2. THREE WOMEN INJURED AT DANGEROUS DENVER PLANNED BARRENHOOD
from: LiveAction
SYNOPSIS: The pro-life watchdog group Operation Rescue reported three medical emergencies at the Park Hill Planned Barrenhood in Denver, Colorado, within a three-month period this year. The reported incidents involved patients experiencing suspected acute heart issues and, in one case, "serious" bleeding, contributing to a total of eight documented injuries at the facility over two years.
Colorado does not require abortion businesses to be licensed or undergo safety inspections, a policy that Operation Rescue leaders, including Troy Newman and Sarah Neely, have sharply criticized. The facility performs surgical abortions up to 25 weeks of pregnancy, a practice deemed more dangerous when conducted outside of a hospital setting. The report highlights ongoing concerns regarding the safety of abortion clinics in the state, noting that in 2025, an 18-year-old woman named Lexi Arguello died following a botched procedure at a different Planned Barrenhood location in Colorado.
Pray for the permanent defunding of Planned "Barrenhood" which is not about promoting Parenthood at all, but rather abortion, sex change and infertility = barrenhood.
3. HEAD OF UGCC: 'MASS KILLINGS AND EXECUTIONS CONTINUE WHEREVER RUSSIAN OCCUPIERS ADVANCE'
from: RISU
SYNOPSIS: His Beatitude Sviatoslav, Head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC), stated that mass killings and executions of civilians continue wherever Russian forces advance. The Church leader condemned the ongoing Russian attacks on Ukrainian cities, including massive strikes on the capital, Kyiv.
His Beatitude Sviatoslav drew parallels between current Russian aggression and the historical atrocities committed by the NKVD, such as the mass execution of 22,000 prisoners in Western Ukraine. The address highlighted the Chortkiv-Uman tragedy, where hundreds were tortured and executed by Soviet authorities during World War II. The UGCC continues to document and bear witness to these crimes to ensure the truth is heard and to prevent such horrors from being repeated in the future.
Intercede with God for an end to the mass killings of Ukrainian civilians by Russia's missile and drone attacks on schools, hospitals, and civilian infrastructure.
4. GOLDEN TICKET BABIES: HOW SURROGACY PUT AMERICAN CITIZENSHIP UP FOR SALE
from: Them Before Us
SYNOPSIS: Them Before Us, represented by Josh Wood, testified before the Texas Senate to advocate for children's rights within the largely unregulated commercial surrogacy industry. The organization argues that surrogacy often treats children like inventory, deliberately separating them from their biological parents to satisfy adult desires.
Texas is currently being scrutinized for its permissive legal framework, which allows foreign nationals to use surrogacy as a "golden ticket" to secure American citizenship for children. Concerns were raised regarding the lack of vetting for intended parents, with reports citing cases of foreign billionaires and individuals who would not qualify for standard adoption screenings acquiring children. The IVF industry thrives in the dark, and Them Before Us is working to "pull back the curtain" by providing research and testimony to legislators to ensure children are protected from exploitation.
Ask the Lord to stop the exploitation of poor women by rich foreigners to exploit a loophole and gain U.S. citizenship.
5. OVER HALF OF STATES FAIL TO MEET IDEA REQUIREMENTS, FEDS SAY
from: Disability Scoop
SYNOPSIS: The U.S. Department of Education reported that fewer than half of U.S. states met federal requirements under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) for students aged 3 to 21. Only 20 states earned a "meets requirements" designation, while 26 states were labeled "needs assistance" and five jurisdictions were marked as "needs intervention." Federal law mandates that the Education Department take enforcement actions, such as directing additional funds or technical assistance, if states fail to meet standards for two or more consecutive years.
Critics, including Robyn Linscott from The Arc of the United States, expressed concern over planned efforts to shift Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) responsibilities to the Department of Health and Human Services. The states designated as “meets requirements” include Alabama, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Texas, Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.The Advocacy Institute noted that the current grading methodology makes it "mathematically impossible" for all states to achieve the top ranking due to the rank-ordering of state scores: the lower 50% are always below average.
