Task Force pulls out of Pentagon prayer event

An official with the National Day of Prayer Task Force believes the strongest military force in the world has bowed to pressure from a small group of people who oppose prayer at the Pentagon.

John Bornschein was responding to news that the Pentagon has withdrawn an invitation for evangelist Franklin Graham to take part in an interfaith ceremony at the Pentagon.

Plans called for Graham to be part of an ecumenical service at the Pentagon during the National Day of Prayer event set for May 6, but after groups such as the Military Religious Freedom Foundation and the Council on American Islamic Relations complained about statements Graham had previously made about Islam, the Army announced it had withdrawn its request for the evangelist to speak.Bornschein, executive director of the National Day of Prayer Task Force, explains that although the prayer event is sponsored by the Army chaplains, the organization would help by providing resources and speakers. But when the announcement came that Graham had been disinvited, the task force pulled out of the Pentagon event.

"In 2003, this same issue arose. These groups that are not only attacking the National Day of Prayer as [unconstitutional] tried to take shots at every aspect of the day of prayer, whether it's contacting our governors [or] contacting the Pentagon," Bornschein explains.

He reports that "collectively, these are all very small groups. Even if they were all to join forces, they probably wouldn't fill an office space of 30 people. And yet they are taking advantage of an opportunity – the media – to [persuade] the largest, most powerful military force on the planet to not have a prayer event. And for whatever reason, they have actually conceded to that this year."

Other events sponsored by the task force will be held as scheduled at the Capitol.

[by Allie Martin - OneNewsNow]

How much do you know about Islam?

Devout Muslims have a sacred responsibility, according to the command of Allah through his prophet Muhammad, to "slay the idolaters wherever you find them (Sura 9:5)." Over 100 verses in the Koran call for the death of infidel Christians and Jews. We have seen the tragic fruit of this ideology both on 9/11 and at Fort Hood. Islam is not, in fact, a religion of peace but of violence, death and war.

Islam, through the example of Muhammad, sanctions the marriage of girls who are but children. Muhammad himself began having sex with his youngest wife Aisha when she was just nine years old (Bukhari, Vol. 8). Just last week, a 12-year-old girl in Saudi Arabia went to court to divorce her 80-year-old husband. In the West, these are acts of pedophilia and utterly at odds with the Christian principle that the sexual purity of young females is to be protected until they are mature enough to voluntarily and freely enter into marriage.

Christians are granted only second class status under Islam, and are given only three choices where Islam reigns: conversion, submission or death. Conversion from Islam to Christianity remains a capital offense in many Muslim countries. In supposedly free Egypt, Coptic Christians are even today routinely harassed, persecuted and killed by Islamic fundamentalists. Freedom of religion, a profoundly American value, is utterly absent in Islam. Further, this practice is directly at variance with the fundamental concept in American jurisprudence that we are all, everyone of us, equal under the law.

Women under the iron fist of Islam are given "horrid" treatment. In many Islamic countries, women are not allowed to receive an education or even show their faces in public. Husbands are taught in the Koran that they may literally beat their wives into submission, completely contrary to the Christian admonition that husbands are to "love their wives as Christ loved the church."

The blatant and deadly sexism in Islam is contrary to the fundamental Christian precept that men and women are full equals before the true God in spiritual worth, value and significance.

The practice of honor killings is widespread in the Islamic world. According to the U.N., over 5,000 women a year are brutally murdered under the flag of Islam, in many cases because they have brought "dishonor" to their families by becoming the tragic victims of rape. The "horrid" practice of honor killings sadly has come to the U.S. A Muslim husband decapitated his wife in New York, while a Muslim father in Texas shot his two teenage daughters to death in the back of a taxi cab and another Muslim father in Arizona ran his daughter down with the family SUV. The crime in the latter two cases was that their daughters had become too "Westernized." This practice is utterly at odds with the Christian teaching that fathers are to nurture and protect their children.

Some of the Best Words I Know

“THANK YOU” - Words of gratitude mean recognition of the good another has done to you or for you — simple or deserving of a lifetime of devotion.

“I LOVE YOU” - We need to hear words of love expressed out loud. The story of the insensitive husband who said, “Of course I love you and if I change my mind, you’ll be the first to know!” Telling a child ten times I love you might not be powerful enough to overcome yelling at them once.

