PRAY FOR AMERICA: THANK GOD for His many blessings on America throughout it's history. May we then ask that AMERICA once again be a blessing TO GOD, by once again submitting to HIS will in our affairs - both personal and national - that He may truly "heal our land." (2 Chron. 7:14)
SIGN A PETITION TO THE UN FOR THE PROTECTION OF CHRISTIANS :" The church in Syria has shone brightly for 2,000 years. But today violence and persecution threatens its survival. Thanks to an incredible response, Open Doors is helping 8,000 families in Syria survive each month. We believe the signatures and prayers of 500,000 people will encourage the UN to act and protect the rights and lives of all Syrians, especially the vulnerable Christian community." Go to: http://lp.opendoorsusa.org/emails/nov-13-action/save-syria.html?utm_source=action&utm_medium=email&utm_content=button&utm_campaign=november
WORLD-WDE PRAYER REQUESTS:
LATEST SAHEED NEWS! May 22 - "Pastor Saeed Forcibly Returned to Prison after Beating" - By Caitlin Burke,CBN News, May 22, 2014;http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/world/2014/May/Pastor-Saeed-Beaten-Sent-Back-to-Iran-Prison/ "Saeed Abedini, a U.S. pastor imprisoned for his faith, was severely beaten at an Iranian hospital before being returned to the brutal Rajai Shahr prison. His Iranian family claims the transfer was unexpected and the reason is unclear. But one of the guards involved in the transfer suggested recent Iranian nuclear talks could be a motive, the family said..."
We need to continue to pray for Pastor Saeed - that his health will improve and that he will be re-united with his wife and two young children who live in the United States. We also remain hopeful that in addition to getting the medical care he so desperately needs, that Iranian officials display the kind of humanitarian treatment that often accompanies the start of the Iranian New Year which began on March 21st. This is the time of year when the Iranian government frequently offers clemency to prisoners of conscience. [If you have not yet, please sign the petition for his clemency- http://beheardproject.com/saeed#sign]
PRAY ALSO : - For comfort and peace for Saeed’s wife and children here in the U.S.\
- For a strong witness and testimony from Pastor Abedini in the prison where God has placed him
- For Christians around the world who are being persecuted for their faith in Christ
- For leadership from the White House and State Department in defending the freedoms of Abedini and other Americans
- GO TO SaveSaeed.org to sign a petition over 600,000 others asking for his immediate release
The U.S. State Department believes the Russian army is now prepared to launch an invasion of eastern Ukraine if President Vladimir Putin decides to pull the trigger, according to a senior Administration official."At this point, they are amassed and they could go at a moment’s notice if Putin gave the go ahead," the official said...Top Ukrainian security officials said Thursday that Russia now has 100,000 troops on its side of the Russia-Ukraine border.(Sources: CBS News, Washington Post, Huffington Post, Daily Beast)
As the Lord leads, please pray:
*For God to suppress President Putin’s ambitions to "restore" the Soviet empire.
*For the people of Ukrainen [esp. for the church 'to be THE church'] as they wait to see if the Russian troops will advance.
*About President Obama and to use wisdom in crafting our foreign policy, and wisdom for his advisers.
NEWS/PRAYER ALERT!"Kim Jong-un Calls for Execution of 33 Christians" - 3/7/2014; http://www.presidentialprayerteam.com/Prayerwatch?pw=3651 "North Korea tyrant Kim Jong-un has reportedly ordered that 33 Christians believed to be working alongside South Korean Baptist missionary Kim Jung-wook be put to death. The South Korean missionary - who was arrested last year - and his accomplices have reportedly started 500 or so underground churches..."[PRAY that the plans for execution would be rescinded, and these believers released.] [Che\ck out: They'll Be Dead By Morning (What Difference Will It Make) http://loristanleyroeleveld.blogspot.com/2014/03/theyll-be-dead-by-morning-what.html
NEWS ALERT/PRAISE! "Iran Allows Surgery on Ailing, Imprisoned Pastor" - CBNNews.com,March 07, 2014;http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/world/2014/March/Iran-Allows-Dire-Surgery-on-Ailing-Imprisoned-Pastor-/ The Iranian government has finally allowed doctors to perform surgery on imprisoned Pastor Benham Irani.Irani suffered from a herniated disc and bleeding intestines and urgently needed medical care. PRAY for the final release of Pastor Irani and others imprisoned for their faith.
