Oración de un Vecino en La Villita

by Paco Amador 29. March 2010 06:50

Esta es una oración de un miembro de nuestra congregación… 
 
 

Oración de un Vecino en La Villita  

Señor Jesús, tu nos has traído a este barrio.  

Te pido que tu reines en nuestro hogar.  

Te pido que nuestro hogar en La Villita sea mas que una vivienda.  

Te pido que nuestro hogar sea un centro de reunión para el pobre, el abandonado, el hambriento, el desnudo, el aterrado, el sucio, el enfermo, el deprimido, el menospreciado, el que ha perdido su juicio.   

Te pido que cualquier indigente sepa que en este lugar siempre puede encontrar un plato de comida y una conversación alrededor de la mesa con gente que no lo va a ignorar.   

Te pido que la mujer que esta apunto de perder a sus niños porque no puede dejar de abusarlos vea nuestro hogar como un lugar donde recibir un abrazo sincero.  

Te pido que niños que están demasiado asustados o aburridos sepan que pueden acudir a nuestro hogar para jugar futbol, leer libros, contar chistes, reír, y jugar a las luchitas con nuestros niños en lugar de entrar a una pandilla.    

Te pido que nuestros hijos lleguen a conocerte, aprendan a disfrutarte y tengan valor para caminar junto a ti.  Te pido que aquí en nuestro hogar conozcan tu amor y que su experiencia creciendo en nuestro hogar moldee su fe de tal manera que vivan esta misión toda su vida.   

Te pido que la gente nos conozca mayormente  por nuestro amor a los demás.   

Te pido que nuestra iglesia sea un ejército de familias que se unen bajo esta misión de amarte a ti a través de nuestro servicio a los demás. Te pido que nunca cedamos en este llamado ni dejemos que esta pasión sea diluida. Te pido que nos des discernimiento para entender cuando nuestros horarios o actividades se convierten en obstáculo para servir a los que pones en nuestro camino.   

Te pido que en nuestro hogar un sinnúmero de gente escuchen de tu amor y reciban vida eterna y comiencen una nueva caminar de servicio, y devoción a ti.     

Te pido que en la sala de nuestro hogar muchos sean liberados de años de esclavitud y opresión espiritual. Que por las ventanas de nuestro hogar exploten carcajadas de risa que alegren y bendigan a nuestros vecinos.  Y que en nuestra cocina nunca falten conversaciones de vida abundante.  Pido que nuestro hogar sea una plataforma para poner en practica las bienaventuranzas.     

Pido que las oraciones que fluyan de nuestro hogar rodeen el mundo entero y penetren en los rincones mas oscuros de este mundo.   

Te pido en contra del pecado, el pecado que busca destruir tu obra en nuestras vidas y destruirnos a nosotros mismos. Pido en contra los pecados que asechan y persiguen a nuestros hijos.  Pido en contra de los demonios que los necesitados que nos visiten arrastraran consigo mismo.  Pido que el príncipe de este mundo se encuentro impotente y no recibido en nuestro hogar.  Pido que la paz de Dios se sienta en nuestro hogar como un aire para respirar.  Que cada persona que entra sienta tu paz, y aun gente que pasa por la calle sea impactada por tu paz.   

Te pido por ideas y maneras creativas para saber como ser verdaderos vecinos, pero aun ahora comprendo que lo que mas necesitamos es obediencia y no creatividad. Señor damos un pasión para siempre obedecerte.   

En el nombre de aquel quien nos levanta cuando caemos, el dueño de nuestra alma, el Dios que todo lo puede, aquel quien se hizo hombre, y sufrió hasta lo sumo por nosotros, el Señor Jesús, el Cristo. Amén. 

A Little Village Neighbor’s Prayer

by Paco Amador 29. March 2010 06:16

This is a prayer from a family in our neighborhood. 

A Little Village Neighbor’s Prayer  

Lord Jesus, You have brought my family and me to this neighborhood.    

I pray that our home in Little Village become much more than a dwelling.   