“WHAT DO YOU NEED?” - Being conscious that those around you have needs that you can help them with is powerful.

“I’M SORRY” - Indispensable to any person who wishes to heal the hurt that they may have caused — very hard for us to say. We need to admit we have done something wrong which can be very humbling.

Using Time Effectively

Leaders of effective churches make certain that their family and work life is balanced, says Dr. Thom Rainer, president and CEO of LifeWay Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention. Their research team asked over 200 pastors to provide them with an hour-by-hour calendar of a typical 168-hour week.

The study included 101 pastors who researchers called effective leaders because their churches ranked in the top five percent in conversion growth in American churches. A comparison group of pastors of similar number were leading churches that did not have significant conversion growth.

The following results show some of the most significant differences between the pastors of the effective churches versus the pastors of the comparison churches:

- Pastors of effective churches sleep slightly over six hours per day. Pastors of comparison churches sleep almost eight hours per day.

- Pastors of effective churches spend twenty-two hours in sermon preparation each week versus four hours for pastors of comparison churches.

- The effective church leaders spent ten hours each week in pastoral care (counseling, hospital visits, weddings, funerals) compared to thirty-three hours for the comparison group pastors.

- Effective church leaders average five hours per week in sharing the gospel with others. Most of the comparison church pastors entered "0" for their weekly time in personal evangelism.

- Comparison church leaders spend eight hours a week — more than an hour each day — performing custodial duties at the church. The typical custodial duties included opening and closing the facilities, turning on and off the lights, and general cleaning of the building.

- Leaders of effective churches average 22 hours a week in family activities. The comparison church leaders weren't too far behind with 18 hours of family time each week.

The time allocation of effective leaders seems to complement the way they describe their own leadership styles. In order to accomplish what they considered priority functions, they had to sacrifice in other areas. Thus, the effective leaders cannot do many of the responsibilities often expected of them as pastors — such as numerous hospital visits, counseling everyone and all of the custodial duties that may be expected of them — but they can oversee those responsibilities.

[ChristianPost.com]

Will You Stand Up for God in America?

Today is an incredible time in our nation's history. The very public mention of God, of praying in public, and of the role of Almighty God in our government and country are being stripped away. Consider this:

• U.S. District Judge Barbara Crabb last week issued the decision that the 1988 federal law designating a National Day of Prayer in the United States is unconstitutional.
  
• President Obama would not formally observe last year's National Day of Prayer at the White House. (He did not cancel the National Day of Prayer in Washington as it has been rumored.)

I believe America has been successful because we, as a people and nation, have honored God, we have made Him preeminent in our lives, and He has been recognized within our government

WHAT YOU CAN DO

1. GET INVOLVED in this year's National Day of Prayer on MAY 6. There will be prayer vigils in Washington, D.C. on the steps on the U.S. Capitol, at the Washington Monument, and at the ellipse near the Jefferson Memorial. Thousands of other local gatherings are planned in cities and communities across our great land.

2. ADD YOUR NAME to the DECLARATION FOR PRAYER petition. Join in telling President Obama that Christian prayer -- prayer to no other God but the God of the Bible -- is vital to the present and future of our nation. The petition urges the Obama Administration to immediately appeal the recent court ruling which struck down our rights to a day of national prayer.

SIGN HERE —>The Declaration For Prayer-Petition

Please take 3 minutes right now by clicking the above link and adding your name to the DECLARATION FOR PRAYER petition and forward this email to as many Christians as possible.

National Day of Prayer

For more information, CLICK HERE.

National Day of Prayer Under Attack

Sadly, prayer is on the line again according to a federal district court in Wisconsin, where a judge has ruled in favor of an atheist organization - declaring the National Day of Prayer UNCONSTITUTIONAL.

This lawsuit is yet another twisted legal attempt to remove prayer from public life. It is yet another attempt to cause time-honored tradition to be trampled by those seeking to destroy religious liberty.

I don't see the crisis here. A day set aside for prayer for our country is a longstanding tradition. It's a day of recognizing prayer. No one is COMPELLED to take part.

Such observances not only reflect our nation's rich history, but are also consistent with the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.

How long will Christians be pushed back? Will this attack continue in America until the end of time?

I don't think this time-honored American tradition should come to an end. America should not be offended by our heritage. And, Christians should preserve our religious freedoms.

