Final preparations for civil unions

Justices of the Peace are receiving their final training to get ready for civil unions on October 1st. After all, as one justice was quoted, "The last thing Connecticut needs are incompetent justices of the peace." Justices, at least so far, are able to refuse to civil-unionize same-sex partners based upon their convictions. We'll see how long that lasts...

And, Atty. General Blumenthal says Connecticut will recognize civil unions performed in other states.

Keep praying!

We're back...

Hope you like the new look of the blog. Some day I may tweak the colors to make it more like our state colors, but since it is fall it's OK for now. Not all our fans can be happy, few though they may be.

I've been swamped with a couple of projects and so have not been able to post. We should be more regular now - thanks for coming by!

Back to school...back to God

Years of concerted prayer for college campuses are bearing fruit as this story in Christianity Today attests. Faithful intercessors, including some tenacious student leasers, are redigging wells of revival originally dug centuries ago by men of faith who founded many of the Ivy League schools.

Remember to pray for Yale this fall, and all the college campuses in our area.

Civil Union getting ready to roll out

While Gov. Schwarzenegger gets ready to veto gay marriage, Connecticut is getting ready to launch its slightly watered-down version, the so-called "civil unions," on October 1st.

Here's a summary of what to look for from the Courant. However, we need to stay on guard in prayer that the courts do not expand this legislation beyond its parameters.

Praying for rain...

Praying for rain may strike you as an odd or antiquated notion, but it's actually a sign of a healthy spirit - one that can acknowledge its dependence on God and what He supplies.

The famous Bible passage which encourages us to pray for revival says, "If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land." (2 Chronicles 7:14) But what was the healing the land needed? Sometimes it was lack of rain.

In the verse before the famous one, God tells the nation of Israel, "If I shut up heaven that there be no rain, or if I command the locusts to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among my people..." (2 Chron. 7:13) This provides a little context. God has the ability, should He choose, to turn off the spigot.

The people of that day lived and died (literally) with the weather and the rain cycle that gave them their harvest. So God found it easier perhaps to get their attention than He does ours. Has anyone noticed the drought or near-drought conditions in our neck of the woods of late? Read this to see how some wells are drying up and just how little rain we are getting. Not only wells but also agriculture is being affected. (You can track drought conditions all over by going here.)

Take some time in your prayer closet this week to thank God for the provision which we so often take for granted. Then, and at the risk of sounding odd, or even antiquated, ask Him for rain in our region.

President declares a National Day of Prayer for Sept. 16

The President has declared a National Day of Prayer and Remembrance for the victims of the hurricane. In it he quotes the words of Jesus, "For I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in."

Read the full text of the declaration here.

(One warning, the White House's website is a .gov, not a .com. The domain whitehouse, followed by the ".com" is something unsafe for children (and others) to view. Unfortunately, such is the state of society. Many people have mad the mistake of going to the wrong address and had their eyeballs assaulted.)

Give thanks for this declaration and let's pray earnestly for all those dislocated.

Connecticut will take some 1500 Katrina evacuees

Governor Rell announces the State will take in 1,500 evacuees.

Please continue to pray for the displaced. This is a time to show the compassion of Christ!

New website coming

I've decided I need to switch over to a new host. My old host has no record of me and none of my files. (Yes, I paid the bill!) Stay tuned.

The new site will be this, which is easier to spell and remember perhaps: www.prayct.org.

New e-mail should be up soon as well, which is info@prayct.org.

Website down

Our website at www.prayconnecticut.org has been pulled for some reason unbeknownst to me. The hosting company does not even show me in their records at the moment. I am at a loss to explain this but I am less than thrilled. Sorry for any unconvenience.

Waterbury area readers: Katrina relief efforts

First Assembly of God in Waterbury is providing relief to victims of Hurricane Katrina.

Especially needed are water and diapers.

For details, call the church at (203) 753-8023.

Federal Judge grants Injunction to save air base

Governor Rell has been arguing that the Pentagon cannot realign the Bradley Air Guard base without her consent. A Federal Judge has agreed, at least temporarily.

