Every year our wonderful nation, the United States of America, holds a National Prayer Breakfast on the first Thursday of February. The night before this prayer breakfast David Barton, from Wallbuilders, holds a Spiritual Heritage Tour.

What is even more amazing is that people literally come from all over the world to attend this breakfast. This year the event is co-chaired by Congressman Emanuel Cleaver, II (D-MO). Congressman Cleaver says of this opportunity, “It is a great honor to be asked to chair this amazing event. Though I am a Methodist minister, my sincere hope is to make it inclusive and exciting to all faiths. Prayer is a universal language, and I will do everything I can to make it an event that brings people together to celebrate what we have in common.”

The breakfast draws about 4000 people from around the world.

The following is reprinted from Mission Network News.

(MNN) — While President George W. Bush’s decision to send more troops to Iraq is being met with opposition from Americans, it’s being hailed by Iraqi Christians.

That’s the message from Middle Eastern Christians who were meeting with E3 Partners . E3 Partners’ Tom Doyle says, “These guys are on the ground floor seeing what’s going on — new schools, new hospitals. Our leaders from the Middle East were kind of shocked at how it was being portrayed on the news. They said it looks like the media is trying to portray that you’re losing.”

Many Iraqi and Middle Eastern Christians support the war for very good reasons. “If this had not happened, the war, they would not have 35 new churches in Baghdad, that they know of. There could be many more. That’s just what they can get their hands on and what they’re working with. (There are) tremendous things (happening) in the Kurdish area. They’re calling it a revival.”

Doyle says these church leaders indicate that many Iraqis few American soldiers as heroes. “In most places the American soldiers are perceived as their only protection and they’re honored in many ways. I think our media just focuses on that triangle that has always been bad. It was bad during Saddam’s days.”

In months past Mission Network News has reported that many Christians have left Iraq for safety reasons. Doyle says, “There are a lot of Christians leaving, but nominal Christians never stand up to persecution from Muslims, they just flee, but real believers many times stick around.”

Many Iraqis as a whole have fled Iraq. Doyle says that’s opened doors for evangelism in places like Jordan. “The believers in Jordan, as they have seen many of these Iraqis open to the Gospel, have encouraged them to go back. They have used that as a platform to train them and send them with the Gospel, discipleship and church planting.”

Funding for these new believers is important. Doyle says you can sponsor them, “For just $30 a month. And, the amazing thing is they will train at least 50 people and start a new church.”

Funding is also needed for Bibles, other Christian literature and EvangeCubes. Click here if you’d like to help.

Earlier today I was listening to Janet Parshall’s America and I have to tell you that today’s show was by far one of the best I have ever heard. Janet was on a roll and did all three hours pretty much giving her commentary on very important news that most people are not getting. While she did take a few calls, since it is “open phones Friday”, really the show was mostly her very astute and passionate commentary. So if you haven’t heard her show, you really need to check it out and become a Parshall’s Patriot.

In her first hour Janet told us about 3 movies that are showing at the Sundance film festival and two of the three are designed specifically to bash and lie about Christians. The third film is about bestiality…nice huh?

The first movie is called “For the Bible Tells Me So” which their marketing materials say the following, “Today a handful of religious passages are constantly exploited to validate hatred and violence against homosexuals. Filmmaker Daniel Karslake explores the way religious conservatives have systematically misled the public into believing that the Bible forbids homosexuality and how this campaign of misinterpretation continues to stigmatize the gay community and threaten America’s rapidly diminishing separation of church and state. ”

What I find fascinating about this is that the bible does forbid homosexuality and no one can deny that because it’s written very clearly. However, I know not one person who uses that truth to “validate hatred and violence against homosexuals.” So, it appears that this movie is extremely ill informed and has a definite Christian bashing agenda.