If you want to do more, join the COMMITTEE TO PROTECT THE NATIONAL DAY OF PRAYER - it will be represented in the amicus brief being preparing to file in this case.

And be sure to use the website's forward-to-friend tool to encourage your friends and family to join as well.

Happy Easter

The Difference Between Success and Failure

A few weeks ago Chris and Stephanie Gilbert spent the night at our house. They are currently planting Vertical Church in Indianapolis, Indiana. They were on their way to Winterfest in Branson, Missouri and stopped over for a visit. All evening, they talked about their church plant with enthusiasm. It was obviously all they could think about. The thing that impressed me the most was how informed they were about what is happening in America among church planters. They have personally talked with many of these planters, read books about them and have attended many church planting seminars and conferences.

There are many church plants that fail, but there are also many that succeed and go far beyond anyone's wildest dreams. We talked about the Church of the Highlands, in Birmingham, Alabama, which is currently the fastest growing church in the country. We talked about Elevation Church in Charlotte, North Carolina that grew to over six thousand in five years. He was full of stats, names, locations and success stories.

That's how you plant a church successfully. They have taken the time to gather their resources, educate themselves, put together a strategic plan and most of all, avoid the pitfalls.

A couple of years ago, I was having a conversation with Jentzen Franklin during a break at a board meeting. We were talking about the incredible growth in the Kingdom of God right now. I must admit, I was in a "stuck" place at the time and said to him, "I just can't seem to find any good conferences to attend for a church in my attendance category." He replied, in his humble way, "Oh, but Bryan, there are so many of them." He listed several conferences that he attends every year just to keep his skills sharp as a pastor of one of the countries' leading mega churches. I wrote down the names and have already attended some of those conferences. He was right! Each time I go, I come back motivated, informed, inspired and excited about ministry.

Pastors who fail to go to seminars and conferences or don't read books on church growth, can easily get stuck in a rut. They often blame their lack of reaching the harvest on their facility, location, small town or unmotivated people. The truth is, most of them have a church in their town that is growing and reaching the community. The difference in success and failure is often found in the space between our ears. Unless we stay informed on what is working in our society now, we can easily hide in the church of yesterday and die a slow death.

I want to encourage every pastor to invest in yourself and your ministry. The cost of going to a cutting edge conference, diagnostic clinic or seminar is often less money than having a guest speaker in for a weekend. These conferences will motivate and inspire you. They will send you back home charged up and excited about kingdom work.

[by Pastor Bryan Cutshall]

House Enacts Historic Healthcare Reform Bill

The great healthcare reform battle of 2009 and 2010, for the most part, is over.

Congressional Democrats today finally passed their bill.

The only thing it needs now is the signature of President Barack Obama to become the law of the land.

In a 219 to 212 vote, the House today approved a bill enacted by the Senate last December that represents the most sweeping government initiative in healthcare since the creation of Medicare and Medicaid in 1965.

Most notably, the legislation will require most Americans to acquire health insurance, help cash-strapped individuals and families purchase it through government-operated insurance marketplaces called exchanges, increase Medicaid enrollment by almost 50%, and impose regulations on private insurers that would prevent them from denying someone coverage based on preexisting conditions.

After the historic vote, the House is expected to turn today to a budget reconciliation bill that would amend the now-approved Senate bill more to the House's and the president's liking. Taken together with this reconciliation bill, the Senate reform package would extend insurance coverage to 32 million more Americans over 10 years at a cost of $938 billion, although it would reduce the federal deficit during that period by $143 billion, according to the latest estimates of the Congressional Budget Office (a few days ago, the CBO had released slightly different dollar amounts).

If approved by the House, the budget reconciliation bill will go before the Senate, where Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) says he has the minimum 51 votes required to pass it. Reconciliation bills — which adjust revenue and spending lines in the federal budget — cannot be filibustered in the Senate. It takes 60 votes in the Senate to override the endless speeches and procedural motions that characterize a filibuster and force a vote on legislation. Republican Senators, who unanimously opposed the reform bill approved by their chamber last year, command 41 votes.

