Wednesday, October 29, 2014

TEN DAYS OF PRAYER FOR THE PERSECUTED CHURCH - EXHORTATION

 EXCLUSIVE: A FAMILY THAT STAYS TOGETHER

PRAYS TOGETHER by LAURIE JALBERT

In a time when violence is on the rise, we are bombarded with news of severe persecution against Christians. Story after story of imprisonment, torture, rape, beatings and beheadings are being reported daily. The question I must ask is: Is there still a disconnect between the American Christian culture and the persecuted believers overseas?

Why is it that we can receive persecution news in “real time” and yet lack the
LAURIE JALBERT
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Persecution Resource Council
heart to pray? The International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church (IDOP) is on November 2nd. Advocacy organizations are working tirelessly to bring unity to our dysfunctional Spiritual family but research shows a lack of interest in participating in the IDOP.

The Persecution Resource Council reported, “During the week prior to the 2013 International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church, we reviewed the websites of the one hundred seventy leading churches and denominations. Nearly all of these leading Christian organizations had Veteran’s Day- or Thanksgiving-related “food for the hungry” programs advertised on their home pages.

None of them mentioned the Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church on their website’s home page. Only ten of them had it listed on their website’s calendar of events or somewhere else on their websites.”

The statistics are clear: western Christians have lost their love and burden for the persecuted church. But these persecution stories are not just statistics; they are real people who are part of our spiritual family.

The media brings reports about my family...and your family too. This morning I asked myself the question, what would I do if my parents were threatened, abused and imprisoned? How would I respond?

Should I not feel the same urgency for all the fathers, mothers, brothers and sisters being persecuted right now? Jesus is calling us to “Remember those in prison, as if we were there ourselves. Remember also those being mistreated, as if we felt their pain in our own bodies.” (Hebrews 13:3)


ACTION POINT: 
Take at least five minutes to pray. Pray that God would revive your heart to “remember them as though you were with them” and that you would “feel their pain in your own body”. After all, “If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it” (1 Corinthians 12:26) …because we are family, right?

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