Latino Christians .com :: Latino, Hispanic Christians united in Christ alone.

WillowCreek Video: Bill Hybels Interviews Matt Soerens, World Relief

2011-08-11T10:35:00.000-07:00

BILL HYBELS Interviews MATT SOERENS from UnDocumented.tv on Vimeo.

Undocumented TV

2011-01-18T02:55:00.001-08:00

Pray the VOTE

2010-11-02T08:37:00.000-07:00

Pentecostal Preacher Fights for Justice

2010-11-02T07:40:00.000-07:00

Pentecostal Preacher Fights For Justice

Rev. Samuel Rodriguez is more preacher than politician. These days, however, the leader of the nation’s largest group of Hispanic Christians is caught in the crossfire of immigration reform. Read more on "A Voice For Immigrants" in October's issue of Charisma Magazine.

The National Hispanic Christian Leadership

2010-11-02T07:37:00.000-07:00

The National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference (NHCLC) is the National Hispanic Association of Evangelicals. As the largest Latino Christian organization in America and the sister organization of the 47 million strong National Association of Evangelicals, we lead the 16 million vibrant and growing Hispanic Born Again community and our 25,434 Evangelical congregations by providing leadership, networking, partnerships, strategic partnerships and public policy advocacy platforms to our 7 Directives: Life, Family, Great Commission, Stewardship, Education, Youth and Justice.

Greater and greater influence ...

2010-11-02T07:06:00.000-07:00

New Political Muscle, in Whatever Language

By BRIAN STELTER

Spanish-language news media, in particular the television and radio giant Univision, are coming into their own.

Border Trip... by CCDA

2010-02-21T05:43:00.000-08:00

***********

CCDA.org

Research: A Little Love for Latinos

2008-11-02T10:06:00.000-08:00

[from our friend, Chris Forbes, author of Facebook For Pastors...]

Hey, put down that overpriced latte ministry leader! Stop reading only those over-indulged metro-sexual hip emerging church gurus–get ready for the real emerging church generation: The Latinos!

Why do I say that?

Take a look at this data... [continued at Ministry Marketing Coach]

A Prayer Bowl that can Change California

2008-10-29T16:00:00.000-07:00

Please Pray The Call at S.D. Qualcomm Stadium

Published on 28 October 2008 in Prayer Mobilization
Source: CCNews Portal

CCNews asks, "Please pray the news"

It is obvious to all that this election is probably the most important election in U.S. history. So much is riding on it. i.e., a Possible Constitutional crisis, economic instability and re-distribution of wealth, Abortion and Euphanasia taken to new levels and expanded, the U.S. Supreme Court appointments to be made in the next six months to a year, the expansion of homosexuality into a civil right, government intervention of parental rights, ie. uninformed abortion, subjugating primary school children to homosexual life styles, the Terrorist activities within and without our country, the growing threat of radical Islam demanding the full expression of Muslim culture, language, religion and law within our border and complete tolerance of Islam in every state in all levels of education and public life, the continual intimidation of Christian values and religious practices in the public arena. The list goes on and on.

Friends, WE ARE in a crisis, the likes of which our nation has never seen before! BUT, there is an answer on what to do and the stadium below is one location where followers of the Lord Jesus Christ are going to humble themselves and pray, and seek His Face, confess their sin and turn from their wicked ways, so that God may hear, forgive and heal our people and land. There MUST BE a pouring out of a Spirit of Repentance on all who attend. There must a moving of God's Spirit on the people of our land to turn to Him in recognition of their sin, a cleansing of heart and soul, and a sincere complete and full surrender to the Lord Jesus Christ, the Creator, Savior, Risen Lord and Coming King before it's too late. God MUST pour out His mercy and grace or we are doomed!

Prophetically the last book of the Bible, specifically Revelation chapters 2 and 3 reveal where we are today. The world-wide Body of Christ can be seen in every description of the Church in those chapters. It is sad BUT true. Jesus is truly standing at the door of the Church, and He is knocking to come in. Oh, I pray He's knocking! I pray we're listening. I pray we'll be turning to Him who can make all things new ... again. If we don't, the alternative and the apocalyptic end will be at hand! God is not mocked! Prophesy WILL BE fulfilled. Read Revelation and pray for insight and understanding.

Please, pray for - The Call - this day, Saturday, November 1, at San Diego Qualcomm Stadium. It will truly be a day that will live on in God's great book of the events and happenings of all mankind!

Dr and Mrs James Dobson (Shirley) will be attending Saturday and speaking at the event. Pray for God's Spirit to prepare and fill their hearts with His message.

http://www.sandiego.gov/qualcomm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qualcomm_Stadium

Who is God's Choice this Election?

2008-10-29T11:58:00.000-07:00

Published on 29 October 2008 in Politics/Govt
Source: Eduardo Verastegui

CCNews asks, "Please pray the news"

To Bible-believing Christians His Word is clear. Please check out the video below from Eduardo Verastegui , 'Hard Truth'....

Isaiah 29:13 says: Therefore the Lord said: "Inasmuch as these people draw near with their mouths and honor Me with their lips, But have removed their hearts far from Me, And their fear toward Me is taught by the commandment of men" Yes, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit, you can identify people by their actions -Matthew 7:20 Here's a command from Proverbs 31:8: Open your mouth for the speechless, in the cause of all who are appointed to die.

Proverbs 24:11 speaks to us (as does Psalm 139)

Rescue those who are unjustly sentenced to die;
Save them as they stagger to their death.
Don't excuse yourself by saying, "Look, we didn't know."
For God understands all hearts, and he sees you.
He who guards your soul knows you knew.
He will repay all people as their actions deserve.

It's not just about "hope" and "change." Proverbs 6:16-22 states there are some things God hates.

These six things the LORD hates,
Yes, seven are an abomination to Him:
A proud look,
A lying tongue,
Hands that shed innocent blood,
A heart that devises wicked plans,
Feet that are swift in running to evil,
A false witness who speaks lies,
And one who sows discord among brethren.

^{Deuteronomy 30:19}I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; ²⁰that you may love the Lord your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days; and that you may dwell in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them."

www.DuraRealidad.com

Eduardo Verastegui 's video DURA REALIDAD (Hard Truth).

In John 10:10 Jesus said, The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it (life) more abundantly.
For those who have aborted babies, receive His love and forgiveness...1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Revelation 1:4
Grace to you and peace from Him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven Spirits who are before His throne, ⁵and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth.

To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, ⁶and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

James 5:16b-18 The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. 17 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months. 18 And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit. NKJV

The Bottom line: What matters to God? That we save the unborn and follow His command about marriage and believe what He says about homosexuality or that we ignore Him to seek promises of better finances which would be a love of money over God's Word. Saint, I know you know all this. I'm sharing this with you so you can 'tweak' it if you want and send to those on the fence or those who say they are Christian but are voting for someone who is clearly against God's Word and whose campaign foundation appears to be built on deception/hidden things.

God bless you for standing firmly and ACTIVELY FOR HIS KINGDOM COME as we bind on earth unholy, unrighteous things and call forth a loosening of TRUTH in Jesus' Name. Amen.

Love and Blessings,

Maryal Boumann
Pray California Connect
Aglow International, Hills of Hope
CA Governor's Prayer Team
NDP El Dorado County
Voices of Hope Ministries
Psalm 133:1

Please . . . view these other links and tell your Latino friends

Before You Vote, Please Watch This.

2008-10-28T10:20:00.001-07:00

What are the key issues regarding the definition of marriage in the Nov 4th vote in California (Prop 8), Arizona (Prop 102) and Florida (Amendment 2)? (Although taped before a California audience, this program applies to all three states.) Using the alphabet, the key issues are identified in this program. Hear from Ake Green (Sweden), David & Tonia Parker (Massachusetts), Jonathan & Elaine Huguenin (New Mexico), Melissa Fryrear (Colorado), Scott Hoffman (New Jersey), Maggie Gallagher (New York) along with several attorneys and many others. Those for homosexual “marriage” do not want these stories told. The truth is damaging to their cause. Watch this video, then forward it to your friends and family. (Download takes time) This program, entitled “The A, B, C’s of Protecting Marriage,” originated from Skyline Church in the San Diego area and was downlinked to approximately 170 church auditoriums on Sunday night Oct 19, 2008. Please forward this to all your friends, so they will know to vote YES on Prop. 8 (CA), YES on Prop 102 (AZ) and YES on Amendment 2 (FL). Remember, for those of us who are for traditional, natural marriage, truth is our friend. So forward this now.

Sincerely,

Donald E. Wildmon,
Founder and Chairman
American Family Association

Rick Warren Supports Prop 8 - Vote YES on 8!

2008-10-24T11:36:00.000-07:00

PROPOSITION 8: THE MARRIAGE PROTECTION AMENDMENT

For 5,000 years, EVERY culture and EVERY religion - not just Christianity - has defined marriage as a contract between men and women. There is no reason to change the universal, historical definition of marriage to appease 2% of our population. This is one issue that both Democrats and Republicans can agree on. Both Barack Obama and John McCain have publicly opposed the redefinition of marriage to include so-called "gay marriage." Even some gay leaders, like Al Rantel of KABC oppose watering down the definition of marriage. Of course, my long-time opposition is well known. This is not a political issue, it is a moral issue that God has spoken clearly about. There is no doubt where we should stand on this issue.

This will be a close contest, maybe even decided by a few thousand votes. I urge you to VOTE YES on Proposition 8 - to preserve the biblical definition of marriage. Don't forget to vote!

We remember . . .

2008-09-11T14:55:00.001-07:00

Latinos remember 9-11 .

Indiana MultiEthnic Conference... April 22nd

2008-04-14T03:22:00.000-07:00

Endorsed by the Governor's Office.

[details]

The Book the ACLU Doesn't Want You to Read!

2008-04-12T11:23:00.003-07:00

The Christian Life and Character of the Civil Institutions of the United States

"I was debating an ACLU attorney at Christmas on an NPR station. I pulled out a Xerox copy of The Christian Life and Character of the Civil Institutions of the United States and said to her: "Until you answer this book, the ACLU can't make a case against America's Christian founding." She was shocked when she saw it. She asked where I had gotten it. The only thing that gave her relief was the fact that the book was not in print. BUT NOW IT IS!

"Be afraid ACLU. Be very afraid. Benjamin F. Morris packs The Christian Life and Character with page after page of original source material making the case that America was founded as a Christian nation. The evidence is unanswerable and irrefutable. This 1000-page book will astound you and send enemies of Christianity into shock." Hardback, 1060 pages

~~Retail: .95~~ • ONLY .95 with FREE CD-ROM! •
ORDER ONLINE or call 1-800-628-9460 open 24/7!

CD-ROM contains searchable/printable edition of The Christian Life & Character. It's great for cutting and pasting into articles and research papers!

2008-04-11T16:24:00.001-07:00

TheCall Jerusalem - May 11, 2008
www.thecall.com

Pray for Your City/State Jeremiah 29:1-13

2008-03-13T19:42:00.002-07:00

Click on NDP Logo to Activate

ABOUT 7X7 - National Day of Prayer May 1, 2008

Are you willing to commit to pray for our country seven days a week? Are you able to set aside time in your car, during your coffee break, or before bedtime? We want to challenge you make this prayer commitment.