The second movie is called “Save Me” which stars outspoken homosexual actor Chad Allen. Here’s a little about what their marketing materials say, “Save Me, is a film about redemption. Mark (Chad Allen), a lost, young, gay man, leads a wild life of drugs and meaningless sex, searching desperately to fill the emptiness in his soul. When Mark finally hits bottom, his brother checks him into Genesis House, a 12-step, Christian, “ex-gay” ministry specializing in healing sexual brokenness. . . . Torn by the specter of damnation and the pull of their hearts, Mark and Scott are forced to confront their truth.” Bottom line is that this is a movie that appears to be bashing Christians who are helping homosexuals recover from their homosexuality by having the main characters embrace one another and their homosexuality.

The last movie is about bestiality called “Zoo”. Even the description is disgusting on the Sundance website, but I think this last paragraph says it all. “The cinematic language invented for the film permits us to examine where we draw the line, how much perversity we can tolerate in others. In a broader sense, Zoo is really about thresholds. What can we stand to know, and, more importantly, what can we stand to accept?— John Cooper”

I think I’ve said enough.

Earlier today I launched my new podcast Being Safe Online and my very first guest was author, child advocate, parent, journalist and Executive Director of the nonprofit Tech Parenting Group and editor of NetFamilyNews.org, the one and only Anne Collier.

In our interview we discussed the book that Anne coauthored with her business partner Larry Magid called MySpace Unraveled. This is a MUST READ book for everyone. Parents, educators, principals , pastors, youth ministers, rabbis – everyone. The book is so concise and easy to use and in this day and age when practically everyone is online, it’s the perfect guide for the novice who doesn’t really know how to use MySpace.

Even though I’m pretty tech savy myself, I found very helpful tips and it has made all the difference with my work on the web.

In our interview, Anne and I discuss some statistics you may not be aware of that debunk what you think you may know. We also talk about how the Internet is not as unsafe as you may think. There is a difference between the shows like Dateline who talk about catching predators and reality online. Most people online are not predators, but you’d never know that if you think being online is all about predators.

Please take a half hour and listen to the show. And please also tell a friend, because we want to help as many people as we can to Be Safe Online.

Click here to listen to our show on Cyberears.

Click here to visit our new Being Safe Online blog. Be sure to also sign up for our weekly newsletter while you’re at the blog.

Buy the book today!

I have been thinking a lot about Rosie O’Donnell lately, because she has been in the news so much. A few months back she compared Christians to terrorists, then she picked a fight with Donald Trump, and even yesterday she said that President Bush should be impeached.

A lot of conservative radio talkshow hosts are going after her, which is to be expected, but I really think we all need to step up and pray for Rosie. And I’m not saying that to sound spiritual or condescending in any way. She really needs our prayers, and she really needs to find Jesus.

I have taken to recording The View since she has been on so that I can see what it’s all about. Frankly, it’s really a sad show that doesn’t speak to me or most of my Christian women friends – however, this is the world we have been called to go out and tell about Jesus.

On the show Rosie has shared numerous things about herself that are concerning to me and tell me that she has some very serious issues. Yesterday she made a joke about being on antidepressants, which really isn’t funny when you think about it. She admitted that she’s depressed enough to be on them. She has also commented on having obsessive thoughts that are hard for her to control, and she made it very known how obsessed with Barbra Streisand she is. She really did go way over the top with that.

She often talks about her weight and how fat she is, as well as her eating problems. In fact, yesterday she talked about how her children are helping her to eat better – which is very sad when you think about it because she’s the parent.

She also has some mother love that needs to be filled from the loss of her mom at a young age, and I think her sexuality is evidence of that. She makes a point in almost every show to remind everyone that she’s a lesbian and that we all need to accept her.

The bottom line is that I really feel sorry for Rosie. She’s evidently not very happy and when you look at The View and you look at her countenance compared to Joy’s or Elizabeth’s, it is very evident that she is not happy.

Pray for her today would ya. She needs to find the unconditional lover of her soul and be set free from all that binds her.