{"id":955,"date":"2016-08-09T16:49:30","date_gmt":"2016-08-09T16:49:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/?p=955"},"modified":"2016-08-09T16:50:49","modified_gmt":"2016-08-09T16:50:49","slug":"shining-light-jesus-dark-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/2016\/08\/09\/shining-light-jesus-dark-season\/","title":{"rendered":"Shining the Light of Jesus in a Dark Season"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>By Doug Beacham<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>God has called the church to be salt and light in a dark world. He wants the gospel to advance in every nation. 1 Timothy 2:1-2 says: \u201cTherefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and for all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence\u201d (NKJV).<\/p>\n<p>As a global movement, IPHC members live under a wide range of governments and religious policies. Many countries have official governmental departments of religious affairs. Other countries, like the United States, do not have such a department, and I pray that we never do! Consider this about many of our members in the IPHC:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>They faithfully serve Christ in nations where there is little to no public support for Christianity.<br \/>\nThey live along the 10th parallel, the navigational line from North Africa across Asia that often marks the divide between Islamic controlled areas and non-Islamic areas.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>They serve Christ in \u201cunderground,\u201d or unregistered, house churches.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>They serve Christ in secularist western European nations.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>They bring gospel hope to eastern European nations still spiritually recovering from the 20th century scourge of atheistic communism.<br \/>\nThey feel the effects of recent Russian efforts to restrict evangelism.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Cuban Christians often have a government official sitting in a worship service to monitor their activities.<br \/>\nIn Canada and the United States of America public opinion, legislation, and courts are actively curbing individual religious freedoms.<br \/>\nThe California legislature is about to pass Senate Bill 1146 that will interfere with the religious liberties of religious colleges and universities under the guise of protecting gay rights You can read more at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.opposesb1146.com\" >www.opposesb1146.com<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>As I reflect on these matters, I am encouraged by the witness of IPHC members and leaders in Eastern Europe. Here are a few examples.<br \/>\nFirst, I vividly remember the joy and love on the face of Lazlo, a Hungarian man in his fifties. I was in his home with Rhonda Pruitt, an IPHC missionary, in the spring of 1990. It was about 1 a.m., and Lazlo and his daughter had waited up for us and served us Hungarian goulash.<\/p>\n<p>As we ate, I asked Lazlo about his life. He told me that he was unemployed, having been fired by the communist-run factory. I asked why. He told me that on his break he would read his Bible. But his employers told him that if he continued to read his Bible on the break, he would lose his job.<\/p>\n<p>With humble joy, he told me that he told them that he would not deny himself taking in God\u2019s Word and they would have to fire him. They did. Instead of bitterness and anger, Lazlo revealed to me the heart of a servant of Christ faithfully trusting Jesus in the midst of an ungodly system.<\/p>\n<p>Second, on the same trip, I was with IPHC missionary Don Gentilini in Oradea, Romania. We attended church services and visited in one of those nondescript, architecturally boring highrise apartment buildings that characterizes so much of state planning.