Pray that people will examine how statistics are reported, and not believe exaggerated headlines or statistics.
6. SCIENTISTS MAY HAVE FINALLY FOUND HOW ALZHEIMER'S KILLS BRAIN CELLS
from: Science Daily
SYNOPSIS: Researchers from King’s College London have identified karyoptosis as a previously unknown mechanism that leads to the death of brain cells in Alzheimer’s disease and frontotemporal dementia. The process of karyoptosis is triggered by the buildup of toxic proteins, which causes the nerve cell's nucleus to shrivel and disintegrate, ultimately killing the neuron.
Analysis of 3,000 brain cells revealed that karyoptosis was present in 35 percent of cells from individuals with Alzheimer’s, compared to only 15 percent in healthy older adults. The study identified an interaction between the protein LaminB1 and the p38 MAP kinase as a promising molecular "switch" that controls this destructive pathway. By targeting these specific proteins, scientists hope to develop future therapies that can slow or prevent cell loss, potentially extending the window for effective dementia treatment.
Thank God for this discovery, showing that ageing does not automatically lead to dementia, but that it can be stopped. Various steps such as the right amount of exercise and rest, a nutritious diet but not eating too much, antioxidants to clean out left-over waste from breathing air and digesting one's food can go a long way in clearing the brain fog and stiff, aching body.
7. THE FIRST DISABILITY PENSION IN THE USA WAS ESTABLISHED IN 1776
from: Disabled World
SYNOPSIS: The origins of disability benefits in the United States go back to the Revolutionary War, when the Continental Congress voted to support soldiers wounded in the fight for independence. History enthusiasts, students, veterans, seniors and people with disabilities want to understand where the American social security tradition actually began, which shows that care for disabled veterans was written into the fabric of the nation before the country itself was fully formed.
George Washington wrote about the plight of disabled soldiers as early as 1757, warning that brave men wounded in service were being discharged and left to beg from door to door. The Continental Congress formed its first committee on benefits for wounded soldiers on June 20, 1776 - two weeks before the Declaration of Independence was adopted. John Hancock, President of the Continental Congress, was disabled and became the first disabled person to provide a documented signature in United States history when he signed the Declaration.
Thank the Lord for veterans' disability benefits, without which this writer and his wife wouln't be able to afford the accessible condo that we live in!
HOW TO RELATE TO FOREIGNERS AMONG US
(This is an essay that I wrote on Jan. 30, 2017, but is especially relevant today:)
As Christians, we are commanded to care for the foreigners ("strangers") among us, because, like the Old Testament Israelites living in exile, we too are foreigners in a foreign land – this world is not our home. For centuries after Jesus Christ lived, died and rose from the dead, Christians were a discriminated-against minority in the Greco-Roman world.
Alec Hill, former president of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, under whom I worked and highly respect, posted the following on Facebook:
Throughout Scripture, the Lord commands us to care for the displaced/stranger/alien/refugee. The following three passages are illustrative:
Leviticus 19:34
“When a stranger resides with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. The stranger who resides with you shall be to you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt; I am the LORD your God.”
Isaiah 16:4
“Hide the fugitives, do not betray the refugees. Let the Moabite fugitives stay with you; be their shelter from the destroyer.”
Matthew 25:34-40
“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘come, you who are blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited me in; naked, and you clothed me; I was sick, and you visited me; I was in prison, and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry, and feed you, or thirsty, and give you something to drink? And when did we see you a stranger, and invite you in, or naked, and clothe you? When did we see you sick, or in prison, and come to you?’ The King will answer and say to them, ‘truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of mine, even the least of them, you did it to me.’"
