Tag: Saeed Abedini

Crooked Hillary & Barack Obama – Born Liars


Hillary Clinton is putting some distance between herself from President Obama's foreign policy. However, her own comments may come back to haunt her.
Hillary Clinton is putting some distance between herself from President Obama’s foreign policy. However, her own comments may come back to haunt her.

John R. Houk

© August 6, 2016

 

I found an article by Ben Shapiro in the Daily Wire pertaining to the pathological lying of Crooked Hillary Clinton. Shapiro takes some points from a Denver 9News interview with Crooked Hillary and shoots down the points she considers truth as pathological lies.

 

One thing I found interesting in the article are the similarity of lies of Hillary are to the same exact lying storyline provided by President Barack Hussein Obama in a Thursday press conference on the so-called coincidence that over $400 million’s worth of foreign currency was delivered to Iran in an unmarked jet about the same time that dual citizen American/Iranian political prisoners were released.

 

Obama said that was a coincidence on part of a deal constructed months ago to deliver payments of Iran’s own money that was frozen. LIE! That is a fascinating assertion since one of the released American hostages – Saeed Abedini – was originally told they’d lift off out Iran 20 minutes after loading, but instead was on the tarmac for hours. Abedini asked for a reason. He was told they couldn’t take off until the ransom plane had landed.

 

Saeed Abidini [sic]: I just remember the night at the airport sitting for hours and hours there and I asked police— why you not letting us go — And he told me we are waiting for another plane and if that plane take off we gonna let you go.

 

Trish Regan: You slept there at the airport?

 

Abidini [sic]: Yes, for a night. They told us you going to be there for 20 minutes but it took hours and hours. And I ask them why you don’t let us go, because the — was there, pilot was there, everyone was there to leave the country. And he said we are waiting for another plane so if that plane doesn’t come we never let us go. (PROOF OBAMA LIED=> US Iranian Hostage Abedini Says Iran Held Plane on Tarmac Until (Ransom) Plane Arrived (VIDEO); By Jim Hoft; The Gateway Pundit; 8/4/16 6:27 pm)

 

VIDEO: OBAMA LIED! US Iranian Hostage Says Iran Would Not Let Plane Leave Until Ransom Plane Arrived

 

 

Posted by james hoft

Published on Aug 4, 2016

 

OBAMA LIED! US Iranian Hostage Saeed Abedini told FOX Business Network today the Iranian regime WOULD NOT let his plane leave Iran until Obama’s ransom plane arrived with $400 million in euros and Swiss Francs.

 

Pallet of cash BHO 2 Iran 4 hostages

Screen grab of the video showing pallet of cash

 

Thank God Trump called out Obama on the lie saying he saw the video. Left-Stream-Media outlets – particularly WaPo and CNN – claimed future POTUS Trump was lying about seeing a video since it didn’t exist. Really? Enter television from Iran:

 

VIDEO: Iran IRIB documentary “rule of the game” releasing of 4 American spies

 

 

Posted by ali javid

Published on Feb 15, 2016

 

[Google Translate Farsi to English]

 

The documentary “rules of the game” with the issue of exchange of prisoners accused of spying for America 4 documentary “rules of the game” with the issue of exchange of four accused of spying for America tonight on the network antenna is three and a TV.
Cultural reporter Tasnim, this documentary after 21-hour news network and a 22-hour news network broadcast information about the four individual 3 accused of spying for America that after the initial agreement between the governments of Iran and America and were released under a prisoner exchange projects.
Jason Rezaian, Amir wisdom, Saeed Abedini and Nasrallah Khosrow four prisoners who were accused of spying and were released long ago. [Description has very long link, so I am providing a tinyurl] http://tinyurl.com/za6sfsa

 

Here’s the Youtube version of the 9News interview of Crooked Hillary spewing lies to make Donald Trump look bad:

 

VIDEO: RAW: 9NEWS full interview with Hillary Clinton

 

 

Posted by 9NEWS

Published on Aug 3, 2016

 

9NEWS’ Brandon Rittiman sat down for a 1-on-1 interview with Democratic Party nominee Hillary Clinton.

Previous video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XmPLBG3tix8
Stay connected:
9News Website: http://www.9news.com/

… READ THE REST

 

Now you really should read Ben Shapiro castigate as a pathological liar in the 9News interview. It should be noted that Shapiro is not exactly friendly toward Donald Trump.

Hillary According to FBI

JRH 8/6/16

Please Support NCCR

*****************

Pathological Liar Hillary Says AGAIN That FBI Called Her ‘Consistent And Truthful

 

By Ben Shapiro

August 4, 2-16

Daily Wire

 

On Wednesday, pathological liar Hillary Clinton did an interview with 9News in which she rattled off fabrication after fabrication. Fortunately for Clinton, the entire media have been focused, laserlike, on Donald Trump making a complete and utter fool of himself, and so they ignored Hillary’s lies.

 

The interview ran nine and a half minutes.

 

[Daily Wire version of above Youtube video]

 

In the first six minutes, Hillary clocked four lies:

 

  1. The Iran Ransom Wasn’t A Ransom.Hillary tried to brush off news that the Obama administration shipped $400 million in unmarked currency to the Iranians in exchange for the release of four Americans as “old news.” She said, “The White House has addressed this, and I think actually this is kind of old news…So far as I know, it had nothing to do with any kind of hostage swap.” That’s spurious. As The Wall Street Journal reported, “U.S. officials also acknowledge that Iranian negotiators on the prisoner exchange said they wanted the cash to show they had gained something tangible.”

 

  1. The Iran Deal Stopped Their Nuclear Program.Hillary continued by shilling for the worst international deal in modern history: “I think we know that the agreement has put a lid on Iran’s nuclear weapons program. I consider that to be a very positive step….The most important thing is that we have, in my view, prevented Iran from racing to get a nuclear weapon.” Nonsense. The deal grants Iran the ability to gain a nuclear weapon in a decade, and build the infrastructure to create a turnkey operation now.

 

  1. Hillary Will Enforce The Iran Deal.Hillary claimed she would hold the Iranians accountable: “The agreement has made the world safer, but it has to be enforced, and I have spoken out very strongly about how I will enforce this agreement. I will hold the Iranians to account for even the smallest violation.” Really? Perhaps I missed Hillary’s statements on Germany’s intelligence report regarding Iran’s nuclear efforts. And Hillary hasn’t had much to say about Iran’s repeated ballistic missile tests, which technically may not violate the Worst Deal Ever but clearly violate the UN resolution sanctioning that deal.

 

  1. The FBI Said Hillary Was Truthful. Here’s Hillary lying openly about the FBI’s conclusions about her email server: “[A]s the FBI said, everything that I’ve said publicly has been consistent and truthful with what I’ve told them.” She said that talk about her emails being released vs. Trump’s tax returns would be comparing “apples and oranges.” This is absolutely false. The FBI never said Hillary had been consistent and truthful in her public statements. They specifically avoided comment on her public statements. But they made clear that virtually everything she had said public was contradicted by the evidence.

 

Hillary’s the most corrupt major party candidate in American history. If Donald Trump had one iota of self control, he could be slamming her with alacrity today. Fortunately for Hillary, he doesn’t.

 

_________________

Crooked Hillary & Barack Obama – Born Liars

John R. Houk

© August 6, 2016

______________

Pathological Liar Hillary Says AGAIN That FBI Called Her ‘Consistent And Truthful

 

© COPYRIGHT 2016, THE DAILY WIRE

 

Freed Iran Prisoners: Tidbits of Info


John R. Houk

© January 18, 2016

Here is some info on four of the five Americans imprisoned by Iran but released via behind the scenes diplomacy of the Obama Administration. Those names are:

o Matthew Trevithick

o Saeed Abedini

o Amir Hekmati

o Jason Rezaian

The media is reporting that Matthew Trevithick was not a part of the prisoner swap between the USA and Iran, however the timing indicates he benefitted from the diplomacy. There is a fourth mystery man who labeled an American citizen from Iran but no one seems to know anything about him. Nosratollah Khosravi-Roodsari has been listed as the fourth in reference to the prisoner swap. I posted a potential conspiracy theory about Khosravi-Roodsari yesterday entitled “A Robert Levinson – Nosratollah Khosravi-Roodsari Conspiracy Theory?”.

Here are some collected bits of information on the other released four that will end with Jason Rezaian. Rezaian is the darling of the media since he was working in Iran under the employ of the Washington Post prior to the trumped charges Iran leveled against him. You will discover more from Google than from me about Jason Rezaian.

Matthew Trevithick:

 Matthew Trevithick & mother Amelia Newcome 1-17-16

Unlike the widely-publicized imprisonment of the Washington Post’s Jason Rezaian, the 40-day captivity of Hingham native Matthew Trevithick was kept secret by friends and family.

“Several of the families of those who were detained in Iran had opted in the early days not to say anything,” said Robin Wright, an expert on Iran and a joint fellow at the Wilson Center and U.S. Institute of Peace. “They had hoped that diplomacy would be successful.”

“And Matt, in one call home, as well as a request from the State Department, led the family not to talk about it publicly until he was out.”

…

Trevithick’s release is separate from the prisoner swap, Wright said, but it is part of the broader diplomacy between the two countries.

Trevithick, 30, was studying Farsi in Tehran when he was detained by Iranian authorities. His mother, Amelia Newcomb, foreign editor at The Christian Science Monitor, says she doesn’t know why her son was held. She recalls the phone call early Saturday morning from her son telling her he was coming home.

…

“He had also learned a good bit of Farsi when he was based in Afghanistan, and he decided he wanted to gain a proficiency and so he enrolled in a four month intensive language training course,” Wright said.

Trevithick worked for Wright at the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars in Washington, D.C., helping with the prize-winning 2012 book “Rock The Casbah: Rage and Rebellion Across the Islamic World.”

… (Mass. Native’s Captivity In Iran Kept A Secret In Hopes Of Diplomacy; By SIMÓN RIOS; WBUR- Boston’s NPR News Station; 1/18/16)

Saeed Abedini:

 Naghmeh & Pastor Saeed Abedini

Formerly a devout Muslim, Pastor Saeed was saved by the Lord Jesus Christ in his Tehran bedroom more than a decade ago. After establishing numerous house churches, he eventually moved to the United States with his wife, Naghmeh.

He later returned to Iran with the government’s permission to build an orphanage. He was initially detained in late July 2012 while visiting family in Tehran. Then, on September 26 of that year, members of the Revolutionary Guard raided his parents’ home and took Pastor Saeed to an unknown location. Four days later, his family was informed that he was in solitary confinement in the notorious Evin prison. (American citizen Pastor Saeed Abedini, imprisoned in Iran since 2012, has finally been freed; Samaritan’s Purse; 1/16/18)

++

Saeed, who has a Muslim background, was due to be reunited with his wife, Naghmeh, and their two children in Idaho yesterday.

He spent more than three years in jail after being arrested in 2012 while visiting an orphanage he was building with government approval. He was sentenced to eight years in jail for ‘threatening national security’ by planting churches.

In prison he reportedly endured torture, death threats and pressure to renounce his faith (Prayer Alert, September 25) and was denied medical treatment for internal injuries sustained during beatings. (IRAN – PASTOR SAEED ABEDINI RELEASED! Release International; 1/18/16)

++

Naghmeh Abedini, the wife of released Pastor Saeed Abedini, has thanked President Barack Obama, the Rev. Franklin Graham, the various groups that campaigned for her husband’s release, and the millions of people around the world who signed petitions for the cause.

“I wanted to say thank you to all of you for having prayed and have wept with us, have signed petitions and have called your government officials. Thank you for having stood with our family during this difficult journey,” Abedini wrote on Facebook late on Sunday, just hours after her husband was finally released from Iranian prison.

Earlier on Sunday she revealed that Obama had personally called her.

“President Obama called moments ago and congratulated our family on Saeed’s release! …

“I could see his love and compassion as he spoke last year and again today. I am thankful for our president and all of the hard work by the White House and the State Department in making this happen,” she added.