<\/p>\n<p>Yet the Christians who gathered in that tiny apartment were so joyful. They were happy in Christ, and also happy that just before Christmas 1989, the oppressive ruler Nicolae Ceausescu was overthrown and executed.<\/p>\n<p>They had the front page of the local paper on the wall dated Christmas Day, 1989. The headline read: \u201cThe Anti-Christ is Dead, Christ is Born.\u201d For the first time in decades, Christmas and its real meaning were celebrated in the press!<\/p>\n<p>Third, in the Ukraine, Bishop Valery Reshetinskyi leads Christian Hope Church IPHC, a model of how people survive the darkness of the various manifestations of the anti-Christ spirit. Though a Christian since childhood, Reshetinskyi was protected by the Holy Spirit as he served in the Soviet controlled academic and military world.<\/p>\n<p>When the Soviet Empire collapsed, he was positioned to take a small group of believers in Kiev and lead them to a movement that has expanded across Ukraine and other parts of the world. They prove that even in the darkest of times, either under Nazi terrorism in the 1940s or Communist oppression following World War II, God will preserve a remnant for the future. This thriving church is having an impact on the educational and social needs of Ukraine.<\/p>\n<p>The apostle Paul wrote his disciple Timothy about how one serves Christ in a world that is in conflict with the kingdom of God. First, wherever we are and whatever the nature of our civic government, we pray.<\/p>\n<p>We need to remember that when Paul wrote this letter, Nero was the Emperor of Rome. The empire had its own religious cults, and followers of Jesus were already being viewed as \u201catheist,\u201d or \u201cwithout god,\u201d since they did not recognize the official gods of Rome.<\/p>\n<p>Even Christian terminology about Jesus became a threat to the Empire. Who is Lord? Jesus or Caesar? Who is the Almighty One? Jesus or the Emperor? Who had the Good News? Rome or Christians?<\/p>\n<p>I hope you will carefully read 1 Timothy 2:1 and notice that Paul used three different words for prayer: \u201csupplications,\u201d \u201cprayers\u201d and \u201cintercessions.\u201d His instructions to Timothy were not a casual call to prayer. Rather, the emphasis on different kinds of prayer reflected Paul\u2019s recognition that the body of Christ is in serious conflict with the principalities and powers of this age.<\/p>\n<p>Second, we pray with fervor, wisdom and in the Spirit, asking that the Holy Spirit will restrain Satan\u2019s efforts to silence and destroy the influence of Christ\u2019s body in the world.<\/p>\n<p>In recent months efforts have been made to \u201cshame\u201d those who call for prayer when there have been local and national disasters and tragedies. May we not be \u201cashamed\u201d to heed the advice of the apostle Paul and enter into serious seasons of prayer, especially in these dark and confusing days.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em>This article was published in\u00a0the August 2016 issue of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dropbox.com\/s\/7w975j5z305trpa\/August%202016%20Encourage.pdf?dl=0\" >Encourage<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"excerpt","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":957,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","filesize_raw":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,1],"tags":[180,6,108,134,218,37,290,38],"class_list":{"0":"post-955","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-bishops-blog","8":"category-general","9":"tag-180","10":"tag-august","11":"tag-bishop-doug-beacham","12":"tag-bishops-blog","13":"tag-blog","14":"tag-encourage","15":"tag-iphc-general-superintendent","16":"tag-magazine","17":"entry"},"title_es":"Jesucristo es la fuente de la verdadera santidad","content_es":"<p style=\"text-align: center\"><strong>Por Doug Beacham<\/strong><\/p>\r\nUna