New Urban Blog Network

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]
Posted by Joe Walsh of CCNews Portal

National Day of Prayer - Unite in Prayer

•

National Day of Prayer Observances

Sunday, April 29, 6:00 – 7:30 pm

Elgin’s House of Prayer

270 E. Chicago Street, Conference Center

Thursday, May 3, 12:00 Noon

The Centre of Elgin

100 Symphony Way, Heritage Ballroom

Facilitated by the Elgin Evangelical Pastors Association

Elgin’s House of Prayer, the NDP Task Force

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WVON-AM Talk Show Host on CNN

Commentary: What Would Jesus Really Do?


By Roland Martin CNN Contributor

Editor's note: Roland Martin is a CNN contributor and talk-show host on WVON-AM in Chicago, Illinois. He is the author of "Listening to the Spirit Within: 50 Perspectives on Faith."

NEW YORK (CNN) -- When did it come to the point that being a Christian meant caring about only two issues,­ abortion and homosexuality?

Ask the nonreligious what being a Christian today means, and based on what we see and read, it's a good bet they will say that followers of Jesus Christ are preoccupied with those two points.

Poverty? Whatever. Homelessness? An afterthought. A widening gap between the have and have-nots? Immaterial. Divorce? The divorce rate of Christians mirrors the national average, so that's no big deal.

The point is that being a Christian should be about more than abortion and homosexuality, and it's high time that those not considered a part of the religious right expose the hypocrisy of our brothers and sisters in Christianity and take back the faith. And those on the left who believe they have a "get out of sin free" card must not be allowed to justify their actions.

Many people believe we are engaged in a holy war. And we are. But it's not with Muslims. The real war -- ­ the silent war ­-- is being engaged among Christians, and that's what we must set our sights on===>Click headline for the complete article . . .Click here for a review of his interviews with T.D. Jakes, Rick Warren, Jerry Falwell . . .

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Bless Your Block ~ The Power of Kindness

Small Things Done with Great Love Will Change the World
By Janie Sjogren

Perhaps our motto should read, "Small Things Done with Great Love Are Changing the World" because that's what's happening.

We get reports from pastors, lay leaders and ordinary Christ-follower / believer all over the world who have discovered the power and impact of "showing God's love in practical ways."

To get a complete understanding of Servant Evangelism, you should order and read Conspiracy of Kindness by Steve Sjogren, founding pastor of the church that grew from a handful to an average attendance of 7,500 in just 15 years. Such things happen now and then around the country as one reads contemporary American Church history. What makes this story unusual is that this happened in Cincinnati, Ohio, a city that has long been known for its in-your-face unfriendliness! Mark Twain spent a good deal of time in this city on the Ohio River and often commented even back at the turn of the century about how rude people were. When this church was launched Cincinnati was ranked as the 3rd most unfriendly city in America. After serving about 12 million people in those 15 years the tone of the city literally changed. That change had made a permanent impact on the city in innumerable ways.



Servant Evangelism connects people to people in a natural, easy, low-risk, high grace way.Who doesn't like to be given a cold Coke on a hot day? Especially by someone who is smiling, happy and having fun.SE wins the heart before it confronts the mind. A small act of kindness nudges a person closer to God - often in a profound way as it bypasses ones mental defenses. The average Christ-follower / believer is willing to hand a stranger a can of cold Coke on a hot day (low risk). The high grace is seen in the typical reaction. "Oh, thank you!" "This is so nice!" "I can't believe this is for free!" And, "Why are you doing this?"Kindness builds the bridge for the person to receive a touch of love from God.It's simple, practical, effective, inexpensive and fun!

Janie Sjogren is the "better half" of Steve Sjogren. Together with Steve, she has been bringing the dimension of outward-focused living to the church-at-large.



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Bless Your Block ~ Outrageous Outreach

Hog Heaven: Our Biker Sunday
by Clark Cothern

Our church meets in a rented high school cafetorium, averaging 120 in worship each week.

During each of our two "seeker seasons" in spring and fall, we pour lots of energy into one major "outrageous outreach"–something unusual, fun, and aimed at reaching a subcommunity within our community.

This year we upped the octane level and cranked up our first ever Biker Sunday. We realized that most of us know someone or live near someone who rides a motorcycle, and several of us actually ride a bike either for pleasure or to save money on gas.

As opposed to a black tie and tails evening, this was a black leather and doo-rag afternoon. We got ready to rumble, and our people got really revved up for reaching those not yet convinced about the lordship of Jesus Christ.

After months of prayer and preparation===>Click headline to access complete article . . .

