EURCP AUGUST 09 – Sweden, Iceland and Ukraine

“The European Union Review & Call to Prayer”

Newsletter publishers: Hugh & Norma Davis [Not directed by any other ministry] http://www.euprayer.com/ 

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JOIN THE 22 EUROPEAN PRAYER WALL MOVEMENT

NUMERICAL REF.[1 Numbers changed]*

1 PRAY for and with the Christian prayer and spiritual activities in the nations of Europe

2* PRAY for internal EU government policies & operations of all non-Parliament branches.

3* PRAY for EU Parliament,  treaty revisions and enlargement policies

4 PRAY for family, Human Rights, Religion and ethical policies of the EU

5 PRAY for the Middle East policies of the EU

6 PRAY for the immigration policies of the EU & EU international relations

7 PRAY for EU policies on national emergencies, security and terrorism

8 PRAY for all 27 EU national governments & their citizenry

9 PRAY for EU employment, economics and business concerns [John15:4-5]

 

1 Eight Warning Signs of Toxic Faith [partial excerpts]

http://www.charismamag.com/index.php/fire-in-my-bones/22725-8-warning-signs-of-toxic-faith

Tuesday, 28 July 2009 12:17 PM EDT J. Lee Grady Newsletters - Fire In My Bones   

 

Legalistic religion is dangerous. Here's how you can detect and avoid the poison of a religious spirit.

 

After Elisha watched Elijah ascend into heaven, the prophet went to the city of Jericho and performed his first miracle. The men of that city faced an environmental crisis: Their water was toxic, most likely because of the sulphur and other chemicals that had rained down upon nearby Sodom and Gomorrah years earlier. This poison had made the land barren (see 2 Kings 2:19-22) and it was probably affecting people and animals as well as plant life.So Elisha performed a bold, prophetic act. He threw salt in the water and proclaimed: "Thus says the Lord, ‘I have purified these waters; there shall not be from there death or unfruitfulness any longer'" (v. 21, NASB). His proclamation brought immediate cleansing. " Jesus Himself referred to these toxins as 'the leaven of the Pharisees'” (Luke 12:1, NASB). He told us that the Pharisees’ brand of religion, which looked good on the outside, was deadly—and contagious." .

 

Have you been infected? You can take your own pH test by examining these eight characteristics of a religious spirit [go to the web site to see more detail]

 

1. A religious spirit views God as a cold, harsh, distant taskmaster rather than an approachable, loving Father.

2. A religious spirit places emphasis on doing outward things to show others that God accepts him. We deceive ourselves into believing that we can win God's approval through a religious dress code, certain spiritual disciplines, particular music styles or even doctrinal positions.

3. A religious spirit develops traditions and formulas to accomplish spiritual goals. We trust in our liturgies, denominational policies or man-made programs to obtain results that only God alone can give.

4. A religious spirit becomes joyless, cynical and hypercritical.

5. A religious spirit becomes prideful and isolated, thinking that his righteousness is special and that he cannot associate with other believers who have different standards.

6. A religious spirit develops a harsh, judgmental attitude toward sinners, yet those who ingest this poison typically struggle with sinful habits that they cannot admit to anyone else.

7. A religious spirit rejects progressive revelation and refuses to embrace change.

8. A religious spirit persecutes those who disagree with his self-righteous views and becomes angry whenever the message of grace threatens to undermine his religiosity.

PRAYER ISSUE: To live and walk in the Spirit and the Word and in His a call to love based service will restrict the religious spirit

 

1   SIGNS OF A GROWING CHURCH

    I recently received the monthly church bulletin from my former home Church in Ghent, BELGIUM. There is an insert about two missionary couples Elim Church - and other Belgian churches - support. When I read this I thought of something a missionary friend of mine said when he was in Ghent many years ago  He  said that the churches of Belgium would not grow until they stopped only seeing their own needs and began to reach out to other mission needs of the world - or began to support missionary ministries to other places than Belgium.

 

As I've seen churches in Europe growing. I've often thought of that. I'm not sure just how many missionaries other Belgian churches support [the Ghent church supports at least two couples supports but at least two couples - in Chile and in Congo); but I know Belgian churches also support  mission ministries in former Soviet Union countries of Eastern Europe, as well as African ministries.