Oct. 23: "Christians Fleeing IRAQ Area Once Considered Safe," - CBNNews.com, http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/world/2013/October/Christians-Fleeing-Iraq-Area-Once-Considered-Safe/ PRAY that believers in Iraq will know God's protection and provision; that believers will know[ whether they are called to flee or remain and persevere; and that their persecutors may come to hear the gospel and come to faith in Christ. - Stan]
Continue to Pray for EGYPT - Continue to pray for the tense situation in Egypt and especially for the Christian believers who are being targeted with violence by Muslim Brotherhood members.]
Update on Kenneth Bae: "US Ready to Bargain with N. Korea for Bae's Release,"- CBNNews.com, Aug 14, 2013 http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/world/2013/August/S-Ready-to-Bargain-with-N-Korea-for-Baes-Release/ - PRAY for 1) God's healing of and presence with Pastor Bae, 2) His earliest release by the North Korean government, and 3) God's comfort for his family and friends.]
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Continue to Pray for EGYPT - Continue to pray for the tense situation in Egypt and especially for the Christian believers who are being targeted with violence by Muslim Brotherhood members.]
Update on Kenneth Bae: "US Ready to Bargain with N. Korea for Bae's Release,"- CBNNews.com, Aug 14, 2013 http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/world/2013/August/S-Ready-to-Bargain-with-N-Korea-for-Baes-Release/ - PRAY for 1) God's healing of and presence with Pastor Bae, 2) His earliest release by the North Korean government, and 3) God's comfort for his family and friends.]
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So what did I tell the graduating class of 2014? Chase your dreams? You’re pretty awesome? No. I gave them two words. .I was honored, or to use the current cliché, beyond honored, last week to give the baccalaureate address at Liberty University, and I was humbled that the school would bestow upon me an honorary doctorate. I told the students I felt like the Scarecrow in the Wizard of Oz. The moment it was awarded to me, I suddenly got smarter. I felt it. The first words that came to mind were, “the square of the hypotenuse of a right triangle is equal to the sum of the squares of the remaining sides.” Well, I’m hopeful the rest of what I told Liberty’s Class of 2014 was more helpful.
My advice to the graduates actually can be summed up in two words: “Follow Jesus.” Obviously I said more, but everything I did say came back to those two words.
I told the graduates that, from my perspective, it seemed like only minutes had passed since I was in their position. Therefore, before they knew it, they’d be fifty years old themselves.I said that not to depress them, because I myself actually like being fifty, but to remind them that our time on Earth is short, and what’s more, we are aware of its fleeting nature. It can hardly be otherwise, as C. S. Lewis said, because we were not made for time but for eternity, which is outside of time. Thus time feels strange to us.
The question then is this: What are we to do in the midst of this strange sojourn? We are to redeem the time we’ve been given. Every single day and everything we do counts because we are not our own. Our money, our families, our talents, and even our time are not our own. Because we’ve been bought with a price: The suffering and death of the perfect Son of God.
Our lives must be an expression of gratitude for what God has done for us. I’m not talking about a dour religiosity, but a life lived in the full and joyful realization that doing the Father’s will, as Jesus did, is the only true source of happiness and fulfillment.I told the soon-to-be graduates that God had invited them on a grand adventure: to join Him and His Son as soldiers in the war against sin and rebellion and darkness using the weapons of love. In other words, to be the Church.
Being the Church, I said, requires a willingness to speak the truth, even when it’s unpopular and even when it carries adverse consequences. I reminded the students and their friends and families that around the world Christians are being jailed, tortured, and killed for following Jesus. So we here in the U. S. shouldn’t let the risk of, for example, losing our tax-exempt status cause us to remain silent when God is calling us to speak.After all, if we can’t speak what Jesus would have us say today, then what Gospel do we really have? We would be little more than chaplains to the culture, speaking at the forbearance of those powerful enough to set their agenda and to define what is and is not acceptable speech.
