Be Light: Shining God's Beauty, Truth, and Hope Into a Darkened World - Hardcover

Rodriguez, Samuel

 
9781601428165: Be Light: Shining God's Beauty, Truth, and Hope Into a Darkened World
Hardcover
ISBN 10: 1601428162 ISBN 13: 9781601428165
Verlag: WATERBROOK PR, 2016

Inhaltsangabe

The Blueprint for Overcoming Darkness and Living in God’s Light.

Our world unravels more each day. It feels as if we’re drowning in a sea churning with greed, violence, and lust. As darkness advances, hope dims.
 
Yet within that reality, God gives us a profound mandate...
 
             Be Light.
 
Light has always defined God and his followers. At creation, God spoke light into existence. Jesus is the light of the world. And we are born to absorb and then reflect God’s light.
 
In Be Light Samuel Rodriguez--described by Fox News and CNN as “America’s most influential Latino Evangelical leader”--provides a blueprint for confronting darkness in every realm of our lives. He issues a clarion call for individual believers and the church to rise up and once again be that bright city on a hill, which doesn’t simply expose the invading darkness, but overcomes it with God’s blazing light.

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Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Samuel Rodriguez is president of NHCLC/Conela, an international organization of more than 500,000 evangelical churches. He is a sought after voice in White House and congressional meetings and is regularly featured on CNN, Fox News, NBC Telemundo, and other major news outlets. The author of The Lamb’s Agenda, Rodriguez is senior pastor of New Seasons Christian Worship Center in Sacramento, California, where he resides with his wife Eva and their three children.

Auszug. © Genehmigter Nachdruck. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.

Foreword 

Go ahead. 

Strike a candle in a pitch black room. 

The room can be the size of a baby’s nursery or the size of a whole city block; it doesn’t matter.

In the blink of an eye, you’ll be reminded of the power of a single, flickering flame. 

No sea of darkness—no matter how intense—is any match for a tiny bit of light. 

A midnight fire can be seen from outer space. 

A single match can be seen for miles. 

In fact, imagine that single match doubled and then doubled again. The light blazes even brighter with every added flame. Soon it’s fifty people—then a hundred, all with their candles held high.

Before you know it, the darkness is fully overcome by the light. 

Jesus must have been thinking of this when He told His followers, “You are the light of the world.

A city on a hill cannot be hidden” (Matthew 5:14). 

Of a million possible analogies, He chose to call his followers “light.” You might say He called them to be “light workers.” 

For my entire adult life, I’ve made being a “light worker” my personal and professional mission.

I’ve always believed that it’s more powerful to light a candle than to curse the darkness. 

For my husband, Mark Burnett, and myself, we’ve realized our mission as “light workers” by producing content that families can watch together. 

Content that lifts people up and inspires them to press on. 

Content that reminds the world of stories that reveal the best in us. 

Content that celebrates all that is good about our sometimes dark world. 

We’ve also had the privilege of telling the story of Jesus—the ultimate “light worker”—on the History Channel through The Bible, on NBC through A.D. The Bible Continues, and on big screens around the world through Son of God and Ben Hur. 

What a privilege it is to be a “light worker.” 

In the life and ministry of our dear friend, the Rev. Samuel Rodriguez, we have always found inspiration and a kindred spirit. 

He’s a “light worker” too (like few we’ve ever met). 

He is a beautiful reminder to us all that when we share the message of Jesus, the candles of others are lit and more and more darkness is driven out of our world. 

Our prayer is that this excellent book will inspire millions—including you— to Be Light. 
— Roma Downey, producer, celebrated actress, president and chief content officer at LightWorkers Media (a division of MGM Studios) 
xii Foreword 


Be Light! 
When light stands next to darkness, light always wins! 

Let there be light! 

It is not a coincidence that the first time the universe heard the uttered words of God, the message was not “let there be joy,” “let there be peace,” or even “let there be love.” The voice of the Sovereign, the Divine, the Glorious said, “Let there be light.” 

God always begins by turning the lights on. 

Life requires light. 

Faith requires light. 

We cannot deny we live in dark times. Some argue that we live in the blackest hour, darkened by sin, immorality, moral relativism, spiritual apathy, cultural decadence, infanticide, racism, pornography, poverty, false prophets, watered-down preaching, hypocrisy, unbridled consumerism, voyeurism, materialism, secular tyranny, religious extremism, terror, discord, division, strife, hatred, violence, jealousy, intolerance, and unbelief. 

Did I miss anything? 

Yet, while we cannot deny the canopy of disillusionment hovering upon our current day and age, there exists an undeniable physical and spiritual reality poised to serve as the impetus igniting hope, exposing love, and reintroducing grace. What might that be? 

Simply stated, when light stands next to darkness, light always wins! 

Jesus, while speaking to His followers, said, 

A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven. (Matthew 5:14– 16) 

Joyce Smith did not just embrace this truth; she lived it out. On January 19, 2015, Joyce ran into a hospital room that was the quintessential corridor of darkness. The horrific reality was that her fourteen-year-old son, John, was dead. 

A few hours prior, young John, accompanied by two other friends, had played on top of Lake Sainte Louise in Missouri. Warm temperatures had thawed the ice, providing a precarious circumstance that led to the three boys falling into a frozen lake. While the other boys escaped the freezing water, John did not emerge. His body was discovered fifteen minutes later—no pulse, lifeless . . . and darkness prevailed over the face of the deep. 

Immediately, first responders rushed John to the nearest hospital, Saint Joseph West, where the head emergency-room doctor, Kent Sutterer, stood waiting with his team. Approximately one dozen physicians, technicians, nurses, and paramedics worked for another twenty minutes to no avail. 

Later Dr. Sutterer wrote in a personal letter recording the event, “The boy had remained pulse-less for forty minutes—plus transportation time—the better part of an hour.” After attempts to raise the boy’s temperature failed, Dr. Sutterer determined the time had arrived to declare John Smith dead. He asked to bring the boy’s mother into the room. 

And darkness prevailed over the face of the deep. 

Joyce Smith rushed to her son’s bedside. Seeing his gray and motionless body, Joyce refused to embrace the darkened reality, to acknowledge that her son was gone. At a recent Bible study class she had been instructed to believe in a God who can do what He says He can do. Joyce had walked into an emergency room filled with darkness, but she exposed the light of faith, hope, and love. Without hesitation, Joyce opened her mouth, raised her voice, and said, “Lord, Holy Spirit, just give me back my son!” 

In other words, “Let there be light!” 

God’s Spirit empowers us to go from existing in the natural to experiencing the supernatural. 

Darkness was met with the brightness of faith, hope, and love. Instantly, a technician said, “We’ve got a pulse!” The atmosphere shifted; the room now filled with the light of joy and peace.
Dr. Sutterer wrote, “That boy’s heart was jump-started by the Holy Spirit listening to the request of a praying mother. . . . I know that God has given us a gift. . . . I was privileged to witness a miracle.”1 

Since then I’ve met John Smith and had the privilege of speaking to a healthy, healed, holy, happy young man. I asked him, “Do you realize that you died?” 
“Yes sir,” he responded. 

“Why? Why did God give you back your life?” I...

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Verlag
WATERBROOK PR
Erscheinungsdatum
2016
Sprache
Englisch
ISBN 10 
1601428162
ISBN 13 
9781601428165
Einband
Gebundene Ausgabe
Anzahl der Seiten
224
Kontakt zum Hersteller
Nicht verfügbar
Verantwortliche Person
Nicht verfügbar

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