Abedini also thanked Graham, who has spoken out for the pastor’s release on numerous occasions, calling on the U.S. government to do everything it can to bring him home.

“I am also very thankful for Rev. Franklin Graham. He stood by me and my family and saw us through this ordeal. He is a great spiritual example. May God’s anointing be continually on him and his family. God has blessed me not only with a spiritual mentor, but a friend,” she wrote.

Abedini noted that her legal team at the American Center for Law and Justice worked tirelessly in organizing petitions and continuously campaigning for her husband.

“I want to thank the American Center for Law and Justice, Jay Sekulow, Jordan Sekulow and the entire ACLJ team (many of whom worked behind the scenes and whose names might never be known, but I know who you are and pray for you and appreciate all you do) for being there for me and my family every moment of every day from the first moments of Saeed’s arrest until now,” she wrote. (‘Saeed Is Free:’ Naghmeh Abedini Thanks Obama, Franklin Graham, Millions of Petitioners; BY STOYAN ZAIMOV; Christian Post; 1/18/16)

++

The Iranian-American pastor from Idaho, held for more than three years, was exchanged as part of a prisoner swap in which Iran released four people and the United States released seven.

…

As CT previously reported, the now 35-year-old Abedini made frequent trips to Iran. A convert from Islam to Christianity, he had been warned by the Muslim nation against his involvement with house churches.

So in 2012, he returned instead to continue building a government-approved orphanage. While there, Abedini was pulled off a bus, charged with undermining national security, and sentenced to eight years in prison.

The sentence has resulted in torture and beatings and pressure to recant for Abedini, whose wife and two children live in Boise, Idaho. His release had been requested by Billy Graham, the White House, President Obama, Secretary of State John Kerry, and the United Nations. (Iran Frees Pastor Saeed Abedini after Three Years in Prison; By Jeremy Weber; Christianity Today – Gleanings; 1/16/16 09:52AM)

Amir Hekmati:

From left to right: Dr. Ramy Kurdi, (Amir’s brother-in-law), Sarah Hekmati (Amir’s sister), Congressman Dan Kildee, Amir Hekmati, and Leila Hekmati (Amir’s sister) meet Monday, Jan. 18, 2016 in Germany after Amir was released after more than four years in Iranian

FLINT, MI — Amir Hekmati was able to see his family for the first time in more than four years on Monday, Jan. 18 in Germany.

The Hekmati family and U.S. Rep. Dan Kildee, D-Flint Township, met with Amir evening at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany for approximately 15 minutes.

Hekmati was released from Iran over the weekend after he was taken into custody by Iranian authorities in August 2011. He was originally sentenced to death for espionage, but the conviction was overturned.

He was then tried and sentenced to 10 years in prison for cooperating with and collaborating with the U.S. government. (Family meets face-to-face with Amir Hekmati after four years in Iran prison; By Roberto Acosta; MLive; 1/18/16 1:20 PM, updated 1/18/16 1:34 PM)

++

What happened?

Amir Hekmati, a former marine and decorated war veteran, was born in Arizona and raised in Michigan. Within weeks of setting foot in Iran for the first time in August 2011 to visit his grandmother, he was arrested, interrogated and imprisoned. Months later he appeared on Iranian TV, forced to confess he was a CIA operative. The U.S. State Department denies he was spying for the U.S. government and calls the case a gross miscarriage of justice. While Amir languishes in prison, his health deteriorating, and his father dying of cancer, his family pleads with the Iranian government to let him go free. (About Amir; Free Amir)

++

WASHINGTON — Amir Hekmati, a former U.S. Marine from Flint who has been held in an Iranian prison for more than four years on what his family and American officials maintained was a false charge of espionage, flew out of the country on Sunday, headed to Germany on a Swiss aircraft, officials told the Free Press.

…

Hekmati was taken into custody in 2011 while visiting relatives in Iran. Initially charged with espionage, he was sentenced to death. His term was later reduced after the charges were changed, but both the U.S. government and the Hekmati family have resolutely denied that Amir was a spy.

Hekmati’s family, who were not available by phone or at their home to comment, posted a statement on their Facebook page Saturday afternoon saying, ‘We thank everyone for your thoughts during this time. There are still many unknowns. At this point, we are hoping and praying for Amir’s long-awaited return.”

…

… Hekmati said on the recording. “I’m convinced the only reason I’m alive and allowed to use the prison phone is your support and international outcry at my imprisonment.”

“My captors would have much preferred to keep my voice from being heard, and have me remain in solitary confinement … in miserable conditions.” (Freed from Iran, Flint’s Amir Hekmati, others headed to Germany; Todd Spangler and Matt Helms; Detroit Free Press; 1/17/16 9:17 a.m. EST)

Jason Rezaian:

Jason Rezaian and his wife Yeganeh Salehi

WASHINGTON — The Iranian authorities held the wife and mother of the journalist Jason Rezaian without telephones for hours in a separate room at a Tehran airport on Sunday before finally agreeing under American pressure to let them leave along with prisoners released in an exchange with the United States.

The last-minute conflict came close to unraveling a prisoner swap that was negotiated during 14 months of secret talks and that had already been announced to the world. In the end, Mr. Rezaian’s wife and mother were permitted to fly with him to Europe later on Sunday, but the episode underscored that parts of Iran’s factionalized system still strongly resist any rapprochement with the United States.

…

But as Mr. Rezaian and the other two prisoners, Amir Hekmati and Saeed Abedini, were preparing to leave, no one could find Mr. Rezaian’s wife, Yeganeh Salehi, or his mother, Mary. Ms. Salehi, an Iranian journalist, had been arrested with Mr. Rezaian in July 2014 before being released, and his mother had come to Iran to be closer to her imprisoned son.

“They had disappeared,” said an American official, who along with others described the events on the condition of anonymity. “Nobody could find them and they were not answering phones. The Iranians then said there were legal issues that would prevent either from leaving the country.”

Iranian officials tried to persuade the Americans and the Swiss to take the three prisoners and leave without Ms. Salehi or Ms. Rezaian. In Geneva, Brett McGurk, the lead American negotiator, refused, saying the deal had always included Mr. Rezaian’s family.

…

By Mr. Kerry’s account, Mr. Zarif agreed to help and assigned four Iranian officials to look into the issue. Mr. Kerry made his statement on the nuclear agreement to the news media and then headed to the airport for an overnight flight to the United States. He called Mr. Zarif again to check on the situation.

But that did not end the standoff. After midnight in Tehran, the Americans finally obtained an order from Iran’s prosecutor general for the family to leave. But Ms. Salehi and Ms. Rezaian could still not be found.

Several hours later, around 2 a.m. in Geneva, Iranian officials summoned Mr. McGurk to their hotel room and said the deal had to be consummated without Mr. Rezaian’s wife and mother. Mr. McGurk said that if they did not show up at the plane waiting on the tarmac promptly, there would be no deal.

“We started to conclude that Mary and Yegi were being held to destroy the deal,” the American official said.

It was not until 4 a.m. in Geneva, or 6:30 a.m. in Tehran, that the Americans finally reached Ms. Rezaian. She and Ms. Salehi were by then back at their hotel. The Americans contacted the Swiss and asked them to pick up the women and bring them to the airport.

But then once they arrived, Mr. Rezaian’s family was separated from the Swiss. It was not until two hours later that the Swiss ambassador, who was the guarantor for the deal, called the Americans in Geneva.

“I see now all five, including Yegi and Mary, approaching our plane,” he told them.

The Swiss plane then took off for Geneva with the three freed prisoners and Mr. Rezaian’s family. (Detention of Jason Rezaian’s Family Nearly Torpedoed Iran Prisoner Swap; By PETER BAKER; NYT; 1/18/16)

++

Mr. Rezaian, from California, was arrested in July 2014 and later charged with spying and spreading propaganda against the Iranian system.

His family and lawyers denied the charges, but a Tehran court convicted him in October. State media later reported that he had been sentenced to an unspecified prison term.

As part of the swap, which coincided with Saturday’s implementation of last summer’s landmark nuclear deal between Iran and six world powers, the U.S. agreed to release seven Iranians. It also agreed to stop pursuing 14 Iranians it had placed on Interpol’s wanted list. (Washington Post’s Jason Rezaian Departs From Iran After Prisoner Swap; By ASA FITCH; WSJ; Updated 1/17/16 8:37 a.m. ET)

++

Mr Rezaian’s family reported that his health deteriorated in prison, where he lost weight and suffered from high blood pressure, and that he was held for months in isolation without access to a lawyer.

The Washington Post also said he was subjected to physical mistreatment and psychological abuse before finally being convicted of espionage in what it called a sham trial.

…

“Isolation, as you might expect, was the most difficult thing. When told, well, you’re a social person, he laughed and responded, ‘Yes, I am!'” said Martin Baron, executive editor, and Douglas Jehl, foreign editor.

“He found escape in the fiction he was allowed to read, and today he was avidly reading whatever he wanted… remarking on how strange it was to see himself being talked about so much,” they added.

“We told him we’ve been talking about him for 545 days.”

Mr Rezaian, a dual US-Iranian citizen born in California, was detained in Iran on July 22, 2014.

…

He was arrested at the same time as his wife Yeganeh Salehi, an Iranian who at that time was a journalist for The National, an Abu Dhabi-based newspaper. She was released on bail a few months later.

Both Mr Rezaian, 39, and his wife left Iran on a plane earlier on Sunday. (Jason Rezaian in ‘good spirits’ after Iran ordeal; By AFP; The Telegraph; 1/18/16 5:33AM GMT)

JRH 1/18/16

The Christian Way to deal with Sin in the Camp


John R. Houk

© November 13, 2015

The Old Covenant is the blessings and curses of the Law of Moses. The penalty for the curse for breaking God’s directive was a justice that Christians and Westerners would be horrified to see executed in this day and age.

Classic Sin in the Camp Solution

4 So about three thousand men went up there from the people, but they fled before the men of Ai. 5 And the men of Ai struck down about thirty-six men, for they chased them from before the gate as far as Shebarim, and struck them down on the descent; therefore the hearts of the people melted and became like water.

6 Then Joshua tore his clothes, and fell to the earth on his face before the ark of the Lord until evening, he and the elders of Israel; and they put dust on their heads.

10 So the Lord said to Joshua: “Get up! Why do you lie thus on your face?11 Israel has sinned, and they have also transgressed My covenant which I commanded them. For they have even taken some of the accursed things, and have both stolen and deceived; and they have also put it among their own stuff. 12 Therefore the children of Israel could not stand before their enemies, but turned their backs before their enemies, because they have become doomed to destruction. Neither will I be with you anymore, unless you destroy the accursed from among you.

20 And Achan answered Joshua and said, “Indeed I have sinned against the LordGod of Israel, and this is what I have done: 21 When I saw among the spoils a beautiful Babylonian garment, two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold weighing fifty shekels, I coveted them and took them. And there they are, hidden in the earth in the midst of my tent, with the silver under it.”

22 So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran to the tent; and there it was, hidden in his tent, with the silver under it. 23 And they took them from the midst of the tent, brought them to Joshua and to all the children of Israel, and laid them out before the Lord. 24 Then Joshua, and all Israel with him, took Achan the son of Zerah, the silver, the garment, the wedge of gold, his sons, his daughters, his oxen, his donkeys, his sheep, his tent, and all that he had, and they brought them to the Valley of Achor. 25 And Joshua said, “Why have you troubled us? The Lord will trouble you this day.” So all Israel stoned him with stones; and they burned them with fire after they had stoned them with stones. (Joshua 7: 4-6; 10-12; 20-25 NKJV – All of Joshua 7)

The difficulty of sin seems to have caught up with falsely imprisoned Pastor Saeed Abedini who currently is incarcerated in an Iranian jail subject to abuse and persecution for being a Christian. The sin is not given in specifics but in generalities described as marital problems with Saeed’s wife Naghmeh. Mrs. Abedini has let the cat of the bag that Pastor Saeed has been dealing with porn addiction which has caused unspecified emotional and abuse issues in the marriage.