7x7 involves praying for seven centers of power seven days a week: Government, Military, Media, Business, Education, Church and Family. By remembering these specific prayer points, we can cover all Americans with God's power.

Together, we will see positive change!

REMEMNBER Also the Global Day of Prayer - May 17 - 26

GDoP - PRAYER GUIDE

Pray - Think - Pray - Do

2007-09-21T00:43:00.000-07:00

Awake America !

Published on 21 September 2007 in America WakeUp
Source: CCNews Portal & Blogs

What you are about to see is startling, factual, accurate and compelling. It is the hope of CCNews Portal that you will copy this page link from CCNews and send it to millions of Americans before it's too late. America and the Church in America must wake up! The key to deliverance is in the hands of the Church and followers of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Please -- CLICK HERE ! What are you going to do??

Please, "pray the news"

2 Chronicles 7:14

2007-09-19T00:39:00.000-07:00

What an incredible way to build a Home-base- business! You can be a stay-at-home Mom and building a great business! Click on the Pre-Paid Legal logo and learn how you can build your own business. Or call Joe Walsh at (916) 870-8695, email: walshusa@pacbell.net. We are building a home-based-business to raise support for ministry! You get affordable family legal, identity protection and 24/7 access to an attorney via phone for only $35.00 a month.

Latino Christians MUST BE HEARD !

2007-09-12T00:08:00.001-07:00

California Legislature Defruads Electorate;
Violates Constitution With Same Sex Marriage Bill

The California legislature has once again passed legislation to destroy the definition of marriage by redefining marriage in the California code as a civil contract between two persons. The last time the legislature passed such a bill in 2005, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed it. This is a clear case where the immoral elected majority of the California state legislature is defrauding those who elected them by going against the clear will of the electorate and divine will as outlined in the California constitution and is placing the citizens of California at risk.

The preamble of the California constitution states, "We, the People of the State of California, grateful to Almighty God for our freedom, in order to secure and perpetuate its blessings, do establish this Constitution." Section 4 of the California constitution grants: "The free exercise and enjoyment of religious profession and worship, without discrimination or preference, shall forever be allowed in this State; and no person shall be rendered incompetent to be a witness on account of his opinions on matters of religious belief; but the liberty of conscience, hereby secured, shall not be so construed as to acts of licentiousness, or justify practices inconsistent with the peace or safety of this State."

Here, the California constitution is very specific-it gives gratitude to Almighty God for freedom and establishes the constitution to perpetuate the benefits of God's blessings. In Section 4, the California constitution guarantees religious freedom, but says that religion cannot be used to justify licentiousness or practices inconsistent with the safety of the state. Licentiousness means "Lacking moral discipline or ignoring legal restraint, especially in sexual conduct." Same sex marriage violates both Biblical and religious morality because homosexuality is immoral and presents a public safety hazard because of AIDS and dozens of other sexually transmitted diseases associated with the homosexual lifestyle.

Throughout the Bible, homosexuality is condemned as immoral. Both Romans and 1st Corinthians in the New Testament condemn homosexuality. In the Old Testament Leviticus 18:22 says, "Thou shalt not lie with mankind as with womankind: it is abomination." So the California constitution already bans same sex marriage. In 2000, 61.4 percent of Californian's voted that "Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California." Yet immoral elected officials in California seek to force this unconstitutional "licentiousness" upon their citizens. This underscores the importance of electing moral people to office and how the immoral attempt to legitimize themselves by forcing their radical beliefs on others.

Bill Wilson

Word of Life Ministry

www.dailyjot.com

Out of Ur: Alien Nation

2007-09-11T03:08:00.000-07:00

"It is easy to raise a church with one culture, one language, one worldview. Anyone can raise up a large that is one culture. But building a church that includes the alien, the immigrant poor, can only be done with Christ. That is our biblical challenge and our biblical mandate."

[full story at ChristianityToday.com]

2007-09-07T22:52:00.001-07:00

Bin Laden Video Urges Americans to Convert to Islam

"Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!" (Psalm 46:10)

- AP

Osama bin Laden appeared for the first time in three years in a videotape Friday released ahead of the 6th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, telling Americans they should convert to Islam if they want the war in Iraq to end, according to a transcript obtained by FOX News. Bin Laden made no overt threats and did not directly call for attacks, according to the transcript. Instead, he addresses Americans, lecturing them on the failures of their leaders to stop the war in Iraq despite growing public opposition in the U.S.

· This tape is actually a very dangerous signal to all Americans, for before a Moslem attacks, he must invite his intended target to embrace the teachings of Islam. Continue to stand your watch against any and all incursions in the days immediately ahead. Cry out for mercy for our nation -- a mercy which we do not deserve, but which is the nature of our heavenly Father to bestow, even so. Stay alert and be prepared in all ways: spiritually, mentally, physically and emotionally.

· "Have no fear of sudden disaster or of the ruin that overtakes the wicked, for the LORD will be your confidence and will keep your foot from being snared." (Proverbs 3:25,26)

OUR PRAYER OF REPENTANCE

CCNews ~ "God and Father, You have heard to call of him who would call us to desert You the One True and Living God. Grant to us as a nation a spirit of repentance, where we recognize afresh and anew our historical founding and spiritual significance in modern history. The outward appearance is we have abandon our God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Grant to us, Oh God, a spirit of true humility to come upon us. Help us to want to pray to You the living God, the God of all Creation, the Maker of Heaven and Earth. May we have a growing desire to pray and talk with You as a friend to a Friend. Help us to seek Your Face as looking for one in a crowd in the circumstances of our life. Oh God help us to turn from all our harmful thoughts, words and ways that we treat others and turn on ourselves. Help us to be truly sorry for our wicked ways. We need for You to hear our heart, forgive our sin, and to heal all the land of our broken life. We come to You by way of the Cross of Jesus Christ, His shed blood for our sins and all mankind, and with the hope and promise of new life through Christ's resurrection. Amen." ~ Editor, CCNews

Urban Blog Network

2007-04-27T14:26:00.001-07:00

Rudy Carrasco

"Very soon this Urban Onramps blog will exist within a blog network, Urban Ministry Blogs, that is hosted by TechMission. I’m on the board of directors of TechMission, and we are always exploring ways to use the web in ways that bless urban ministries. It’s kind of like when Hugh Hewitt took his standalone, hughhewitt.com blog and parked it within TownHall.com. We are going to explore the benefits of being part of a blog network..."

[continued at Urban Onramps]

[Visit UrbanMinistry.org]

[Various Christian wikis useful to cityreaching]

more behind-the-scenes]

What Are We Doing . . .?

2007-03-18T22:46:00.001-07:00

Testimony: "Drugs are NOT the answer..."

2007-02-24T00:54:00.000-08:00

Check out Inside the Mountain! Greatt stuff!

2007-02-08T12:18:00.000-08:00

Chambers Trading Priorities

House Completed: First 100 Hours, FY2007
House Next: Iraq
Senate Completed: S. 1 (Ethics Reform), H.R. 2 (Minimum Wage)
Senate Next: FY2007, Human Life, Iraq (?)
Conference: Minimum Wage

Segments:	House Only	Senate Only
Future Only	House	Senate

Inside the Mountain Archive

Blessings in Jesus' mighty name!

Tim

10,840 days

--
Tim McGhee
703-798-3227
http://tim.mtopgroup.com

U.S. evangelicals eye renewed domestic drive

2007-02-08T11:53:00.001-08:00

DALLAS (Reuters) - The number of southern U.S. evangelical Christians is not growing as fast as the wider population, leading to a renewed effort to win converts on the domestic front from key groups like the Hispanic community.

That was one message that came through at a three-day "Empower Evangelism" conference hosted by the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention, or SBTC, which wrapped up on Wednesday.

"There has been a slowdown of the growth of our churches and our converts ... We have not been keeping pace with the population growth," said Frank Page, president of the national Southern Baptist Convention and a pastor from South Carolina. READ More & "pray the news"

Dec.'06: City Reaching notes - Portland, OR

2007-01-30T21:25:00.000-08:00

April 19-21,2007, National City-Impact Roundtable, El Paso, TX

NOTES FROM NORTHWEST CITY REACHING ROUNDTABLE

December 4 and 5, 2006

Portland, OR

Tom White

TRANSFORMATION:

1. EACH COMMUNITY MUST ASK THE LORD SPECIFICALLY FOR A WORD OF CONSENSUS REGARDING STRATEGIES FOR CITY REACHING.

2. HOW DO WE SPELL TRANFORMATION? A city is being transformed if these things are taking place:

o An increase in Holy living

o Spontaneous conversions and growth in churches

o Decrease of crime

o An increase of social justice

o Unity in the Body of Christ and Healing of breaches

o Sustainable

o Increased generosity

o Engaged brothers and sisters serving the Lord together

o Passion

o Redeeming of the arts

3. In Transformation change must be evident, but must extend to the fabric of society’s institutions. It must be measurable and sustainable change in society. There must be growing numbers of converted, functioning mature disciples affecting the social, economic, and political fabric of society.
4. The Marks of an Effective Urban Ministry:
* Power Systems Confrontation with offered potential for change
* The poor and the exploited are being cared for
* There is ministry to the middle class as well as the poor
* There is spiritual transformation among the poor and the powerful and all groups are being changed.

5. The goal of the Church is not to make a new heaven and a new earth, but rather to create “salty spots” for the earth that will stimulate thirst for God.

6. Compelling Reasons for building the City-Wide Body of Christ:

o It’s Biblical. The Bible describes it as unity amidst diversity. (Many parts—One Body)

o There is an inherent value of a collegial relationship-knowing and caring for one another.

o The witness of our oneness has apostolic power. (John 17:23)

o United prayer brings an outpouring of the Holy Spirit with signs and wonders. (Acts 4:23-35)

o United prayer for city and government leaders enables us to live godly, quiet and peaceful lives and to reach leaders with the Gospel message.

o The Church is better able to coordinate and strengthen serving ministries (good stewardship) to enable them to help the Church.

o We are able to share corporate responsibility to win and disciple converts.

o It minimizes the impact of training and equipping the saints for the local church-we share this responsibility.

o There is a release of the synergy of combined gifts and callings empowered by the Holy Spirit in each locale.

7. Obstacles to Transformation of communities in Idaho, Washington, and Oregon:

o An independent pioneer spirit. Our forefathers were reacting and rebelling against East coast establishment

o A humanistic mindset.

o Idolatry (nature worship). There is a mixture in this region of worship of the creation and a history of animism and pantheism.

8. We overcome these obstacles by “turning on the light” through our obedience, walking in love and living for the Kingdom and not for ourselves.

9. We need to take a global approach to our cities. We need to ask, “How do we serve in such a way as to impact our city?” “What is the one thing Jesus will give us to move us forward i.e. a “fire starter”? For Vancouver, Washington a fire starter has been Thriving Families of Clark County, a community marriage and family relationship ministry.