de mis revistas favoritas es <a href=\"http:\/\/www.touchstonemag.com\/\">Touchstone Revista<\/a> . Desaf\u00eda a mi forma de pensar y aborda temas de actualidad y de la teolog\u00eda de un marco de CS Lewis y la reflexi\u00f3n cristiana hist\u00f3rica. Uno de los jefes de redacci\u00f3n es Patrick Henry Reardon, pastor de la Iglesia ortodoxa de Todos los Santos en Chicago. Recientemente empec\u00e9 a leer el estudio de Reardon titulado La Encarnaci\u00f3n. Es el primer volumen de tres, con el t\u00edtulo general <em><em>La<\/em> recuperaci\u00f3n de<\/em> <em>la <em>Expiaci\u00f3n:.<\/em> Una<\/em> <em>teolog\u00eda<\/em> <em>ortodoxa<\/em> <em>de la redenci\u00f3n<\/em> No, no es aburrido. Y no, no es irrelevante! De hecho, este tipo de seria reflexi\u00f3n teol\u00f3gica cristiana puede ser m\u00e1s importante que nunca. El mundo es un lugar ruidoso en estos d\u00edas. cuestiones econ\u00f3micas mundiales, las cuestiones raciales y de migraci\u00f3n, las preocupaciones ambientales y los cambios en las fronteras pol\u00edticas y religiosas son s\u00f3lo algunos de nuestros debates actuales. Y en los Estados Unidos, nuestro ciclo de elecciones presidenciales cada cuatro a\u00f1os es turbulenta como los rumores inquietantes que en Oklahoma asociado con terremotos y tornados. Necesitamos desesperadamente los sonidos claros del cielo en esta temporada, por lo que podemos declarar el amor, la santidad y la verdad de Dios a este mundo por medio de Jesucristo. Esto me lleva de nuevo a 2016 el enfoque de la IISP en la santidad. Lo que me lleva a algunas ideas acerca de Isa\u00edas que he recogido del libro de Reardon. Yo no hab\u00eda pensado seriamente esto hasta Reardon discute de forma m\u00e1s completa. T\u00f3mese un momento para abrir su Biblia en Juan 12: 37-41 (NVI). Se dice: \"Pero a pesar de [Jes\u00fas] hab\u00eda hecho tantas se\u00f1ales delante de ellos, <em>sin embargo,<\/em> no fueron creyendo en \u00e9l <em>para que<\/em> <em>se<\/em> cumpliese la palabra del profeta Isa\u00edas, que habl\u00f3:.\" Se\u00f1or, \u00bfqui\u00e9n ha cre\u00eddo a nuestro anuncio? Y a quien tiene el brazo del Se\u00f1or es revelado? \"Por esta raz\u00f3n no pod\u00edan creer, porque tambi\u00e9n dijo Isa\u00edas:\" \u00c9l ha cegado sus ojos y endureci\u00f3 su coraz\u00f3n, para que no se vean con los ojos y percibir con . su coraz\u00f3n, y se convierta y me sane \". Estas cosas dijo Isa\u00edas porque vio su gloria, y habl\u00f3 acerca de \u00e9l\" verso 38 es una referencia a Isa\u00edas 53: 1 y verso 40 cita a Isa\u00edas 06:10. principal punto de John aqu\u00ed se trata de la incredulidad, pero lo que es particularmente importante es la comprensi\u00f3n del escritor Evangelio del Esp\u00edritu Santo que Isa\u00edas dijo estas cosas \"cuando vio su gloria, y habl\u00f3 acerca de \u00e9l\", refiri\u00e9ndose a Jes\u00fas (v. 41). Sabemos por Isa\u00edas 6: 1 que el profeta, en un momento de la p\u00e9rdida de liderazgo y la incertidumbre en la naci\u00f3n, \"Vi al Se\u00f1or sentado sobre un trono alto y sublime.\" Oy\u00f3 el sonido de los cielos se declara, \"Santo, santo , santo es el Se\u00f1or de los ej\u00e9rcitos; toda la tierra est\u00e1 llena de su gloria \"(6: 3). \u00bfQui\u00e9n vio Isa\u00edas en esta visi\u00f3n reveladora? Vio el Mes\u00edas de Israel, Aquel que vendr\u00eda como \"Emmanuel, Consejero admirable, Dios fuerte, Padre eterno, Pr\u00edncipe de paz\" (Isa\u00edas 7:14; 9: 6). Mientras que Isa\u00edas no sab\u00eda el nombre \"Jes\u00fas\" dada por revelaci\u00f3n a Jos\u00e9 y Mar\u00eda a unos 700 a\u00f1os m\u00e1s tarde (Mateo 1:21; Lucas 1:31), Isa\u00edas se asociaba el que se revela como Aquel que vendr\u00eda como el Hijo encarnado de Dios, Aquel que sufrir y morir por nuestros pecados, y el que se levantar\u00e1 con gloria para efectuar la redenci\u00f3n de este cosmos. Reardon llama Isa\u00edas \"el profeta de la santidad divina\" y se\u00f1ala que el motivo de la santidad \"une a los tres grandes secciones de este libro prof\u00e9tico.