Since the cat is out of the bag Naghmeh has announced she is suspending her public efforts in trying to get her husband Saeed Abedini released from an Iranian jail. I suspect she doesn’t want to deal with humiliating media questions that journalists will now be more interested in personal info on the Abedini marriage more than on freeing Saeed.

The secular media is quite unforgiving when they smell a Christian public figure has personal issues that Christianity views as immoral. Such media trolls have a tendency write anything that places Christianity in a bad light. Why? When Christianity is denigrated publicly the theme is pushed that Christian morality is antiquated and time to be placed in the history books as not essential in a lifestyle of living.

If Christianity is outdated than the concept of a Creator God is then erroneous. Thus moral stands against baby-killing in womb is outdated. The practice of homosexuality labeled as an abomination by God Almighty is okay the Almighty does not exist. Ungodly sexual practices (e.g. adultery, pornography, bestiality, polygamy, prostitution, pre-marital sex, man-boy sex and on and on) can be equated with the norm as long as a greater quantity of people begins to view the practices as not socially denigrating to societal norms.

When a devoted Christian slips into errors that non-practicing Christians and non-Christians are easily susceptible to, then those that condemn Christian/Biblical morality partake into a feeling of self-justification in their own choices.

New Covenant Good News to the curse of the Law

5 This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. 6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.

8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us. (1 John 1: 5-10 NKJV)

Here’s some Good News for Christians. Don’t listen to people more interested in self-justification rather than in a Redeemer that justifies those who breaks God’s holiness with His own Blood because that which is unredeemed no not what they do. So what about those who have embraced Redemption and should know better?

More Good News: Redemption makes the old twisted nature into a new creation with the stamp of Jesus Christ certifying the newness of life. But, there is more Redemption yet to come. A Redemption accepting humanity has not yet received full Redemption. Neither our human biological flesh nor our human soul in which sensory knowledge still reigns supreme are Redeemed. The union of the new creation spirit-man with the Holy Spirit of God in Christ is the down payment promise that the whole man (and woman) will be Redeemed.

From Suffering to Glory

18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. 19 For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God.20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; 21 because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.22 For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. 23 Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body. 24 For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees?25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance. (Romans 8: 18-25 NKJV)

Assurance of the Resurrection

5 For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 2 For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven, 3 if indeed, having been clothed, we shall not be found naked.4 For we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, not because we want to be unclothed, but further clothed, that mortality may be swallowed up by life.5 Now He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who also has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.

14 For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died; 15 and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.

16 Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. 18 Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, 19 that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. (2 Corinthians 5: 1-5, 14-19 NKJV)

Ephesians 1:13-14

13 In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, 14 who[a] is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.

Ephesians 4:22-24

22 that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, 23 and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, 24 and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness. (Ephesians 1: 13-14; 4: 22-24 NKJV)

When is that Promise to be realized? At the Second Coming of Christ when He returns as King of kings and Lord of lords to restore the whole of humanity and the whole earth to unfettered communion with God Almighty. Knowledge of God’s Will become as instinctive as human thought is in the present.

So what does that mean for Pastor Saeed and Naghmeh Abedini? It means nothing for the nosy particularly for nosy judgmental Christians who need to be just as concerned about the beam in their own eye rather than the speck of wood not clearly seen by the human eye in another. It means everything for the Abedini family of which repentance and restoration is always available to Believers in the Redemptive Blood of Jesus the Son of God and Savior. The process is between the Abedinis and God with the guidance of the man (or woman) of God in which has the spiritual responsibility of oversight by the Anointing of the Holy Spirit.

I am not a part of that process and those reading this probably not a part that process either.

I still pray for Pastor Saeed Abedini’s protection from Christian-hating Muslim Iranians and deliverance back home to the USA – the land of the free and home of the brave.

JRH 11/13/15

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Pastor Abedini’s Wife Cites Stress in Suspending Public Efforts for Husband’s Freedom

By CBNNews.com

November 13, 2015

CBN News

CBN Video

http://cbn.com/tv/embedplayernews.aspx?bcid=4610997651001

 

Naghmeh Abedini is pulling back her public fight to see her husband Pastor Saeed Abedini freed from an Iranian prison.

Christianity Today reports the emotional stress of the effort, along with “abuse” issues in her marriage before and since Saeed’s imprisonment, have taken a toll. CBN News contacted the American Center for Law and Justice, which represents the Abedini family, for a response.

“In recent days, Naghmeh — Pastor Saeed’s wife — has revealed that she is dealing with some very serious personal issues inside her family. She has asked for privacy and prayer. We are respecting her request. The ACLJ will not have any comment on the personal issues that she is addressing,” the ACLJ told CBN News.

The CT article is based mostly on two emails Abedini sent to supporters revealing the problems. In those emails she listed marital problems, including “physical, emotional, psychological and sexual abuse [through Saeed’s addiction to pornography].”

The ACLJ gave CBN News the following statement from Naghmeh Abedini:

“I regret having sent the emails. I was under great psychological and emotional distress. I am now taking time off to heal and to rest and to spend much needed time with my kids. I would appreciate for those who care about Saeed and our family to give us time for rest and healing and to respect our privacy.”

Meanwhile, The ACLJ told CBN News it remains committed to seeing Saeed’s freedom.

“What we are focused on is this: bringing home an American pastor who has been wrongly imprisoned in Iran because of his faith. We know that Pastor Saeed remains in grave danger in prison where he continues to be beaten and psychologically abused by Iranian guards and remains in need of medical care,” the ACLJ said.

“We continue to pray for Naghmeh, Pastor Saeed, and their family. We will continue our work — in this country and abroad — to secure the freedom of this U.S. citizen,” the ACLJ statement concluded.

Naghmeh also asked for prayer to continue for Saeed and their family. CT reported she pointed out that Saeed still shares his faith in Jesus while imprisoned — and that she calls her husband a “treasure.”

“But that does not mean he has not been battling with his own demons which I am believing that he can be freed of,” CT quoted from Naghmeh’s writings.

“I will continue to pray for my husband’s release and advocate for him as he suffers in an Iranian prison for his Christian faith. I would also ask others to join me in continuing to pray for his release,” Naghmeh said in her statement to CBN News.

Saeed Abedini has spent more than three years in an Iranian prison simply for his Christian faith. He is still being mistreated, beaten and denied medical care.

Despite Naghmeh’s revelations, several groups that have stood with the family said they will continue to speak out on her husband’s behalf.

“Regardless of any struggles that Pastor Saeed may be experiencing it doesn’t change the fact that the faith community needs to be a powerful and passionate voice calling for his immediate release and standing with our persecuted brothers and sisters,” said Rev. Patrick Mahoney, who leads the Christian Defense Coalition.

Mahoney has led several prayer vigils across the country and met with political leaders to try and secure Pastor Abedini’s release.

Rev. Rob Schenck, president of the National Clergy Council, has also been actively involved in Pastor’s Abedini’s case.

“It’s hard to imagine the pressures that souls like Nagmeh and Saeed Abedini endure,” Schenck said in a statement released by his office. He reminded people who’ve prayed for the Abedini family that “they are not super heroes, just regular people facing the same problems we all do, only under extreme circumstances.”

Mahoney and Schenck will hold a press conference later on Friday to show their continued support for Pastor Abedini.

“God calls us to stand on principle and justice not personalities,” Mahoney said.

Meanwhile, reaction to Naghmeh Abedini’s personal family trauma on social media has been mixed.

Robin G., writing on CBN News’ Facebook page, said, “Something about his just doesn’t feel right in my spirit.”

Jan H. wrote, “I’m sad that she didn’t keep this private. What is the point in exposing this to the whole world?”

Jenny J. said, “This is absolutely heart breaking. I am shocked.”

Nadege S. added, “It is easy to accuse a man who is locked up thousands of miles away in a dungeon.”

Meanwhile, another poster, Teresa C., warned people not to judge the Abedini’s writing: “We don’t know the whole story and it is not for us to know.”

The emotional and psychological trauma of enduring a hostage or kidnapping situation can be extremely difficult for families and loved ones involved.

“There’s a lot of studies that have shown that families incur post-traumatic stress at the same rate that hostages do,” Chris Voss, founder and CEO of The Black Swan Group, a company that solves business negotiations with hostage negotiation strategies said. “The reality is that this is the family’s darkest hour.”

Voss is a 24-year veteran of the FBI’s negotiation team and was the lead international kidnapping negotiator for the agency.

Voss spoke with CBN News’ George Thomas about the pressures that prolonged, illegal imprisonment can put on families. Click below to watch the interview.

CBN Video: Fmr. Hostage Negotiator Discusses Abedini Imprisonment

http://cbn.com/tv/embedplayernews.aspx?bcid=4611421810001

 

“When someone is a hostage, the fear and trauma is overwhelming and unending they don’t know when it is going to end and it is a really horrifying experience for families,” Voss told CBN News from his office in California. “Families are held hostage as much as the hostages are.”

In a Washington Post, editorial Naghmeh Abedini wrote about the emotional toll the ordeal was taking on her family.

“The continued imprisonment of Saeed has taken a very emotional and tragic toll on our family,” Naghmeh said. “My kids have had to grow up without a father. Saeed has missed so many birthdays, anniversaries, and special occasions.”

Abedini said since the US and Western countries signed a nuclear deal with Iran, her husband’s physical condition has gotten worse.

“Saeed was being beaten and interrogated by Iranian guards in prison,” Abedini wrote in the Washington Post. “During that encounter, guards interrogated Saeed and used a stun gun on him. Although there was no detailed information provided, Saeed was told he would face additional new charges, possibly extending his eight-year prison sentence.”

Voss says in such cases where a hostage victim endures great physical and psychological torture at the hands of their captors, families back home also feel the pain.

“What we have a tendency to do as human beings is that we imagine it in a very horrific fashion so the people that love him [Pastor Abedini] and the people that care about him are really putting themselves through hell trying to get him out, thinking about what he must be going through. It is truly the families [sic] darkest hour,” Voss said.

CBN News will continue to update

_________________________________

The Christian Way to deal with Sin in the Camp

John R. Houk

© November 13, 2015

_____________________________

Pastor Abedini’s Wife Cites Stress in Suspending Public Efforts for Husband’s Freedom

 

© Copyright 2015. The Christian Broadcasting Network.

UANI Statement and Fact Sheet on Four American Hostages Left Behind in Iran Despite Deal


There is more of an issue with Obama’s Iran Nuke Deal than merely a bad deal. The other part of the issue is Obama made a deal while American citizens are rotting in an Iranian prison either on bogus charges or the offence of being a Christian in a psycho–Twelver Shia nation. United Against Nuclear Iran has the tragic details.

JRH 8/15/15

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UANI Statement and Fact Sheet on Four American Hostages Left Behind in Iran Despite Deal

Sent by United Against Nuclear Iran

Sent: Aug 14 at 1:32 PM

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 14, 2015
Phone: (212) 922-0063
press@uani.com

First Ad of Renewed UANI Campaign Highlights American Hostages’ Plight

On Tuesday, August 11, United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) resumed its multi-million-dollar campaign to educate Americans on the Iran nuclear agreement’s defects with an ad entitled “Leave No Man Behind.” The ad focuses on one of the most glaring flaws in the deal–the continued captivity in Iran of four U.S. hostages:

  •  Washington Post correspondent Jason Rezaian (1+ year / 389 days in prison)
  •  Pastor Saeed Abedini (3+ years / 1,123 days in prison)
  •  Marine veteran Amir Hekmati (3+ years / 1,447 days in prison)
  •  Former FBI agent Robert Levinson (8+ years / 3,081 days missing)

“Even if the agreement was successful in establishing a permanent and verifiable check on Iranian nuclear ambitions the failure to secure the release of American hostages held in Iran is unacceptable,” said UANI CEO Mark D. Wallace, former U.S. ambassador to the U.N. and UANI Chairman Joseph I. Lieberman, former U.S. senator from Connecticut. “The American people should consider whether any potential limited and short-term benefits are worth the heavy costs of this agreement–including leaving four Americans behind in Iran.”