10. Community transformation plans will involve:

o Corporate unified prayer

o Asset Building-finding those churches, businesses, individuals and serving ministries who are invested in the plan and will work with one another.

o Mapping. Mapping tells us what gifts and resources God has given each church, group, or serving ministry to bring to the table. It also shows us our common ground.

o A unified event may be the beginning, but must be followed up with small groups. Relationships make the difference.

11. Concrete Steps to City Transformation:

o A seminar or event annually with a number of churches sponsoring.

o Establishment of a resource hub

o Mapping of the churches-find the common ground

o Mapping of the city-find the societal needs, redemptive gifts, and actions of the enemy

o Establish the role of the Church as meeting the needs in society and become a resource for governments who seek faith-based ministries to do those things governments cannot do. The Church must be the delivery system for the wisdom of God (Ephesians 3:10) to change our communities. Ask: How does God want us to serve our community?

George Otis Jr. Session #1

* Revival is the only answer for our world. There is a prophetic urgency now—the world has been changed forever by the spirit of death coming from Islamic fundamentalism.
* We cannot continue business as usual. There must be radical changes in the way we are doing things as the Church.
* God can intervene in the darkest of circumstances. We must remain expectant and intentional as we prepare the way of the Lord.
* HISTORY OF TRANSFORMATION: Outside the western hemisphere, transformations are happening fast in cities, small towns, and villages. “Because transformation was not taking place worldwide, I asked the Lord in the 1990’s, “Why does spiritual darkness linger where it does?” For seven years I tried to find explanations. By 1997 I began to see an escalation of the moving of God’s Spirit in some places indicating we were approaching end times when God promised He would pour our His Spirit. In June 1999 the first Transformation video was released as an encouragement to intercessors. Within six months over 1000 cities has corresponded with me to ask for help in transformation. I told them, ‘Go ask the Lord what He wants you to do.’ There were increasing reports of transformation in cities after 2000. I began to see patterns leading to transformation and also began to realize there is a quantum leap difference between church growth and city transformation. Church growth is possible without God. City transformation involves “heavy-lifting” we must have a divine partner.”
* DEFINITION OF TRANSFORMATION: The definition of transformation is hard to pin down because we can’t even imagine what God has planned in transformation. If it is a plan based only on an inventory of our assets it can’t be a God thing.
* GOD’S PATTERNS IN TRANSFORMATION: God’s patterns in transformation do not change. Things unique to each community change, but principles can be applied everywhere.
1. Pattern #1: Time with God. Transformation takes place in communities that are following God, not leading Him. In order to follow God there must be time alone with God to hear Him. God is left out of the equation when we are so busy we don’t have time with Him. This problem is systemic in our society. We have no waiting time for God.
2. Pattern #2: Hunger for God. We don’t have an ignorance problem, we have an appetite problem. We all have our life hungers list: food, sleep, security, control, reputation. On this list where is our hunger for the presence of God? When our hunger for God moves to the top of the list, transformation will occur.
3. Pattern #3: Unity in the Body of Christ. In 2004, the International Fellowship of Transformation Partners asked the question. “What gives us an identity together?’ They decided to just watch God at work instead of trying to figure out the answer. They saw these things as helps to building unity:
o A common definition of what transformation looks like in my community
o A set of commonly held principles
o A set of core values to govern the movement
o Prayer
o Accountability
o Trust

4. Pattern #4: Humility and Hiddenness of the Catalysts. Humility is directly related to the degree of divine outpouring. Empire building and personal agendas must be laid aside for the goal of seeing God transform the city. The story of Gideon is an example of God using the smallest, most broken, most contrite, most hidden, and most humble to bring about a great breakthrough. In transformation God often chooses no names that have nothing to lead the greatest breakthroughs.

5. Pattern #5: Holiness: When we get rid of all the sin in the camp, God will come. Our hearts must be right, purified of sin and our own agendas. We must be abandoned to God with expectation of His coming in transforming revival. We need to make sure our hearts are right so that our desire is to see the Kingdom of God manifest on the earth.

George Otis, Jr- Session #2:

* In city transformation there must also be ecological transformation- redemption for more than just people. Unhealthy things cannot stay when Jesus is there.
* In transformation, there is a return to “normal”. Believers get back in touch with their faith and begin to live “normal” Christianity. God has not called us to accept normalcy, but to move on to extraordinary Christianity.
* In true transformation, it takes thirty days to achieve normalcy. Often our experience is that it takes 30 years because people are content with the status quo. We need to know the difference between the habit of losing and rebuilding.
* We need a supernatural invasive intervention for transformation to take place. We need to help people prepare for that kind of intervention. The example of Joseph shows us how we need to prepare the people so they come to us when things get rough. The Church needs to take over the social welfare system. God wants to move us to another level. This is preparation. We need to keep pressing in. We also need to change our mindset to win.
* The core of success in city transformation is a formula of abandonment with expectation. This is contagious and the end result is God comes. To test transformation walk though the business district and see if you sense the presence of the Lord. Call a holiday and call all the pastors to come together to cry out to God for the city. Transformation comes to desperate people with expectation of the greatness of God (Psalms 145).
* The greatest problem in City Transformation is a Church whose God is its Belly. “This is illustrated by many who walk into the sanctuary with a cappuccino.” That church is fixated on itself. The church needs to break these self-centered patterns, not encourage them. We need to hold out for the supernatural—we need it and our communities need it.
* In order to counter radical Islam we have to bring the supernatural to the table. In Acts 2 all the church leaders were there together waiting for the supernatural to come. They were filled with the supernatural Holy Spirit and became the “proof” of Christ to a dying world. We also must be filled with something “otherness”. If Jesus is lifted up He will draw all men, but it must be the Church that lifts Him up.
* There is a remnant remaining in the U.S. and a stirring is happening which needs to roll out in fullness. The American Church needs to have a re- identification of community –Immanuel—the Lord is With Us.

Lisa Otis: Interceding for a City Movement:

* City-wide prayer must have a redirection to pray in desperation for the American Church to become a Church that will act like Jesus and love like Jesus across ethnic, cultural, and denominational lines.
* Sin and convenience are the two big issues in the Church and they prevent us gathering together to pray. Jesus would say to us, “If I could just get you to pray, you cannot imagine what I can do”.
* Jesus is our model as the Great Intercessor. He is interceding for us right now and He has been interceding from the beginning. He is called the Word, the voice of intercession. He said, “I only say what I hear the Father say and I only do what I see the Father doing”. This is the place in intercession where everything happens.
* You cannot be sinful presumptuous intercessors and do the things the Father does. Jesus came to be a sinless obedient intercessor (Hebrews 1:3, John 12:4, John 17:8, Isaiah 11:4, Revelation 19:15, Revelation 19:13.
* Speaking the Word of God releases the power of God as a weapon of warfare against the devil. (Ephesians 6:17). We spend a lot of time in prayer saying things the Father hasn’t said. If we don’t hear from the Father what He wants to say, we shouldn’t say anything. God has many ideas we would never think of and we need to hear from Him and pray His Word.
* Isaiah 55:8 God’s thoughts are higher than ours. We should approach praying for our cities acknowledging we are at the beginning. We cannot presume to know how God will move in our city unless He tells us. Jesus said all His ways were the Father’s ways. He was completely obedient. He tells us to follow Him as the Great Intercessor and be completely obedient to what God says.
* The Kingdom of God exists wherever God is because He is King. If you are just, justice increases in your city. As intercessors we must deny ourselves disobedience, presumption, convenience, and comfort if we are going to follow Jesus’ example in intercession.
* Intercession is God’s brilliant strategy for us to rule with Him in power. He asks us, “Will you join me in the place of intercession?”

Lisa Otis: The Best Practices of City Intercession:

* The key to a breakthrough in our cities is the Church. The Church needs to be moving in all the fullness of Christ or the world suffers. When the Church is right, the world will know and be changed.
* The process begins with the individual. We must be transformed or we can’t pray effectively for the Church to be changed.
* The Church must learn to pray on the offensive and practice how to love each other. Jesus gave us two commands: Love God, Love each other. Our objective as the Church must be to first become lovers of Jesus and then lovers of each other. We will be unable to love those who come in because of transformation in our cities, if we don’t love each other.
* We face difficulties in growing:
1. Humility: we must learn to be honest about where the Church is and about the harvest we are inviting into the Church. If we are honest we will admit we are not ready, but the good news is we will be. The city’s destiny is tied to the Church coming into her destiny. We need to ask the Lord to show us how to love Him and each other and how to come to a place of humility rather than judgment. (2Chronicles 7:14) Our true state is we have nothing and we are nothing except in Christ. We want to become humble like Jesus. Nothing happens until the Church is humble. The humble Church brings lif.
2. Praying the problems. We often pray about the problems more than we pray about the destiny the Church or our city.
3. The Loveless Church: (Revelation 2) If we have become like this church we need to repent. Our love for God leads us to repentance of everything else.

* Guidelines for City Intercession:
1. Love God and Each Other
2. Come in Humility
3. Speak the Word in prayer
4. Do the actions of intercession: Ask the Lord to give you something to do. When He does it will be costly, and inconvenient, but will be an act of love which is an act of intercession sown into your city.
5. Learn about prayer form non-western nations. They have a different way of life. They always find the time to pray.
6. Become offensive in prayer as people of faith.
7. Become separated from lifestyles of division and hatred.

George Otis Jr. Session #3:

* According to George Barna, at least 20,000 Evangelicals won’t attend an organized church, but are meeting in homes. “This is a dangerous trend as these groups can become isolationist and cult-like.” This trend shows the organized Church that we must become more than creeds, dogmas, and programs. We must also have the presence of God and intimacy with Him as part of the package.
* The American Church must have abandonment with expectation. For the past 15 years there has been incremental fruit—good but not enough. The question is, “How do we get to fullness-full success?”
* A problem has been that we have lowered the bar of our expectations. We hail small steps as great breakthroughs.
* Abandonment is the big issues. Before we can get to abandonment we must get to commitment. Many in the American Church are hiding from commitment. Abandonment is described in Jesus’ Parable of the Pearl of Great Price. The treasure is in a field and is discovered by a man who sells everything and buys the field. We know God wants us to be faithful and persevere, but we get nervous about the kind of behavior described in this parable. The Kingdom of God is the Pearl of Great Price and the treasure. This is a picture of abandonment for the sake of the Kingdom. God desires a higher degree of intimacy with His people. (Hosea 6:6) The Church needs to come to the place where everything familiar is gone and only God is left. Moses went into thick darkness where God was—that was the true sanctuary hidden from all life’s essentials.
* We pray, “God come” and He asks, “Why? Do you need a handyman or a lover?” God wants us to want Him as a lover. He is interested in our communities but not as a handyman, but because we cannot exist another day without His presence.
* In the Old Testament, God’s presence was often seen as a mist or smoke which shielded from non-essentials. What we need is relationship-God with us and this is what people want today.
* Hard questions for the Church:

1. Is God here?

2. Do we want to see our community fully transformed?

3. Do we believe God can do this?

4. Are we prepared to do what is required to go there?

5. Will we abandon our compartments and boundaries we have placed on God and let Him be God? God has the right to tread upon any part of your Real Estate.