My prayer is that our home be a hub of activity for those poor and alone and hungry and naked and scared stiff and dirty and sick and depressed and self-conscious and crazy.   

I pray that homeless people will know where they can come for a loaf of bread and a conversation with someone who won’t blow them off.  

I pray that the woman whose kids are being taken away from her because she can’t stop hitting them can know where to come to be hugged.  

I pray that kids who are scared or bored will come and play in our yard and read books and play soccer and wrestle with our kids instead of joining gangs.   

I pray that our kids will grow up to know you and enjoy you and walk with you. I pray that they will experience your love in our home and that these experiences will mold and shape them for their entire lives.   

I pray that we will be known primarily by the way we love those around us.  

I pray that the families of our church unite around the cause of loving you by serving our neighbors throughout the entire neighborhood. I pray that we not accept compromise and dilution of our calling. I pray that we don’t see the broken as a threat to our schedules or our efficiency or our neatness. Instead, I pray that we see our schedules, efficiency and neatness as a threat to those who are at the center of your heart.  

I pray that people be lead to lives of service, devotion and complete abandon for you in our house. I pray that people be miraculously healed in our home.   

I pray that people be freed from years of bondage and spiritual oppression in our living rooms, that stomach aching laughter will spill out of our dining room windows, and that life giving conversations will be commonplace in our kitchens. I pray that our home will be the setting for the actions of the beatitudes.   

I pray that the prayers that flow out of our house will travel the globe and penetrate the darkest corners of our planet.   

I pray against sin, the sin which seeks to destroy God’s work in our lives and destroy our very selves. I pray against the sin that will seek out my children. I pray against the demons that those who are most needy will be dragging in with them as they limp across our threshold.  I pray that the prince of this world will be a powerless bystander at our home. I pray that people feel your peace as they enter our home and even as they walk by the street.  

I pray that you give us creative ideas for how to be neighbors, but even now I realize that it’s not creativity that we most need but obedience. We desperately long to obey you.   

In the name of He who will catch us when we fall on our faces, the king of kings, he who took on flesh, who alone reigns, the Lord Jesus the Christ. 

The End Of The Tunnel…

by Liz Castillo 27. March 2010 10:55

Today I thought to myself of how precious life was and just how short of a time we are put on this earth. From the very moment of our first cry we are set up to ride a rollercoaster…for some the ride is long, for others it is short-lived, many just experiencing the thrill of a joy ride downwards.  This week I heard of three deaths, one was of a 42 year old man who dropped dead at the news that his father had passed away while on the operating table; the second was of that elderly man who obviously had lived his life long enough to produce a son, who then passed away the same day as he did. The third was of another man who lived a proud life serving God and probably lived a fulfilling life until his last breath. The news of death often makes us think of how short life really is. For some, it is just another obituary for others it is a wake up call. News that often gets put in the back of the newspapers, which ends up at the bottom of our bird cage at times. Often we take life for granted living every minute by minute, hour by hour, day by day, month by month, and year by year…counting another grey hair on our head, or another one that bit the dust and was found at the bottom of the sink. Another wrinkle, another stress line another pound, another bill, another year later….we just live the life on a treadmill never looking behind but not sure what we are chasing just running, running as Forest Gump did because he was told, “run Forrest, run!” But what are we chasing? What are we running from? This is often the question that we are too busy to stop and ask ourselves…often because we already know the answer. The truth is what we seem to be running from and it is often when God takes us off that treadmill for a split second that these questions pass through our minds and the answer is very clear, but yet obstructed by our very selfish nature and disbelief. Call it living in denial but most of us live our lives this way…too busy to look in the mirror, too busy to take time to smell the roses, or to pick up the phone and call someone who we haven’t spoken to in the longest time, perhaps because we fear rejection. Too often words that have been rehearsed go unheard because of our coward, sinful nature which keeps us from confronting the truth and the ugly pride that keeps us in the darkness often shadows us from the light of forgiveness. If “the truth shall set you free” is the answer, than why do we live our lives in such disbelief? Why do we complicate our lives so often that we choose to live in denial and not in the truth?