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Prayer Rally @ Daley Plaza

Opportunities on the National Day of Prayer
“America United in Prayer”
Thursday, May 3rd
Day of Praise and Prayer in Daley Plaza

“Yes, there are many parts, but only one body. All of you together are Christ’s body, and each of you is a part of it.” I Corinthians 12:20 & 27

Our goal for the day is to glorify Christ by seeking Him in prayer on behalf of our city, state and national leaders, and the concerns of the church and our communities. Our nation and the state of Illinois have declared this a day that people should gather for prayer and therefore we are seeking to call the church to join together in prayer in a public venue in order to show His power and love to our city.

The following is what we envision happening on that day but we are also open to assisting the churches that would like to participate to contribute in their own particular ways. That may be in having a gathering place for your church or organization to meet to pray, prayer walking around certain areas of the loop, or other ways that would lend to an atmosphere of prayer and worship.

We see groups of Christians gathering for prayer in small groups around the plaza from about 1 pm until 3:00 pm. This could be interspersed with worship songs led by groups from various churches at different times. We may also enlist leaders to lead in prayer from the stage at certain times during the day as well. We want the city to see the unity of believers as we gather in prayer – and thus to be amazed at God’s love and power.

We will have signs to call people to pray and materials that will have lists of officials for whom to pray. We will also have materials to aid us in explaining to those that would ask for prayer, how to have a personal relationship with Christ.

Marj Mokry, National Day of Prayer Committee
847-496-7327

• P.S.
  The National Day of Prayer Breakfast is Thursday, May 3, 2007 from 7:30 to 9:00 a.m.. We have changed our venue for the breakfast, It will be held at the Union League Club at 65 W. Jackson Blvd. The good news is that the price has remained the same from the day we began the breakfast some17 years ago. The tickets will $25 each or a table of 10 for $250.
  
  We are excited to announce that our speaker will be Dale Vermillion. Dale is the President and CEO of Vermillion Consulting, Inc., a sales, leadership, and life management consulting firm whose primary focus is the mortgage industry.
  
  He is an author and one of the top-rated speakers on the popular Close More University circuit during 2003 and 2004. He was also a featured speaker for the Break Through Mortgage Academy in Canada. Dale will share his personal journey of faith and how prayer has played a role in it.
  
  Faith Wilson will also be our guest soloist.
  
  We hope you will plan to attend the Breakfast this year and tell your colleagues and friends about this wonderful opportunity to come together and pray for our nation’s leaders.

Please use the following form to order your tickets.

Name _______________________________________________

Address______________________________________________

City______________________State_________ Zip___________

Daytime Phone________________________________________

Email Address_________________________________________

I would like to buy______________ticket(s) at $25 each

I would like to host __________table(s) at $250 each

I would like my table cards to read___________________________

I would like invitations to send to my guests, please send _______ with my tickets.

Make all checks payable to the National Day of Prayer Breakfast and mail with this form to : Claudia Dunne, 201 E. Chestnut street, #20C, Chicago, IL 60611

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Evangelism & the Future of the Church

Our greatest opportunity to invite people to be reconciled to God and follow the resurrected Jesus is coming this Easter weekend. I’m praying that there will be a great spiritual harvest all across Lake County!

Next week, we have an opportunity to hear from one of the countries leading voices on what “Evangelism & The Future of the Church” looks like. I hope you know already that Todd Hunter, CEO of Alpha USA, will be our guest speaker at the next Catalyst Quarterly Gathering on Friday, April 13. Todd speaks at conferences all around the world on evangelism, specifically with an eye on our current culture. Todd is a seasoned church planter, pastor, evangelist, and movement leader. You don’t want to miss hearing from this individual who has such a unique pulse on God’s redemptive work across our nation!

One more note, this is a terrific team-building opportunity to bring your entire staff and key leaders. We have designed special optional lunches following the Gathering to help our peer-to-peer relationships between church leaders of specific ministries. We have Breakout Lunches for: Senior Pastors, Prayer Intercessors, Worship Leaders, Children’s Ministry Leaders, Youth & Young Adult Leaders, Single Adult Leaders, Men’s and Women’s Ministry Leaders. We will also have a special Breakout Lunch for leaders interested in starting Alpha at your church. Please RSVP by Friday, April 6th to us at info@catalystweb.org indicating which Breakout Lunch you will attend and also how many will be with you. Those you invite will benefit from this great day of unity!

See you next Friday…
Jim Tomberlin, Senior Director

Many Congregations. One Church www.catalystweb.org


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