{"id":2913,"date":"2016-07-01T08:10:11","date_gmt":"2016-07-01T12:10:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/voh\/?p=2913"},"modified":"2016-06-22T08:38:12","modified_gmt":"2016-06-22T12:38:12","slug":"a-celebration-of-our-great-nation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/voh\/2016\/07\/01\/a-celebration-of-our-great-nation\/","title":{"rendered":"A Celebration of Our Great Nation"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>With Independence Day just a few days away, we can reflect on the blessings we have in our nation. In an election year, there are always differing views and debates, but I think we can all agree that we are blessed in this country in many ways. Let\u2019s thank the Lord for some of those ways today!<\/p>\n<p>One of the biggest blessings we have is freedom. Freedom to attend church services without fear of persecution, freedom to talk about Christ, freedom to vote; freedom that was bought by much sacrifice through our faithful military servants.<\/p>\n<p>We have also been blessed with godly heritage. History shows that many of our founding fathers were believers, and so our country was built on a Christian foundation.<\/p>\n<p>Furthermore, we are blessed with our laws and law enforcement. In many countries, the law enforcement is largely corrupt and do not uphold the laws that are meant to keep individuals safe and honest. In the US, we are blessed to have law enforcement officers who truly care and are dedicated to their job.<\/p>\n<p>There is a lot to celebrate about our nation, and one thing is certain: God has blessed us in many ways, and even though we may not always agree, we can be so thankful for the wonderful things God has provided for America. The next time we sing the famous patriotic song, &#8220;God Bless America,&#8221; may we also be prompted\u00a0to praise Him for the ways in which He already has blessed America!<\/p>\n<p>Please join with us in thanking the Lord for His blessings, and also join with us as we pray for our president and other elected leaders, for our military, and for our country.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>With Independence Day just a few days away, we can reflect on the blessings we have in our nation. In an election year, there are always differing views and debates, but I think we can all agree that we are blessed in this country in many ways. Let\u2019s thank the Lord for some of those&#8230; <a class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/voh\/2016\/07\/01\/a-celebration-of-our-great-nation\/\">read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":73,"featured_media":2914,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[1],"tags":[5275,19419],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v19.14 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>A Celebration of Our Great Nation - Vision of Hope<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/voh\/2016\/07\/01\/a-celebration-of-our-great-nation\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Celebration of Our Great Nation - Vision of Hope\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"With Independence Day just a few days away, we can reflect on the blessings we have in our nation. 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