6. Will we lay down our watches and calendars and our comfort-oriented way of life? This will bring about a collision with our culture. No appointment or time period is more important that a full welcoming presence of God. A lot of our “have tos” involve our kids and their schedules. We have given in to the ways of the world remaining in control of our time, doing what we want first rather than letting God run our lives.

o Commitment or abandonment is different because it will be inconvenient. Anything keeping us from God must go. We are to seek first His Kingdom and He will provide everything else.

o We often come to the point of abandonment and aren’t willing. We have to break stride and prioritize your responsibilities –first to God and His Kingdom

7. Will we pray? It only takes a dozen or fewer intercessors to start the process of transformation. Prayer in faith, humility, unity, and compassion with worship draws the presence of God. We need to pray “God stimulate in me an increased appetite for those things that attract your presence—abandonment with expectation. Fast until God answers. Go on a digital fast-no digital equipment, cell phones, and email.

o The Three Stages of Revival:

1. Invitation: A hungry group of believers summons the presence of God. There is repentance, reconciliation, humbling, prayer and fasting with expectation.

2. Visitation: The Holy Spirit comes in a remarkable way to change people. There is widespread church growth and truth becomes “sticky”. This is not about us but about God. The value system shifts and healing power is released.

3. Transformation: The new values born in the visitation phase are rubbed into the skin of society. The marketplace and the political arena changed. Education is reformed. Society is transformed. There becomes a line of reformation in which the Church must steward what God has done. He says, “I have fixed it, you keep it.” Christianity is restored to normalcy in the Church and the Community.

The Church needs to move forward to ask God to restore us as Salt and Light. We need to pray for the miraculous presence of God. We need the supernatural. God can fix something out of nothing.

(notes taken by Kathy Pipal, prayer coordinator of Treasure Valley, Idaho, intercessors.)

Latino ministry featured on national conference call

2007-01-18T08:38:00.000-08:00

Mission America Coalition's monthly 'CityReaching' conference call featured Duane 'Chip' Anderson, Executive Director of Christ For The City, International.

Visit Christ For The City, International.

Especially bookmark their great Resource Links.

Visit CityReaching.com.

Cuba Getting Ready for Change

2007-01-15T22:51:00.001-08:00

: Focus on Cuba

Anthony DePalma and Abby Goodnough examine the impact of the Cuban leader's illness.

Immigration Debate Gets Religious

2007-01-11T03:37:00.000-08:00

A number of leading Christian conservative groups have formed a coalition on immigration and illegal aliens that will push religiously grounded positions that both sides of the current immigration debate will both love and hate...

[continued at Washington Times]

South Dakota Christians Ask for Prayer

2006-09-29T09:38:00.000-07:00

Leslie Unruh, a post-abortive woman and codirector of the group that was able to garner bipartisan legislative support to outlaw abortion in South Dakota was on the James Dobson Focus on the Family radio show today.

They brought the facts of the significant problems with post-abortive mothers as well as significant testimony from post-abortive mothers in their successful effort to outlaw the practice of abortion in South Dakota.

However, Planned Parenthood among others has put this on the ballot in November for a vote by the people and they are funneling millions of dollars and Hollywood stars to do a big media campaign to try to turn back this legislation.

They need our prayers because this battle is not just South Dakota's battle because this could eventually turn back Roe versus Wade if it would go to the Supreme Court. Also, the volunteers who are working to try to persuade the people to support the legislation are being given death threats and they are just working on a very minimal budget, borrowing computers to try to help get out the word. Here's the website: http://www.voteyesforlife.com/

Are You Registered to Vote in California ?

2006-09-28T09:34:00.000-07:00

Voter Registration Deadline Is October 23, 2006

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, as many as 35 percent of the eligible Americans are not registered to vote thats 45 to 65 million people! Less than half of the voting-age population actually votes in any given election. California's general election voter registration deadline is October 23. CLICK HERE for a voter registration form for California.

Tuesday, October 31 is the deadline to apply for an Absentee Ballot. CLICK HERE for Absentee Voting information.

The American Family Association has created ValuesVoters.com as a resource to help you become an informed voter and it has been completely updated for 2006. CLICK HERE for your total voter information guide for California.

Your vote will make a difference. Please be an active citizen and vote. Also remind others to vote by forwarding this email to your friends and family. Call others who do not have computers and remind them to vote today.

Make a difference! Remember to vote in Californias General Election on Tuesday, November 7. Urge your friends and family members to join you in this privilege that millions of people in other parts of the world can only dream about.

Latino 'BlewsWire' feed

2006-09-24T04:43:00.000-07:00

The Latino BlewsWire carries articles, stories, resource sites, photos & videos of interest among (and beyond) the Hispanic Christian community

You can see the Latino BlewsWire already at work on some sites -- like this one -- see our RH sidebar. And here's the RSS feed you can add to your aggregator.

Join us in posting to this wire-service?

Serve as an 'embedded reporter' in your city, state or community...

Get your Latino stories, articles, blog-posts, photos and videos seen via the Latino BlewsWire !

Simply tag them (using 'del.icio.us' of course) with the tag ' blews ' and the tag ' latino '

And abide by the few standards at Tags4God.com.

It's just that simple.

Stay tuned at Blews.Network -- there's much more to come!

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The BlewsWire feed is being built to help accelerate the Great Commission, by expediting communications among the well-connected, driven Christians who are anxious to reach our communities for Christ.

PRAY the VOTE

2006-09-20T23:08:00.000-07:00

El Patriarca

2006-09-16T19:25:00.000-07:00

[Great job, Jeremy!]

[Visit JeremyDelRio.com]

Conference for Hispanic Journalists of Faith... Nov. 3-5

2006-09-10T13:58:00.000-07:00

Rudy Carrasco, Convener

Hispanic journalists of faith will gather together for the second annual World Journalism Institute weekend conference for Hispanic journalists of faith. The conference will take place at Florida International University in Miami, and is for working journalists and students.

This unique conference is designed to provide the Christian Hispanic journalist with a brief introduction to the courses and networking of the World Journalism Institute.

Those who attend will be encouraged and challenged to integrate their Christian faith and journalism practice in a fashion appropriate for today's mainstream newsrooms. The conference is an opportunity to meet other like-minded journalists from around the country to discuss issues facing the Hispanic journalist of faith.

The conference will be composed of lectures, discussions and fellowship. There is also time for networking and sharing books and ideas.

Enrollment Cap: Enrollment for the weekend conference is limited, based on hotel availability and classroom size. Carpe diem!

COST: Because of generous underwriting, a registration fee of $25 is the cost for this conference. World Journalism Institute will provide housing (local hotel), meals and some classroom materials.

[continued at World Journalism Institute]

[hat-tip, Urban Onramps]

Freedom Fades in California! - this should scare YOU!

2006-09-05T12:25:00.000-07:00

Freedom Fades in California -

By Assemblyman Ray Haynes
September 5, 2006

Freedom is a fragile thing. A candlelight in a windstorm, if you will, requiring constant vigilance to preserve. It is never safe, as the old saying goes, as long as the Legislature (or Congress) is in session.

That is because the ruling class, that is, elected officials, bureaucrats, and their allies in the private sector, get money, power and prestige from bigger government, and bigger government is an anathema to freedom. Therefore, those who are in charge of protecting our freedom, (i.e. government officials) have a vested interest in taking it away. Human nature being what it is, everyone, including those in government, act to enhance their money, power and prestige. The less freedom you have, the more power the ruling class has. READ MORE & "pray the news"

Where Do You Stand? What Will You Do?

2006-08-18T16:58:00.000-07:00

Please take a few moments to leave a message for the Governor with the instructions below. It takes less than a minute. This is our California Senate in action.

Bill SB 1437, was passed and sent to the governor. It requires all textbooks to be rewritten and reissued at a cost that our school system, not to mention taxpayers, can little afford. They will indoctrinate schoolchildren with a homosexual agenda. The bill requires that all new textbooks (K-12) highlight homosexuals and eliminate all references to "mom" and "dad." Instead, they could be referred to as "sperm donors" and "sperm receivers." This bill is ridiculous, it is expensive and it singles out a small, special interest group. We do not need elementary school children exposed to this nonsense. Can you imagine:

School proms (Prom "kings" and "queens" could not be gender-specific)
Gender-specific sports ("Boys Basketball" would be "discriminatory" against transsexuals)
Cheerleading (Can you say "transsexual cheerleaders"?)

The governor is doing a phone poll. Urge him to veto this bill. It's very easy, you don't even have to talk to anyone. Just follow the instructions below:

Please call the governor's office at 1-916-445-2841. The phone recording will ask:

A. Do you want this message in English?" yes, press 1
B. Is this in regards to a legislation bill? yes, press 2
C. Is the bill SB 1437? yes, press 1
D. Are you in favor of this legislation? no, press 2

It takes less than 30 seconds to make the call -- and to express your opinion. Please feel free to pass this message along to your California friends

"...Court Decisions in Favor of Traditional Marriage..."

2006-08-10T10:51:00.000-07:00

August 1, 2006

Peter Henderson
PeterH@Californiafamily.org
California Family Council

Dear Praying Friend,

Recent nationwide court decisions in favor of traditional marriage and close to a majority of state marriage-protection constitutional amendments paint California as woefully out-of-step with the rest of the nation. As the battle continues in courts and statehouses, please continue to pray to God, the Creator of marriage, for His help. Pray for the protection of marriages and policy decisions to support the definition of traditional marriage between only a man and a woman.

With legislators returning to Sacramento next week for the final month of the 2005-2006 legislative session, pray that those casting decisive votes will listen to God’s voice and their consciences – rather than doing what is politically expedient. Pray that Californians of faith, who have recently awakened to the declining moral climate and family-threatening legislation, will remain engaged and involved. Pray, too, for our governor, who will need to decide by the end of September which bills to sign and which bills to veto.

Stay the course, praying friends. We have seen many answered prayers, and God longs to be gracious to us and to answer the heart-felt, effective prayers of His people.

California Family Council

P.S. CFC’s bimonthly prayer guides can also be found online at www.californiafamily.org.

August 1, 2006
Please Pray...

...for the sanctity of marriage

* for the protection of marriage as between one man and woman and for the outcome of on-going California court cases challenging the validity of Prop 22. Pray for clear vision and lack of guile as judges deliberate following appellate arguments in San Francisco last month.
* praise God for continued favorable court decisions on the national level. Pray for continued favor in courts and legislatures nationwide, and that the tide in California would mirror – and not be so out-of-step with – the rest of the nation.

...for the protection of life

* that state and federal legislators would listen to sound reason and understand the underlying concerns behind the tug-of-war surrounding embryonic stem-cell research. Pray that these youngest of “preborn citizens” would be protected – not used as “spare parts” – in questionable experimentation bathed in hype and ethical uncertainties.
* praise God for Pres. George W. Bush’s recent veto of legislation that would have expanded the federal government’s role in financing embryonic stem-cell research. Pray for our governor, who responded by decreeing a $150 million bridge loan for California’s stem-cell agency.

