[NOTE: In case you may not have noticed, I posted my latest (first in almost 5 months!) update in MY JOURNAL. journal. Please check it out by scrolling down the right side of this blog.] URGENT PRAYERS/PETITIONS: Same -Sex "Marriage"- PLEASE PRAY WITH ME (every day untill the decision is revealed around mid-June) THAT THE SUPREME COURT WILL VOTE TO UPHOLD THE 2 LAWS REVIEWED SUPPORTING A TRADITIONAL DEFINITION OF MARRIAGE.. PRAY that the Court will resist any pressure to MAKE new law based on "cultural trends." PRAY as though the very future of the institution of the family is at stake because it is. PRAY! - for the sake of possibly millions of such children, and for our country if it is to continue to be shown any more favor by our Heavenly Father, who I promise you will be very displeased if homosexual marriage is legalized; "GOD IS NOT [TO BE] MOCKED..." - (Gal. 6:7) - Stan [Be sure to check out my brief essay at post #478.] CONTINUE TO PRAY FOR PASTOR SAEED (Iranian-born AMERICAN pastor who just started an 8 year sentence for helping the underground churches in Iran) [See 3/25 update below!] If you have not already, please join nearly 500,000 (was recently250,000) who have signed the petition for Pastor Saeed's release and tell your friends about it. http://aclj.org/iran/save-american-pastor-from-iranian-prison-sentence
As the Lord leads, please pray: *For Pastor Abedini as he endures one of Iran’s most deadly prisons, potentially beaten and abused regularly, simply because of his Christian faith. *For the pastor’s wife and family and the Holy Spirit’s comfort upon them. * For God to visit his tormenters and all in his cell with him with supernatural dreams of the risen Christ, and use the pastor's actions and words to draw them to repent and turn to Christ; that God would use the pastor's time in that prison to spark a genuine spiritual revival that will bring scores of Iranians to Christ..*For the U.S. State Department to get involved in a significant way to obtain the pastor’s release.
REMINDER: "Truth That Transforms" broadcast - (Cen. FL - Sun., 5 pm, ch. 55.1; Mon. 7 pm. ch. 52.2; www.truthinaction.org) This week includes a special video about “Government Overreach.” "What Makes Men Great? The Eric Liddell Story," By: Eric Metaxas, Breakpoint.org; April 1, 2013 http://www.breakpoint.org/bpcommentaries/breakpoint-commentaries-archive/entry/13/21821
[AS I SEE IT: If you've ever held Eric Liddell in high regard, the following synopsis of his post-Olympic activities in God's service is sure to elicit a "Wow" from you several times as it did from me. When the term "hero" is tossed around so casually these days, I for one apply it only to individuals like this. - Stan]
In the news recently, we heard the tragic story of the Olympic athlete nicknamed “the blade runner.” Oscar Pistorius, who raced on prosthetic legs, was charged with shooting his girlfriend to death. If convicted, he faces life in prison. And then of course there’s Lance Armstrong, the cyclist who, after years of denials, finally admitted to using illegal performance-enhancing drugs and was stripped of all seven of his Tour de France medals.
A lot of people admire athletes, but Pistorius and Armstrong are reminders that simply having athletic prowess does not make men heroic.
So what does make men great? Like Jesus, I'm going to answer that question with a story.
Many of you have probably seen the film
Chariots of Fire, about the Scottish runner Eric Liddell, and about how, in 1924, he surrendered an almost certain Olympic gold medal in the 100 meters because the heats took place on a Sunday. And Eric Liddell would not run on the Sabbath. He felt that that would not honor God. So instead, Eric began training for the 400 meters. That was not something he was expected to win a gold medal in. But to his country's delight, he did win the gold medal in that event.
In my new book,
Seven Men and the Secret of Their Greatness, I write about seven men, among them Eric Liddell, who was willing to make this incredible sacrifice. He gave up not only the greatest prize in sports, but also the chance to bring honor to his beloved country—not to mention fame, fortune, and glory to himself.And then he gave up the glory and wealth that goes with being an Olympic champion when he announced his intention to serve God on the mission field in China.
Eric's heroism did not stop after he won his gold medal. In the lead-up to World War II, Eric more than once put his life in danger in an effort to bring supplies to the school where he taught. On one of these journeys, he was attacked and robbed by armed thieves; on another, he was shot at. After the war started, Eric was sent to a Japanese internment camp in China. There, he threw himself into both work and volunteer activities, teaching in the camp school and organizing softball, cricket, and tennis games for the children. Despite his growing exhaustion, and missing his family terribly, he remained cheerful for the sake of others. When he noticed that a teenager's shoes had worn out, Eric gave him his extra pair—the very shoes he had worn in the Olympic Games.
In 1945, after years in the camp, Eric began suffering terrible headaches. After he suffered a minor stoke, camp doctors believed that he had a brain tumor. On February 18, Eric finished writing one last letter to his wife and slipped into a coma. And he died that evening at the age of forty-three. When the news spread around the world, not only Scotland mourned, but many other countries, as well. The
Glasgow Evening News summed up the feelings of the Scottish people regarding the man who had put God before a gold medal and then spent the remainder of his life serving others. Eric Liddell, the editors said, “did [Scotland] proud every hour of his life.” He did Scotland proud again when, sixty-three years after his death, China revealed that Eric had been included in a prisoner exchange.
But rather than going free, he had given up his place to a pregnant woman.
For the next six Mondays leading up to Father's Day, BreakPoint will look at truly heroic men—the men I write about in my new book,
Seven Men and the Secret of their Greatness.(http://www.colsoncenterstore.org/product.asp?sku=9781595554697) .. I hope you'll share these stories with young people who too often admire the wrong people for the wrong reasons. They'll learn that greatness lies not in stellar achievements, but in selfless sacrifice. [I plan to present Eric's rmaining stories the next 6 Sunday Specials. If you enjoyed this one, I hope you'll make a point of not missing the stories coming up. AND you might consider going to the link above and ordering a copy of the book for your favorite Dad for Father's Day.- Stan]
[bold and italics emphasis mine]
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