Three of the four American hostages are imprisoned by the Iranian regime on trumped-up charges. All four reportedly have been subjected to physical and psychological torture, including forced confessions, extended solitary confinement, and beatings.

Please learn more about the unjust, inhumane captivity of these four Americans below:

Jason Rezaian (age 39), The Washington Post bureau chief in Tehran, has been detained in the country since the summer of 2014. On July 22, 2014, Iranian security forces raided the home of Rezaian and his wife Yeganeh Salehi, seized laptops and documents and detained the couple. While Salehi, an Iranian national, was released in October 2014, Rezaian remained in custody on unspecified charges.

The Iranian judiciary denied Rezaian bail and prohibited him from speaking with an attorney for nearly 9 months. Additionally, the Iranian government refused to release any information on Rezaian’s welfare and denied the State Department’s requests for consular access through the Swiss embassy.

Rezaian’s case was assigned to Judge Abolghassem Salavati, an infamous “hanging judge” known for imposing harsh punishments including long prison sentences, lashings, and executions. In April 2015, it was revealed that Rezaian was being charged with four crimes, including espionage, “collaborating with hostile governments,” and “propaganda against the establishment.” His trial began on May 26, 2015 but was closed to the public. If convicted, “Rezaian reportedly faces up to 20 years in prison.”

Rezaian has been kept in in Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison, most of the time in solitary confinement. According to his brother, Rezaian has been forced to sleep on the concrete floor of his cell, and his physical and mental health has deteriorated. Rezaian suffers from recurring eye infections, groin inflammation, and high blood pressure; family members worry “stress and a lack of access to medicine could aggravate his condition.” Rezaian is now considered the longest held Western journalist in Iran.

—

Saeed Abedini (age 35), a Christian pastor, Muslim convert to Christianity, and dual citizen of Iran and the U.S., has been detained in Iran since the summer of 2012. IRGC members pulled Abedini off of a bus on July 28, 2012 while he was in Iran visiting family and building an orphanage. After intense interrogations, Abedini was placed under house arrest. On September 26, 2012, while awaiting trial, Abedini was abducted from his family’s home in Tehran by five Revolutionary Guards and taken to Evin Prison.

In January 2013, Abedini was sentenced to eight years in prison for “undermining national security by working to establish home-based Christian churches in Iran from 2000 to 2005.” Abedini has been incarcerated in two of Iran’s most brutal prisons–Evin and Rajai Shahr–where he “[has faced] daily threats and abuse because he refuses to deny his Christian faith.”

While in captivity, Abedini has been subjected to “repeated beatings, malnourishment, and lack of proper medical treatment.” Upon visiting his son at Rajai Shahr Prison in December 2013, the pastor’s father reported that Abedini had “visibly lost weight, he is covered from head to toe with lice because of lack of basic hygiene and he has been refused medicine for internal injuries he suffered at the beginning of his incarceration.” As of February 2015, Abedini is still being held in Rajai Shahr Prison.

—


Amir Hekmati (age 32), a former U.S. marine who served in Iraq and an Iranian-American dual citizen, was arrested in August 2011 while on his first trip to Iran to see his aging grandmothers. On August 29, 2011, Iranian authorities abducted Hekmati while he was preparing to go to a Ramadan feast with family. Following his abduction, Hekmati was incarcerated in Evin Prison “with no explanation to his family.”

In January 2012, “Iran’s Revolutionary Court sentenced him to death and aired a televised confession in which he claimed to be a spy for the CIA.” However, “after international outcry, in March 2012 Iran’s Supreme Court overturned his death sentence and ordered a retrial.” In a letter he wrote that was smuggled out of his jail and published in September 2013, Hekmati said, “This is part of a propaganda and hostage-taking effort by Iranian intelligence to secure the release of Iranians abroad being held on security-related charges.” In April 2014, the New York Times reported that Hekmati “was secretly retried by a revolutionary court in December [2013], convicted of ‘practical collaboration with the American government’ and given a 10-year prison term.”

In a letter written to the Iranian ministers of justice and intelligence, Hekmati protested the prison’s cold cells, frequent power blackouts, and vermin. That same month, Hekmati suspended a hunger strike after Evin Prison officials promised that they “would take steps to have his case revisited by Iranian authorities.” While Hekmati suffers from untreated lung infections and is plagued by ticks and lice on a daily basis, he has vowed to resume his hunger strike if “real action is not taken on his case with real results.”

In March 2015, Hekmati renounced his Iranian citizenship and vowed that he would never return to Iran if he were released. In a statement to his mother, Hekmati also reported being tasered during interrogations, whipped on his feet with cables, and being force-fed drugs such as lithium. Prison officials also subjected Hekmati to sleep deprivation and psychological torture.

Prison guards taunted Hekmati following the White House Correspondents’ Dinner in April by telling him President Obama did not mention his name during the event. Hekmati’s sister Sarah said he is being made to feel “that the country he put his life on the line for, the one he defended, and the president he voted for has left him behind and are not actively trying to secure his freedom.” In late April, Sarah met with members of Congress and White House officials to discuss her brother’s release.

—

Robert Levinson (age 67), American private investigator and retired FBI agent, disappeared on March 9, 2007 on Iran’s Kish Island, reportedly while on an unauthorized CIA mission to investigate corruption. He has “not been publicly seen or heard from since.” In late 2010 and early 2011, Levinson’s family received a hostage video and photographs of him, in which he appears gaunt, emaciated, and heavily bearded. Levinson’s family has not received any other information from his captors.

In December 2013, Iran-based American fugitive Dawud Salahuddin disclosed that he witnessed Iranian agents detaining Levinson at the time of his disappearance. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif recently “denied all knowledge of Levinson’s whereabouts,” yet there is “consensus” among U.S. officials that the Iranian government is responsible for Levinson’s abduction and captivity. Levinson suffers from gout, hypertension, and diabetes. Levinson is now considered to be the longest-held hostage in American history.

—

Recent press coverage of the four American hostages in Iran:

· “Families of Americans Held in Iran: Don’t Forget About Us,” ABC News, July 14, 2015.

· “Iranian Nuclear Deal: What Does It Mean for Americans Held in Iran?“, CNN, July 15, 2015.

· “Obama Questioned by CBS News’ Major Garrett on Iran Hostages,” CBS News, July 15, 2015.

· “Wife of Hostage in Iran No Fan of Nuke Deal,” Boston Herald, July 15, 2015.

· “Texan Who Was Hostage in Iran Criticizes Nuclear Pact,” Fort Worth Star-Telegram, July 16, 2015.

· “Brother of U.S. Reporter Held Captive in Iran Pleads for His Release One Year Later,” New York Daily News, July 22, 2015.

· “Pressure Grows to Free Americans in Iran,” Wall Street Journal, July 28, 2015.

· “Kerry on U.S. Prisoners in Iran: We Didn’t Want to Be ‘Hostage to This Agreement,’” CBS News, August 11, 2015.

· “U.N. human rights experts call for ‘immediate release’ of Post’s Jason Rezaian,” Washington Post, August 14, 2015.

Recent opinion pieces on the four American hostages in Iran:

· Dana Milbank, “Obama’s News Conference Was a Case for American Weakness,” Washington Post, July 15, 2015.

· Jennifer Rubin, “The Only Reason Obama Lost His Cool in the Iran News Conference,” Washington Post, July 16, 2015.

· Mortimer B. Zuckerman, “Say No to This Appeasement,” U.S. News & World Report, July 24, 2015.

_______________________________

United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) is a program of the American Coalition Against Nuclear Iran, Inc., a tax-exempt organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.

 

About UANI

 

United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) is a not-for-profit, non-partisan, advocacy group that seeks to prevent Iran from fulfilling its ambition to obtain nuclear weapons. UANI was founded in 2008 by Ambassador Mark D. Wallace, the late Ambassador Richard Holbrooke, former CIA Director Jim Woolsey and Middle East expert Dennis Ross. UANI’s private sanctions campaigns and state and Federal legislative initiatives focus on ending the economic and financial support of the Iranian regime by corporations at a time when the international community is attempting to compel Iran to abandon its illegal nuclear weapons program, support for terrorism and gross human rights violations.

The Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD), based in London, is an independent think tank that works closely with leaders in government, business, media and academia to develop multi-country responses to the major security and socio-economic challenges of our time and enhance Europe’s capacity to act effectively in the global arena. ISD’s activities seek to foster leadership and stability across Europe and its wider neighbourhood, actively bridging inter-communal, religious, socio-economic and political divides.

The UANI-ISD Initiative (UANI-ISD Initiative) is an unprecedented transatlantic partnership dedicated to combatting the threat of a nuclear-armed Iran. By partnering together, UANI and ISD combine the knowledge and experience of over 30 outstanding leaders from North America and Europe with significant expertise in the areas of foreign policy and nuclear nonproliferation. UANI and ISD’s combined expertise and capabilities will strengthen efforts to highlight the dangers of a nuclear-armed Iran throughout … READ THE REST

Obama Deserting Pastor Abedini to Iran Prison


Pastor Saeed Abedini & Kids

John R. Houk

© May 2, 2015

 

How does a President go all out to release someone imprisoned by America’s enemies? Hmm … Well President Barack Hussein Obama looks for a military deserter who treasonously collaborated with Taliban Muslim terrorists to attack U.S. military soldiers, then secures the deserter’s release in exchange for five Muslim terrorist war criminals incarcerated at Gitmo. If that wasn’t bad enough, America’s good President announces the imminent trade glorifies Bowe Bergdahl as an American hero with Bowe’s parents in tow.

 

AND YET when it comes to American citizens imprisoned in Iran for being Christians, President Obama goes for a nuke deal whatever it costs while abandoning American citizens to the Twelver-Muslim haters of Iran: Former Marine Amir Hekmati, journalist Jason Rezaian and Pastor Saeed Abedini. In the case of Hekmati and Rezaian the charges are trumped up because they are American citizens of Iranian origin. In Pastor Abedini’s case his arrest and imprisonment is because of his Christian faith.

 

The ACLJ has been working Pastor Abedini’s release for the half-decade he’s been incarcerated. Christian American citizens apparently mean nothing to Obama. There is all the appearance from Obama that Israel-hating Iran is going to be allowed to arm with nuke WMD while Iran tortures Americans.

 

JRH 5/2/15

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Obama Administration Threatens to Veto Measure Requiring Pastor Saeed’s Freedom

 

By ACLJ Staff

April 30, 2015

American Center for Law and Justice

 

The Obama Administration appears to be preparing to leave American Pastor Saeed Abedini and the other U.S. citizens wrongfully imprisoned in Iran on the sidelines of the Iran nuclear negotiations – even promising a veto to congressional legislation if an amendment is added to include the imprisoned Americans..

 

In a stunning comment, White House spokesperson Josh Earnest told reporters that interjecting the captive Americans into the discussions is unacceptable and that it “certainly would interfere with the ongoing negotiations between the international community and Iran on their nuclear program.”

 

That is simply unbelievable. Refusing to discuss the Americans being held hostage by Iran at the bargaining table and rejecting any congressional attempt to make any deal with Iran contingent on the release of the Americans is unacceptable.  It’s quite frankly appalling.

 

The disturbing comments came in today’s press briefing when White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest declared, “The President would certainly veto any amendment or any bill with an amendment that undermined the unanimous compromise that was reached in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee or that interfered with the ongoing negotiations. Certainly a provision, an amendment, that made this nuclear deal contingent on Iran’s release of those three American citizens would fall, I think frankly, into both categories.”

 

Full transcript of the questions from ABC News’ Jonathan Karl and White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest’s answers:

 

JONATHAN KARL, ABC NEWS:  The Senate of course is debating the Corker Bill. Corker announces he has a veto proof majority. He doesn’t really need it, because you’ve endorsed the compromise bill. But there are a whole series of amendments that are going to be voted on. You know, for instance, there’s an amendment that says before any sanctions are lifted, Iran would have to release those three Americans known to be in Iranian prisons. What is the administration’s view on these amendments? Are you saying it is this deal or no deal? Would we go back to a veto threat situation if, in the specific instance I just mentioned, an amendment passes that says first Iran needs to release those Americans? Would you veto that bill?