...for parental authority

* that legislators, who will vote on dangerous family-invasive bills this month, will not undermine parental authority by mandating public-school curriculum that teaches children about so-called “tolerance” and sensitive issues such as sexuality and homosexuality. Pray for Californians to continue to flood their legislators and the governor with their viewpoints on these issues.
* for parents to remain aware and discerning as their children return to school this month and next. Pray they would remain involved with curriculum and school issues, get to know their children’s new teachers, and consider carefully any “back to school” notices they must sign and return to school with their children.

...for California families

* pray that Gov. Schwarzenegger would make sound decisions – and not listen to the voices of political expediency – in considering which bills to sign and to veto.
* that Californians of faith would be involved in the public square and elect God-centered men and women to public office at all levels this November.
* that God would raise up godly men and women to run for local offices – school boards and city councils – throughout California.

...for California Family Council

* for energy, discernment, and insight for CFC staff as we begin a final August push to inform, educate and work in the Capitol to ensure Judeo-Christian values in California’s laws and culture.

“Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you; therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you.” Isaiah 30:18
United in passionate, effective prayer for California families

www.californiafamily.org

ROLE REVERSAL - Christian Slavic Community Persecuted !

2006-08-08T22:59:00.000-07:00

Sacramento’s Slavic Christians fled persecution back home, but some are befuddled by their new country’s tolerance of gays

By Rachel Gregg

Over the last few months, the loudest voice against gay rights in Sacramento has been that of Sacramento’s Slavic Christian community. Outside of area high schools and on the steps of the Capitol, hundreds of Slavic families, many recent immigrants, have been gathering to protest what is considered a shameful secret in their home countries.

The irony is that they fled those countries after being persecuted for their own religious beliefs.

Eighteen-year-old Nadia Chorney is a Ukrainian native and evangelical Christian. She’s already a veteran activist, fighting against “promoting homosexuality in our schools.”

As a youth leader in her Marysville church, she participated in a number of political actions this spring. She stood in front of the Capitol to protest the passage of Senate Bill 1437, the bill that would have required California textbooks to acknowledge the historical contributions of gay people.

But most of her political activity has been centered around protesting the “Day of Silence” instituted by the Sacramento City Unified School District Board to combat harassment of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender students in public schools.

Chorney, who believes that “homosexuality is a sin,” was among the many area high-school students who wore anti-gay T-shirts to school on April 26, the Day of Silence. According to Chorney, school administrators demanded that she and other students turn their “homosexuality is a sin, Jesus will set you free” T-shirts inside out. School officials also confiscated anti-gay leaflets from Chorney and other students.

Frustrated by what she felt was an infringement of her First Amendment rights, Chorney gathered with other students and parents for three days in front of Mira Loma High School to protest. READ FULL STORY - warning - link is for mature readers only!

ALSO read Pacific Justice Institutes defense: CLICK HERE ***
"Slavic Christians Demeaned for Free Speech Activities, Urged to Leave U.S."

~ CCNews ... please pray for the Slavic community - protection, diection and favor. Pray the whole Church of the Sacramento community will stand with them and encourage them. This is not a time run and hide, but to stand and having done all to stand in the LORD and His strength.

Affiliated with City Reaching of America !

Felipe Calderon Wins Official Count in Mexican Presidential Election

2006-07-06T14:38:00.000-07:00

July 6: Mexican presidential candidate Felipe Calderon, of the National Action Party, celebrates with supporters at his party's headquarters in Mexico City.

MEXICO CITY — The ruling party's Felipe Calderon won the official count in Mexico's disputed presidential race Thursday, a come-from-behind victory for the stiff technocrat. But his leftist rival refused to concede and said he'd fight the results in court.

Calderon, a conservative who preached free-market values and financial stability during the campaign, was already reaching out to other parties to build a "unity government." His opponent, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, blamed fraud for his narrow loss in the vote count and called on his supporters to fill Mexico City's main square Saturday in a show of force.
READ More and "pray the news"

'The Church and Immigration'

2006-06-26T13:13:00.000-07:00

[continued]

Colson: Stop demonizing immigrants

2006-06-14T11:03:00.000-07:00

"Christians must work to see that the immigration debate generates light instead of heat."

Charles Colson
Prison Fellowship

"Did you know that “95 percent of warrants for murder in Los Angeles are for illegal aliens?” Or that “75 percent of people on the Most Wanted List in Los Angeles are illegal aliens”? What’s more, “Over [two-thirds] of all births in Los Angeles County are to illegal alien Mexicans on [Medicaid] whose births were paid for by taxpayers.”

This is outrageous. Especially since none of it is true!

[continued at TownHall]

DeVos Urban Initiative...

2006-05-23T11:48:00.000-07:00

The DeVos Urban Youth Leadership initiative is preparing for their second 'round' here in Indianapolis. If you're not yet familiar with it, you'll want to be. What a blessing they've already been, here in the city of Indianapolis [and elsewhere].

video intro

[More info at DeVos Urban Leadership]

[Interested? Local contact in Indianapolis... Maureen @ Crossroads.edu]

So . . . you want to Strike, do you?

2006-05-19T15:05:00.000-07:00

The state government's largest labor union has taken a vote to authorize their leaders to call a strike. Beware of the law of unintended consequences. Strikes against governments are very different than strikes against businesses. When a business is hit is usually has to shut down or severely reduce its production. The business does not make money and has a big incentive to settle the strike. It is the opposite with government. The government still gets all the taxes even if it cannot offer the programs. Strikes against governments are really public relations campaigns to convince that public of two points: (1) that those government services are really important and (2) the workers should get paid more to produce those services.

Now consider the tax auditors in my department at the Board of Equalization. They probably are underpaid compared to the private sector but their benefits and hours are generally much better. But if they were to go on strike would anybody care? Would the public miss the services of tax auditors? And would the public be willing to pay more to get those services back? The danger for public employee unions that do strike is they may find out that the public does not place a high priority on their work and could get along fine without it.

~ Bill Leonard, State Board of Equalization

Bible studies: Immigrant Nation

2006-05-11T13:56:00.000-07:00

[via an email from the editor of ChristianBibleStudies.com]

My family first came to America to escape the juggernaut of Napoleon's army. They made a decision to cross the ocean so their three teenaged sons wouldn't have to fight for a cause they didn't believe in.

I've been raised with the folklore of this story, and it's remained vivid in my mind. I've always been able to picture my ancestors forsaking their home, land, and possessions to provide freedom and safety for their sons.

The immigration issue has been big news lately. If you're an American, your family arrived in this country as immigrants. But the subject gets complex when we talk about illegal immigrants. Some of our attitudes toward immigrants are a no-brainer. We know clearly that God calls us to care for people of all races and nations according to the Great Commission he's given us (Matthew 28:18-20). The Bible is also full of immigration stories where God demanded that his people love strangers and aliens in their land. However, Scripture doesn't necessarily translate into government public policy, and for that we need a boatload of wisdom. To help us untangle and discuss this vital subject, we've created a new Bible study called 'Immigrant Nation'.

[continued at ChristianBibleStudies.com]

Immigrant Nation

2006-05-03T04:16:00.000-07:00

“Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shores:
Send these--the homeless, tempest-tossed--to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door.”

- posted at the Statue of Liberty

[continued at BikeHiker]

Do you have a Personal Mission Statement?

2006-04-29T04:17:00.000-07:00

I love catching up on Indianapolis pastor John Hay's blog. Its pictures and his unique insights -- sometimes across the circle from my own tradition, set of experiences or stated-position -- always challenge me. Today is no exception.

John's collection of blog-posts & photos well reflect from his Personal Mission Statement at the site.

"My mission in life is to..." [continued at BikeHiker, RH sidebar]

Do you have such a statement? Dare you blog it?

Veterans Drawn Into Immigration Debate

2006-04-26T09:50:00.000-07:00

By Elliot Spagat

Marcial Rodriguez, a U.S. Marine who grew up in a Mexican farming village, is offended that the country he went to war for might deport his relatives who are living here illegally.

Three months after the lance corporal returned to Ohio from the fighting in Iraq, the U.S. House adopted a bill that would make Rodriguez’s cousin a felon for being one of the nation’s 11 million illegal immigrants.

Rodriguez, 20, said he enlisted in the Marine reserves to repay the debt he felt owed to a country that had given him an education and a home for his family.

“People from many different countries are fighting, not just from Mexico,” he said. “We want to participate in this country.”

It is unclear how many soldiers find their loyalties similarly divided, but at a time when Pentagon has stepped up recruiting of Hispanics to fill recruiting quotas, experts say a crackdown on illegal immigration would undoubtedly cause resentment in the ranks. READ MORE and "Pray the News"

Pray Against Hateful Threats . . .

2006-04-25T08:28:00.000-07:00

Latino officials receive threats
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger decried Monday a recent spate of "disturbing and hateful death threats" that he said have been made against Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and other Mexican American elected officials in the state. "Pray the News"

Join the Global Day of Prayer via your Phone!

2006-04-19T19:26:00.000-07:00

Don't let anyone miss out on participating in the Global Day of Prayer! With a phone and a prayer, they can be a part of this event!

GREATER CALLING will once again offer a 24 Hour Global Conference Call for the Global Day of Prayer on June 4th for anyone who wants to connect via phone with others all around the world to pray. This is a perfect solution for those who cannot attend an event in person. Read more!

Eastern Star Church launches Spanish-speaking ministry in Indy

2006-04-17T04:39:00.000-07:00

An Indianapolis church congregation is reaching out to the city's Hispanic residents. Eastern Star Church launched its new Spanish-speaking ministry Sunday. A new era is dawning for Pastor Marvin Calderon, and a new congregation at Eastern Star Church. [continued at WISH-TV]

[Also visit EasternStarChurch.org]

Links: Christianity Today

2006-04-16T10:19:00.000-07:00

Christianity Today's special topic link: Immigration Issues

World Magazine weighs in

2006-04-16T09:27:00.000-07:00

The publisher of World Magazine weighs in... theologically... on the immigration issue. [continued]

Clergy see faith parallels in march

2006-04-15T05:57:00.000-07:00

Immigrants often turn to church as place for help.

"Religious leaders in the movement say they are driven by the most ancient writings in the Bible that call on people to reach out to strangers with food, clothing and hospitality. They refer also to New Testament passages in which Jesus directed his people to care for the poor, to aid those who are hurting and to love your neighbor as yourself."

"Yet, around the faith community, others see competing spiritual imperatives at work in the immigration issue."

[continued at Indianapolis Star]

**********************************

[IndyChristian Ed. Note: I really appreciate Robert King's article presenting both sides of the issue among Christians. But why do we only see that occurring in a secular newpaper? Where's 'the Church'? Where, I continue to ask, is the common discussion ground among Biblically-based Christian leaders to 'sharpen one another'? To our shame, it seems abundantly clear that the vast majority of the talking-points in the conversation so far are driven by nationalism, fear, economic reasons, or outright political alignments.... not 'WWJD?' or 'what wise counsel does the Bible give us firstly & foremostly?']

Our standard for discernment: WWJD

2006-04-13T15:10:00.000-07:00

Really wish I had time to post a full opinion-piece here on the topic. I don't. But here's at least a short overview that might be helpful to others. I'd be anxious to hear your 'comments'.