 

We know that churches in Europe are growing more - as they begin to support missions in other parts of the world. Of course, we see this in the US, too - there are churches that can only see needs in their own communities - and don't see the need to support needs in other parts of the world. They not only don't give financial support, but don't even see the need for prayer for needs of other parts of the world!

With His blessing, Norma Jenson Davis

PRAYER ISSUE: His Spirit drives one to reach the lost, and investment in the lost brings great rewards in growth and life.

 

2.   The Sweedish EU Presidency [fr][de] see attached

 

2   Presidency Statement on evictions in East Jerusalem

http://www.se2009.eu/en/meetings_news/2009/8/3/presidency_statement_on_evictions_in_east_jerusalem

Published

03 August

 The Presidency of the European Union reiterates its serious concern about the continued and unacceptable evictions in East Jerusalem, notably the evictions by Israeli authorities of two families from their homes in the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood on Sunday 2 August 2009.

 

The Presidency recalls that house demolitions, evictions and settlement activities in East Jerusalem are illegal under international law. In addition, the actions taken by the Israeli Government contravene repeated calls by the international community, including the Quartet, to refrain from any provocative actions in East Jerusalem. These actions confirm a worrying trend that runs counter to the creation of an atmosphere conducive to achieving a viable and credible solution to the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians.

PRAYER ISSUE: The future of Jerusalem and Israel is all that matters to the core believers on each side [Isaac and Ishmael?].

 

2   French influence remains modest in EU PParliament 

http://www.euractiv.com/en/eu-elections/french-influence-remains-modest-eu-parliament/article-184551

Published: Friday 31 July 2009   

Despite increasing its representation in key committee posts, France remains far behind Germany and the United Kingdom in terms of influence in the new European Parliament. EurActiv France reports.

 

Background:

The European Parliament elected its committee presidents and vice-presidents during two rounds of elections earlier this month (EurActiv 17/07/09).

The distribution of the chairmanships was decided by negotiations between the political groups on the basis of a system which gives them representation proportional to their size (the so-called 'D'Hondt method').The centre-right EPP group kept nine chairs, the Socialists six and the Liberals (ALDE) three. The Green group and the new anti-federalist ECR group have taken one each.

According to a ranking produced by the European Institute for Participative Democracy (Qvorum) in Bucharest, Germany is the best represented member state as regards the Parliament's top positions (146.8 points), way ahead of France on 119 (EurActiv 28/07/09). .SEE FULL WEB SITE

PRAYER ISSUE: The political forces come from the strongest united social order which may apply in this case.

 

2   New names emerge for top EU jobs

http://euobserver.com/9/28523/?rk=1

New names emerge for top EU jobs

ANDREW RETTMAN

Today @ 09:10 CET

 

Former German foreign minister Joschka Fischer should run the European Commission according to MEP Daniel Cohn-Bendit, while British ex-commissioner Chris Patten is eyeing an EU foreign minister role."A European mandate would not be the worst thing for Joschka," Mr Cohn-Bendit told the Frankfurt Journal magazine on Tuesday (4 August). Mr Fischer - came from the radical left to become one of Germany's most popular politicians. The two politicians know each other since the 1970s, when both helped staged street protests for the radical left and later joined the Green party. Mr Fischer was foreign minister under chancellor Gerhard Schroeder from 1998 to 2005. He supported German military intervention in Kosovo but opposed the Iraq war.

PRAYER ISSUE: These are the target prayer names for change

 

3  Cynicism about politics marred EU vote turnout

http://euobserver.com/9/28504/?rk=1

LUCIA KUBOSOVA

29.07.2009 @ 09:24 CET

 

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - Lack of trust and interest in politics have come out as the main reasons for a record low turnout in the June elections of the European Parliament - the only EU body directly elected by people, a fresh survey has found. Almost a third of respondents (28%) to the Euro barometer poll, published on Tuesday (28 July), suggested that they do not trust or are not satisfied with politics in general and therefore did not cast their vote, with the argument mainly present in Greece (51%), Bulgaria (45%), Cyprus and Romania (both 44%).  The EU vote turnout dropped from 62 percent in 1979 to 43 percent this June In contrast, only 8 percent of non-voters in Denmark mentioned this reason, in line with Luxembourgers (11%), Finns and Belgians (both 18%). SEE FULL WEB SITE

PRAYER ISSUE: A social order with political integrity must include citizens of recognized integrity which in some parts of Europe this could be difficult to find.

