{"id":1505,"date":"2017-05-12T15:03:08","date_gmt":"2017-05-12T15:03:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/missions\/?p=1505"},"modified":"2017-05-12T15:04:49","modified_gmt":"2017-05-12T15:04:49","slug":"letter-persecuted-church","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/missions\/letter-persecuted-church\/","title":{"rendered":"Letter to the Persecuted Church"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>From Christian Churches Together<\/a> (an assembly of Christian organizations witnessing together to the reconciling power of the Gospel of Jesus):<\/p>\n

There should be no schism in the body,<\/em>
\nbut that the members should have the same care for one another.<\/em>
\nAnd if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it;<\/em>
\nor if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.<\/em>
\n1 Corinthians 12:25-26<\/strong><\/p>\n

“To our sisters and brothers in Christ facing persecution and martyrdom,<\/p>\n

We greet you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.\u00a0 We write to you as Christians living in the United States where we do not face immediate danger of persecution and martyrdom in living our faith as do you.\u00a0 We write as Christians troubled not only by the persecution of our fellow believers and other religious communities, but also by the attempts of some seeking to eradicate Christian communities in what can only be named genocide. We write as Christians conscious in the midst of our confessional diversity, seeking to heed more faithfully the teachings of our Lord and the exhortation of Saint Paul in a perfect manner.\u00a0 Still, the divisions will be healed only as we \u201ccare for one another,\u201d recognizing the suffering of those who proclaim Christ Jesus as Lord in the Holy Spirit.<\/p>\n

And therefore, we write as those who desire to express our care for you in the time of your travail.\u00a0 You know firsthand the experience of the Apostle Paul who addresses the Corinthians (2 Corinthians 4:8-10<\/strong>):<\/p>\n

We are<\/em> hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are<\/em> perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed\u2014 always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.<\/p>\n

This is in accordance with the teaching of our Lord who teaches that there will be those who believe the persecution of His Church will be of service to God.\u00a0 Lamenting your sorrow and pain, we give glory to God in these days that you, despite being hard-pressed, perplexed, persecuted, and struck down, have maintained your faith in the Cross and Resurrection of our Savior.\u00a0 That you continue to fight the good fight and endure, we are thankful, for the witness of those who suffer for the sake of righteousness has always been the most powerful testimony to those who as yet do not believe. Your steadfastness is also an inspiration to our fellow believers who may be tempted to complacency in the absence of an external threat.<\/p>\n

We also heed the words of the Apostle James (Iakovos) (James 2:15-17<\/strong>):<\/p>\n

If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, \u201cDepart in peace, be warmed and filled,\u201d but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does <\/i>it<\/i> profit? Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.<\/p>\n

You exhibit your faithfulness to the Lord amidst persecution and martyrdom, but we, who do not face the same trials, exhibit our faith by our concern for you.\u00a0 In Christ Jesus we seek actively to lessen your pain and suffering because of our love for you, and we do this so that working together here and throughout the world, that which divides us may be overcome.\u00a0 In this, our own faith may be strengthened by what we may learn from you and your steadfast commitment in time of trial…”<\/p>\n