I ended by quoting a very unlikely source: Pink Floyd. In their song, “Wish You Were Here,” the band asks, “Did you exchange a walk-on part in the war for a lead role in a cage?” That is the choice facing not only the graduates but every Christian: playing our small part in the struggle God would have us wage against evil or insist on starring in an inconsequential drama of our own making.
For those who would follow Jesus, the choice is clear. [Check out link below for the complete video of the speech]
Editor's note: Eric Metaxas was an English major. He got the Pythagorean Theorem wrong in his speech. And the editor of BreakPoint didn't catch it, either, because he was a religion major. It is fixed in the text above.
[bold and italics emphasis mine]
RESOURCES:
Baccalaureate speaker Eric Metaxas fortifies graduates to follow Jesus
Youtube.com - http://www.liberty.edu/news/index.cfm?PID=18495&MID=119428
"Congratulations on Having Your Intelligence Certified! " [The following my first post at my blog for youth - www.stan4youth.blogspot.com and can be found at : https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=9082192852207727138#editor/target=post;postID=2328862791662763147;onPublishedMenu=allposts;onClosedMenu=allposts;postNum=44;src=link]
[Originally dedicated to the guys of Discovery MS Student Venture class of 2005, graduating high school in 2009}: While your official commencement speaker may be very eloquent, I don’t believe that person will care about you personally as much as I do. Because of that, I offer you my unofficial commencement message. I know it is a bit long and that you may be tired of reading right now, but I hope that you will take a few minutes to read what I have written below.
When I graduated from high school 40 years ago (yes, I’m a 1969 graduate), I don’t remember anything about that commencement address. But I will never forget the outdoor ceremony I participated in years later when I graduated from college. It had rained the night before and our seats were still wet when we sat down. (For some reason, no one thought of wiping them off before the ceremony started.) It was quite humbling to about to be a college graduate and find myself forced to sit there with my bottom soaking wet. But then, the university president spoke. He concluded his brief remarks by saying, “Ladies and gentlemen, congratulations! Today your intelligence has been certified. From now on, if anyone questions how smart you are, you can hit them over the head with your mortarboard!”
Of course, we all had a good laugh at that remark, but on reflection those words communicated more wisdom than I then realized. Our education certainly indicates that we have acquired some knowledge but it says nothing about how much wisdom we have acquired. And throughout our life, what will really count will never be how much knowledge we attain but how wisely we apply that knowledge to live selfless rather than selfish lives. At the end of your life, they will not remember you for how smart you were but for how well you lived life. While some may choose to measure you by the number of degrees or the amount of power or recognition you’ve acquired, the really successful life will be one “lived well.” (Those trophies and awards you’ve acquired over the years are a great testimony to your hard work but sooner than you think they will rust and be forgotten by others and even yourself.)
And just what is a life lived well? Well, as Christians it should be evident that it is one lived according to God’s will for your life as best as you are able.
In case you haven’t already, I’d like to encourage you to look at how God has gifted you - what things you enjoy doing and have natural or acquired skills to do. Consider what kinds of careers would allow you to use those gifts and to work with passion. Don’t consider the standard of living or anything else but whether it would be doing things you would be excited to do every day. When you decide what the best career for you would be, pursue a course of study to enable you to have such a career. You may or may not find that “right” job right away but always keep searching for it. My prayer is that you will live each day of your life with joy as you use your giftedness from God to please Him, to serve others, and to please yourself.