[People let us pray for the Spiritual renewal; of Europe and the EU membership]

 

3   EU kick-starts Iceland's accession[fr][de] 

http://www.euractiv.com/en/enlargement/eu-kick-starts-iceland-accession/article-184391

Published: Monday 27 July 2009   

Just days after Iceland filed its application to join the European Union, EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels today (27 July) are expected to accept it and ask the European Commission to draft an opinion.

 

BACKGROUND:

PRAYER ISSUE: It was in the EUs and Iceland’s interest to facilitate this union.

 

3   Berlin starts talks over Lisbon treaty law

http://euobserver.com/9/28517/?rk=1

LISBETH KIRK

03.08.2009 @ 09:19 CET

 

Leading representatives of the German governing parties will meet on Monday (3 August) in Berlin to formulate legislation on how to implement the EU's Lisbon treaty, as requested by the country's constitutional court. A new deal is needed after Germany's highest court on 30 June ruled that the Lisbon treaty can only be ratified if the national parliament's role is first strengthened. The Bundestag: Germany's ratification of the Lisbon treaty was suspended by its top court (Photo: Wikipedia)

The 147 page-long ruling suspended the ratification process of the treaty until the new provisions requested by the court come into force. Time is short for Berlin as the German parliament will soon be dissolved due to general elections on 27 September. SEE FULL WEB SITE

PRAYER ISSUE: To assist by prayer the expediting of a German court judgment for the application of the treaty.

 

 

3   Questions abound over Ukraine's European future 

http://www.euractiv.com/en/enlargement/questions-abound-ukraine-european-future/article-184554

Published: Friday 31 July 2009   

Ukraine is currently negotiating visa-free travel with the EU as part of a wide-ranging association agreement, as some of the country's politicians express hopes for a clearer "European perspective". EurActiv outlines various scenarios for Ukraine's expected rocky path towards closer EU integration.

 

PRAYER ISSUE: Prayer for Ukraine and for specific persons with power and influence to facilitate joining the EU if that is what God wants to do.

 

5 EU launches EuroMed news[fr][de] 

http://www.euractiv.com/en/culture/eu-launches-euromed-news/article-181328

Published: Thursday 16 April 2009   

The European Commission yesterday (15 April) launched a new television channel to promote its neighbourhood policy and boost the visibility of EU-funded projects in the Mediterranean region.

 

Background:

The EuroMed News project gathers international organisations, including the Arab States Broadcasting Union (ASBU), Euro-Mediterranean media association COPEAM and the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), and public broadcasters like France Télévision, Algeria's EPTV, Jordan's JRTV, Libya's LJB, Syria's ORTAS, Morocco's SNRT and Lebanon's Téléliban.

 

Last summer, heads of state from 43 countries in the region launched the 'Union for the Mediterranean' backed by French President Nicolas Sarkozy, which seeks to give regional integration a new impetus by supporting a series of priority development projects The 'Med Union' is designed to complement rather than rival the Barcelona Process. SEE FULL WEB SIT

PRAYER ISSUE: Pray for God’s interest in the med union and then pray for French president Sarkozy that the arrangements go well or as God wills.

 

6   View Europe as short-term safe haven 

http://www.euractiv.com/en/enterprise-jobs/investors-view-europe-short-term-safe/article-184552

Published: Friday 31 July 2009   

International investors view Western Europe as a familiar and reliable region in which to invest, but Eastern and Central Europe is considered a better medium-term prospect, according to a new report by consultants Ernst & Young. The annual European Attractiveness Survey shows foreign direct investment was surprisingly steady last year, but says the picture at the end of 2009 will be starkly different. The investment community views Europe as more stable and relatively safer than the rapidly developing BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China), but the long-term trend suggests global capital projects will continue to shift from west to east and from north to south. "Emerging regions are not providing the absolutely safe ground international investors are looking for. Yet, the engine of growth in the global economy is moving east, propelled by a combination of commodity production and the advent of a new Asian middle class," says the report  , which is based on a survey of 809 international decision-makers. SEE FULL WEB SITE

PRAYER ISSUE: A stablised economy is the best environment even though the trend may be toward the east but take advantage the relative stability for increasing Christian influence.

