LivingStonespdx (view our blog!)
prayer, justice and the arts as a lifestyle of prophetic worship

a ministry of the Portland International House of Prayer

strategic corporate prayer will lead to community transformation
action that brings justice will flow out of our intimacy with God

Vision:

To see our community transformed by the presence of Jesus.

Mission:

To merge prayer, justice, and the creative arts as a lifestyle of worship in order to equip this generation to live a life of brokenness and blessing among the poor.
--the poor among us can be found in many places. Homeless and on the streets, in a small single parent home, or in the market places where a poverty of spirit may be seen even where finances are secure.
--the end result that we desire to see is not a place, a program or an event, but rather a community that is transformed.

Strategy:

To establish continuous, united, strategic prayer that leads to transformation.
To motivate and equip believers to stand on behalf of the orphans and widows of our day, as well as those who need healing, salvation, deliverance.

What is important to us:

1. LivingStonespdx is a representation of the body of Christ in Portland, not a local church.
2. LivingStonespdx is a catalyst and a networking movement, motivating people to action through an experience with God and joining hands with those serving in our city.
3. In all things Jesus remains the center and those involved with LivingStonespdx will be committed to seeking His heart for the city.
4. The Word of God is central to the prayers spoken within the ministry of LivingStonespdx. Of equal importance is the knowledge that we carry within us the living testimony of Jesus.
5. There must be no separation of prayer and works. LivingStonespdx team members will live an incarnational ministry and a lifestyle of prayer, teaching others to do the same.
6. The creative arts are used as a tool to allow people to encounter God.
7. A biblical understanding of the word justice causes us to act in a way that brings all things into proper alignment with God.

Scriptures that are important to us

(there are many, but these are a few):

1. Isaiah 58-62: descriptions of justice and righteousness and how we are to partner with God
2. Jeremiah 33: restoration of the voice of the bride and the voice of the bridegroom -- that it would be HEARD in the streets and in the marketplace
3. Philippians 3: we give up everything in order to know Christ
4. I Peter 2: we are living stones, being rightly fit together that HE may dwell among us

Three Points from 1996

1. There must be a community of believers focused on downtown where the fatherless can come and find a family.
--our primary networks should be with churches/ministries either located or focused on downtown, or with a heart specifically for community transformation in our region.
--we must become a part of that community ourselves (ideas for community houses downtown, coffee shop, open mics, 1st Thursdays, etc)
2. There needs to be 24/7 corporate worship and prayer located in the downtown area, not in a church.
--begin on the streets, combining with ministry
--may have some meetings in churches, but this will not be our "home base"
--training and equipping re: God's heart for the city and for the poor, to give an understanding of worship as prayer, concepts of righteousness and justice according to God's word
3. The heart of the church at large must be broken for the poor and for the city
--again, there must be teaching, equipping and modeling
--here we find ways to "show" the city to people in a way that will draw out mercy and break through the apathy

we continue to believe that God will use a nameless, faceless generation to reveal the heart of the Father to the fatherless, that the creative arts will be a key tool, prayer will be a key strategy and a prophetic lifestyle will be required (one that seeks to speak and do only that which we see the Father speaking and doing)

God is raising up a nameless, faceless generation that will display the kingdom with power and authority, meekness and humility.

If we desire to see our city transformed, we must know the presence of God.

it is important for us to learn how to "share in the sufferings of Jesus, so as somehow to attain to the power of the resurrection" this is our place of brokenness. We also understand that even as a broken vessel (a clay pot), Jesus is able to pour through us as we surrender our lives to Him. This is our place of blessing.