Sunday, July 7, 2013

#572 (7/7) SUNDAY SPECIAL - "Tough Love of Country - How to Be a Patriot"

REMINDER: Check out this week's "Truth That Transforms" broadcast (Cen. FL - Sun., 5 pm, ch. 55.1; Mon., 7 pm, ch. 52.2, and at www.truthinaction.org).This week’s program is Part 1 of a special program entitled “One Nation Under God” that looks at the Christian roots of America. Incredible program;  Don’t miss it!

URGENT PRAYERS/PETITIONS:

July 6 - Egypt Facing Civil War? "Some Fear Civil War As Violence Spreads In Egypt," http://www.presidentialprayerteam.com/Prayerwatch?pw=1605 -- PRAY for the nation of Egypt, as it faces a crucial  moment, that the recent events would result in its becoming a true democracy and NOT an Islamic state. PRAY esp. that the peoples' freedoms, in particular the religious freedom of its minorities (specifically its oppressed Christians) would be protected.PRAY also: 1) For peace and stability in Egypt after the government overthrow, 2) That the U.S. will effectively reach out to the new government, and 3) For safety for Americans living in Egypt

July 4 - Texas To Vote On Major Pro-Life Bill Next Week - PRAY that the Texas House will finally vote to approve a bill  (which the Governor is ready to sign) that will, among other things, make illegal abortions before the 20th week (when babies are discovered to first feel pain) and which  will regulate abortion clinics just as any other medical facilities are. PRAY that the passage of this law will spur other such laws throughout the country and eventually be made into a federal law.

American Pastor Saeed Held Prisoner in Iran - June 5th Update - "Saeed's Wife Uses UN Speech to 'Plant Gospel'," by George Thomas, CBN News Sr. Reporter, June 05, 2013, http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/world/2013/June/Saeeds-Wife-Uses-UN-Speech-to-Plant-Gospel/?cpid=EU_CBNNEWSPM_2013_156"Prayers from Prison: American Pastor Held in Iran Releases Letter," May 22, 2013; http://www.presidentialprayerteam.com/Prayerwatch?pw=1458"...Abedini has been held at the brutal prison for 238 days, enduring long stints in solitary confinement, and, according to his supporters, beatings and torture at the hands of his jailers and fellow inmates. For months, he has been suffering from serious injuries, including internal bleeding from beatings with no proper medical attention, according to his family and attorneys."(Sources: Fox News, Assemblies of God website) Please PRAY:1) For the imprisoned Pastor Abedini, and for those Iranians who tend to his needs in prison to treat him more humanely. 2) For his family in Boise, Idaho. and their efforts to involve the U.S. State Department in securing Pastor Abedini’s release. And 3) For the impact of his witness upon believers and non-believers, in America and across the world. And if you have not yet, join the over 600,000 worldwide who have signed the petition asking for his release at www.SaveSaeed.org

UPDATE: June 21 - "Pastor Saeed in Good Spirits as Threats Increase," CBNNews.com;  http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/world/2013/June/Pastor-Saeed-in-Good-Spirits-as-Threats-Increase/The family of imprisoned American Pastor Saeed Abedini visited him in Iran's Evin Prison this week. They say he was in good spirits...According to the American Center for Law and Justice, the 33-year-old pastor told his family his health appears to have improved. The ACLJ also said that since Iran's presidential election last week, Abedini reported Iranian prison guards have threatened to move him to a more remote prison. Such a move would make it nearly impossible for his family to visit him.
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"Tough Love of Country - How to Be a Patriot," - By: Chuck Colson|Breakpoint.org: July 4, 2013  (This commentary originally aired on July 4, 1995.) http://www.breakpoint.org/bpcomermentaries/breakpoint-commentaries-archive/entry/13/22721?spMailingID=6481936&spUserID=MTMyMjM2ODE5OQS2&spJobID=77313927&spReportId=NzczMTM5MjcS1 
Chuck Colson
Every Fourth of July, Coney Island hosts a hot dog-eating contest. Contestants gather from around the country to prove that they can stuff themselves with more hot dogs in 12 minutes than anyone else.
Well, not everyone pursues their hot dog eating so competitively. But it does seem that downing hot dogs and lemonade is the quintessential American way of expressing patriotism on the Fourth of July: Family picnics and fireworks to celebrate the founding of our country. Now, I realize that when you gathered with your friends and relatives, you probably weren't thinking about doing anything particularly patriotic.You were just having a good time, right?
But St. Augustine would tell you that that was exactly the right way to express patriotism. I don't mean to say Augustine wrote about the finer points of American hot dog eating. What he wrote is that the best way to develop patriotism is by loving your own family. You see, Christians are commanded to love the whole world. But as everyone knows, that's utterly impractical. No finite human being could possibly love every other person in the world. 
So God has placed us in concrete relationships where we can learn to love. As Augustine puts it, it's as though God had cast lots and assigned each one of us to a particular family, a particular church, and a particular country. We cannot love the whole world, but we can love the particular people in the relationships where God has placed us-moving outward from family to church, community, and nation, in an ever-widening circle. That's how Christian patriotism is built.
You see, it's easy to love people in the abstract. It's much harder to love the real flesh-and-blood people we interact with in our families, churches, and communities. As C. S. Lewis explained, we are constantly tempted to love only what is lovable — to love our wives only when they're kind and beautiful, to love our husbands only when they're successful, to love our children only when they're pleasant. 
But that's not the way God loves. God loves us even when we're unlovable-just because He has chosen us to be His people. And He commands us to do the same.
We're to love our families even when they're unlovable — just because they're ours. We're to love the church-just because we belong to one another as the family of God. And we're to love our country just because it's our own. Not because it's the best and most democratic country in the world-which it may not be at times-but because it's the place where God has put us. That's "tough love" of country: being utterly honest about our nation's flaws and shortcomings, and yet still continuing to love it.
So as we pack up the leftover hot dog buns and put away the ketchup, let's keep alive this reminder of what the Fourth of July is all about. When we gather together with our families and relatives — and renew our bonds of love with them — we are practicing, at its most basic level, true patriotism.

 [bold and italicws emphasis mine]
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