There are many more such Scripture passages emphasizing our duty to care for the needy foreigners among us. In the discussion of this current issue, however, we need to examine contrasting Scripture passages on how to relate to foreigners in our midst. David Klinghofer has written an excellent article, "What the Scriptures Say About Immigration," posted last year on Beliefnet.org and reposted here: https://www.discovery.org/a/3475, from which I quote a few excerpts:
"The classic instance is Ruth, the Moabite. She had a Jewish mother-in-law, Naomi, whom she met when Naomi’s family fled the land of Israel and moved to neighboring Moab to escape a famine. When Ruth’s husband, Naomi’s son, died, along with Naomi’s husband and her other son, Ruth decided to return with the older woman to Israel. Said Ruth, “For where you go, I will go; where you lodge, I will lodge; your people will be my people, and your God will be my God; where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. Thus may the Lord do to me, and so may He do more, if anything but death separates me from you” (Ruth 1:16-17).
"Notice that the main thrust of her speech is the passionate joining of her own fate with Naomi’s, and thus with Israel’s. To this day, that remains the primary criterion by which potential converts to Judaism are evaluated. Ruth thus became, according to Jewish tradition, history’s most beloved “proselyte” or “convert” to Judaism – a status celebrated at the Jewish festival of Shavuot, when her story is chanted in synagogues."
Notice carefully what Ruth said: "Your God will be my God." She adopted the religion of Israel. This is what was expected of foreigners who came to Israel. When Abram was given the covenant of circumcision and his name was changed to Abraham, God commanded him to circumcise all of the males in his household, including his slaves:
"Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. And Ishmael his son was thirteen years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. That very day Abraham and his son Ishmael were circumcised. And all the men of his house, those born in the house and those bought with money from a foreigner, were circumcised with him." (Gen. 17:24-27)
This became the standard or rule for following generations in Israel, expecting foreigners to adopt the Jewish religion and follow its laws:
"If a stranger shall sojourn with you and would keep the Passover to the LORD, let all his males be circumcised. Then he may come near and keep it; he shall be as a native of the land. But no uncircumcised person shall eat of it. There shall be one law for the native and for the stranger who sojourns among you. (Ex. 12:48-49)
"Likewise, when a foreigner, who is not of your people Israel, comes from a far country for the sake of your great name and your mighty hand and your outstretched arm, when he comes and prays toward this house, hear from heaven your dwelling place and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to you, in order that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your people Israel, and that they may know that this house that I have built is called by your name." (2 Chron. 6:32-33)
In his article, Klinghofer continues along this line:
"The subject of conversion isn’t quite so simple, however. For there are actually two sub-classes grouped under the category of the “ger.” There is the ger, the convert, like Ruth – a full member of Israel. But there is another, the ger toshav, or resident alien.
"The latter occupies a middle ground between Jew and foreigner. It is this individual whom Jews are, in the verse we saw earlier, commanded to provide for: “If your brother becomes impoverished and his means falter in your proximity, you shall strengthen him – stranger or resident (ger v’toshav) – so that he can live with you” (Leviticus 25:35).
"This resident alien too must fulfill criteria to join his new society, agreeing to certain basic moral propositions, including forswearing idolatry, murder, and sexual immorality. He is called a “resident alien” because it is only having satisfied this condition that a non-Israelite who doesn’t formally convert may live in the Holy Land. While inviting us to admire and love a person who would give up his citizenship in a foreign country to join our own, the Bible also commands us to give material aid, whatever is needed, to any immigrant – if he agrees to abide by an unwavering moral law.
"Here is where the Bible may be hard for a modern reader to accept, for scriptural tradition expects that any immigrant, any ger, will meet demanding moral criteria. It is not an undiscriminating welcome. The idea that a sojourner would be allowed to live in the land without having accepted the two sets of conditions is unthinkable: 'They shall not dwell in your land lest they cause you to sin against Me, that you will worship their gods, for it will be a trap for you' (Exodus 23:33)."
