy voice, and destroy the work of thine hands?
We seek Your face for wisdom to order our affairs properly so that we may prosper and be entrusted with more. Help us to be faithful stewards over what You grant to us.
Matthew 25:23
His lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.
We pray for Your mercy, Father, for our guilt, presumption, greed and ignorance. Help us to change our inner wiring concerning finances. We rebuke and cancel all strongholds of greed, fear, selfishness and lust that have controlled us. We choose to be liberal and faithful. Prosper us we pray.
Psalm 118:25
Save now, I beseech thee, O LORD: O LORD, I beseech thee, send now prosperity.
In Jesus’ holy Name, Amen.