 

 

6   EU presidency defends credentials after Turkmenistan move

http://euobserver.com/9/28510/?rk=1

ANDREW RETTMAN

30.07.2009 @ 09:07 CET

 

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - The Swedish EU presidency has defended its human rights credentials after adopting a new trade pact with Turkmenistan."Human Rights are important to the Swedish presidency and they are indeed an essential element of the agreement," Sweden's EU ambassador Ulrika Barklund-Larsson told EUobserver on Wednesday (29 July). Turkmenistan - on a par with North Korea and Burma, NGOs say "More generally, human rights and the rule of law underpin the EU's relations with Turkmenistan, as with the whole Central Asian region."Ms Barklund-Larsson's remarks come after two advocacy groups attacked the way in which Sweden handled the new treaty. SEE FULL WEB SITE

PRAYER ISSUE: Turkmenistan has a poor human rights position and yet the EU has to tolerate that to keep the fuel flowing. Sweden is particularly insistent on human rights. Pray for the leadership and wisdom.

 

6   EU Warns Georgia, South Ossetia Against Raising Tension

http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2009/08/03/world/international-us-georgia-eu-ossetia.html?_r=1

By REUTERS

Published: August 3, 2009

Filed at 3:59 p.m. ET

 

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union urged Georgia and South Ossetia Monday not to raise tensions around the rebel territory, calling for "unrestricted access" for EU monitors to both sides of its administrative boundary. Tension has escalated in the region after South Ossetia accused Georgian forces of firing mortars at it over the weekend. Russia warned Tbilisi it reserved the right to use force to defend civilians a year after their five-day war..

(Reporting by Jeremy Smith in Brussels and Margarita Antidze in Tbilisi) [SEE FULL WEB SITE]

PRAYER ISSUE: Pray for the authorities in Russia, Georgia. South Ossetia and others that a working peace can be established

 

7  NATO chief wants more EU help in Afghanistan

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/08/04/2645454.htm?section=world

By Stephanie Kennedy in London for AM

Posted Tue Aug 4, 2009 11:12am AEST

Updated Tue Aug 4, 2009 11:16am AEST

 

European allies have been reluctant to increase their commitments or to allow their soldiers to fight on the frontline   New NATO secretary-general Anders Fogh Rasmussen says Afghanistan is beginning to look like a American-only mission and if NATO is to remain relevant, European nations need to step in and do their bit. Insurgent attacks on security forces have been increasing in the run-up to the presidential election on August 20.SEE FULL WEB SITE

PRAYER ISSUE: How do we make this a NATO issue and not a USA one?

 

8   SPD limousine crashes into German election campaign

http://www.euractiv.com/en/elections/spd-limousine-crashes-german-election-campaign/article-184584

Published: Friday 31 July 2009   

 

PRAYER ISSUE: Pray for God’s outcome in the upcoming elections.

 

8  Speaker's election proves good day for Cameron to bury bad news on EU

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/blog/2009/jun/22/speaker-cameron-eu

Posted by Toby Helm

Monday 22 June 2009 12.23 BST

guardian.co.uk

 

The Tories officially announced today they are leaving the mainstream centre-right group in the European parliament to form a new bloc with controversial allies The day when the House of Commons is electing a new Speaker – an event that will take up many pages of tomorrow's newspapers and hours on TV news – is not a bad one to bury embarrassing news.And that was, no doubt, the main reason the Tories chose today to officially announce they are forming a new rightwing grouping in the European parliament. David Cameron is said to be completely convinced he is right and wise to split off from the centre-right, mainstream European People's party (EPP) grouping in order to link up instead with a bunch of nationalists, homophobes and others, some of whose careers have seen them associated with movements preaching anti-Semitic opinion. [SEE FULL WEB SITE]

PRAYER ISSUE:  The English political system is being stressed and the answer is forming

 

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