I wrote this as a response to the Christian Worldview Network article which is taking a hard-line position. [In fact, I might encourage all of you to also go review it and leave a feedback-comment there.]

Here's my response...
"Christ-followers are called to a high, but easy, standard for discernment in such complex issues. "WWJD?". We're called to be imitators of God. Our God's very nature is so very often described as Father of the fatherless. Defender of the defenseless. The scriptures call us to treat the alien within our gates as our very own. And He reminds us so often that we ourselves are aliens -- our citizenship is in heaven. The OT is filled with the reminder that our spiritual heritage is one rooted in being aliens for 400 years in Egypt and 70 years in captivity... not to mention being under Roman rule during Christ's time. So before we get too self-absorbed regarding OUR nation, OUR borders, OUR jobs, etc... let's take care & prayer to ask WWJD? And encourage our Christian friends to do likewise."

Neil Cox
IndyChristian.com
LatinoChristians.com

[Note: Even though I helped start LatinoChristians.com, I'm not 'Hispanic'. But the Bible seems to read the same, whether in English or Spanish.]

20,000 protest in Indy...

2006-04-11T16:38:00.000-07:00

[continued at IndyStar.com]

April 10th March...

2006-04-10T10:33:00.000-07:00

Leave us a 'comment'... What is the biblical point-of-view? WWJD?

Aliens Among Us

2006-04-09T06:24:00.000-07:00

[Reminder from BikeHiker]

"The alien who
resides with you
shall be to you
as the citizen
among you;
you shall love the alien
as yourself,
for you were aliens
in the land of Egypt:
I am the Lord
your God."

-- Leviticus 19:34

Evangelicals Leaders Call For Comprehensive Immigration Reform

2006-04-05T06:43:00.000-07:00

WASHINGTON, April 4 /Christian Wire Service/ -- Evangelical leaders will speak out on the need for comprehensive immigration reform as the U.S. Senate takes up consideration of legislation that will change the nation’s immigration laws.

An Evangelical sign-on letter in support of comprehensive immigration reform has been be released to the... [continued at Christian Wire Service]

*********************************************

Also see today's Washington Post article... "Letter on Immigration Deepens Split Among Evangelicals". [hat-tip, ChristianHeadlines.com]

Victimmigration...

2006-03-25T03:18:00.000-08:00

[hat-tip, Blews.Network]

"What’s that?"

Each time I drive to or from San Diego, CA on Interstate 5 with a first time visitor to the area, they always exclaim, "What’s that?" They are pointing out the window to an upcoming sign posted distinctly at the side of the freeway. These bright yellow signs contain the contrasting dark image of an adult, holding hands with two children, one on each side. They are running.

"What’s that?" is indicative of the level of awareness and involvement of the Christian community regarding our existing immigration policy that systematically oppresses God’s children. The purpose of this expose is to change the posture of the Christian community in the U.S. from a position of "What’s that?" to "That’s what!"

The Call:

As I read my Bible, I am continually reassured by the penchant of our God to... [continued]

Subtle Chinese Invasion into Latin America - control is the issue!

2006-03-24T14:07:00.000-08:00

Chinese Training Military in Latin America

NewsMax.com Wires
Wednesday, March 15, 2006

WASHINGTON -- China is training increasing numbers of Latin American military personnel, taking advantage of a three-year old U.S. law that has led to a sharp decline in U.S.-run training programs for the region, an Army general said Tuesday.

Gen. Bantz Craddock, who oversees U.S. military operations in Latin America, said military members of all ranks are receiving training in China, In addition, he said, more and more Chinese non-lethal military equipment is showing up in the region...It's a growing phenomenon."

Craddock testified before a Senate Armed Service Committee hearing where lawmakers from both parties called for the elimination of the law that authorizes U.S. training programs only under certain conditions - requirements that some countries refuse to accept.

The measure has given the Chinese military an opening in Latin America for the first time.

Committee Chairman John Warner expressed concern over the Chinese activities as did Sen. Carl Levin, the ranking Democrat on the panel. Sen. John McCain suggested that repeal of the amendment should be included in an emergency supplemental legislation now being considered.

Said Sen. Hillary Clinton, "I think this is one of the most serious problems we face," alluding to the Chinese actions. The committee has a duty to "sound the alarm," she added.

At issue is a U.S. law that mandates an end to military training in countries that refuse to exempt U.S. citizens overseas from the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court.

Nations that join the ICC can evade U.S. sanctions by signing an agreement with the United States that provides Americans immunity from ICC prosecution.

Twelve Latin American countries have declined to do so and are now subject to sanctions. Craddock testified that in 2003, a year before the law took effect, the United States trained 771 military personnel from countries that are now sanctioned.

The training curriculum, he said in his prepared testimony, includes instruction on the importance of civilian supremacy in the governing process.

The reduced U.S. role, he said, "opens the door for competing nations and outside political actors who may not share our democratic principles."

Lawmakers approved the legislation out of concern that Americans overseas, including military personnel, diplomats and ordinary citizens, could be subject to politically motivated ICC prosecutions.

The ICC was set up four years ago under U.N. sponsorship in an attempt to ensure that perpetrators of genocide or crimes against humanity are brought to justice.

On another subject, Craddock said that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez was playing a "destabilizing" role in the region by trying to export his "extreme populist movement" elsewhere in the region.

Among Venezuela's target countries, Craddock said, are Peru and Nicaragua, both of which are due to hold presidential elections later this year.

Venezuela's actions, Craddock said, are making its more difficult for these countries to establish democratic roots.

Editor's note:
CIA Translation of Secret Chinese Military Manual – Details Here
Live Free or Die – Get the coffee mug today!
Can America avoid a nuclear ‘D-Day'? Get the INSIDE story – Click Here Now.

Read more on this subject in related Hot Topics:

Castro/Cuba

Chavez/Venezuela

China/Taiwan

"Pray the News"

Many Hispanics Are Finding Faith in Islam

2006-03-18T21:46:00.000-08:00

Many Hispanics Are Finding Faith in Islam

HACKENSACK, N.J. -- Last year, Gaby Gonzalez wore black nail polish and black eye shadow. She had a messy room, standoffs with mom and occasional drinks. Today, the Honduran-born 20year-old is known as Sister Gaby. She proudly wears her jade-green hijab, which forms a nearly perfect frame around her delicate features and large brown eyes. She prays several times a day and does not wear makeup, eat pork or even utter the phrase "happy hour" -- that is all haram, she said, or prohibited in...
Read more | Hispanics
Source: The Ledger online

"Pray the News"

Lesbian/Actress Legislator Seek to Radically Change California Education!

2006-03-10T12:47:00.000-08:00

SB 1437 (Kuehl, D-Los Angeles) is one of the most outrageous bills that has been introduced this year in the California legislature! If passed, it could potentially require gender-neutral bathrooms in our schools and all references to “husband” and “wife” or “mom and dad” removed from school textbooks as the norm. Read More and "Pray the News"

A Delicate Hospitality

2006-03-06T07:36:00.000-08:00

How Hispanic churches in Southern California negotiate the dilemmas of ministry with undocumented immigrants.

[article continued at ChristianityToday.com]

Also see previous article...
"On Immigration Issues, Big Evangelical Groups Conspicuously Mum"

***********************************

And visit... Pew Hispanic Center, Research Publications

Little Hope left . . . pray for the families

2006-02-25T16:57:00.000-08:00

Little hope for 65 Mexican miners

The owners of the mine in northern Mexico where 65 miners have been trapped underground for almost a week have said there's little chance of anyone surviving. It had been hoped some miners, many of whom are ...
Mexican Mining Company: Men Must Be Dead Guardian Unlimited
Families hope for Mexico mine miracle The Age

"Pray the News"

Presidential Prayer Sunday, February 19, 2006

2006-01-07T12:18:00.000-08:00

Your church can get involved with hundreds of concerned churches across America as together we stand on the front lines of the spiritual battle for America. Click HERE to learn more.

Mark Your Calendars for April 2-5, 2006 - Annual City Impact Roundtable - in Cedar Rapids, Iowa

2005-12-27T12:06:00.000-08:00

Hollywood Declares War on Family Values... Again

2005-12-16T22:29:00.000-08:00

Hollywood declares war on family values…again
A movie glorifying homosexual “sex” and overtly denigrating Christian values seems to be on its way to Best Picture in Hollywood’s eyes. Brokeback Mountain , a vulgar and violent movie about two homosexual cowboys, which is running on limited screens in liberal cities, won the most Golden Globe nominations Tuesday – seven, including best drama. Last year’s Million Dollar Baby – which glorified a man “helping” a paralyzed woman to commit suicide – won big at the Academy Awards after first winning big at the Golden Globe Awards. It seems that if something is morally wrong, Hollywood usually says that it's right! Read the review by Movieguide.org .

December 6th Forum

2005-12-05T09:32:00.000-08:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Amy Mendoza 317-233-5048

HISPANIC/LATINO AFFAIRS COMMISSION TO HOLD PUBLIC FORUMIndianapolis-The Indiana Commission on Hispanic/Latino Affairs, (ICHLA), will hold a public forum on Tuesday, December 6, 2005 from 6:00pm – 8:00pm at the Urban League, located at 777 Indiana Ave. in Indianapolis, Indiana.The Commission reports that, as Indiana's Hispanic/Latino community continues to grow throughout the state, so do the challenges with language, differences in governance, business concerns and related economic development, as well as cultural and social differences. The purpose of the forum is to introduce the Commission to the community, report its findings in different subject areas and hear community concerns and issues affecting the Hispanic/Latino population. Local ICHLA Commissioners and Commission staff will be in attendance to hear community concerns and share information. Local legislators will also be invited to attend.The Indiana Commission on Hispanic/Latino Affairs is a non-partisan state agency, which identifies and researches issues affecting the Hispanic/Latino community. The Commission promotes cooperation and understanding and reports to the governor and legislature on a variety of issues affecting the Hispanic/Latino communities.

###

COMISIÓN DE ASUNTOS HISPANOS/LATINOS DE INDIANA
Foro Público

Presentado por:La Comisión de Asuntos Hispanos/Latinos de Indiana (ICHLA)Martes, 6 de Diciembre, 2005 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.Urban League777 Indiana Ave.Indianápolis, INLas ciudades de Indianápolis, Greewood, Plainfield, Fishers y otras están invitadas para atender. Abierto a los líderes comunitarios, dueños de negocios, residentes y el público en general.Comparta e intercambie su información con la Comisión.Temas de discusión incluyen Educación, Licencia de Manejo, Negocio, Desarollo Económico y mucho más.*Se proveerán refrigeriosPARA DISTRIBUCIÓN INMEDIATA CONTACTE A: Amy Mendoza 317-233-5048COMISIÓN DE ASUNTOS HISPANOS/LATINOS PRESENTARÁ FORO PÚBLICOIndianápolis -La Comisión de Asuntos Hispanos/Latinos de Indiana (ICHLA), presentará un foro público el día Martes, el 6 de Diciembre a los 6:00pm – 8:00pm en el Urban League, ubicado al 777 Indiana Ave. Indianápolis, IN.La Comisión reporta que, mientras la comunidad Hispana/Latina de Indiana sigue creciendo, se hacen frecuentes los asuntos relacionados con retos de idioma, diferencias culturales, sociales y gubernamentales, y asuntos de negocio y desarollo económico. El propósito del foro es introducir la Comisión a la comunidad local, reportar las conclusiones de los subcomites y escuchar asuntos que afectan a la población Hispana/Latina. Comisionados y empleados de ICHLA se harán presentes para escuchar los comentarios de la comunidad y compartir información. Legisladores locales estarán invitados para asistir.La Comisión de Asuntos Hispanos/Latinos es una agencia estatal sin afiliación política que identifica e investiga los asuntos que afectan a la comunidad Hispana/Latina. La Comisión promueve cooperación y entendimiento, y reporta al gobernador y consejo legislativo en los asuntos que afectan a la comunidades Hispanas/Latinas.