Pray Connecticut Website launches!

I'm happy to announce that we have officially launched the new Pray Connecticut website. It's a work in progress, but functional enough at this point to help you find some news or some information about your hometown.

We will continue to add to it with the goal of making it a full-blown Christian portal for Connecticut!

Current pages include:

• a complete list of Connecticut newspapers on the web
• links to all municipal websites

Coming soon: an events calendar for Christian events in our State, church listings, teaching articles and other great features!

Stop by!

How can we pray for Connecticut? (Part 3)

In the previous posts in this series (see links below), we talked about how God has given "redemptive gifts" to different places and regions. These are gifts and abilities he has given to advance his cause and make us a blessing. We talked about how Connecticut has a call to be "The Arsenal of the Nation." In the natural, this reflects our traditional connection to the military. In the spirit, it speaks of how we have advanced the Kingdom through intercession. We also talked about how Connecticut has a call to model and Godly leadership and government, reflected in our nickname, "The Constitution State."

Connecticut also has a calling to meet the needs of others.

An early nickname for Connecticut was “The Provision State,” a name we received in part by being a major supplier of provisions for the Continental Army, supposedly saving the troops at Valley Forge. Some say we provided nearly half of Washington’s supplies.

This was also reflected in our State and Hartford in particular becoming the “Insurance Capital of the World,” inventing modern insurance and the modern insurance company.

We have also accumulated enormous personal and corporate wealth and influence out of all proportion to our size.

However, our wealth has not gone to advance the Kingdom of God but selfishness, creating gross inequities. Thus Greenwich, the richest town east of the Mississippi, exists in the same State as a Hartford, the # 2 city in the entire United States for child poverty. And we now boast two enormous casinos, one of which is the largest resort casino in the world, breeding gambling.

PRAY for Connecticut to become the Provision State once again and that her great wealth will be released for the advancement of the Gospel!

Click to read Part 1

Click to read Part 2

The $100 fill-up... and how much warning of Katrina?

Governor Rell is considering options to help with the soaring cost of gas... including suspending the state gas tax.

Pray for the economy!

Here's an eerie story about a worst-case hurricane scenario in New Orleans, published in 2004 by National Geographic... read it.

Katrina and Connecticut

Some Connnecticut universities are going to accept Katrina storm refugees.

The Connecticut Sun are donating proceeds from their Friday playoff game to the relief efforts. This is expected to bring in $50,000. Bravo!

The AP is throwing around a nice story about the rough-and-ready Connecticut Red Cross volunteers. Thank God. Read this one.

No surprise, we are also ever ready to provide National Guardsmen and utility workers.

Lots more of this going on, too!

Keep praying.

Was New Orleans disaster prophesied? Let's seek God's Voice!

Continue to pray earnestly for our entire nation as we witness the aftermath of Katrina. Let us be attuned to the Voice of the Spirit and hear what He is saying to our nation.

Prophetic minister Chuck Pierce prophesied in 2004 winds and waters coming to New Orleans, and refugees heading north. Although I try to avoid lengthy quotes, read these excerpts from the End Time Prophecy and Vision site:

"After Chuck discussed traveling from Wisconsin directly to Louisiana, he prophesied:

"From the North to the South I am ready to awaken two winds that will awake the nation. There are resisting forces in both states that will cause our nation to not move forward. Go up and down and decree the wind of God will awaken in both places. The states will shift in a new way or the nation will not shift and will go backwards."

Later when addressing the Saul structure in Baton Rouge, Chuck prophesied:

…. The WIND and WATER will rise in the midst of New Orleans. Many from the south will come north for refuge. Prepare. Prepare now for winds and water that will surprise you. I will renew the pattern not fully seen before. Worship will be here, and birthed in a new way from here. Prepare! Prepare! Prepare! Shift! Saul will be no more. David will arise from this day forward. The wind from the south will begin to blow. Watch for the effects. This will purify the land and bring great change."

