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Have you ever struggled with understanding, “What is the proper devotion owed to our country?”  Do we love our country as much as the Church?  Is God with our country the same way as he is working through the Church?  If our country and our Church differ in opinion, whom do we trust, where ultimately does our allegiance lie? On July 4^th, 1776 our forefathers wrote a “Declaration of Independence” to Britain.  In it they showed great understanding of the proper devotion owed to a nation.  Britain was their country, but they understood that Britain was only an earthly power.  In this “Declaration” they wrote, “to secure the rights of Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, that whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.”  We love our country because for so many years it has secured our rights of Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness, and today we pray that it will continue to do so.  But as our forefathers wrote, our country was instituted by men… it is an earthly power… when it strays from the Word of God, our allegiance must rely with the Church.  Our government helps provide for our earthly needs, but it cannot bring salvation.  Its wisdom and its deeds are limited to the earthly realm, whereas the Church’s wisdom and deeds bring eternal safety and happiness. read more