 

JOSH EARNEST: The President would certainly veto any amendment or any bill with an amendment that undermined the unanimous compromise that was reached in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee or that interfered with the ongoing negotiations. Certainly a provision, an amendment, that made this nuclear deal contingent on Iran’s release of those three American citizens would fall, I think frankly, into both categories. It would directly undermine the unanimous compromise that was reached in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and it certainly would interfere with the ongoing negotiations between the international community and Iran on their nuclear program.

 

KARL: So the President would veto that?

 

EARNEST:  So, those kinds of amendments that are added to the bill, that undermine the unanimous compromise or would interfere with the talks would earn a presidential veto. And I think that, given, again, the unanimous vote in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, I am confident there would be strong support—or I guess strong opposition—to those kinds of amendments. And that opposition, I would expect it to be bipartisan. But this is a process that will have to play out.

 

Listen Now.

 

This is despicable. This is outrageous. And it is an insult to the captive Americans and their families.

 

The President is promising to veto a bill requiring the release of Pastor Saeed and the other Americans imprisoned in Iran.

 

Time is running out. We must put more pressure on the White House and Congress.

 

The fact of the matter is simple.  There can be no deal unless Pastor Saeed and his fellow American hostages in Iran are free.

 

The Senate is debating key amendments that prioritize the release of American Pastor Saeed Abedini to reunite him with his family here in the U.S., along with the release of the three other American hostages, Jason Rezaian, Amir Hekmati, and Robert Levinson.  We are fighting on Capitol Hill and working directly with members of the U.S. Senate.

 

Over 185,000 of you have already signed our latest petition to urge the U.S. Senate to do the right thing.

 

Stand with us as we urge Congress to legally require Pastor Saeed’s freedom before any deal with Iran is finalized.

++++++++++++++++++

Walking a Day Imprisoned with Pastor Saeed

 

By ACLJ Staff

April 29, 2015

American Center for Law Justice

 

* The following is an expository narrative crafted from the information imprisoned American Pastor Saeed has shared with his family and descriptions publicized from released prisoners of Rajaei Shahr Prison.  As Pastor Saeed’s wife Naghmeh says, “This is a day in the life of Saeed as he would tell it.”

 

8:00 AM         I awake after another sleepless night, not knowing what the day will hold.  Will another of my fellow inmates be dragged to the gallows today?  Will another inmate steal my belongs? Will a guard threaten me to recant my faith and return to Islam?  I start to try and prepare my mind for what strength I will need for another day, but my thoughts are interrupted as the guards come to count me. To them I am not a man but just another number. I debate whether to lay my head back down and skip the meager breakfast of bread and cheese, realizing that if I do, I will only have one other meager portion of food to sustain me for the entire day.  Reality hits abruptly every morning, awakening me from my dreams of family and freedom. Sleep is incredibly alluring as it is in my sleep that I temporarily escape the reality of prison life.  Sleep also helps me pass the time and to avoid tension among other prisoners. There are days where I don’t have the strength to get out of bed, but luckily today is not that day.  Today, as I begin my day, I stop and pray to steady my mind and remind myself of the promises of God.

 

10:00 AM       Today I get to take a shower.  It sounds like such a simply luxury, but here with limited facilities and severe overcrowding, I count it a blessing despite the filth I stand in to clean myself.  You see, there are only 3 showers for the roughly 80 prisoners in my section of the prison.  Practically, this means I get to shower roughly once a week. The water is cold, but I am grateful.

 

11:00 AM       After my shower I contemplate whether to return to my little corner in my cell  or try to mingle with other prisoners.  There are roughly 80 of us in my little room built for 20, but my corner is where I can pray and avoid conflict with other prisoners.  For a while I was able to make paper crosses to hang by my bed, a sort of little sanctuary, but the guards have since forbidden such displays. While the day always passes faster when I have fellowship with others, doing so has gotten increasingly more difficult. There are some prisoners here who see my very presence as a threat, for I am not only a convert to Christianity but I am also an American.  This tension has only grown as the United States and Iran continue to negotiate.  For today, I decide to sit in my little space, alone with my thoughts.

  

12:00 PM        The guards round us up to take us to the  courtyard.  The courtyard is not much more than an open air concrete cell, but it is my only opportunity to feel the sun on my face.  Going outdoors is a luxury offered daily; but over the past year, there were many days when I had to avoid the courtyard.  It was in the courtyard that some prisoners associated with Islamic terrorists groups threatened to take my life.  The tensions are high with fellow prisoners who oppose my faith and conversion from Islam, but with recent geopolitical events, my U.S. citizenship has also become a source of tension.  The internal pull for sunlight entices me, but I know that stepping outside places me at greater risk.  So today, I avoid the conflict and decide sunlight is not worth the risk.

 

2:00 PM          As prisoners, we are responsible for maintaining the ward and are each assigned chores and tasks.  But even with these tasks the sheer number of us and lack of overall care for the facilities has created inhumane and unsanitary conditions.  Our bathroom, which I am tasked with cleaning today, is no more than a hole in the ground.  Every attempt to clean the bathroom is futile as the ceiling above leaks feces and urine from the bathroom directly above.  As I clean I try to maintain perspective by humming worship songs.  In this filth, I am reminded of the depth of my own filth that Jesus took for me by dying on the cross.

  

5:00 PM          My stomach is starting to feel the pains of severe hunger. The meager portion of bread and cheese has not sustained me throughout the day.  With these hunger pains I am also desperate for some relief from the pains in my abdomen – injuries I sustained from numerous prison beatings endured over the years.  The level of pain has varied in the last two and half years, but today it is strong.   Unfortunately, the mild pain killers that curbed the sharpness of my pain have long run out. The prison doctors have told me they will provide no additional medicine for my internal injuries.  So today, I go to the one source I know to help my pain – I go to God.

 

6:00 PM          For the second time today I must line up to be counted by the guards.

  

7:00 PM          When a prisoner arrives here, he has only what clothing and little money he had in his pocket when detained.  After going through the mandatory quarantine, the prisoner enters the general population and must purchase any necessities from the prison store.   We must purchase our own dishes and utensils for eating, our blankets for keeping warm in the cold winter, our undergarments, and our toiletries. So for some prisoners who are estranged from their family they have very little and eat their food from plastic containers cut from used milk jugs and cleaning agents.  Today, I feel blessed my family has provided me enough money on my store account to have my own bowl and spoon.   For dinner, I am given either a single potato or a bowl of rice with some sauce. Tonight’s dinner is rice with what tastes like soy sauce.  Of the two and half years I have been in the prison, the prison has only made available protein, which I had to purchase from the prison store, for 2 months.  The last time I ate protein was over 7 months ago. Clean drinking water has also been a scarcity.  For months now, I have had to drink water from the tap—water that I must let sit so the sediments can settle before skimming the water from the top.  I can tell that the lack of nutritious food has taken a toll on my strength and health.

 

9:00PM           The sun has set and the day is winding down.  I return to my cell and try to find something to occupy my mind.  The room is extremely crowded and dark. There is a small window near my bed, without glass and steel bars. The broken window was brutal during the winter months, so I am grateful that the weather has warmed.  Before settling into bed, I must regularly check the beds as the prison is infested with roaches and mice.  A few weeks ago I had reached into my Kleenex box for a tissue only to find that a mouse had made his home inside.

 

12:30 AM       Lights out at 12:30.  While I seek sleep, it evades me tonight.  Over the past several weeks the number of executions in the prison has greatly increased.  I try to close my eyes and avoid the sounds and images of death. I try to coax my mind into recognizing that if I can just stop my thoughts about my reality I can return to my dreams where I can be reunited with my wife and two beautiful children.  I try to recount which day of the week it is and cling to the hope that I will get to have a visitation with my Iranian family on Wednesday – it is in these visitations that I get to see pictures of my growing children.  It is during these visitations I get the words of encouragement from all of my brothers and sisters in Christ who have committed to praying for my freedom.

 

The ACLJ continues to work in this country and abroad to secure the freedom of Pastor Saeed – a U.S. citizen – who has been imprisoned in Iran for more than two-and-a-half years because of his Christian faith. The ACLJ represents Pastor Saeed’s wife, Naghmeh, and their two young children who live in Idaho.

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Obama Deserting Pastor Abedini to Iran Prison

John R. Houk

© May 2, 2015

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Obama Administration Threatens to Veto Measure Requiring Pastor Saeed’s Freedom

 

Walking a Day Imprisoned with Pastor Saeed

 

American Center for Law and Justice | Washington D.C. | Copyright © 2015, ACLJ

 

The ACLJ is an organization dedicated to the defense of constitutional liberties secured by law.

 

American Center for Law and Justice is a d/b/a for Christian Advocates Serving Evangelism, Inc., a tax-exempt, not-for-profit, religious corporation as defined under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, specifically dedicated to the ideal that religious freedom and freedom of speech are inalienable, God-given rights. The Center’s purpose is to engage legal, legislative and cultural issues by implementing an effective strategy of advocacy, education and litigation to ensure that those rights are protected under the law. The organization has participated in numerous cases before the Supreme Court, Federal Court of Appeals, Federal District Courts, and various state courts regarding freedom of religion and freedom of speech. Your gift is very much appreciated and fully deductible as a charitable contribution. A copy of our latest financial report may be obtained by writing to us at P.O. Box 90555, Washington, DC 20090-0555

Religious Freedom Report


Persecution - Global Assault on Christians

You need to become aware just horrific the persecution is against Christians globally. Check out these links from the monthly Religious Freedom Report sponsored by the Acton Institute – Institute on Religion and Democracy.

 

JRH 8/26/14

Please Support NCCR

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Religious Freedom Report

Sent: 8/25/2014 1:19 PM

August 2014 Issue

Institute on Religion and Democracy

 

The Religious Freedom Report is a monthly update about the persecution of the Church worldwide. It is a joint project of The Institute on Religion & Democracy in Washington D.C., and the Acton Institute for the Study of Religion & Liberty in Grand Rapids, Mich. If you do not wish to receive this newsletter, simply click the unsubscribe button on the bottom of the page. Thanks for reading.

 

War on the Cross

 

It happened this past June in Wuxi Village. According to the Associated Press, the government hired a crew to cut down the metal cross atop the Wuxi Christian Church in Zhejiang Province (just south of Shanghai on China’s east coast). The day after they sawed it down, a church member welded the cross back in place and was brought in for hours of questioning. A week later, down came the cross a second time only to be put back by another church member.

 

Who Will Stand Up for the Christians?

 

Why is the world silent while Christians are being slaughtered in the Middle East and Africa?

 

Elderly Iraqi Christians Defy Terrorists, Flee to Camp

 

A group of 11 sick, disabled and elderly Iraqi Christians –including an 80-year-old woman with breast cancer — defied terrorists who ordered them to convert to Islam or be beheaded, saying they preferred death to giving up their faith.

 

ACNA Archbishop Calls For End To Christian Persecution

 

The recently-elected Archbishop of the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) the Most Rev. Foley Beach has issued a call to prayer and action on behalf of persecuted Christians in the Middle East.

 

If You Don’t Stop Evil, Evil Spreads [Originally bad link – Found link at DetroitNews.com]

 

It reads like something from a history book or a class lecture about something decades and even centuries ago in a time period where we were less equipped to handle it. But it is happening right now, to our own people, in a time period where we have sophisticated military, high-tech equipment and the ability to get status updates in real time.

 

One year After Morsi’s Ouster, Looted Coptic Churches turn into Trash Dumps

 

The new Egyptian government had pledged to rebuild the churches, but they may face too much public opposition actually to be able to do that. After all, the Muslim Brotherhood supporters in Egypt haven’t all vanished into thin air, and rebuilding the churches is just the kind of thing that could provoke them.

 

Violence Against Minorities: A 12-Year-Old Christian Girl Raped by a Gang

 

Indignation and outrage in the Christian community of Lahore (Pakistan) after the rape of a 12-year-old Christian girl.

