"A Lighthouse is a family, an individual,
business, or private group who commit to pray
regularly by name for their neighbors and
to care for them by developing genuine friendship
that can lead to sharing the Gospel."
Characteristics
of a Lighthouse Lifestyle
1.
It focuses on those who exhibit a Christ-less
life - This is opposed to the unconscious
but obvious obsession Christians have of associating
with only other Christians.
2.
It manifests the "local" church in a
community - It does this by diminishing all
denominational divisions except for the clear
basics of knowing God through Christ. When believers
in a geographic locality join together to pray
and love, God's Spirit works (Psalm 133).
3.
It is evangelism through the power of prayer
- Answers to prayer stimulate faith. John Bunyan
said, "You can do more than pray only after
you have prayed."
4.
It transforms entire communities - It even
looks beyond filling the pews of one local church
to the reaching of an entire city by a strategic,
faith-filled, united witness.
5.
It listens to God for people's needs and then
becomes the instrument to meet those needs
- Prayer is communion with God. We speak and listen,
and then do. God uses us to be the answers to
our prayers for others in our communities.
Biblical
Principles for a Lighthouse Lifestyle
1.
Your community is your "mission field"
- If God is great enough to put innumerable stars
in the heavens and call them each by name, is
He not also capable of determining the exact places
where each man should live? "From one
man He made every nation of men, that they should
inhabit the whole earth; and He determined the
times set for them and the exact places where
they should live. God did this so that men would
seek Him and perhaps reach out to Him and find
Him, though He is not far from each one of us"
(Acts 17:26-27).
2.
Every Christian is a "missionary"
- The perception that only full-time, paid professionals
are ministers is unbiblical. A missionary is a
special messenger from God. That is what we all
are. Each believer in Christ has the Holy Spirit
to transmit the message (Matthew 28:18-19, I Peter
2:5). "You will receive power when the
Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses
in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and
the ends of the earth" (Acts 1:8).
3.
The "greater works" Jesus talked
about were meant to bring people to faith (John
14:6-14) - Each year millions of people encounter
our churches, television and radio programs, Easter
and Christmas events, and still ask "Show
us God". Jesus' response to Phillip's similar
request was, "Believe me when I say that
I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or
at least believe on the evidence of the miracles
themselves" (John 14:11). Prayer in Jesus
name and reaping miracles results in birthing
faith. Ed Silvoso says, "Acts of love
and power bring people to faith" (See
Matthew 5:16, John 13; 14:6-14, James 2).
4.
Love for the lost produces revival - When
we share our faith, it becomes more real to us.
"I pray that you may be active in sharing
your faith, so that you will have a full understanding
of every good thing we have in Christ" (Philemon
6). Carlos Annacondia, a minister of the Argentine
revival, confirms this by saying: "Love
for the lost produces revival. When love ceases,
revival does too. He who has a passion for souls
lives in an ongoing revival."
The
Power of God
For
Christ did not send me to baptize, but to
preach the gospel - not with words of human
wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied
of its power. For the message of the cross
is foolishness to those who are perishing,
but to us who are being saved it is the power
of God." I Corinthians 1:17-18
The
noun "dunamis" means "ability,
might, of that which manifests God's power, of
mighty works, mighty deeds, and miracles".
Everything you do in demonstrating God's light
that touches the life of another is powerful and
it comes from God. It's his power flowing through
you. It's His ability reaching out to the unsaved
and not your own. God wants to use you as a fragrance
of his power in every act you do towards the lost.
The noun also is "exousia" which denotes
"freedom of action, right to act, unrestricted,
authority delegated". The body of Christ
has been restricted too long. We have a right
to act and share Christ with others. God has endowed
upon us delegated authority and unrestricted freedom
to speak his words of life about Jesus freely.
We must now realize that we are ambassadors of
Christ (II Cor. 5:18-20).
The
verb "exousiazo" means "to exercise
authority, have authority, of the power of rulers,
to be brought under the power of a thing".
We as believers must learn to exercise this authority.
It is ours to use fully for God's glory. The vines
expository dictionary says that it is "committed
to those who on becoming believers, were empowered
by the spirit of God, are indwelt by Him, and
will exercise it hereafter for God's glory".
We are empowered by the spirit of God for sharing
the good news of Jesus Christ. The word evangelism
or evangelist is "evangelizo" and means
"a messenger of good, to proclaim glad tidings
and good news, gospel". It denotes a preacher
of the Gospel. (Definitions from Vines Expository
Dictionary)
Assignment
Get to know
the names of five unchurched people and begin
to pray for them.
"When
every lost sheep has a shepherd, you will
have reached your city for Christ."
Ed Silvoso
Lighthouse
Prayer E-Course Links and Resources
For
more information on the Lighthouse Movement, see
www.lighthousemovement.com.
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