Today's House Vote Makes History in More Ways Than One

In addition to dramatically reshaping the American healthcare system — which accounts for one sixth of the nation's economy — the legislation passed by the House today was historic for other reasons. For the first time, the American Medical Association supported a plan for government-orchestrated healthcare reform after having denounced earlier proposals, including legislation creating Medicare and Medicaid, as dangerous experiments in "socialized medicine." Other major medical societies that backed today's bill were the American College of Physicians and the American Academy of Pediatrics.

The fear of federalization still resonated, though, among Republican politicians who formed a thick stone wall against the legislation. Their arguments against what they called a government takeover of medicine at times reached rhetorical fever pitches that will be remembered for years.

Sarah Palin, the former governor of Alaska and the Republican vice presidental candidate last year, warned that under the Democrats' reform plan, bureaucratic "death panels" would deny care to the disabled and elderly in the name of cost-saving. Even though the likes of the AARP called these claims unfounded, the debate about complex healthcare policy soon featured the catch-phrase "pulling the plug on granny."

At the same time, the new Tea Party movement entered the fray, holding rallies, flooding congressional townhall meetings, and wavings signs with messages such as "Save Granny. Defeat Obamacare" and "Get Government Out of Our Lives." Such protesters showed up today in force in Washington, DC, as the House casts its vote.

Fiery denunciations of reform legislation also resounded inside the Capitol building up until the time of the vote.

"My colleagues are celebrating the birth of a great new entitlement program," said Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN). "Only they see dependency on the federal government and the death of freedom as a cause for celebration. Freedom dies a little bit today."

Last-Minute Promise of Executive Order Against Abortion Funding Secured Key Votes

One obstacle to House Democrats rounding up enough votes for victory was the issue of federal funding of abortions in an overhauled healthcare system.

When House Democrats crafted and passed their own reform bill last year, they included language that would prohibit any woman receiving an insurance premium subsidy from purchasing a health plan that covered an abortion other than a federally sanctioned one to save the life of the woman or in cases of rape and incest. The Senate bill contains a complicated anti-abortion restriction that resembles the House version in intent, but Democratic reform advocates in the House like Rep. Bart Stupak (D-MI) who are also abortion opponents said the Senate language was not strong enough for them to support the bill in good conscience.

Earlier today, President Obama convinced Rep. Stupak and his coalition of like-minded Democrats to change their votes to "Yea" by promising to issue an executive order that would ensure no abortions would be federally funded under the reform bill before the House on Sunday. President Obama released the text of the order and said he would sign it as soon as the House passed the bill.

It was good enough for Rep. Stupak.

"We've been able to come to an agreement to protect the sanctity of life in healthcare reform," Rep. Stupak said Sunday.

Two Medical Societies Applaud Reform Bill, But Say More Legislative Work Remains

In a press release issued tonight, American Medical Association President J. James Rohack, MD, said that by extending health insurance to millions more Americans, the bill passed by the House "will help patients and the physicians who care for them."

"Every day physicians see the devastating effect being uninsured has on the health of our patients," Dr. Rohack said. "Physicians dedicate their lives to helping patients, and we have an historic opportunity now to do just that."

Similarly, Lori Heim, MD, the president of the American Academy of Family Physicians, hailed the bill's passage in a written statement. "As a result of today's vote, Americans can look forward to health security because they soon will have the chance to buy health insurance that meets their needs without emptying their bank accounts," Dr. Heim stated.

Both Dr. Heim and Dr. Rohack said that their societies will continue to work with Congress on what they see as the unfinished business of healthcare reform, particularly medical liability reform and a permanent solution to the problematic formula for setting Medicare reimbursement for physicians, which calls for a 21.2% pay cut this year.

[by Robert Lowes, Medscape Medical News]

Our Mission

Jesus has given the church a job to do. We will either succeed or fail at it. I define our success as fulfilling the Great Commission. Using this definition, every church should want to be successful!

What is the alternative? The opposite of success is not faithfulness, but failure! Any church that is not obeying the Great Commission is failing its purpose for existing, no matter what else it does.

Jesus defined faithfulness in terms of behavior - it is a willingness to take risks that require faith in order to be fruitful.

The clearest example of this is the Parable of the Talents in Matthew 25:14-30. The two men who doubled the talents the master gave them were called “good and faithfulservants.” In other words, they proved their faithfulness by taking risks that produced fruit. They were successful at the task that they had been assigned, and they were rewarded for it by the master.