Then in Alexandria that night Chuck shared from Song of Solomon 4:16 (Awake the north wind; come, o south wind. Blow upon the garden of this nation). He led the people to pray for the south wind to come. This south wind would be a purifying wind, cause corruption to be blown on and cause corruption to shake and initiate a righteous move starting with the children, then moving to the youth. We were to watch the government and the Catholic Church shake, and watch New Orleans change.

Then Chuck prophesied, 'I will put a mantle on African Americans in this land. That which was brought in through parts of this state and held people captive will let go. I will send the wind up the Mississippi River and this wind will shake Missouri. You will see the land shake in Missouri because of the wind from Louisiana. Get ready. Don't brace yourself. Throw yourself up. Get ready for the new is coming. Every place I blow on will shake. The wind is coming on Louisiana and it will shake the entire state. I will fill churches. The south purifying wind of My holiness will sweep across Louisiana. People will be on their faces in malls and shopping centers. Boldness will come upon My people in Louisiana. There is a worship call. Get ready - the wind is about to blow. The river is changing courses. You will be one of the first that changes.'"

Let’s endeavor to hear His Voice and respond. Pray for His Purposes to be accomplished more than concentrating on what the Devil seems to be doing.

(A note about sources: You may verify that this was predictive prophecy by going here for Google’s cached version of this report, dated February, 2005.)

Connecticut Red Cross info

This is the address of the Connecticut Red Cross. You can donate on line or call using the phone numbers provided, etc.

Governor sues to prevent loss of Air Guard planes; wrap-up of other stories

There is a little bit of news in the Constitution State, even while we are all looking towards New Orleans. Lost in the hurricane watch is the news that Governor Rell has sued to stop the BRAC from closing out the Air Guard base. This afternoon, a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order blocking the recommendation. A hearing will take place on September 7.

Former Governor Rowland may be arrested for illegally doing business with the state after leaving office.

The business community is twisted about the problems and costs of doing business in Connecticut.

Hedge funds have been popping up like mushrooms in Connecticut, particularly in lower Fairfield County, but apparently there is a dark side.

Connecticut comes in second in per capita income according to census data released today.

Barna Group research shows Connecticut has nation's lowest incidence of Evangelicals

What do we have lots of in Connecticut? Well, we have lots of corporations, nice town greens, lots of cars, still quite a few cows, and apparently we're still going to have submarines for a while. But do we have lots of Evangelical Christians? Well...

If you're not familiar with them, the Barna Group is a Christian research organization devoted to checking the nation's spiritual barometer and regularly provides polling and other data on spiritual trends of all kinds. Their most recent report indicates that Connecticut has the lowest incidence of Evangelicals of any State in the nation. By Barna's defintion, Evangelicals are a subset of born-again Christians holding to certain doctrinal positions. While such criteria can be somewhat subjective, these factoids should give you pause:


"Of the 86 largest metropolitan areas in the nation, those with the lowest proportion of evangelicals were Salt Lake City, Utah; Hartford, Connecticut; and Providence, Rhode Island."

"The report also explores the faith of residents in the 27 most populous states. The state with the highest percentage of adults who are evangelical is Alabama (at 13%, nearly double the national average). Its polar opposite – i.e., the state with the lowest incidence of evangelicals – is Connecticut."

"Connecticut retains the bragging rights to having the fewest adults who are evangelical, with just 26,000 of them in a state of more than two and a half million adults."

"One out of every six residents of Massachusetts, Connecticut and Washington are atheist or agnostic – nearly double the national average."


The full report is actually $3500.00 so you won't be seeing it posted here in the near future, but go here to read the abstract at the Barna site. It is very informative and, I hope, sobering to Bible-believing Christians in Connecticut.

Keep praying!

Air Guard Base to empty out...

After dodging the big bullet, Connecticut has lost a component of its Air National Guard, as the Base Realignment and Closing Commission voted 9-0 to move 17 A-10 attack planes out of Bradley International Airport.

On Wednesday, the Commission voted to close three Army Reserve centers in the State, costing us over 50 jobs.