 

Islamic State Fanatics Kidnap More than 3,000 Women and Girls in 2 Week Rampage

 

Amnesty International said the victims, some just babies, were snatched from villages and face the prospect of being forced into marriage or sold as sex slaves.

 

Women and Teens Suffer ‘Barbaric Rape’ by Islamic State Fighters

 

Iraqi civilians are being subjected to “barbaric” sexual violence committed by Sunni Islamic State (IS) jihadist fighters, the U.N reports.

 

UN Condemns ISIS for Raping Teenage Boys

 

ISIS’ Islamic justice condemns women for the immorality of having their faces uncovered. Meanwhile they’re raping young boys.

 

Video: Yazidis Tell of ISIS Horrors in Northern Iraq

 

“They took the women and the young girls. The men were killed with butcher’s knives,” one young woman told FRANCE 24.

 

Christian Pastor Faces New Threat From Sunnis in Iranian Prison

 

Saeed Abedini, a pastor who holds American citizenship and has been captive in Iran for nearly two years, faces new dangers and death threats from fellow prisoners, say his family’s representatives.

 

A Survivor’s Account of Boko Haram’s Religious Cleansing in Nigeria

 

Boko Haram—a Hausa phrase meaning “Western education is a sin”—is an Islamic terrorist group whose stated aim is the establishment, by force, of a strict, sharia-law theocracy in Nigeria.

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The IRD Mission Page:

 

Mission

 

We are Christians working to reaffirm the church’s biblical and historical teachings, strengthen and reform its role in public life, protect religious freedom, and renew democracy at home and abroad.

 

Vision

 

To lead the fight rallying Christians to champion biblical, historic Christianity and its role in democratic society, and to defeat revisionist challenges.

 

The IRD Founding Document Page

 

Christianity and Democracy

by Reverend Richard John Neuhaus


A Statement of the Institute on Religion and Democracy

 

Jesus Christ is Lord. That is the first and final assertion Christians make about all of reality, including politics. Believers now assert by faith what one day will be manifest to the sight of all: every earthly sovereignty is subordinate to the sovereignty of Jesus Christ.

The Church is the community of believers who bear witness to that claim. Because the Church is pledged to the Kingdom proclaimed by Jesus, it must maintain a critical distance from all the kingdoms of the world, whether actual or proposed. Christians betray their Lord if, in theory or practice, they equate the Kingdom of God with any political, social, or economic order of this passing time. At best, such orders permit the proclamation of the Gospel of the Kingdom and approximate, in small part, the freedom, peace and justice for which we hope. At worst, such orders attempt to suppress the good news of the Kingdom and oppress human beings who are the object of divine love and promise.

 

The First Political Task of the Church

 

The first political task of the Church is to be the Church. That is, Christians must proclaim and demonstrate the Gospel to all people, embracing them in a sustaining community of faith and discipline under the Lordship of Christ. In obedience to this biblical mandate, Christians have a special care for all who are in need, especially the poor, the oppressed, the despised and the marginal. The Church is called to be a community of diversity, including people of every race, nation, class, and political viewpoint. As a universal community, the Church witnesses to the limits of the national and ideological loyalties that divide mankind. Communal allegiance to Christ and his Kingdom is the indispensable check upon pretensions of the modern state. Because Christ is Lord, Caesar is not Lord. By humbling all secular claims to sovereignty, the Church makes its most important political contribution by being, fully and unapologetically, the Church.

 

While our first allegiance is to the community of faith and its mission in the world, Christians do not withdraws from participation in other communities. To the contrary, we are called to be leaven and light in movements of cultural, and economic change. History is the arena in which Christians exercise their discipleship. Because our hope is eternal and transcendent, Christians can participate in society without despair or delusion. We do not despair of the meaning of history, nor do we delude ourselves that our efforts are to be equated with establishing the Kingdom of God. The fulfillment of history’s travail is the promised Rule of God, not the establishment of our human programs and designs.

 

Towards an Open Church


God has given us no one pattern for the ordering of societies or of the world. For almost two millennia Christians have pursued their mission within a variety of social, political, and economic systems. Among Christians today, as in times past, there are significant disagreements about the most appropriate and effective ways to advance freedom, justice, and peace in the world. That Christians are to pursue these goals should be beyond dispute. Disagreements about how they are to be pursued need be neither surprising nor destructive. In making political decisions, we are all subject to error. Through prayer, we decide in the courage of our uncertainties. We strive to credit the intelligence and good intentions of those who decide differently. Especially within the believing community we must, in the words of Reinhold Niebuhr, avoid portraying our conflicts as a war between “the children of light and the children of darkness.” Our unity in Christ is greater than whatever may divide us.

 

Within our several churches, disagreement about the meaning of social justice should not merely be tolerated; it should be cherished. We are pledged to the goal that our churches be open churches. An open church engages sympathetically the diversity of Christian views both within and outside denominational structures. An open church welcomes dissent on contingent judgments about the right-ordering of society; this strengthens the search for truth and helps correct error. An open church makes decisions in the light of day, not in the shadowed corners of bureaucratic power. An open church has leaders eager to engage in the fullest consultation with all its members. An open church addresses social issues not so much to advance a particular position as to inform and empower people to make their own decisions responsibly. An open church understands that the Church speaks most effectively when the people who are the Church do the speaking, and leaders speak more believably when they speak with the informed consent of those whom they would lead.

 

Sometimes leaders can and should disagree with the views of the majority. To disagree, however, is not to disregard the views of others. Leadership in an open church is marked by … READ THE REST

 

GIVE TO IRD

 

 

VERY IMPORTANT ACLJ Pastor Saeed Updates


Saeed Abedini - Share Story

Posted December 7, 2013

 

Here are a couple of emails from ACLJ updating Pastor Saeed Abedini incarceration in a deplorable Iranian prison for simply being a Christian. Following the two emails I am posting an ACLJ update pertaining Congressional Hearings about Pastor Saeed’s unjust imprisonment.

 

JRH 12/7/13

Please Support NCCR

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Saeed robbed, life threatened

 

Sent by Jordan Sekulow

Sent: Dec 4, 2013 at 7:34 AM

Sent by ACLJ

 

Deadly threats to American Pastor Saeed are increasing.

 

We have just learned that he has been repeatedly robbed and threatened at knifepoint by fellow prisoners in the deadly Iranian prison to which he has been transferred.

 

His health is quickly deteriorating. Iranian authorities refuse to give him medication and deplorable prison conditions have led to lice, malnourishment, and weight loss.

 

Iran has sent him to disappear. The U.S. government has abandoned this U.S. citizen. Pastor Saeed has been left for dead.

 

We must be his voice.

 

I, along with ACLJ Chief Counsel Jay Sekulow, am in Europe meeting with key world leaders urging pressure on Iran for Saeed’s release.

 

Join us in these meetings by signing our petition, and let the world know Pastor Saeed is not forgotten.

 

Sign the Petition to Stand with Pastor Saeed at BeHeardProject.com.

 

Jordan Sekulow
ACLJ Executive Director

 

P.S. As we mobilize our global resources for the persecuted Church, generous donors have agreed to double every tax-deductible gift through our year-end Matching Challenge.

 

Donate to Be Heard Project for Pastor Saeed

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Pastor Saeed malnourished

 

Sent: Dec 5, 2013 at 7:46 AM

Sent by:  Jordan Sekulow

Sent from: ACLJ

 

Awoken at knifepoint, robbed of basic necessities, and denied critical medication. This is what American Pastor Saeed faces on a daily basis – imprisoned in a deadly Iranian prison because of his faith.

 

What we learned this week is truly horrific.

 

Pastor Saeed is malnourished, losing weight, covered in lice, surrounded by murderers, and suffering under increasing pain.

 

He is being left for dead.

 

We must never let this happen.

 

I am with a team from the ACLJ in Europe, meeting with key world leaders to Save Saeed. We are telling them that this U.S. citizen has not been forgotten by hundreds of thousands – that you are standing with him. Be his voice. Be Heard.

 

Sign the Petition to Stand with Pastor Saeed at BeHeardProject.com Today.

 

Jordan Sekulow
ACLJ Executive Director

 

P.S. As we mobilize our global resources for the persecuted Church, generous donors have agreed to double every tax-deductible gift through our year-end Matching Challenge.

 

Donate to Be Heard Project for Pastor Saeed

 

 _______________________________

American Pastor Saeed Abedini’s Wife and ACLJ to Testify Before Congress Next Week on His Worsening Plight

 

By Jordan Sekulow

Dec. 6, 2013 12:05 PM

ACLJ

 

In a critical development in American Pastor Saeed Abedini’s case, Congress will hold a hearing next week on his worsening plight.

 

Pastor Saeed’s wife, Naghmeh, and I have been asked to testify about Pastor Saeed’s dire situation as Members of Congress seek to once again elevate the plight of this U.S. citizen who been abandoned and wrongly imprisoned in Iran because of his faith.

 

A joint subcommittee hearing of the House Foreign Affairs Committee has been set for next, Thursday, December 12th at 9:30am.

 

The hearing before the Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights, and International Organizations, chaired by Representative Chris Smith (NJ), and the Subcommittee on the Middle East and North Africa, chaired by Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (FL), will focus on Pastor Saeed’s worsening plight.

 

We are grateful for this opportunity to elevate Pastor Saeed’s case, and it could not come at a more pivotal moment.

 

Last month Pastor Saeed was transferred from the political prisoner ward of Evin prison, a notoriously dangerous prison, to the violent criminal ward of Rajai Shahr prison, the deadliest prison in Iran.  This week we learned that Pastor Saeed has been repeatedly robbed and threatened at knifepoint in this new prison.

 

Pastor Saeed’s health is also deteriorating.  He is experiencing increased pain in his stomach as he is being denied necessary medication by Iranian authorities.  He is malnourished, covered in lice, and losing weight because of horrendous prison conditions.

 

In light of his deadly situation and the Obama Administration’s refusal to even ask for Pastor Saeed’s release in recent direct negotiations with Iran, it is imperative that Congress speak out.  The U.S. State Department and the Obama Administration must make Pastor Saeed’s freedom a true priority.

 

The life of a U.S. citizen – whose only “crime” is his Christian faith – is a stake.

 

More details and hearing location are available on the Committee’s website.

 

Stand with Pastor Saeed as we stand before Congress by singing the petition at BeHeardProject.com.

_________________________________________

American Center for Law and Justice | Washington D.C. | Copyright © 2012, ACLJ

 

ACLJ Mission

 

The American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) and its globally affiliated organizations are committed to ensuring the ongoing viability of freedom and liberty in the United States and around the world.

 

By focusing on U.S. constitutional law, European Union law and human rights law, the ACLJ and its affiliated organizations are dedicated to the concept that freedom and liberty are universal, God-given and inalienable rights that must be protected.

 

The ACLJ and its worldwide affiliates engage in litigation, provide legal services, render advice to individuals and governmental agencies, as well as counsel clients on global freedom and liberty issues. They also support training law students from around the world in order to protect religious liberty and safeguard human rights and dignity.

 

As a non-profit organization, the ACLJ does not charge for its services and is dependent upon God and the resources He provides through the time, talent, and gifts of people who share our concerns and desire to protect our religious and  constitutional freedoms.

 

Leadership, Teamwork … READ THE REST

 

Donate ACLJ

Iran Continues to Persecute Pastor Saeed for his Faith


Saeed Abedini, Pastor

John R. Houk

© November 16, 2013

 

The American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) sent an email that is headlined as being about born in Iran but a naturalized U.S. Citizen Pastor Saeed Abedini who was essentially arrested for being a Christian while in Iran aiding in the construction of an orphanage. Of course that is not the official reason for his 2012 arrest was originally for proselytizing Christ the Savior the Son of God. Then the proselytizing charge was upgraded to a violation of National Security for leading an underground Church movement in Iran. Since Pastor Saeed’s arrest he has been tortured to deny Christ but has refused to renounce his faith in Jesus Christ.