Noel's Notes

2005-11-22T05:25:00.000-08:00

[As he so carefully pointed out all week as emcee at CCDA, it's pronounced... "No El". Guess that's why he's not El Noel... because there's no El. In any event, we loved having Noel Castellanos (pronounced Cast y anos] with us all week, livening things up at CCDA Indy 2005. Here are some of his blogged reflections from last week.]

More reflections of CCDA Indy 2005 are being posted daily at IndyChristian.com.

"City Blogging"

2005-11-18T05:42:00.000-08:00

We'll use this space today, as we demonstrate some "City Blogging" principles, and do some hands-on blogging.

Today's presenters are Jeremy Del Rio and Neil Cox.

According to Rudy Carrasco... "Jeremy does tons of connecting in New York City. He regularly chairs committees for youth workers through out the five boroughs, upwards of 700 youth workers. Billy Graham Crusade, Mission America and others turn to him. "

Neil founded IndyChristian.com -- "Connecting Driven Christians in the Racing Capital of the World". One of his classic articles is... "Why Blog -- Top 50 Reasons?". His inner-city internet-training site is UBbloggin.com, where many training tips can be found.

MySpace.com/jeremydelrio... staying in touch with your kids' lives.

When you figure our how to 'Feed Your RSS to the Aggregators' (hopefully) without losing a hand, get it circulated so it can be aggregated at great sites like ChristianHeadlines.com... especially among YOUR state's city-feeds at the site.

Find the CityReaching.com Network of City Sites and get YOUR city-site connected into the tapestry.

Here's the Sample City Site we're creating LIVE (!) during the workshop.

And we're now linking to any blog-sites of CCDA Indy 2005 Bloggers.

But Who Will Teach Them (Us) ?

2005-11-07T15:48:00.000-08:00

Here's an interesting article in the Indianapolis Star today, about requiring foreign-language in our schools...

[continued]

Aprendere Espanol

2005-11-07T08:58:00.000-08:00

Today I had coffee with my neighbors who have consented to help me learn some Spanish... and conversely... I will try to help them to sharpen their English skills.

Where to begin? At least I have started a couple of documents to help (me).

Surely many multicultural churches have already found great ways to help overcome language issues -- please leave a comment (or email me) if you know of some.

IS YOUR CITY READY ?

2005-09-28T00:50:00.000-07:00

Christians should be at forefront of preparedness and response

(CEN, Sept. 28) PHOENIX, Ariz. – As residents slowly return to the communities hardest hit by hurricanes Katrina and Rita, and towns hundreds of miles away and all points in between adjust to the influx of evacuees created by the storms, Christian Emergency Network (CEN) Founder and CEO Mary Marr said these circumstances point to the importance of each community being responsibly prepared for calamities, and for Christians to have individual, church, denominational, and congregational preparedness plans, as well as being primed in all ways to demonstrate calm and effective leadership in times of crisis.

Marr explained, “As churches in large cities in the U.S. responded to recent devastation, many for the first time without prior preparation, it causes each church and each Christian within our own cities to ask some strategic questions made necessary by the realization in the past month that civil authorities may not be fully able to meet the immediate needs of citizens.”

Marr added, “CEN prayerfully collaborated yesterday with Christian, municipal, state, denominational, congregational, church and media leaders to provide resources that are vital to a church and family’s survival. When each church and each individual Christian family is prepared to lead the way by first preparing for their own needs will they be positioned to help assist their community with a caring response that earns them the right to share the Gospel.”

Marr noted basic questions to consider now should a disaster strike your city include:

Do you have personal physical supplies to go to a shelter for 72 hours? To learn more, click here.
Do you know which churches are trained to operate as shelters? To learn more, click here.
Do you know how to prayerfully care for families in your church and city? To learn more, click here.
Do you know how to reach out with the Gospel in your city with spiritual aid? To learn more, click here.
If some city churches and ministries like Christian radio are wiped out in your city, do you know the back up plan? To learn of additional resources, click here

Marr explained, “As CEN partners move forward during the next weeks and months, we will be exploring these key and added questions of preparedness for various agencies, organizations and entities responsible for emergency rescue and response. For comprehensive reviews of these questions, check the website regularly for resources to help you deal with these critical issues.”

Marr reminded Christian city and denominational leaders, including media, that as they themselves respond and choose how to prepare others to respond, they should so do according to the biblical precepts of prayer-care-share, the message and response adopted by CEN. Many national leaders thanked CEN for such timely assistance being provided them in their hour of need. Collaborative conference calls to prepare the greater Christian church city by city, church by church will continue.

Prayer
Said Marr, “With the overwhelming presenting needs, we must constantly humble ourselves before God to ask for discernment in how to respond in prayer include:

Pray for the president and other national and local government officials as they seek to learn how to be better prepared in the future.
Pray for New Orleans Police Department Superintendent Eddie Compass resigned from his position on Tuesday. Pray for a replacement of God’s choosing.
Pray for businesses to be able to open despite damage from the storms and looting.
Pray for utility workers as they seek to restore power to cities all across the Gulf Coast, and inland areas affected by the storms.
Pray for protection from accident and disease for those who are returning to homes and businesses in affected areas.
Pray that as cities are rebuilt, that the church would be there to provide a spiritual foundation for the “new cities” as they rise from the devastation.
Pray for continued need for clothes, housing, jobs and other material needs by those trying to resettle in other cities across the country
Pray for a cooperative plan for disaster preparedness between churches in your city and civil officials.
Pray that your church would take seriously the need to have preparation plans in place.
Pray that Christians will take personal responsibility for their own and others preparedness needs for Kingdom expansion.

CEN Prayer tip for city’s without emergency plans in place; let CEN know how we may pray for you, your church, and your city. Email us: prayerplea@cen911.com

To learn how you can pray for those in need and demonstrate the love of Christ, click here

Care
The work of the Salvation Army in Houston is a sterling example of how to provide care, said Marr. The Salvation Army has opened two shelters in the north Houston area that are currently housing more than 450 Houstonians who were unable to evacuate the city. At the shelters, the temporary residents are provided with cots to sleep on, hot meals and water as well as a sense of security.

CEN Care tip for those sheltering evacuees: consider adopting a “pet evacuee” for those you are sheltering to transition from the loss of their own pet.

To learn of additional ways to demonstrate the love of Christ by showing care, click here

Share
Meanwhile, Marr points to the outlook of Convoy of Hope worker Dave Auterson as an example of the long-term view a Christian must have to prepare to properly share the Gospel. Auterson said, “People are starting to ask ‘Where do we begin?’ and ‘How will we ever come back from this?’ I have to admit that I too have thought those things – until tonight when driving back to Baton Rouge; it struck me that the church has ALWAYS faced huge need and daunting tasks. And, because of that, we already know where and how we will do our work.”

CEN Share tip for those serving the needs in the affected areas: consider providing ample Higher Ground booklets. click here

To learn of additional ways to demonstrate the love of Christ by sharing your time, talents and treasure for the long run, click here

Pray-Care-Share Inspiration
Scripture: “Trials have come so tat you faith may be proved genuine” (I Peter 1:6-7).
Outlook: Thought trials will come our way, we will trust in God through them all.
Song: “Through It Al,” by Andraé Crouch
Make a donation to CEN

For interviews with CEN Founder/Chairman Mary Marr, contact Judy Hannestad at 701-484-5028 judy.hannestad@cen911.com

Christian Emergency Network leads Christians to intelligently pray for,
sensitively care for, and strategically share the gospel with victims
involved in a national emergency.

great idea

2005-09-13T13:36:00.000-07:00

sample

today at ti

2005-09-13T13:28:00.000-07:00

sample during training.
dk

Dr. Larry Acosta coming to Indy... Aug.3rd

2005-08-01T04:19:00.000-07:00

Urban Youth Workers Institute is coordinating their “RELOAD” conference with the CCDA November gathering here in Indianapolis. This is another great opportunity for local ministries working with our youth to hear great speakers and attend exciting workshops.

In preparation for the training, Dr. Larry Acosta President and Founder of the Hispanic Ministry Center, Urban Youth Workers Institute & KIDWORKS will be in Indianapolis this Wednesday, August 3rd to meet with ministry leaders.

Join us Wednesday morning between 8:00 and 11:30 at the Unleavened Bread Café – 30th and Central.

[continued at CCDA Blog]

Companies Hooked On Buying-Power Of Undocumenteds

2005-07-16T18:00:00.000-07:00

"LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 13, 2005--No Borders, Inc. (OTCBB:NBDR), in the business of providing financial services to immigrants of developing countries, announced today that the company has been featured in the cover story article of Businessweek magazine. "

[continued at BusinessWeek.com]

Comments anyone?

Grant for Hispanic Heritage Month?

2005-06-24T17:01:00.000-07:00

Here's the details on applying for a small grant related to La Familia Technology Week:

http://lafamilianet.net/v2/news_display.php?id=22

Deadline is June 30. Check it out.

[hat-tip, Rudy]

Bible College for Seasoned Students

2005-06-07T21:08:00.000-07:00

Ivan A. Schumann

Greetings to all my Hispanic Latino friends,

I would like to share with you a program that I just recently started. As a Guatemalan born Latino, I have found much joy in getting to know a living Christ all my life. I accepted Jesus Christ into my life at the age of 23 and have enjoyed every minute of my personal walk with the Lord. Over the past 22 years, I have had the pleasure of meeting many people that have helped me build my relationship with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Though, I can honestly say there were some very tough times, Jesus never let me go beyond that which I could not handle. I have found new strength daily by knowing the Word of God and treasuring His thoughts in my heart. I learn who God is by listening, reading and acting on His Holy Word. The Bible can lead you to a fulfilling and joyful life.

Recently, I was asked to participate in a Cross Program at Crossroads Bible College. The Cross Program was intended to reach out to busy working adults like myself who have many responsibilities such as husband, volunteer, and are working full time. As the Director of the Greater Indianapolis Christian Chamber of Commerce, I have very limited time. Initially, the thought of going back to school at the age of 45 was not so appealing. But now that I am taking the courses in the Cross Program, I have found a renewed desire to learn more about God as well as participate in leadership and ministries through the program.

Each individual class meets one day for 4 hours a week for a total of 5 weeks. There are no memory exams only demonstrated learning through assignments. The courses are college credited and at the end of my 22 month I will receive a Bachelors of Science Degree in Leadership and Ministries.