Continuing reading the full letter here.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From Christian Churches Together (an assembly of Christian organizations witnessing together to the reconciling power of the Gospel of Jesus): There should be no schism in the body, but that…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":1507,"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":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1505","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world-missions","8":"entry"},"title_es":"Carta a la Iglesia Perseguida","content_es":"\"\"<\/a> De las iglesias cristianas juntas<\/a> (una asamblea de organizaciones cristianas que presencian juntos el poder reconciliador del Evangelio de Jes\u00fas): No debe haber cisma en el cuerpo,<\/em> sino que los miembros deben tener el mismo cuidado unos de otros.<\/em> Y si un miembro sufre, todos los miembros sufren con \u00e9l;<\/em> O si un miembro es honrado, todos los miembros se regocijan con \u00e9l.<\/em> 1 Corintios 12: 25-26<\/strong> \u00a0<\/em> \"A nuestros hermanos y hermanas en Cristo enfrentados a la persecuci\u00f3n y al martirio, os saludamos en el nombre de nuestro Se\u00f1or Jesucristo, os escribimos como cristianos que viven en los Estados Unidos donde no enfrentamos peligro inmediato de persecuci\u00f3n y martirio al vivir nuestro Escribimos como cristianos incomodados no s\u00f3lo por la persecuci\u00f3n de nuestros hermanos creyentes y otras comunidades religiosas, sino tambi\u00e9n por los intentos de algunos de buscar la erradicaci\u00f3n de las comunidades cristianas en lo que s\u00f3lo puede llamarse genocidio. En medio de nuestra diversidad confesional, buscando escuchar m\u00e1s fielmente las ense\u00f1anzas de nuestro Se\u00f1or y la exhortaci\u00f3n de San Pablo de una manera perfecta, pero las divisiones ser\u00e1n curadas s\u00f3lo cuando nos \"cuidemos unos a otros\", reconociendo el sufrimiento de aquellos Que proclaman a Cristo Jes\u00fas como Se\u00f1or en el Esp\u00edritu Santo, y por lo tanto, escribimos como aquellos que desean expresar nuestro cuidado por vosotros en el tiempo de vuestros dolores de parto. El Ap\u00f3stol Pablo que se dirige a los Corintios ( 2 Corintios 4: 8-10<\/strong> ): Somos<\/em> presionados<\/strong> por todos lados, pero no aplastados; Estamos<\/em> perplejos, pero no en la desesperaci\u00f3n; Perseguidos, pero no abandonados; Derribados, pero no destruidos, llevando siempre en el cuerpo el morir del Se\u00f1or Jes\u00fas, para que tambi\u00e9n la vida de Jes\u00fas se manifieste en nuestro cuerpo. Esto est\u00e1 de acuerdo con la ense\u00f1anza de nuestro Se\u00f1or que ense\u00f1a que habr\u00e1 quienes crean que la persecuci\u00f3n de Su Iglesia ser\u00e1 de servicio a Dios. Lamentando tu dolor y dolor, damos gloria a Dios en estos d\u00edas que, a pesar de ser presionados, perplejos, perseguidos y derrotados, han mantenido su fe en la Cruz y la Resurrecci\u00f3n de nuestro Salvador. Que sigamos luchando la buena batalla y perduramos, estamos agradecidos, porque el testimonio de aquellos que sufren por la justicia ha sido siempre el testimonio m\u00e1s poderoso para aquellos que a\u00fan no creen. Su firmeza es tambi\u00e9n una inspiraci\u00f3n para nuestros compa\u00f1eros creyentes que pueden estar tentados a la complacencia en ausencia de una amenaza externa. Tambi\u00e9n escuchamos las palabras del Ap\u00f3stol Santiago (Iakovos) ( Santiago 2: 15-17<\/strong> ): Si un hermano o una hermana est\u00e1 desnudo y destituido de comida diaria, y uno de ustedes les dice: \"Salid en paz, Lleno \", pero no les das las cosas que son necesarias para el cuerpo, \u00bfde qu\u00e9 sirve<\/i> ? As\u00ed tambi\u00e9n la fe por s\u00ed misma, si no tiene obras, est\u00e1 muerta. Exhiben su fidelidad al Se\u00f1or en medio de la persecuci\u00f3n y el martirio, pero nosotros, que no enfrentamos las mismas pruebas, exhibimos nuestra fe por nuestra preocupaci\u00f3n por ustedes. En Cristo Jes\u00fas buscamos activamente disminuir su dolor y su sufrimiento a causa de nuestro amor por ustedes, y lo hacemos para que trabajando juntos aqu\u00ed y en todo el mundo, lo que nos divida pueda ser vencida. En esto, nuestra propia fe puede ser fortalecida por lo que podemos aprender de usted y su firme compromiso en tiempo de prueba ... \" Continuando la lectura de la carta completa aqu\u00ed.<\/a>","author_name":"","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/missions\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/05\/Persecuted-church.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pb62Ar-oh","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/missions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1505","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/missions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/missions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/missions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/missions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1505"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/missions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1505\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/missions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1507"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/missions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1505"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/missions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1505"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/missions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1505"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}