The passive, fearful servant who did nothing with the talent he was given produced no results to show the master when he returned. He was called “wicked and lazy” in contrast to the two servants called “faithful” who produced results.

The point of the story is clear: God expects to see results (fruit) that demonstrate our faithfulness. While others defined faithfulness as orthodoxy, Jesus defined faithfulness as productivity!

Faithfulness is accomplishing as much as possible with the resources and talents God has given you. That’s why comparing churches is an illegitimate way to measure success. Success is not being larger than some other church; it is bearing as much fruit as possible given your gifts, opportunities, and potential.

Christ doesn’t expect us to produce more than we can but he does expect us to produce all that we can by his power within us. That is a lot more than most of us think is possible. We expect too little from God and we attempt too little for him. If you’re not taking any risks in your ministry, then no faith is required to do it. And if your ministry doesn’t require any faith, then you are being unfaithful.

How do you define faithfulness?

• Are you being faithful if you refuse to learn new methods that work?
• Are you being faithful to the message if you insist on communicating it in an outdated style?
• Are you being faithful if you insist on doing ministry in a way that is comfortable for you even though it doesn't produce any fruit?
• Are you being faithful to Christ if you value man-made traditions more than reaching people for him?

I contend that when a church continues to use a method that obviously isn’t working- that is unfaithfulness!

[Pastor Rick Warren]

New Life Church Pastor Brady Boyd Embraces Tongues

New Life Church is “one of those tongue-talking churches,” the senior pastor said unashamedly on Sunday.

Pastor Brady Boyd acknowledges that there's a wide range of teachings on the spiritual gift of speaking in tongues. To some, it's foreign or weird and to others, it's no longer active.

But Boyd believes the spiritual practice is as real today as it was 2,000 years ago when believers in the very first church service spoke in tongues (as recorded in the New Testament).

Continuing his message series on the “The Supernatural,” Boyd felt he hit a particularly sensitive topic as he was swarmed with questions on the gift of tongues before he even preached on it this past weekend.

He has many friends who disagree with him on the subject. But for Boyd, speaking in tongues – known to some as a private prayer language – is nothing out of the ordinary. Every church he attended while growing up he saw the demonstration of tongues, he said.

“I thought everybody had that at birth because of the way I grew up,” he told the New Life congregation.

He himself couldn't imagine being without it. Pointing out that pastoring a church is tough, he said he would not survive long-term at New Life if he didn’t pray in tongues – which gives him “amazing strength.”

But traditions aside, Boyd asked the thousands in attendance to “let Scripture interpret Scripture” and approach the Bible as if they were reading it for the first time.

“I'm not going to stretch Scripture,” the New Life pastor emphasized.

Reading from Acts 2 in the New Testament, Boyd underscored the account that on the first day of the first church service, every one of the 120 people were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues.

“If I were reading the Bible for the very first time, as a young believer, and I was trying to make sense of this tongue thing, I think that would jump off the page at me and go ‘wow, if in the very first church service everyone there spoke in tongues when they were baptized in the Holy Spirit, it should be fairly common among us today,’” said Boyd.

“I think that’s a safe assumption on all of our parts.”

The senior pastor went on to point out the God-fearing Jews who recognized that their language was being spoken by people that didn’t know the Jews’ native language.

Speaking in tongues, Boyd said, could be used to communicate the Gospel to unbelievers. Thousands were born again that day when the Holy Spirit first came down upon believers. And Boyd said he knows tons of stories of such witnessing in tongues happening today.

“Sometimes we think tongues is just people getting in an emotional frenzy,” he said. But the spiritual gift is practical, he stressed. It is intended to draw people to God.

“I think that oftentimes we have made the spiritual gifts about us. ‘What does it do for me?’” he noted. “Not every time are the spiritual gifts for you. Oftentimes gifts are there ... to draw people to Christ.”

Even if attendees might dismiss other reasons on why Christians should embrace the gift of tongues, Boyd asked them to “at least consider that God may want to use you to communicate the Gospel to unbelievers.”

Other reasons he listed to embrace the gift are: to strengthen fellow believers, to personally communicate with God, and to “strengthen ourselves.”

If the gift is used properly in a public setting, such as in church, then the body of believers can be strengthened, Boyd said. The pastor, citing Apostle Paul, noted the need for boundaries as to not become consumed by fascination with speaking in tongues and get away from the priority of the Scriptures.