\" Esta afirmaci\u00f3n es validado por el uso del lenguaje. La frase, \"el Santo de Israel\" se encuentra 26 veces a lo largo del libro, pero s\u00f3lo se utiliza otras 6 veces en el resto de la Biblia Hebrea. Reardon se\u00f1ala que el adjetivo \"santo\" se usa 33 veces en Isa\u00edas y 26 veces en el resto de la Biblia Hebrea. Me parece que esta conexi\u00f3n de la santidad con el plan redentor de Dios por medio de Jesucristo es un tema importante para nosotros ya que asistimos a los confusos sonidos de nuestra generaci\u00f3n. Desde enero, nuestro enfoque cada mes ha estado en la fuente de la santidad. El mes pasado escrib\u00ed a usted acerca de Jes\u00fas como la manifestaci\u00f3n de esa fuente, y me encuentro de nuevo dispuesta a ir a Jes\u00fas. Uno de los aspectos atractivos de la teolog\u00eda ortodoxa es el \u00e9nfasis en el prop\u00f3sito de Dios en la restauraci\u00f3n de la gloria de la humanidad. Es por eso que la teolog\u00eda ortodoxa pone tanto \u00e9nfasis en la Encarnaci\u00f3n, y en Jes\u00fas como el revelador de lo que la humanidad est\u00e1 destinado a ser. Esta es una parte necesaria de nuestra tradici\u00f3n teol\u00f3gica santidad. Nuestra tradici\u00f3n ha tendido a centrarse en la dimensi\u00f3n \"pecado\" de la obra de Jes\u00fas en relaci\u00f3n con la santidad. Obviamente esto es verdadero y apropiado. Necesitamos desesperadamente el perd\u00f3n de nuestros pecados; tenemos que ser limpiados de toda maldad (I Juan 1: 9). La obra de Jes\u00fas en la cruz es esencial, y de ninguna manera voy a reducir al m\u00e1ximo dicho \u00e9nfasis. Sin embargo, quiz\u00e1 es el momento para nosotros destacar tambi\u00e9n lo que estamos destinados a ser, en esta vida y en la vida futura. En la vida futura nos centramos en raz\u00f3n glorificaci\u00f3n. Pero necesitamos afirmar tambi\u00e9n el poder del Esp\u00edritu de Dios que nos permita vivir con fruto y en abundancia dentro de las limitaciones de la existencia \"al este del Ed\u00e9n\" humana (Juan 10:10; 15:16). Si podemos brillar como luz en la oscuridad en este lado del cielo, la gloria del Se\u00f1or se manifestar\u00e1 por encima de la oscura confusi\u00f3n de nuestro mundo. Recuerde lo que Isa\u00edas escuch\u00f3 desde el cielo? El sonido culto de \"santo, santo, santo\" fue seguido con esta proclama: \"Toda la tierra est\u00e1 llena de su gloria!\" Tenga en cuenta que el profeta no dijo la tierra <em>\"podr\u00eda<\/em> estar lleno\", <em>\"estar\u00e1<\/em> lleno\" o \" <em>debe<\/em> estar lleno \"de su gloria. Se dice que la tierra <em>\"est\u00e1<\/em> llena de su gloria.\" Tengo la sensaci\u00f3n de que <em>\"es\"<\/em> se trata de nosotros, las hijas e hijos redimidos de Dios que vive santo en este mundo. No hay duda de lo que este <em>\"es\"<\/em> medios! Esto significa que de Dios <em>\"es\"<\/em> es mayor que el poder del pecado, que busca manifestarse a trav\u00e9s de nosotros <em>Este art\u00edculo fue publicado en la edici\u00f3n de abril 2016! <a href=\"http:\/\/www.iphc.org\/encourage\">Fomentar<\/a><\/em> <em>Cr\u00e9ditos de las <em>fotos:.<\/em> <a href=\"http:\/\/thinkstock.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Thinkstock.com<\/a><\/em>","author_name":"","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2016\/08\/PHOTO-Beacham-Small-e1470761300359.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pb62Bx-fp","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/955","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=955"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/955\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/957"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=955"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=955"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=955"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}