 

There are several links to ACLJ stories and three of those stories updates of Pastor Saeed. I am focusing on the Pastor Saeed updates that are arranged by the dates 11/15, 11/11 and 11/12. The email is entitled “Critical developments for Saeed”. The word critical got my attention. For me Pastor Saeed is a critical example of how Muslims treat Christians in Muslim dominated lands. Pastor Saeed is an excellent reason for Christians en masse to march on Muslim nation Embassies, in Pastor Saeed’s case to find Iranian diplomatic missions all over the world to let Muslims be aware that the persecution of Christians for the free exercise of their faith is intolerable.

 

There currently is no Iranian Embassy in the USA. This is understandable since Shi’ite Islamofascists overrun the U.S. Embassy in Iran and held Americans hostage for about a year. To be more specific the government of the then new Khomeini regime did absolutely nothing as Iranians violated American sovereign land by virtue of diplomatic conventions and protocol. Here in America a good place to let Iran know that Christians are displeased with Sharia Law inspired persecution of Christians is at the Iranian Mission at the United Nations located in New York City:

 

Permanent Mission of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations

622 Third Avenue, 34th Floor

New York, NY 10017

 

Phone: (212) 687-2020

Fax: (212) 867-7086

Email: iran@un.int

 

Map                                                        Satellite

                                                                               UN Iranian Diplomatic Mission Sattlelite

 

 UN Iranian Diplomatic Mission Map

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And of course we Americans can travel to Canada:

 

Address: Iranian Embassy Canada

245 Metcalfe St.
Ottawa ON K2P 2K2
Canada

 

Phone: local: (613) 235.4726

International: +1.613.235.4726

 

Fax: local: (613) 233.5712

International: +1.613.233.5712

 

Email: mohebi@salamiran.org

Website: http://www.salamiran.org/

 

Map 

 

Iran Embassy, Ottawa, Canada Map                                         StreetView

 

Iranian Embassy; Ottawa; Street View

 

 

 

Admittedly I am not an activist organizer. What I am praying for is that someone reads this post that indeed has the skills to organize huge protests and deliver on one or more PEACEFUL Christ-like protests. We can show that Christians don’t yell such idiocy as death to Muslims or death to Iran, but that we can let it be known that persecution allowed and encoded by law is an unacceptable human rights violation. We are ONE in the Lord and if the right hand suffers the whole body suffers!

 

Below is each update link cross posted in order of date rather than the email order.

 

JRH 11/16/13

Please Support NCCR

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Pastor Saeed Denied his Medication

 

By Jordan Sekulow

Nov. 11, 2013 4:41 PM

American Center of Justice and Law

 

This morning Pastor Saeed’s father tried to visit his son at Rajai Shahr prison, located in Karaj, Iran, only to be turned away by prison officials.  Saeed’s father had brought with him some of Saeed’s personal belongings, blankets to keep him warm, and the medication doctors had prescribed Saeed last July to treat the injuries he had sustained while in Evin prison.  Prison officials told the father Saeed could not have any personal belongs, including his medication.

 

As we reported just over a week ago, Iranian officials transferred Saeed from Evin prison in Tehran to Rajai Shahr, where Saeed is now sharing a cell with some of Iran’s most violent criminals – murderers and rapists.

 

Reports state that Rajai Shahr prison was built to house 5,000 inmates, but at present the prison holds roughly 22,000 inmates.  Such overcrowding has led to what many call “deadly and inhuman” conditions within the prison.  Human rights groups report that prisoners in Rajai Shahr do not have access to fresh air, proper nutrition, and that louse and communicable diseases are wide spread.

  

Saeed’s health had been improving with his medication in Evin prison, but with horrendous conditions in Rajai Shahr and the lack of proper medication, Saeed’s health will likely deteriorate quickly.

 

Please join us in prayer for Saeed’s health and protection.  Take action in urging our nation’s leaders to take action to directly engage diplomatically to save Pastor Saeed’s life.  Sign the petition to immediately intervene to #SaveSaeed at BeHeardProject.com.

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The Church at Large Has a Responsibility to Pastor Saeed

 

By ACLJ.org

Nov. 12, 2013 3:41 PM

American Center for Law and Justice

(This article was written by Bill Haynes, Sr. Pastor at Grace Baptist Church in Somerset KY.)

 

It is far too easy for American Christians to hear of the imprisonment and brutal treatment of Pastor Saeed Abedini in Iran and just be complacent about it.  After all, we are not being imprisoned for our faith, and shouldn’t Pastor Saeed have known that Iran is a dangerous place to begin with?

 

Attitudes like that will betray a brand of “Christianity” that is shaped more by lifestyle than by worldview, more by culture than by God’s Word. The writer of the book of Hebrews tells us, “Remember the prisoners, as though in prison with them, and those who are ill-treated, since you yourselves also are in the body” (13:3). Our thoughts and prayers are to be with our brothers and sisters suffering in prison for their faith as if we were right there beside them. Why? Because we are a part of the same body, the Body of Christ. And the Apostle Paul makes it clear that when one part of the body hurts it effects the entire body, even if halfway around the earth (1 Corinthians 12:26).

 

When Peter was imprisoned in the early days of the church, Luke tells us, “So Peter was kept in the prison, but prayer for him was being made fervently by the church to God.” (Acts 12:5). Peter was imprisoned for the single fact that he was preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. He was sharing good news that would change the hearts and lives of men and women if they would believe.  But that was seen as a threat to the “security” of the existing authorities, both religious and civil.

 

The church did not merely go into a helpless mode when Peter was kept in prison, but rather they became very active in prayer. Luke says the church “fervently prayed to God” on Peter’s behalf. The church believed that they served a God who is greater than Herod and that their God could deliver Peter if He so willed.

 

That is the call and challenge to the church in the United States and around the world today. We must be in “fervent” prayer on behalf of Pastor Saeed. He is a part of our body. He is our brother in Christ, and if he is hurting then the whole body is to hurt with him and hold him up to our Heavenly Father.

 

Pastor Saeed was working with orphans in Iran. Granted this work was because he is a follower of Jesus and seeking to obey Him, but it was also for the good of the Iranian people, not to undercut them in any way. It is somewhat ironic that the charges against him are for “attempting to undermine the national security of Iran by gathering with fellow Christians in private homes.”

 

There are several things that we need to be praying for in this situation.

 

  1. Pray that God will bring about the release of Pastor Saeed. Whether he does this in the miraculous way He did with Peter in Acts 12, or through the efforts of the ACLJ and diplomatic channels, is not the issue. But we have to realize that God’s ways are not our ways and His are always best and right! As Paul says, “Oh, the depths of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways.” (Romans 11:33).

 

  1. Pray that, while imprisoned, Pastor Saeed will bring glory to God through his suffering. The Bible teaches us that we are to seek God’s glory in every place we find ourselves. In extraordinary circumstances like this but also in everyday, even mundane, things like eating and drinking (1st Corinthians 10:31)

 

  1. Pray that God will use Pastor Saeed’s circumstances to see many come to know Jesus Christ as Lord. Paul saw this happen while imprisoned in Rome. Paul tells the church at Philippi that “Now I want you to know, brethren, that my circumstances have turned out for the greater progress of the gospel, so that my imprisonment in the cause of Christ has become well known throughout the whole praetorian guard and to everyone else,” (Philippians 1:12-13) God uses situations that we see as negative to spread the gospel.

 

So perhaps God is going to use this horrible situation for the Abedini family to awaken the church in America to the real persecution and attacks that exist against Christianity in other parts of the world.  Perhaps God is wanting to wake us from our slumber, our comfort, and be challenged to intercede and be involved with other parts of our “body” in very different and very dangerous parts of the world.

 

God was not caught off guard by Pastor Saeed’s circumstances; and God is not helpless to use these for Saeed’s good and for the good of the church, and for His own glory. May we Christians be sensitive to all that God is doing, and may we be obedient to His call to strengthen the body of Christ, the church, to face the spiritual warfare that is very real in our world. And may we stand in His grace, His truth, and wear the spiritual armor that Paul spoke about in Ephesians 6:10-20.

 

Let’s do battle in prayer for Pastor Saeed and the Abedini family and for God’s church around the world.

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Senate Unanimously Passes Resolution for American Pastor Saeed’s Release

 

By Jordan Sekulow

Nov. 15, 2013 12:53 PM

American Center for Law and Justice

 

The U.S. Senate has unanimously passed a bipartisan resolution that directly calls “on the Government of Iran to immediately release Saeed Abedini and all other individuals detained on account of their religious beliefs.”

 

This critical bipartisan Senate resolution was sponsored by Senators Jim Risch (R-ID), Mike Crapo (R-ID), Rand Paul (R-KY), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Roy Blunt (R-MO), John Cornyn (R-TX), Ted Cruz (R-TX), Mike Johanns (R-NE), Mark Kirk (R-IL), Jerry Moran (R-KS), Rob Portman (R-OH), and Marco Rubio (R-FL).

 

The Senate resolution concludes:

 

Resolved, That the Senate—

(1) recognizes that freedom of religious belief and practice is a universal human right and a fundamental freedom of every individual, regardless of race, sex, country, creed, or nationality, and should never be arbitrarily abridged by any government;

(2) recognizes that governments have a responsibility to protect the fundamental rights of their citizens; and

(3) calls on the Government of Iran to immediately release Saeed Abedini and all other individuals detained on account of their religious beliefs.

 

This is a critical step forward in increasing pressure on the Iranian government to release Pastor Saeed – a U.S. citizen.

 

A similar resolution is currently pending in the U.S. House of Representatives after clearing a key procedural hurdle yesterday.  We are hopeful that this resolution will be approved quickly as well.

 

In light of his recent transfer to Rajai Shahr Prison – an extremely deadly prison where prisoner on prisoner violence leads to the murder of many inmates – it is more critical now that ever to voice our support for Pastor Saeed.  The U.S. government must not let this U.S. citizen be forgotten.

 

Iranian authorities may have sent him away to disappear, but we will not be silent.

More than 228,000 Americans have signed a petition to President Obama urging him to reengage this critical issue and help bring this persecuted pastor back home to his family.  Join with us in the critical time by signing the petition at BeHeardProject.com.

___________________________________

Iran Continues to Persecute Pastor Saeed for his Faith

John R. Houk

© November 16, 2013

_________________________________

3 Posts from ACLJ Email – Critical developments for Saeed

Sent: 11/16/2013 7:51 AM

 

Copyright © 2012, ACLJ

 

ABOUT

 

Founded in 1990 with the mandate to protect religious and constitutional freedoms, the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) engages legal, legislative, and cultural issues by implementing an effective strategy of advocacy, education, and litigation that includes representing clients before the Supreme Court of the United States and international tribunals around the globe.

As ACLJ Chief Counsel Jay Sekulow continued to build his legal and legislative team, the ACLJ experienced tremendous success in litigating cases at all levels of the judiciary – from the federal district court level to the Supreme Court of the United States.

Over the last two decades, Sekulow has appeared before the Supreme Court of the United States on numerous occasions, successfully arguing precedent-setting … READ THE REST

Continue to Remember Pastor Saeed Persecuted in Iran


Saeed & Naghmeh Abdenin - Save from Iranian Prison

John R. Houk

© September 20, 2013

 

Too often we Christians tend to lose sight of those being persecuted for believing that Jesus Christ the Son of God and Savior is Lord of all. This is especially the case when individuals in Muslim dominated nations that have received high profile media coverage of their persecution and/or incarceration merely for being a Christian or refusing to renounce their faith. God forgive there are many, but the person I am thinking of at present is naturalized American citizen Pastor Saeed Abedini imprisoned in Iran initially under the false claim of proselytizing in Iran and then upgrading the false claim to a national security threat. The truth was Pastor Saeed was visiting family while helping with the construction of an orphanage.

 

 

The American Center for Law & Justice (ACLJ) has managed to keep Pastor Saeed in the public eye. Below are a series of emails I have received as updates which will also include a message of support which is valid for money keeps the Christian activism flowing.

 

JRH 9/20/13

Please Support NCCR

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Our most critical effort for Pastor Saeed

 

Sent by Jordan Sekulow

Sent: September 16, 2013

ACLJ

 

Today, we are launching the largest online campaign in ACLJ history.