Let us look at the context of this last quotation: "And I will set your border from the Red Sea to the Sea of the Philistines, and from the wilderness to the Euphrates, for I will give the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you shall drive them out before you. You shall make no covenant with them and their gods. They shall not dwell in your land, lest they make you sin against me; for if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare to you." (Ex. 23:31-33)
The definition of a nation is that it shares a common culture and common laws. There can't be contradictory cultural norms and laws if "this nation or any nation may long endure," as Abraham Lincoln said in his Gettysburg Address. Further along this line:
"Take care, lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land to which you go, lest it become a snare in your midst. You shall tear down their altars and break their pillars and cut down their Asherim." (Ex. 34:12-13)
"And if a stranger sojourns among you and would keep the Passover to the LORD, according to the statute of the Passover and according to its rule, so shall he do. You shall have one statute, both for the sojourner and for the native." (Num. 9:14)
"And if a stranger is sojourning with you, or anyone is living permanently among you, and he wishes to offer a food offering, with a pleasing aroma to the LORD, he shall do as you do. For the assembly, there shall be one statute for you and for the stranger who sojourns with you, a statute forever throughout your generations. You and the sojourner shall be alike before the LORD. One law and one rule shall be for you and for the stranger who sojourns with you." (Num. 15:14-16)
"Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When you pass over the Jordan into the land of Canaan, then you shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you and destroy all their figured stones and destroy all their metal images and demolish all their high places." (Num. 33:51-52)
"And you shall consume all the peoples that the LORD your God will give over to you. Your eye shall not pity them, neither shall you serve their gods, for that would be a snare to you." (Deut. 7:16)
"When the LORD your God cuts off before you the nations whom you go in to dispossess, and you dispossess them and dwell in their land, take care that you be not ensnared to follow them, after they have been destroyed before you, and that you do not inquire about their gods, saying, 'How did these nations serve their gods? – that I also may do the same.' You shall not worship the LORD your God in that way, for every abominable thing that the LORD hates they have done for their gods, for they even burn their sons and their daughters in the fire to their gods." (Deut. 12:29-31)
"For if you turn back and cling to the remnant of these nations remaining among you and make marriages with them, so that you associate with them and they with you, know for certain that the LORD your God will no longer drive out these nations before you, but they shall be a snare and a trap for you, a whip on your sides and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from off this good ground that the LORD your God has given you." (Josh. 23:12-13)
"And you shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; you shall break down their altars. But you have not obeyed my voice. What is this you have done? So now I say, I will not drive them out before you, but they shall become thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare to you." (Judges 2:2-3)
"They despised his statutes and his covenant that He made with their fathers and the warnings that he gave them. They went after false idols and became false, and they followed the nations that were around them, concerning whom the LORD had commanded them that they should not do like them. And they abandoned all the commandments of the LORD their God, and made for themselves metal images of two calves; and they made an Asherah and worshiped all the host of heaven and served Baal." (2 Kings 17:15-16)
From all of the above Scripture passages, we can see that there must be a balance between welcoming the stranger who is in need and preserving our own faith, laws and cultural norms. Major cities in Europe such as London, Paris, Bonn and Berlin now have Muslim neighborhoods where it is dangerous for a European native to walk, especially for a woman who does not wear a veil. Dearborn and Detroit are becoming similar. Liberal democracy only works when all people – citizens and resident aliens alike – abide by the same set of values and laws. But when the majority is liberal and tolerant while the minority is rigid and insists on the rest bend to its demands, there's trouble ahead.
Robert D. Hosken, M.Min., M.Th.S., D.Min.
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Jesus Christ showed and taught His followers how to preach the Gospel, heal the sick, and care for the poor and brokenhearted, then He sent them out to do the same. It seems, however, that many Christians think - "I don't have the gift of healing, I'm not a great evangelist or a pastor, so I guess I'll just be an ordinary layperson, sitting in my cushioned pew, singing hymns and listening to sermons." Why do people think that way? And what should we do about it?