Most of my classmates are between the ages of 28 to 65 years old. There are several ministers enrolled in the program as well as working parents and business professionals. The students are men and women of various cultures.

I have found that most of my classmates share a passion for ministry in a variety of areas. We participate in group class projects that allow us to share from our past experiences and that has made the class even more interactive as well as informative.

After only two months I can tell you that I feel I have strengthened my faith as well as increased my knowledge and understanding of God. I am learning about the different aspects of ministry and the multiple views that challenge our faith in Jesus Christ daily. I believe that the program will better equip us as fellow believers in Christ and strengthen our spiritual armor, as stated in the scriptures.

I highly recommend this program to all adults that feel a need to know more about God and learn how He can use us to fulfill our purpose in life. If you would like more information about the Cross Program, you can contact Crossroads Bible College at 317-352-8736 or just log on to their web page at www.crossroads.edu or you can call me at my cell at 317-445-4446.

July 7 -- "The Day of Praise"

2005-05-25T15:11:00.000-07:00

Dear Brothers and Sisters,(Spanish) Español abajo.

Please help us by joining with several other churchmembers around the world by having a day of praise for our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. You will find all the details below. This is only a reminder email;however, please help now by sending this email toother Christian church members around the world.This is all for the glory and honor of ourLord and Savior. Amen.

There are only 43 days left for “The Day of Praise”.

The vision: The whole world united to praise the Lord.
our God, outside on the streets of every nation infront of their house, apartments, or jail cells.
The message:Based on Revelations 7 : 9 through 17.The whole world united praising the Lord our God. One day, for one hour. Praise him with banners, with redballoons, by singing praises or by exalting him bysaying in a loud voice:

"Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne,
and to the Lamb."

The time:July 7th, at 7:00 AM. All time zones will do this at7:00 AM for one hour. After the hour of praise letall the red balloons go (or release them) in to theair in sign of thanks giving for the blood that ourLord shed for us.

The Place:This will be outside on the streets of every nation inthe front of your house, apartments, or jail cells.

End by:7:00 P.M. – This time is open for all those that cannot join us at the time, but will like to join usafter. After an hour of praise let all the redballoons go (or releasethem) in to the air in sign of thanks giving for theblood that our Lord shed for us, after an hour ofpraise.
The church:Please forward this email to as many Christians thatyou know, translate it if you need to, or cut and makeflyers for those who do not have email.
As it is written: The Lord will bless you for your cooperation.

God bless you.

Amados Hermanos y Hermanas,
Por favor, ayudennos con otros miembros de otrasIglesias al rededor del mundo, para tener un “Dia DeAlbanza” y Adoracion para nuestro Señor y Salvador“Jesucristo”. Ustedes, encontraran todos los detallesa continuacion. Este recordario-mensaje mundial,puede ser solamente por correo electronico. Por favorayudennos enviando este correo electronico, a otrosmiembros de Iglesias Cristianas.

Sólamente falta 43 dias para “El Dia De Alabanza”mudial.
La Vision:Es la unidad en conjuto mundial, para: Alabanza yadoracion en un dia especial a nuestro: “Señor” y“Dios”, - Se hara en las calles de cada nación,alfrente de sus casas ó apartamentos y carceles:

El mensaje biblico se funda en:Apocalipsis – capitulo 7:9 al 17. –El conjuto de albanza mundial en unidad al Señornuestro Dios: Sera un solo dia por una hora:Alabandole y orando con banderas, con globos rojos,con cantos y Alabanzas y exaltandole en alta vozdiciendo:

La salvacion pertenece a nuestro Dios que esta sentadoen el trono, y Al Cordero: Amen.
La fecha:Julio 7 a las 7:00 A.M. Todos los tiempos y horassegun su pais haran esto a las 7:00 A.M. Por unahora.

El lugar:Se hara en las calles de cada nacion en el frente desus casas, apartamentos y carceles.-

Finalizara:A las 7:00 P.M, este tiempo esta disponible, paratodos los que se quiran unirse con nosotros. Despuesde una hora de albanza suelten los globos rojosdejandolos ir al aire libre:En señal de dar gracias por La Sangre de nuestro SeñorJesucristo que derramo por nosotros.

La Iglesia:Por favor remitir o enviar este correo electronico atodos los cristianos del mundo que usted conozca.

Traduzcalo a otro idioma, si necesita hacerlo ó cortey haga volantes para aquellos que, no tienen correoelectronico.

Como esta escrito: Dios los bendecira por sucolaboracion.

En el nombre de Jesucristo: Amen.

Latino group thrives on faith & federal-aid...

2005-05-04T08:58:00.000-07:00

Interesting article highlighted by our friend, Rudy Carrasco, UrbanOnramps.com.

Getting to Know your Hispanic Latino Neighbors

2005-04-30T18:16:00.000-07:00

During the past decade the Indianapolis community has experienced a large growth in the Hispanic Latino community. The U.S. census has indicated that from 1990 to the year 2000 the Hispanic Latino community in Indianapolis had grown by 289% with the same triple digit growth in the surrounding counties. According to a similar study done by United Way, the estimate is much higher based on the amount of undocumented individuals residing in Marion County. This has opened up opportunities for much of the newly arrived Hispanic community to get to know more about the way in which we serve others through Christ.
I found that for the most part, Hispanic Latinos are looking for a Christian home to worship, but because of the language barrier and lack of community outreaches, many are still seeking a spiritual home to feel accepted.
According to a study done by the Rev. Raúl Gomez and Dr. Manuel Vásquez, in conjunction with the Life Cycle Institute of the Catholic University of America, the Hispanic Latino Community is facing other problems that for the most part we may not be aware. The study provided qualitative information on Hispanic ministry. Diocesan bishops who were available were interviewed, as well as diocesan directors of Hispanic ministry, chancery officials, pastors, pastoralists, and laity.
As a Christian that has been very involved in community outreach, I have found that similar problems are being faced by the Hispanic Latino community here in Indy. I believe that there is much opportunity for all of us to come together as brothers and sisters in Christ for the common good of all.
I would encourage all believers to get to know their fellow Hispanic Latino neighbors in the hope of witnessing the love of God to all people. I do encourage everyone to read the report and view the challenges and possible opportunities available. Please log on to the following web site to review the report. If you would like additional information please contact me.
http://www.nccbuscc.org/hispanicaffairs/studygomez.shtml
Ivan A. Schumann
Cell (317)445-4446
GOLORD@sbcglobal.net www.DreamVisionMP.com

Dia Evangelistico en Internet

2005-04-24T05:21:00.000-07:00

Ciber Evangelistas

2005-04-23T05:13:00.000-07:00

Sunday, April 24th.... is the very first "Internet Evangelism Day"... to heighten awareness of new opportunities... (globally even!)... to carry out the Great Commission at the speed of Light.

Here's a recommended site by our Internet Evangelism Day friends...

http://ciberevangelistas.org .

All Churches Should Be Multicultural...

2005-04-01T18:15:00.000-08:00

Remember Noel Castellanos being here in Indy in February for our CCDA/TransformIndiana meeting? This week he showed up in Christianity Today in an article that will rock the way we do church. Definitely cool. Recall, Noel will be among other great city impacters coming in November for CCDA Indy 2005.

[excerpted from Christianity Today's featured articles this month]

In Divided by Faith: Evangelicals and the Problem of Race in America (2000), sociologists Michael O. Emerson and Christian Smith argued that much of the racial dysfunction in the American church today is the result of an individualized theological worldview that blinds white evangelicals to certain societal injustices. The book's shocking assertion stirred debate and became a paradigm-shifting read for many evangelical leaders

[continued at ChristianityToday.com]

2005-03-25T17:58:00.000-08:00

Ivan A.Schumann

Multi-Faith Hispanic TV Network is Now Available

2005-03-25T17:38:00.000-08:00

ENLACE USA (Entidad Latino Americanas de Comunicadores del Evangelio) is a 24 hour Hispanic TV Network Program that is currently available to the Hispanic Latino Communities in the USA through Trinity Broadcasting Networks. ENLACE translated in English is the Evangelical Communications of Latin-American Entities. TBN ENLACE features 70% of its programs via satellite from South America, Central America, and Spain. Thirty percent of its local programs are broadcasted from the USA. The most important element that this program brings is the opportunity to minister to the Hispanic community at their home at their leisure. The Hispanic community can tune in day or night and enjoy wholesome family faith based programs that will meet their spiritual needs. The programs on TBN ENLACE are targeted to multi-faith Protestant and Catholic viewers. Joyce Meyers, Jesse Duplantis, Adrian Rogers and Benny Hinn are but a few of the U.S. broadcast programs that are translated from English into Spanish.

I was introduced to the TBN ENLACE Network 11 months ago by Mr. Mark Crouch, who is the TBN Director of the Great Lakes Region in Greenwood Indiana. I am totally convinced that the program will help the rapidly growing Hispanic population in Indianapolis in their spiritual journey in getting to know a living Christ. For more information on how you can get involved in bringing this signal to the Indianapolis area, you can contact me or call Comcast cable and tell them that you would like the TBN ENLACE Network USA broadcasted on your local cable channel.

link: www.tbnenlaceusa.com

Ivan A. Schumann
DreamVision Media Marketing
www.DreamVisionMP.com
GOLORD@sbcglobal.net
317-445-4446

Some 'Rudy Recommendations'...

2005-03-15T09:03:00.000-08:00

[Some helpful advice for new Latino bloggers... from my good blogging friend, Rudy Carrasco, Urban Onramps.com.]

"It may help for them to read some Latino blogs for a little while, to get the flavor.

Here are some:

http://genxcel.blogspot.com

<http://elaccesso.blogspot.com>

<http://latinaliz.blogspot.com>

<http://joseandmayra.blogspot.com>

<http://www.urbanonramps.com>

[Thanks Rudy! See ya in Indy in November, Lord willing.]

beginnings

2005-03-04T07:25:00.000-08:00

today is a new day.

Latino Coalition... Grants & More

2005-03-03T07:11:00.000-08:00

Looks like a great (faith-based) site. Wanted to make sure we all at least knew about it.

[continue at LatinoCoalition.org]

Habla Espanol?

2005-03-02T07:51:00.000-08:00

Habla Espanol?

El Plan De Dios Para La Salvación

Welcome to Latino Christians...

2005-02-22T15:58:00.000-08:00

Sorry this is not yet also in Spanish. Stay tuned. Or better yet, help us become all that God wants us to be... expediting the Great Commission through connecting and harmonizing Bible-believing Christ-followers throughout America.

Page Purpose: ...to expedite city-wide efforts to connect with our brothers & sisters who speak Spanish. We need all kinds of help in doing this -- connecting with Hispanic pastors and leaders, translation work, connecting to key resources for Latinos, web-development in Spanish, and in general finding ways to become ONE in Christ.

Example links:
Latino Advocacy
Contact Ivan Schumann
Contact others at CrossroadsConnection.com
Contact us if you'd like to learn conversational Spanish as you walk the Monon.
Help with these mission-trips to Nicaragua.
Bible -- Many, many language translations !!!
Latino Resource Network Egroup [secular]
Contact us if you can help.