Life is very complicated and I often think of the words that Forrest Gump said in his movie, “Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you are going to get.”  How true, life can be sweet at times, and sometimes it can be sour. Life can have its ups and downs, its nuts and its raisins. Often we are not sure what to expect yet we grasp life by the horns and force ourselves to live it unprepared and unwilling to accept what comes our way. The mere truth is enough to keep us from moving forward yet it is that truth that keeps us from sinking under. For many this is not the case…the few of us that decide to face life as unpleasant as it can present itself to be often live it because the only other alternative to life is death and who wants that?

I choose life over death because I know that life can be fulfilling and that as long as I have a breath in my lungs I will grasp every second and millisecond of life with all my might. Death on the other hand is a dark and unknown journey that many of us fear to explore. However, it is by faith that we can accept death knowing that we have eternal life in our creator and that He and only he can give life and take it. It is that total trust that we must have in Him that will get us through the journey of life and then help us enter that dark path that leads into the journey of death. Eternal life lies on the other end of that path for many of us, for some it doesn’t however. It is that doubt that causes fear…the doubt of whether or not we can make it past that dark tunnel. Shall we find light at the end of that tunnel or will there be eternal darkness? This is a vital question that we must all ask ourselves. Have you asked yourself that question today? I hope so because if you were to close your eyes tonight and not wake up in the comfort of your bed what side of the tunnel do you think you’d be in, the light side or the dark? Think about it.

Are You Stressed Out?

by Al Garcia 23. March 2010 05:37

 

How stressed are you? Have you sweated blood yet?


Hermatidrosis is the medical term that describes the rare experience of sweating blood.  Our human bodies are designed with many blood vessels around the sweat glands. When these vessels are put under great stress they can rupture and bleed into the sweat glands giving the appearance that the person is sweating blood.


The bible tells us that the week before Jesus was crucified that he spent time in the garden of Gethsemane and contemplated the great sacrifice he would be making on the cross for mankind.


The great stress of the sin of the world was on his shoulders.  Jesus took the stress so that we don’t have to.  Cast your cares upon Jesus because He cares for you.
On Easter Sunday, April 4, New Life Oak Forest will be presenting the Ultimate Love Stop a Multi-Media Drama. Presentation times will be at 9am,10:30am and 12pm.  Invite someone you know who needs to have the stress lifted off their life.  See you there!

Pastor AL 

 

 

 

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Oak Forest

Some Days

by Elizabeth Galik 18. March 2010 06:07
Some days begin
with my own two-year-old
dancing in the sun
in a polka-dot skirt
and bright pink boots.

And some days end
with a homeless mama
who fell through the steps
in her abandoned house
and miscarried her unborn daughter.

Some days.

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Centers

Creating Open Spaces - A Lenten Meditation

by John Palmieri 4. March 2010 17:56
The Season of Lent provides an intentional time of enriching our lives spiritually. Although fasting is to be a regular spiritual discipline of every Christ follower, Lenten season is an occasion of 40 days of focused abstinence. Seasons of fasting fatten our spiritual lives in at least two ways; first when we deny ourselves things that we are regularly accustomed to (food, media, treats, sex) we create open spaces for God to fill. For example, when I feel the pangs of hunger I look to the “bread of Life” to fill my empty place.  When I want to decompress from a hectic day; instead of turning on the TV I light some incense, play soft music and read inspirational spiritual works. I create empty places in my life for the sole purpose of God filling them.

Secondly, participating in Lent prepares us for Easter. It’s the isolation in darkness that fills us with gratitude for the fullness of dawn. The valley prepares us for the breath taking vistas of the mountain top. Meditation on Christ’s suffering fills us with praise for his resurrection. The denial of self puts us in touch with our weakness and gives us empathy for those who feel hopeless in this world. The despair of hopelessness always precedes the life giving hope of His resurrection. So why not be intentional in getting in touch with the suffering that comes before Easter? I would imagine that if we are deliberate in this respect, a new appreciation of Easter will birth in our hearts.

Scriptural Meditation: Psalm 63:1-8

 

http://www.johnpalmieri.com/

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