And it’s all for Pastor Saeed, a U.S. citizen imprisoned in Iran simply because he is a Christian.

 

It’s been nearly one year – 52 weeks – since Pastor Saeed’s illegal captivity at the hands of the Iranians.

 

Now, Iran has a new president, and he claims to be more moderate than his predecessor.

 

We’re going to hold him to his word.

 

Using a brand-new website that raises awareness for the persecuted church and gives a voice to the voiceless, we’re asking you to write a letter to President Hassan Rouhani asking that he free Pastor Saeed.

 

We’ve written text you can use, or you can customize to send your own message, but our goal is simple: 52,000 letters asking President Rouhani to save Saeed.

 

We will send President Rouhani 1,000 letters every week until Pastor Saeed is free.

 

Be heard. Help save Saeed.

 

Write a Letter to Save Pastor Saeed.

 

Jordan Sekulow
ACLJ Executive Director

_________________________

Be Heard for Pastor Saeed

 

Sent by Jordan Sekulow

Sent: September 17, 2013

ACLJ

 

We are launching the largest online campaign in ACLJ history.

 

And it’s all for Pastor Saeed, a U.S. citizen imprisoned in Iran simply because he is a Christian.

 

It’s been nearly one year – 52 weeks – since Pastor Saeed’s illegal captivity at the hands of the Iranians.

 

Now, Iran has a new president, and he claims to be more moderate than his predecessor.

 

We’re going to hold him to his word.

 

Using a brand-new website that raises awareness for the persecuted church and gives a voice to the voiceless, we’re asking you to write a letter to President Hassan Rouhani asking that he free Pastor Saeed.

 

We’ve written text you can use, or you can customize to send your own message, but our goal is simple: 52,000 letters asking President Rouhani to save Saeed.

 

We will send President Rouhani 1,000 letters every week until Pastor Saeed is free.

 

Be heard. Help save Saeed.

 

Write a Letter to Save Pastor Saeed.

 

Jordan Sekulow
ACLJ Executive Director

_______________________

From Saeed’s cell

 

Sent by Jay Sekulow

Sent: September 18, 2013

ACLJ

 

From the confines of his prison cell, Pastor Saeed has written a letter to Iran’s new president asking for his freedom.

 

His heartfelt plea: “Considering the fact that I came to Iran to serve the orphans, please do not let them make my children orphans and my wife without a guardian.”

 

We have joined with Pastor Saeed, launching a brand-new letter-writing campaign to Iran’s president on a brand-new website. It’s a critical effort, and your response has been overwhelming.

 

In just the first 48 hours, we are already over two-thirds the way to our goal – 52,000 letters for the 52 weeks of his illegal imprisonment.

 

You can sign the letter or write one of your own, and we will deliver it to Iran’s president.

 

Be Heard! Write a letter for Pastor Saeed’s freedom today.

 

Jay Sekulow
ACLJ Chief Counsel

_____________________________

Seize the moment for Saeed

 

Sent by Jay Sekulow, ACLJ Chief Counsel

Sent: September 20, 2013

ACLJ

 

Next week is the one-year anniversary of Pastor Saeed’s illegal imprisonment.

 

It’s also Iran’s new president’s first trip to America as he addresses the United Nations.

 

Now is the time to speak out, to urge Iran to release Pastor Saeed.

 

United States Ambassador to the U.N., Samantha Powers, is seizing the moment calling for Pastor Saeed’s release.

 

Tens of thousands have written letters through our new website, blowing past our 52,000 letter goal. Help us reach our new goal of 104,000 letters – 2,000 for every week of Saeed’s imprisonment.

 

Demand Saeed’s Freedom. Write a letter. Be Heard.

 

Jay Sekulow
ACLJ Chief Counsel

__________________________

Continue to Remember Pastor Saeed Persecuted in Iran

John R. Houk

© September 20, 2013

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ACLJ Pastor Saeed Emails

 

The ACLJ is an organization dedicated to the defense of constitutional liberties secured by law.

 

American Center for Law and Justice is a d/b/a for Christian Advocates Serving Evangelism, Inc., a tax-exempt, not-for-profit, religious corporation as defined under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, specifically dedicated to the ideal that religious freedom and freedom of speech are inalienable, God-given rights. The Center’s purpose is to engage legal, legislative and cultural issues by implementing an effective strategy of advocacy, education and litigation to ensure that those rights are protected under the law. The organization has participated in numerous cases before the Supreme Court, Federal Court of Appeals, Federal District Courts, and various state courts regarding freedom of religion and freedom of speech. Your gift is very much appreciated and fully deductible as a charitable contribution. A copy of our latest financial report may be obtained by writing to us at P.O. Box 450349, Atlanta, GA 31145-0349.

 

As always, let us know of threats to freedom in your area by calling (757) 226-2489. And tune in to our daily radio program, “Jay Sekulow Live!”

 

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Pastor Saeed Writes of “Psychological Warfare,” “Physical Violence,” and “Death Threats” in Iranian Prison


Saeed Abedini

American Pastor Saeed Abedini was arrested in Iran for being a Christian and with the false accusation of proselytizing threatening Iran’s national security when he agreed not to do so. Pastor Saeed was during work in a Christian orphanage when the Iranian government decided to arrest him.

 

Everyone that knows about Islam and Iran knew that Pastor Saeed was being tortured. A letter he managed to smuggle out of the notorious Evin Prison reveals that the Pastor is indeed being tortured to force him to recant his faith in Jesus Christ the Son of God and Savior.

 

In true Christian martyr fashion Pastor Saeed has refused to recant and rejoin Islam.

 

I have to be honest I don’t know if I would be that strong in the face of torture. My mindset would be God have mercy for being forced to recant under tortuous mutilation at the hand of Muslim trying to force a conversion out of me. I believe I can die for my faith, I just don’t know if I can withstand torture.

 

So I pray for Pastor Saeed’s protection, strength and deliverance from the oppression of Iran’s Islamic Sharia Law the religion of compulsion – no matter what any Muslim apologist might tell you!

 

Below is an article from the American Center from Law and Justice (ACLJ) that includes Pastor Saeed Abedini’s smuggled letter.

 

JRH 2/25/13

Please Support NCCR

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Pastor Saeed Writes of “Psychological Warfare,” “Physical Violence,” and “Death Threats” in Iranian Prison

 

By Jay Sekulow

Feb. 22, 2013 8:38 AM

ACLJ

 

VIDEO: #SAVESAEED

 

Earlier this week, American Pastor Saeed Abedini was able to write a letter to his wife and supporters detailing the horrific conditions he suffers in Iran’s brutal Evin Prison.

 

Pastor Saeed has now been imprisoned in Iran nearly five months.  He describes how the “the psychological warfare, a year of not seeing my family, physical violence, actions committed to humiliate me, insults, being mocked,” extremists and other bullying groups in Evin “create another prison within the prison walls.”

 

In his last public letter, before his conviction, Pastor Saeed wrote that he was told he “will hang” for his faith.  Today, he says that he still faces “death threats” in prison.

 

For the first time, Pastor Saeed acknowledges that the beatings and torture are designed to get him to recant his Christian faith – something he says he will never do.  “They are only waiting for one thing…for me to deny Christ,” he wrote. “But they will never get this from me.”

 

In one instance, a fellow cellmate “attacked” him because he was singing praise songs.

 

As Pastor Saeed writes, “It is during these harsh conditions, that I deeply need God’s Saving Grace so that I can be the fragrant scent of Christ in the dark house of Evin prison.”

 

These are the conditions he will face every day for the next eight years of his prison sentence.  Pastor Saeed, a U.S. citizen, is being forced to undergo some of the most horrific conditions imaginable.

 

Upon receiving this heartbreaking letter, Pastor Saeed’s wife, Naghmeh, told us:

 

It is heart wrenching to hear of Saeed’s continued abuse and torture in the Iranian prison. We have known for some time that he is facing physical and psychological abuse. Now our worst fears have been confirmed. He continues to face life-threatening abuse at the hands of the Iranian officials simply because of his faith in Jesus. These are the dreadful conditions he will continue to face as he serves his lengthy prison sentence in Iran. Saeed is an American citizen who is being pressured and falsely promised freedom if only he will deny his faith in Jesus. We have seen this tactic used in the past. Saeed will never recant his faith in Jesus – even if it means continued torture and abuse. Our primary concern is for his health and well-being with each passing day. We know that while he is very weak physically, Saeed is strong in his faith. His situation is dire and with the continued abuse and death threats, we are not sure how long Saeed will survive these horrendous conditions in prison. The most important thing we can do is pray, continue to raise awareness of his case and continue to work for his freedom.

 

It is incumbent upon each of us to stand up for this 32-year-old U.S. citizen, loving father of two, devoted husband, and committed pastor.

 

It is rare that he is able to get a letter like this to the public.  He has no voice.  Each of us must be his voice.  Sign the petition for his freedom at SaveSaeed.org.  After you have signed the petition, please consider who of your family and friends can also sign this petition to save Pastor Saeed.

 

Watch and share the video above as his letter is narrated.  Below is the complete letter from Pastor Saeed, translated into English – a powerful testimony of perseverance in the face of unspeakable persecution:

 

Writing from my heart.

 

My Dear Friends,

 

The conditions here get so very difficult that my eyes get blurry, my body does not have the strength to walk, and my steps become very weak and shaky.

 

Various (bullying) groups, the psychological warfare, a year of not seeing my family, physical violence, actions committed to humiliate me, insults, being mocked, being confronted with extremists in the prison who create another prison within the prison walls, and the death threats…

 

It is interesting that because I am a Christian pastor, I am carefully watched. I am expected to smile at them despite what is being done and to understand why they are doing all of these things. But, of course, I can clearly see what is going on and because I want to serve God, I see all of these difficulties as golden opportunities and great doors to serve. There are empty containers who are thirsty for a taste of the Living Water and we can quench their thirst by giving them Jesus Christ. Maybe you are also in such a situation, so pray and seek God that He would use you and direct you in the pressures and difficulties of your lives.

 

There are those who are enemies of the Living Bible and do not want to hear. They are trying to put me under such horrific pressures (that are sometimes unbearable) so that they can show me that my faith is empty and not real. And after all of these pressures, after all of the nails they have pressed against my hands and feet, they are only waiting for one thing…for me to deny Christ. But they will never get this from me. This is why the Bible is Truth and they are in the way of destruction.

 

There is another group who does not know the Gospel of Truth. Instead of truly listening and meditating on God’s Word, they are just waiting to see how I react to all of their pressures and persecution. What will come out of me during these intense times? But again, this is another golden opportunity for me to shine the light of Christ in this dark world and to let God to use me.

 

Yesterday when I was singing worship songs, the head of my cell room attacked me in order to stop me from praising but in response I hugged him and showed him love. He was shocked.

 

It is during these harsh conditions, that I deeply need God’s Saving Grace so that I can be the fragrant scent of Christ in the dark house of Evin prison. I have often seen the Shining Morning Star in the darkness of this prison and I have seen His amazing and supernatural works. Oh, how beautiful is seeing the light of the Shining Morning Star of Christ in such evil darkness.

 

So:

 

§  See your golden opportunities in pressures and difficulties.

 

§  See the Shining Morning Star in the dark times of your life.

 

I Love Him! He is Gracious, Merciful, and Righteous to me. I now know that I have not been forgotten and that we are together in this path. God gives me Grace.

This is my message for the Church: Stay Strong for His Glory. He will come back soon! Be with God and give your best efforts for His kingdom.

 

Pastor Saeed, servant of Jesus Christ in chains for endurance of Gospel. I love you all.

 

Share his letter.  Pray.  Join over a quarter of a million others, and sign the petition at SaveSaeed.org.

________________________________

Jordan Sekulow is Executive Director of the American Center for Law and Justice.

 

American Center for Law and Justice | Washington D.C. | Copyright © 2012, ACLJ

 

The ACLJ is an organization dedicated to the defense of constitutional liberties secured by law.