On a personal level, praying in tongues “edifies” believers, or “does something in our hearts to strengthen us for the [spiritual] battle we’re all in,” said Boyd.

“Oftentimes I just find myself praying in the tongue God has given me ... and I find an amazing reservoir of strength from heaven that I could never tap into in the natural but it's certainly available in the spiritual,” he said.

When Boyd prays in tongues, sometimes he know’s what he's praying for and other times he has no idea what he’s praying for.

“But I know this: the Holy Spirit is God and He’s omnipotent and omniscient and if He urges me to pray I’m going to pray because He knows what needs prayer,” said Boyd.

Dispelling some myths about the gift of tongues, the New Life pastor said tongues isn’t always the first evidence of baptism of the Holy Spirit and it does not signify that the Christian is a mature one. Also, speaking in tongues does not mean one will lose control and fall into a trance.

“The Holy Spirit never ever asks us to lose our free will to do anything on His behalf,” he stressed. “God is not looking for somebody He can take over.”

New Life attendees were given the opportunity after the sermon to pray and ask God for the spiritual gift of tongues.

“We lay down our pride, our unbelief, our doctrine that’s been wrong,” Boyd prayed. “We say ‘yes’ to your giftings.”

Boyd began leading New Life Church, one of the largest churches in the country, in 2007. He kicked off “The Supernatural” message series at the start of the new year. Topics he covered since January include miracles, giving, leadership, prophesying and demons.

[By Audrey Barrick - Christian Post Reporter]

Are you a good leader?

The ability to listen has been identified in study after study as one of the most important leadership skills – if not THE most important – than any other.

When you listen, you’re seen as a leader that:

• Is trustworthy
• Is patient
• Cares about others
• Is respectful
• Is compassionate

The ability to listen is a core, foundational skill for successful leaders. The ability to listen is key to:

• Developing and maintaining relationships
• Making good decisions
• Solving problems

Listening is one of the EASIEST leadership skills to learn and apply! We were born with the ability to listen. It’s a natural gift. Most people already know how to listen, and when they choose to, can do it very well.

If you want to listen, but for some reason you really don’t know how, no worries. All you have to do is keep your mouth shut. Then, listen like the someone important is talking to you. Or like you're on a first date.

If that doesn’t work for you, then there are plenty of books, videos, courses, and blog posts with excellent, proven tips. No need to repeat them all here. With a few tips and a lot of practice, you’ll be astounded with the results.

Talk about little things that will make a BIG difference – what other skill could give this kind of return on investment? Give it a try. Sit back and watch your relationships improve.

The Bad News:

Listening is one of the lowest rated leadership skills. It’s an average rated skill for individual contributors, then takes a nose-dive for leaders. It’s one of the most common flaws I see on 360 assessments. It’s the number one reason people think their leader is a jerk.

The bottom line: poor listening is a significant contributor to executive derailment (failure).

When you fail to listen, you’re perceived as someone who:

• Is insensitive to the needs of others
• Is arrogant, impatient, or uninterested
• Is dictatorial
• Makes others feel stupid or unintelligent
• Is close-minded

Failure to listen can result in:

• Disastrous decisions
• Mistakes
• Bruised and unproductive relationships
• and eventually, if not addressed – you’ll go down in flames.

If you’re seen as a bad listener, in most cases, it’s because you’re making a CHOICE not to listen. To be blunt, you’ve gotten so full of yourself (due to your success), that you don’t have the interest or patience in what most people are saying.

If you don’t believe me, try asking for true feedback. Ask the people in your life that matter to you how well you listen - and what it means to them when you don't.

[from Great Leadership by Dan McCarthy]

Some Leadership Challenges Cannot Be Avoided

There are some things that God will call a leader to do that he simply cannot delegate. That means …

• There are meetings that you are going to need to attend.
• There are conversations that you are going to have to have.
• There are decisions that you are going to have to make (and they won’t be easy!)

Spring Forward

Daylight Saving Time falls on Sunday, March 14, at 2:00 AM. As you move your clocks ahead this year, you may find yourself wonder why and when we started “springing forward” and “falling back.”

Daylight Saving Time was first instituted in the United States during World War I in an effort to save energy for war production.

Read complete article