As a Christian, I trust that you are already aware that your faith will be challenged and almost certainly will meet hostility of some kind in college, if you haven’t already. (I was once openly laughed at for carrying a Bible on my college campus.) You will be challenged to be a “free thinker,” which will essentially mean providing air-tight answers to questions about your faith in God, something that is not always possible. But always remember that your faith IS based on solid, intellectual evidence and is anything but a “blind faith.” There is no field of study that has all of its questions answered conclusively and is without differing opinions of some kind. That, after all, is why learning is an ongoing process of discovery, and when it comes to the basic truths of your faith, even as you discover new truths the Word of God teaches, expect your faith to ALWAYS withstand the harshest questioning as it has for thousands of years.
And no matter what you hear in your classrooms or other media or read in any book on your required course reading list, always listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit dwelling within you when something “just doesn’t sound right” because it probably isn’t. There is always another side to any issue that will be discussed and the right answer will always be that which is supported by biblical truth. If you aren’t fully given the opposing view without bias, then Truth demands that you examine any argument before accepting it. Remember, the only really dumb question is the one never asked. (If you have a question, you can be sure there are others in your class with the same question.)
Above all, remember that you are not just a student at your school but a Christian student. In every classroom, every gathering you find yourself in, you are Christ’s ambassador to those who have never heard of God’s truths.
One day, a mentor took me to the center of my college campus and stood with me as the bell sounded ending another class period. Suddenly, as we looked at the entrance of one building, hundreds of students started pouring out. My mentor/friend then pointed at the students and said, “Stan, no matter how many degrees those students earn while they are here, NOTHING they learn will be more significant in their lives than what you have to share with them when you share the gospel.” The truth of that statement just blew me away and I have never forgotten it.
And so, my friends, when the school year begins, I challenge you to begin by praying – by name – for each of the classmates God leads you to get to know in each of your classes, as well of course, for each of your instructors and other adults who become significant in your life. Pray that each will have the opportunity while they are at that school to hear the truths of the gospel and then ask God to use you in any way He chooses, whether by your life example or your words, to direct them to Jesus. I believe that there are no “accidental” students.
I believe that every Christian student is at their particular school, and in their particular classes, and at the time he or she is there, for the purpose of making an impact on those students, teachers, and other adults. Always be aware that – wherever God leads you in life - you can make an eternal difference in people’s lives if you simply choose to be available to God to use you, by your life, and if necessary, by your words (praying for them and sharing your faith with them.)
There you have it. What I’ve written and what you’ve hopefully been patient enough to read may be things you’ve already considered. If so, that’s great. But I don’t apologize for re-stating things that are not new because I hope it serves to just emphasize those things in your mind and heart. Again, congratulations on all your hard work and all you’ve accomplished!
“Lord Jesus, may each Christian graduate seek after You with all of their heart, and no matter how difficult the road ahead may prove, may they always be aware of Your abiding love and presence and hand upon their lives. In every circumstance, may they seek to know your will AND be surrendered to Your will. I thank You that, as your Word promises, You will never leave them nor forsake them (Hebrews 13:5), and that you have planned that they will have a future of great hope. (Jeremiah 29:11). I trust that wherever they go on in life, they will be effective ambassadors through their life and their words of the truths of Your Word, and that they will impact eternity greatly for Your Kingdom and will have “lived well.” May they help everyone in their circle of influence to know Your everlasting love for them, their need for Your forgiveness, and come to embrace Jesus’ death and resurrection as they trust in Him as their Savior and Lord. I pray this in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.” - Stan
P.S.- And please, graduate, I hope that you will take the time to PUBLICLY (say, at your graduation party?) to THANK YOUR PARENTS for their years of support and sacrifice. They deserve to hear that from you.
P.S.- And please, graduate, I hope that you will take the time to PUBLICLY (say, at your graduation party?) to THANK YOUR PARENTS for their years of support and sacrifice. They deserve to hear that from you.
P.S.S.- As you probably have a copy of this year’s high school yearbook, I challenge you to consider PRAYING for as many of the graduating students, as well as the teachers and administrators you find in there as you can, to come to know Jesus as their Savior and Lord. YOU just may be the only person to ever lift them up to God’s throne. What if it’s YOUR prayer that causes God to begin working in their lives to draw them to Him and the reason why you meet them one day in Heaven. Think about that!
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